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DWTS 15 All-Stars: The Great “Previous Dance Experience” Debate – Bristol Palin Edition

We’re mere days away from the premiere of the all-star season – who’s getting pumped??? 🙂 I find myself surprisingly excited about it, given that I was feeling pretty ho-hum about it only a few months back.  Be sure to keep a close eye on Heidi’s “Who’s Dancing What” post – you never know when someone’s cha-cha song or dance order or phone number might pop up 😉 #justsayin

Anywho, if you’re feeling nostalgic, you can view all of the previous editions of this series here.  Now buckle in, kids, because I’m about to tackle the ups and downs (but mainly just downs…) of the most polarizing contestant in DWTS history: Bristol Palin.

For Bristol’s best dance, I picked her tango:

As her worst dance, what else could I pick but that god-awful monkey suit jive?:

Ok, I will admit that Bristol is not the worst dancer we’ve ever seen on the show (I think’s a dubious honor reserved for Master P, with Kate Gosselin as the runner-up).  On the contrary, I actually thought she was relatively good the first few weeks of the competition – I even threw a few votes her way in week 1.  I think what ended up getting to me as the season wore on, though, was the fact that all the other contestants seemed to be improving by leaps & bounds…while Bristol just seemed to barely muddle through some of the dances, and hit a bit of a plateau in terms of improvement.  To add insult to injury, we were losing MUCH better dancers each week that Bristol remained – and by the time the finale rolled around, Bristol seemed to have developed a sense of entitlement, and copped an attitude when she wasn’t getting the 9’s and 10’s she felt she deserved.  In the end, she just left a bad taste in my mouth, even if some of her dancing really wasn’t all that bad.  SOME.  🙂 In rewatching a lot of Bristol’s dances, I noticed that she tended to do MUCH better when she was able to stay in-hold for the bulk of it – so most of the ballroom dances she did went quite a bit more smoothly than the Latin ones.  I don’t know if Mark holding onto her and leading her so directly helped improve her confidence or what, but she moved a lot more cleanly & clearly in dances like the tango – no missed steps, she stayed on time, and had pretty good posture.  And I blame Mark for the silly air guitar break in the middle 😛

On the other hand, in dances where she had to separate from Mark and do some of the dance on her own, she either barely muddled through or seemed to fall apart completely – case in point? The dreaded monkey suit jive.  Right off the bat, she seemed to blank on a good 10-15 seconds of side-by-side jive choreo.  Then, once the suit came off (and even that was pretty rough), she never seemed to get 100% into the groove of the dance, and always seemed like she was 1 step behind or ahead of Mark.  And although we kind of expected it, based on her complete lack of experience in performing, Bristol wasn’t exactly the best at connecting with the character of a dance – and when she didn’t know what to do, she seemed to resort to an expression that reminded her of back home in Alaska: deer in the rifle sights 😉 Maybe this time around, she’ll be a bit more comfortable and will be able to let loose and have fun.  Or not…who knows.  I’m still of the opinion that she likely won’t last past the midpoint of the competition, this time around – she’s up against much better dancers with much bigger fanbases, and I daresay she’s lost a bit of that “single teen mom” appeal she had 2 years ago.  Will be interesting to see what Mark is able to conjure up…

Court’s verdict: Probably the weakest all-around performer/dancer this season, and Mark needs to work on getting her performance value up to snuff…as well as making sure she knows her choreography and is confident enough to not forget it.  She should probably also work on her media presence – she needs to be as likeable as possible if she wants to stand a chance against some of the more popular contestants.

Thoughts on Bristol?

September 21, 2012 I Written By

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

DWTS “Who Wore it Better?” – The Pre-Season 15 All-Star Edition, Part I!

This season, we opted to do things a bit differently – as we have with just about every other regular feature we do each season, since the format is a bit wacky, to say the least 😛 First, we’ve divided WWIB into two parts – mainly to accomodate the fact that Kirstie & Maks’ and the 13th couple’s (who we now know to be Sabrina & Louis) promo photos have yet to be released, but also to buy us some time for the labor-intensive task of finding good pictures for some of these 🙂 Secondly, we’ve included the couples’ promo photos from their original seasons for comparison as well.  But as always, we’ve offered up our usual snark commentary on each of the costumes, for your enjoyment 😎

Battle of the turquoise & black lace corset dress/Kelly & Alec vs. Kelly & Val:  Kelly & Alec’s season 1 promo pic vs. Kelly & Val’s season 15 promo pic vs. Edyta in the season 9 pro tango demo

