Tag: Dancing With the Stars

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Yes — My Favorite Three Are in the Finals For Once!

I’m very happy; my favorite three are in the finals, I think for the first time ever. I’m usually disappointed at this point in the show, but not this season! (I know, Katrina, you’re not going to be happy!) I really liked Marissa. Her personality and excitement were contagious and she brought so much fun and spirit to the show. But I do think she was the least technically good at this point and, of all remaining contestants, had improved the least. She seemed like she was halfway expecting it and was completely okay with it, though disappointed of course. I believe her when she promised to show up in the audience next week.

Wow, Brendan and Brittany completely blew me away. That was honestly one of the best Pasos I’ve ever seen. That was technical perfection and just astounding artistry, especially in people so young, as the judges mentioned. They are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the ballroom world.

Also, I loved that little African part in the beginning of Omarian’s Michael Jackson tribute!

Sweet newly ballroom-obsessed Jason, never-give-up cutie Cristian, and dazzlingly spectacular Kristi — I’m so excited for next week!

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Dancing With the Stars Semi-Finale … Already?

I can’t believe it’s already the next to last week.

Jason’s Foxtrot was lovely. He was perfectly dashing and his lines are really much nicer than before. Although this routine wasn’t the most thrilling I’ve seen, there was some nice choreography from Edyta — her dip with the kicks and the arabesque with the leg landing on his shoulder into the lunge was pretty. And he put some good character to it. Good performance but underwhelming choreo.
Ooh, I missed last week but got a glimpse of Marissa’s fish — very pretty! Why did they take the lifts out again this week? They were just a one-week thing? Hehe “I can make passionate love to Len before you” — poor Tony; she’s embarassing the hell out of him 🙂 Eh, now that I just saw the routine, I have to repeat, why did they take the lifts out — I found her Quickstep cutely acted on her part, but very bland choreography-wise. The big controversy among the judges was her missed footwork on the runs. But to me that wasn’t that big of a deal; it was the bland boring choreo that made it blah. Len may be right that the footwork was fast and difficult and complicated, but I think a straight ballroom dance with few flourishes only appeals to people like Len himself.

Aw, Cristian is so cute; he’s just so excited when he does everything right, with no mishaps. I thought the Viennese Waltz was lovely, but I’m having the same bland blah ballroom experience with all these routines tonight. What’s up?

I LOVED Kristi and Mark’s tango. I loved the different elements — the fast furious almost flamenco-y taps into the soft slow dips and toe-swirling rondes and just the sensuality of it all. Tango’s usually not very sensual — it’s usually so “I love you, I hate you, I love you again, no I hate you again,” etc. And there was some of that. But when she arched back toward the end and he lowered his head toward her waist and kind of took her scent in, then extended his arm out to hers and traced her line, it was just so beautiful. Something new from him! There was a real stylistic and even a kind of narrative development to their dance; it went somewhere. Best dance so far of the night, IMO!

I think Len might have fixed Marissa’s hips, if the practice session is any indication. We’ll soon see…

I liked Jason’s Paso much better than his Foxtrot. It was very passionate and fiery, and the footwork was excellent. His jumps at the beginning were a little too bent-kneed and awkward-looking but that was my only problem. He really got into it and had fun and it showed.
Len did fix Marissa’s hips! They weren’t perfect, but they were much better, especially in the cucharachas! I totally disagree with Carrie Ann — this was one of the most interesting dances of the night, I thought. Tony peppered her Rhumba with that lovely supported lunge, her one leg wrapping around his back. And she had perfect form in her passe (right leg lifted, crossing the left at the knee, as she leaned into him). I like what Tony did with her arms — having her brush the back of her hair and trace her shoulder before returning her hand to his, after the hip twist. Her arms had been somewhat awkward before so I thought this was a big improvement, along with the hips.

