Randall Christensen | Pure Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars Jewelry Giveaway – As Worn on DWTS

As if there wasn’t enough excitement here at Pure Dancing with the Stars with the Dancing with the Stars finale just around the corner, now we have another exciting giveaway. That’s right, we’re giving away more free DWTS jewelry to readers of Pure DWTS. Woot!

A big thanks goes out to Anne Koplik Designs for providing the jewelry for the giveaway. They provide much of the jewelry that you see on Dancing with the Stars. Like Anne Koplik Designs Facebook page to see all their Dancing with the Stars related jewelry including pictures of the stars and pros wearing their jewelry.

This giveaway is for the pair of earrings that Chelsea wore last night on Dancing with the Stars. You can find the earrings for sale on the Anne Koplik website. Check them out and see the other great Anne Koplik DWTS earrings.

How to enter to win:
There are 3 ways to enter and unfortunately this is restricted to US and Canada (see we listen) residents only. The only person who can’t win is me (or maybe I should say my wife). Be sure to enter every way to increase your chances of winning.
1. Leave a comment on this site about your favorite DWTS jewelry or how much you love Pure DWTS. Be sure to use a real email since that’s what we’ll use to notify the winner.
2. Send a tweet that includes @puredwts and @AKoplikDesigns. Something like the following will work:
I really want to win the Free @AKoplikDesigns earrings that were worn on DWTS. I love @puredwts giveaways.
3. Like Pure DWTS on Facebook and leave a comment with the tag #FreeDWTSEarrings

That’s all. 3 ways to enter to win some great earrings! We’ll run the competition for a week and then do the giveaway next week based on a random selection amongst all the entries.

Pure DWTS 12 – Cheryl Burke Explains Complicated World Of Choreography And Constuming (Video)

Good Morning America goes with Cheryl behind the scenes of Dancing With The Stars. Cheryl explains how they come up with costuming using Mark and Chelsea as an example. Randall Christensen (the costume designer) sketches out the designs as they are inspired. If you look closely, you can see a hint into Chelsea and Mark’s Cha Cha costume for tonight. Cheryl then goes into Mark and Chelsea’s rehearsal to help explain the choreography process. At the end, you can see the final outcome of their Rumba and Argentine Tango costumes. (I wish we could see the other contestants and pros spotlighted too?)

DWTS 2011 – Randall Christensen On The Costuming Process for Dancing With The Stars and More (Video)

Well, the costume designer to Dancing With The Stats, Randall Christensen, didn’t do his weekly spread for Stylelist this week. But, here is Access Hollywood interview with him instead on the costuming process. Models also show off some of his greatest creations on the show while he critiques them and shows you how you can pull them off. This is fun.

The Dancing With The Stars Make-up Team has some great new pictures up at the Facebook page as well. Here they are working on Brooke this past week. Don’t you wish you could see what her note card for the show says? More fun pics at the link.

DWTS Week 7 – The Celebrity Contestants Put Their Own Spin On Their Costumes This Week

The costume designer for Dancing With The Stars, Randall Christensen, told Stylist that he let the celebrities put their own “flirty” spin on their costumes this week. Read below and at the link for what happened behind the scenes in preperation for week 7. Note how they had last minute issues with Karina’s costume and they had to rework it. Kirstie added sparkle to her leggings an hour before showtime. What a rush they must have had.

Wilkinson: “Tango is typically danced in black or red and many times lace,” Christensen notes, but he went with a completely different vibe for the reality star. “It was fun to put a spin on that classic silhouette and do a crystal-studded fuchsia bustier.” He added a red, silk satin hip treatment and tiers of red, organza ruffles for a Spanish twist. “The wow factor was hard to miss,” he says.

Alley: The inspiration for her big flirt jive look was the “Cha Cha” character from “Grease.” Her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, ordered up the sparkling leggings for his partner. “We wanted to expose those naughty leopard bra straps and we covered her shoes in leopard on Friday,” Christensen says. After her first fitting, Christensen ripped off an over-skirt to expose the layers of tulle. Then, Alley asked for more sparkle on her leggings, which was applied an hour before show time. “Of course, I couldn’t deny her THAT.”

Hines Ward and Kym Johnson: The football pro channeled James Bond in a tango hall, wearing a white dinner jacket, while his partner wore an ultra-sexy, one-shoulder lace gown with a seductive rose fastened at the skirt’s leg-baring hip slit. “The black lace over the nude mesh was the ultimate tango dress. And Hines was Bond — suave, sophisticated and masculine.”

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff: Climbed to the top of the leader board in a kelly green roaring ’20s inspired ensemble that produced as much drama backstage as it did in the ballroom. Christensen had to rework Smirnoff’s look hours before the live show after fringe for a planned skirt was sent out for dye and came back the wrong color. “It was a moss green, yikes,” says Christensen. “Karina was a real trooper trusting us to bring the newly conceived skirt idea to reality.”

