Tuesday, November 23, 2010

#DwtS Finals

Hah...I enjoyed Tom's "Please, don't shoot your television." I also really like the redemption dance being requested by the judges rather than the contestants picking their best or favorite dance. 

Kyle & Lacey's Foxtrot: I think nines were a great score for that dance. It wasn't quite a ten.

Bristol & Mark's Jive: Bruno is the best. I loved him in training and then during the judge comments taking full credit. What a complete turnaround from her first disastrous mess of a jive. Hated their weird little ending, though. I would have turned it off had they gotten a ten.

Jennifer & Derek's Pasodoble: Really good paso song! I've been anti Jenhougher for a couple weeks now, but even I have to admit that it was a great dance. I can appreciate any dance that results in one of Bruno's dramatic flowery speeches.

Freestyles! I'm always a little torn on judges' scores for these. Freestyles are so much fun to watch but not really good judging fodder. Unless a pair seriously botches their choreography, how do you really judge a dance with absolutely no parameters or rules?

Kyle & Lacey: Okay...it was great, fun, filled with confidence...but it reminded me so much of Apolo's.  I generally prefer Freestyles that try to incorporate or evoke some 'real' dances, but it was a well done old school hip hop routine.

Bristol & Mark: Now, this one had the opposite problem. It was too much like a standard dance, trying to evoke very famous Fosse choreography, and not enough of a fun freestyle. It's like Mark was trying to find a way to borrow a personality since Bristol doesn't have one. They weren't original, and if there's one thing Freestyles should be, it's original.

Jennifer & Derek: See above re: originality. Did they really need to steal a song, mood, and choreography from Dirty Dancing? I was suspicious as soon as they didn't mention the song or theme during the preview package. And then the boohoo about "Time of your Life" being her song with Patrick. She said that in the very first episode about These Arms of Mine, too. This was a nostalgia blackmail dance. "I hate the Palins and I don't know who this Disney kid is, but nobody puts Baby in the corner!"

I think Kyle is going to come in third and it will be a travesty.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

#DwtS Week 9

Due to a change we made in our cable service and my failure to update the recording schedule, Dancing with the Stars didn't record. Fortunately, the fine folks over at CTV have episodes available online! Thank you, CTV! Unfortunately, it wasn't always streaming well and the clips were often delayed and choppy. That's probably the fault of Toshiba, Windows, Firefox and/or Shaw. So, screw you guys.

Brandy and Maksim's Pasodoble: I really liked it. I liked the story they put into it, Brandy was completely engaged and confident, and it looked like she did a really good job. I also really liked her sort of lady pirate outfit.

Jennifer and Derek's Chachacha: It looked like it was a really good job, but I think they've become my least favorite pair now that Kurt's gone. I feel like they've been spending a lot of the season presenting Jennifer as the underdog, even more than Bristol. She's older, she's had health problems, her body's falling apart, nearly paralyzed, etc. Now, here's Baby 30 years later, in semi-memorium of Patrick Swayze, a breakout star at semi-finals. It's like the producers are trying very hard to justify why she's so deserving. Maybe I'm totally off base and reading things into it that aren't there, but her presence on the show lacks a lot of genuineness for me.

Bristol and Mark's Pasodoble: Easily her best dance yet, but she's lacked the consistency through the week's to be considered of the same caliber as the others.

Kyle and Lacey's Samba: What a great dance for Kyle! This may be my favorite dance for him (not necessarily my favorite performance, though). Loved it! How was that NOT a perfect score, Len?

Brandy and Maksim's Argentine Tango: Lovely, dramatic, fluid. Probably my favorite lifts of the season. It absolutely deserved that perfect score.

Jennifer and Derek's Waltz: I liked it better than their Chachacha. I don't think 60/60 was deserved for tonight's dances.

Bristol and Mark's Waltz: Another really nice dance, but she looked completely bored at detached for most of it. Also, they're really giving her outfits that obscure her legs and feet as much as possible to hide flaws in her steps.

Kyle and Lacey's Argentine Tango: Wow! That's one of the quickest tangos I've seen on the show. He really brought everything he had to this one. He also did a great job on the lifts -- he doesn't look like a lift kind of guy. Again, Len, WTF is with the 9?!

I'm going to be pretty surprised if it's not Bristol's week to go home. I can't wait for the freestyles next week. I will be really happy with either Brandy or Kyle taking the mirrorball home.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

#DwtS Week 8

Finally, a two hour show with more dancing instead of more filler than cheap dog food. I love the idea of the instant dance, in large part because of the potential for someone (Kurt, pretty please) to totally crash and burn.

Kyle & Lacey's Viennese Waltz: I love how versatile Kyle has been between the fun peppy dances and the more polished and romantic ones like this. He has such a sweet side and he's been my consistent favorite.

Jennifer & Derek's Quickstep: I really sympathize with her knee troubles. I also have a bad knee. Loved her dress and Derek's tails but for some reason I didn't realize care for the choreography. I can't quite put my finger on why. They did a great job, but it just didn't resonate with me.

