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DWTS 14 Week 1 Power Rankings

Ummm, ok – so that was the most lovey-dovey first week of competition I’ve ever seen :-P And while that may seem like a good thing on the surface, keep in mind that the max score that they can give is a 30/30…and they already got disturbingly close to that tonight.  Food for thought.

That said, I have to admit – I don’t think anyone really and truly sucked tonight.  Not everyone was perfect, and there was some definite overscoring going on across the board, but overall, a very impressive effort from everyone.  And they all seem to love each other so freakin’ much :-D Should be interesting to see how things shake out next week!

1.) Jaleel & Kym – No big surprises here – Jaleel could possibly be the most natural mover I’ve ever seen on the show.  Everything he did just oozed with ease – the way he was getting in and out of hold, and transitioning through steps? SUBLIME.  And how he managed to still play to the crowd the whole time??? And stay connected to Kym???! Loved it…loved it…loved it.  But there’s still room for improvement – he seemed a tiny bit rushed at times (a problem a few male celebs seemed to have tonight), and while he never actually got off-time…he came close.  I’ll chalk it up to first week jitters this time, but I do think it’s something he’s going to have to watch in the future.  Overall, I’m very excited about what these two have to offer us this season :-)

NOTE: From here through 10th place, I’m pretty wishy-washy…not confident in my rankings AT ALL.  Be kind ;-)

2.) Gladys & Tristan – No, I absolutely do not think they were the 2nd best dancers of the night, but man – Gladys did about the most adorable cha-cha I think I’ve ever seen on the show :-P The gal can move well…and not just well for a 67-year-old.  She and Tristan both looked like they were having a ton of fun out there, and I was impressed at how well Gladys kept up with Tristan, especially on the open work.   She got a bit wobbly at times, and there were a few moments where I thought her arms and feet got a little wishy-washy, but this was far more than I was expecting out of our lil Empress of Soul! A word of caution to Tristan & Gladys fans, though: you ought to be ok this week, but be prepared to vote your fingers off in the coming weeks.  The “adorable sentimental favorite” factor will likely carry her through next week just fine, but there will come a time when the luster will have worn off the rose and she will either need to start scoring big or getting hoards of votes.  Chaz from last season comes to mind – everyone thought he was so “cute” and “unexpected” after week 1 last season…and then week 2 rolled around and he crashed & burned.  Just a warning ;-) On a side note – LOVED seeing all 3 Pips in the audience, clapping as hard as they possibly could for Gladys.  So sweet. :-) Read more..

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March 19, 2012 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

Filed Under: ABC  Dancing with the Stars  Dancing with the Stars Choreography  Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings  Dancing with the Stars Professionals  Dancing with the Stars Season 14  DWTS  Entertainment  TV  TV News
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DWTS 14 Preliminary Power Rankings, Part II

 Alright kids – so on Tuesday, I counted down my picks for the bottom half of this season, and heard some great feedback from you guys.  Now onto the top half…and my prediction for the winner! :-)

6.) Sherri & Val – Let me remind you guys that these rankings are certainly NOT a ranking of who is and isn’t my favorite, and really just who I think has staying power and who doesn’t.  That said, Sherri gets on my last nerve – and I know I’m not alone.  That right there could be her biggest obstacle this season: just completely turning people off with her loud, in-you-face personality.  I noticed many of you commented that you either put Sherri’s media clips on mute or didn’t watch them at all because Sherri was so annoying – can you imagine if that’s what she’s going to be like every week on DWTS? 8O If she manages to not turn off the viewing audience, she has a big advantage in that she gets more media exposure on a daily basis than any of the other cast members this season – she’s on a popular morning show on a major network.  And what demographic do you think that morning show really caters to? The same middle-aged female demographic that does the bulk of the viewing of DWTS.  Even if she can’t blatantly promote herself on The View for votes on DWTS, just the fact that she’s got daily exposure will keep her fresh in people’s minds.  She also seems to have had some…ahem…”preparation” prior to the start of this season.  She’s definitely moving better than the average celeb with 3 weeks of training already.  Will it really give her an edge in the long run? Probably not a huge one, as I’ve always been of the opinion that a naturally-talented dancer (like Jaleel or Roshon) will always have an easier time picking up dance moves & choreography than a better-prepared celeb that’s not so much of a natural mover. As for her pro – I think the jury’s still out on Val.  I don’t think we really got a good idea of what he’s capable of last season, so I think this time around will be the real test.  There’s also the potential vote splitting in play – that’s another factor that I’m not sure we got to see play out last season.  If both Val & Maks’ partners stick around for awhile, will vote splitting come into play? Could be an interesting variable in the competition.

