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DWTS Week 6, Season 13
- Author:
- Phillip Stephens (philtex44@aol.com)
- Date Published:
- October 26, 2011
Dancing With The Stars
Season 13, Week 6, 10/24/2011
Commentary provided by Championship Adjudicator and Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing Examiner Phillip Stephens.
If you have something to contribute to this article, or just want to say that you like or hate it, please send an email to me at philtex44@aol.com
Broadway theme week and – with the group number – each couple must perform two routines this week.
The Company from the Broadway show of Sister Act performed. Quite a lot of glitz & glitter in those ladies’ habits. While it certainly was an energetic number, those gals were not all that good at singing.
Rob Kardashian & Cheryl Burke – Cha Cha
Jersey Boy Music – "Walk Like A Man". Entrance took a bit long and Cheryl danced more than Rob, but he did use his body more rhythmically than in prior performances. Although they still need more fluidity so as not to look so “hoppy”, he is also using his feet and legs better. An OK performance, but not exceptional for week 6.
Len – Noted clean and precise performance with good timing. Cha-cha needs more rhythm and this was a bit stiff; Bruno – Feels it was merely adequate and underperformed; Carrie Ann – Sees more charisma, but not enough maturity. 8+7+7 = 22
Nancy Grace & Tristan McMannus – Foxtrot
Monty Python’s “Spamalot”. I get so annoyed with Nancy’s whining. She needs to buck up and listen to Tristan’s instructions instead of complaining and trying to win the arguments. This was something of a parody of dancing. Tristan put together a nice story and she did a reasonably good job with this routine, but I can’t help wondering how much better it could have been if she’d just quit carping and practiced more. Definitely her best performance to date.
Bruno – Liked it; Carrie Ann – Thought it was a show stopper; Len – Noted that she put a lot more personality into the routine, but the character of Foxtrot was missing. 9+7+8 = 24. Nancy did NOT deserve that 9!
David Arquette & Kym Johnson – Quickstep
"We Go Together" from Grease. David is a hyper person who often appears as if he’s either intoxicated or on drugs but he has many endearing qualities. Nice entrance though he looked a bit nervous or uptight. The dancing was OK, but h gets a little too excited and just a wee bit ahead of things. A good job and he seemed to have a lot of fun with it. David just reminds me of a puppy that’s so happy to see you that it piddles on the floor. As Michael Schedler noted – David needs to find a bit more calmness and control to go along with his enthusiasm for dance.
Carrie Ann – Great performance, but they were out of sync; Len – Rough around the edges with a lot of enthusiasm; Bruno – Noted he went wrong several times but that it was a good performance. 8+7+8 = 23
Ricki Lake and Derek Hough – Quickstep
Guys and Dolls – “Luck be a Lady” I just really dislike that they have to bleep out so much of the language from rehearsals. Grrrr! Great costumes and a nice clean entrance. Derek put together nice choreography. Topline was OK but could have been stronger with arms a bit lower. A good strong finish. Overall a good solid routine, but not as good as I think she could do. Again, I think these people need to spend less time whining spend more time practicing the routines.
Len – Feels Ricki proved her talent. Loved it overall; Bruno – Complimented the style and choreography; Carrie Ann – Raved a bit much. 10+9+10 = 29
Chaz Bono & Lacey Schwimmer – Tango
Phantom of the Opera. Why is he still so chunky? Claims he’s lost weight but I see no evidence of that. As stressed as Lacey was about the mistakes Chaz made in learning the material, she was still quite patient with him. Rather dreadful footwork, stiff and awkward-looking legs, bad body positions and not much good dancing. He did all the choreography, but it looked far too rough around the edges for this stage of the competition. I feel that the only reason Chaz is still in this event is all the votes from his and his mom’s fans because it sure isn’t dance talent that’s keeping him in the running.
Bruno – Was not strong enough. The Tango character doesn’t fit Chaz; Carrie Ann – Agrees somewhat with Bruno. She wants to see more difficult choreography (even though he can’t do what he’s already been given); Len – Had lots of negatives couched in a positive way. 7+6+6 = 19
Hope Solo & Maks Chmerkovskiy – Rumba
Song from “Rent”. Maks was not very nice to Hope in rehearsal when he said he was losing faith in her too. What a mean-spirited thing to say to someone who is obviously trying her hardest to do all that is asked of her. So Maks is swearing and tearing her down and doing nothing to make this easy for her. She did a very sexy entrance and looked soft in many of the moves. Unfortunately, her leg actions (a bit stiff) and footwork (Heel leads) are not right for this dance. Instead of whomping on her for what she didn’t know how to do, Maks should have taught her more about the dance. She did a good job with the routine, she just doesn’t know enough about Rumba to do the dance properly.
