Week 2 of Season 8 of Dancing with the Stars

Posted By: admin On: March 17, 2009 Comments: ( 0 )

I’ve been on vacation so I haven’t kept up with the latest news. I read there are more injuries so we’ll see who is actually competing tonight and if we have replacements again. Let’s get started…

First impressions:

Lil’ Kim is decked out in red, Lacey Schwimmer came down the steps without Steve-O, Edyta actually looks quite stunning in a sheer black gown with red roses on it, Cheryl almost bites it down the stairs, Julianne and Chuck look cute, Ty looks cute, Shawn is showing lots o’ skin around the belly region, Denise Richards is suprisingly covered, but is showing some middriff, and Melissa Rycroft looks cute as can be. She reminds me a lot of Kelly Monaco from Season 1.

Tom tells us that Steve-O was injured today so he is not with us tonight. Hmmm..wonder if that means the judges will score him on his taped practice b/c remember that is plan B. We’ll see…

Holly Madison is up first with the Quickstep. Holly thinks it is a good idea to play 20 questions with Dmitry so they can get to know each other better since they are practically strangers. They’ve determined they are polar opposites - that’s good to know - NOT! Here we go - she is decked out in purple and looks pretty good if you ask me. She gets tangled up with her feet starting off. She sure doesn’t look very graceful and her hold is lacking. I DO NOT like this dance - looks like they were running all over the place. I think Dmitry is out of his league on this dance. UGH! She did keep up - I will give her that. Len starts off explaining the quickstep to us on what is proper and said her posture was lacking. Bruno said it looked like she was running for a bus most of the time. Carrie Ann said she liked she was willing and eager, but that she was kind of like a doll. She needs to work on being an equal partner. Scores were all 6’s for a total of 18 out of 30. And is it just me or did the judges number paddles get some added glitter?

David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson have the Salsa this week. He wants to increase the intensity so he can be an equal partner with him - good for him. We’ll see if he keeps up here and also keeps his face in check with one personality. He seems to stay in character and has some nice moves. It was cute, but nothing I’m overly excited about. Bruno said the character was right, but timing was off and told him to work on hip and foot. Carrie Ann said the musicality was missing this week. Len thought they performed well, but said the problem was too much Kym, it lacked rhythm, and hip action. Scores were 2 6’s and a 5 from Len for a total of 17 out of 30.

Denise Richards and Maksim Chmerkovskiy have the Quickstep this week. You’ll be happy to know there were no tears in practice this week - at least they didn’t show them on camera. Dang they look good so far. They dance to a song from Grease, “We Go Together” I think it is. She lost it during the middle and end and her spin sucked at the end, but I thought she faired pretty good this week. Carrie Ann said it was much better - she found her elegance and was a great improvement. Len agreed saying it was a great job, much improved. Bruno said the same thing - great leg action - keep up the good work. Scores were all 7’s for a total of 21 out of 30. She’s in the lead so far. LOL!

Belinda Carlisle and Jonathon Roberts have the Salsa this week. This week she is going to let loose and go wild like she did with the Go-Go’s. Can’t wait to see it. She starts on two chairs. She looks relaxed and is shaking it pretty good. It is so Marie Osmondish that I am having flashbacks of the Marie season. You know how much I loved Marie - NOT! Why wouldn’t it be Marie Osmondish as her partner was also Jonathon Roberts - ick! She immediately said she messed up. Hmmm. Len said the hip action was missing, but performance was fine. Bruno said timing was off - needs to be much sharper and to go for it. Len takes Bruno’s scoring paddle for the #1 and held it up. Bruno goes after him and Carrie Ann tells him to sit down. LOL! Carrie Ann said it lacked grace, but she loved her freedom. Scores were all 6’s for a total of 18 out of 30. Eighteen seems to be a pretty popular score tonight.