5.) Donald & Peta – Seeing what I have of Donald in interviews & rehearsals so far, I daresay he might be the most determined celeb this season – he’s talking about reviewing rehearsal tapes, special diets, marathon practice sessions, the works! But the very thing that gives him an edge could also be his downfall: being overly determined.  As paradoxical as it sounds, being too determined can almost be as detrimental as not caring at all – I’ve found that couples who are desperate to win often reach a point where they put too much pressure on themselves and flame out…a good example is Aaron Carter.  Remember the post-rumba meltdown in the confessional? Too much pressure on yourself, dude. I think they can also turn viewers off, too – the stench of desperation is not a pleasant one, and viewers can totally tell when a celeb has stopped having fun and just entered the “wayyyyy too competitive” territory.  However, if he can strike a nice balance between being determined and also just enjoying himself, I think he could be a big force to be reckoned with – of the 3 other NFL players who did the show while they were currently playing for a team, the lowest any of them have placed is 4th.  Perhaps because they’re still in peak physical form? Athleticism has obviously proven to be a huge asset.  Then there’s the famous NFL fanbase – and in this case, he’s got a very unique one backing him: the “cheeseheads”, or Green Bay Packers fans.  A lot of people don’t know this, but the Packers are the only team in the NFL that is non-profit and publicly-owned – meaning that there isn’t some wealthy individual or corporate entity that claims ownership of the team.  As a result, the Packers have remained a very “small town”-type team, with a surprisingly large legion of fiercly loyal fans.  I’ve witnessed it firsthand, as many of the people in my office are originally from Wisconsin and the big talk of Donald waltzing away with the trophy began mere hours after the cast announcement (I actually have an official wager going with our GM…maybe I’ll go into further detail in another post ;-) ).  In short – these are some WICKEDLY DEVOTED fans.  I would even say they could give the Steeler Nation a run for their money.  I’m definitely fascinated to see how it plays out :-) As for Peta…she, like Val, isn’t truly battle-tested, so we may finally get to see what she’s made of this season.  If Donald could strike the right balance of competitiveness & fun, if the cheeseheads can put together an efficient voting effort, and if Peta can create some great routines…these two could be a bit of a dark horse to win. Read more..

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March 16, 2012 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

Filed Under: ABC  Dancing with the Stars  Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings  Dancing with the Stars Professionals  Dancing with the Stars Season 14  DWTS  Entertainment  Reality TV  TV
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DWTS Season 14 Preliminary Power Rankings, Part I

It’s that time again, kids – time for my seasonal preliminary power rankings! For those of you unfamiliar, I do these after each performance show, and it’s basically a measure of how likely a couple is to stay vs. how likely they are to get sent home a particular week – the #1 spot is saved for the couple I think is the safest, and the bottom spot is who I’m predicting to get sent home.  Keep in mind that it is NOT simply a ranking based on scores – how boring would that be? For my rankings, I tend to take into account fanbase, scores, memorability, running order, demographics, the whole shebang.  And for this edition, I’m simply relying on what I know and have seen of the couples thus far – so here’s who I think will be the first to go, all the way up to who I think will make it to the middle of the season.  Enjoy!

12.) Katherine & Mark – I went back and forth over who I thought would be the first to go, but I think that ultimately, these two probably have the greatest hurdles to overcome in order to stick around and I’m not sure they’ve got the juice to do it.  There’s been painfully little media on these two – only the occasional candid tourist shot in London, and no official promo interviews.  The little rehearsal footage we’ve seen hasn’t really told us much, other than the fact that Katherine is probably decent but not fantastic.  And worst of all – Katherine is coming into this competition as a relative unknown, surrounded by quite a few sentimental favorites & big personalities who may be fanbase ringers. If there’s anyone that really & truly needs to be making a big splash right now, it’s Katherine – and we’ve seen next to nothing from her.  As for dance skills, she has the potential to be quite good, given what little concert & rehearsal footage I’ve seen of her.  She does have a natural rhythm, and she’s not terrible to look at – but keep in mind that dance skills really don’t mean sh*t if people aren’t motivated to vote for her.  She has Mark, which I would say is more of an advantage than a disadvantage, given his skill & popularity; however, even Mark is not immune to the dreaded early elimination, as we’ve seen with Kim, Shannen, & Kristin.  Could she blow us all away & have some staying power? Possibly, but she’s got a LOT of catching up to do in order to have a shot at keeping up with juggernauts like Jaleel, Melissa, Sherri, Maria, and Gladys.  And at this point – I’m afraid any exposure she’s gonna get is gonna be too little, too late :-(

