August 19th, 2010 by soullldiva

Ok, the rumors are starting to fly for season 11 of Dancing With the Stars. The full cast will be revealed in under two weeks, Monday August 30th on ABC. Here’s a few of the rumors that I found on the “intranets” over the past couple of days:

1. Newly engaged Bachelorette stars Ali and Roberto: They deny it and I certainly hope so. I don’t watch the Bachelorette and I’m not interested in them.

2. Jersey Shore’s The Situation: Um…who? The only one I know is Snookie, and I can’t stand her. Although he would fill the “funny/oddball/comedian” slot.

3. Former NFL Quarterback Kurt Warner: This could most likely be a joke like the one Troy Aikman made up about himself and told TMZ a couple of weeks ago. But you usually need an NFL player on each season, so who knows?

4. Real Housewife Teresa Giudice: Teresa Tweeted that she is “thinking” about being on the show. Well, thinking and being asked by ABC are two different things, Teresa.

5. Deadliest Catch’s Sig Hansen: Again, not familiar with him, but anyone who does that death-defying job is ok in my book. Can he dance at all?

6. Mel Gibson Ex Oksana Grigorieva: Not sure how I feel about this. She would certainly get the exposure her music career needs, now that it no longer has Mel’s money.

7.Super Babe Betty White: I picked her for my dream cast list, too, so I don’t blame ABC at ALL.

I read a great article on Entertainment Weekly.com where writer Annie Barrett came up with her own dream team like I did a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVED her picks of Elizabeth Berkley and Leonard Nimoy. Great picks, Annie!

August 6th, 2010 by soullldiva

Oh YES! It is time once again for the fall season of Dancing With the Stars, and watching the great journeys of some who don’t know how to put one foot in front of the other, and some that do.

Looks like ABC will again be using cross promotion for the announcements in order to get the most coverage, and announcing on the season finale of The Bachelorette (ugh. Sorry Bachelor/ette fans). That means I actually have to watch it. OR–just check in with my east-coast gals on ravelry.com (the lovely ladies on the Dancing With the Stars Group) to get the scoop three hours earlier. I think I’ll opt for the latter.

Watch The Bachelorette season finale on August 30th for the announcements! Partners should be announced on Good Morning America the next day as last season. Then DWTS season 11 premier starts September 20th!!

CORRECTION: I was not accurate about the show the cast will be announced on. It is not The Bachelorette, it’s The Bachelor Pad. Sorry about that!

May 25th, 2010 by soullldiva

Finals night came in the blink of an eye on Dancing With the Stars last night. In fact, I was in the middle of a rousing rendition of “Ring My Bell” from the Wii game Just Dance with my family (we’re at a reunion) when I panicked and realized I was missing the show (DVR, I love you).

For the finals this year the stars need to perform an unprecedented FOUR dances (two on Monday, two on Tuesday). Tonight they must do a Redemption Dance, where they will attempt to redeem themselves for a dance the judges say they should have done better on, and the infamous Freestyle, who everyone says locks in the trophy.

SO! Were they redeemed or not? Let’s see…

First is Erin and Maks, and they must attempt to redeem themselves on the Samba. Ooh, tough one for the judges to pick for them. Bruno stops in to help her with her hip action, which (along with your arm work) is really the most important thing in the Samba (oh, along with the Par-Tay!). Bruno likes what he begins to see: “Look at the ass! So much better!”

As they begin the dance, Erin and Maks button UP Maks’ shirt. Very cute. Erin’s dress is fabulous, love the red flutters and her necklace. They did very well, but I feel this was not as earth-shaking as it needed to be. Improvement, yes, fantastic, no. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-9 (which will turn out for me to be the most surprising score of the night).

Evan and Anna is next. They get help from the Great Len Goodman for their Viennese Waltz, which they did all the way back in week one. Chemistry is what is needed here for the two of them here. Evan needs to put more focus and love on Anna, rather than thinking and going to the next move (yeah, Olympian).

