Morning After Commentary on last night’s Dancing With the Stars. (Okay, okay, so it’s almost afternoon. I had to spend the morning with Graham MacLeod. He’s a hot Scot and he wears the plaid. Need I say more? Oh, well, yes, he is fictional…but he’s MY fictional. Some Like it Scot? I know I do! Hint….you’ll all get to meet Graham next May…)

So, on with the dancing! Lots of stuff going on last night, but I agree with Nigel, the first three quarters were a bit lackluster. Possibly because they had them all doing a million different thing. Four couples, doing two dances each, one solo each, and a big group number. That’s a lot of dancing….which, color me greedy, I was more than selfishly happy to enjoy, but I think the overload might be taking a toll on the remaining contestants.

Also, we had Ellen on the judging panel, along with Nigel, Mary, and Mia. And, I love her, she makes me laugh, and she was funny….but I’ll respectfully say that she might have been a bit out of place on the panel. She looked nervous about it, too. Still….very funny.

Up first, we get the big group routine and yay, it’s Travis back as the choreo! Love him, and I do really like his work. This was no exception, although I will say that I kind of kept waiting for it to really kick into a higher gear or something. Still, it was unique and entertaining. Good job.

Regarding all the solos - most interesting and attention holding for me were Jeanine and Janette (still get the names confused, so was glad I liked them both!) Kayla was okay, good, but Melissa was samey samey for me. Brandon’s was a little disappointing, but picked up steam, as did Jason’s, but not riveting this go. Evan is always adorkable, but also samey samey by now. Still, he’s always fun to watch, very easy on the eyes his routines, and joyful. Ade was powerful in his solo, my favorite of all the guys.

Couples:
Kayla & Jason got a Tasty Oreo Broadway routine and, lo and behold, I liked this one, too. What’s up with our man, Tyce anyway? He’s like…good now. Second routine was a Shane Sparks zombie thing, also really well done, quirky and very entertaining. Definitely a step up from a lot of what’s come before hip hop wise. I don’t think either of these two have anything to worry about.

Evan and Janette - They did pretty well in both routines. Okay, so Janette rocked both routines and Evan mostly kept up with her, but again, the adorkable factor helps a lot with him.

Ade and Melissa - their rumba, ah….not my fave. And can only be that picky because the talent is so good this year. However, their second routine was another Tyce, this one about breast cancer, and if you could watch that routine without getting teary, well then, you’re a stronger blog babe than me. Wow. Seriously moving. And while the story was what really carried that performance, they did a wonderful job with it. I had Melissa on the train home this week, but that probably saved her…which makes me worry about:

Jeanine and Brandon: Well, the Jeanine part anyway. And she’d fabulous. Has been, was tonight, too, but I wonder if she’ll get caught in that emotional dragnet of Tyce’s routine for Melssa and end up on the bottom. I hope not. Their first routine to the new choreographer’s work was powerful and great. Loved. It. But the waltz, wow….that was the worst. music. ever. Even worse than that. Nothing was going to overcome that plodding dreck of crap music. Yes, it was that bad. Te yellow dress did her no favors either and we had waaaaaay too much time to think about it while the music. took. forever. I was glad Nigel addressed that, but I still think the combo of that routine along with the wrenching cancer routine might hurt at least Jeanine. Loved her solo. But, will it be enough? I guess we’ll find out tonight!

And tonight also marks their 100th show and we have a lot of previous dancers coming back to reprise some of the highlight routines from the past five years. That should be fabulous! The fact that Katie Holmes is also going to performing…I care not so much.

Don’t forget to enter this week’s Free Stuff Friday contest. See Tuesday’s post for all the details. And thanks for sharing all the books you’re reading. I love hearing about that - so keep them coming!

But now? DISH!!

Tags: Writing //