11.) Gavin & Karina – I may be seeing things, but I had a bad feeling about this couple from the first time I saw them interact during the cast announcement – it seemed like a very strained, awkward encounter, and it made me seriously question if they were truly a well-matched couple.  Then I heard that Gavin was still going to be touring while doing the show, and I became even more skeptical. Then finally, I saw a video of them rehearsing – and now I’m pretty convinced that they aren’t going to last long.  The biggest issue I see here is commitment – I get the feeling Gavin is really only doing the show to promote his new album, and his true commitment lies not with the show itself, but his tour.  It’s very much like Michael Bolton all over again, for me – a currently touring musician who does a short stint on the show as a bit of self-promotion.  Don’t get me wrong, Gavin seems like a nice guy & all – I just don’t think his heart or his head are 100% in the game.  And with all the “squeezing in” they’ve had to do with their practice time, I’m not sure he’s going to have the skills to improve upon what I consider to be a pretty weak dance background.  Then, of course, you’ve got all the celebs this season who are likely quite a bit more popular than he is – a singer who was arguably more successful & well-known 5 years ago than he is now, vs. a soul legend, an iconic tv character, a well-established actress, and a talk show host with a big mouth? He’s either going to have to be a fabulous dancer from the get-go, or ridiculously charming, or both – because he’s up against some stiff competition for votes.

10.) Martina & Tony – Ok, I know a lot of you have been saying “Oooh, Martina’s gonna be so fierce this season! She was fierce on the tennis court!”, but I’m not quite sold on the idea that her talent on the court is going to translate seamlessly into success on DWTS.  A great work ethic is always an asset, but I think Martina is going to struggle quite a bit with the performance aspect of the show – in the few videos I’ve seen of her, she has an almost “zen” quality to her: very calm, collected, resolute, and confident.  But calm, collected, resolute, and confident are not exactly what you need when you’re doing the jive and should generally be acting like a cartoon character :-) And while I do praise her focus and “zen-ness”, the fact that Tony has a track record of having partners that tend to blend into the woodwork is a bit worrisome – if Martina doesn’t come out with both great & memorable dancing, I think she could be gone quicker than we expect.  I also wonder if she might be splitting votes with someone like Jaleel or Melissa, who were at the height of their fame at roughly the same time Martina was.  It seems like it could be a battle of the pop culture icons.  I think she has the potential to be a pretty good dancer, but a lot of it will hinge upon the choreography she’s given…and the impact she makes.. Read more..

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March 13, 2012 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

Filed Under: ABC  Dancing with the Stars  Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings  Dancing with the Stars Professionals  Dancing with the Stars Season 14  Dancing with the Stars Season 8  DWTS  Entertainment  Reality TV  TV
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DWTS13 Finale Week Power Rankings – Who Will Win?

Gotta say – going into tonight, I couldn’t recall a time I was THIS EXCITED to see a finale since maybe season 10.  Nor have I ever felt this invested in the outcome of a season of the show as I am in this one…seriously guys, I might lose my faith in humanity if JR does not win.  Fair warning. ;-)

Anywho – as much as I hoped this would be a good, clean, honest finale, there unfortunately seemed to be some shady business afoot.  DEFINITE overscoring, and I think you all know who I’m referring to.  Overall, the “last unlearned dance” round was pretty underwhelming & lackluster, and the freestyle round only slightly made up for it for me.  But let’s get on with it, shall we? Gonna do things a little differently tonight – I’m gonna start with 3rd place and work my way up to the winner, and I’m going to try to guesstimate how things are going to pan out tomorrow night.

