DWTS - It's Finals Baby!!

That's right - the final nights of DWTS are here.  I'm a little sad, I won't lie.  First up in the Redemption Dances are Kyle & Lacey doing their Foxtrot.  Len gave them a 5 last time so when he showed up in the studio to offer a few pointers, Kyle was pleased.   As for the dance, I loved it!  I was highly impressed with Kyles technique, footwork & intensity!  Fun fun.  Len said people spend a lifetime not mastering the difficulties of the Foxtrot and he really came out so much better than the first time - he's gone from Messy Massey to Marvelous!  Bruno said he was slick, sharp & slinky...  slinky Bruno?  Mmmkay.  Carrie Ann panned the performance, saying he was listening to Len's voice in his head instead of focusing his performance outward.  Whatever, I barely ever agree with Carrie Ann.
Scores from Carrie Ann, Len & Bruno are: 9-9-9
Call 1-800-868-3403 to vote for Kyle & Lacey till 30 minutes after show time, or vote online at abc.com all night.

Next up are Bristol & Mark, getting a re-do on their Jive. If you remeber, the first time Bristol did The Jive, she showed up in a gorilla suit. So this time Bruno showed up in the studio to help break her out of her shell a little. The dance was definitely better - she's definitely come a long way since the first Jive, in both her technique and her performance. She's not quite the shy girl she was in week 1. Bruno was impressed & claimed some credit for bringing something out of her, Carrie Ann said she enjoyed it, then criticized Bristol's toe pointing, and Len said she's gone from a gorilla to a thrilla!
Scores from Carrie Ann, Len & Bruno are:  9-9-9
Call 1-800-868-3407 to vote for Bristol & Mark till 30 minutes after show time, or vote online at abc.com all night.

That leaves Jenifer & Derek last with their Redemption Dance, which is the Paso Doble.  The Paso was Jennifer's low point and Carrie Ann came to help Jennifer with her frame, motion & movements.  I loved it.  The arm play at the beginning was really fun to watch, Jennifer's footwork was great & her frame & motions were beautiful.  Jennifer's husband daughter, daddy & BFF were all on the front row cheering loudly.  Carrie Ann shouted "This is the meaning of redemption!"  Len tried to say there was a lovely mix of aggression & expression but people were still cheering too loudly!  He mentioned the up & down, then said he rarely does this and gave them a standing ovation!  Bruno got out of his seat to narrate the tale of their paso, Len had to lean away to give him room, as is usual for those two.
Scores from Carrie Ann, Len & Bruno are: 10-10-10
Call 1-800-868-3411 to vote for Jennifer & Derek till 30 minutes after show time, or vote online at abc.com all night.

Next up is the freestyle round. Anyone who's watched DWTS for more than a season or two knows just how important the freestyle is!

So again we're back to Kyle & Lacey! And... it was a fun dance but I wasn't blown away. And I think the song Tootsie Roll sucks. Oh well. Len said he's not a great lover of the boogaloo dancing, but it was great fun, great entertainment & he thoroughly enjoyed it. Bruno said it was truly explosive entertainment & amazing charisma - he loved every minute of it. Carrie Ann first scolded Len, telling him it's called "old school hip hop". Then she said this old fly girl was very proud & dubbed Kyle the Fresh Prince of DWTS!
Scores from Carrie Ann, Len & Bruno are: 10-9-10
Call 1-800-868-3403 to vote for Kyle & Lacey till 30 minutes after show time, or vote online at abc.com all night.

Next we'll watch Bristol & Mark's freestyle. Bristol is kind of coming undone from all the criticism, but the thing is, there are no rules on how or why viewers should vote for those they choose, so it's not really as if she's somehow an illegitimate finalist. And to Mark's credit, their dance was great. The Bob Fossey broadway style was very good for Bristol's temperament. I really think going a hip-hop route would've been a total bomb for her. Bruno said it wasn't to the level he would expect. Carrie Ann was shocked to see her dancing in a cage & Len said it was no disaster, it was fantastic!
Scores from Carrie Ann, Len & Bruno are: 8-9-8
Call 1-800-868-3407 to vote for Bristol & Mark till 30 minutes after show time, or vote online at abc.com all night.

Last up are Jennifer & Derek and I'm pretty curious to see what Derek has in store for us! Jennifer can't get crazy with the moves, considering her physical limitations so he'll need to get a little more creative than usual (which shouldn't be too hard for Derek). Yep, I loved it! Carrie Ann said she'd just keep it simple: she thought it was amazing, she thought it was perfect, she thought it was a lift extravaganzaaaaa.... Len said they've been consistent, persistent, an irresistable force - he said they're like a juggernaut, going down the freeway heading for that mirror-ball trophy - fantastic! Bruno said she's a great dancer with great versatility - two dances at opposite ends of the spectrum, and both equally brilliant.
Scores from Carrie Ann, Len & Bruno are: 10-10-10
Call 1-800-868-3411 to vote for Jennifer & Derek till 30 minutes after show time, or vote online at abc.com all night.

