You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - DWTS Week 2 Results!

I watched the Monday night dancing portion of Dancing With The Stars yesterday morning. I got myself a cup of coffee, switched on my DVR and pulled it up so I could sit back and enjoy it again. I love seeing the dances, the costumes, the music...  without thinking too hard about who I want to vote for.

As far as costumes go, there was a lot of fun stuff, a few stinkers, and some really sexy bits...
I loved Cheryl's pink "Tush" panties!  It's a shame we only got to see them once! 


Karina looked elegant & sophisticated in her old fashioned dress and while The Situation has probably never worn clothes so tight in all his life, the uniform looked great on him!


Speaking of military uniforms, I loved Anna's old-school military uniform hot-pants and I thought the finger curls were adorable!  I wasn't a big fan of the strange sequin-outlined breast pockets she gave Kurt...


...but Kurt's pockets were certainly not as odd as the electrical tape wrapped thighs of Tony!  What is that about?  And what's going on with Audrina's fishnet chest?  I'm glad she didn't get tangled up in her own shirt!


Corky did a far better job with his suit and Florence pulls off the wet look quite well with her plethora of sequins.


Maks didn't quite wear a suit, but even in a bowtie, you can't deny he's just sexy. And who doesn't like a cutie in pigtails & plaid?!


Jennifer's gold flapper dress with the side cut-outs looked pretty hot.  And like I said, the ringlet extensions worked very well with the whole thing.  I love both of their faces in this picture!  They're so into the performance - it's great.


Lacey in her feather duster dress, mentioned below, was different but I thought it fit their dance and wasn't ugly.  And Chelsie's midriff exposing outfits can't go wrong!

I wasn't especially impressed with Bristol's layers of lavender,


and the zebra/hot-pink combo on Margaret didn't do it for me either. but I won't hold it against them since it's not "Fashion-Shows With The Stars".


Here are this weeks standings:
Jennifer Grey - 24
Audrina Patridge - 23
Kyle Massey - 22
Bristol Palin - 22
Rick Fox - 21
Brandy - 21
Kurt Warner - 21
Florence Henderson - 19
The Situation - 18
Margaret Cho - 18
Michael Bolton - 12

Last night, tuning into the results show, we first learned that Kyle & Lacey are safe & Brandy & Maks are "in jeopardy". But you know how that goes. Half the contestants will be left "in jeopardy" until the end, but only one star is actually going home.

I love the little fight going on between Len & Bruno over Michael Bolton's scores Monday night. It's funny that Len lectured Bruno on being nice. I thought Bruno was kind of an ass myself. He can say it was terrible, he can make a joke at his expense even, but does he really have to say it was the worst he's ever seen?  Typically, the judges give weekly pointers that the contestants can work on.  It's pretty mean-spirited to offer nothing constructive.  I've often made the observation that the judges and hosts on DWTS seem to genuinely enjoy each other.  I imagine them going home happy with their jobs and co-workers overall.  I don't get that same vibe when watching a show like American Idol and I don't like the undertones of actual hostility I sometimes sense between the judges of AI.  I like my judges & co-hosts happy thanks.  Please adjust the attitude before next week Bruno. 

But Len ended the squabble and announced that Kyle and Lacey were the judges pick for the encore dance tonight. I think Kyle's got a lot of musicality, he's incredibly engaging, and he's just plain good. Now, I don't think it's unfair to call Kyle chubby - don't get me wrong, I think he's adorable! But I wasn't expecting him to be as quick & agile as he is. I'm pleasantly surprised with Kyle's awesome performances. I loved Len's comment last night about how it looked like Kyle was caught up in the midst of a huge feather duster! The skirt was a bit odd but I liked it. The whole thing worked for them.


Next, Janelle Monae sang Tightrope and I'm a little curious what was going on up in that hair, but I really dug the James Brown vibe she had going. Honestly I hadn't heard of this girl before last night but I might check out more of her music. That was pretty entertaining.

You may have noticed the crazy level of booing in the ballroom last night at one point and there was a lot of news coverage later, claiming the audience began to boo as soon as they saw the cameras & Tom Bergeron were setting up to shoot a segment with Sarah Palin. DWTS came back with raw footage of another camera which indicates the audience was booing the low scores given to Jennifer Grey & Derek.  Some of the audience was even chanting "Nine!  Nine!  Nine!" so it seems clear that the booing was not at the political figure.  Though according to some bloggers that's what it was about.  Lets just consider both possibilities for a moment:  Clearly there were people in the audience chanting nine and booing the scores.  But I know cameras set up in preparation for the next segment in a live show and I have no doubt that some audience members didn't care about the already great scores of Jennifer & Derek, don't like Sarah Palin and took the opportunity to boo at her.  I'm pretty sure the booing was a combination of the two.  I have no doubt there was at least one audience member who was genuinely under the impression they were booing at Sarah Palin, which means they in fact were.  No matter if others were genuinely booing the judges scores.  Still, Jennifer & Derek thanked the audience for their show of support & all was put aside.

