Trav's Thoughts

Live from Hollywood, it's the return of Dancing with the Stars!

Welcome to the first evening of the three night premier! And welcome back to our host, one of the best in the business, Tom Bergeron. The lovely Samantha Harris returns for more of her backstage interviews.

Our familiar judges return with Len Goodman flanked by Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

And it's the male pros to start us off with some rapid Jive steps to The Boys are Back in Town. And that deserves our first WOOOOOOOOOOO of the season!!!

The fellas are up first, dancing both a ballroom and a Latin style. Wow! I think this is the first time our celebrities have had to learn two dances for the same night.

Aaron Carter, singer and actor, and Karina Smirnof dance Cha Cha Cha. He's got an advantage because he's been performing for so long. He's got no fear of the stage and looks very comfortable with the style of dance. This is a great dance for him to start with too, because it takes advantage of some of his natural movement. He's got the hip action squared away for the most part. He's a little rough with his footwork, but that's to be expected. His connection with Karina is spot on. She has given him some solid choreography to start with, and he did well with it. I didn't have any idea what to expect from him. He has great potential, he just needs to focus and clean up the steps. Well done. Judges say 7,8,7 for a total of 22.

Chuck Liddell, ultimate fighting champion, and Anna Trebunskaya dance Foxtrot. Rehearsals were not kind to Chuck. His feet were really heavy and he's plodding and awkward. His movement is stiff and uncertain. But I give him props because he's trying. The concentration is on his face, but he found a few spots where he could smile. It certainly wasn't well danced, but he didn't disrespect it and he took it seriously. He didn't have any musicality at all and he wasn't classy or smooth. However, it really wasn't the disaster it might have been...not sophisticated, but not knuckle dragging either. Pam gave him props for being charming, and she didn't expect that. It was a good start. Judges say 6,5,5 for a total of 16.

Mark Decascos, The Chairman from Iron Chef America, and Lacey Schwimmer dance Cha Cha Cha. He looks fantastic in rehearsal footage. He's got a lot of natural ability that Lacey is going to be able to take advantage of. He'll have to work on posture and also on connecting one move to the next so that everything is seamless. And he'll need to curb some of the natural enthusiasm that can cause over-dancing...that's the key to keeping the dance smooth. But his musicality was excellent and Lacey made a great dance for him. She took advantage of his ability and the way he can move. He's got everything he needs to do well in this competition and now Lacey has to improve his footwork and technique. He's got the presentation and performance down. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.

Ashley Hamilton, actor and comedian, and Edyta Sliwinska dance Foxtrot. He doesn't appear graceful at all. He's a tall man dancing with a short woman, and unlike most first time ballroom dancers he does appear to be staying tall rather than stooping over. That gives him an elegance, despite the fact that he's a bit awkward and slow in his footwork. But he's not horrible. He looks like he's enjoying himself. He was a pretty good lead and he danced with Edyta, rather than posing and letting her dance around him. He was focused on his footwork and I didn't see a lot of misplaced steps. The one thing I thought lacking was a connection to the audience. He's at a bit of a disadvantage unless his dad's fanbase is transferrable. We thought it was a good performance. A bit rough, but nicely done. Judges say 5,6,4 for a total of 15. That 4 is too low.

Donny Osmond, entertainer, and Kym Johnson dance Foxtrot. OK...I just have to tell you how sweet and cute this is. Pam let out a squee that startled Mr Tucker, and she sat on the edge of the sofa with her hands clasped in front of her, and a huge smile on her face. And she was rewarded because Donny did very well. Perfromance isn't going to be an issue at all for him. He was smooth and sophisticated, with a ton of charm thrown in. And he managed to do things like keep his frame except for a bit of rounded shoulders, be a strong partner to Kym, connect one move to another, and put his feet in the right places. The performance was outstanding. Of course my smitten Lady thought it was perfect and she immediately got busy dialing. But we knew that was going to happen. I enjoyed the performance, but I recognize that Donny isn't a runaway technical dancer. I will say that his fanbase is going to give him plenty of time to take notes and improve on the technical parts of his dancing. The performing is always going to be strong. Judges say 7,6,7 for a total of 20. Pam is not pleased, but Donny himself agreed that he has work to do and he got carried away in theatricality.

