Commentary by
Phillip Stephens
Hello to
All:
The judging seemed
"off-kilter" to me last
night. Emmett
Smith is a good
performer and
entertainer, but, then,
so is Jerry
Springer.
Mario Lopez
out-danced Joey
Lawrence in
both his Ballroom and
Latin routines, but Joey
scored higher in Latin.
I'm thinking the judges
had something in their
eyes on that one. Maybe
there was some of that
fake Halloween
"smoke" occluding their
view of the dance floor
that the rest of us
didn't have to peer
through?
Is Emmett Smith
a better dancer than
Jerry Springer?
Well, yes ... and no.
Jerry did a great job
last night, performing
seriously in both
dances. Emmett was also
serious (with smiles),
but looked heavy at
times and did clunky old
heel leads where he
shouldn't oughta, didn't
always finish his arm
lines and was off time
now and then. He got
praise and high marks
while good ol' Jerry got
ridiculed for his rather
nice performances that
featured a lot of
desirable dance
techniques. Hmmm....
More on "judging
criteria" later, which
may or may not help
clear matters up. In
the meantime, and
putting Ballroom & Latin
comments together, here
are my views on the
October 24 performances
in their order of
appearance:
Jerry
Springer
danced a very impressive
Foxtrot that featured a
nice entrance, good
posture and movement and
proved that he can be
serious while dancing.
His footwork was bad at
times, but his overall
performance was quietly
elegant. I would agree
with Kari Ann that he
lacked a bit of
confidence, but I think
he deserved higher
scores than the 24 he
got. Jerry's Mambo was
even more impressive in
that he was
well-synchronized with
Kim, did a lot of
side-by-side movements
with good timing, hit
the musical breaks and
moved his body
rhythmically
throughout. I feel he
deserved at least 25
points for the Mambo,
and felt that the judges
scored him far too low
with that paltry 22 they
gave him.
Monique
Coleman
was - in my opinion -
trying too hard to make
a good showing for the
womenfolk. Her
Quickstep was quite
nice, with good frame
and movement; she also
displayed neat feet, a
relaxed expression, and
delivered an "impact"
ending. I estimated
a 26 for this routine
and was not
overly surprised when
she got 27 from the
judges. Monique's Paso
Doble was bothersome to
me in that she was
working too hard on
virtually every aspect
of the dance from
expression to movement
to styling. At one
point - seeming to
reverse character in
midstream - she barged
across the floor like a
rampaging bull, only to
meekly drop into a pose
in front of Louis, who
was already in a floor
line. The judges
commented on her loss of
balance in underarm
turns, but I think Louis
lead her too strongly
and caused the problem.
In general, Monique
displayed strong Paso
lines and did her best
to display the dance's
character. I would have
given her a 25 - maybe a
26 - so was surprised by
her receiving 27 from
the judges for this
dance, too.
Emmett Smith
performed a very good
solo start to his Waltz
routine and danced
fairly well to a
butchered version of
what is normally one of
my favorite Waltz
tunes. His timing was
not always secure, but
the choreography was
nice and well
presented. He stuck in
the occasional heel lead
on count 3 and his rise
and fall was practically
non-existent; how Kari
Ann could praise his
footwork escapes me
totally. His Waltz
score of 28 was far too
high for this
performance. Emmett's
Mambo looked a bit heavy
to me; he was off time
in several places,
seeming to switch
between Mambo and Salsa
timing and not being too
good at either. His
movements were very
rhythmic and he created
good lines, but used
heel leads a lot and
didn't actually display
much Mambo hip action.
In this regard, I feel
that Jerry Springer
out-danced Emmett and
was not given the
recognition he
deserved. Although I
like his dancing and his
powerful performances,
we need to be fair; I
feel that Emmett's score
of 29 was at least 3
points too high for that
routine.
Mario Lopez
did a great job in that
Foxtrot with a nice
"stage-performance" type
of entrance; the
choreography was
beautiful and the couple
really danced to the
music. Mario displayed
good lines in a very
"Fred Astaire - Ginger
Rogers" sort of way in
what I felt was a highly
lyrical
performance. Although
there were too few heel
leads and the entire
routine was a bit "balletishly"
too high in legs and
feet, this, of all the
routines, deserved a 30
rather than the 29
received. Mario's Jive
was rhythmic, clean and
seemed totally
synchronized. I had to
remind myself that he
had learned both of
these routines in just
one week and wanted to
shout that at Len and
Bruno when they were
criticizing Mario's free
arm for a bit of
"dangling" in a dance
that is quite casual to
begin with. There is no
way that Emmett Smith's
Mambo deserved higher
scores than this Jive,
and 27 was at least 2
points too low for this
performance.
Joey
Lawrence
gave his best
performance of the
season in his Foxtrot
although I did think the
entrance went on a bit
too long. He did stick
in a few heel leads -
though the judges
(especially Len) seemed
not to notice! - and
Joey looked more relaxed
with this dance than in
any others I've seen him
perform. I wasn't all
that taken with his solo
work, which still looked
at the same proficiency
level as that little kid
he was "back when", and
I just wish that he
would get some good body
rhythm to go along with
that marvelous
physique. I feel he
should have received no
more than 27 points for
that performance, which
in no way compared to
Mario or Emmett's slow
dances. (Actually,
considering several
factors I'll try to
explain later, I think
Jerry Springer did just
as nicely in his Waltz
as Joey did in this
Foxtrot.) Joey
displayed the typical
disjointed-rhythm
performance in Mambo as
he's shown us in
Cha-cha, Quickstep,
Rumba, etc. The
performance was so light
and "prissy" that I had
to remind myself it was
supposed to be a
"macho-looking" Mambo.
He was stiff looking in
everything except the
shimmies and took overly
large steps The
performance was awkward
and just lacked
character (It left
Michael "cold", a
sentiment with which I
agree). A higher score
than Mario's Jive? No
way! A 26 would have
been generous and 28 was
simply too high.
Now, I periodically
remind you that
everyone is
entitled to see things
differently. You are
each able to formulate
your own opinions and
express them to all and
sundry. I stated
earlier that I would
explain my views on
judging criteria, etc.
Since this is already a
long read, I'm going to
put those thoughts in a
separate posting and
send it later. While I
don't expect to change
anyone's mind by
expressing my views, at
least you'll know where
I'm coming from. Until
then,
Happy
Dancing
and remember
