Dancing With the Stars: 3/17/08

I can't watch the whole show tonight because of TV scheduling conflicts, and even though we have a dual tuner dvr, alas, my husband watches 3 shows and one of them is on tonight at 9, opposite New Amsterdam. *sigh* I will just have to write about the parts I can watch.

The new season starts with a group number, also known as "Dancing Far Above Anything Even the Best of the Stars Could Ever Hope to Attain." Of course the dancers are phenomenal.

Looking more orange than a tangerine and Tara Reid put together, Samantha Harris, awkward co-host, joins Tim Bergeron, who is always ready with a scripted witty retort. "The Timpani Tells the Tale," indeed, Tim. Indeed it does.

The couples this season are:

Penn Gillette with Cross-Eyed Kym Johnson
Jason Taylor with Edyta Slewinska
Christian de la Fuente & Cheryl Burke
Adam Carolla & Julianne Hough
Mario & Karina Smirnoff
Steve Gutenberg & Anna Trebunskaya
Shannon Elizabeth & Derek Hough
Monica Selles & Jonathan Roberts
Marissa Jaret Winouker & Tony Dovolani
Pricilla Presley & Louis van Amstel
Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas
Marlee Matlin & Fabian Sanchez

(And no, I don't know who all of the "stars" are either)

See, I love this show because it is ridiculously cheesy and self-aware of it's cheesiness.

Tonight, it's all the male stars, tomorrow, all the women, with no elimination this week. So if someone really sucks, we get the pleasure of seeing them dance twice. Yay!

Disclaimer: I know pretty much diddley squat about dancing. I can comment pretty knowledgebly on singing, but my dancing is better described as energetic flailing. But, I like to see people who can dance.

First off, Kym of the random Y and Penn (of Penn and Teller, the one who talks). I think Penn is 6'6", and he towers over Kym. Let's see how they do, dancing the Cha cha. Penn knows how to work the stage, and he isn't the worst dancer eve on the show. Kym does a lot of him shymmying (yes, I put that extra y i there just for her), and Penn managed to pull out some magic at the end. No, seriously, magic. He made a little bouquet appear. Gotta love him. I agreed with the judges, Penn didn't have great footwork, but he had good attitude. The judges give them 5, 6, and 5. 16/30. Not the best way to start out the show, but not dreadful.

Next is Jason Taylor (he's a football player) and Edyta Slewinska dancing the Fox Trot. He looked pretty graceful and flexible in the pre-dance package. He's also hugely tall, but he's slim, so he can carry himself in a more graceful manner. He has a nice glide to his step. I think I spied a slight lift in the middle, which is against the rules, but he's so tall, it might be hard to avoid! Wonder if I saw it correctly. Carrie Anne usually picks those things up pretty adeptly. Overall, I thought it was very pleasant and smooth. Carrie Anne didn't mention a lift, so maybe I was wrong. Scores are 7, 8, and 7. 22/30 total. Nice.

Christian de la Fuente (he's on Ugly Betty) and Cheryl Burke are up third, doing the cha cha. Funny quote - "I'm from Chile, my country is not known for dancing, it's known for Chilean Sea Bass and wine." His shoulders seemed really tight, but his feet moved nicely. His hips were a little looser than his shoulders, but his feet really were the best thing tonight about his dance. You could tell he was trying really hard, and that's not always a good thing. The judges picked up on the same troubles I did, so that made me feel good. They scored 7,7, and 7. 21/30. About right.

Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough are dancing fourth. I love Adam Carolla (he's funny, The Man Show was hilarious). Julianne is one of my favorite dancers on the show, too, she's fantastic. I'd like to see her whip him into submission, she's a tough little Hough. They are dancing the Fox Trot tonight, to the song Mellow Yellow. Interesting. Adam is pretty stiff, but he got some good kicks in there! His feet are decent, again, but he has a weird expression on his face the whole time (he is a comedian), and he did seem really tight in the upper body. Not as big a disaster as I might have expected. Julianne's dress was kind of foolish, I thought, made her look like a big canPublish Postary colored block, and she is anything but. That's an aside, though. Scores are 5,5, and 5. 15/30. About right.

Boooooooo, I have to stop watching the show now. I was really hoping to see Steve Gutenberg. If I get a chance to watch the remaining performances online, I'll blog them.

Enjoy the season!