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas: Her head-to-toe lace body stocking wasn’t exactly a typical Paso Doble look. Nor were the edgy goth details on partner Ballas’ jacket, but Christensen is game for the young Disney star’s desire for unusual costumes. “Traditional paso doble? No! Perfectly appropriate for her age, music and talent? Absolutely!”

The Dancing With The Stars Hairteam at Facebook has pics of some of the ladies costumes up close. Below is Chelsea and Karina’s costumes. The detail is amazing when you think about how fast they have to put these together. More at the link.

And below is Kym getting her make-up fine tuned before the show.

So, who had your favorite costumes this week? I was fond of Kendra’s, Kym’s, and Chelsea’s costumes the most this time.

DWTS 12 “Guilty Pleasures” Week – Skimpy, Cut-out, Beaded Costumes Dominated The Dance Floor

Stylist takes us backstage with Randall Christensen once again to discuss this week’s costume highlights and how he and his crew were inspired. I love what he says about Kirstie and how they have to keep taking in her costumes every week. He addresses the costume issue in Karina’s fall too and more.

Kendra Wilkinson: For her booty-shaking Samba the reality star and her partner, Louis van Amstel wanted “to express “Livin La Vida Loca” and beaded fringe did it,” says Christensen. “Of course the cut of the dress — sexy neckline, bare sides, micro miniskirt — lent itself to those steamy nights in Rio de Janeiro.” The look produced the desired reaction: Judge Bruno Tonioli described the performance as “attack of the killer boobs” and Wilkinson earned her best score.

Kirstie Alley: The 60-year-old actress recently proclaimed she’s almost danced her way into a size 6 and the short, copper, fringe-accented Samba dress Christensen created was a celebration of her toned figure. “I love dressing curvy women and accentuating those feminine curves was a blast,” says Christensen who used short bands of fringe to smother Alley’s skirt with shades of copper and brown. “Kirstie is quite literally melting away and we are taking in her costumes every week. That beautiful transformation of slimming down by toning up is wonderful to witness.”

Ralph Macchio: Smirnoff told co-host Brooke Burke after a week spent worrying if Macchio could manage his dramatic paso doble cape, she tripped on it. Before performing in his royal blue, gold and hot pink opera jacket, “Ralph actually practiced with a cape skirt to familiarize himself with the extra movement the cape would make,” Christensen says. And the couples’ dress rehearsal went off without a hitch: “I’m always biting my nails during dress rehearsal — which is only two hours before we go live on the East Coast — to make sure the costumes function properly without interfering with the performance.” He gave Macchio kudos for his “chivalrous recovery.”

Chelsea Kane: Thirty-five yards of silk chiffon were used to execute Kane’s vision of a flirty, bedazzled “schoolgirl on a field trip” dress.

Romeo: For his “Titanic” themed waltz, Christensen created a flowing, feminine, turn-of-the-century inspired multi-colored ballgown for partner Chelsie Hightower, while dressing the rapper in a replica of Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Jack” costume. The ruched midriff and square neckline on Hightower’s dress were in keeping with the couples’ romantic vision.

The Miami Herald has a great new interview up with Randall as well this week. Below he addresses the wildest costume he ever had to design for the show, Kirstie’s shoe mishap, and more. Be sure to read the rest of the interview at the link because he also talks about why women over 40 are “so hot”.

What is the wildest outfit you ever created?
I would have to say dressing Toni Braxton in a Marie Antoinette “cage’’ gown . . . in four days! That was our biggest challenge and our most over-the-top costume. Another would be Joana Kruppa’s “Futuristic Paso Doble’’ and wiring the lights all over her costume, and keeping them working while she danced a strenuous routine.

Kirstie Alley had a shoe mishap. Is that common?
Losing a shoe is one of those freak accidents. When she was being spun across the floor, Kirstie made sure her foot did not come off the floor; thereby being penalized for doing a “lift.’’ She put a lot of pressure on her foot to maintain contact with the floor. Unfortunately, her toes slipped out.

How do you choose the high heels? Aren’t they hard to dance in?
Typically, a 2.5 to a 3 inch heel is the best height for proper balance and skeletal alignment. The shoes we use [made from a company in Beverly Hills] are specially made for a dance floor with suede soles. They are quite lightweight yet still have a strong steel shank to support the arch and heel.

Do celebs have any choice in what they wear?
Definitely. All of the contestants are in on each design session. They need to feel their most confident, and it is my job to get inside their head and find out what makes them tick, what makes them happy.

So, which costumes did you like the most this week? Once again, I have to give this honor to Chelsie and Romeo. Chelsie was gorgeous in purple chiffon. I loved Maks and Kirstie’s costumes too. I was hoping she’d choose something dark and with long fringes. They need to be careful about giving her bright colors.

More photos (like the photos above) at OnTheRedCarpet.com.

