DWTS Season 11, Week 1 – The Cheesecake Awards!
Ahhh…it’s good to be back being sarcastic and snarky. Oh, wait, I never stopped.
The Cheesecake Awards this week aren’t for the faint of heart, I don’t think. I speak for myself when I say, I bitch because I love.
Most Ridiculous Occupation: Bristol Palin, Teen Activist
Heidi: Teen Activist?? Seriously?? Oookkaayyy. But I gotta ask, how much activisting has she done recently? Or is that done until Mom runs for office again? Yep, I made up a word. Hell, her mom does it ever day, why can’t I?? :-)
Courtney: I knew they were gonna try and spin the activist angle – just like they did for Heather Mills. They decided to be all PC and call her a “human rights activist” instead of “gold-digging ex-wife of Beatle Paul McCartney.” Oh well, whatevs – at least Bristol seems sweet & likeable. Even if I’m not quite sure just how much “activisting” she actually does
Most Idiotic Choreography Choice, possibly EVER: Louis for Comedy fallen FLAT; Runner up -Tony.
Heidi: Two potentially disastrous choices by professionals – possibly professionals who are burned out. What idiot changes his whole routine for the FIRST week simply because they’re dancing first?? Dude, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Audrina is NOT a professional performer. I don’t think it was nice or fair to her for you to change the whole thing with a week left before show time. Lucky for you there’s an even bigger idiot in town and his name is Louis.
Need I say more?
Courtney: I’m still shaking my heard at the Margaret & Louis routine. I guess I understand IN THEORY what they were going for, but it totally missed the mark. I reiterate: DO NOT TRY AND BREAK THE RULES THIS EARLY IN THE COMPETITION! Just go with the flow and prove that you can follow them for the first few weeks, then slowly, you can start to bend them. These two definitely dodged a bullet this week – and it kinda pisses me off that Louis has more or less said that he intends to do the exact same thing in upcoming weeks. Dude, if you get sent home next week, you cannot bitch and moan about how “unfair” the show is, because it will be YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT. Dig your own grave, then lay in it. As for Tony’s tweaking of Audrina’s routine – meh, probably not the best idea, but without seeing how it would’ve looked beforehand, I can’t really say for sure that it was a drastic change. He might have only changed one or two moves. Audrina is a pretty awkward mover regardess – some minor changes may have had a slightly negative effect on her performance, but I don’t really think she would’ve knocked the original routine out of the park, either. Either way, they too dodged a bullet – the same one that went whizzing past Margaret & Louis, and barely grazed their ears.
The Guffaw Right Outta the Gate Award goes to: Len Goodman for his focus on his own buttocks.
Heidi: Bwahaha – Len, dude, I don’t need the mental image of your butt. Lucky for you Derek was photographed sans shirt recently. I can cleanse my mental image. Plus there’s booze in my fridge. In case you couldn’t tell, I was drinking when I wrote this.
Courtney: Len’s quips are pretty hit or miss for me – either hilarious, or cringe-inducing. This falls in the latter category. Blech.
Most Wack-ass Hair Accessory of the Night: Lacey’s Minnie Mouse Bow
Heidi: My inner dialogue when I first see Kyle and Lacey – “What the hell is Lacey wearing?? Did someone graffiti her? And what a stupid ass bow!!” It grew on me after a bit – except I was still left with “what a stupid ass bow!”
Courtney: Sure didn’t grow on me…while I understood what they were going for (and they did perform really well), the whole thing just felt so overdone to me. I could’ve done without the locker bit at the beginning, with the glasses and the gum. And that hair! Yeesh…too blonde, too big, too extension-y. The bow was just the rotten cherry on top. It was as if her entire ensemble just seemed to scream “Look at me! Look at me! I’M BLONDE! I’M REBELLIOUS! I’M BACK!!!”
Heidi: There ain’t nuthin’ rebellious about being blonde. Just sayin’.
The Color me NOT Surprised Award – Cheryl Burke Wears a Sheer Skirt
Heidi: ANOTHER sheer skirt on Cheryl – is this a new addiction?? I mean it was lovely, but damn – if you count last season that’s got to be four or five in a row. Leave some sheer fabric for the other girls (and some of the men), Girl!!