Kurt & Anna's Waltz: Meh. But Bruno made me laugh with his "Obviously there are people better than you."

Bristol & Mark's Argentine Tango: I hate Sarah Palin so much. I hate her accent. As for the dance, I liked it. Nice lifts, she's finding her character but wasn't quite fierce enough, her footwork is good. Bristol kept scrunching her head down and hunching her shoulders. Instead of being tall and confident it looked like she was trying to slouch down to Mark's height.

Brandy & Maksim's Waltz: I didn't notice before the rehearsal footage, but Brandy has lovely legs. They had such emotion in this dance. It was very graceful and artistic and sorrowful. Everything about it was beautiful. Also, Maks should wait until he's not on camera to scratch at his groin.

Instant dances! And DanceCentre is coming back!

Kyle & Lacey's Jive: Wow! WOW! It did not look at all like they only had 40 minutes to work with the music. What a great job!

Jennifer & Derek's Rhumba: Good call on Derek having them dance it to several different songs. I felt like they held some of their holds for a slightly awkwardly long time in order to make sure they had enough steps left to make it to the end of the song, but then ended up having to catch up the music at the end. It was really good, but I didn't think it was quite 30 good. I would have given it nines.

Kurt & Anna's ChaChaCha: I normally really like this dance. Not so much tonight, particularly because I didn't like the song. My dislike of Kurt is so deeply rooted that I don't think he can do anything to please me.

Bristol & Mark's Samba: I think is the first time it really looked like Bristol was having fun. It's a tough dance and I think she did a good job again, but just isn't a high enough caliber compared to the other contestants.

Brandy & Maksim's ChaChaCha: Good energy, great attention to the little flourishes, all around enjoyable to watch. I can understand Len and Carrie-Ann's points that they didn't do enough dancing with what little time they had. I love it when Maks argues with the judges, especially Carrie-Ann. And again, hands in his pockets scratching away.

Bottom two: I'd say Bristol and Kurt with Bristol going home, but after last week I just don't know anymore.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Today I turn 30. I woke up to find about 15 emails and Facebook notifications from people wishing me a happy birthday.

Not a single one of them was from my dad. He hasn't spoken to me since September 4. I understand that he's against me getting married and in particular against me marrying into this family. He's not coming to the wedding and I don't want him there.

But...I'm still his daughter and it's still my birthday.

I'm going to spend most of the day wondering if I'll hear from him at all...and then if an email comes or his number is on the call display, I'll hesitate because I'm not sure if I really want to hear from him.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

#DwtS Week 7.wtf

WTF. Was that really how the voting went? Rick and Kyle in the bottom two. Rick getting eliminated. Bristol still competing. Kurt not fired from a rocket into the sun.

What's up, America? Is everything alright at home? Do you need someone to talk to? Are you hitting the bottle again? I'm not picking on you, I'm just worried. You're making some alarming decisions. Please don't do anything to hurt yourself.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

#DwtS Week 7

So conflicting. I hate filler but I love past season stuff, guest judges (even if they completely take the true meaning away from getting a 10), and group dances. This is the first time in a while that I've watched a whole episode without fast forwarding through most of it.

Team Kristi: Good stuff. Bristol is a lot more relaxed when she's up there with other people. Kyle and Lacey were definitely the spotlight couple on that one.

Team Apolo: Aside from Kurt looking stupid with a soul patch, I liked Team Apolo better. They all just fit  together really well.

Kyle & Lacey's Pasodoble: Love! Hot! I think it was better than Mel B and Maks's. Kyle really brought it tonight.

Ah, I forgot how great Emmitt Smith was to watch.

Kurt & Anna's Tango: He actually did a pretty good job. I'm impressed even though I don't want to be. I'm tired of him and his absent personality and his hunched shoulders.

Kelly Osbourne looks so cute.

Bristol & Mark's Viennese Waltz: Bristol really has improved a lot, especially with her feet. I just don't think she's of the right caliber to go to the finals.

Rick & Cheryl's Quickstep: It took me a while to warm up to Rick, but he has really become a favorite of mine. He was so snappy and full of joy. Really good stuff.

I don't think I saw the season with Gilles, but I wish I had. Hawt.

Brandy & Maksim's Foxtrot: It was cute watching Brandy get all shy with Maks in rehearsal. I think one of the reasons I love the Fotxtrot is that it seems more versatile than most other dances. I've seen it peppy and fun, sweet and romantic, and hot and sensual like this. Gorgeous. And Len is the best. I love it when he's so cavalier.

Jennifer & Derek's Tango: I feel for Jennifer. She's really struggling to keep it together. I understand the frustration of not being able to get your body to do what you want it to. Some of her footwork looked like a tiny bit out of sync, but that may have been the choreography. It was hard to tell. I thought she did a really great job and it was a great comeback from the past couple weeks. She looked very sad and unhappy during the whole dance.

Bottom two...hmm. This is getting tougher every week. I think probably Kurt and Bristol, with Kurt going home.