Anna choreographed a really, really lovely intro for this Viennese Waltz (her dress is fab), and they kept the connection the entire time when not in hold. Truly lovely. Probably the best Viennese Waltz I’ve ever seen on DWTS. Great work and absolute redemption. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-9

Nicole and Derek have Carrie Ann come in and help out with their Rumba. When they did it the first time, Nicole’s nerves got the bes of her and it was probably her worst meltdown (among quite a few). Carrie Ann really pushes her to take the meltdown and convert it into vulnerability (so use it before rather than after). Really let go and show she’s more than a pretty face and a dancing machine.

Their Rumba is sensitive and beautiful. Nicole is vulnerable and connected to Derek, and Derek himself is more connected to any partner than I’ve ever seen. The choreography is solid and that hold at the end is new and very interesting (she wraps her leg around him and holds herself up, whew). They are completely redeemed here. Carrie Ann’s lift police rant is absolutely necessary here, and I wish she would have just shut up. Judges’ Score: 9-9-10

Freestyle: POP! or fizzzle…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is the most highly anticipated dance of the entire season, and somehow it is always a disappointment. Either the couples go crazy and do stuff that is just “not them”, or they play it safe and do stuff that they would normally do (like a pop star does hip-hop). What will happen for season 10?

For the first time ever, there is a Contemporary/Lyrical freestyle on DWTS. WHAT?? Erin has decided to do something different, and more of what she would do (she had years of ballet and jazz). They even call the lovely Ms. Mandy Moore (woo hoo) in to help out with the choreography. This is unprecedented (there’s that word again, she keeps on using it), and I am anticipating the performance highly.

I expected to love it, but I just…didn’t. And I’m really sorry I didn’t. Erin took a real risk with this and really showed what she wanted to do. I suppose it just looked too odd to me on the ballroom floor, and I felt that contemporary should just stay over on the Fox So You Think You Can Dance set. Plus, there was a bed AND a sofa. Too much, even for a contemporary piece. Off the mark for me personally. However, this dance gave us the best Tom Bergeron moment of the entire season: “In ten seasons, ‘It’s not the bed I rehearsed on’ is the my favorite excuse ever!” Judges’ Scores: 9-8-9

We see Evan and Anna butt heads for the first time this seaon, over the steps for their freestyle. Evan wants to take more chances, and Anna wants to stick to what they do best. They both really want to win, you can tell. Things smooth out when they bring in a choreographer in to help out and be the go-between.

Their freestyle is a prom theme from “Footloose” (this made me think what a great freestyle the prom scene from “Grease” would make). Lots of fun and a huge crowd please. They looked like they had a great time. Technically speaking (except for the impossible lift at the end) that the choreography was a little light, but still super fun. The judges, however, were uniformly disappointed. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8 Boo.

What, oh what will Nicole bring? Her Pussycat Doll card or something new? I adore their sparkle-y tux outfits with the chartreuse shoes and ties. Really popped. They chose “Little Less Conversation” by Elvis (love it) for their song and they just brought it ALL. This was super-fantastic and absolutely perfect (with a slight hesitation on the lift at the end). Clearly the Winner of the Freestyle Round, and Len hit it right on the nose: He saw all different styles of ballroom dance used together in a new and inventive way. Now THAT’S a freestyle! Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

So in a surprise on the leaderboard, Erin and Nicole are tied for first with 55 out of 60 points. Evan is second with 52 out of 60 points. The stars and their partners will do their third and fourth dances on the Results show. What will they do? My money is on one dance will be the stars pick and the other will be the judges’ pick. We’ll see. It’s shaping up to be an exciting and very interesting show Tuesday night. My early pick for the winner? Nicole Scherzinger. And she would deserve it. Tune in tonight!