3rd place: Rob & Cheryl

As much as Rob may have endeared himself to me this season, methinks he wasn’t as good as his scores would lead us to believe this evening.  The waltz was pleasant – if not a bit goofy.  That whole “run towards one another and I’ll run around Cheryl as she spins” move made me chuckle a bit…my mom busted out laughing, and said “It looks like he’s going around the Maypole!” And I had to laugh too – because that’s exactly what it looked like.  :-P Some footwork & timing issues as well, but overall I wouldn’t say it was painful to watch…just…goofy. :-) Now the freestyle.  *sigh* I liked the idea of it, I really did.  And I thought it was smart of Cheryl to go with something that seemed to play on Rob’s strengths.  But that was by no means a 30-worthy routine.  Seemed like Cheryl did most of the tough stuff (it was like Gilles’ freestyle all over again), and it just took too long to really go anywhere.  Rob did the best he could with what he was given – little imp.  Got a bit scared when he was spinning around with Cheryl on his shoulders, though – thought I was gonna have to use my physics minor to calculate tangential velocity as she flew across the room.  I think Rob really likes going around in circles, hehe. Cute idea &  choreography – but it was just lacking in content for me, and I don’t think I’m completely alone.  So why, then, did the judges give it a 30? *shrugs* Who knows.  Part of me thinks they might be trying to shake up the top 2 by displacing Ricki or JR; part of me thinks this could have been a strange strategy for spurring Ricki & JR fans to vote even harder.  I honestly can’t give you a theory that’s 100% sound or reasonable.  But I am gonna put my faith in humanity (god help me) and say that Rob will probably get 3rd in the favorite dance round tomorrow, and won’t get the points to overcome JR or Ricki.  But it’s been nice seeing Rob evolve from kind of a douchebaggy guy to a goofy but kinda lovable guy that managed to emerge from the shadow of his harpies-er, sisters. ;-) Read more..

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November 21, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

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DWTS13 Week 9 Power Rankings

So I’m guessing the judges either got laid or did shots in between JR’s paso and Rob’s samba, because they rather inexplicably got very generous very quickly with the points 8O Definite overscoring of some parties going on tonight, although I don’t think there was so much underscoring – I thought most of the scores were right-on or kinda cushy. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, tonight’s episode of DWTS was brought to you by the reused song (if I remember correctly, all but the pasos and the cha-cha relay song were repeats) and patterned tights :-P

1.) Ricki & Derek – Ricki was (quite literally, in her samba costume) the judges’ golden girl tonight, and managed to deliver 3 very clean, well-executed dances.  Can’t say that the choreo in any of the 3 was particularly genius, but I think Derek was probably smart to keep the steps much simpler than the usual fare we see from him. Ricki’s been struggling the past few weeks, and I think it was wise to give her simple choreo that she could do well than really try to wow the judges with complex stuff.  Their samba was cute, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much content it had – I think samba is my least favorite dance on DWTS, and even Derek’s choreo doesn’t usually impress me because he seems to do a lot of side-by-side, open work as opposed to real samba steps.  But this actually had plenty of real samba! I liked the mood & execution of their Argentine tango, but felt a little let down by the choreo – again, I guess I’m just used to seeing dynamite A. tangos from Derek, so this felt a little…light.  Their cha-cha, too, was rather simple; but compared to Hope & JR, who both looked rather sloppy to me, Ricki’s clean-and-simple cha-cha really worked tonight.  Thankfully, there is a pretty good-sized points margin tonight, which should keep these two safe at the top of the leaderboard.  And I’m glad – I think they very much deserve a spot in the finale.  However, I don’t think they’re going to be able to go with “clean & simple” next week – with Rob busting major moves and JR likely on the road to recovery, they’re going to need to stand out.

2.) Rob & Cheryl – Gotta agree with some of you that the judges made it pretty clear tonight that they REALLY want Rob in the finale.  Some definite overscoring going on here – his samba, while cute, energetic, and much better than I was expecting out of him, was just  not 27-worthy.  25? Maybe.  But I LOVED that he looked like he was having so much fun out there! I also give him an E for effort, for attempting a barrel roll – it was stiff, but he gave it the ol’ USC try.  I was a bit more torn on his A. tango – it’s a dance that definitely seems to suit him well, and he was a good leading man with clean footwork.  But I don’t think he had as much content as JR, and was maybe not quite as invested as JR, either.  I will say that I think he probably had the best combination of content & execution in his cha-cha – Ricki may have had the better technique, but I think her choreo was bound to look a bit simple & boring next to some of the flashier stuff Cheryl gave Rob.  In the end, though, overscoring or not – I do think Rob belongs in the finale, based on his dancing.  He’s still somewhat lacking in the performance department for me, so he’ll really need to hone in on that if he makes it through to next week – and I think he will, given the margin of points.