Courtney: Again, the Randall folks must’ve had a brain fart: “Damn, we need a ballgown for Cheryl. Ok, I have an idea – take the pattern from Joanna’s rumba dress, make it a little longer, and then make the skirt sheer like the dresses from Cheryl’s tango, foxtrot, and waltz dresses from last season, tack some feathers on the bottom, and BOOM! BRILLIANT!!! It will look like a COMPLETELY new dress!” Hehe…or not, if you’ve got a keen eye for costumes like Heidi & I
Best WTF?!?! Reaction of the Night: Cheryl’s reaction to Brooke’s comment after her dance with Rick.
Heidi: LOL – poor Cheryl was clearly a victim of the voices in Brooke’s head. I mean the production staff. I think.
Just throw statements at a girl and then leave her hanging, Brooke!
Courtney: At least Cheryl seemed to shrug it off with a smile. But I’m not done with Brooke yet…
The Cheesiest, Most OMGiest, Wack Ass Moment of the Performance Show – Margaret Cho and Louis Van Amstel
Heidi: I’m harping, yes, I know. It just started out so well. Then Louis jumped his little ass in a handbasket and rode it all the way to hell, if you get my meaning and I think you do. WTF with the gold fan thing? Why would you do this on the first week? There is such a thing as winning people over slowly as opposed to, say, bashing them over the head with a bronze fabric wing and a prat fall. Just fucking dance.
Courtney: Ugh…do I really even have to comment on this one? It was just nonsense. Little to no legit dancing. And things got even more awkward when Margaret took it upon herself to envelop herself (and a very befuddled Brooke) in those wings after getting her scores. I didn’t think it was possible for Brooke to look any more confused…and then she did.
Tom Bergeron Line ‘O the Night – Liberace’s shower curtain (In reference to Margaret’s gold wings); honorable mention for “Why? Because we’ve got an hour to fill!”
Heidi: Bwahaha…now THAT is how you do comedy. Hire Bergeron, dammit.
Courtney: Ooh! Speaking of which, I think I figured out where I’ve seen those wings before. They were leftover material from Kelly’s samba dress. But I loved when Tom, forced by the powers that be to drag out the suspense through another commercial break, lightened the mood by actually pointing out that they were killing time.
Bruno Double Entendre of the Night – I Love the Taste of Brandy in the evening.
Heidi: Yeah, well I’m drinking Champagne…oh, wait. Bwah!! (Just a note to anyone who might have some weird urge to send me booze – don’t really like Brandy. I’m a champers girl all the way. The expensive kind.
)
Courtney: Always more than a little awkward when comments like these come out of Bruno’s mouth – especially in regards to the ladies
But I concur…brandy seems like such an old man’s drink. Give me a bottle of champagne as well – but Korbel will do just fine. Just make sure I drink plenty of water and see that I make it into bed safely
Heidi: Get the Korbel that has “methode champenois” (sp?) on the label. That’s naturally fermented and less likely to attack your head. OH, and you made me remember Bruno’s other faux pas…when he said that Bristol was in “virgin territory”. Um, oops.
The “Please hand me the bleach so I can pour it on my eyeballs” Moment: Florence’s bra!
Heidi: Shit. While I feel I may be permanently scarred by the experience, I have to admire Florence for pure chutzpah. You go…woman.
Courtney: I’d like to amend this award to the “Most Bizarre Celeb Behavior Award” – because Flo was seriously acting weird this week. The bra, the cussing, the random giggling while Brooke interviewed other couples in the red room – hell, even The Situation got a little uncomfortable when she asked to touch his abs! It was all just very, very odd – and definitely not typical Florence behavior. Again, I’m afraid she’s trying too hard to be like Cloris, and rather than coming across as funny like her…this is just kinda off-putting and phony to me. Be yourself, Flo…we’ll love you, we promise
Zinger of the Night: Len to the Sitch – You’ve got the guns but not the amunition!!
Heidi: LOL!!! I thought Bergeron was the only person on the show that was pure genius in terms of off the cuff one liners. Holy hell, that was good, Len. You old curmudgeon you.
Courtney: I think The Situation’s swagger may have diminished a bit after that one…which is a feat.
Way to go, Len!
The Line of the night that even Bergeron Admires: Len –“It’s never too early to panic”
Heidi: No fucking kidding!!
Courtney: If the producers are panicking about the elimination…maybe we all should!