DWTS Season 12 – Costuming and Make-Up For Star-Spangled Patriot’s Day

Once the head costume designer, Randall Christensen heard the playlist for the show last week, he knew “red, white, and blue” wouldn’t “be the norm”. He gives Stylist the lowdown for how he came up with some of the costumes.

Chelsea Kane: This season’s girl-to-beat turned up the heat in a pair of fringed red-and-white striped pants topped with a midriff-baring star-spangled tank. To create the kinetic pants,which punctuated every thrust of Kane’s hips, Christensen’s team cut individual strips of fabric, adhering them to the base pattern one-by-one. “Just attaching the fringe took hours upon hours,” Christensen says.

Kirstie Alley: Wore royal blue palooza pants and a tattered peasant top which featured a sheer, bedazzled midriff to boogie to Lenny Kravitz’s “American Woman.” Alley danced under the tutelage of stand-in dance coach, John Travolta. The actor encouraged his friend to ditch the Manolo Blahnik heels she slipped out of last week for a pair of high-top sneakers, but Christensen gave her classic court shoes instead. “Pumps were appropriate for the song’s era,” he explains, Custom rhinestone buckles were added to authenticate the look.

Meanwhile, the design team barely had enough time to make Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s custom skin-tight leather pants, which he wore shirtless. The pants were a special request by Alley.

Petra Nemcova: The supermodel’s back-baring gold gown was inspired by the glamorous Las Vegas look of Marilyn Monroe crossed with Sharon Stone in “Casino,” Christensen says. “We had originally discussed a more Vegas showgirl look, but once the choreography was in place it was obvious the look of a more classic couple in formal wear was the way to go. And what’s more glamorous than Marilyn and Sharon?” he says. Nemcova helped design her elbow-length gloves cinched with silver-crystal jewelry while her lush ostrich boa became a feathery stole.

Kendra Wilkinson: Christensen used stretch blue satin to create her sleeveless tails and encrusted her vest in silver-studded stars. An inventive addition to her costume: Over-the-knee tights made to resemble boots. Their flexible fabric made dancing easier and Christensen added crystals for sparkle. “I think the look empowered her and gave her confidence,” he says.

Romeo: The rapper’s refined tuxedo and tails salute to Fred Astaire, and partner Chelsie Hightower’s sublime Ginger Rogers’ inspired off-white bias cut gown was StyleList’s favorite look of the night.

So, which costumes were your favorites? I loved Chelsie and Romeo, Kym and Hines, and most of all >>>>MAKS!!!! Did anyone not love this?!! And I will take Maks (and Derek if he were here) shirtless and in black leather any day before Mark! 🙂

The Wausa Daily Herald also has a great 2 page article up of the costuming process. Below is a picture of Randall’s crew and a small take. Be sure to see the link for much more.

“People really don’t realize that there’s no magic closet that we pull this from. It is a bolt of fabric every Wednesday,” said Christensen, a dancer who’s been making costumes professionally since 1978. “We never use a ready-made costume … every single solitary thing is made from scratch.”

Each week, Christensen translates their visions into sketches on Tuesday and buys the fabrics on Wednesday. His team of two patternmakers and 10 seamstresses transforms the raw materials into costumes by Friday.

Their workroom contains the highest concentration of sequins anywhere at CBS Television City, where “Dancing” is filmed. Along one wall are bolts of fabric: shimmery purple, deep emerald green and bright royal blue — materials ordered from a dance company in Europe where the fringe, stretch fabric, mesh and chiffon all match.

“That’s the toughest challenge,” Christensen said.

Fourteen sewing machines and mannequins from size 0 to 16 are in the room, as are costumes in various stages of creation. (A tiny pewter beaded number sits on a plastic-covered dress form outfitted with “booty pads.”)

Lastly, don’t miss seeing some new pictures posted by the make-up crew at their Facebook page. Here’s one of Romeo and Chelsie.

DWTS Who Wore it Better? Part XI – Season 12 Thus Far Edition

With a mere 4 weeks of competition complete, we’ve already seen a slew of costume dittos from the pros and also the troupe this season. Let’s have a look, shall we? It’ll give Heidi & I some time to come up with this week’s cheesecake…and I’m sure it will be a doozy, after suffering through “American Night”-mare. 🙂

Battle of the lime green, jeweled & feathered Latin costume: Peta in the “On the Floor” pro/troupe dance this season vs. Kym’s pro dance with Tony to Santana in season 11

Courtney: Hmmm. Tough one for me. I like Petra’s hair better, but I think the color looks better with Kym’s skin. Although I’m not wild about that thing they’ve got going across the midriff on Kym…glad they omitted it for Peta.

