Thank you Prime for the links!
I understand you BV about comment the dancing instead I focus this week at the fun. I think Mikes takes was hilarious and the reactions too:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Codebear4#p/u/9/2lj-EVkTQmU

http://www.youtube.com/user/Codebear4#p/u/2/BvQQCYI4DT0

http://www.youtube.com/user/Codebear4#p/u/1/Bz9pML9joqc

What cann you say?

Thank you Prime!


No apologies necessary - America's a huge country and we know the 'public face' doesn't (can't) reflect all of you all of the time. Just wait till the royal wedding next week - I think we're perfectly capable of producing our own overdone, patriotic cheese-fest! (Can't wait to see the frock though )


Urgh! You bring back squirmy memories, Peeve


Thanks for this and your other links, Susan - I like her commentaries. You are obviously our resident DWTS expert - do you know why Annie Barrett calls Len DANCMSTR (or whatever)? I think I missed the joke


I agree BB - I have nothing against theme weeks, if there's a decent concept, or this one in particular, but it was poorly done. I hear next week is another theme....How about 'Ballroom and Latin Week'? Just a thought...


Great points Lili. I love to see creativity and originalty, but you don't need to reinvent the wheel each week - it's so exhausting and means we don't really ever get to make a clean, side-by-side comparison of the dancers.


Oh, BV, I'm so disappointed! Your commentary was the one I was looking forward to the most

I'll be back with my homework later

[quote=fridgesoup;49562049]


Thanks for this and your other links, Susan - I like her commentaries. You are obviously our resident DWTS expert - do you know why Annie Barrett calls Len DANCMSTR (or whatever)? I think I missed the joke



DWTS expert... haha, no I´m not but I relax with the computer looking at dancingshows
I really don´t know what Annie Barrett refer to, can it be dancemaster?
My impact of Lens role in DWTS is that he is the headmaster, sometimes harsh there is no Craig
Looking forward to next week, I think the heat turns up now.

Samba: Kirstie, Kendra
VW: Hines
Paso: Ralph
Tango:Chris
Quickstep: Chelsea
???: Romeo

Ralph/Karina - samba
I actually quite enjoyed this though I had to rewatch to see what Ralph was up to as it's hard not to watch Karina. I thought she did a good job of a near impossible task and he kept up well. Couldn't say if he did a good Samba or not!

Chris/Cheryl - Viennese Waltz.
His frame looked good to me and it looked like a VW. There's something funny about his hands/arms, though it's obvious he's worked on them - are they a bit spatula-esque? I think he's one of the better dancers and I liked his Len/Ozzy impressions. (Len's remark about Cheryl's Rocky Mountains was a bit )

Petra/Dmitry - Quickstep
Petra looked lovely - very pretty dress. Her frame doesn't look right and she still has a droopy left elbow.. I thought at times Dmitry was propelling her round. There was something messy about it though I wasn't really sure where she was going wrong! It had the potential to be a really good QS but I don't think she pulled it off.

Romeo/Chelsie - Foxtrot
Chelsie's very nice dress was swooshing all over the shop and was a bit distracting. In hold their leading arm (technical term??) was pointing way up in the air. The whole thing seemed frenetic for a foxtrot and Romeo reminded me of a hoppity Artful Dodger or Dick Van Dyke doing Chim Chim Cheree. (And what on earth was: "It shows God moves in mysterious ways... I'm dancing for America"...all about? Bleurgh!) I don't know what this boy needs to do to win me over, but it wasn't this.

Hines/Kym - rumba
Well I thought this showcased fringing beautifully, but I honestly didn't see too much rumba stuff from Hines. He seemed a bit still in the body and his hand was pointy. Still, I don't much care, because they both seem like nice people

Kirstie/Maks - Foxtrot
Blimey - this was wrong on so many levels! I think Kirstie's outfit may rank as one of the worst EVAH and good Lord - Maks?!?! . I'm speechless! The music...for a Foxtrot?! The pelvic thrusts..What..?..who..?..why..?..I need a lie down. Still, on a positive note, I enjoyed John Travolta's Dance Doctor segment

Kendra /Louis - Foxtrot
Well this was a farce. She danced it quite well, whatever it was, but I only spotted the tiniest bit of FT and some of that had flappity arms. Polka and marching band. As for Louis' goatee - yikes! Kendra needs to take criticism better - she didn't half go on...and on...and on ('time of the month' TMI Please just STOP!)