Of the next couples up, Florence & Corky are safe as well as Bristol & Mark. Which means that in this go-round, The Situation & Karina are "in jeopardy". Next Audrina & Tony are safe and Jennifer & Derek join them immediately, safe as well. How funny - they only had two couples up in that round and both were told they're safe tonight. I love how they love to mess with the contestants minds!

Next was a packet of the pro's talking about their rituals and routines on show-day.  They do stuff like pass a football back & forth, eat chocolate cake and sniff the ballroom floor.  Most of them keep their star partner close and all outside distractions away.  Most of them have got a lot of experience in this style of competition by now and are very clear on what works for them.

The Macy's Star's of Dance put on an amazing ballet/cirque style dance to Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. And after an endless commercial break, Seal sang The Weight Of My Mistakes. Cheryl, Lacey, Kym & Chelsie came onto the floor in fluttery little pink nighties & wavy flowing hair, dancing like little slumber party nymphs around him.  I wonder if we could get a nightie clad nymph for my next party.

Of course, how could they air a packet about pro's and their show-day rituals without also talking to the contestants about their thoughts & feelings so far in the game.  Some of them talked about how intimidating it is going up against big competitors and real stars - I'm sure it would be surreal for a reality star like Audrina or The Situation to suddenly find themselves making friends with people like Florence Henderson or Rick Fox.  And of course the serious competitors like Rick Fox, say things like they've played to win at everything they've ever tried in life and this dance competition is no different.

Kurt, Michael, Rick & Margaret were last up and we found Kurt & Anna and Margaret & Louis were safe, but before we could learn the fate of Michael or Rick, Tom sent us to another commercial! Or ten.

So back to the stage and the 4 remaining contestants are all up in lights. Rick & Cheryl are told right away they're safe. Remaining are The Situation & Karina, Brandy & Maks and Michael & Chelsie. Aaaaand it's another commercial. Of course. At this point I think Michael Bolton should go home. I hate to make people feel bad so I hate what Bruno said. especially since it's likely Michael could go home in a minute. That really sours his elimination & might send him home feeling bad.  But despite that, I think he's the weakest dancer & should be the next to be sent away.

Brandy & Maks are safe!

And yep, The Situation & Karina are safe and Michael Bolton & Chelsie Hightower are sent home in week two. Tom asked Michael about the camaraderie he experienced and if he expected that. I would imagine the consistency with which the stars get so close season after season is owed to the fact that they all share the condition of being completely immersed in unfamiliar territory.So hopefully Michael has made a few life-long friends that will make all of Bruno's words insignificant in the end. Aside from that, I do think he was the right choice to go home.

Next week it could go a couple of ways. Florence could get a dance that's tough for her - maybe one with some hip action required? And that could negatively impact her overall standing.  Or, one of Margaret & The Situation will step up a bit and the other will go home. We'll see...

Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke - DWTS Season 11

Rick Fox is well named.  And he can move on the court.  But can he move, and be a fox, on the dance floor?  That remains to be seen.  He's got the right partner if he's serious about getting the mirror ball trophy.  Cheryl is goal oriented.  This is her 9th season and she's taken home two mirror balls of her own in the 2nd and 3rd seasons.  She'll work Rick Fox as hard as he ever worked as a Laker.  I think they're a great pair.  I hope they do well.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer - DWTS Season 11

First, I have to say: Racy Lacey as a blonde just isn't doin' it for me!  I thought she was a sexy counterpoint to all the bubble-gum blonds on the show.  Now she kinda blends in with Kym, Julianne & Chelsie.  No offense to those lovely ladies - I just thought Lacey had a good thing going.  Ah well, I guess we can just let the whole season be a do-over.  I don't know anything about this Kyle kid but he doesn't look like he can dance...  maybe they'll both surprise me.

Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya - DWTS Season 11

Kurt Warner is one of my favorite football players.  First, he's got such a great cinderella-story.  Second, that awesome cinderella story of his is what finally ruined my favorite quotable stat about a dome team never winning the Superbowl!  Football players have a mixed record on DWTS.  Jerry Rice (and Anna Trebunskaya coincidentally) came very close to winning the mirror ball trophy in Season 2.  Then in Season 3, Emmit Smith did take the mirror ball home.  Jerry is joined by 2 more NFL stars who made it to 2nd place: Jason Taylor in season 6, and Warren Sapp in season 7.  In season 8 though, Lawrence Taylor only made it as far as 7th place.  And just last season Chad Ochocinco made it to 4th but clearly benefited from the fan vote to get him so far.  So we'll have to wait and see how well Warner does.
Anna has partnered 5 other stars: she's made it to 2nd place twice and landed below 10 the other three times.  She's a great dancer but when she was dancing with Evan Lysacek I noticed that she didn't quite rise to the occasion the way Derek Hough did.  He brought every drop of determination and pushed his partner to the limit.  His choreography reflected his knowledge that the final dance was their defining moment and last chance to set themselves apart from every other couple that came before them.  Anna kind of seemed to crack under that pressure.

