Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week 2 – LIVE BLOG

T-minus 15 minutes to the Eastern/Central time zones live broadcast of DWTS.  I did that specially for you western and mountain time zone folks. If you are so inclined, you can start voting when we do based on last weeks dances. Don’t tell me you don’t already have one person you want to see stay. That’s right, you’re not voting for the winner tonight, just people you want to stick around for another week. So put on your big girl and big boy pants and VOTE. 🙂

Here we go…pep talk by Ray to the celebs. Mildly humorous. 🙂

They all look pretty good  – don’t see any tragic outfits yet.

Brand new this season is the text voting – text the name to 21523.

They’ll reveal the bottom two at the end of the night, the judges will save one of the bottom two. No dance off. They’re emulating SYTYCD.

James is up first with a Cha Cha. He learned 20 seconds of a cha cha for a show he was on.

Starts off with some time wasting, which I think throws I’m off a tiny bit. He’s back on his game pretty quickly though. Yeah, those balloons aren’t distracting at all. :::snort:::

All in all, pretty good dance. Not as exciting as his tango. 🙂

Len says he has a boyish grin. Says it was solid, with nice crisp footwork – too many gimmicks. (Agreed)

Bruno – James knows how to open big. Thinks he missed a step (he did).

CAI – at the beginning the lines weren’t matching. James agrees, he stepped on the fogginator (tm: James).

Scores: 7, 6, 7 for a total of 20.

Sailor is up next.  Note the running order – the earlier you go in the broadcast, the more time people have to vote for you. The pimp spot is probably going first now, except for the fact that the first 4 kinda get hosed in scores.

Sailor is dancing rumba and is all squirmy about her boyfriend. She’s dancing rumba like a model would – lack of hips. Her movements are too sharp in places. She could work it out after a couple weeks. Not horrible.

Bruno – you have everything going for you, and hot. Tough love – made for the dance but the intention has to be much stronger. Made for this dance? Seriously? Did what he taught you, but need to play the part.

CAI- Making your mom proud. Bruno is right. Lacking consistency. Same tone through the dance.

Len – the slowness magnifies everything. Nice performance, but you have to keep feet on the floor. Drive through the ball of your foot.

She seems like a nice girl.

Scores: 6, 6, 6 for a total of 18

Ray and Cheryl are up next with a Foxtrot. This could be tough. If anyone can get him to do it, it’s Cheryl.

Missed an arm movement there at the beginning and he started ot very stiff but he actually started getting into it and smoothed it out a good  bit. She choreographed a fun dance with parts he could enjoy.  Not bad at all.

Lost all the judges comment when my mac burped. They all said he did a bad job, in a nutshell.

Scores: 5, 5, 5 for a total of 15

Up next – Ally and Sasha. They’re doing a V. Waltz and she’s complaining about her schedule.

Nice opening move. So far so good. Nice and smooth. She exited out of that twirl a bit oddly. Great dance though – she did really well. That suited her, IMO.

Len – very pretty looking dance. The rotation kept stopping and starting. She didn’t know what she was doing with her feet. Technically not great, but pretty dance.

Bruno – You can dance! Very compelling and heartfelt dance. Didn’t sustain it some times, don’t skip. Shoulders down.

CAI – Oh sit down CAI. Geez. Says she’s a dancer. Dance is transformative. Agree with all that, but keep yer seat lady.

Scores: 7, 6, 7 for a total of 20

Mary up next with a Cha Cha. “Miss Mary”. 🙂 Love it. Love her. Mary and Kate are probably two you should vote for if you aren’t a S___ fan.

She’s enjoying herself no question. Big mistake there at the beginning. And little flubs all through it, but I love her.

Bruno – the glamor, simple, nicely presented.

CAI – you own the room and polished, but lots of mis-stepped. Could’t tell in her face.

Len – lively, could straighten legs more.

All the judges were exceedingly kind, but I get what they’re saying because she is a joy.

Scores: 5, 5, 5 for a total of 15

Numbers Break: So far, only two of the potential bottom two have danced and both got 15.  Same score as last time for Ray and a slight decrease for Mary.  If they’re both in the bottom, I suspect the judges chose Mary. There is roughly 10k votes between Mary and the next person, Sailor. That’s me doing math in my head though, so I could be off. Plus these numbers will change as more people dance.

Lauren up next doing a Paso Doble. Oh boy. No giggling, Lauren.

Snake floor? She looks amazing. ice skirt work. She does well out off holdWow, the side by side was great, although she got a tiny bit off time at the end of it. Great ending. That was a really good dance!!

CAI – meow. Looks like it felt amazing. Not conservative today. Extremely flexible. Shoulders came up after the skirt came off.

Len – power, plenty of attack. Lacked shaping once in a while. Would have liked a twist turn. Don’t talk back gleb, you ain’t that great.

Bruno – well, well, well, little Lauren. All Nasty and I liked it. Came out of your shell. Strong and focused performance. Very convincing.

Scores: 6, 6, 7 for a total of 19. She was HOSED. That one pisses me off.

So we’re having S___ going at the mid point of the show gives him an advantage. Fuckin’ producers.

Tango. Stop smiling. Well Lindsay, you did your best. You’re a hell of a choreographer, not your fault your partner can’t really execute. He’s kinda walking through it.

Len – better than last week.