Chelsea/Mark - samba
Hooray! At last we get to see Chelsea dance instead of Mark choreograph. (I still think he needs to tone down his own performance a bit though). Mark keeps saying she's young (as an excuse for playing fast and loose with the genre) but this was fresh and youthful and still looked like a Samba. I thought her hips were a bit stiff, but a great performance from her.

Not DWTS finest hour this week. Some awful music choices and dubious costumes. Favourites this week? Chelsea and Mark and Chris and Cheryl. Shockers? Sorry to say this, but Kirstie and Maks....(but I want them back) and I hated the Kendra and Louis....thing

Hello!
I hope everyone have a great weekend and that the sunshine is all over the world.
Here comes Maks blog, enjoy!

http://www.tvguide.com/Celebrity-Blo...x-1032175.aspx

And here is a nice and sweet interview wth Hines and Kym

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7nFUEujMjg

Maks and Kirstie on Good Morning America today.

http://www.puredwts.com/2011/04/22/d...in-rehearsals/

The links to last night's dances are on the other thread...I'm about to try and post them here too but it may go wrong! Thanks to Force ten for the original post.

Anyway, my take on the dances. I didn't like the guilty pleasures theme. I think it was obvious in most cases that the stars do not listen to these tracks in secret and had not picked them for themselves again it led to some iffy music choices.

Kirsty and Maks - samba
I didn't think the music was that great for a samba but they managed okay with it. I had to watch the routine twice as the first time I just couldn't "see" them as their costumes were so dull on the floor against the lighting. I mean obviously I could see them but they didn't stand out. The routine was good. It contained a lot of recognisable and basic samba moves, and I agree with Len: her stationary samba walks were excellent. I thought it needed a bit more hip action and Kirsty needs to look up when she is dancing.

Chris and Cheryl - tango
I thought this piece of music was useless for a tango (plus I could hear the Glee version in my head). Chris seemed very tense and taut all through the routine and I saw him slip a couple of times. I thought Chris was too flexed in the knees and his bottom was sticking out a bit, but maybe it was the camera angle as Len thought his hold, posture and footwork were good and Len is a stickler for correct technique.

Romeo and Chelsie - waltz
This was the dance where I must have watched something different to the judges!
This was a hard piece of music to dance to. The music was in the wrong time signature for a waltz so it will never look right. I thought he looked a bit messy and skippy in places. However the judges clearly disagree with me and I ought to bow to their superior knowledge.
I'm pleased that Romeo's attitude has improved a bit. It always catches people eventually - I bet he really enjoys ballroom and latin now but isn't letting on how much.

Chelsea and Mark - quickstep
I love this piece of music for a quickstep However I did not love the backpacks and glasses. When Mark choreographs a straight dance I enjoy them so much more. I thought he had some very odd choreography, along with the props, with legs being lifted up in a most inelegant manner. Chelsea seemed to struggle to keep up in places and that might have caused the footwork mistakes. I think she was concentrating on keeping up so much that she forgot to smile too and a smile would have improved it. It is about walking on sunshine!

Kendra and Louis - samba
This piece of music was okay as a samba though it felt a bit more salsa-esque to me. I thought Kendra was a bit wobbly in places and her technique was a bit off. That girl can certainly shake her assets though!

Hines and Kym - Viennese Waltz
Music was in the right timing. Hooray! I felt Hines was hunched forward a bit. He was missing quite a few heel leads and I agree with Len that he is flat footed. For me there wasn't enough proper VW but this seems to be a feature of the DWTS VW routines. I'm afraid I thought he was overmarked.