Heidi: Peta is certainly beautiful, and looks good in the dress, but I don’t think the Awesome Boobage of Kym can’t be beaten – by anyone. 🙂 Add in that her darker tan compliments the dress and there you go. I do see something resembling a crotch doilie though and it’s giving me flashbacks. 🙂

Courtney: I was thinking more “feather loincloth”, but crotch doily works too 🙂

The winner: The Awesome Boobage prevails once more 😀

Battle of the beaded black mesh Latin dress with plunging neckline, redux: Karina’s pro dance with Louis to Jennifer Hudson this season vs. Anna’s pre-season photo shoot with Sugar Ray this season vs. Kym’s cha-cha with the Hoff in season 11

Heidi: Again, I have to go with Kym for reasons previously stated. 🙂 Plus, I think Anna is too pale in her photo and with the red hair it just washes her out. Karina looks amazing, but I would go with Kym.

Courtney: The problem with this dress is that it’s not a typical “Anna” dress – she seems to tend more towards the conservative, less va-va-va-voom Latin costumes these days, so she’s out. I loved the way the dress looked on Karina while she was moving – quite quickly, I might add, which is why it was hard for Heidi to get a clear screen cap – but alas, Kym reigns supreme once more with her sex kitten hair, smoky eye makeup, and perpetual Awesome Boobage 🙂

The winner: You don’t mess with the Awesome Boobage.

Battle of the hot pink fringed Latin dress, redux: Chelsea’s pre-season photo shoot with Mark this season vs. Lacey’s Team Kristi cha-cha with Kyle in season 11 vs. Anna in the “On the Floor” pro/troupe dance this season

Courtney: Poor Anna always seems to get stuck with the 3 & 4-peat costumes 😛 God love her…she’s cute, but I’m not wild about the hot pink paired with her red hair. Sticking with cute-as-a-button Chelsea on this one…

Heidi: Ummm….not Lacey? 🙂 I think I lean toward Chelsea, as I think her hair style compliments the “cute” of the dress.

The winner: Chelsea’s still pretty in pink.

Battle of the red & gold paso doble dress: Karina’s paso doble with Mario in season 6 vs. Oksana’s paso doble demo with Kiki this season

Heidi: I’m going to go with Karina based on skin tone and, even though it’s not a fair comparison since we’re looking at stills, the movement she achieved with this dress. Although that could also be due to what appears to be a different cut to the bottom portion – did they remove a slit and the gold trim for Oksana?

Courtney: Oksana keeps reminding us of how she’s a “powerhouse in a small package”, so I’m guessing they probably had to hem this dress for her – hence, the disappearance of the gold trim at the bottom of the dress. Looks like they also omitted the gold belt (likely to make her torso appear longer) and may have sewn up a few of the slits & jeweled the bodice to balance the look. A good example of how some minor tweaking can really change the look of a costume 🙂 But I agree – I like the look better on Karina. Just works better with her skin tone and her build.

The winner: Oksana the powerhouse-in-a-small-package is no match for powerhouse-in-any-package Karina!

Battle of the pink & red ruffled Latin dress: Oksana in the “On the Floor” pro/troupe dance this season vs. Cheryl’s samba with Gilles in season 8

Courtney: I feel like a lot of Cheryl’s costumes in season 8 were similar to this – ruffly, midriff-y, and brightly-colored. I guess she was maybe celebrating her weight loss (and departure from the frumpy costumes she wore in season 7 to cover up her weight gain) with all of these loud dresses…but it just doesn’t feel like something that really fits her personality well. For that reason, I’m gonna go with Oksana…seems like something she’d actually pick out for herself.

Heidi: Hmmmm….I think I have to go with Oksana and I’m not really sure why I like it better on her. Overall, I don’t much care for the dress at all, but Oksana wears it well.

The winner: Everyone’s favorite pint-sized mail-order bride – Oksana 🙂

Battle of the red & orange fringed Latin dress: Melissa’s would-be jive with Tony in season 8 vs. Lacey in the “On the Floor” pro/troupe dance this season

Heidi: Again, a dress that I don’t care for much – but believe it or not I’m going to go with Lacey. Again, not a fair comparison because Lacey is benefiting from movement whereas Melissa is stationary. That said, Lacey’s hair is gawdawful. But then, Melissa looks like a school marm posing as a hot Latin momma and failing miserably. 🙂 So, it’s really a double fail, but less on Lacey. This time. 🙂

Courtney: Poor Melissa – she didn’t even have a chance to show us this dress in motion (this was the week that she injured herself and was unable to do her jive, so they showed us the footage of the camera blocking instead). She just wore it on the results show for the sake of consistency. Not that I’m too disappointed – this dress reminds me of a Muppet. Or rather, the leftover trimmings of a Muppet on the cutting room floor of Jim Henson studios 🙂 But weird & Muppet-y fits right in Lacey’s wheelhouse, so I’m gonna go with her as well.

The winner: Lacey rocks the “leftover Muppet” look well.