Bruno – have to admit it looked like a tango, I can see the effort.  Robotic.

CAI – most surefooted Tango. No mistakes. Great body contact. Much improved.

Scores: 6, 5, 5 for a total of 16.  This could get tricky.

Numbers UPDATE:  There are 5k votes between Sean and Mary and 10k votes between Sean and Ray. In that those are the votes Sean has to make up to stick over them.

Karamo and Jenna up next with a Quickstep. Fingers crossed he does well. This is a hard dance.

Prince!!But’s out a bit but damn he’s doing pretty well. Lost body contact and Jenna choreographed him out of hold!! Not cool. Other than that, good dance. But Len will hammer them on the hold break and he can’t afford it.

Bruno – panache, flair, really really good dance.

CAI – yes yes yes!! Electrifying. Improve on body contact. I guess we’re not calling out the break in hold.

Len – wasn’t over struck on it. Flying around without body contact. Top line has to stay calm. Little bit on the hectic side.

Scores: 7, 5, 7  for a total of 19, thank god.

Numbers Update: To put James in the bottom, Sean would have to get 32k more votes than him. Ally, Karamo and Sailor are all tied for second place and Sean would need nearly 20k more votes than them for one of them to land in the bottom. He needs 5k and 10k to get past Ray and Mary, respectively.

Kate up next. Getting worried for Hannah going too late in the show.  Anyway, Kate is dancing a foxtrot.

Kate doing very well. Pasha is giving her some good stuff. Good rise and fall. You can tell she loves the song. LOVED that dance!! Dang that was good!

CAI – that was amazing. Blown away by technique. Noticably different. Mastering technique.

Len – how refreshing. I liked the music, I liked the routine, better than last week, Pasha dressed more sensibly. Bottom line is yo did a wonderful job.

Bruno – Houston to Kate, we have lift off. Correct orbit. mission accomplished.

Scores: 7, 7, 7 for a total of 21 and she’s in first place for the night and second place for the two weeks.

Kel is up next with a Samba. Talking about his dad who had a brain aneurism and surgery this week.

Dude can dance for sure. Not a lot of bounce, which Len will criticize I’m sure. Weird ending. I loved the dance though.

Len – plenty of rhythm, plenty of content. Nice easy action. One or two bits that were blah, but overall very good job.

Bruno – very cool samba, very natural, very musical. Felt easy. Could push the bounce more. You have talent.

CAI – So smooth. However, the bounces became thrust. Love the lines, really see improvement.

Scores: 7, 6, 7 for a total of 20 – Grand total of 36 and that’s what? Five people tied for second place now?

Numbers Update: The margins continue to get a bit smaller between Sean and Ray/Mary – those two are in danger at this moment with Lamar likely to join them. To get James should be out of danger with Sean nearly 32k votes behind him. And the five people in second place (Ally, Kel, Karamo, Sailor and Kate) are 19.5k votes ahead of Sean.

Lamar is up next. He didn’t do drugs that night? Okay. He’s dancing Salsa.

Lamar is a not a dancer at all, but this is an improvement from last week by a good bit. Peta taking some chances there at the end. Yikes. He was actually dancing it though.

Bruno – more relaxed, step int he right direction.

CAI – missed the lift, but more relaxed, not strong enough, good when solo.

Len – difficult for you, since you’re a very tall guy. No mistakes. More confident. What’s not to like. A ways to go but your’e on the right track.

Aww…I feel bad for him.

Scores: 4, 4, 4 for a total of 12. Total for the two weeks is not good. Lamar is likely toast.

Numbers Update: :::sigh::: Lamar is our likely eliminee as he has to get more than 12k to get past Sean. And after that dance even if Sean is in the bottom two with him, they will likely pick Lamar as the one to go. Lamar needs 17k to get past Ray and 24k to get past Mary.

Hannah up last with a V. Waltz. Talking about ballet as a child.  Come on, girl, kill it!!

Wow. She’s killing this. Don’t really appreciate the opening, Alan. Excellent job! Only concern is with her going last.

CAI – you whisked me away. Finished every move. Extension was ridiculous. Pretty amazing.

Len – Liked the rotation, lots of VW content. All reverse turns, need more natural turns. Lovely musicality. I must say best dance of the night.

Bruno – now we are in business. Oscar winning performance. Thanks for finishing the lines. Romantic dream. Fantastic.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24 and first place for the night and…the two weeks?

Numbers Update: Nothing much new to say. Bottom four are likely Ray, Mary, Sean and Lamar. Bottom two?? Some combo of Ray, Mary and Lamar.  Lamar likely to go home.

THE RESULTS

Len is the deciding vote.

SAFE – Lamar and Peta

SAFE – James and Emma

SAFE – Ally and Sasha

SAFE – Karamo and Jenna

SAFE – Sean and Lindsay

SAFE – Hanna and Alan

SAFE – Sailor and Val

SAFE – Kel and Whitney

SAFE – Lauren and Gleb

SAFE – Kate and Pasha

Bottom Two: Mary and Ray (EEK)

CAI – saves Mary

Bruno – saves Ray

Len – saves…says neither should be there. Very difficult decision. His brain says to save Ray. Damn. No good. Mary gets no good send off.

I may or may not do a numbers retrospective. Mary and Ray were in my likely bottom four so it’s not all that unexpected. We’ll see.