Season 10, Week 9,
Dancing With The
Stars Review by
Imperial Society of
Teachers of Dancing
Fellow and Examiner
and Championship
Adjudicator Phillip
Stephens
Images Courtesy of
ABC
Next is my review of
Dancing With The Stars, and here are
some things to think about.
1. I like the show because it brings
dancing into the limelight and makes it
available to millions of people who
would otherwise not know much about it.
2. I don't like the show because it is
over the top in the "Hollywood"
division. So much extra drama, so much
emphasis on romance, so much near nudity
and such biased judging.
3. Most of the time, I think the music
stinks, but remind myself that they are
trying to appeal to a very wide
audience. The songs we dancers know are
best for Cha-cha, Paso Doble, Tango,
etc, aren't all that appealing to
someone who grew up with rap, hip-hop,
pop, C&W, etc, so they are just trying
to put things in a context that will
have more meaning to more people, and we
dancers just have to suffer through it.
4. The show could really use a re-vamp
in the judging department. They should
be consistent, providing the same
criticisms of the same faults to all
contestants. If one person gets scolded
for bad footwork and the next person
gets praised for good footwork when
making the same bad mistakes, it's
confusing to the audience.
5. There should be no elimination during
the first 3 weeks, giving everyone a
chance to be seen in all styles of dance
and get their legs and feet more
seasoned to the craft. In week 4,
eliminate 3 people if you must, but make
sure it's the poorest dancers, not just
the ones with the fewest fan votes.
OK, let's have that review!
Phillip Stephens Reviews
Dancing With The Stars – Season 10, week
9
Semi Finals – 4 “stars” left – must
present 2 dances each – 2nd dance must
feature a brief solo by the star
Erin Andrews & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Viennese Waltz.
Erin looked rather awkward in this dance
and her outfit – pants! – showed all the
bad elements of her legs and feet.
Although she presented a pretty story
and her lines were beautiful, the
technical aspects of the dance were
weak. At this point in the
“competition”, I hope to see more
substantive dancing to go along with the
flash and trash of the requisite
performance. This certainly wasn’t
semi-final quality to me. 24?
Len thought this was good?
Bruno raved about her improvement and
thought it was wonderful???
Carrie Ann also ooohed about how
wonderful she was doing.
9+9+9 = 27, which is far higher than
that performance deserved
Paso Doble
Not exactly what I’d call Paso Doble
music. I enjoyed the clever morphing of
her outfit and must say that Erin looked
good in this get-up. She did a very good
job with the choreography in a very
precise and strong manner. Possibly her
best performance of the season. 27-28?
Bruno – noted her strong performance
Carrie Ann – noted the beautiful
choreographer
Len – He went bonkers again - wanted
traditional Paso to totally non-Paso
music. Grrrr!
10+9+10 = 29
Nicole Sherzinger & Derek Hough
Arrrgh! – I get so put out with all this
injury drama: Warm up properly and avoid
some of the moves that cause and/or
aggravate the injuries.
Argentine Tango –
An excellent blend of dance drama
accented with sharp foot and leg actions
and well executed lifts. Naturally –
since they are allowed to do them and he
has an injured shoulder – Derek put in 3
times as many lifts as were needed for
that piece of music. Go figure! A great
routine that was well performed, so at
least 28 – 30
Bruno – extremely effusive
Carrie Ann – in tears over this
performance? It was good, but not that
good.
Len – more delicious than his
grandmother’s apple pie?
10+10+10 = 30, which is a bit more than
I thought she’d get
Cha-cha-cha
Interesting solo at the beginning with
nice leg extensions and very good
characterization. She is just as precise
as Derek and seldom makes a faulty step.
A very strong performance that was just
a bit light on “authentic” Cha-cha
elements. 30?
Carrie Ann – excellent job
Len – didn’t see enough Cha-cha in her
solo, but thought it showed off her
dancing
Bruno – effusive as usual
10+9+10 = 29. I guess Len just wanted
more CCC in that solo.
Chad Ochocinco & Cheryl Burke
More “spoiled brat” display – this
season featured more whiney people than
ever, but I guess that’s just a sign of
how youngsters are being raised these
days.
Waltz
Posture was better; Some nice lines;
Good timing; A strong performance that
was much better than his usual fare. 27
or so.