Up next is Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower with the Quickstep. Chelsie emphasizes his face this week as he needs to smile more and have fun. He is so cute in a tux and the song they dance to is “Life is Highway.” He is smiling by the way and the crowd is cheering. Dang he is so cute with his smile. His posture was lacking a bit, but he did AWESOME as he led Chelsie quickly around that floor. I liked it A LOT! Carrie Ann screams YEEHAW! She is proud of him and said it was smooth and he kept up - she loved the hold in the upper body. Bruno said he was riding that quickstep and said he was an improvement. Len said this week he is a butterfly and told him to watch his back hand, but said he liked it. Yayyy! Scores were 2 7’s and a 6 from Len for a 20 out of 30.

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas have the Salsa this week. She looks like a Chiquita Banana girl with her outfit and earrings. She is embarrassed during practice because she has been trained to be rigid and not loose. Lots of turns they are doing and they are fast. Her hip action is actually quite good. Mark puts some gymnastics moves in there where she kicks her legs up twice in the back and boy does she kick high. They do splits at the end several times and it is just awesome. Great performance - loved it and I love her! Bruno called her the cutest thing he’s ever seen - called it precise and sharp, but to work on the naughty-ness. Tom reminds Bruno she is only 17. LOL! Len said it was clean and precise and never had the feeling she was going wrong. Len wants her to throw caution to the wind and let it go a bit more. Carrie Ann thought it was fantastic and tight and loved her “bam bam” hips. Scores were all 8’s for a 24 out of 30.

Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff have the quickstep. Karina is already taping up glasses for him which means he will have a nerdy funny routine. Steve has a foot injury and it appears he has a fracture. The doctor said he thinks he should dance and he has to wear a walking cast when he is not dancing. They do a 50’s style Quickstep. He has Converse sneakers on and I’m not sure how Len will like that. I must say he is keeping up with the steps except now when I just type that. It was a fun performance and his ex-wife, Kathy Griffin, is there to cheer him on. Len said he is very happy about the Buddy Holly song, but the dance quality isn’t there, the fun is. Carrie Ann said she was juding with a smile, but to work on his arms becoming more fluid and to work on endurance. Bruno said Steve is like Wall-E, rusty/stiff, but charming. Scores were 2 6’s and a 5 from Len for a 17 out of 30.

Tom tells us the bottom 2 couples will compete in a dance off where they will get new scores - whoever has the lowest score goes home. Hmmm…I wonder if the judges are the ones then that decide who goes home then. Not sure if I like that.

Julianne Hough and Chuck Wicks have the sexy Salsa tonight. This could be either super gooood and sexy or super bad! Can’t wait! Chuck is embarrassed in practice which surprises me that he is that way with his girlfriend. He doesn’t like the feminine moves. Chuck says he is going to attack this dance Derek (Hough) style. hehe! Julianne starts at the judges table and Chuck is on stage. He starts with the hips and they look pretty nice. Julianne is wearing lots of fringe with her pants ALL fringe. I can tell that Chuck is less nervous this week and seems to be having fun this time. I thought it was cute. Also it looked like Julianne Hough’s thong was coming up and she kept pulling her pants up. I had to point that out to my male friends who search for Julianne’s thong and come to my site. Yeah, I can tell what you search for when you land on my site - don’t try to hide it, boys! Bruno called it a wasted opportunity as he wanted MORE dancing. Len wanted him to come out and sell it - they want more from him. Carrie Ann says he has so much potential and it didn’t feel like a Salsa to her. Poor Julianne - C.A. just slammed her. Scores were 2 7’s and a 6 for a total of 20 out of 30.

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska have the Quickstep. Lawrence is having issues in practice - he cusses and messes up a lot. I like that fact the he isn’t competing against anyone, but himself. That’s right,Lawrence. Let’s see what he’s got. He has a ncie smile on his face. They go up on stage and Edyta kicks that leg of hers. He kept up just fine and swung her at the end. It looked like she kept her foot down which C.A. should like. Carrie Ann said it was much better this week - called it smooth and powerful all at once. Bruno said he attacked this performance and he came out and performed. Len thought it was difficult choreography - said it was much improved and well done. Scores were 2 7’s and a 6 from Len for a total of 20 out of 30.

