Welcome to this Dancing with the Stars Blog. With the start of Season 10, we have a new hostess, Brooke Burke, and they have a new room for the dancers to hang out in between performances called the celebriquarium. They also have a new purple scoreboard graphic. The music cues up and the eleven stars and their dance pros descend down the winding staircases and take their places on the dance floor. I have always found this part to be a little awkward, while the couples shift nervously and wave as the camera pans across. Pamela Anderson caused me the most discomfort here. She sort of does this little shake of her shoulders after which she immediately looks back to her partner for encouragement, like “did you see what I just did, hee hee” and no he didn’t see it.
The first star to dance is Chad Ochocinco, wide receiver of the Cincinnati Bengals. He is paired up with Cheryl Burke. During their dance rehearsal, Cheryl says Chad seems to be serious about learning. He seems flirty, confident but realistic about his expectations of his dance learning curve. They begin their Cha Cha dance to the song “It’s Just Begun”. Len likes it and says he came out like a tiger. He then gives his number one criticism: fix your posture. Bruno likes Chad’s performance as well. Carrie Ann opens up with “you have a little somethin, somethin” keeping in line with her sometimes weird style of critiquing the dancers. She thinks he’ll go far. They get sixes from all three judges (18).
Next up is Shannon Doherty and Mark Ballas. He reminds me of Millhouse from the Simpsons for some reason. She is dancing this for her father who recently suffered a stroke. She seems really nervous about the live performance. They seem to have a friendly chemistry already. They dance the Viennese Waltz to “The Killing Moon”. It’s always amazing to me how raw these stars first start out but then by their first live performance, they have improved so much. Bruno says the choreography was difficult for show one and Doherty was “swinging her arms around like a primate”. He gets some boos for that one. Carrie Ann says she was impressed at the attempt. Len says she “portrayed ease and elegance” With Brooke, Doherty is emotional about her father. She gets sixes from all the judges (18).
The next couple is ESPN host Erin Andrews and she’s paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. They meet on the ESPN set and she jokes that she had asked for Tony. She’s a perfectionist and Maks asks her to let him be the judge of her movements because his “only pleasure in life is to bitch at people” and she is taking that pleasure away. It was cute. They dance the Cha Cha to Tick Tock. Carrie Ann thinks they have a great connection, Len says overall good job and Bruno asks if she has ever danced before and she replies “not this”. They get sevens from all the judges (21). Brooke seems to be feeling her way into her new job, her flow is a little stilted but her timing is already better than Samantha’s IMHO. She has a kindness that comes through.
Next is Jake from The Bachelor. His fiancé, Vienna, and another contestant from the show, Gia, are seated in the audience. His partner is the very likeable Chelsea Hightower. Jakes says he has started every great relationship with a rose and asks Chelsea if she will accept one. Gag. He says he’s worried about his dance skills. Chelsea nurtures him and he says he’s going to dance his heart out. They dance the Viennese Waltz to “Kiss From a Rose”. I really like the peach colored dress she is wearing, and he’s wearing a matching bowtie. They look good together. Len thinks he did well, Bruno thinks he was a little too rough and that he’s bashing Chelsea about, but good effort overall. Carrie Ann was “really impressed”. Jake flashes his bright smile. Man, that guy has great teeth. They get sevens from Bruno and Carrie Ann and a six from Len (20).
The next couple is Niecy Nash and Louis Van Amstel. I think Louis is the perfect match for her. She is a clown in rehearsals and you can hear the crowd’s response behind the rehearsal clip and they love her. They dance the Cha Cha to “Rescue Me”. When she’s done, she’s emotional and out of breath (God, that sounds sexual). Going with the sexual theme, Bruno says she’s sassy at times but at others she’s a born again virgin and that she needs to focus. Carrie Ann thinks the performance was sassy and loved it. Len thought it was uneventful and flat. She gets a seven from Carrie Ann, a five from Len and a six from Bruno (18).
Next is Evan Lysacek, Olympic Figure Skater with Anna Trebunskaya. He has a really nice figure on skates, tall with a nice frame. In rehearsal, he realizes his spins are in the opposite direction than when he skates, and he feels like a klutz. They dance the Viennese Waltz to “I’ll Be” He’s wearing a tux with tails and he looks good on the dance floor. The judges think he’s great and they give him a few technical pointers. Len makes sure we all understand that just because he dances on ice doesn’t mean he can dance in the ballroom. Brookes asks about whether he is at an advantage in the competition with his skating background. He responds that dancing is a challenge for him because he has to forget his skating technique. Bruno and Carrie Ann, give him eights and Len gives him a seven (23).
Next up is a greeting from the International Space Station to Buzz Aldrin by two astronauts. Buzz is eighty years old. His wife (who’s had a half dozen facelifts too many) tells us that Buzz is a risk taker. He’s partnered with Ashley Costa. She’s not concerned about his physical fitness but about the demands on his memory. They dance the Cha Cha to “Cupid”. Len seems honored to meet him and comments on his bravery in space and on the dance floor but he doesn’t think Aldrin gave a good peformance. He gets a four from Len and two fives from the others (14).
Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, and Derek Hough are up next and the crowd goes wild for them. She is very pretty and clearly has dance ability from being a performer. They dance the Viennese Waltz to “Hold You In My Arms”. Bruno is astounded, Carrie Ann says the bar has been set, but Len thinks we need to look past the façade of the choreography and that they need to work on their technique. They get two nines and a seven from Len (25).
Next is Aiden Turner, former soap star, with Edyta Sliwinska dancing the Cha Cha to “Hungry Like the Wolf” He is hot and I feel sorry for Alec Mazo at this point. He gets a little beat up in rehearsal. DWTS doesn’t let down their male audience and Edyta is in a very skimpy outfit and Tom makes a crack about it. Carrie Ann says the performance was “disjointed” and it didn’t flow. Len thinks there is a dancer in there but he didn’t like the choreography, and Bruno thinks he needs better hip action. He gets fives from all three judges (15) .
Kate Gosselin and Tony Dovolani are next to last and she is really spray-tanned, especially her chest. Tony feels she needs to act like she wants to be here…poor Tony. They dance the Viennese Waltz to “She’s Always a Woman” Her pink dress makes me think of those pink Hostess Snoballs (google it). Len feels she was too nervous. Bruno thinks the technique was terrible and that “it looked like Tony was pushing a shopping cart around the floor”. Carrie Ann was impressed because as she points out to us, Kate is not an athlete or a performer and this is all new for her. Carrie Ann gives her a six and the others give her fives (16).
Last but not least is Pamela Anderson and Damian Whitewood who is new and he is hot. I am not a fan of Pamela Anderson but this show has endeared me to many people who I never thought I would like, so we’ll see. They dance the Cha Cha to “Gimme All Your Lovin”. She’s in a skimpy outfit that could compete with anything Edyta would wear. Bruno says he can only think of sex, and he can’t wait until next week. Carrie Ann felt Anderson was really having fun and “that it was a little much”. Len says Anderson’s performance was overall a mess. She gets a six from Len, seven from Carrie Ann and an eight from Bruno (21).