Most Disappointing Reappearance – Adam Carolla
Heidi: Oh man, I was so disappointed. That segment was a cheese supreme pizza and not in a good way. He was SO awesome last season that I guess I was expecting more. I did LOL at Bruno and the Brunettes (aka Mark, Corky, Maks and…Tony?). LOL. But seriously – Adam was so funny last season and this just fell flat to me. And I WAS drinking so it should have been funnier…but, sadly, no.
Courtney: I get the feeling that the “powers that be” may have had a hand in reigning in Adam’s usual humor a bit. Because the few times I’ve seen him before, he’s been a RIOT. This wasn’t even as funny as Dance Center – and I don’t even find that particularly funny. FAIL!
The Stand Your Ass Still Cheeseball Award: The producers, for having the half brained idea of having Brooke wander the backstage area to casually interview the top 4; Runner up – The staged “getting ready” bit prior to the first pro dance of the results show
Heidi: The wanding mic stuff is crap. Yes, let’s make this stuff appear even MORE staged than it was before. GREAT idea. :::end sarcasm:::
Courtney: The hairstylist pretending to fluff Brandy’s hair? Jennifer visibly waiting in the wings for her cue to come sit next to Rick? The staged “group of people with press passes” passing through in the background? DUMB. Oh, and the equally fake shot of Kym, Corky, Anna, Tony, & Cheryl pretending to get ready for the pro dance backstage? Again, FAIL. Corky doesn’t jog anywhere. Pssshhh…
Most Sucktastic Musical appearance: Daughtry/Santana
Heidi: Holy sucktastic, Batman. Even the presence of my gorgeous blond pretend boyfriend couldn’t make this sucker work. The music, the lighting, the camera work – even the guitar work. Sucktastic. The pros were great, clearly – but that was about it. Let’s blind the audience with concert lighting that we haven’t done good camera blocking for. GREAT IDEA!! And then, let’s lose control of the camera pan completely!! Awesome!! Almost as good as Jennifer being totally out of frame the night before during her dance – although I appreciate the focus on my hot blond pretend boyfriend.
What this is REALLY about though, is that I am TOTALLY pissed that we didn’t get an all Professional number SANS musical guest that stole precious camera time. For as much as I bitch about some of the other pros, I WANT desperately to see them all dance together with the spotlight on them and only them. Why is that too much to ask???
Courtney: While I actually think the album version of this remake is pretty good, this whole production of this number (and really all of the pro dances last night) was a mess. I think the whole scaffolding & stage at the back of the ballroom really threw everything off, the lighting was blinding, and honestly, at times the sound seemed a bit off – as in things sounded almost off-key. Just too much, all of it. I love Daughtry, I love Santana, I love the two together – but not live.
Most Disturbing Fixation: Kyle’s fascination with Lacey’s boobs
Courtney: Really, dude? I mean, I know that little corset she had on was putting them right in your face, but at least pretend like you’re not intentionally looking at them. And then in practice – you really want to use them as your “focusing point” when turning? Oy…and then you felt the need to feel her up in the confessional, and pretend to poke them. I mean, if it were Kym’s boobs, I totally wouldn’t blame you…;-)
Heidi: I got one thing to say – Kyle, you’re trying too hard. Even for a 19 year old. But perhaps you have found the best way to suck up to your pro? Focus on her boobs = massage of her ego.
The “Back to Square One” Award: Brooke’s many flubs and awkward moments throughout both nights of competition
Courtney: Where do I begin? She mispronounced both Anna & Kyle’s names at least once; multiple awkward silences; totally odd, rehearsed responses to some of the cast member’s answers to her questions – let’s face it: as much as I didn’t care for Samantha Harris, at least she could go with the flow of the show. It’s as though Brooke regressed during the off-season back to her first night as the co-host of the show (which was ridiculously painful to witness). Oy. If this keeps up…it’s gonna be a LONG season for me…
Heidi: You watch, she will get markedly better when she puts a bumpit under her hair to house Voldemort. That’s the thing, see, Voldie is off trying to vanquish Harry Potter and has lost interest in controlling her. I’m tellin’ ya.
Look at it this way – we’ll have plenty of material for the Cheesecake awards.








Great post! Though I am surprised that nobody really mentioned Evan’s presence. Not even a camera pan, LOL
OMGGGG! ROTFL!!! Why is it only this Season I have found this site?? YOU GUYS! Priceless priceless STUFF!!! Thanks for cracking me up!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!xxx
This was probably one of the best Cheesecake Awards to date. New rule: “Heidi must be drinking when commenting on the Cheesecake Awards”
You two are hilarious together. These were great. I’ve been waiting all day for them!