Hahahah, Cristian is so CUTE! That’s probably not what a man wants to hear about his dancing, particularly his Samba — and his Samba was nothing near a professional man’s — but who cares! It was so full of energy and attitude and just … cuteness! His voltas (where the one foot crosses in front of the other as the dancer travels sideways) were adorable! He just really shook his hips and rounded his pelvis and it all just looked so good on him. And same think with the forward-traveling lock steps. The cute classic retro song was perfect for him in a way that a really sexy, percussive contemporary Brazilian song would have showed up his weaknesses. So good choice for Cheryl. I love him! I think he’s this season’s Helio Castroneves. Whether that means he’ll win I don’t know, but I think he has the same kind of charm as Helio.

I was a bit disappointed in Kristi and Mark’s jive. It was cute, and a damn hard routine, and she did very well with it and kept up. But the level of difficulty was so high, it sunk her a bit. It looked like she was struggling and they were out of sync at some points, and it seemed like he out-danced her. His jumps were higher, he had double her energy, his form was better and his lines and footwork more clean, and I felt like for once it showed that he was the pro and she the student. It was uneven and they didn’t look like a real partnership. But then again, with every other single couple it’s always been apparent who the pro is, so is it even fair to make that complaint about them?

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Cool Stuff I Have to Miss

I’m getting ready to go on a much needed vacation (yay!) but will unfortunately have to miss the following big exciting things:

David Hallberg performing with American Ballet Theater at the Guggenheim’s Works and Process program on May 4th and 5th;

Alvin Ailey II at the Joyce. This is Alvin Ailey’s studio company. I’ve never seen them before but am dying to;

Marcelo (my favorite) guesting with New York City Ballet in Robbins’ “Fancy Free” on May 4th;

The 100th episode of Dancing With the Stars.

If anyone sees any of these, please do let me know how it went so I can experience vicariously… 🙂

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Jose DeCamps and the Top 5!

So, eliminations went as I expected. I don’t really think people declined to vote for her because of last week’s histrionics; I think it was that she was just the least good left. Plus the others all have very likable personalities, each his or her own idiosyncratic strengths and charms. I’m glad Cristian is continuing, but worry about his safety. He’d just better not use that arm too much.

Very glad they changed the lift policy! Most of them were accidents anyway — e.g. Edyta’s yesterday; I think her foot was meant to trace the floor, but Jason straightened his back and got too much speed on the swing and she went too high and it came off the ground. Shows the ridiculousness of the no-lift policy anyway.

Def Leopard was such a trip down memory lane. I remember seeing them in concert, before the drummer lost his arm! And how happy am I that Jose and Joanna performed! I just love Jose; he moves like no one else. I thought the group Paso to the first song didn’t really fit thematically — the song is sexy in a kind of a laid back, stonerish way — the antithesis of dramatic Paso. The Cha Cha was perfect.

I was kind of disappointed with this season’s Dance Center. I guess there was nothing big to rib the dancers over, so they made up (I hope) that segment about Jason farting. I enjoyed the facial expressions — Mark’s and Cristian’s – -something you’d never notice if they didn’t point it out. Well, you wouldn’t have noticed Mark’s anyway… 🙂

So, the top 5 are Marissa, Jason, Kristi, Mario, and Cristian. My vote’s with Jason, despite the (fake please) flatulence.

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Marissa Does Exemplify What The Comp is About: Dancing With the Stars Week 7

I really liked Marissa this week. I agree with Len that her opening Tango was her best dance yet. She had fantastic, sharp lines, perfect frame, never lost connection, lovely Argentine hooks, and great character — it was passionate with, as Bruno said, “a hint of disdain.” Carrie Ann said she’s what this competition is all about and I agree with her — she’s improved greatly, she’s working hard, pushing her own boundaries, testing her limits, really getting into it and making it her own while remaining true to the dance style. As for her rumba: I love the song “Cuando Cuando Cuando” 🙂 It wasn’t as good as her tango; she didn’t do hips, but at this point, I’m no longer expecting them — from anyone. Even though her technique was far from perfect and the moves were mostly basic, I thought she gave her routine great character — there was a lovely romance to it and it was sexy in parts. I love the ending full dip, especially when she dropped her head down all the way to the floor. Dramatic but beautiful!