Courtney: The Iceman cometh! Wow, even Alec’s promo pic screams “I have no emotions” to me.  And while Kelly is a bit better, I still wish she’d actually smile in her promo pics – the whole “smoldery non-smile” she does just seems like she’s trying too hard to me.  And I’m probably the only one that feels this way, judging from some of everyone’s initial comments on the promo photos, but I’m not really all that wild about Kelly & Val’s pic…you’ll see I’m not much of a fan of the couples that went the “smoldery” route with their promo pix.  As for the costume itself – gotta go with Edyta on this one.  Granted, it’s hard to hold a candle to Edyta in pretty much ANY costume, but I think I like it better with a lace skirt, as opposed to a fringed one.  And while I was cursing under my breath while putting this edition together about how BAD some of the costumes have gotten since Randall left, I thank my lucky stars we’re not still stuck with Designs to Shine, who costumed the first season. Can we say “tacky”? 😯

Heidi: Val sez, “You…are sooo sexy.” To which Kelly sez, “You are sexy, but I am sleeping with my cousin’s best friend’s husband’s brother and am simply toying with you as a cover to hide our true looove….” That is my long winded way of saying, Kelly is a soap actress…they only do smolder.  Sometimes well, sometimes not – and Val is a huge step up from Alec in terms of emotion and Kelly has evolved to smoldering with her mouth *closed*. 🙂 The dress you ask? I go with Edyta sans fishnets.  Although I think it’s cuter in the shorter length.

The verdict: Just say no to soap opera smolder.  Read more..

August 28, 2012 I Written By

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

Court’s DWTS Las Vegas Adventure (Live Show Review & Other Miscellanery)

As many of you know, I was in Las Vegas last weekend and had the pleasure of seeing the DWTS live show at the Tropicana – which, of course, I will review for you guys, since certain other individuals *cough*JOHN*cough* haven’t managed to write the 2nd half of their review of the premiere of said show 😉 This post could get a bit wordy, as I took quite a few notes (and just have a really good memory, to boot) and I’ll throw in a few other possibly-unrelated-to-DWTS details for context, as well as some general Vegas info, since some of you have asked about my trip – so if you’re only interested in my review of the show, feel free to skip the next few paragraphs.  And if you hate spoilers (i.e. you want to be COMPLETELY surprised when you see the show), I’d either just skip this post altogether or just read my overall take at the bottom – because I’m not holding back.  You’ve been warned 😉 And special thanks go to Heidi, for helpin’ a girl out with some picture merges that were driving me cray-cray 😛

So why was I in Vegas in the first place, you ask? My best friend Kendra is getting married at the end of July, and she wanted a bachelorette party for the ages – so naturally, we HAD to go Vegas 🙂 There were 12 of us altogether (11 rowdy bachelorettes and 1 gay bachelor, who I must say put us all to shame with how fabulously he was dressed the entire trip ;-)), and the majority of us stayed at the Flamingo, since we were able to get a great rate on standard rooms – with 4 girls to a room, it was only $82 total for each of us for 3 nights, which is pretty awesome for a well-known hotel on the strip that isn’t a total dive.  Overall, I wouldn’t say the Flamingo is a particularly special or ritzy hotel (if that’s what you’re looking for, I’d go with the Bellagio, Palazzo, or Venetian…but be prepared to shell out big $$$), but if you’re on a budget, it’s certainly more than sufficient – the rooms are clean and the decor is kitchy & cute (think 1960’s, Rat Pack, original Ocean’s Eleven – lots of dots, stripes, retro furniture, and of course, pink :-)).  I’m very into the nostalgia of Vegas, so the Flamingo appealed to me in that it was originally built by infamous mobster Bugsy Siegel, and legend has it that the actual motive behind his murder was to change the management of the Flamingo.  But anyway – if you’re in Vegas, I definitely recommend trying their Paradise Garden Buffet – it’s pretty affordable, as far as buffets in Vegas go, and is quite good…especially the brunch buffet.  Plus the views of their courtyard and flock of live flamingoes are gorgeous 🙂 Also at the Flamingo? Donny & Marie Osmond’s live show – I didn’t see it (no time, and honestly, not much of a desire), but I did see these in the lobby:

The one on the left is Donny’s costume from his freestyle with Kym in season 9, as well as his MBT (and yes, according to the guest services director that I asked, it is his real MBT – apparently he insisted it be put in the case with his costume); the one on the right is Marie’s dress from her quickstep with Jonathan in season 5 (and one of those freaky dolls she designs – guess they had to put SOMETHING there when they found out that Donny wanted to display his MBT, although I’m not sure why they didn’t display this doll instead).  I found Marie’s costume pretty unremarkable up close – for as fabulous as it looked on the show, upon further scrutiny, it’s really just a tan silk gown with some gems glued on; but Donny’s suit is very well-made and clearly took a lot of work.  Interesting how different the costumes look on tv vs. in person (more on that later). Read more..