3.) JR & Karina – I really felt bad for JR tonight – he seemed like he was in a good deal of pain after each dance, and I do think it negatively affected his performances.  I’m afraid I set my hopes too high for his paso – I was so excited about him having that song, that I felt a bit let down when he really didn’t knock it out of the park.  He wasn’t 100% in the dance like he usually is, and I gotta say – the choreo felt a bit repetitive to me, too.  LOVED his Argentine tango – I do have to credit Karina with not going too easy on him due to his injury.  She gave him a lot of difficult footwork and lifts to do, and I think of the 4 A. tangos tonight, his probably had the highest level of difficulty and the most content.  And he handled it well, for the most part – caught him wincing in pain a few times, but he still managed to give a pretty damn good performance.  It was just sooo fluid – where Rob & Hope seemed to have a few stops and stutters in between steps, JR didn’t.  His cha-cha was just ok – I think by that point, he had soldiered through about as much pain as he could have, and was just tired.  It seemed a little stiff, but again, I’m thinking that had more to do with his ankle than any lack of ability in the cha-cha.  If he can knock the samba out of the park, he can handle the cha-cha, no problem.  When it comes down to it, I definitely think JR belongs in the finale – he’s been consistently good all season long, yet has still managed to improve a bit each week as well.  Knock on wood, I think his fans alone will keep him safe this week, and he may also get a few sympathy votes due to what looked like a pretty painful injury.  His biggest hurdle heading into the finale will simply be healing – right now, his injury seems to be the most inhibiting of the remaining contestants.  Hopefully this is something that he can shake in the next 24-48 hours!

4.) Hope & Maks – Well, tonight was unfortunatley an example of how overscoring a couple earlier in the competition can lead to a rude awakening later on when the judges decide to get serious.  Hope stuck out like a sore thumb for me tonight – all 3 of her dances paled in comparison to those of the other 3 remaining contestants.  Her paso doble seemed to take forever to get started, and once she started moving, she seemed to get wobbly in her turns and ended up on the floor for several counts while Maks danced around her…again.  Did it feel like the team paso all over again to anyone else? Her Argentine tango was a bit better than I expected, but man – those KNEES. They’re always bent, even when she’s mid-lift! At one point, my mom even asked “Are her legs supposed to look like that?” If she had been doing a lindy or a jitterbug, it could have looked cool and flapper-esque; but in her tango, it just looked awkward.  I thought she made a decent effort in her cha-cha, but once again, it looked like she powered through it so hard that it looked awkward – those arms could be lethal weapons, the way she flings them out when she finishes a turn! I think the judges were spot-on in scoring her – I have to think to myself “What score would this have gotten at an earlier stage in the competition?” Part of the problem a year ago with Bristol was that I think she thought by making it to the semifinals & finals, she automatically deserved to be getting 9′s & 10′s…and I’m of the opinion that just because it’s the semifinals, does not mean the judges should just be throwing up the 9 & 10 paddles left & right. If it’s deserved? Absolutely.  But just because it’s a certain phase of the competition? No. Sorry Hope fans, but up against the 3 other couples tonight – Hope looked pretty amateurish to me, and it will only get worse in the finale.  She simply has not improved enough in 9 weeks to deserve a spot in the finale, IMO.  I want a finale that’s going to be as entertaining & competitive as possible – and for me, that’s going to be best achieved with Ricki, JR, & Rob as the finalists.

So we’re one step closer to the finale!!! Who do you guys want to see advancing this week? Who should go home? And is anyone else as excited about the Muppets as I am??? :-D

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November 14, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

Filed Under: Dancing with the Stars  Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings  Dancing with the Stars Professionals  Dancing with the Stars Season 13  DWTS  Entertainment  Reality TV  TV
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DWTS13 Week 8 Power Rankings

Let me just get it off my chest first: the judges are on crack.  Plain & simple.  And sometimes, I like the kind of crack they’re smoking…other times, I don’t.  Tonight was a bit of both.

I don’t think the instant jive really benefited anyone except JR, and even though everyone else really struggled, I don’t think it really & truly screwed anyone except Nancy - but then again, the judges seemed hellbent on screwing her over after scoring her first dance, so I can’t really say I was surprised.  Oh well…on with it…