Poor Cristian. I hope he’s okay. I could tell something was off though from the beginning of his Samba. He seemed confused throughout; I thought he might have forgotten his steps, but as it turns out, he’d hurt himself. I wonder how. He must have caught her weird or had too firm a hand-hold, because it’s more common to pull a leg muscle in a dance like that. Anyway, his Viennese Waltz was nice, but I agree with the judges that it was a little too lacking in control. But I thought it was pretty and romantic. I loved the ending where he spun her around, then let her go, then returned to her. I wonder if that’s where he hurt his arm, in that trick…

I didn’t like Kristi’s use of the umbrella in the opening of her Viennese Waltz. Too gimmicky and it detracted from the dancing. It was too much about that umbrella. Funny, but I thought her continuous chaine turns were gorgeous. I thought it was supposed to look out of control at the end, that she was supposed to kind of swoon, falling into his arms. I thought it was intentional! But the judges thought the chaines were messy and the “falling” into the dip was a mistake. And then, unlike the judges, I didn’t like her Cha Cha. It was cute, but I felt like it wasn’t enough about the legs, like Cha Chas usually are. She looked like she was trying too hard with the hips, shaking her butt, shaking her shoulders. I thought it lacked control and precision. But the judges felt completely the opposite, so it’s probably just me…

Mario’s Mambo was excellent, his Foxtrot not so much so, although it was fine. As Len said (I find myself agreeing with Len a lot), he’s not the most “elegant” dancer and the ballroom needs more definition and muscle control, but he’s still so much fun and he gives it everything he has and he really tries. It looked like they missed a hand-catch at one point, but they fixed it pretty quickly, so very professional. You could tell the pressure was on from being in the bottom two last week. His mambo will probably be enough to keep him from getting the boot this week. He really connected with the music, his flicks were good, his basic was perfect, great hip action — he’s got that down. What did Bruno say — “the devil was in your hips”? Only thing, he’s too turned in at points with his feet, which, for balletomane in me takes away substantially from the line — sorry I can’t help it! — but I’m trying hard to get over it 🙂 Another great Karina costume.

I’m glad Shannon apologized for last week. I feel like the judges were a lot easier on her this week because of it though. Her mambo was cute, and her dress was gorgeous — she really looked beautiful! — but the dance didn’t look right to me at all. It looked like Paulina Poritzkova’s mambo from last season. She was bouncing too much. Her long limbs are a disadvantage for that dance in particular. And the running up and taunting the judges gimmicks at the end of routines are getting tired. Her tango was very nice though. She’s far better at ballroom than Latin — no hips to contend with for one thing, and Standard tends to look better on people who are tall and thin. Her footwork was good and solid, clean swift kicks and hooks, and Derek’s choreography was creative. I like that she slapped him and kept trying to take his hat; I loved the dramatic ending dip. She was like a silent film starlet, as Bruno said.

Jason had probably the two most different dances this week: the light, sprinty Quickstep and the heavy, drama-laden Paso. His legs weren’t straight in his opening splits jumps and it was noticeable and threw off the line to me. I know people like tricks, but dancers need to understand that you have to be careful about the line you’re making; it’s not just about doing something “big”. But the rest of the Quickstep was nice — he was light on his feet, the runs and little jumps were good, his lock-steps were clean and polished, and I liked the little Charleston Edyta put in at the end — cute! It looked like he was having a lot of fun, which is kind of the whole point for amateurs. The football theme — for him at least — of his Paso Doble was fun. I didn’t understand what role she had though — cheerleader? Opposite team member, but female? I just prefer straight Spanish-themed Paso; anytime someone tries to do something more original with it, it just doesn’t seem to work to me. But I love Jason. I love his enthusiasm, his diligence, and, mostly, I love his lack of pompous assery! He said something along the lines of how he can’t believe how ballroom has taken over his life; this is all he does, and he loves it — now he can’t stop! I definitely know the feeling… It does take over your life, it really does.