The cheesecake awards, of course, never disappoint! Hilarious!!! Heidi’s drunken bitchiness for the win!
LOL!!!! Did I say PRICELESS? SERIOUSLY!!
You guys made me laugh out loud. The bumpit crack brought tears.
love loVE LOVE this post – you are a hoot! And right on, right on
Len was on fire tonight – in his usual grumpy self. That “It’s never too early to panic” line almost made me fall out of the chair. Granted, I had had a couple of glasses of wine by then …. And so prophetic, it turns out
Bruno, who I would really miss if he were not on, can be over the top and down the cliff sometimes, but he hit the nail on the head with his “What the hell was that?” after Van Cho’s flop. He took the words out of everyone’s mouth – and in such plain straight forward text – how unlike him!
And WTF is up with Brooke ?!@! How did they pick her over other contenders for the job? I think last year she was flying solo – and that was bad. Cheesh – take some time during the summer to learn how to pronounce everyone associated with the show’s name, for heaven’s sake. She was a mess last year, she did get a little better as the season progressed, but not much. And this year …. Oy Ve indeed. I was not a fan of Samantha but Brooke definitely prooves the warning “be careful what you wish for!” Thank heavens for Tom – he’s the best, bar none. They could not do this show without him. And he’s so charming that he can get away with saying pretty much anything. I also appreciate the fact that he only has kind things to say to the contestents.
Absolutely love this site. Thank you
Awesome post as always:)
WTH was up with all the camera pans to Jamie Lee Curtis on the 1st night? There were so many former contestants in the ballroom(Evan, Niecy, Jake, John O’Hurley, etc.) yet they kept doing close-ups of her.
Great post!!! I love me some cheesecake! You two hit it right on the nail (wait, what’s the line?) about Brooke. What is going on with her?
**
Margaret is a good dancer but it looks like Louis wants to b**** all season just as he did with Niecy. Whatever, Louis!
Loved it !!!
You two are such a great team, I’m so glad you came back for a new season of cheese cake awards !
Thank you all for your kind words
Glad Heidi & I’s banter is appreciated! I have to give her most of the credit for this edition – she did most of the heavy comedy work, as I’ve been totally drained by end-of-quarter at my office. But I promise I will be in better spirits next week
And yes, Heidi, I agree that there’s nothing rebellious about being blonde – especially on DWTS, where you’ve already got several blonde pros. I think a more rebellious choice would’ve been red…just sayin’
You guys cracked me up. Loved it.
What about Jennifer Grey’s breakdown? Totally unnecessary and ridiculous. it’s week 1 for Goodness sake. You cry on week 6-7 or 8 if your lucky.
To Guest, I take it you are not a Jennifer or Derek fan? Please don’t take any offense but there was nothing funny about Jennifer’s breakdown and I thought she was sincere when she mentioned in rehearsal of the realization that the last time she danced (which was in Dirty Dancing) her last partner (Patrick) is no longer a live and that life changes in an instant. It just hit her. You might be questioning her intentions since Patrick and her did not get a long so well in Red Dawn, but they overcame that in Dirty Dancing and both have/had said they respected one another and their work.
I agree Lisa. Guest, you obviously have never lost someone or you’d never make a cold-hearted statement like that!! Either that, or maybe not everyone has the same “skin” as you do. Opposite of you, I would have found something wrong if Jennifer HADN’T of broke down.
Wow – all the negative comments on Brooke take me by surprise. I thought she did a good job – better than last season, and yes, I watched every episode. She looked a little confused during the Margaret Cho fan wrap moment, but otherwise seemed okay. There were a couple instances where she began to run long and the producers obviously told her to cue to Tom, but I think it was better than last season. As far as Tom goes, he is superb and emmy-worthy, and I think any partner he has will come up short in comparison (with the exception of Cat Deely.)
Heather,
Jamie Lee Curtis nominated herself as the head of the Jennifer Grey fan club (can’t remember on which show she did that…maybe Leno?). That’s why they kept going to her I think.
Courtney,
You know me and my affection for blondes. Just Lacey is NOT a blonde. Although, Anna’s peaked my interest in red heads;-)
Guest,
That’s pretty low to comment on someone’s reaction to a deceased person. Pretty low indeed. Some things are just better left unsaid.