Louie Vito, snowboard champion, and Chelsie Hightower dance Foxtrot. I think this is actually the first time I've seen him smile. In all the promos he's got a bit of a grimace. But that grin was one of those hey-look-at-what-I-learned-how-to-do things. It was very endearing, almost as though he was tickled at how well he was doing. He had a few stumbles, but I enjoyed watching him. He actually did ok with that, and he got better and more confident as he continued to dance. He had good posture in between the slipping and mis-steps. And there's is no getting around the fact that he's charming. He'll get votes just from that, and from how much fun he seemed to have while he was dancing. Chelsie is a great teacher...remember what she did with Ty Murray last season. Nicely done. Judges say 6,7,6 for a total of 19.

Michael Irvin, NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver, and Anna Demidova dance Cha Cha Cha. I do not like Michael Irvin. Optimal outcome for me would be a very quick elimination, with apologies to new pro Anna. So Michael stood in the middle of the floor and wiggled a bit. Then he moved around the room in a sort of Cha Cha Cha pattern. It wasn't horrible. He has some smoothness and plenty of rhythm, although his timing to the music was a bit off. He'll have to work on technique and posture. And Anna will have to work on the content because there just wasn't quite enough dancing. I was a bit surprised by how minimal the content was, especially considering how well she choreographed dances during the new pro competition last season. Judges say 5,4,4 for a total of 13.

Tom DeLay, politician, and Cheryl Burke dance Cha Cha Cha. Wild Thing? Really? OK that was a funny comment...going left for Mr DeLay is totally outrageous. But this music for an old conservative is just not working for me. I do have to give him props for letting loose and just going with the dance. And I have to say he wasn't really the worst of the night either. He had a certain grace about him and he wasn't that awkward. And he was better than some other older gentlemen who have been on the show. Cheryl is great. The problem was missing Cha Cha Cha content. There just wasn't enough of it. There was some basic stuff in it and he performed well. But there was too much play to the bad music. Now of course the question is going to be...who is watching this show, and will they vote based on the dancing or on the politics? Judges say 6,5,5 for a total of 16.

That wraps up the first dance for the fellas. Now we have something called a relay dance, where we get a chance to see two groups of four. They dance either a Salsa or a Viennese Waltz and we get a chance to compare them against each other in the same style with the same music. Then the judges will rank them and assign points to be added to the scores from each pair's first dance. Got it?

The first group is Ashley & Edyta, Chuck & Anna T, Louie & Chelsie, and Donny & Kym dancing a Salsa relay. Ashley was very timid and awkward. Chuck attacked the dance, but he was mostly a prop for Anna although he did that well. Donny and Kym controlled the floor and smoked the Salsa. Louie threw a backflip, but then was a bit shy in the dancing part. I thought Donny was the winner among the four. Judges say 4 points to Ashley & Karina, 6 points to Chuck & Anna T, 8 points to Louis & Chelsie, and 10 points to Donny & Kym.

The second group is Aaron & Karina, Mark & Lacey, Tom & Cheryl, and Michael & Anna D dancing a Viennese Waltz relay. Aaron was elegant and smooth, although I thought the tempo was too fast and out of control. Mark slowed it down and danced very sophisticated, with wonderful arm lines. Tom was the classy older gentleman, although a bit awkward rather than fluid. Michael looked uncomfortable and struggled with posture. I thought either Mark or Aaron was the winner. Judges say 4 points to Tom & Cheryl, 6 points to Michael & Anna, 8 points to Mark & Lacey, 10 points to Aaron & Karina.

I like this relay thingy. Each couple gets the stage to itself, so that makes it easier for me to recap.

Here's our leader board after two dances for the fellas:

32 Aaron and Karina
30 Donny and Kym
29 Mark and Lacey
27 Louie and Chelsie
22 Chuck and Anna T
20 Tom and Cheryl
19 Ashley and Edyta
19 Michael and Anna D

There can be no doubt in anyone's mind that Pam's 8 votes went to Donny. My votes went to Mark and Lacey.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening watching the fellas. Tune in tonight when we'll see how well the ladies do. And then tomorrow night, we'll eliminate two couples.