Ladies night on the second part of Dancing With The Stars season premier
Tonight was ladies night on Dancing With The Stars. Last night was good so I was really looking forward to tonight’s show. Here’s my take on the performances, in the order in which they performed tonight.
Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough. Shannon and Derek danced the Cha Cha Cha. I thought she did a really good job. She’s so tall and leggy that I found it distracting to watch at times, but not in a bad way if that makes any sense. I thought Len and Bruno were going to drool all over themselves over her, and Len told her to keep on wearing the short costumes. She did really well, scoring a 21 out of 30.
Monica Seles and Jonathan Roberts. Monica and Jonathan danced the Foxtrot. Monica looked like a princess. She mentioned that one of the reasons she is doing DWTS is because she never had the chance to be a girly girl, going to her prom or whatever because she was always training for the next tennis tournament. I thought tonight she had some nice moments in her performance but at times looked really uncomfortable and unsure. The judges all commented on the romantic feel she brought to the dance but were not impressed with the dancing as demonstrated by her score of 15 out of 30.
Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani. I have to say that I absolutely love this woman. She is funny and bubbly and just a joy to watch. She seems truly thrilled to be on the show, absolutely thrilled to be with Tony and I don’t think you’d be bored watching her. That being said, she got some harsh criticism for her Cha Cha Cha, mainly because she did not have enough content. Len said it was far too much hip hop, and chastised Tony for not giving Marissa more content to perform in the routine because all three of the judges think she has some serious potential. The judges gave her a score of 18 out of 30.
Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel. It is nice to see Louis back on the show as a competitor. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Priscilla. She has this aura, this persona that I didn’t know would work on the show. I was wrong. Their Foxtrot was beautiful and her death drop great. It’s hard to believe that in her first performance she would go for such a move. All three of the judges loved her. Len was thrilled to see a “proper foxtrot” while Bruno said for the first time he saw star quality. The judges gave her 8s across the board, for a score of 24 out of 30.
Kristi Yamaguci and Mark Ballas. I have one word to say to describe Kristi’s Foxtrot – Wow. She was amazing. In the behind the scenes you could see that she had some rough spots when she started training but I think her competitive nature kicked in and she just worked it so much that she got it. The judges were wowed by her as well. Bruno went as far as to say that this was one of the best first round performances he has ever seen. Samantha Harris asked if she thought the same as what some people were saying, that she had an advantage because of her figure skating background (in other words that dancing would come easily to her). I don’t think it is the fact that she is a figure skater that will help her, it is the fact that she is an Olympic champion that will cause her to have an advantage. She has sacrificed in her past to succeed in her chosen sport and she’s obviously not afraid of hard work or putting in whatever time is needed in order to succeed. The judges rewarded her performance with a 27 out of 30, the best score of either night of the premier.
Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez. This couple interested me for two reasons. First of all the obvious one – Marlee is deaf and how would she be able to compete when she was unable to hear the music. Second was the fact that Fabian was new to the show. What kind of dancer would he be? Would he have the elegant lines of Jonathan or the all out sex appeal of Maks? Marlee said she can’t always hear the music so she had to rely solely on Fabian for her cues for the performance. Well Fabian is doing something right because she was awesome. It’s kind of inspirational to watch her do this and do it well. The judges were amazed with her and Carrie Ann came right out and said they are going to judge her on her dancing and won’t go easy on her because she is deaf. Well tonight she did not need any pity votes. She was great. Her Cha Cha Cha got a score of 22 out of 30.
Next week on Tuesday there will be a double elimination. The male and female celebrities with the lowest combined scores from this week and next week will be eliminated. Musical group The Jonas Brothers will also be featured in the results show next week.
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