May 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, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

DWTS13 Freestyle Retrospective: The Top 10 Best Freestyles in DWTS History

So the other day, we counted down the top 10 worst freestyles in DWTS history, and re-lived some of the biggest stinkers we’ve seen in 12 seasons. Today we’ve saved the best for last: the showstoppers, the jaw-droppers, and the dynamite freestyles that have set the bar for all the freestyles to follow. 🙂

Some patterns we’ve noticed: most of these routines are high-energy, use recognizable songs, and have either a theme or a general “feel” for the celebs to connect to. It’s a pattern that seems to work – let’s hope this season’s finalists stick to it!

Heidi’s Note: You’ll also note that you have a better shot of making this list if your name if Johnson, Hough, or Ballas.  Possibly Schwimmer – she’s one for two, isn’t she??

10. Kyle Massey & Lacey Schwimmer, season 11

Courtney: This is a good example of a hip-hop freestyle actually working out well – basically the polar opposite of Lacey’s ill-fated hip-hop freestyle with Lance. This time around, the song & theme fit her partner to a T – Kyle LOVED “Tootsie Roll”, and it really showed. Now while the choreo wasn’t really all that complicated, it was the fact that Kyle just milked each step for all its worth that really made it fun – I swear, I think the only more charismatic contestant to ever do the show is Carson. 😛 Kyle had swaaaaaag, and was a true showman…and it didn’t hurt that he wasn’t too shabby a dancer, either.

Heidi: The thing that made this work was that it fit Kyle to a tee and he LOVED it. He was having the time of his life and he had the skills to pull off a hip hop routine. You combine that with some pretty clever choreography and you have a brilliant freestyle. He’d be much farther up on my list…but this is surprisingly hard to come up with and putting them in order? Impossible! Anyway, when I stand up off the couch and cheer, you know it’s good. And this one was also FUN in all caps. 🙂 Read more..

November 19, 2011 I Written By

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

DWTS13 Who Danced it Better? The “Most Memorable Year” Edition

As many of you may have noticed, costumes aren’t the only things that get reused on DWTS – songs get recycled as well, sometimes ad infinitum! After oodles of requests from you guys for a feature like this, I’ve finally carved out the time to sit down and make it happen 🙂 Marianya actually used to do these posts awhile back – if you go to the search bar and type in “dance comparison”, you’ll see several editions she did for season 10.  Heidi & I are going to try and do it as well as she did, but you know us – if it doesn’t involve snark, we probably have the attention span of goldfish. 🙂

Battle of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”

 This was actually the VERY FIRST song ever used on DWTS, when Joey McIntyre & Ashly Costa (née Delgrosso) danced their cha-cha to it back in season 1…

 After that, it didn’t pop until again until 10 seasons later, as the opening pro number for the 200th episode results show in season 11:

And of course, most recently, Kristin chose it as her “most memorable year” song for her samba with Mark:

Court’s take: I was pleasantly surprised at how the band managed to tweak the beat to feel more “samba-y” for Kristin, but as much as she tried to shake her booty and flip her hair – she just didn’t manage to fully embody Beyonce’s swag. Loved Joey & Ashly’s attitude for their cha-cha, although in retrospect Joey was probably not as good as I thought he was back then – the standard of competition has definitely gone up in 13 seasons 😉 But for me the real standout was the 200th episode pro dance; loved the fact that we saw multiple styles in it (cha-cha, quickstep, a little bit of samba) as well as a TON of pros from the past coming, almost literally, out of the woodwork – all the usual suspects, as well as some rarer ones like Anna D., Corky, Ashly, & even Inna (remember her?) While they may have a bit of an unfair edge…gotta give it to the pros in this one.  That dance was HOT.

 Battle of No Doubt’s “It’s My Life”

 First, Louie Vito had it for his foxtrot with Chelsie in season 9:

 And of course, our favorite fashionista, Carson, tangoed to it with Anna for his “most memorable year” dance:

 Court’s take: Poor Louie never stood a chance against the fabulousity of Carson 😛 Plus the song just feels better as a tango for me. 