Ralph and Karina - paso doble
I thought the music was hideous and just didn't work for the paso. The dance actually contained plenty of genuine paso steps which I liked seeing. They did lose focus after the slip (grinning at each other) but they managed to recover it. Overall a pretty good job.

I have absolutely no idea who is in danger of leaving tonight. Possibly Chris and Cheryl, Chelsea and Mark or Ralph and Karina. I think Kendra is safe after that dance and Kirsty/Maks and Hines/Kym seem popular.
Last edited by Ballroom-B. : 26-04-2011 at 21:48

]Team Chelsea Cha Cha Challenge
Team Hines Cha Cha Challenge
Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko - Jive
Chelsea & Mark - Paso Doble
Kendra & Louis - Tango
Kirstie & Maks - Jive
Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova - Tango
Ralph & Karina - Quickstep
Hines & Kym - Tango
Romeo & Chelsie - Samba

Thanks for the links Force Ten

Team Cha Cha
I have trouble discerning good technique when there's just one couple on the floor, so I've no chance with a whole formation team . I thought overall, that Team Chelsea were sharper and more together. I got a little bored with the second team and ever since Ballroom-B mentioned a couple of times that Kirstie looks down a lot, it's really started to bug me. Plus, the men were all dressed in brown Lycra. That should not be permitted. Not ever.

Yulia and Riccardo - Jive
I love Yulia and would love SCD to have her on, but I have to confess that when really top pros dance the jive 'full on' it's a bit too affected for my taste - too hard and flicky. I prefer to see them dance showdances when they relax and take some liberties, rather than 'exemplar' routines, if that makes any sense.

Chelsea and Mark - Paso
Blimey - Shirley Ballas is a bit scary. I wonder if she'd be a good judge on SCD...I enjoyed this but I thought they could have incorporated more flamenco postures and shaping without losing the modern, edgy style they were aiming for. Mark is an idiot. He over dances and strops around like some misunderstood, enfant terible artist-revolutionary, when he's just a ballroom dancer on a flufffy TV show. The hand gesture he made about the judges as they left the floor was a disgrace. I reckon the Beeb would have fired him for that. Shame - Chelsea deserves better.

Kendra and Louis - Tango
Goodness, I'm not sure how I would have coped if Luca had demanded I really touch him like that. Gulp .
I thought there were too many steps in this and not enough tango attitude. On the opening show I thought Kendra needed acting lessons and her face and body are still devoid of any expression (other than insecurity)

Kirstie and Maks - Jive
I was really surprised Len didn't give them stick for the 'faffin' abaht' at the start, but perhaps there was just so much else to criticise... I liked Donnie's praise for the 'bits between the steps', but a 9.....really? She is looking good though and I still like them

Arunas and Katusha - Tango
I take back what I said about pros dancing all-out - I loved this! Great costumes and music too (some funny facial expressions, though!)

Ralph and Karina - Quickstep
Luca again. Mmmm . I enjoyed the charleston bits and I'll take the judges word for it on the footwork, but you could have driven a bus between them. It was enjoyable but 8 was about right. I think Ralph wants it too much.

Hines and Kym - Tango
A killer dress on Kym, wish he'd worn a dark jacket. I thought he did really well, but inconsistent. His bum still sticks out a bit. The 10 talk is doing my head in. Bruno - what the...?

Romeo and Chelsie - Samba
There wasn't enough bounce or hip action. I thought he was walking through the steps and occasionally remembered to try something samba-y. I was surprised the judges were so critical - they normally rave about him, even though I don't get why.

My fave dance this week?...oh, gosh... the pro Tango?....maybe Chelsie? - but I can't stand Mark...dunno!

I really have no idea who will be up for the chop this week. It ought really to be Kirstie, but I hope not. I think Ralph, Romeo or Kendra (that's half of them ). Got no clue who's popular in the US...
Last edited by fridgesoup : 03-05-2011 at 21:50

I thought I'd killed this thread last week as no-one else offered a review after me
Anyway review of this week.
Team cha cha cha challenge - I quite like this idea as it can allow the contestants to experience dancing with each other and other pros. I personally thought that the team with Hines, Kendra and Kirstie was better. I preferred their music, choreography and costumes (in spite of the brown lycra. It would have looked better with the men in black) and the slight inconsistency of their spacing didn't bother me

Chelsea and Mark - paso doble
I thought the music was horrid and I wasn't keen on the choreography. Though there was genuine paso steps in there overall they were lost in amongst all the alternative styling. What Chelsea did do she did well I think.