David,
Can you imagine Cat Deeley and Tom Bergeron together? I’d love that. Will never happen, but fun to dream.
Jamie Lee was also sitting with Jennifer’s husband and child, which is probably part of the reason they kept cutting to her. Much like they cut to Eliza Dushku several times.
Poor Tom (and most of the Pros) would look like a midget next to Cat Deeley. Something tells me he wouldn’t care – nor would most of the pros.
WOW- You missed the best cheesecake award that should have gone to Jennifer. Getting Derek to play along with almost tears was just too much. Everybody knows Jennifer hated Patrick Swayze. There was so much fighting on the making dirty dancing. Maybe they made amends years later. It just killed any like I had for Jennifer. Let Derek do his thing which is dancing. I mean their waltz was good.
You really missed the boat on the pros dance to “oye como va”. It’s really the best pro dance I have ever seen on DWTS. Beautifully choreographed to showcase each dancers talents. Filming was great camera was closer to the pros than usual.
Loved it and Corky was the bomb. Don’t often get to see him in a pro dance. There was a big light explosion on part of it. I hope they can do better on that.
Also, did anyone else find the audio to be a mess. Parts of it when Tom was down on the floor sounded like he was talking while being submerged in a barrel.
I agree with you guys on the rest of the cheesecake awards and comments.
Actually, Elizabeth, Jennifer spoke at Patrick’s funeral and his wife Lisa has nothing but very nice things to say about her. I think anyone criticizing her emotions from Monday likely has issues of their own to deal with. I know this is hard for some people to grasp, but people do grow up and get over things – if there were ever really issues to begin with.
As for the pro dances – I thought they were all pretty much crap and Courtney did mention the audio. There have definitely been far better pro dances on this show than any of those.
I won’t harp on the topic Jennifer crying, because I think everyone else has pretty much summed it up well, but I will say this – the Cheesecake Awards are about things both comically good and comically bad, and I don’t see the humor in someone mourning the untimely death of a dear friend. If anything I thought Jennifer’s quite visceral reaction to the song lent a very endearing vulnerability to her performance. And clearly the judges (and most of the voters) weren’t too put off by it – she got the high score of the week, and she didn’t get sent home.
As for “Oye Como Va”, Elizabeth – I think you and I may have been watching two very different dances, because I thought it was the weakest pro dance of the evening. The lighting made it difficult to see the dancers, the sound was off, and it seemed as though the pros were, at times, having trouble even staying in sync – I don’t know if this was intentional (and part of the choreography) or the result of the pros themselves getting thrown off by the different lighting & sound, but I think this could’ve been a great dance…had the staging not been quite so poor.
The people attacking Jennifer for breaking down could not possibly be more wrong. If you want to blame someone, blame the producers for giving them that song. Jennifer is the exact opposite of someone looking to use her emotions to sway people. The producers wanted her to say something tear-jerking in her package (I never got to say goodbye to Patrick, or something similar) but she refused to do it. Also, did you not notice what happened when Brooke asked her “so how emotional was that performance for you?” (rude, IMHO) She smiled and said well it was definitely interesting.
so happy the hoff was sent home. he was disgusting and no one loved him but himself. now if we could only get margret cho and florence henderson to go home, it might be a good show!!!!!!!
If we lost Margaret AND Florence itd be boreing! And if u didnt like The Hoff cause he loved himself im suprised The Sitch aint on your list!! The idiot probably wants to have mirrors installed on his hands! GAWSH!
DANG! Harsh there aint no way the Jennifer hated Patrick those were real tears man! Po thang! If the Cheesecake Awards woulda mocked that i might of stopped visiting this sight! Bad Taste totally! Thankfully Heid, Courtney, etc aint that distastefull! lol
Or what i mean is they aint distastefull in the least bit ( so i wouldnt be tookin in the wrong way! )
@Heather I KNOW RIGHT! Im like whats up with this! Has ABC signed some sorta contract with Activia?!? Buzz was there too!!!! GO BUZZ!
I would not miss Margaret or Florence or Kurt or Bolton or Bristol, or the completely forgettable Audrina.
This is a very weak cast. At least there’s 4 decent dancers and they should last the distance.
Personally i like Tom’s discovery of the wet bar.
Dang, I totally forgot about the web bar.
That Tom. He’s absolutely my second favorite male on that show.