 Battle of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”

 Fittingly, it was astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s foxtrot with Ashly in season 10…

 

And then Rob honored his late dad with the song when he foxtrotted with Cheryl to it this week:

 Court’s take: While I thought Buzz was adorable, his age kinda limited his range of motion – and by extension, the tempo of the music he danced to.  It just felt so slooooow.  I actually really enjoyed Rob’s – it was light and carefree, and Rob looked like he really connected to the song and enjoyed himself.

So whose renditions of these songs do YOU guys prefer? 🙂

October 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, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

Dancing With The Stars Wins One 2011 Emmy Award!!

Last night, the 2011 Creative Arts Emmy Awards took place at the Nokia Theatre in Hollywood, CA. Dancing With The Stars was nominated in 7 catagories which included Outstanding Reality Series, Outstanding Reality Host-Tom Bergeron, Outstanding Choreography-Mark Ballas, Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Lighting, Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special, and Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series. From the 7 nominations, the show picked up one Emmy for “Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special”.

You can view all the 2011 Emmy Award Winners at TVLine and Emmy.com.

As some of you know already from Twitter, Mark attended the awards with his Mom Shirley. Here they are gracing the Red Carpet. Shirley wore a killer black dress and Mark looked dashing as well in a black and white tux sporting a “Situation” type hairstyle.

Another Red carpet favorite last night was Season 13 Dancing With The Stars contestant, Chaz Bono and his girlfriend, Jennifer Elia. His documentary “Becoming Chaz” was nominated for 3 Emmy’s. According to his twitter it lost to “Gettysburg”.

Twenty-five other awards will be handed out at the LIVE Primetime Emmy Awards telecast on Fox next Sunday, September 18 (5-8 p.m. PT, 8-11 p.m. ET). Be sure to tune in if interested!!

September 11, 2011 I Written By

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" ~ Martha Graham. That's what DWTS makes me think of every Monday night. To read more about me and my other interests, see Lisa Kay Photography. You can also follow me at Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud.

DWTS Who Wore it Better? Part XII – More from Season 12

So the addition of the troupe this past season did have one unexpected positive effect: even more costume dittos! Which makes my job a bit easier 😉 And I’m noticing the costume department has a special affinity for red – lots & lots of sparkly, red, fringy, feathery stuff… Read more..

August 5, 2011 I Written By

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

Dancing With The Stars Nominated For Seven 2011 Emmy Awards

This morning the 2011 Emmy Nominations were announced. From what I can gather, Dancing With The Stars has garnished seven nominations: One for Outstanding Reality Series, Outstanding Reality Host-Tom Bergeron, Outstanding Choreography-Mark Ballas (huh? Strange how the judges and fans alike had issues with the three dances Mark is nominated for at the time and yet, he gets nominated for an Emmy for them? Plus, he only placed 3rd in the Season 12 finals. What about Maks and Kym’s choreography? And what about Derek? Have they forgot about Season 11?), Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Lighting, Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special, and Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series. Sizing up these catagories for who will compete for an Emmy in each, they go as follows….

Outstanding Reality Competition:
So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Project Runway.

Outstanding Reality Host:
Jeff Probst, Survivor; Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance; Phil Keoghan, Amazing Race; Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars; Ryan Seacrest, American Idol.

Outstanding Choreography:

Dancing With The Stars • Routines: Jive “I
Write Sins Not Tragedies” / Viennese Waltz
“Hedwigs Theme (Theme from Harry
Potter)” / Slow Waltz “My Love” • ABC •
BBC Worldwide Productions
Mark Ballas, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines:
Alice in Mia-Land “Every Little Thing She
Does Is Magic” / “When We Dance” / “This
Bitter Earth – On The Nature of Daylight” •
FOX • Dick Clark Productions in association
with 19 Entertainment
Mia Michaels, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines:
“Mad World” / “Sundrenched World” /
“Heaven Is A Place On Earth” • FOX • Dick
Clark Productions in association with 19
Entertainment
Stacey Tookey, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines:
“Collide” / “How It Ends” / “Fix You” • FOX
• Dick Clark Productions in association with
19 Entertainment
Travis Wall, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines:
“Scars” / “Fallin” / “Outta Your Mind” • FOX
• Dick Clark Productions in association with
19 Entertainment
Tabitha Dumo, Choreographer
Napoleon Dumo, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: “Oh
Yeah” / “Boogie Shoes” / “I Surrender” •
FOX • Dick Clark Productions in association
with 19 Entertainment
Mandy Jo Moore, Choreographer

Outstanding Hairstyling For A
Single-Camera Series:

America’s Got Talent • Episode 529 • NBC •
Marathon Productions, Inc
Russell Patrick Latham, Department Head
Hairstylist
Annette M. Jones, Key Hairstylist
Carol McCoo, Additional Hairstylist
Justina Tuck, Additional Hairstylist
Desiree Dizard, Additional Hairstylist
Mary Lum, Additional Hairstylist

Dancing With The Stars • Episode 1106 •
ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions
Mary Guerrero, Department Head Hairstylist
Kimi Messina, Key Hairstylist
Jennifer Mazursky, Additional Hairstylist
Cynthia Romo, Additional Hairstylist
Cyndra Dunn, Additional Hairstylist
Rachel Dowling, Additional Hairstylist

iCarly • iStart A Fan War • Nickelodeon •
Nickelodeon in association with Schneider’s
Bakery and Rocart Inc.
Maria Valdivia, Department Head Hairstylist
Kimi Messina, Assistant Department Head
Hairstylist
Cyndra Dunn, Key Hairstylist
David Larson, Key Hairstylist
Sean Finch, Additional Hairstylist
Cindy Costello, Additional Hairstylist

The Pee-Wee Herman Show On Broadway •
HBO • Herman World Productions and Funny
Business Productions in association with
HBO Entertainment
Steven Kirkham, Department Head Hairstylist

Saturday Night Live • Host: Anne Hathaway
• NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC
Studios and Broadway Video
Bettie O. Rogers, Department Head Hairstylist
Jodi Mancuso, Key Hairstylist
Inga Thrasher, Additional Hairstylist
Jennifer Stauffer, Additional Hairstylist
Cara Hannah Sullivan, Additional Hairstylist
Christal Schanes, Additional Hairstylist

Outstanding Lighting
Design/Lighting Direction For A
Variety, Music, Or Comedy Series

American Idol • Finale • FOX •
FremantleMedia North America, Inc. and 19
TV Limited
Kieran Healy, Lighting Designer
Joshua Hutchings, Lighting Director
Matthew McAdam, Lighting Director
George Harvey, Lighting Director
Conan • Love Gets Liposuctioned • TBS •
Conaco LLC
Robert Dickinson, Lighting Designer
Noah Mitz, Lighting Director

Dancing With The Stars • Episode 1204A •
ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions
Simon Miles, Lighting Designer

Jimmy Kimmel Live • Michel Gondrey Directs
• ABC • ABC Studios in association with
Jackhole Industries
Christian Hibbard, Lighting Designer

Saturday Night Live • Host: Justin
Timberlake • NBC • SNL Studios in
association with NBC Studios and Broadway
Video
Phil Hymes, Lighting Designer
Geoff Amoral, Lighting Director
Rick McGuinness, Lighting Director

So You Think You Can Dance • Season 7
Finale (Part 2) • FOX • Dick Clark
Productions in association with 19
Entertainment
Robert Barnhart, Lighting Designer
Peter Radcie, Lighting Director
Patrick Boozer, Lighting Director
Matt Firestone, Lighting Director

Outstanding Makeup For A
Multi-Camera Series Or Special
(Non-Prosthetic)

Dancing With The Stars • Episode 1205 •
ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions
Melanie Mills, Department Head Makeup Artist
Zena Shteytsel, Key Makeup Artist
Patti Ramsey Bortoli, Additional Makeup Artist
Angela Moos, Additional Makeup Artist
Barbara Fonte, Additional Makeup Artist
Nadege Shoenfeld, Additional Makeup Artist

How I Met Your Mother • Bad News • CBS •
Twentieth Century Fox Television
Jennifer L. Turchi, Department Head Makeup
Artist
Megan Moore, Key Makeup Artist
Bradley M. Look, Additional Makeup Artist

iCarly • iStart A Fan War • Nickelodeon •
Nickelodeon in association with Schneider’s
Bakery and Rocart Inc.
Michael Johnston, Department Head Makeup
Artist
Patti Brand-Reese, Key Makeup Artist
Melanie Mills, Additional Makeup Artist
Tyson Fountaine, Additional Makeup Artist
Patti Ramsey Bortoli, Additional Makeup Artist
Kim Perrodin, Additional Makeup Artist

The Pee-Wee Herman Show On Broadway •
HBO • Herman World Productions and Funny
Business Productions in association with
HBO Entertainment
Cristina Waltz, Department Head Makeup Artist
Katie Pellegrino, Makeup Artist

Saturday Night Live • Host: Jon Hamm •
NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC
Studios and Broadway Video
Louie Zakarian, Department Head Makeup Artist
Josh Turi, Additional Makeup Artist
Amy Tagliamonti, Additional Makeup Artist
Daniela Zivcovic, Additional Makeup Artist
Cathy O’Donnell, Additional Makeup Artist