BTW, Spoiler Alert for Season 11: Hugo “Hurley” Reyes wins!!! (thanks to Jimmy Kimmel’s Aloha to LOST show, which helped stop my tears over watching the final episode ;o)

May 18th, 2010 by soullldiva

There are only four couples left in season 10 of Dancing With the Stars: Erin and Maks, Cheryl and Chad, Evan and Anna and Nicole and Derek. I was very sad to see Niecy go, as she was definitely the highlight of this season and really fun to watch crack jokes. But onward!

Last night there were two rounds, the Ballroom Round and the Latin Round. In the Latin Round, each star will be doing their own solo! This is always fun to watch to see if they can really let go and get loose in the face of live TV and millions of viewers (I would certainly be hard-pressed to).

First up was Erin and Maks with their Viennese Waltz. Man, that girl can do amazing things with those legs, really pretty extension. And although I really didn’t care for her dress/pantsuit, it certainly made her legs look even longer. Unfortunately, I think she was super nervous (you see her say that at the end of the dance), she had a chronic issue with trembling ankles. Judges’ Scores 9-9-9 (well, if you don’t include Bruno Tonioli’s “premature” 10 paddle).

Next was Nicole and Derek’s Argentine Tango. Hot, sexy, sharp, passionate, amazing. Really fun to watch and well danced! And the walk down the stairs with her legs wrapped around his was really awesome. Oh yeah, and the move where he lifted her up on his FOOT. This was really a master-choreographed piece. I am going to call Derek out for using the same stag lift move that he used with Lil Kim, though. It’s the first time I have ever seen him re-use a really specific move. Good one, though! Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10

Chad and Cheryl were next with a rather nice and different Waltz. This guy has improved a LOT, and is now able to use that fantastic body of his to the fullest and lengthen and show off those lines. Plus he has an amazing smile and beautiful skin, oh, and that light pink color looks great against it. Ooh, I kinda just fell in love with him there! The did really nicely. Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

Evan and Anna are next with a Foxtrot. It’s time for Evan to open up a little bit and show some real personality and boy doe he come out of the gate with it with the beginning of this foxtrot. Lots of clicking the heels four feet off the floor! Their dance is peppy, cute and just fantastic and full of chemistry. It’s like this is a new version of Evan, very sparkly (which is a perfect description for a figure skater). Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

That’s it for the Ballroom round, next up is the Latin round with (dum dum dum) SOLOS. And along with these solos, the stars get to be even more vulnerable with a personal interview. Hmmmmm.

Erin and Maks are first. Erin talks about her childhood and being very tall and skinny, and her fast track onto national ESPN. Then she found out she had a stalker. I thought it was very interesting that she talked about this event (THE video), I actually thought it would have been better to not bring it up. But she was brave to talk about it, good for her.

Their latin dance is a creative Paso Doble. I liked her costume, how the skirt was wrapped up in a top at first and then revealed later on. Her solo was pretty good, she definitely committed to the movement. The Paso as a whole was really fresh, I thought, although non-traditional as Len pointed out. Who cares? Anything to inject new life into the Paso.
Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

Nicole and Derek are next. Nicole talks about her origins in Hawaii, and being one of 14 in a small house, then moving to Kentucky when her mom met her new husband. She of course didn’t look like anyone in the town, and threw herself into the performing arts to stand out even more!

They do a super cha cha cha to “Kiss” by Prince. She’s even dressed up like him with a purple jacket and “puffy shirt”. Very cheeky, very cute and very well done. Another great piece of choreography by Derek. Her solo was great, but that is her forte, so I felt like it was second nature for her. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

Chad and Cheryl are up next. Chad says his first words were “child, please.” His father was in prison and his mother raised him alone. He grew up in a very urban, dangerous community. Football was his outlet, and served him very well. His friends and family talk about how hard DWTS has been for him, and he was surprised at how hard.

Their dance is a Samba. Chad doesn’t let anything hold him back and really enjoys himself out there, especially during his solo. and he has amazing skin. He had the hardest Latin dance and he did well. Big charisma from this guy. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-9

Evan is last. He talks about his Grandmother buying him skates because she wanted to be in the Ice Capades. Once he discovered he could go fast he fell in love. He discovered the lure of competition early on and that he had to work harder to be better. And he’s shy (that we knew). And he’s a great learner (definitely).