Battle of the pink ruffled mesh rumba dress & the jeweled & ruffled black mesh samba dress: Lacey’s rumba & samba with Kyle in season 11 vs. 2 wardrobe assistants futzing around backstage this season 🙂

Courtney: Two of Lacey’s weirder costumes from last season, fo sho…but these boys are fearlessly rocking them. The Asian guy dominates in this one – he’s even got the artsy Latin hand gesture down cold! Other guy gets points for trying, but the socks, dude? As for Lacey…she never stood a chance against either of these fashion plates 🙂

Heidi: The Asian guy, definitely. The other guy would be doing well if not for the white ankle socks. 😉

The winner: Lacey never stood a chance against the fabulosity of these two 🙂

DWTS 12 – Randall Christensen “Behind The Seams” Of Week 4

Stylist reports on Randall Christensen’s thoughts on Kirstie’s shoe mishap and how she handled it with “expected grace”. She didn’t skip a beat. He also dishes about how he was inspired to do this week’s costumes. More below in a take from the link. I love what he says about Kirstie and how she sketched her necklace-style neckline.

Kendra Wilkinson: Christensen’s team bedazzled a classic pinstripe fabric to execute Wilkinson’s mafia princess fantasy look. “Kendra had worn a fun gangster costume for Halloween, which was the inspiration for her costume this week,” he says. “The fabric was the perfect template to encrust with crystals.”

Kirstie Alley: The actress sketched the turquoise, necklace-style neckline of her shimmering lilac waltz frock on her own neck with lip liner and sent Christensen a photo. “We were actually planning something different, but it turned out to be such a fun collaboration,” he says. Alley also continues to request more fitted looks as dancing tones her frame. “Her waist is looking fantastic,” Christensen says.

Chelsea Kane: The Disney Star’s “Harry Potter”-inspired wizard princess look was among Christensen’s most ambitious designs of the week. Pewter embroidered netting was used to create the bodice while several kinds of fabric were layered to create the textured ruffles of her skirt for a performance that topped the leader board.

Petra Nemcova: The supermodel wore a red and black two-piece charmeuse number created for a classic Paso Doble. “We were going for an understated Carmen look,” Christensen explains. Red and gold stones along the waist and hematite stones on her corset added subtle sparkle. “I really thought the off-the-shoulder ruffles on her top were sexy,” he says.

The guys: Christensen’s favorite male celebrity costume this week was wrestler Chris Jericho’s copper lamé Paso Doble look. “The classic opera jacket in that fabric was the bomb,” he says.

Speaking of costumes and everything that goes into them, be sure to read about the Dancing With The Stars jewelry and take part in our new Yellow Swarovski Crystal Hoops Contest in you haven’t done so yet >>>>>HERE . The Hoops are gorgeous and just think, they could become yours. 🙂

So, which costumes were your favorites this week? I loved them all, but, I especially loved Petra and Anna’s costumes this time. They were breathtaking to say the least!

DWTS Earrings Giveaway – Yellow Swarovski Crystal Hoops

I think we’re all quite familiar with the costumes used on Dancing with the Stars. We know about Randall and the challenge he has in putting together the costumes so quickly. We even have our incredibly popular Who Wore it Better series where we compare costumes when they decide to reuse them. What I hadn’t heard much about was the jewelry that Randall decided to use on the show.

Turns out that Anne Koplik Designs provides over over 400 pairs of earrings to DWTS each season. A veritable rainbow of Swarovski crystal earrings in all shapes and sizes. As you can imagine they reuse the earrings on DWTS as well (It is the 12th season). Sounds like we might have to have a special Who Wore it Better: Earring Edition (Courtney?). To find out who is wearing Anne Koplik Jewelry on DWTS each week, just “Like” Anne Koplik on Facebook for all the latest details and photos.

I’m really excited to tell you that Anne Koplik Designs has very generously provided a free set of earrings to a lucky Pure DWTS reader. The lucky winner will get a pair of the Yellow Swarovski Crystal Hoops as worn by Kym and Hines last week (and shown in the picture below).

How to enter to win:
There are 2 ways to enter and unfortunately this is restricted to US residents only. The only person who can’t win is me (or maybe I should say my wife). Be sure to enter both ways to double your chances of winning.
1. Leave a comment on this site about your favorite DWTS jewelry. Be sure to use a real email since that’s what we’ll use to notify the winner.
2. Send a tweet that includes @puredwts and @AKoplikDesigns. Something like the following will work:
I really want to win the Swarovski crystal hoops Kym Johnson wore on DWTS that @puredwts and @AKoplikDesigns are giving away.

That’s all. We’ll run the competition for a week and then do the giveaway next week based on a random selection amongst all the entries.

