As we predicted, Penn was out last night. No magic tricks here. And we were right about Monica also. We fell a little bad for her since it seems like the show was being so good for her! So, sorry Monica, but as much as we appreciate the cathartic effect of dancing for your soul, your dancing was creating anguish on ours so we’re actually happy to see you go. Enough with the penitence!
This show is so nice, and everybody was so nice last night, that it honestly got to be a bit annoyingly sugary! Where’s the envy, please? Only Carolla had the courage to express his eyebrow envy last night. Where’s the drama? Who is cheating on whom with whom? That can’t be! Please, kick the drama up a notch next week!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Dancing with the Stars: When Tough Men Dance...the World is a Better Place!
Tonight again the mix of sports athletes and celebrities with great dance coaches brought all sorts of surprises and fun to Dancing with the Stars. The best so far, Kristy Yamaguchi and Mario, can be considered by some to be “cheaters” (people with obvious previous training or experience) but our opinion is that they bring something quite important to the mix, since they raise the bar for everyone. Furthermore, nothing could be worst for this show than some sort of “big brother rules” that would state “no previous dancing experience allowed.” Yes, Kristy’s skating training gives her a lot of advantages, especially regarding arms and upper body, but she has to work hard on fixing her turnout. The same with Mario, who may have some Hip Hop and Video Music dancing experience, but has no formal dance training. And, as many dance instructors would know, sometimes it is even more difficult to “fix” previous habits than to start completely from scratch. In that sense, coaches such as Cheryl, with Christian de la Fuente, or Derek Hough with Shannon Elizabeth may have the best chances with their clean (and “gorgeous’) canvases.
Our take on this week’s performances is the following:
The guys.
Steve Guttenberg: He may not be the best guy dancing (actually, he will soon be the worst, in a couple of weeks…), but he certainly spoke the best line tonight: “This show makes the world a better place”. Really, even for Monica Seles, who probably will be out tomorrow, being in the show obviously slayed some dragons or killed demons lurking in her soul. Her shyness and stiffness on week one was painful, but some of it was gone tonight, and she certainly looked a lot better. But (more on her later), back to the guys, Steve was fun and charming, regardless of anything else. His effort was technically stiff, but clearly he should have a chance to entertain us some more. Really after the line we quoted he surely deserves to stay!
Christian De La Fuente may have an advantage… he does have that Latin stuff going on for him (although Chileans are not especially renowned for their dancing…, if you don’t believe us, ask any of your Latin American friends). His greatest advantage is Cheryl! But, what is up with him and her? He’s dancing with this great lady and seemed so detached! Posture was good, but no feelings! Too detached… a lower score would have been deserved.
The magician Penn Jillette has big feet. He probably should have been tortured a little more. He is so stiff and just hops around the floor! In terms of dancing, Bruno’s “really, really, really bad” was one for each foot and the other one just because. He is an entertainer no doubt, his magic is fun and he can make us laugh, but… hocus pocus alakazam, poof he will be gone this week!
Jason Taylor, NFL’s Man of the Year does indeed demonstrate that “tough men can dance”. He looks great and did great! He is not leaving us tomorrow!
Mario: Just three words for now: Young, hip and cool! He has it naturally and also worked hard for it this week. We’ll see a lot more of him, for sure.
Adam Carolla. See, with him, we could put him right there with Penn and Steve; however, we think Adam has some ingredients that will save him, at least from elimination tomorrow, and may even help move further in the competition. Compared to Penn, Adam is a lot more charming and a lot more fun. And he danced a lot better tonight (remember, this is a dancing competition after all!). Comparing Adam to Steve, Steve is charming also but in this “perfect” Jewish American good son sort of way. Adam on the other hand is, how could we articulated it? Wicked! There is something delightfully devilish about Adam! Tonight’s’ Adam dancing with Julianne was like a tasty mix of George Clooney with Jim Carey (the Mask), and considering that we like both, George and Jim, Adam would likely be safe from elimination this week!
Now the girls.
Monica is working so hard it hurts. She even had a hard time smiling! She pulled off with that mambo something she did not pulled off last week. However, her prettier face and body, and her occasionally good move,s did not compensate her poor arms, and her poor posture. This is not her thing—but we love it that she evolved and changed so much from the previous week! She really demonstrated what dancing can do to your soul: transform an inner conflict into an outer manifestation.
Priscilla Presley, what can we say? Her performance tonight was not exactly memorable. Her rear end kept sticking out and her head moved weird and slow. But it was OK. We cannot say that it was great, but it was OK. A score of 20 at best we thought…; the Judges gave her a little more. We don’t want to be mean but do they really have to keep on reminding us that she is the granny of the show?
Shannon Elizabeth has such long legs! And she moves them well! She demonstrated what the difference is between posture and stiffness. She lost a little bit of the later and slouched in the middle but her dance truly was well performed. The choreography by Derek was entertaining and within the rules. Great smiles, great attitude. A great dance routine.