1.) JR & Karina – I’m sure many of you saw me gushing about these two on Twitter, and I have to say – both of their routines were my favorites of the night, as they were both good dances with great entertainment value.  In fact, JR’s jive may have overtaken Kyle’s as my favorite instant dance ever. But I’m actually in agreement with a lot of you that they were not exactly worthy of not one, but TWO perfect 30′s.  I think I saw a few timing issues in his waltz where his footwork got a bit wonky, and his jive felt a bit disjointed in a few spots -  for which I’m actually going to blame Karina’s choreographic strategy, since the whole “choreograph in pieces and then put them together” method runs the risk of there not being enough transitions between sections.  However, I will say this: with all of the overscoring going on tonight, is it really all that surprising that someone got a perfect score? I mean, if they’re suddenly giving Hope (who has gotten in the neighborhood of 24′s for most of the season) a 27, it kinda sets the bar high – not to say that it’s right or fair, but it does put them in the sticky situation of having to then go even higher on dances that are better…and I would daresay that JR & Karina were head & shoulders above Hope & Maks in both dances, so I guess 60 just doesn’t feel totally outrageous to me.  Aaaaaanywho…since they really seem to have given another couple their walking papers, I think JR & Karina oughta be safe…for now.  I’m fulling expecting backlash next week, so I’m warming up my voting finger!

2.) Hope & Maks – This is the portion of my post where I remind everyone that the power rankings are not my opinion of who did the best or who I like the most ;-) , but who I think has the most staying power.  And this week, Hope & Maks seem to have quite a bit of staying power, with the scores they got. While her quickstep was a vast improvement from previous weeks (I still say her foxtrot was her best dance, though), I firmly believe that Hope deserved at least 2 points less than Rob, for the simple reason that Rob had the more difficult choreo and I thought he handled it more fluidly and with more skill than Hope did with her routine.  I think 25 was probably about right for her jive, and it was a pleasant surprise to see her staying on-time and actually having fun – but man, she still looks like she just muscling her way through it.  The catch-22 of jive is that it IS difficult & high-energy, but a well-done jive is supposed to look effortless & kinda “springy”.  Hope looked like she was about to go all Bruce Lee on someone, with the force with which she was doing those flicks! Take it with a grain of salt, but compared to a very similar side-by-side section in JR & Karina’s routine, Hope looks amateurish, with the way she’s kicking her legs out with such force.  But enough technique for now.  I know there’s still quite a bit of buzz about these 2 after last week, so I daresay they’ll live to dance another week.  Read more..

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November 7, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

Filed Under: ABC  Dancing with the Stars  Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings  Dancing with the Stars Season 13  DWTS  Entertainment  Reality TV  TV
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DWTS13 Week 7 Power Rankings

Well kids, I’m afraid tonight was a prime example of how theme nights can really sabotage some (or most) of the couples – because I feel that almost every single couple was negatively impacted by their song assignments this week.  Yes, it was kinda “fun” to have a Halloween week – but making the dancing suffer in order to fit theme? No thank you. But praise Jeebus, this week was the final theme week of the season – back to business as usual next week! Well, about as “as usual” as you can get when you’re thisclose to the finale ;-)

Thoughts on the team dances: I agree that team paso had the stronger routine of the two, however – I don’t think team tango was as terrible as everyone seemed to think it was.  I think team tango was indeed better in their group sections – everyone managed to stay very in-synch, although there were a few spacing issues; team paso seemed a bit less in-synch when all 3 couples were on the floor at the same time, and it almost seemed like they tried to avoid a lot of synchronized work, which was probably a good idea.  I was also a bit bothered by the fact that team paso seemed to have quite a few spots of what I like to call “empty space” in their dance – moments where, due to the phrasing of the music, they seemed like they were just waiting or stalling until the next accent or big move.  I think team paso better captured the aggressive, haunting feel of both their music and their dance, but probably had the song with the more difficult rhythm; team tango had the song with the easier rhythm, but probably suffered due to the fact that it lacked a lot of the theatricality necessary for the tango.  Team paso was leaps & bounds stronger in the individual sections – Ricki & Derek were their usual showstopping selves, Hope managed to keep up (although I could have done without such a long count of her on the floor while Maks kinda danced around her), and oh man – ROB.  Rob was the MVP of team paso for me - he impressed the hell out of me with the way he kept up not only with Cheryl, but with Maks & Derek as well.  I was shocked at how much better JR looked dancing the tango with his team than he did individually – guess it’s a testament to how a bad song can throw even the best dancers off their game.  David seemed a bit wobbly, but was still looked decent to me; Nancy was clearly the weakest member of team tango, but man – she was out there giving it her all.  Overall, I think the scoring was about right, and likely won’t cause a huge upset when all is said & done tomorrow night.