Check out some of the other jewelry Anne Koplik Designs has provided to Dancing with the Stars:

Here’s a little more info about Anne Koplik Designs:

Anne Koplik the designer…

Anne Koplik, founder, and head designer, has always loved antique jewelry. Anne’s initial inspiration stemmed from her mother’s successful hat design business ambitiously established in New York City during the roaring twenties. For 30 years, Anne has been combining her innate sense of style and design with her vast knowledge of glass jewels, crystals and brass findings to create original works of art treasured for their heirloom quality.

It seems this family tradition remains strong throughout generations as Anne works side-by-side daily with her two daughters Jill and Kara. Jill is the CEO and lead designer. She produces and creates the innovative 200+-piece collection each season, Kara is the CFO who ensures all business, and financial operations run smoothly.

Together these three women have combined their exceptional talents to develop a very successful fashion jewelry company.

Anne Koplik Designs…

Anne Koplik Designs, is a high fashion, trend setting jewelry company offering beautiful vintage-inspired jewelry…..Anne Koplik Designs have been seen on many soap operas and prime time television shows, currently on Dancing with the Stars, Skating with the Star as well The View, The Wendy Williams Show, Americas Got Talent, The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and 90210. We have been featured at the American Music Awards, The Daytime Emmy Awards, and The Tony Awards. Fashion editorial coverage includes prominent magazines such as In Style, Lucky, Modern Bride, Your Prom, Good Housekeeping, and WW to name a few.

We use only the finest materials, including Swarovski Elements, semi-precious stones, antique glass beads, and exclusive hand enameling. We individually design, produce, and ship from our New York, USA studio. Anne Koplik was also honored by Swarovski as one of the top designers using Swarovski crystals.

DWTS12 Week 3 – The Cheesecake Awards!!

Well, well, well…Heidi here. I’m afraid Courtney and I were very hit and run this week. While I am extremely grateful for my job, it actually had me working some nights and last weekend – and it’s sucked much of the creativity right out of me. In it’s place…well, just read me and Evaine’s commentary about half naked Derek and Maks. 🙂 That’s just about all I can handle. In any case, I hope you enjoy the cheesecake. Courtney is on her way out of town so I will also be struggling to fill in on her Power Rankings too. Oy. On with the show….

Worst Prop of the Week: The smoke machine

Courtney: Seldom does smoke really “enhance” a performance on DWTS – a notable exception is Jonathan & Anna’s waltz to “Hallelujah” last season – so I don’t understand why some pros insist on using them. In Dmitry’s case, I think it was a clever ploy to conceal Petra’s subpar footwork – and it seemed to work, as Carrie Ann conveniently missed several lifts, and everyone raved about how great her waltz was, despite some rather shuffly feet. Not sure what Louis was thinking putting Kendra in a smoke cloud – we all see how well that panned out. She looked about half-baked as she manged to stumble out of it. And maybe the judges had a bit of a contact high as well when they scored her, which could explain her inflated scores. Thankfully, Tom has assured us that the smoke machine in question has since been relegated to the community theater circuit 🙂

Heidi: What was really funny was the “Oh my god” that you hear in the recap – Kendra freaking out. Which is why they were all laughing so hard when they cut back to the couples on the results show. 🙂 Pretty hilarious. Kendra said she argued strenuously against the smoke machine and obviously lost. Which seems sucky. ALSO in the recap, you see a BLATANT lift by Dmitry and Petra – seriously blatant – and long. Kinda annoying. And the smoke wasn’t that strong – she wasn’t being eaten in like a horror movie where you could only see her from the waist up. Combine that with the TWO other lifts and I’d have to call Carrie Ann out for selective blindness.

Best Prop of the Week: Sugar Ray’s boxing announcer; honorable mention: Hines’ Terrible Towel

Courtney: Let’s face it: Ray ain’t the best dancer this season, and he probably isn’t going to last much longer. So I can’t really blame Anna for going the gimmicky route with his paso – the boxing gloves, the entrance, the punching bag…and quite possibly the most creative intro I’ve ever seen for a dance on the show: a boxing announcer, complete with drop-down microphone. I thought it was pretty damn cute. And I daresay Hines has managed to make the Terrible Towel trendy on the show – the audience is waving it, the judges are waving it…I’m half expecting the entire celebraquarium to be waving it by season-end. For those of you unfamiliar with what it is, it’s a yellow towel that Steelers fans wave at games. I used to hate it, since as a Colts fan I pretty much LOATHE the Steelers. A local bar I frequent is unofficially a Steelers fans bar, and there’s always a Terrible Towel up on the wall. The towel has been known to inexplicably jump into my purse after I’ve had a few drinks, and then commits suicide back at my house either in my fireplace or in the jaws of my Chow mix, Xena (see below). It’s really an interesting phenomenon 😉 Anywho…now I’m faced with a bad case of cognitive dissonance, since I hate the Steelers and I’m starting to LOVE Hines. *sigh* What’s a girl to do?

