So story week, with the exception of a few cheesetastic moments, wasn’t terrible 🙂 At least not for me. Only a few tears were shed, and I was impressed by just how pretty everyone looked – no totally weird costumes, which means no cheesecake material in the costume department, unfortunatley, but at least they were all nice to look at!
A few overall thoughts on tonight: Len is loco and sometimes scores with his pee-pee; Carrie Ann is still in heat and is scoring with her va-jay-jay more than ever; Petra & Kendra may not be getting enough votes; Ralph & Kirstie may be getting too many votes; annd Tom Bergeron still reigns supreme as king of off-the-cuff humor 😀
1.) Hines & Kym – If I were Ralph or Kirstie, I would be very, very afraid of Hines – because right now, he’s making some pretty tough choreography look like a piece of cake while they’re still struggling. I think that may be his greatest asset – nothing seems hard for him. And of all of the male contestants this season, I think he is the only one that (most of the time) actually leads Kym, rather than her doing a lot of backleading. Now THAT is impressive 🙂 Plus, the guy is always smiling, and seems to really work hard during his practice sessions. I was worried that the samba would be his Achilles heel – negative, ghostrider. He may not have truly killed it like he did with his quickstep last week, but I daresay that was a pretty damn good samba for it only being week 3. Aside from having the highest score, I think the Steelers Nation is still very, very much a force in keeping these two safe – and they may be growing in number, with the amount of Terrible Towels I’m seeing each week 🙂
2.) Ralph & Karina – I could almost tell by the look on Len’s face before he even opened his mouth that he had already chosen Ralph as one of his whipping boys this week. Granted, I don’t think the rumba was Ralph’s best dance (and I do think there were stronger rumbas tonight), but that stodgy old coot Len went all Sugar Ray on him and tore that dance to shreds. *sigh* Honestly, like Sugar Ray’s jive last week, I really don’t think this was that bad – I do think Karina let Ralph down a bit in the choreo department, and Ralph is still doing something funky with his hands and could have infused a bit more passion into the dance, but I don’t think it was 21-worthy. I would have given it at least a 23. My only guess is that maybe Ralph is getting HOARDS of votes, and this is the judges’ not-so-subtle way of trying to level the playing field once more. Dancing in the Pimp Spot certainly won’t hurt him, but I daresay the Team Kamacchio fans will likely vote even harder this week to make up the difference, since he’s dropped a few points since last week.
3.) Kirstie & Maks – My heart just absolutely shattered when I saw these two go down 🙁 I couldn’t really tell what had happened, but at first I was like “Oh no! Poor Kirstie! Did she just lose her balance?” and it wasn’t until later that I saw that it was actually Maks’ leg that had given out – and then I got REALLY worried. Most pros can dance through the pain – if it isn’t too bad. But poor Maks just had “OUCH!” written all over his face. I’m sure every news outlet is going to be replaying that fall tomorrow (ugh), but I have to give the judges and the hosts props for doing their best not to rub it in – I think everyone was really classy about it. And from what I saw of the rumba they did do, I really liked it – it was simple, stripped down, and had a very honest, vulnerable quality to it. Everything I like in a rumba 🙂 Now comes my suspicions: I have to wonder if the judges would have given Kirstie a 21 regardless, because from the looks on their faces when they whipped out those 7 paddles, I got the feeling they had almost planned those scores ahead of time. Kirstie is definitely one of the more popular contestants this season, and I would venture a guess that she’s getting a good share of the votes – maybe this was another opportunity to “level the playing field”. Or not…I could be a bit paranoid 🙂 Either way, I think the GMak fans will vote even harder after the little mishap tonight!
4.) Chris & Cheryl – As some of you may have seen me declare on Twitter “I like Chris more and more each week.” 🙂 And not just because he’s a nice guy that has a softer side – I actually do see improvement in him from week to week. I get the feeling that Chris is putting 110% of himself into doing well. I think this may have been my favorite rumba of the night, and here’s why: Chris was the guy that managed to do more than just stand there while their partner danced around them (ahem, Karina & Chelsie) and was still there for their partner at every moment. Chris still managed to look exciting while standing still, and never took his eyes off Cheryl. Plus there was a vulnerability to him tonight that I absolutely loved 😀 And I know I’ve said it many times before, but I’ll say it again: Chris has a BIG edge in having Cheryl as his partner. I think these two are a lock for at least the semi-final at this point. And I can’t wait to see what he can really do!