Outstanding Technical Direction,
Camerawork, Video Control For A
Series

American Idol • Finale • FOX •
FremantleMedia North America, Inc. and 19
TV Limited
Eric Becker, Technical Director
Christine Soloman, Technical Director
Robert L. Highton, Camera
Dave Eastwood, Camera
Suzanne Ebner, Camera
John Repczynski, Camera
George A. Prince III, Camera
Kenneth M. Dawlquist, Camera
Edwin Horton, Camera
Bill Chaikowski, Camera
John Perry, Camera
Danny Bonilla, Camera
Diane Biederbeck, Camera
Alex Hernandez, Camera
Keith Dicker, Camera
Danny Webb, Camera
Christopher Gray, Video Control

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart • Episode
15135 • Comedy Central • Central
Productions, LLC
Andre Allen, Technical Director
Tom Dowling, Camera
Tim Quigley, Camera
Phil Salanto, Camera
Rich York, Camera
Paul Ranieri, Video Control

Dancing With The Stars • Episode 1104A •
ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions
Charles Ciup, Technical Director
Brian Reason, Camera Operator
Hector Ramirez, Camera Operator
Larry Heider, Camera Operator
Dave Levisohn, Camera Operator
Bert Atkinson, Camera Operator
Bettina Levesque, Camera Operator
Adam Margolis, Camera Operator
Easter Xua, Camera Operator
Damian Tuffereau, Camera Operator
Mike Malone, Camera Operator
Chuck Reilly, Video Control
Mike Snedden, Video Control

Saturday Night Live • Host: Justin
Timberlake • NBC • SNL Studios in
association with NBC Studios and Broadway
Video
Steven Cimino, Technical Director
John Pinto, Camera
Paul Cangialosi, Camera
Len Wechsler, Camera
Barry Frischer, Camera
Eric A. Eisenstein, Camera
Susan Noll, Video Control
Frank Grisanti, Video Control

30 Rock • Live Show (West Coast) • NBC •
Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in
association with Universal Media Studios
Steven Cimino, Technical Director
Tim Quigley, Camera Operator
Gerard Sava, Camera Operator
Marc Bloomgarden, Camera Operator
Peter Agliata, Camera Operator
Eric Eisenstein, Camera Operator
John Pinto, Camera Operator
Barry Frischer, Camera Operator
James Mott, Camera Operator
Frank Grisanti, Video Control
Susan Noll, Video Control

I hope I haven’t missed any? If so, please feel free to let me know. Note: Fox will televise the Emmy Awards on Sept. 18. Jane Lynch, the star of “Glee,” will host the show.

For more Emmy nominations, check out Emmys.com.

July 14, 2011 I Written By

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" ~ Martha Graham. That's what DWTS makes me think of every Monday night. To read more about me and my other interests, see Lisa Kay Photography. You can also follow me at Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud.

Dancing with the Stars 2011 – For Your Consideration…

It’s almost that time of year, folks – Emmy Nominations. In case anyone was wondering if DWTS was serious about wanting an Emmy (any Emmy) at this point, you can rest assured they are serious enough to pay for ads in Hollywood Reporter. 🙂 How do I know? I’m a subscriber and check out this screen cap of an email I just got:

I think it’s WAY past time for the show and Tom Bergeron to win the damn thing already. And don’t get me started on Derek as groomsman never the groom. 🙂 Yes, blah blah blah, it’s wonderful to be nominated – but I want them all to WIN. 🙂

Anyway, we’ve been throwing lots of questions at you guys in this hiatus thus far so here’s another one: What dances from Seasons 11 and 12 do YOU think should be nominated for choreography?? Don’t forget the pro dances, since those stand a much better chance for a nomination than a celeb partner dance. Why do I say that? Well, it’s a choreography nomination, but I think we’d be kidding ourselves if we didn’t think that execution counts. Oh, and you CAN’T include the last….probably 2 weeks of Season 12. I haven’t looked at the rules for this season, but the DVD submission date last time eliminated the last 2 or 3 weeks of Season 10 from eligibility.

