Trav's Thoughts

Live from Hollywood, it's the second night of the three night premier of Dancing with the Stars!

I got off to a bit of a rough start with my reviews, and I apologize. I should have given you a demonstration of the two dances. Do forgive me.

The men danced Fox Trot and Cha Cha Cha.

Foxtrot is a smooth and elegant dance characterized by long and continuous flowing movements. International style is done mostly in close standard hold, while the American version allows for dancing apart and side by side. Think Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Or think Marcus and Karen Hilton. I return to them again, because they are simply the most elegant and best examples I can find. This is from 1998.


Cha Cha Cha is characterized by hips rolled off a straight weighted leg and a bent free leg. The hips settle naturally in the direction of the weighted leg. This is from the 100th Monkey Showcase in Seattle 2006.


On Monday our male pros opened the show. This time it's our female pros in all their sequined glory, with a little Latin flavor to She's A Lady. YEOWZA! These women are HAWT! Pass me a drool towel.

Our Lady celebrities and their partners take the stage, also dancing both a ballroom and a Latin style as the gentlemen did last on Monday. The ladies dance Viennese Waltz and Salsa.

The Viennese Waltz is one of my favorite dances, characterized by simple and elegant rotational movement around the floor. This is Karen and Marcus Hilton, who are nine time professional international standard world champions.


Salsa is characterized by weight changes on the beat, shifting weight in the lower body while the upper body holds level and unaffected by the movement. This is Juan Gonzales and Lucia Ruiz.


Let's see how our female celebrities do.

Debi Mazar, actor, and Maks Chmerkovskiy dance Salsa. I had no idea what to expect from her. I'm not that familiar with her work. She was a bit awkward, especially during spins. She didn't have control of the movement, so she wasn't able to stop herself when she turned. And then when she got lost a couple of times, she did that little bunny hop with her hands...you know what I mean? That little flex of the fingers and shake that says "Dangit!" She needs to learn to get on the balls of her feet, and to listen to the music. Maks didn't spare the choreography and she had some trouble keeping up. She was really focused on getting the steps. She needs to relax and trust Maks, and just dance it. I could see the potential in the rehearsal footage. Now she just needs to gain some confidence that she can do this. Judges say 6,5,5 for a total of 16.

Melissa Joan Hart, actor, and Mark Ballas dance Viennese Waltz. Ahhh...David Cook. This is such a perfect song for Waltz. I want to see her finish out the lines and extend her arms through her hands through her fingers. She was much too stiff and she just the "not quite" side of elegant and graceful. She didn't seem secure in turns. I was actually surprised. I had it in my head that she would be better than that. She was very heavy in her feet and unsure of her steps. As Mark said, she wore her shoulders as earrings. She has to figure out how to relax. Waltz isn't easy, but it should be made to look effortless and that looked like a struggle. Judges say 6's across for a total of 18. I don't think it was that good. But I like her and I hope she improves because I like her personality.

Mya, singer/songwriter, and Dmitry Chaplin dance Viennese Waltz. She has a tap background. I am always impressed by Dmitry's choreography. Her lines are beautiful in her arms...that's what I mean about extending. I'd like to see more toe point when she when she kicks her leg up on a spin. This was a beautiful dance. She had a few issues with posture, and some unfortunate moments with bent legs. But this is all correctible stuff. Overall I thought she was elegant and classy. She and Dmitry are very well suited to dance together. I do agree just a bit with Len about wanting more dancing in hold. But the dancing that they did together was beautifully done. I think Len put on the Cranky Pants and took the scolding a little too far. Regardless of any perceived departures from true Viennese Waltz...and there were many...that dance connected with viewers and was very well performed. Judges say 8,5,8 for a total of 21. The 5 is insulting to the artistry of the choreography and I suspect won't fuss voters that much. I agree that the pros must maintain enough competition content, but they are not constrained to a particular set of rules other than no lifts. And when a dance is artfully choreographed, it's disrespectful not to acknowledge how well it was danced. Pull a point off if you must, but that dance deserved 8's across for how well it was performed.

Kathy Ireland, model and entrepreneur, and Tony Dovolani dance Salsa. Tony has a great attitude. Kathy says she doesn't know how to dance, and Tony replies that she'll have no bad habits. Regrettably, she also doesn't appear to have any rhythm in rehearsal footage. Wait...hips are working as she starts the dance and she is stepping it. She's a little timid, but she's got the hip action. A lot of times you'll see the celebrities forget about their hips when they go from move to move. But she maintained that swivel throughout the dance. She wasn't amazing, but she was not a train wreck. What she needs to do is get some confidence and let loose. It wasn't hot or sexy. She did pretty well for the first time, and for someone who admittedly didn't know how to dance. Well done. Judges say 6,5,5 for a total of 16.