5.) Chelsie & Mark – Surprise, surprise – Mark overdanced yet again. But luckily, I think Chelsea is the first partner he’s had that has really been able to keep up in both the energy and the face-pulling department, hehe 😉 This was a cute cha-cha – a bit frantic at times, but cute nonetheless. I’m glad they went for a more traditional cha-cha, despite a more rock-type song. Chelsea still seems like she’s a little afraid to really extend her legs and arms, which is hopefully something that will diminish as the season rolls on. It kinda sucks, but I really don’t have a whole lot more to say about these two. Hopefully that’s not a sign that they’re already becoming forgettable to me :-/
6.) Romeo & Chelsie – AKA, Len’s Whipping Boy #2. Another unwarranted rant from Len…grrrr. Was this rumba perfect? Hell no. But I do think it was an improvement, and was underscored by a point or 2. I liked seeing Romeo more vulnerable and even a bit nervous – the bravado seems to slowly be creeping away, folks. I think Chelsie may have let him down a bit with the choreo, though – this was another instance of the female pro just blantantly dancing circles around their partner. I kinda wish she had involved him a bit more in the dance, like Cheryl did with Chris – but then again, maybe Romeo couldn’t have handled it at this stage of the competition. I’m wondering if Romeo is going to be one of those guys that are better at the ballroom dances, since they aren’t so “frou-frou” and don’t require him to let loose as much. I think these 2 ought to be safe this week, just due to there still being crappier dancers with a dubious fanbase to vote for them…
7.) Kendra & Louis – Ok judges, I give up: what is it that is so damn great about Kendra? Seriously, what is it? Because I’m baffled as to why she’s been overscored 2 weeks in a row now. Yes, the song she danced to was lovely and she looked very nice, but she still looks very wobbly to me, and definitely got off-time a few times in this routine. And she always seemed to have a rather lost expression on her face – like she was looking to Louis for reassurance after each step. The one thing I did like? The did some pretty cool tricks – probably the best of any of the couples tonight…but we all know a good routine is more than just a “hodgepodge of flashy tricks”, as Len would say. I think this may be yet another instance of the judges trying to equalize again – judging from Kendra’s crappy running order positions the past 2 weeks, I’m thinking she’s one of the less popular contestants…and may not be getting the votes TPTB think she should. Hence, a bit of a boost from the judges. She will likely stick around another week or two, but if I were her I would start improving by leaps & bounds if I wanna last longer.
8.) Petra & Dmitry – Can’t decide if the scoring on this one was a) an attempt to make things more equal among the contestants, b) Len following the urges of his loins, or c) collective lunacy on the part of the judges. A 25??? REALLY?!!! No way in HELL this was anywhere near as good as Hines’ samba, with which it tied for highest score (if memory serves…too lazy to look it up right now :-P). I will admit, it has been Petra’s best dance thus far; but she’s still shuffling her feet, missing steps, and “making weird shapes” with her body. And dadgummit, she can’t manage to keep those long legs of hers on the floor when Dmitry does anything that could remotely be construed as a lift? Then again, the Lift Police seems to be too busy enjoying her engagement and scoring with her genitals to notice. Grrrr. I have to wonder if the outrageous score was a byproduct of the field-leveling and it being almost impossible to hate Petra. The woman is an absolute DOLL. But again, I’m wondering if she’s just not getting the votes, and needs a little help from the judges to stick around a bit longer…
9.) Sugar Ray & Anna – You notice I added the “Sugar” back in front of Ray’s name? I can’t resist – this guy is just so damn sweet 🙂 And while the debate on Twitter seems to be between Sugar Ray & Wendy on who’s going home, I will just say this: I got far more enjoyment watching Ray cheese his way through his paso routine tonight than I got from Wendy’s bizarre facial expressions during her foxtrot. Really, I didn’t think his paso was terrible – gimmicky, yes, but it seemed to work in his favor. Poor Ray just seems to move so small – I can’t decide if it’s years of boxing injuries that have limited his mobility or what, but I think he’d be light-years better if he could just move BIGGER. I’m not sure these two have much time left on the show, but I hope they can at least outlast…
10.) Wendy & Tony – I don’t think I need to reiterate any further my disdain for Wendy, so I’ll try to keep this brief: Wendy’s a non-event for me. I think I’d rather watch paint dry/grass grow/water boil/etc. than watch another one of her low-energy, slow-moving dances. This was the 2nd week in a row that her dance felt more like a leisurely stroll across the floor, and she too seemed to get a bit lost if Tony wasn’t in her line of sight. And let’s just say her mannerisms off the floor just irk me. ‘Nuff said. I hope that America gets it right this week and sends her packing…from the look on his face, I think Tony hopes so too 🙁
Alright, my beautiful little monsters, discuss: who’s going home tomorrow night? Who sank and who swam tonight? Did you enjoy storytelling week or hate it? And while you discuss, might I make a suggestion? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to tweet some encouraging words to both Maks & Kirstie…both just looked heartbroken after their dance. If you’re a GMak fan, let them know you care; if you’re not, maybe just send some positive energy their way. Good karma never hurt anyone 😀