1.) Ricki & Derek – Alone at the top of the leaderboard once again, and she thankfully did pretty well on a night where everyone seemed to have a bit of a slump.  I must say, I wasn’t completely wowed by her paso; I could kinda tell she wasn’t dancing full-out and seemed to be babying her rib, which I can’t really fault her for – I’ve bruised a couple ribs in the past and was in so much pain I could have sworn that I had collapsed a lung.  I think Derek probably went a bit easier on her with the choreo as well, as it wasn’t exactly the same level of paso genius I’ve come to expect from him.  But once again, when you’re working with a theme like Halloween – you’re kinda forced into thinking inside the box, because they’re expecting something spooky/scary/eerie/etc, and they want to see Halloween archetypes like werewolves, vampires, ghosts, etc.  Add an injured partner on top of that, and you’re pretty limited in what you can do.  Overall, though, a nice effort with a pretty good payoff for these two – I think it will be enough to keep them safe tomorrow night. Read more..

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October 31, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

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DWTS13 Week 6 Power Rankings

Wish I could say I had a blast watching the show tonight, but unfortunately, I found myself counting down the minutes until it was over :-( With the exception of a few bright spots,  I was left with an overall feeling of “meh” tonight, and there were a few cringeworthy moments.  But I will say this: I commend all of the stars tonight for actually looking like they had FUN :-) Seriously, it seemed like every single one of them enjoyed themselves out on the floor, even if things weren’t so rosy off the floor.

Thoughts on the group dance: First off, a shout-out to Amanda, a fellow Blockhead who reminded me that Kevin Maher, the guy who choreographed the group routine, has also worked with NKOTB, namely choreographing their video to “Single”.  Instant points in my book :-) Anywho! I think I enjoyed this dance more than any of the other group dances in the past, for the simple reason that it felt more theatrical and also less-obviously structured – the ones in the past have always driven me nuts with the whole “Ok we’re dancing as a group, in unison – now here’s this couple doing a solo bit, and then this couple, now this couple, etc etc etc”.  Nancy stood out for me – loved that she seemed to be having a ball.  But really – how could any dance go wrong with Carson as the creative director? ;-)

1.)    TIE: Ricki & Derek and JR & Karina – Obviously they’re tied in terms of score, but there were specific things I enjoyed about each performance.  I thought Ricki & Derek’s was a bit cleaner and better-executed, but I thought JR & Karina had the more eye-catching, theatrical choreography.  Loved Ricki’s fearlessness in just attacking the dance head-on; loved JR’s fun-loving, energetic attitude.  I really love both of these couples, and I’d be fine with either winning…although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pulling for JR a bit ;-) I think it would take some pretty eye-popping voting going on by fans of the other couples to topple either one of these couples this week, but Martinoff & Drickilous fans beware: the judges could try to pull the ol’ storyboarding act in the weeks to come in order to keep things “interesting”, and it could be to the detriment of one of them.  Keep voting!!!!

3.) Nancy & Tristan – FINALLY! We get a routine out of these two that’s equal parts meat-and-potatoes choreo and carefree fun :-) Definitely the cutest, most upbeat routine of the night – and Heidi got her Spamalot! wish! :-D It was the most relaxed and uninhibited I’ve seen Nancy, and I loved it.  Loved the little hop-steps Tristan threw in – a nice, very Monty Python touch.  I’m glad these two were finally able to get out of the funk they’ve been in the past few weeks.  I’m thinking they’re probably going to be safe, given that they’ve had a breakthrough week and got a comparatively good score.  Read more..

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October 24, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

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DWTS13 Week 5 Power Rankings

COWABUNGA!!! I don’t know about you guys, but I sure had fun during 80s night 8) I love how it brought out the fun side in all of the couples.  Plus it felt like I was listening to the 80s mix on my iPod.  Always a plus ;-)

Can’t say I’m terribly surprised at how things stacked up tonight, although I hope that the voting does help a few couples who I’m not quite ready to let go of yet.  Gotta say – song selection tonight really seemed to trip some up and help others out.  Hope it’s not the final nail in the coffin for a few couples!

