Cue that theme music!
Posted: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 by Travis Cody in
YAY! It's back!
Welcome to Season 6 of Dancing With the Stars.
The pros lead off with a hot Latin routine. Yes Matt, Cheryl looks fantastic as do all the ladies. Pam would also like to let you know that the male pros are plenty sexy, even without Maks.
Tonight, the male celebrities dance Cha Cha Cha or Foxtrot. The female celebrities dance tomorrow. And then everybody dances next Monday, with a double elimination to follow on Tuesday.
Got that?
Here's what the dances are supposed to look like.
Cha Cha Cha is a cheeky, lively, flirtatious dance...
Foxtrot is smooth with continuously forward or backward moving patters. The clip is an International Standard Foxtrot, which features continuous hold. American Style Foxtrot is more open, which is what the pairs performed tonight. I chose the International Standard because I love the elegance of it.
Now let's get to it!
Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson dance Cha Cha Cha. He had a lot of fun with this but it wasn't too much of a Cha Cha Cha. We smiled because we enjoyed the performance. It was definitely entertaining. He was too heavy in his feet, which was to be expected because of his size. But he did try to do the steps. He didn't have the proper hip action, although his energy was great. He's not the worst we've ever seen because he embraced the dancing and didn't make it too silly. Judges say 5,6,5 for a total of 16. 
Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska dance Foxtrot. Great deep bend on the knees at the start of that dance. He uses his size very effectively. He has good posture except for a couple of times when he looked at his feet. His turns were controlled and he didn't lose his balance much. That was really nicely done. He looked elegant and smooth, and they looked very good together. He learned technique very quickly, but we agree with the judges that he needs to work on the character of the dance. But great first dance. Judges say 7,8,7 for a total of 22.
Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke dance Cha Cha Cha. He may not have a huge fanbase to start, but expect that to change. He's not polished, but the man can move. And Pam says he's sexy and charming, so that helps too. He needs to work on technique and posture, but Cheryl will take care of that. He had energy and performance, and lots of potential. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.
Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough dance Foxtrot. We're dancing Foxtrot to Mellow Yellow, the first of what will be many wacky music choices. He's not as heavy footed as we expected, but he's not graceful either. He had decent footwork but he tended to curl in on himself a bit which made the close holds a little more awkward. He did the steps without making fun of the dance, which we appreciate. We expected to hate it, but we didn't. It could have been a total trainwreck, but it wasn't. Judges say 5's across for a total of 15.
Mario and Karina Smirnoff dance Cha Cha Cha. Karina had neck surgery before the season started to repair a herniated disc. Yikes! These two have real chemistry. His hip hop background helps him in this dance and he's definitely a performer. The dance was sexy and hot and really well performed. He's not perfect...he needs to work on his footwork. But it was hard to see in the Cha Cha Cha unless you know what to look for. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24.
Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya dance Foxtrot. He performed the dance, but it was slow and awkward. We could tell how much fun he had with it and that he really enjoyed himself. He really does want to do this well and that makes him fun to watch. We smiled. Whether he can improve is another question. But he is charming and genuine, and we enjoyed watching the dance. He didn't do any better than Adam or Penn, but he didn't do worse either. Judges say 6's across for a total of 18.
24 Mario & Karina
22 Jason & Edyta
21 Cristian & Cheryl
18 Steve & Anna
16 Penn & Kym
15 Adam & Julianne
Well, after the first dances it looks like we have three guys who need to polish technique and can challenge to win, and three who need to control their clumsiness and very likely have no chance. Mario, Jason, and Cristian are well ahead of Steve, Penn, and Adam at this point.
Pam and I split. She thought Mario did the best, but voted for Cristian. I agreed that Mario was best, but only slightly over Jason and I voted for Jason.
Last season I asked y'all to tell me who were your favorites so I could post some encores. So tell me again in comments who you liked, and I'll do my best to find the clips.
Now lets bring on the ladies!
The couple doing the Cha Cha in the first video were BEYOND amazing. Wow! I'm glad that you and your wife have something to share and enjoy with each other.
Be blessed - Jen