Kendra and Louis - tango
Ah a proper tango This had proper music and real tango choreography. It was difficult choreography in places. Kendra is quite wobbly when she dances and I didn't like the weird leg wrap/drop thingy in the middle. Not a bad effort. Certainly not her worst dance.

Kirstie and Maks - jive
I have to say that I suspected all along that Kirstie would struggle with jive. I thought the routine had too much faffing about, which was a ploy really for Maks to cover up for Kirstie. She still looks down quite a bit and no one seems to have tried to encourage her not to. Her basics were not that bad, not brilliant but not completely appalling. I actually think Kirstie's costume did her no favours - the leggings cut off the line and made her look flatter footed, leaden and fatter.

Ralph and Karina - quickstep
This was my favourite dance of the night. I loved the music and the story along with the dancing . At the beginning Ralph did seem to look down a lot to check his feet were still there but once he got into hold he did a really good job. I didn't notice his topline but I feel that Len underscored Ralph. I think given other routines that have got 9s this series, it was worthy of a 9.

Hines and Kym - tango
Another great piece of music and good tango choreography. I felt Hines was rather inelegant/a bit unbalanced when doing the standing spin and a bit skippy. Tango is quite a flat dance. He did lead with arms moving them around quite a lot instead of turning whole upper body. Also I can't tell if Hines just is cursed with a sticking out backside or he leans forward!

Romeo and Chelsie - samba
It was quite good music until the rapping started!
Romeo seemed bored by the routine - I don't think he was at a party. His hips didn't seem to be moving that much to me and his technique was lacking. Overall I though the routine was dull and completely uneventful.

Aww - sorry about that. I watched all the links and just didn't find the time to post about it - too many sunny bank-holidays, visitors and days at the beach . I enjoyed reading your review though

All I had to say about last couple of weeks was , hence a rather dignified silence on my part. Sorry.

Will try and post some thoughts on this week tomorrow, have been a bit snowed under at work this week.

That's okay everyone. I'm generally just a worrier!
Meant to add that I loved Riccardo/Yulia and Arunas/Katusha. Amazing! I'm not sure Yulia was jiving flat out - I think I've seen her in clips from comps going even more to the max.

Lordy! The woman's arms and legs are like lightening.

I only know of Yulia care of YouTube. One of my favourite clips is this (the dancing does start eventually!) She certainly knows how to work fringe

(This rather fab outfit has also adorned Brooke on DWTS for the Salsa and made an outing on Karina at the Emmys! I wonder who saw it first )

http://www.tvguide.com/Celebrity-Blo...e-1032634.aspx

http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/def1b3...with-the-Stars

enjoy especially the shirt/shake at the end

Team Cha Cha Cha - for me, Team Hines were much better, brown lycra aside I thought Ralph was horrible.

Chelsea and Mark - I have said it before and will say it again, Mark is a clown. Can't stand the guy and I really don't like his style of dancing. But I really liked this choreography. However, he was outdancing Chelsea (again) and for me she had to get more into the floor and be more fluid. Her transitions are not good (have noticed this in the group Cha Cha Cha as well).

Kendra and Louis - blimey, this was fast. Too fast for Kendra to keep up I thought, and the choreography was too complicated for her abilities. Her top line was horrible and she looked like she was holding onto him for dear life.

Kirstie and Maks - not their finest hour... I never expected her to do a great Jive but this was much worse then I thought it would be. I still like them though, and hope they can come back next week with something spectacular.