What do I think?? Well, if I recall, Louis and Maks did the lion’s share of the pro dances which increases their odds. UNFORTUNATELY, I think it would be very difficult to get a nomination for a dance done with a musical act, which knocks their odds right back down again. I also think it would be tough for Mark and Val to get one because more than half of their challenge thing was non-dancing. Derek? Well, he didn’t do the choreo for any pro dances and was only on Season 11 – that leaves his dances with Jennifer. Since he’s been nominated a good bit recently, I think the odds of, say, his Argentine Tango or second Paso with Jennifer might might be okay. But the odds are slimmer than usual simply because there’s only one season to choose from. Maks might have a shot with Brandy, Mark might have a shot with Chelsea (and really, wasn’t that the whole entire point of the Wizard Waltz?)…can YOU think of any other dances that are really, truly Emmy-worthy?? Be honest now. What you also have to consider is “So You Think You Can Dance” – that show, along with some of the award shows, tends to take the lion’s share of the nominations and more often than not, the win. Why? Well, all the dancers are trained and it’s ALL dancing – no musical acts with dance accompanying. Plus, there are no rules on SYTYCD – that makes a HUGE difference when it comes to choreography. For that reason, odds are that DWTS will be limited to ONE nomination for choreo. Who will it be? Or will they be shut out entirely?? What do you think??

June 15, 2011 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

DWTS12 – What’s Left to Dance?

Six weeks down, four to go…are you guys as shocked as I am that this season is more than halfway over??? Seems like only yesterday that Mike was pelvic thrusting & Irish jigging his way out the door…;-)

We’ve got 3 weeks of regular competition left, and then the finale week.  The next few weeks are going to be crucial in helping to determine who makes it all the way to the finale and who doesn’t – and as we’ve seen, if someone has just one off-week, it can mean curtains for them during a season where there’s so many fan favorites.  So what can we expect to see?

Each couple has 4 dances left to learn (a random combo of Latin & ballroom dances), as well as the team cha-cha next week and possibly the Argentine tango (I’ll get to that later).   Starting next week, the remaining couples will have to start doing 2 dances per week , which is what usually separates the “men from the boys”, so to speak.  Usually it’s one ballrom and one Latin per week, although I’m not sure how that’s going to work out since Ralph & Hines only have one Latin dance left to do.  Lord knows this season is just wacky 🙂  

Hines & Kym – remaining dances: jive, waltz, tango, foxtrot

A decent “mixed bag” left for Hines – I have a feeling he’ll do well in the slow waltz, foxtrot, and tango (since he seems to do well with slow, romantic dances and fast, aggressive ones), but I could see him struggling a bit with the jive, since he hasn’t really had a “silly” dance yet. Then again, I said the same thing about Warren not doing well with the jive, and his ended up being one of my favorites 🙂

Kirstie & Maks – remaining dances: paso doble, jive, Viennese waltz, tango

To quote Evaine earlier, I’m going to go ahead and point out the proverbial “elephant in the room” – I’m not sure how well Kirstie is going to handle the jive, and I have to wonder if they’re saving it for last in order to allow her to build up her stamina.  Poor Kirstie still seemed incredibly winded 5 minutes after her samba the other night – I can’t imagine what she’s gonna be like after a jive! Of the remaining dances, I think it could definitely be her Achilles’ heel. She’ll probably have a lot of fun “sexing up” her tango & paso doble, and barring any additional shoe malfunctions, I think she’ll have a decent Viennese waltz, too.

Romeo & Chelsie – remaining dances: jive, samba, Viennese waltz, tango

Romeo has definitely proven that he excels more at the ballroom dances than the Latin ones, so I don’t anticipate him having any issues with the Viennese waltz or tango.  He may not be as technically good at the jive, but I think he enjoyed being a bit cheeky in his foxtrot, so he’ll likely inject a lot of character into his jive to make up for any iffy technique.  The samba? Oy.  I always worry when a couple gets the samba later in the competition rather than earlier – since it’s such a technically hard dance, it could potentially prevent them from making it to the finale, if they’re up against couples with easier dances. 

Ralph & Karina – remaining dances: cha-cha, Viennese waltz, tango, quickstep

Of all the remaining contestants, I think Ralph has the best group of dances heading into these last few weeks.  He’s gotten 4 of the 5 Latin dances (which he tends to struggle with) out of the way already, and he actually gets a sort of “practice round” with the team cha-cha next week before he does it again on his own.  And Ralph is VERY strong in the ballroom dances – after several “off” weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back at the top of the leaderboard with one of the ballroom dances above.  As long as he & Karina can avoid any further mishaps, I would say he’s good for at least the semi final, and possibly the final, at this point.