Natalie Coughlin, Olympic champion swimmer, and Alec Mazo dance Salsa. Oh yeah baby! Now we're talking hip action. She has to continue to work on relaxing her face and she got a little bit lost toward the end. It blew her concentration enough, and she kind of ran out of steam. She started off really strong though. I think she's got a lot of potential. She made me smile throughout the whole dance. She has to be confident that she can do this, because she can. But again, it was a sweet and fun performance. It didn't sizzle. Not a hot and sexy Salsa, but a fun one. Judges say 7,6,6 for a total of 19.

Macy Gray, singer/songwriter, and Jonathan Roberts dance Viennese Waltz. She's got a bit of sass. She's not as graceful as I'd like to see. and she's playing the dance with attitude. She can do this if she takes it seriously. She had a lot of fun with it and I really enjoyed wathing that performance. She was vivacious and charming. Carrie Ann had the words I wanted...Macy's dancing seemed fascinating, genuine, innocent, and pure. There was a joy about the way she moved. It's kind of attractive. She is not going to be the best technical dancer. But she's beautiful and engaging and she just threw herself into the dance. I think Jonathan is a perfect partner for her. She became more elegant the longer the dance went on. And then backstage she blew off the cute and vulnerable act by forgetting herself and speaking words that had to be silenced! HA! Judges say 6,4,5 for a total of 15.

Joanna Krupa, model, and Derek Hough dance Salsa. Here's our sexy pair. And the dance started off much hotter than some of the others. Then she stumbled a bit and lost her focus for a couple of beats. I felt like I saw too many little mistakes for this dance to sustain any kind of heat. She definitely has potential. When she didn't stumble, she was able to keep her hips working. Derek's choreography gave her moments to sizzle, but overall I didn't think that dance was as good as the judges thought it was. I couldn't get passed a couple of stumbles. Joanna is definitely hot looking, but let's not let her looks overshadow the dancing. She had more confidence than the other ladies, and that made the dance look so much better than the other Salsa's that we've seen. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. I think that's a bit high. I thought Mya's dance was of higher performance quality.

Kelly Osbourne, actor and singer, and Louis van Amstel dance Viennese Waltz. HA! Louis meets Ozzy. Bwahahahahahahaaaa! I really really want her to be good. She looks stunning. Oh my. She forgot a few steps, but it didn't matter. The look on her face was priceless. I got a chill. It's the same thing I felt watching little Louie Vito last night. Kelly Osbourne...Princess. She was just beautiful. Ozzy and Sharon were in the ballroom. I cannot describe how much I enjoyed that performance. It was just a sweet and elegant moment. I bow to Louis van Amstel. This was not the best Viennese Waltz I have ever seen, but it was among the finest fairy tales I have seen on this show. I loved that performance. Judges say 7,8,8 for a total of 23. Outstanding. Carrie Ann took off for Kelly's foot coming off the floor in a spin.

And now comes the dance relays.

First group is Natalie & Alec, Kathy & Tony, Joanna & Derek, and Debi & Maks dancing Fox Trot. Natalie was elegant, but sometimes she cut her arms a bit too short. Kathy was sophisticated, classy, and long, but a bit awkward. Joanna was a little too stiff in her arms and didn't seem as elegant or smooth to me. Debi was regrettably clumsy. Hmmmm. I think I liked Kathy best in that one. Judges say 4 points to Kathy & Tony, 6 points to Debi & Maks, 8 points to Natalie & Alec, and 10 points to Joanna & Derek.

Second group is Kelly & Louis, Macy & Jonathan, Melissa & Mark, and Mya & Dmirty dancing Cha Cha Cha. Macy had a careless sultry quality. Melissa was a bit timid with the sexiness, but looked like she had fun. Mya smoked it in a professional caliber performance. But Kelly has hooked me with her charm and ability. Judges say 4 points to Macy & Jonathan, 6 points to Melissa & Mark, 8 points to Kelly & Louis, and 10 points to Mya & Dmitry.

Here's our complete leader board after two nights of most enjoyable work from our celebrities and pros.

34 Joanna and Derek
32 Aaron and Karina
31 Mya and Dmitry
31 Kelly and Louis
30 Donny and Kym
29 Mark and Lacey
27 Louie and Chelsie
27 Natalie and Alec
24 Melissa and Mark
22 Debi and Maks
22 Chuck and Anna T
20 Tom and Cheryl
20 Kathy and Tony
19 Ashley and Edyta
19 Michael and Anna D
19 Macy and Jonathan

We split our votes between Kelly and Mya.

And that's it for the first two nights of performances. Have you got a favorite yet?

Tune in for results tonight. Two couples will be eliminated.