Oh, I almost forgot: I was alerted to Edyta’s newly revamped website with message board. It can be found here.

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Austin & Liza on Dancing With the Stars!

Hehe, weren’t Austin and Liza cute! (the second young pair). I was so excited to see them on the show. They used to dance at my old studio and I feel like I kind of saw them grow. I highlighted them in last year’s Dance Times Square showcase here. I particularly love Austin. I think Liza is growing too fast for him and it’s difficult for him to keep hold on her, but he is an absolutely brilliant mover himself. I’m not surprised the other couple won — they were technical perfection and stylistically beautiful. This is why it’s so hard to become good, or at least do well at big comps, when you’re starting as an adult. These are the kinds of people — when they’re grown — that you’re competing with. It’s just like ballet — ballroom dancers also start as little kids; if you ever want to be a pro, or an advanced amateur, you had to have started at that age, there’s kind of no catching up as an adult.

I totally understand how Shannon felt when she cried. It can be so aggravating when you’re trying so hard and putting everything you have into it and you just get ripped apart (in my case by my teacher, in hers before millions by judges). I did think they were way too harsh on her. She had hip problems, but so did most of the others. Kristi did a lyrical hip-less rhumba last week, so give Shannon a break! I’m glad she ended up making it.

No way, Mario’s in the bottom two??? I didn’t expect that at all.
Well, I guess we were all expecting it would be Marlee this week. I’m so sad. I still feel that they could have done something yesterday to help her with the music — if there was anything they could do?… I don’t know, I just feel like the show kind of failed her in some way. I am happy Cristian made it one more week.

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"If You're In the Bottom Two Next Week, I'm Showing My Bum at the Supermarket"

After Len said this of Cristian, Carrie Ann said of Mario and Karina, “that was better than good sex!” — this show is getting out of control… and the other judges are stealing Bruno’s one-liners!

My two thoughts up front: Whoa Cristian! And Kristi was born with clubbed feet???

I thought Jason was excellent at Hip Hop — excellent! I thought wow, he’s really improving. But then when it came to the Cha Cha, it was fine and cute but nowhere near as good as that Hip Hop. It just shows you how hard ballroom dancing is — especially Latin with all that hip action. It’s hard! Jason’s so cute with his self-deprecation. That face he made when Len told him he wanted to see him actually dance more. Then, the “I suck.” Aw!

The Shannon and Derek at the beach so she could ‘get in the mood’ was almost as corny as Cristian and Cheryl’s visit to the sea lion shrink. But I thought Shannon did much better this week. The hips were screwed up during the traditional Latin opening out steps, but she has a ballet body — tall and thin and few curves, and if he gives her more balletic moves — like that gorgeous slow ronde de jambe en l’air in the beginning and that beautiful stretch near the end– she’ll do much better and the lack of hip action won’t be so noticeable.

Poor Marlee! I actually didn’t think the whole thing looked forced, only parts. The worst was the pelvic rolls with him standing behind her. They may not have been connected at the start because she seemed off on the rolls at the beginning, and until she caught up with him, she looked uncomfortable. And that can be a really rather funny (in a bad way) move to look uncomfortable with! But I thought the shoulder shakes were much better — she really seemed at ease with those and really let loose. I thought the basic mambo steps were fine; the hip action wasn’t quite there, but I disagree with the judges that they looked stiff. It is really hard not to be able to connect with the music in this most rhythmic, musical of all ballroom dances. I was hoping she’d be able to connect through other means than simply her partner — maybe floor vibrations she could feel through her feet? Maybe she should have been barefoot? Sorry, I’m just remembering Helen Keller’s telling an audience she could hear their applause through the floor… Anyway, I feel for Marlee and I hope she can re-gain momentum for next week. The judges were too harsh. Fabian was most pleasing though, no?!