Carrie Ann – Sees improvement, but noted that she forced her movement; Len – Has faith in her that there is a lot there that hasn’t come out. This is her worst dance of the season. (Maks went on a totally uncalled for rant. Apparently, it is ok for him to tear Hope’s efforts and ability to shreds, but not ok for Len or the other judges to state facts about her technique. How interesting.); Bruno – Noted her lack of technique. 7+6+7 = 20.
Well, Maks sure had a lot to say to Brooke and the audience that was totally uncalled for, especially about the judges being critical about heel leads being used consistently in a dance that is fundamentally based on a ball-flat action. Judges didn’t say anything that wasn’t factual.
J.R. (Jose Rene) Martinez & Karina Smirnoff – Quickstep
A very entertaining entrance. Nice crisp actions. Good posture with a little tension in the neck that spoiled it a bit. A lot of nice Charleston fitted nicely to the music. Great timing and clean lines. Lots of personality and joy expressed in that dance. Karina did a fantastic job with the choreography and got a lot out of J.R. that’s so difficult to produce, especially for male dancers. J.R. seems to be transported to a special place when dancing.
Len – Thought he did a fantastic job; Bruno – A hit number; Carrie Ann – Thought it deserved a “Tony”. 10+9+10 = 29
Not too taken with Kristin’s singing. The dancing was nice because it was a bit calmer than some of the material they come up with and it showed more true talent than just “wow” factor.
Interesting rehearsal scenes for the group number. They looked as if they all had fun, which is nice. Good choreography and they all performed it well. Kym Johnson has beautiful legs. Lifts all went well. Nice energy. Great routine.
Season 13, Week 6 Results – 10/25/2011
I just can’t say this enough: Brooke Burke Charvet should NOT wear short skirts. Or, if she does, she should definitely put her legs into modeling poses instead of having them side by side.
Nope – not at all taken with Kristin's singing.
Even though I have to admit she out-danced Chaz by a mile, I just can’t believe that Nancy Grace is safe!
Macy’s Stars of Dance / Kenny Ortega. Displayed a lot of versatility. Filled the floor with energy and controlled motion. Again, I think I enjoyed this because it showed more dancing than glitzy flash.
Martina McBride – a beautiful song spoiled a bit by the overly frantic dancing that often made the dancers look spastic.
That certainly was a talented group of youngsters that danced the Halloween routine with Lacey & Mark.
Well, at least Maks apologized for his utterly tasteless comment about DWTS being “his” show. And what was up with Hope whining about people needing to understand that she’s not a dancer? Rob isn’t a dancer. J.R. isn’t a dancer. Nancy Grace certainly isn’t a dancer and neither is Chaz or David. The only celeb in the mix that has some dance background is Ricki Lake and the only one with a musical background was Chynna Philips.
I can’t help but wonder if this whole Maks thing is somehow being staged to get viewer reaction. Perhaps fundamentally sound and entertaining dancing coupled with honest judging are not enough to keep the show popular? Are we supposed to overlook this type of behavior because the pros, celebs and judges are all “artistes”?
Did Maks have a legitimate “beef” with the judges? Perhaps… The judging isn’t always consistent and it does at times seem that someone with horrendous footwork and rhythm gets a lot of undeserved praise while others who present better “everything” get criticized for bad technique. And the judges don’t always couch their comments in a kind manner. In fact they sometimes seem to be going for “comment cuteness” or “dramatic point-making” instead of being helpful. But this IS a Hollywood show. Contestants and pros should all be aware of this before signing up and then they should either live with their decision or leave the program because I, for one, do not want to see DWTS turned into Jerry Springer’s evening sequel.
And here’s a message for Maks: Very few people watch DWTS simply because he’s on it. There is a lot more to that show than all the “I”, “me” and “mine” that he seems to get wrapped up in like some spoiled, demanding, sulky and highly insecure “star”.
Although Chaz should have been cut a couple of weeks ago, it would have pleased me greatly to see Maks go home after all that tasteless crap he expelled Monday night. Well, it is what it is and Chaz got the boot.
So - Happy Dancing
and remember
www.the-dance-place.com is also www.theplace2dance.com
