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

You know the drill by now, kids – go here if you want to see the previous editions of this series.  I’ve got 2 more editions to get through after this, and very little time to do it in before the premiere 😛

For Pam’s best dance, I picked her famous “9 to 5” quickstep:

And for her worst dance, I picked her waltz:

I’ll be honest: I don’t think Pam is a GREAT dancer.  I’d even go so far as to say that, besides Kelly & Bristol, she is probably one of the weaker dancers this season.  But there is something about her that is just so FUN to watch – she may have been totally missing steps and getting off-time in that quickstep, but to see her bobbing around and smiling so big and having a great time doing it, I was mesmerized.  Ditto for any of her other dances – she got so into the character of her cha-cha, foxtrot, rumba, paso doble, and Argentine tango that it didn’t seem to matter as much to me if she was wobbling awkwardly or missing steps.  She was just fun to watch.  That’s not to say that I was completely able to overlook her snafus, though – on the whole, I really liked Pam, but she always struck me as a bit of a stiff mover, even though she was really quite flexible.  And when she wasn’t able to completely connect to the character of her dance (such as in her waltz), she seemed to look a bit aloof and lost.  Her waltz, while not technically bad, just felt bland and chilly to me.  I get the feeling that she’s someone whose performance hinges greatly upon playing a character – and if she can’t really play one, she’s just kinda…there.

Now unlike some of her cohorts this season, Pam has actually done something in the past year to hone her dance skills that I think may come in handy.  As Vogue (and reader Carlos) reported last summer, Pam competed on the Argentine version of DWTS,  Bailando por un Sueño, with Damian – here they are doing what looks to be a paso doble:

Granted, they did withdraw in week 4, but I still say that any contestant this season that has somehow managed to do some dancing within the last year or so (even better if they did more ballroom) is probably going to have at list a little bit of a leg up on those who haven’t danced at all since their original season.

Court’s verdict: Pam’s not the strongest dancer, but I do think she’s fun to watch – and that could keep her around for at least a little while.  Bonus points if she can connect well to both the dance and her partner.

What do you guys think of Pam? Is she going to stick around awhile…or be out early, as she was in the Argentine verison of the show?