Heidi: See, this is why some pros get yelled at for “messin’ about” and some don’t. Some messin’ about is pretty creative – like this. Another example is when Derek and Jennifer played the piano in the opening of their accoustic Argentine tango – very creative. Not so creative? Dusting the judges table for half the song. Sitting in the audience on your ass. LOVED the announcer, and Tom stepping in with the correct dance. As for the terrible towel – I thought that was sweet of the judges to do that. You could tell by Hines face that he was surprised and happy to see that. 🙂

Costume Brain Fart Award: Louis Van Amstel, for Kendra’s rumba dress

Courtney: If Kendra’s rumba dress looked familiar, it’s because it was almost identical to the one Chelsie wore for her pro dance with Damian in season 10, and then again for her rumba demo with Dmitry last season. But I have to confess – I thought it looked much better on Chelsie. Not only the color, but the cut – I think Heidi remarked on Twitter that all of the bodysuit-based costumes this week seemed to be cut a little on the conservative side.

Heidi:Actually, I think I said that the bottoms look like granny panties. 🙂

The “I Can Tell You’re New to This Show” Award – Week 3: Tristan and Oksana

Heidi: Tristan, DUDE, get thee to the spray tan! I haven’t seen that much white skin since…well, since Ralph disrobed in his own bathroom. But he’s not a pro dancer AND that was funny. 🙂 And also…I don’t need to see tongue in the Paso Doble. Not cool. Oksana – Mark Ballas’ facial expressions are OTT and not something to emulate. Just sayin’ – that will NOT help you be a better mail order bride, sweetheart. 😉

Courtney: I have a feeling we’re going to be having a heydey with Oksana all season 🙂 Very pretty girl, but an easy target – everything about her is just a bit too much. The voice. The facial expressions. The hair. The makeup. Definitely gunning hard for the green card 😉 As for Tristan – ok, I realize he’s trying to set himself apart as the “Irish lad” this season, but that doesn’t mean he has to look the part by being fair as the Emerald Isle! He was less Michael Flatley & more Casper the Friendly ghost out there. Side note: anyone else think it was a bit weird that they had Ted & Nicole dancing together and having to get up in each other’s face all kissy-like a couple of times? I know Derek has said that he’s had to rumba with Julianne in the past – awwwwwwkward – but it was never on the show. There’s 2 other chicks in the troupe…they couldn’t be bothered to stick Ted with Peta or Oksana? God I hope they separate those two in the future…because this show is gonna give me some serious Oedipal issues if not…

Heidi: Plus, the only time I remember actually seeing Derek dance rumba with Julianne was on tour when her original partner (or was it his??) was hurt – kinda funny, after the dance was over they couldn’t get away from each other fast enough. 🙂 You know, it also occurs to me that that Oksana could borrow Tristan’s tongue action….THAT would help the the green card for sure. 😉

Least TV Friendly Clothing Selection: Wendy William for those rehearsal shorts.

Heidi: Is she wearing a diaper?? That’s what goes through my brain every time they showed her rehearsal footage. 🙂

Courtney: Maybe she’s just SUCH a dedicated dancer that she doesn’t have time for bathroom breaks. 😉 HA! I think those damn rehearsal shorts were about the only thing on the show that Wendy was 100% committed to. The thing that got me is that she mentioned in a segment on her show that she loved looking the part of a “serious dancer” so much that she would wear her rehearsal clothes out to run errands and whatnot! I can only imagine the thoughts of onlookers…”Is she incontinent?” “Is she trying to conceal a bad case of camel toe?” “Is she one of those extreme gamers that doesn’t have time to use the bathroom?”

Heidi: More like, “Is she a crazy bag lady?”

Biggest BURN by a Celebrity – Female: Chelsea Kane for Outing Mark’s Request for False Eyelashes the Previous Week; Honorable Mention: Chelsea Kane for telling Mark he is a better girl than she is.

Heidi: I’m liking this girl more and more all the time. What more can I say that Chelsea didn’t? 🙂

Courtney: Mark is just a liiiiiiittle too comfortable gyrating around like a drag queen – guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because Corky is pretty damn good at it, too. Someone should sign Mark up for RuPaul’s Drag Race, what with his fondness for false eyelashes and sassy dance moves. I can just picture him lip-synching to “Show Me Love” by Robin S. now…anywho, yeah, Chelsea calls it like she sees it, and I like that 😀 I’d also like to give my own personal “honorable mention” to Anna, who made the comment “I wouldn’t be able to keep up with Mark’s choreography!” before giggling heartily during the pros/celebs talk about the other pros/celebs time-killer during the results show. Even Anna seems to notice Mark’s spaztasticness. LIKE.