Kristy Yamaguchi is obviously not leaving this show for a while. Amazing both nights! As a figure skater, don’t you think she has an advantage? Her upper body, arms and hands are great. As a skater she may have a tendency not to turn out, but she is obviously working on it. She may win, but it is still early to say.
Marissa Janet Winokur. Not much to say here. A Hairspray kind of performance tonight which, without trying to be mean, brought to mind John Travolta’s in the same movie. We expect to have a lot more to talk about her in the future, however, because she is a performer and entertainer and she certainly is not the worst on the show so far. We do not expect her to leave yet.
And finally, Marlee Matlin. We were again highly impressed with her musicality (as remarked by Carrie Anne) and her performance. So far, she deserves to win. She feels the music more than anybody else in the show! However, there is still a lot to see and a lot of changes, surprises and transformations to come. That’s the effect of dancing, after all! Our take: Penn and Monica will leave tomorrow.
Our take on this week’s performances is the following:
The guys.
Steve Guttenberg: He may not be the best guy dancing (actually, he will soon be the worst, in a couple of weeks…), but he certainly spoke the best line tonight: “This show makes the world a better place”. Really, even for Monica Seles, who probably will be out tomorrow, being in the show obviously slayed some dragons or killed demons lurking in her soul. Her shyness and stiffness on week one was painful, but some of it was gone tonight, and she certainly looked a lot better. But (more on her later), back to the guys, Steve was fun and charming, regardless of anything else. His effort was technically stiff, but clearly he should have a chance to entertain us some more. Really after the line we quoted he surely deserves to stay!
Christian De La Fuente may have an advantage… he does have that Latin stuff going on for him (although Chileans are not especially renowned for their dancing…, if you don’t believe us, ask any of your Latin American friends). His greatest advantage is Cheryl! But, what is up with him and her? He’s dancing with this great lady and seemed so detached! Posture was good, but no feelings! Too detached… a lower score would have been deserved.
The magician Penn Jillette has big feet. He probably should have been tortured a little more. He is so stiff and just hops around the floor! In terms of dancing, Bruno’s “really, really, really bad” was one for each foot and the other one just because. He is an entertainer no doubt, his magic is fun and he can make us laugh, but… hocus pocus alakazam, poof he will be gone this week!
Jason Taylor, NFL’s Man of the Year does indeed demonstrate that “tough men can dance”. He looks great and did great! He is not leaving us tomorrow!
Mario: Just three words for now: Young, hip and cool! He has it naturally and also worked hard for it this week. We’ll see a lot more of him, for sure.
Adam Carolla. See, with him, we could put him right there with Penn and Steve; however, we think Adam has some ingredients that will save him, at least from elimination tomorrow, and may even help move further in the competition. Compared to Penn, Adam is a lot more charming and a lot more fun. And he danced a lot better tonight (remember, this is a dancing competition after all!). Comparing Adam to Steve, Steve is charming also but in this “perfect” Jewish American good son sort of way. Adam on the other hand is, how could we articulated it? Wicked! There is something delightfully devilish about Adam! Tonight’s’ Adam dancing with Julianne was like a tasty mix of George Clooney with Jim Carey (the Mask), and considering that we like both, George and Jim, Adam would likely be safe from elimination this week!
Now the girls.
Monica is working so hard it hurts. She even had a hard time smiling! She pulled off with that mambo something she did not pulled off last week. However, her prettier face and body, and her occasionally good move,s did not compensate her poor arms, and her poor posture. This is not her thing—but we love it that she evolved and changed so much from the previous week! She really demonstrated what dancing can do to your soul: transform an inner conflict into an outer manifestation.
Priscilla Presley, what can we say? Her performance tonight was not exactly memorable. Her rear end kept sticking out and her head moved weird and slow. But it was OK. We cannot say that it was great, but it was OK. A score of 20 at best we thought…; the Judges gave her a little more. We don’t want to be mean but do they really have to keep on reminding us that she is the granny of the show?
Shannon Elizabeth has such long legs! And she moves them well! She demonstrated what the difference is between posture and stiffness. She lost a little bit of the later and slouched in the middle but her dance truly was well performed. The choreography by Derek was entertaining and within the rules. Great smiles, great attitude. A great dance routine.
Kristy Yamaguchi is obviously not leaving this show for a while. Amazing both nights! As a figure skater, don’t you think she has an advantage? Her upper body, arms and hands are great. As a skater she may have a tendency not to turn out, but she is obviously working on it. She may win, but it is still early to say.
Marissa Janet Winokur. Not much to say here. A Hairspray kind of performance tonight which, without trying to be mean, brought to mind John Travolta’s in the same movie. We expect to have a lot more to talk about her in the future, however, because she is a performer and entertainer and she certainly is not the worst on the show so far. We do not expect her to leave yet.
And finally, Marlee Matlin. We were again highly impressed with her musicality (as remarked by Carrie Anne) and her performance. So far, she deserves to win. She feels the music more than anybody else in the show! However, there is still a lot to see and a lot of changes, surprises and transformations to come. That’s the effect of dancing, after all! Our take: Penn and Monica will leave tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