Their dance is the Paso Doble to that great Evanescence song. With all the leaps and posing, it’s a cinch that this would be a great dance for Evan. He comes out the box kicking like a wild horse and we really see the skating training come out. But it doesn’t overshadow the dance. Great blend of the Paso and his native abilities. Dramatic kiss at the end! Very well done and big commitment from him. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10

The Results are TONIGHT!! Who will make it to the Finals? Tune in with me and find out. Try not to bite your nails too much..

May 10th, 2010 by soullldiva

Five couples are left on Season 10 of Dancing With the Stars:

Niecy and Louis
Nicole and Derek
Evan and Anna
Erin and Maks
Chad and Cheryl

Three couples stand out (ability-wise) as shoo-ins for the semis:

Nicole and Derek
Evan and Anna
Erin and Maks

It is really up in the air for the last spot. Who will survive the cut tomorrow night? As much as I love Niecy, she may just not make it based on her performances. Chad as well. BUT–who knows?? Last season I wished and hoped (and voted) and got my “dream finals”. Anything can happen with a big enough fan base holding their phones in their hands.

This week the stars learned two whole routines with their pros. Tonight was split up into the Ballroom round and the Latin round. The Latin round was to have it’s own slant: the couples drew decades out of the hat to see how they had to theme their Latin dance: 50s, 60s, 80s, 90s and Future (why no 70s?).

Each of the pros sized up each of the stars in segments before the rounds. This was great, I thought, and seemed candid and sometimes a bit harsh with the truth. What was great to hear from the pros mouths was not only notes on technique and precision, but heart, enjoyment, emotion and connection. I like hearing the pros opinions, and this is a segment that you would probably have not seen the first few seasons. The pros are now stars in their own right, and their opinion matters.

Tonight the dancing for most of the couples seemed to be a “two steps forward, one step back” kind of round. Last week was really fabulous all around, but this week seemed to lack a bit.There were three absolute standout dances this evening, and two of them were from the same couple. While everyone worked very hard, I’m going to focus on these three.

Even though they were in the bottom two last week, Erin and Maks’ Argentine Tango really sizzled. And yet Another dress that I’m totally stealing for my tango. The leap and catch off the stage into the upside-down extention was truly dazzling. Beautiful lines and very passionate hold. She just needs to stop making that funny pursing-thing with her lips to approximate anger. I know she’s capable of real emotion, huh? One thing for sure, those two are really good at the double-entendre (“Just jump on me woman!”).

I’m pretty sure we’re in for three more weeks of Nicole completely freaking out about every dance during rehearsals. If I were Derek, I would be pulling out my hair. Nicole, Nicole, Nicole. Let yourself off the hook puh-leeze. We get it that this is not easy for you. And we totally get that you want it to be good–perfect. And you care–LOTS. Bonus points, baby. Just check out this light, funny, charming and cute Foxtrot, full of chemistry and excellent precision dancing.

So that’s the first two stand out dances for me tonight. The second round, the Latin “decades” round is something that I can’t quite fathom and I’m wondering if the execs should just chuck it. I can’t remember it working that well last year, either. I just don’t think that trying to “force” a specific dance into a specific time period just doesn’t actually work. Well, Chad’s seemed to work. But then–a stroke of genius.

When Nicole drew 50s from the hat, Derek stood there, dumbfounded. How in the hell were they supposed to meld the 50s with the Paso Doble? It wouldn’t work. I had an idea that they could do it like the “cool beatniks” in all black and shades, that might work. But what they came up with was just pure brilliance, and at the same time revived the usual tired and overwrought dance that is the Paso.

So it was an interesting night to say the least. And the couple that originally I did not embrace for being a ringer are now fully in my heart. Will my underdog favorite make it into the semi-finals and beyond? We’ll find out tomorrow on the Results show (cross your fingers)!