Ralph and Karina - really bad posture I thought. I didn't think his footwork was amazing, he wasn't closing his feet in the Charleston section. He seems desperate. I guess if Kirsty got a 9 then he deserved a 10, but really

Hines and Kym - as much as I like them, I think Hines is much overrated by the judges. This was ok but his posture wasn't good, he was mincing in that spin and I didn't think it had enough attitude. Again, a 10?

Romeo and Chelsie - I couldn't be bothered, can't stand him and wish he would go.

Loved the pro dances, that tango was AMAZING!!!

HELLO!
I have lurking a few weeks, sorry for that but I have a tough time at work
Anyway: I´m back now and looking forward to monday, only three shows left.
This week I think should be interesting, five couple with each two dances, one regular and one instant-dance.
They have training their dance and gets the music for the dance half a hour before the stage pressure!!!!
Kirstie/Maks: AT and instant-salsa
Hines/Kym: Foxtrot and instant-jive
Ralph/Carina: VW and instant-cha-cha
Romeo/Chelsea: Tango and instant-salsa
Chelsea/Mark: Waltz and instant-salsa

Oh, I forgot, (can´t sleep tonight)
On the ABC boards some think that this week is a disadvantage
for Hines because the producers call monday show for a hot latin night and three cpouples have salsa, one cha-cha and Hines jive......but I think Hines responds good in pressure, we will see
And probably can you all see that I have a crush on Hines (do you say on/in/at ?)
This week Hines got in trouble, all over news but it was a misunderstanding so all good now

About the incident:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8117030

Hines talk about his mom, soooo sweet

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8117096

Nice links, Susan. Fancy forgetting to tell the police you'd just 'misplaced' your car!

Hines certainly has a lot of charm and he is very sweet talking about his Mum

PS You were right - to have crush on someone

]Chelsea & Mark - Waltz
Hines & Kym - Foxtrot
Romeo & Chelsie - Tango
Ralph & Karina - Viennese Waltz
Kirstie & Maks
Chelsea & Mark - Salsa
Hines & Kym - Jive
Romeo & Chelsie - Salsa
Ralph & Karina - Cha Cha
Kirstie & Maks - Salsa

For comparison purposes:

Thanks for the links as usual.
The instant dance was an unusual idea. I couldn't quite get what they meant at first but it is true, if you go to a competition, you don't know what your music is going to be until you step out on the floor and you don't know when it will start. That is why in competitions you don't choreograph a story - you just have a routine and you adapt it depending on the floor conditions. So overall I quite liked the idea but wasn't sure how well it worked in this context.

Chelsea and Mark - waltz
Something dawned on me this week. Are they interested in each other? They seem very close in a way that is different to other couples. Anyway, their waltz was a bit too contemporary for my taste. If it had been two separate dances I would have liked both! However, the waltz sections in hold were well danced and the music was suitable.

Hines and Kym - foxtrot
I didn't really like this. I thought it was too much of a cheese fest with too much acting and performance but not enough foxtrot. The music was okay but seemed a bit fast to me.

Romeo and Chelsie - tango
I thought the music was horrid and the lighting was so dark I couldn't see what the dancing was like. To me the dancing seemed bouncy but maybe that was camera angle or the weird lighting as none of the judges thought that.

Ralph and Karina - Viennese Waltz
I felt really sorry for Ralph. To get VW if you have a hamstring injury is really unfortunate. VW requires stamina, which is just not easy when every movement leaves you in agony, and you do need to drive off the right leg for natural turns. You could see it had affected the dance. Some bits were okay but others were not great. I thought KArina's dress could be summed up as

Kirstie and Maks - Argentine Tango
Kirstie has been doing herself no favours by cutting down on her calories while doing this programme. She is lucky not to have passed out before now. She can afford to eat more calories while she is doing that much dancing. She just needs to make sure that it is the right food. I thought it had a lot of basics and I didn't see as much of the leg locking intricate footwork of other AT routines, but maybe it was there as the judges raved.


Chelsea and Mark - instant salsa
Dire music. I just did not get the salsa vibe from it at all. Chelsea had good clean footwork and overall she did a great job. It was so much better because Mark wasn't able to rely on props and other trickery.