“You can just call me Frederico Astaire.” Cristian is so cute. He was wonderful this week. I couldn’t believe it. The water actually helped him this time — the swimming was a good idea on Cheryl’s part. The water slowed those crazy, out of control arms way down. He was, as Bruno said, the perfect dashing gentleman, the way he glided over that floor. His footwork was excellent, not a step out of place, even on those fast intricate grapevines in the beginning, his partnering was perfect, his posture and lines were even good. I do agree with Len — he’d better not be in the bottom tomorrow night!

Wow, I get ridiculously dizzy too; I wish my teacher would have sent me to an aerial spinning class like Tony did Marissa. It looks like they helped. Maybe I’ll look into one. Seriously. Marissa looked really good tonight. She did a couple of lovely arabesques and the ending floor sweep was beautiful.

Kristi was perfect, as always. She really is a pro out there — not even like a pro, but a real pro. Mark is so lucky because he can choreograph the exact same kind of routine he’d do for himself and a professional partner; he doesn’t really need to search for specific strengths to highlight and weaknesses to hide. That was I think the first Jive ever on this show to be danced at full speed, and he gave her some really intricate, complicated footwork. She’s really the best, by far, no competition. But a commenter on one of my Huffington Post pieces said the fact that she was so perfect up front, that she had dance background, ruins it for her. If someone you can connect to because they, like you, are not a star from the get-go, and they can, with practice, be made into a dancer, that makes it possible for you to as well. Kristi is already basically a pro, so it’s not fun to watch her try and struggle the same as the average person would. It’s an interesting perspective on the show.

Mario’s routine was near perfect, but I kind of agree with Len that it was a bit too much about the sex and not enough about the dancing. Before Len made that comment, I had thought, hmmm, very sexy rhumba, but he’s not really doing a whole lot of moving. I don’t think I would have used the same words as Len though — strumpet and gigolo? Eeeh.

The group routine: those were the funniest practice lifts I think I’ve ever seen. I’m surprised Derek didn’t get hurt on that rotating cartwheel. I actually took lessons with Christian Perry, the guy who’s teaching these group dances. He taught at my first studio DanceSport, so it’s always so funny to see him on TV. I think I actually preferred the practice sessions to the actual performance though. All the lifts were the same and it seemed there was more unstylized jumping about than actual dance steps; it was more fun watching them all try to learn.

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Dance in America’s Great Outdoors Special on PBS Monday Night

Tomorrow night (Monday, April 21), PBS is airing a dance special honoring America’s national parks. Several choreographers made site-specific dances which were performed in various outdoors national monuments including: Yosemite National Park; the U.S. Virgin Islands; the Coral Reef National Monument off the coast of St. John Island; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, from which the Wright Brothers first took flight; Mammoth Cave; and Hawaii’s Volcanic national park.

I was fortunate enough to be given an advance preview. My favorite parts were the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Team performing underwater amidst the beautiful corals and exotic sea life of the Virgin Islands, the dancers often looking like tantalizing sea creatures themselves; members of Donald Byrd‘s troupe performing dances evoking freedom and slavery set first on Cinnamon Bay, Virgin Islands, then in ruins of an old Sugar Plantation on St. John’s Island. I also liked the very end, Doug Varone‘s troupe dancing to folk music in the Mammoth Caves. Varone uses film and video in his productions as well, to good effect. I also loved seeing the footage of the Hawaiian volcanic beaches — breathtaking. And Project Bandaloop (whose dancers perform airborne activities, often while climbing large mountainous rocks), whom I know other bloggers like, is included as well.

