Dancing with the Stars Season Six – the men dance first in the season premier
Finally, it seems as if the wait has been so long but season 6 of Dancing With The Stars premiered tonight. As in seasons past it will be a two part premier with the men dancing tonight and the women dancing tomorrow night. The women were in the audience to watch the show and they all looked pretty relaxed when introduced. Some of the men looked relaxed while some of the others looked kind of nervous. Who could blame them really?
The show opened with a group number by the professional dancers. It was very nice, as always, but I was just really excited and waiting to watch the celebrities perform. One important piece of information we found out early in the show is that there will be no elimination this week. We can still vote for our favorite couples and that will count, but this week and next week will be combined in order to determine the first couple to be eliminated from the show.
Here is my take on the show tonight, in the order of the performances:
Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson. Penn and Kym danced the Cha Cha Cha. He seems like a really fun and nice guy. His attitude in his performance was great. The dancing, on the other hand….well, I had really hoped that his performance would have been better but I’m sure his personality is going to keep him in the show for a while. He is such a big guy that it has got to be so hard for him to stay light on his feet. All three of the judges admired his attitude and personality but commented on his lack of technique. Bruno actually said that it was more like replacement hip action than hip action, which I thought was kind of harsh. He ended up with a total score of 16 out of 30.
Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska. Jason and Edyta did the Foxtrot. Jason is a very driven individual, and stated that when he does something he wants to do it well so he was going to tackle dancing. You could see how focused he is, and I don’t think Edyta will have to worry about him working hard in preparing for performances. He looked good but kind of stiff to me. I know he’s supposed to keep a strong frame, but it was more than how he held his body – he just seemed out of his element, uncomfortable. The judges really liked him, and all three of them were impressed with his posture. Carrie Ann said she was surprised when she saw how coordinated and graceful he was while Len commented that what he needs to do is learn to act the dance (in other words, really sell it to the audience). He got a score of 22 out of 30.
Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke. I had never heard of Cristian before he was announced as a cast member for season 6 of DWTS. I’m not so sure of how popular or well known he is by the American audience so I think this could be a problem for him in terms of fan votes. That being said, damn that man is sexy. What eyes! When Bruno tells him that the judges are going to be on top of him until he uses all the assets he has I thought Carrie Ann would jump up and volunteer for the job. She looked as if she needed a cold shower after his performance. OK, I guess I should talk about his performance. Cheryl as always was fantastic. Cristian’s hips were great, but he was all hunched up during the performance. All three of the judges noticed that and say that he’s really going to have to work on his posture next week before he performs the Quickstep. The judges gave him a score of 21 out of 30.
Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough. Julianne and Adam danced the Foxtrot. Well, I have to say that this performance was the first one to make me smile tonight. I thought it was a lot of fun. Of course the fact that a performance is fun doesn’t make it technically good. Poor Julianne has her work cut out for her this season. She won’t be short on smiles or laughter, but on the trophy……..all three of the judges said that there is a lot of work to be done. Carrie Ann said that early in the season she usually isn’t at a loss for words, but that she was at a loss for words after this performance. The judges gave them a score of 15 of 30.
Mario and Karina Smirnoff. Mario and Karina danced the Cha Cha Cha. We found out that Karina had neck surgery before the season. I can’t believe that she is performing as well as she is after the surgery for a herniated disc in her neck. I’d be crying in a corner. While this was not my favorite performance of the night, it was very good and after watching Mario perform I think he is going to be one of the top celebrities if not one of the ones to beat this season. I won’t say that yet, because I haven’t seen the women perform, but he is going to be among the top three or four – at least that’s my gut feeling. The judges loved his performance and gave him a score of 24 out of 30.
Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya. Steve and Anna performed the final dance of the evening, the Foxtrot. Watching the behind the scenes with Steve and Anna made me really like him. He is friendly and charming and really just kind of cute. He looked like he would try very hard to please Anna and to do the best he could do, and tonight he looked kind of rough but overall I think he has some potential. Unfortunately not the kind of potential to win the show, but I think he is going to win over a lot of fans and make it kind of far into the show. The judges loved his charm and personality and while Bruno said at first he looked as if he was a graduate of the Billy Ray dance academy he got into the dance, putting his heart and soul into it. The judges gave him a score of 18 out of 30.
One thing that I noticed tonight is that every one of these men seem to be very likeable. They want to work hard and do well and none of them seem to have any kind of ego or arrogance. I think that’s going to play well when it comes to fan voting. I can’t compare them to the women though, since we haven’t had the chance to “meet” them yet in terms of the show.
Here’s how the men ended up this evening, with the best couple at the top of my list (in terms of judges’ scores):
Mario and Karina
Jason and Edyta
Cristian and Cheryl
Steve and Anna
Penn and Kym
Adam and Julianne
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