Hines and Kym - instant jive
I love that song as a jive However Hines' footwork was really flat and he did kick upwards. I agree with Bruno on that - but I also agree with Len in that he was at a disadvantage not to have dancedc it before and based on preparation time he did a good job. I don't understand why so few of the male contestants on DWTS seem to wear latin shoes as they help transfer body weight forward onto the balls of the feet. I think it would have helped Hines.

Romeo and Chelsie - instant salsa
I think they had good preparation by going to a salsa club and just dancing to the different tracks. The music was good too. They were a bit off in places. Maybe the routine could have included more basics so that they could get back into things if it got lost.

Ralph and Karina - instant cha cha cha
Again not an easy dance with a leg injury. Karina did a good job to find steps that didn't rely on the right leg too much and where Ralph could essentially stand still. It was littered with mistakes though, but not bad considering the complete lack of practise time. Music was a good choice as it wasn't excessively fast.

Kirstie and Maks - instant salsa
Again I didn't get the salsa vibe from this music and didn't really like it. I felt there were mistakes and it didn't really flow - but what do I know the judges mostly loved it!

Who is in danger? I'm not sure. Ralph could be in danger but he may also get the sympathy vote. Chelsea seems to be taking extra flak from the judges. I felt Carrie-Ann underscored her salsa so she might get a backlash vote (or does that not happen in the US?). Romeo did well on his tango but his salsa didn't quite go as well. Kirstie seems very popular. It's too hard to call.

Chelsea and Mark - Walz
The chat at the beginning of the package was a bit staged, but it needed to be said, one way or another. As for Mark saying he wanted the focus to all be on C...well, I don't buy it, but at least he's aware of the criticism. I actually thought this was a lovely dance (for a contemporary/lyrical routine ) and Chelsie showed great musicality and expression, but I'd have bought into 'reformed Mark' a bit better if they'd just done a straight forward Waltz. Oh, well . I agreed with Len (including his expression when the others were talking!)

Hines and Kym - Foxtrot
Aww, Hines and Kym are a lovely happy pair . I don't know what to say - this looked to me like a nice bit of story-telling partner-dancing, but ...a Foxtrot? Well, if noone on DWTS cares, why should I? We've obviously got to the point in the series where Bruno only has a 10 paddle to choose from.

Romeo and Chelsie - Tango
It was too dark to really see what he was doing and I really only saw a lot of hair flicking and skirt swishing from Chelsie. I don't think he had the right posture or much attack. The judges are back to watching a different dance from me. Left me cold.

Ralph and Karina - VW
He did well, given the lack of practice. Good posture and intensity (for a VW.??? ). I'm sorry he was injured, but they overcooked the whole thing. I'm a bit put off.

Maks and Kirstie - AT
This was one of Kirstie's better dances, though I think it needed to be sharper with more attack. Her dress looked nice. I wish she would wear her hair up - she looks like she's hiding behind it all the time.

Part 2

Chelsea and Mark - Instant Salsa
Wow! Thought they did a brilliant job and I was perplexed by CAI's comments about not connecting to the music (which I loved )

Hines and Kym - Instant Jive
Gosh, this is tough! Can't remember if we've seen Hines jive before, but if not, then that was a really good effort. He was flagging at times and lost it (and Kym) here and there. Edit - Len said he hadn't already jived - In the circs, I'm impressed.

Romeo and Chelsie - Instant Salsa
I'm in awe of all of them for doing so well at this. Great music. Chelsie was doing an awful lot more dancing than Romeo. He lost timing and his feet were quite static.

Ralpha and Karina - Instant Cha Cha
Not masses of dancing from Ralph, for obvious reasons. I don't know how popular he is, but he must be in danger this week. Might be a blessing. Good music.

Kirstie and Maks - Instant Salsa
I liked it. It wasn't the most dynamic dance ever, but seemed to be a fairly 'straight up' salsa to my eyes. She has good hip action.

The Instant Dance is a real challenge (for beginners). I thought it would be a mess, but for the most part they coped amazingly well.

I think it's time for Ralph or Romeo to say good-bye.