David Hasselhoff and Kym Johnson - DWTS Season 11

The Hoff! I'll admit I was excited about this one! Come on, be honest... if you've seen the drunken burger eating video you must be a little curious to see if that Hoff makes an appearance. I suppose he'll be on better behavior since it's abc, as opposed to his daughters YouTube channel, but you never know - we might get lucky.
As far as skill, we know The Hoff has been in several Broadway shows.  That means we can't count him out as a dancer.  So he might be just barely acceptable, but he might be this seasons Donny Osmond. 
And speaking of Donny, Kym partnered him as well.  Personally I think she's the perfect choice!  She's cute, feisty, and doesn't fade into the background when she's with a strong personality - she's perfect for an older ladies man like the Hoff.  I really hope he holds on for a while because I'd like to see what he brings to the show.  Good luck Hoff!

Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino and Karina Smirnoff - DWTS Season 11

I know absolutely nothing about Mike "the situation" Sorrentino, other than the fact that he's on MTV's Jersey Shore and was unable to get to the photo shoot that every other celeb managed to attend a couple weeks ago so there's no picture of he and Karina, his dance partner.  But the other day I was scanning the program guide on TV and saw that Jersey Shore was on MTV at the moment so I flipped to it.  My husband gave me a look that seemed to ask if I was feeling alright.  But I ignored him and pressed on.  When I joined Jersey Shores, Snookie & JWoww were covered in plastic bags, cleaning the "smoosh room" so Snookie and her latest male friend could spend some time there without Jwoww being forced to listen to them moan all night in their shared bedroom.  These girls were wearing huge plastic bags!  On their heads!  I found myself hoping one of those girls would suffocate and save me from the complete stupidity.  It was that bad.  I couldn't watch long enough to get a glimpse of Sorrentino, but I really hope he brings a little more interest and intelligence to DWTS than I saw from the rest of the Jersey Shore cast.  Chances are he's a total meat head who isn't good for much more than showing off his 6-pack to all of America, but we can hope he shows us something worth watching.
This will be Karina Smirnoff's eighth season as a pro on DWTS, but she has yet to earn a mirror ball.  I'm not sure if that's because of her past partners or her teaching skills but I have no doubt she'll push Sorrentino out of his comfort zone.  I'll have to with hold any opinions for now since I just don't know with this guy...

Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower - DWTS Season 11

I'm just going to come out and say it for the record right now: When I was 13 I had a little crush on Michael Bolton.  Really you can't be too hard on me - he was better looking than my little boyfriend and he definitely had a handle on romance that was sadly lacking in most 13 year old boys.  With that out of the way, now I have to admit that I got a little giggly again when I saw his first DWTS publicity shot.  Can you blame me? Look at that smile!  It screams "I still know more about romance than any other boy you know."  Not that I'm saying he's right, just sayin...  And you know he loves women since The Michael Bolton Charities focuses mainly on helping women who are victims of violence.  You have to admire that. 
So does any of this mean he can dance?  I suppose not.  But it means I'll definitely watch to find out!
I wonder if Chelsie ever crushed on him.  Probably not...  she's a bit too young.  But I bet he's got a little crush on Chelsie...  really though, who doesn't?  She's so cute even I have a teeny crush on her.  And with three previous seasons dancing on the show, she's definitely due for her own mirror ball!  So I suppose I'd like to see this pair do well - but right now I'm not picking any favorites.

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.

Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas - DWTS Season 11

Let's face it, Mrs. Brady can do anything! So I won't be a bit surprised if she floats around like she was born in a ballroom.  She played Anna in The King And I, so she can dance the Waltz at the very least.  She's really done it all over the years - TV news and series shows, movies, stage performances, including light opera & Broadway, a one-woman show, speaking engagements, celebrity endorsement deals, talk show host, producer...  So however things turn out I'm positive she's taking this on with everything she's got.
I'm excited to see Corky Ballas back for another season!  His short lived pairing with Cloris Leachman was unfortunate in every way except it's life span - hopefully this will be less painful to watch.  He's quite an accomplished dancer with several ballroom titles to his credit, and could be a fabulous teacher if Marc is any indication.
I don't think this pair will go all the way but I'm not counting them out.

Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani - DWTS Season 11

Most of us know Audrina Patridge from 6 seasons on The Hills, but she's also ventured into film, appeared as a guest in several other TV shows and has signed on with several ad campaigns.  The 25 year old MTV "reality" star may or may not be able to dance.
She & Tony will be dancing the Cha cha cha & Foxtrot on the September 20th premier.  The Cha cha cha requires quite a lot of hip movement so we'll see right away if she's at all wooden. As for the Foxtrot, there's some fancy footwork (not as difficult as say, the quickstep but still), and a still upper body so we'll see how well she holds her frame.
Tony is a personal favorite of mine so I hope he does well.  He's a great dancer and he's not bad to look at either.  Hopefully he can teach his partner a thing or two and they'll stick around a bit.

Margaret Cho with Louis Van Amstel - DWTS Season 11

Margaret Cho is a pretty busy girl!  Stand-up comedy, books, regular T.V. appearances. a musical comedy album, equal rights advocacy works, she's on tour...  sounds like my kinda gal.  Honestly I don't know much about her but with a tattoo-gun holstered on her upper-thigh, what's not to love?  I have no idea if she dances or has any rhythm at all, but it seems likely that she'll be fun to have in the ballroom.  She'll be entertaining at least.
And one thing I know about Louis VanAmstel: he's a great dance teacher!  When he had Kelly Osborne in Season 9, they started out kind of rough around the edges.  But over the course of the season, he did amazing things with her and they ended up going all the way to the finals!  So I'm excited to see what they bring to the floor.  And I'm very excited to see him next week on The Bachelor Pad!

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough - DWTS Season 11

I love Jennifer Grey! Every time I think of her I see her dancing in that flowy pink dress... or leaning petulantly against the wall at the end of the school hallway in Ferris Bueler's Day Off.  She actually looked like she wished her brother really were at the brink of death. Two great classics I was raised on - ah how they make me smile.
So we've all seen Jennifer Grey rule a dance floor (if you haven't, log in to Netflix at your earliest convenience and add Dirty Dancing to your queue. You probably haven't seen Ghostbusters either have you...) which means we know it's in her somewhere. But she's quick to point out that she's now 50 years old and Dirty Dancing was almost 25 years ago. But I hear 50 is the new 30 so I'm not cutting her any slack. I think she's got the potential to do really well and I'm pulling for her!
I'm very excited that she's paired with Derek. He's a talented partner and should be able to pull a lot of hard work and great dancing out of her.  And how about this picture huh?  She's already giving us some steamy attitude.

Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - DWTS Season 11

As my grandmother always said... Ladies First! So we'll start off with Brandy (and Maks)!
Let me first say that my guess for who will take home the mirror ball will definitely change. It's entirely possible it will change every week between now and the finale.
That said, my knee jerk reaction was to say Brandy has the best chance right now - at the very least, she has the most advantage right out of the gate. But upon reflection, I'm not sure of that. I'm not a huge R&B fan (I like & listen but can't say I buy CD's) or an avid MTV viewer so I could be way off, but I haven't seen much actual DANCING from Brandy. I know... most of us think of R&B and we think of great dance ability. Well I've seen a lot of foot planting and hip shaking from Brandy... and not much else. Anyone seen something more?
I hope she does well and I hope she has fun. And I do love beautiful Maks so I'd love to see them on the show for a good portion of the season.

DWTS Season 11 Pro Pairings

Just announced today, here is the list of Star/Pro pairings for the coming season of Dancing With The Stars.

As for the ladies, Brandy will dance with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Jennifer Grey will dance with Derek Hough, Margaret Cho will dance with Louis Van Amstel, Audrina Patridge will dance with Tony Dovolani, Florence Henderson will dance with Corky Ballas and Bristol Palin will dance with Mark Ballas.

And for the men, Michael Bolton will dance with Chelsie Hightower, Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino will dance with Karina Smirnoff, David Hasselhoff will dance with Kym Johnson, Kurt Warner will dance with Anna Trebunskaya, Kyle Massey will dance with Lacey Schwimmer and Rick Fox will dance with Cheryl Burke.

DWTS Season 11 Stars Announced

Tonight ABC revealed the dozen stars who will compete for the mirror ball trophy on season 11 of Dancing With the Stars! I'm loving Bachelor Pad so I was watching anyway but I was definitely more careful than usual when skipping through commercials tonight!
Here's the list... For the men we'll be seeing David Hasselhoff, Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino, Kyle Massey, Rick Fox, (and not in the picture) Kurt Warner and Michael Bolton. The women will be Brandy, Jennifer Grey, Margaret Cho, Audrina Patridge, Florence Henderson and Bristol Palin.
I'll admit I've been more excited about past lineups but I'm always willing to give a star a chance - after all, I've been surprised more than once!