Dancing with the Stars – Recap & Review – Week 6

photo: abc

Dancing with the Stars
Week 6

Original Air Date: Oct 25, 2010

Annette: Associate Staff Writer
annette@thetwocentscorp.com

It’s Rock Week! It’s also the first time the dancers will be dancing twice in one night. First, the individual dances will be either the Tango or the Paso Doble. Then all the dancers will come together for the Rock and Roll Marathon.

The top ten favorite dances the viewers voted on were also revealed this week. You’ll find the list at the end of my review. So let’s get to it.

Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy – Tango – 36
26/30 (8, 9, 9)
1st place in Marathon: 10
Judges’ Comments: Len called Maks his hero saying it was full of intensity, passion and aggression. “The dance of the night.” Bruno said “that tango really rocked.” Carrie Ann said she had goose bumps, but did point out a few tiny missteps.
My 2Cents: It was passionate and aggressive and she was passionate and aggressive. She nailed the dance and the performance. It was very well done.

Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani – Paso Doble – 32
24/30 (8, 8, 8 )
3rd place in marathon: 8
Judges’ Comments: Len told Audrina she is getting on his nerves because she has the potential to blow them away every week but it lacks the character of the dance. Bruno said she looked scornful not intense. Carrie Ann said the improvement she has shown is ridiculous.
My 2Cents: Freddie Mercury must have been rolling over in his grave over that rendition of Another One Bites the Dust. The dance was technically very good, but it needed more passion, more something. It was definitely lacking.

Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke – Tango – 30
24/30 (8, 8, 8 )
Judges’ Comments: Len was impressed with his hold and posture and said he did an excellent job. Bruno called him a Mohican on the war path and said it needed a little more romance. Carrie said it was really well done but he’s a little too intense sometimes.
My 2Cents: This was Rick’s first week back in ballroom dancing after four weeks of Latin. His posture has improved greatly. The dance was good, but the tempo of the music was too fast and it made the dance seem a bit awkward.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer – Tango – 30
23/30 (8, 7, 8 )
4th place in marathon: 7
Judges’ Comments: Bruno said he obviously put a lot of work into it and his footwork was much better. Carrie Ann called his carriage amazing and loves that he brings Kyle Style to every dance. Len said the dance was much better – an improvement over last week.
My 2Cents: I was mightily distracted by the wreck of Lacey’s costume, but her oh so fabulous shoes. I was also distracted by the flames and smoke and it was hard to watch the dancing. His footwork did look better and they stuck to a traditional Tango. I thought it was good.

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough – Paso Doble – 29
20/30 (6, 7, 7)
2nd place in marathon: 9
Judges’ Comments: Carrie Ann told Jennifer she needs to calm down. Len said he got the attack, aggression and attitude, but they lost a bit of control. Bruno said he got the rage, but she lost the quality of movement.
My 2Cents: It was way too frantic. I love Derek and I think he’s a genius when it comes to choreography but sometimes he pushes too hard and this time it caused a bit of a disaster. She couldn’t keep up.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas – Tango – 28
23/30 (8, 7, 8 )
6th place in marathon: 5
Judges’ Comments: Bruno called it her best performance and best technique. Carrie said it was “victory for Bristol.” Len said “last week a chimp, this week almost a champ.” He did criticize them for breaking hold in the middle of the dance.
My 2Cents: She thinks doing air guitar shows performance. She clearly needs someone to define to her what it means to “perform” the dance – she doesn’t get it. The judges loved it. I thought her technique was pretty good, although it wasn’t an overly challenging routine. She didn’t look like a deer-in-headlights tonight, but her facial expression never changed from the somewhat stern look.

Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya – Paso Doble – 22
18/30 (6, 6, 6)
7th place in marathon: 4
Judges’ Comments: Carrie Ann said the dance was scruffy, it didn’t have a lot of polish. Len thought it looked awkward. Bruno said it had all the intensity but it looked like Karate instead of Spanish dancing. My 2Cents: I really liked it, but I am a little biased because I really like Kurt. It definitely wasn’t his best dance but he looked like he was trying to work on his technique. His hands were a little better this week, but they’re still awkward.

Rock and Roll Dance Marathon order of partners tapped out:
Kurt & Anna – 4
Bristol & Mark- 5
Rick & Cheryl – 6
Kyle & Lacey – 7
Audrina & Tony – 8
Jennifer & Derek – 9
Brandy & Maks- 10

Voters’ Top 10 Favorite Dances:

#10 Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas – Freestyle – Season 8
#9 Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson – Argentine Tango – Season 9
#8 Helio Castroneves & Juliana Hough – Quickstep – Season 5
#7 Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne Hough – Freestyle – Season 4
#6 Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough – Futuristic Paso Doble – Season 9
#5 Mel B. & Maksim Chmerkovskiy – Paso Doble – Season 5
#4 Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough – 50’s Paso Doble – Season 10
#3 Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne Hough – Samba – Season 4
#2 Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke – Argentine Tango – Season 8
#1 Drew Lachey & Cheryl Burke – Free Style – Season 2

Again with the judging this week. Derek is notorious for making his choreography difficult and this week Jennifer couldn’t keep up so she was nailed with a six. Mark’s choreography for Bristol was basic, simple – nothing stimulating, so she gets eights. Is no consideration taken into the level of difficulty of the dance performed? It doesn’t seem fair.

Once again I was very frustrated with this show. I think Rock and Roll week was a flop. Sure it had flames and smoke, but the music conflicted with the dances, particularly the tango. There’s too much gimmicky stuff going on and the show needs to get back to finding “stars” that are fun to watch. That’s all the entertainment that’s needed. That’s my two cents, what’s yours?