Carrie Ann – complimented all his
improvements
Len – Fantastic job of producing a good
Waltz
Bruno – thought he finally displayed his
dance ability
9+9+9 = 27
Samba
Chad is not very good at this dance. He
just doesn’t have the feel for it in his
body. Needs far more body rhythm. The
open shirt didn’t help at all. Losing it
all together added nothing. His footwork
was bad with lots of heel leads. He got
through that solo, but looked like he
was being “tasered” part of the time. 24
tops
Len – Did a great job with a tough
dance???
Bruno – torn between admiration & envy
over the physique. Great job in the
dancing?
Carrie Ann – Noted lack of technical
skills but also that the audience loved
his charisma
8+8+9 = 25. A surprisingly low score
after all that effusive praise.
Evan Lysacek & Ana Trebunskaya
Foxtrot
Certainly started out with high energy
that was maintained throughout. He can
jump like a springbok! Some of this is
fantastic, and this routine featured all
of Evan’s strong point of beautiful
lines coupled with precision deliveries
yet had a more engaging appeal in that
he displayed more personality in this
performance than normal. I’d give this
29 or 30 points
Len – Saw the expected artistry and
technical expertise, plus lots of
personality
Bruno – Enjoyed the vivacity
Carrie Ann – totally connected to the
outward aspects of dancing, that of
entertaining the audience.
10+9+10 = 29, which is totally deserved
Paso Doble
I enjoy watching the intensity with
which Evan performs. He has gotten
better almost every week and, even when
he gave poor performances, he learned
from the criticism. Evan’s solo in this
Paso was so intensely powerful. His
lines and his precise movements were
very dynamic. He made an excellent and
extremely dramatic vampire. Without a
doubt, he should get 30 points for that
fabulous performance.
Bruno – the best Paso of the season
Carrie Ann – Noted the power of his
movements
Len – A very dominating performance
10+10+10 = 30
DWTS Results – 5/17/2010
99 stars have been eliminated during the
show’s history. Tonight will see
elimination of #100
1st finalist: Evan & Anna
Again, a fantastic Paso performance by
Evan and Anna
A beautiful song medley by Sarah
McLaughlin – enjoyed Jonathan & Anna’s
Waltz to Arms of The Angel.
Joey Fatone dancing with Melissa Rycroft
was interesting. It is a shame he gained
so much weight back and wore an outfit
that made him look even bigger. The
designer deserves no Kudos for creating
an outfit that was so ill suited for the
wearer – did he not know a portly fella
would be in it??? SOMEbody provided
measurements, yes? Still, it was a good
routine.
College Teams
Scarlet Knights from Rutgers – a very
new team – Cha-Cha. Nice precise
beginning with very clean actions.
Simple but effective choreography. Lines
matched rather well. A good strong
showing with a very strong ending.
Judges were critically complimentary.
7+7+7 = 21, which is good for such a new
team
Utah Valley University Wolverines
What a workout schedule! Cha-Cha. Very
precise lines and all actions were
synchronized quite well. Spacing on
floor was off a bit now and then. One
guy’s shirt came out, which was rather
distracting. They certainly did a lot of
fundamental Cha-cha steps and the ending
pose was superb. Should get high scores.
Judges liked choreography and technique.
10+9+10 = 29, which might be just a bit
too high.
Was it fair to pit such a new team
against such a seasoned and accomplished
team?
Could they ask “Who will be our 100th
star to be eliminated any more times?
Was this a circus freak show with Miley
Cyrus? Well, whatever it was, the
performers were energetic.
2nd couple in finals – Nicole and Derek
100th eliminated couple – Chad and
Cheryl. Yeah!
I’ll be away Monday night and won’t be
able to watch the final episode until
the 30th, but will be interested to see
who gets the mirror ball. Erin is good
and has great potential, but she is not
in the same league with Nicole and Evan.
Nicole is fantastic and she and Derek
compliment each other so well but I
think Evan has made so much progress
toward being a well-rounded performer
that I’d like to see him win. If his
finale routines come off as well as the
semi-final ones, he definitely has a
chance at that mirror ball trophy.
And that’s a wrap for my week 9 DWTS
review. |