Overall, I felt this program, which is 90 minutes long, gets bogged down in too much discussion of process – the choreographers trying to figure out what they want to evoke, how best of evoke it, instructing the dancers on the same, the dancers telling us how best they feel they can draw something out, how difficult it can be to do so — it’s too much, and it gets boring and ruins the magic of the performance. Anyway, it’s worth watching for everything I mentioned above even if it gets tedious at points. And since it’s not on until 10:00 (ET), it won’t interfere with Dancing With the Stars 🙂

Check here for local listings.

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Step it up and … Finally … Dance!

Finally, for the first time last night, I liked the new Bravo show “Step It Up and Dance.” I felt like it was finally about dance. The camera actually showed me the dancers’ bodies, not just their faces as they made angry or odd expressions or ranted against someone. It’s probably the hip hop — hip hop’s just so visual, there’s so much going on, especially in a showdown / battle like that — the camera can’t just focus in on a face. (I have to admit, by the way, I knew next to nothing about hip hop before “America’s Best Dance Crew.” And now I love it. Hip hop is just so real — they’re real moves, real gestures you see on the streets, they resonate. And yet they’re stylized and clever, and at times played up for comical effect.)

Anyway, I still think this show (Step It Up) panders too much to the gossipy judgmental crowd: “oh I can’t believe he’s so gay,” “I can’t believe Miguel is such a jerk,” “I can’t believe she said that,” “I can’t believe he nominated him for elimination” etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam. You end up just judging people based on their personalities, what they say rather than how they dance, which you can’t see anyway because the camera is too busy homing in on the person’s face while they say something nasty. I know audiences vote partially based on personality on all reality shows, but at least with “Dancing With the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” you can see the entire performance. You see the bodies moving in time to music — which is dance. You’re not just getting a personality. Last week I began to like Tovah. I thought she made a really beautiful line at one point, but the camera was on her for all of a half a second before shifting to Nick who was busy making angry faces at Cody for dominating; I couldn’t really see Tovah in full and it annoyed me so much. I thought, this show isn’t even pretending to be about dance.

But as I said I felt that changed this week with the hip hop competition. I liked Tovah even more because I know her background is in ballet and she feels really out of her element with hip hop, and yet she really belted it out last night. To me she looked just as good as Janelle. I’m also impressed with Cody, for the same reason. He also had some really unique moves, combining some balletic movement — leaps and fouettes — with the posturing, the attitude, the awesome floor acrobatics of hip hop.

So Natalia was right in telling me I should give the show another chance!

Also, if you live in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, it looks like you can take a class at select Crunch gyms that will focus on the dance moves on the show that week. That’s kinda cool!

Tonight is the finale of Lifetime’s “Your Mama Don’t Dance.” I’ve missed a few episodes but am going to try to tune in.

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Oh Louis and Priscilla!

I’ll sure miss Louis Van Amstel, but it’s not like we didn’t know it was coming. For one thing I really really wish they wouldn’t reveal the bottom two each week. I thought they weren’t doing that this season. It ruins the fun and surprise for the audience and it puts so much pressure on the dancers for the entire following week. Stop it, producers! I also think the ‘popularity situation’ with Priscilla was similar to that of Jane Seymour last season: the more mature women, audiences just don’t relate to that well. But I also thought she was one of the least promising left, although she was a classic and I enjoyed Louis’s choreography for her.

Did you guys enjoy Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian? They compete in the exhibition / cabaret divisions at the big championships. I love watching those; they’re one of my favorite parts of competition … although, oftentimes the routines are too much about the tricks and end up being lift after lift after lift. But here I thought they did a pretty lyrical dance that nicely complemented James Blunt’s lovely song. Oooh, I was last working on a lifty lyrical routine myself when I decided to take my dance hiatus; watching those two makes me want to return…

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It's Not Latin Without Proper Hips!