Heidi: Last season, Mark had a thing for eyeliner. LOTS of eyeliner, not just a little. Does this mean he’s graduated?? 🙂

Biggest Production Screw Ups of the Week: The Camera Dudes; (dis)Honorable Mention: The Sound Dudes

Heidi: Lovely shot of the FLOOR during Chelsea and Mark’s dance…Oh, and I really liked when it looked like someone smacked a steady cam during One Republics performance so we got that drunken pan of the audience next to the stage. Problem is, I don’t think you dudes use a steadicam, do you? :::rolls eyes::: And you sound dudes? Turn the audience mikes DOWN and the Bergeron’s mike UP – Tommy often says things that I find very humorous. Brooke? She’s fine. 😉

Courtney: Hell, I would just get rid of Brooke altogether…except then I wouldn’t have as much cheesecake material, since a lot of it stems from her obtuseness 🙂 But yeah, looks like they’ve got the orangutans and Muppets manning the cameras and sound board again this year as a cost-cutting measure – either that or they’ve outsourced the grunt work to India, and they’re taking liberties with the “censoring” of the show…maybe there was a dance move they found objectionable in Chelsea & Mark’s routine and decided to avert the camera to spare us. You think the censors over here in the States are bad…ooh wee. Try watching a Bollywood flick. It’s Sesame Street compared to most American movies! Instead of kissing or anything suggestive, they break into song. I can only imagine what an episode of Dancing with the Stars: India would look like…

Tom Bergeron Line O’the Night: “Later tonight, Len goes to the Wizard to get a heart.”

Heidi: WHY are all the good ones married? 🙂 Seriously apropos line for the Berge, not to mention funny as hell.

Courtney: Yeah. Tom’s dreamy 🙂 And Len still sucks.

Most Over Done Costuming Gimmick for the Week – Male: Dmitry Chaplin

Heidi: You know, if you whip your chest out all the time it stops being exciting OR sexy. Just sayin’. “Oh look, there’s Dmitry’s chest, it must be Dancing with the Stars.”

Courtney: He’s still holding out for a chest-off…and Tony & Maks aren’t taking the bait. Totally unfair fight…for Dmitry.

Best Brooke Distraction Technique of the Week: Kirstie Alley, for “You’re sooo pretty Brooke Burke” to get Brook off the fall topic

Heidi: Genius Kirstie has the ideal tactic – call the other female “so pretty” – she is forced to say thank you and laugh and then she’s out of time. Ta da!! LOL!!

Courtney: You know what I really love about Kirstie? She really GETS the show. I think she realizes that most of the banter that goes on during the show is complete crap, and unlike some of the other celebs, she’s learned to cleverly circumvent it…and she’s figured out early on that the path of least resistance is Brooke, who tends to fall apart if she drifts too far away from her canned dialogue, since her powers of improv are basically non-existent. Kirstie, if you keep poking Brooke with this metaphorical sharp stick, I will love you forever…it is my goal for you to get her completely tongue-tied by season’s end. 🙂

COOLEST Production Dude of the Week: Little Producer Dude in the Black Shirt During Petra’s Behind the Scenes

Heidi: Please don’t tell me that I’m the only one that caught the blatant eye roll the producer (stage manager??) gave the camera after telling Petra to get out on stage (and, by extension, to STFU)!! It was HILARIOUS. His face totally said, “Get the F@#k out there already, would ya?” Poor Petra, she was all “gush gush gush” and dude wasn’t having it. 🙂

Courtney: Miserable little peon 🙂 Nobody rolls their eyes at Saint Petra! Even you, self-important crewneck-wearing stage guy. No matter how much her philanthropic gushing in broken English may irk you. Kapeesh? 🙂

Most Bizarre Non-DWTS Costuming of the Week: Selena Gomez

Heidi: I spent most of her song thinking either she’d had a run-in with a mean guy on a lawn mower or she invited a bunch of school kids to make snowflakes out of the bottom of her dress for craft day. What the hell? It was pretty…but it was like Brooke’s satellight dish/Hepburn Hat dress. It was hard to focus on anything else.

Courtney: That whole performance was just odd to me. I wasn’t particularly floored by her singing, her outfit, the song, or Mark & Chelsie dancing…it was all just meh. But I’m sure Lacey would have loved to hack up that dress to make more crotch doilies. 😉

Heidi: I’ll give her one thing – unlike SEVERAL “pop” tarts…I mean, stars I could name, she actually sings LIVE. 🙂

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DWTS 2011 – Randall Christensen On The Costuming Process for Dancing With The Stars and More (Video)

DWTS Week 7 – The Celebrity Contestants Put Their Own Spin On Their Costumes This Week

DWTS 12 “Guilty Pleasures” Week – Skimpy, Cut-out, Beaded Costumes Dominated The Dance Floor

DWTS Season 12 – Costuming and Make-Up For Star-Spangled Patriot’s Day

DWTS Who Wore it Better? Part XI – Season 12 Thus Far Edition

DWTS 12 – Randall Christensen “Behind The Seams” Of Week 4

DWTS Earrings Giveaway – Yellow Swarovski Crystal Hoops

DWTS12 Week 3 – The Cheesecake Awards!!

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