1.) JR & Karina – I definitely breathed an audible sigh of relief about 15 seconds into this dance when I realized that JR was gonna slay it, instead of going down in flames like I thought he would with that wretched song :-P It was one of the better sambas I’ve seen on the show – JR managed to cut loose and really get his hips working in a way that most celebs attempting the samba can’t.  The bounce wasn’t quite there, but he more than made up for it in sheer energy & fun.  The dude even managed to do SEVERAL samba rolls in a row! Quite a feat, considering my bf doesn’t even like to do them in competition…let alone teach them to newbies.  And best of all – it was nice to finally see him getting proper credit from the judges, both in comments and in critiques. No wishy-washy “8″ paddles, no “Well, it was pretty good, BUT-”…just a sincere, “Well done, JR!” Considering the kinda crazy points spread tonight, I think the likelihood of them being in danger is about the same as Len doing the Safety Dance tomorrow night ;-)

2.) Ricki & Derek – Wish I could say these two conquered their crummy song the same way JR did, but unfortunately Heidi & I’s qualms about “Easy Lover” as a foxtrot weren’t unfounded – this dance felt awkward & disjointed, although not necessarily terrible in the technique department.  The judges were right about one thing – the parts in hold were actually quite lovely, and were indeed a proper foxtrot.  The parts not in hold weren’t quite so lovely, but in the same token, why harp on someone for doing the Roger Rabbit if it’s freakin’ 80s week? It’s not like they did it for a very long time, and I felt like it was in the character of the dance, with the “80s prom” kinda theme it had going on.  It’s the same beef I had with the judges last season when they ripped apart Ralph’s “Sweet Home Alabama” samba – honestly, what did you expect them to do, given the song & the theme? *sigh* Whatever…I kind of expected them to manipulate things so that Ricki had an “off” week, so I can’t say I’m shocked and awed.  Just annoyed, as usual :-) I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re completely safe (the points spread this week is looking pretty precarious…), but I will say that I think there are couples more LIKELY to head home.  Besides, they might benefit from a bit of rage-driven power voting this week, since the judges decided to be asshats :-P   Read more..

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October 17, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

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DWTS13 Week 4 Power Rankings

To begin, I’d like to thank the judges for screwing themselves, the couples, and us for starting the evening off being far too kind with their scores for Chynna – and thus throwing a wrench into tonight’s scoring, which was downright wacky. Seriously – on a night that had the potential to be reeeally good, the judges managed to turn everything into an absolute joke with some of their feedback. Thanks, stooges.

Aside from that nonsense, I actually thought everyone (with the exception of maybe Chynna) did pretty damn well.  Was it cheesy? Of course.  But that was half the fun of it ;-) As for my rankings, though – aside from my top 3, I have absolutely no effin’ clue who will go home.  Literally, I’ve been staring at the scores and my notes for 15 minutes and I’ve changed my mind about 15 times.  Thus I’d like to claim a rather large margin of error :-P

1.) Ricki & Derek – Ok, I will admit – I don’t think this tango was 10-worthy.  9-worthy? Definitely.  But I guess on a night like tonight, with the bar set so low by Chynna and the judges clearly adjusting their scoring to compensate – I can SORT OF understand how they ended up with a 29.  Doesn’t mean I think it’s right :-) Technique-wise, I do think this was the performance of the night – this was so damn CLEAN.  Performance-wise…I don’t think it was Ricki or Derek’s best dance, but I do kind of appreciate that they didn’t go the over-the-top, full-on cray-cray route in trying to embody the theme of Psycho.  The silhouette part at the beginning & end was a subtle, visually-striking homage to the movie.  With the points spread being so vast, and with the judges making it quite clear who their favorite is…I think I’ve got a better chance of firing a pistol into the night sky in fury and somehow hitting Carrie Ann in LA than these two do of going home.

2.) JR & Karina – I give up.  What is the judges’ problem with JR??? Seriously – the dude is probably the most likeable guy in the universe.  I’m talking basket-full-of-puppies likeable. Aaaaad…*drumroll please*…the dude can actually dance, too.  And look like he’s having a good time doing it! I’m baffled as to why it pains them so much to praise him, let alone score him properly.  I’m getting this bad feeling that if the judges don’t shape up, JR could be Ralph all over again.  Let’s hope I’m just being paranoid 8O I actually thought this dance was strong in technique, entertainment, and theme – it stayed true to the theme without being over-the-top, much like Ricki & Derek’s tango.  Not sure what Carrie Ann was smoking when she said it “didn’t need to be funny” – clearly that bimbo hasn’t seen The Pink Panther.  What, was she expecting a repeat of his heart-wrenching rumba last week? SMH.  AAAANYWHOOOO…they got the pimp spot and the 2nd highest score of the night, and I can’t imagine there aren’t some fans that are as angry as I am who are voting their fingers off right now in protest.  I look forward to these two making CAI eat her words next week…and I hope she chokes on them. Read more..

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October 10, 2011 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donny Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night".

Filed Under: ABC  Dancing with the Stars  Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings  Dancing with the Stars Season 13  DWTS  Entertainment  Reality TV  TV
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