Dancing with the Stars Season 10, Week 7 – The Pros (and Celebs) Blog!

First up, Evan Lysacek for People Magazine. I’m back to loving Evan again, now that he’s stopped spamming me for votes and more of his personality is coming through. 🙂 I’m still hung up on that “Omega Sheep” comment.

Last week we tried to power through our training. We were never in sync and it showed with our samba performance and the judges’ comments. We were both disappointed, but most of all I was angry with myself. When I started this show I did it for the fun of it. But as the weeks went on, I became preoccupied with the scores, and lost sight of the fact that dancing is supposed to be fun. You get sevens one week and you want eights. Then you get eights and you want nines. Last week Anna and I got our butts kicked with sevens. I walked away feeling like I let my partner down, as well as my fans and the judges.

Like many things in life, it’s the attitude you take into a particular situation or apply to a certain goal that will help you either succeed or fail. So this week I came into it with the attitude of “Hey, if I mess up or forget a step, the most important thing is to focus on the character and flavor of the dance and have fun.” Last night, I had the clarity that I wasn’t going to preoccupy my head with numbers, but that I was going to dance full out and be that character in the tango. I was going to take the lead with Anna and really plunge into the performance. And wow, it worked! I felt GREAT. The icing on the cake was receiving a perfect score. Amazing.

Next – Maks at TV Guide. Dude, since you asked, I hated that purple feathery skirt thing with all the pantyhose material up top. 🙂 You don’t do half bad much of the time though. I do think you have the right attitude about the bottom 2 thing, though.

We were in the bottom two. Everyone’s asking if I’m shocked or upset since we got good scores. I’m not upset or disappointed. If we were to do a dance we were disappointed with, it’s one thing. But we did a great dance that we’re proud of. It was nothing to be ashamed of. If we were to be sent home, I wouldn’t be upset. I mean, I would be upset we’re not in the finale, but I would not be upset given what we did. I’m not going to sit and try to figure out why we ended up there. Maybe we had a smaller fan base. Or maybe, as some have suggested, people thought we would be fine with our scores so they didn’t vote. If that’s the case, then please, everybody out there vote for your favorite. Never assume your favorite is safe. That’s not a plea to vote for us, just a general plea to vote for whoever your favorite is. Honestly, I’m not nervous on Tuesdays because the results are out of my control. We’re just standing there waiting for the verdict.

Pam left, and no one wanted to see her leave. It was very sad. I’m not sure what her injury was, but she just showed up in the morning and couldn’t do the encore cha-cha. Some people are saying maybe it’s a good thing she was eliminated since she was injured, but I don’t think her injury was that serious. If she had stayed, the injury would’ve been a non-factor. Everybody has minor injuries of some sort and you just push forward. I think when you’re in a competition you brush off the pain. I know for a fact at the end of the season, I’m going get sick. Being on the show gets your adrenaline going; it’s very high-octane. But I know when the season’s over, my body is going to shut down and rest. And you have to let it.

It was a big birthday week here. Chery’s birthday was Monday and Erin’s was Tuesday, and both celebrations were really cool. We went out after the shows to celebrate. Cheryl’s party was such a close-knit gathering. It was really special to see people who were special to Cheryl and to be part of that very small group. Cheryl and I have been through a lot together and we have a very special friendship. On Tuesday, it was very similar. We went out for Erin’s birthday with Tony, Cheryl, Erin’s sister and our friend Howard. It was exactly what Erin needed to feel part of a family. This season has been very unifying. Three or four weeks ago, everybody’s helping each other out. But now we’re a group of people who are so friendly. I don’t want to imagine starting next week because the five couples left and we’re so close to the finale. No one wants to see anybody else leave. We all had tears in our eyes when Pam left. Louis and I looked at each other and were like, “If it’s not her, it’s us!” Someone has to go every week, and it’s definitely going to be tougher to say goodbye now.

And Finally, Derek at OK! magazine. I didn’t see the bobble until the replay the next night! Lucky camera work. 🙂 Yer scarin’ me with your Paso Doble talk, though.

Nicole and I tied with Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya in the total score for the two dances on Monday night and I couldn’t have been more proud of my partner. To be honest, though, when I first heard we were going to waltz to the song “You Light up My Life, “ I was like, oh, man, cheese city! But I found out Nicole was excited about it because it was her aunt’s favorite song. It gave Nicole an opportunity to fly her family out and for her aunt, who has Down’s Syndrome, to watch and enjoy. As with all the couples on the show, during breaks, we get to talk about ourselves and I learned how much she cherishes her aunt. It was a really special moment to share with Nicole when she realized how much her aunt loved the performance.

Footage aired on DWTS seemed to show us squabbling, but honestly, Nicole and I get along famously. If we ever get into an argument, it’s for a hot second. It’s over in a flash. But it is true, as it said in the TV package, that sometimes I forget to encourage her. She’s doing so well and I forget it’s new to her and she’s as scared as everybody else. Sometimes I’m like no, no, no and she’s like, am I doing anything right? But now I understand and we’re all good.

Monday after the show, I texted Cheryl a happy birthday, then caught my buddy Mark Ballas’ concert at The Mint. It was an awesome show, and then I went straight home to bed and was asleep by 11:30. Going out isn’t my thing anymore — I’m definitely a homebody.

On Tuesday night, I was so sorry to see Pamela Anderson get eliminated. I worked with her on the team cha cha dance and she was so much fun, so willing to give it her all.

I think America got to see a different side of Pam — she’s very witty, sweet, and sincere. That’s one of the strengths of DWTS, showing fans something new about all the celebrities’ personalities.