Chelsea & Mark – remaining dances: rumba, paso doble, waltz, tango

Hmmm…Chelsea’s got 2 rather aggressive dances left: paso doble & tango.  I’m just not sure how well she’s gonna be able to embody that, since she always seems to be smiling 🙂 No doubt she’s got the dance skills – let’s just hope Mark can give her some good, non-rule-breaking choreo for the dances she has left, because at this point, I don’t know that the judges are going to be so forgiving of “risk-taking” choreography.  One ho-hum score from some disgruntled judges could mean the difference between staying & going.

Kendra & Louis – jive, paso doble, waltz, tango

Hehehe…oh boy.  Kendra’s got her work cut out for her 🙂 Honestly, of the dances she has left – I’m not sure there’s any that she’s really going to do remarkably well at.  She’s shown that she’s not exactly adept at (or fond of) the ballroom dances, and she only seems to do halfway well at Latin dances where she can “shake it”.  No really good “shake it” dances left – and I could see her trying to bounce around in the jive, but it looking kinda awkward…with her ample bosom doing most of the bouncing instead.  Luckily for us, I don’t think she’s going to be able to last through next week, so we likely won’t have to suffer through any of the potential awkwardness of her attempting more than one of these dances.

So what’s going on with the team cha-cha? It’s next week, and it looks like the teams are Hines, Kirstie, & Kendra vs. Romeo, Chelsea, & Ralph.  I would say that youth & higher cha-cha scores tips the scales in favor of the Romeo-Chelsea-Ralph team, but I think the Hines-Kirstie-Kendra team has probably got the better choreographers.  Could be a pretty even match-up…but we’ll save further discussion for Heidi’s “Who’s Dancing What?” post on Sunday 🙂 Maks tweeted something ambiguous last night about “In Your Arms”, which has got some people wondering if his team got Kylie Minogue’s “In Your Arms” as their song.  I would say that everyone is also going to do one unlearned ballroom dance next week, but apparently Chelsea & Mark have already said they’re doing the paso doble and Romeo & Chelsie said they’ve got the samba, so who knows.  And the wackiness of season 12 continues. *sigh*

What about the marathon dance? Sorry to disappoint, kids, but my spidey sense is telling me there probably isn’t going to be one this season.  The marathon dance is usually done when 7 couples remain, which would have been this week, but it looks like the “Broadway” (WTF?) marathon that was planned at the beginning of the season was scrapped without explanation by TPTB.  Why? Evaine & I theorize (and mind you, this is complete speculation on our parts, so take it with a grain of salt) that maybe they were waiting to see if Kirstie’s endurance increased during the season to see if she could handle a marathan dance.  Judging from her breathlessness post-samba this week – I’d say she probably couldn’t. So the marathon dance was scrapped, and Hanson was mysteriously added to the roster of musical guests at the last minute to fill up the time that would have been allotted for the marathon dance.  For those of you still holding out hope for one – there really isn’t much point in doing one with 5 people or less, so you might want to just save your enthusiasm for next season 😉

When are they gonna do the Argentine tango??? I haven’t heard anything official saying whether or not they’re going to do it this season, and if so, when they’re going to do it – but I think it would be a very dumb move of them to scrap one of the most popular dances with viewers.  Looking at the dances that are left and the time left to do them in, it looks like they are still one dance short, if they’re going to have the couples doing 2 dances per week.  Since no one has done the Argentine tango yet, it would make sense to me that they’d probably have everyone do it the same week – maybe in a relay or “smackdown” fashion, as they’ve done in seasons past, with everyone doing a short routine, one at a time, back-to-back, to the same song.  Not exactly the intimate feel I like my Argentine tangos to have, but if it’s the only way I can take it, cool.  Keep in mind this is completely just Courtney speculating – this is not the official “word” on the fate of the A. tango.  So just in case they do ix-nay it…I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Are they going to do the “Instant Dance” again? They said “yes”, at the beginning of the season, but then again, they also said “yes” about the marathon dance coming back…so once again, I’m not sure.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they made one of the couples’ remaining dances an “instant” dance – most likely one of their remaining Latin dances – and if we’re basing it on historical data, it would probably be during week 8, as that is when it happened during season 11.  That’s the best info I can give you…I’m sure we’ll hear more within the next week or so.

Alright, so there’s your overview of what you can expect (or not expect) during weeks 7-9.  Who do you guys think has the edge heading into the last 3 weeks of the season? Who do you think could be in trouble? DISCUSS 🙂 And be sure to stay tuned later today for the usual post-elimination media featuring Chris & Cheryl (gotta give Vogue some time to compile ;-)), and further info on what dances we’re going to see next week in Heidi’s weekly “Who’s Dancing What?” post on Sunday! 😀

April 27, 2011 I Written By

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