I thought the only good routine on tonight’s Dancing With the Stars was Mario and Karina’s. Ironic because my two favorite dances are rhumba and samba … or, perhaps maybe that’s why I always dislike the weeks devoted to those dances. Somehow Karina was able to teach Mario how to perform the hip and undulating pelvic movements properly, in a way none of the other pros were able to convey to their celebrities. Oh, and, I LOVED the music — “A Tisket a Tasket”! The first time I saw Karina dance (and wanted so badly to be her), she danced a Samba with her former partner, Slavik Kryklyyvy, to that song. Here it is on YouTube.

My second favorite was Marissa, although I wouldn’t really say her movement was Samba; it was more just fun all-out groving. There were no pelvic contractions and expansions at all — the rolling movement that gives the dance that seductively intriguing snaky feel. She said during practice to her Samba was all about shaking your booty, and it’s not. If she saw it that way, then no wonder she looked all wrong. She was cute and her dancing was a lot of sassy fun; it just looked more like something you’d see in a club.

Marlee had the same problem — no pelvic rotations, though she looked cute and gave her routine a lot of pizazz. It just wasn’t Samba.

Priscilla, Jason, and Cristian all tried to move their hips, but didn’t understand that the hips need to be connected to the lats (back muscles). It’s the lats that push down on the hips that make the hips move. If you just move the hip without first moving the lat, it looks like you’re just shaking your butt. It looks superficial and silly. One of my ballroom friends, Juana, once told me that rhumba emanates from the slaves. The quintessential rhumba walks that people now see as being so sexy, actually evolved from the movement one makes while trying to carry a heavy load atop one’s head. Think about it — you’d take a step, then the load would bear down on your shoulder, the weight would ripple down to your hip, the hip would settle into its socket, and you’d move on, taking another step and setting the movement in motion anew. After she told me this, I envisioned myself as such a woman, carrying heavy bottles of water atop her shoulders, and unbelievably it worked so much better than my teacher shouting, “foot, lat, hip, foot lat, hip” over and over again.

Anyway, Kristi and Shannon didn’t even try to move their hips. Shannon complained she had none to move. I used to use the same excuse (see my blog’s tag line), but now that I’ve seen plenty of tall, thin women (Joanna Leunis) do rhumba quite well, I know it’s just that — an excuse. Kristi did a lovely lyrical routine — and she’s definitely a natural and beautiful mover — but I felt that it wasn’t really rhumba without the hips — it was a nice theatrical dance you might see on Broadway, but not Latin ballroom.

Depressed! What did you guys think?

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"I Lost 10 Pounds of Fat, I Gained 100 Pounds of Angel"

Awww. That’s the most genuinely sweet thing he’s said all show. I won’t ruin it for you West Coasters, but I think a lot of people will be very happy after tonight. I am not happy though that they’re back to revealing who’s in the bottom two though. And I’m very unhappy with who that other couple was tonight.

Very happy Delyan Terziev and Boriana Deltcheva were on! They’re not the “Latin champions” as the announcers called them — more like number three at the last U.S. National Championships, but they are finalists, and so champs I guess. I really like them — they’re a tall thin couple with some really lovely artistic movement, especially in rhumba — which of course they didn’t do. Sexy shaggy haircut, Delyan 🙂 They were Pasha and Anya’s main competitors back before SYTYCD, when P&A were still competing. Everyone always wondered who’d place above whom of the finalists.

And how cute were those kids! But not so cool to have them compete against each other, huh? Couldn’t they just have danced for cry eye? But I finally got my Espana Cani with the Paso!

I wish the opening pro couples would have danced a West Coast Swing to Cheryl Crowe’s “All I Wanna Do Is Dance.” It would have exposed audiences to something new and with the honky tonk flavor of the song, it would have made more sense than a quick, sexy, trick-ridden cha cha.

I was proud of Priscilla for asserting her right to dance as she wished: a routine with lifts. She likes the look and feel of “both feet off the ground”; so do I and I applaud her for her that. The rules are ridiculous; she didn’t do any crazy showoffy tricks, it was simple and classy and fit her routine nicely. Screw the judges, but not in the way Adam suggested…