Tom is telling us about Steve-O and how he was injured during dress rehearsal today. He did something to his back and landed on the Mic. Pack. Steve wants to load this dance up with tricks. He was having issues in practice with his back and Lacey is concerned since pain usually isn’t an issue with Steve-O and his profession. We get to see his dress rehearsal performance and that will be what he is judged on (also known as Plan B). He falls in one of their first tricks. This doesn’t quite look like a Salsa to me. I don’t see much hips. They did a front flip at the end and he landed on it at the end which made his back injured even more. Len said he didn’t get it as a performance - he didn’t see any Salsa. Bruno said none of it made sense. Carrie Ann said she agrees and that they took unnecessary risks. Basically it sounded like C.A. was blaming the injury on Lacey’s choreography. She looks pissed backstage. Scores were 2 5’s and a 4 from Len for a total of 14 out of 30.

Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough has 20’s style hair and is decked out in red. She doesn’t quite look like a rapper right now. Derek is trying to get her tame herself as she is putting in a little too much for the Quickstep! They dance to “Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend.” What I like about her is that she attacks it - whatever it is. She doesn’t seem to have any shame and just does her thing. Pretty good! Bruno said it was a bit too far apart at times, but he loved it. Carrie Ann loved it and thought the choreography was fantastic, but to work on the hold as it was too far apart. Len said she is not shy saying there wasn’t a lot of quality in the dance. Len said there was virtually no body contact - he wants more refinement and preciseness. Scores were 2 8’s and a 7 from Len for a total of 23 out of 30.

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani have the Salsa this week. She is showing a very nice toned tummy. She is working on making things less big and to unlearn everything she’s learned. LOL! She has a huge smile on her face which is perfect! She does sooo awesome! Has a lot of hip and shoulder action. The tricks at the end were FABULOUS! She is a little firecracker and I love her! Carrie Ann said finally a real Salsa - calling everything great and SLAMMIN’! Len was girating on the seat - he said it was absolutely full on calling it the Salsa of the night. Bruno said no we are cooking - calling it a juicy Salsa - Bruno wants more! This is the kind of partner Tony needs - someone like Stacy Keibler from Season 2 - not none of these old broads! Scores were 2 9’s and an 8 from Len for a total of 26 out of 30. WOOHOO!

Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke have the final dance of the night - Quickstep. I heard Gilles hurt himself too, but not sure if they will let us in on it yet - as it may not be serious enough. On the other hand they might milk it for more DRAMA! Oh yeah - here we go - he has a separation of the shoulder. Cheryl wants him to cut out the sexy and become more elegant. Must be hard to be soo sexy, eh? They are doing a fine job and I really like this modernized quickstep. They dance to a weird song “Superman.” which is not at all a Quickstep song, but they are making it work. He is dressed as Clark Kent and he sure looks like him with the glasses. At the end he throws his glasses off and rips open his jacket and shirt and reveals a purple and green superman shirt. Interesting! Len thought it was great. I couldn’t agree more! Bruno said great class and American flair saying there was lots of sparks out there. Carrie Ann said they are becoming the fan faves making the ladies swoon. We then see Sabrina Bryan in the audience. Remember? She left us too soon! Scores were 3 9’s for a 27 out of 30. Will Cheryl be the first professional to win 3 times?




Leaderboard:

Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke 27 out of 30

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani 26 out of 30

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas 24 out of 30

Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough 23 out of 30

Denise Richards and Maksim Chmerkovskiy 21 out of 30

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower 20 out of 30

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough 20 out of 30

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska 20 out of 30

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin 18 out of 30

Belinda Carlisle and Jonathon Roberts 18 out of 30

Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff 17 out of 30

David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson 17 out of 30

Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer 14 out of 30

Overall, I thought this week went so much better than last week. I can’t say I like Steve Wozniak and expect him to go first. I hope that Steve-O can hold on longer b/c I want to see what else he can do. My favorite of the night - Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovoalni. I also thought Ty Murray, Shawn Johnson, and Gilles Marini were equally as good.

I say look for a dance off between Steve Wozniak and possibly David Alan Grier.