And after all the grabass tonight, tom said he feels like he's been through airport security! Ha!!

So here's the judges leader board one last time:
Jennifer & Derek: 60
Kyle & Lacey: 56
Bristol & Mark: 52

DWTS Six Weeks In - Who Goes Home?

Last week I slacked on the results show post so by now everyone knows Florence Henderson went home in Week 5.  She was of course, lovely and gracious upon her elimination.  And as much as I hate to see Mrs. Brady go, it was a decent choice.  I still wonder how Bristol Palin keeps hanging on but truthfully she probably has more potential than Florence, considering their ages and physical states and abilities.
Last nights results though...  I'm not so sure Bristol deserved to stay last night.  I understand that she's no kind of performer so all of this is very foreign to her and getting out there at all is very big for a young girl from Alaska.  However, this is an entertainment program and she's too shy to really throw herself into this competition the way I think she should.  And I don't think she's got as much skill & potential as two of the last three people sent home.  I said before I thought The Situation could show us more and give us more than Bristol.  I also said I was surprised that Bristol could get enough votes to stay, compared to a pop-culture figure that is on an MTV show.  I think it was clear 2 or 3 weeks ago that Bristol's fan base probably includes a lot of her mothers tea-party supporters, voting for her because of their feelings for Sarah.  I find it hard to believe she's got a lot of fans in her own right yet.  Though she is a cute girl, trying hard & doing much better than she was a few weeks ago.
So I said I thought two of the three people sent home deserved to stay over Bristol.  One was The Situation.  And like I said, I thought Florence was a good choice last week.  Which means the second non-deserving dancer to be sent home was last nights competitor...  Audrina Patridge.  It's unfortunate she went home last night since she's clearly got a lot of potential, is young & healthy and has been on top in past weeks.  With 4 points more than Bristol (and more points than 4 other of the couples), she clearly didn't have the votes to keep her in the game.  That's too bad and it makes me bemoan the 'popularity contest' that DWTS tends to be.  true, I'm guilty of voting for my favorites to an extent as well.  However, my favorites are influenced partly by who I liked before the season but also by who is dancing well!  It just blows my mind when viewers vote for a truly bad dancer, as has happened in past seasons.  This is a dancing show - don't they want to see good dancing?!  Already I hear a lot of people complain about the lack of "star" quality of the stars.  But no matter who they get for the show, at least the dances are skilled and entertaining.  If we can't keep dancers with some kind of skill on the show through to the end, what's the point in watching?  Ah well.  I'll keep voting for the good dancers and hopefully the show won't devolve.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas - DWTS Season 11

I'm not sold on Bristol Palin. I knew nothing of her but the smiley plastic face she brought to her mothers run for the vice presidency in 2008. Then I heard the teen-mom scandal and all the drama between her & her baby-daddy. Then I heard she was back at home under her photo-op-moms wing. Then I heard she'd hooked up with her baby-daddy again, and used Us Magazine to break the news to Mom. Then I heard her baby-daddy just wanted a reality show deal so she's back to single-teen-mom status and playing nice with Mom again. But I certainly don't begrudge anyone their experiences in life, and if you know me you know I'm certainly no stranger to baby-daddy drama.  And you know, I don't even begrudge her choice to use the media to fuel her over dramatic mother-daughter relationship.  I made a lot of crazy choices when I was young (now I make different crazy choices).  So who am I to judge?  Still, all of this does not a star make.  It makes her a politicians spoiled teen daughter who's caught some limelight.
Another thing that bothers me about Bristol: As a notable teen mom she has a lot of opportunity to reach other teens. She started out advocating abstinence then later (when she split from Mom briefly) came out saying she felt teaching abstinence was unrealistic and teens should be learning about birth control options etc. After her reconciliation with Mom, she was back to supporting Mom's party line of abstinence. I like my waffles with breakfast only, thanks. I'm not clear what her message is now but I know she's a Teen Ambassador for The Candie’s Foundation, to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy.  How she advocates preventing these unplanned pregnancies, I don't know.
However, most of this drama and craziness is kids stuff.  The back & forth, the drama with mom, most kids have been through it - certainly I'm no saint.  And I've seen experiences like this turn a braterpillar turn into Butterfly.  Having a baby can push the whole growing up process along as well!  So we'll have to see.  She'll have to show me some great dance moves and a fun, willing, go-getter attitude before I'll call her number.