Dancing with the Stars – Recap & Review – Week 5

photo: abc

Dancing with the Stars
Week 5

Original Air Date: Oct 18, 2010

Annette: Associate Staff Writer
annette@thetwocentscorp.com

It’s TV Theme week. All the performances this week will be danced to a TV theme song. I’m sure you can all guess at least one theme song.

There was no dancing until about thirty minutes into the show. The first half hour was wasted on discussing what the dancers need to do to improve – boring. Why not just make the show 1½ hours? Anyway, since I’m not into wasting time, let’s get right to the recap. Oh, and read on to find out why your reviewer was pitching a fit by the end of the show.

Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy – Quick Step – Friends
27/30 (9, 9, 9)
Judges’ Comments: Len said he was so impressed and said it was her best dance. Bruno said she was “on it.” Carrie Ann told her she was on a whole other level now.
My 2Cents: I had issues with the beginning – it didn’t seem to fit the theme song or the quick step. There was also too much plain running back and forth across the dance floor. I was also distracted by the giant bridesmaid bow on her butt. However, she did nail the steps in the dance and it was light and fast and fun. She did a good job; I just didn’t like the choreography or the theme.

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough – Foxtrot – Married…With Children
25/30 (8, 8, 9)
Judges’ Comments: Bruno called it pristine, elegant and beautifully danced. Carrie Ann said it was good but not nearly her best. Len said the dance was lovely but too theatrical.
My 2Cents: I thought the scores were low. It wasn’t her best dance, but she did a good job. The footwork and posture were all there and it was entertaining. I’m not sure why that’s good enough for some dancers but not others.

Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya – Quick Step – Bewitched
24/30 (8, 8, 8 )
Judges’ Comments: Carrie Ann told him the spirit of Gene Kelly had entered his body. Len said after last week he could only go up although he is heavy in the legs occasionally. Bruno said the magic was back. My 2Cents: It was fun and flirty and even if he’s not the best dancer, he throws himself into the performances as if he was an actor not an athlete. I’m biased because I think Anna is cute as a button and she was adorable a la Elizabeth Montgomery in the dance.

Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke – Rumba – Hill Street Blues
24/30 (8, 8, 8 )
Judges’ Comments: Carrie Ann said he turned it on – it kept getting hotter and hotter. Len told Rick he has an ease and elegance about his dancing but he didn’t get the feeling of a developing romance. Bruno said he went from Megatron to Megasmooth.
My 2Cents: He was smooth and it was sort of sexy I guess. I always struggle with talking about the Rumba because I just don’t like the dance. I find it boring.

Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani – Rumba – The Hills
23/30 (7, 8, 8 )
Judges’ Comments: Len told her she had lovely feet and legs and nice hip action but she occasionally looked intimidated. Bruno said that technically she has improved but also told her “don’t be plastic, be fantastic.” Carrie Ann said that everything was gorgeous from the hips down, but everything up was still and dead.
My 2Cents: I found it boring and not particularly sexy. Her footwork was good, but I think Bruno put it best – she did look plastic. And yes, Carrie Ann is a annoying with her lifts criticism, but I went back and watched a couple times (in slow motion) and both her feet did come off the ground (I felt like a college football official).

Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas – Tango – The Brady Bunch
21/30 (7, 7, 7)
Judges’ Comments: Bruno said she started with a beautiful tango then it went into ragdoll mode. Carrie Ann liked it and said it showed off her elegance. Len told her she’d made it to week five on her merits and that parts of the tango were excellent but parts were too frantic.
My 2Cents: First, trying to turn The Brady Bunch theme into tango music did not work so right off the bat they were at a disadvantage. I thought her footwork was horrible and Corky appeared to be just shaking her all over the place. Len said it was her best dance so far – I disagree.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer – Foxtrot – Charlie’s Angels
20/30 (8, 5, 7)
Judges’ Comments: Bruno said Kyle always brings on the feel good factor but this was a foxtrot possessed by disco fever. Carrie Ann loved the way he was leading with full body contact. Len said it started bad and got worse and worse.
My 2Cents: I knew right away that Len would hate this dance. There was a ton of disco mixed in with the traditional dance, but I loved it. I thought it was hilarious and fun and his footwork and posture looked so much better this week. By far, the most entertaining dance of the night, even if it wasn’t so traditional.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas – Jive – The Monkees
18/30 (6, 6, 6)
Judges’ Comments: Len thought the monkey suits were good fun and he saw a higher degree of performance. Bruno said her technique went down the swarmy (?). Carrie Ann saw a real transformation this week but she forgot a lot of the moves.
My 2Cents: Wow – she was barely moving throughout the dance. She lost her steps several times and at one point wasn’t dancing at all. Yes, she smiled a little more but her dancing was dismal and she still looked vacant between smiles. Her scores were way too high.

The judging was all over the place this week and I’m not happy. No way did Bristol deserve a higher score than Kyle from Len. He may not have liked the choreography but at least Kyle remembered all his steps. Then Len criticized Jennifer for wasting 12 bars at the beginning of the dance. Every single couple wasted the first part of their music on some sort of bit. He also criticized it for being too theatrical, yet wanted Bristol and Mark in their monkey suits longer. Please can we have some consistency!!!

So it’s half way through the competition and I feel like all the dancers are right where they were at the beginning. It doesn’t seem to me like anyone has made any great leaps and bounds. Those who started out good are still good and the bad ones are either eliminated or still bad. But that’s my humble two cents, I want to hear yours!