Last night on Dancing With The Stars, each celeb/pro gave us two dances, one ballroom, one latin. Everyone did a fairly good job. Sort of like American Idol last week. No one really fell down on the job. Which is a good thing since the celebs all had solos in their second dance.

But some teams I am loving more than others. And this doesn’t always relate to dancing talent.

I admire Kim and Derek’s abilities, but neither dance this week did it for me, although I actually liked the ballroom more than the latin, which is surprising. But she seemed all over the place with that latin routine. And the solo? Yikes. Calm down, Kim.

Cheryl and Gilles also kind of disappointed. I thought their fox trot was nicely done, very sensual, but that rumba was just so too much of everything. Calm down Cheryl and Gilles. Sometimes less is more.

Then we had Shawn and Mark. I loved the Alladin routine. Loved the song, loved Shawn, just a very Disney Princess fun routine. Suited her personality to a tee. I thought she did the very best she could with the latin routine, and I know folks are mad at Mark for his rule breaking choreo, which the judges all said cost her the perfect score. But, think about itt, she’s not really all that great with the hip action and Mark did a brilliant job of disguising that with his routine. I think if he’d stuck to the rules, she’d have done worse. Anyway - enjoyed them last night.

Also loved Melissa and Tony. He does a wonderful job with the choreo and I thought both their waltz and their latin routine went really well. I was happy to see her back and wow, a 30 on that second routine. To be honest, I thought she looked a bit stuff in terms of her hip action and did most of her action up top, but given her rib injury, it was amazing she could do any of it, really. So, kudos to them both. And I think Melissa has handled her slot on this show really well - loved her comment last night about getting out of her solo since she’s not really a celebrity. She’s really done right by herself and she’s giving Tony the season of his career on the show.

But my favorite of the night, seroiusly….Ty. Yes, yes, yes, he’s most definitely the worst one out there. But who would you rather watch dance and listen to during all the rehearsal footage - Ty? Or Kim? See, exactly. It’s funny, because normally even if they’re charming, it’s a chore sometimes to actually watch the bad dancers. Not with Ty, not for me. Major major kudos to Chelsie for doing him such justice with the choreo. And I adored, absolutely and completely, his little “solo” for his wife. Because playing that to the crowd simply wouldn’t have worked, because he’s so horrible at it, but playing it to her was wonderfully sweet and cute. And his comments after with Samantha were hilarious. Love, love, love him. Yes, he totally deserves to go home, but boy I’d sure send home Kim first and get to enjoy him one more week. I’m going to miss his commentary, his quiet confidence, and his hard work. One of my all time faves.

What else was good? Watching pros dance without any cutaways to singers. What wasn’t good? Wow, the singing last night. Stoner Music Dude must have recruited all of his crack buddies because, other than the Alladin music, which was just fun, the rest was simply horrible. And the singing was tragically bad. Yikes, show. Yikes.

Back to the pros, though. Louis!! for one, and paired with Lacey, which I thought was so interesting and definitely a major compliment to her. She’s really elevated her stature from last year and you can see all the hard work she has put in on bringing herself up to snuff with the other pros. I’m glad to see that rewarded. And we got Jonathan and his wife, Anna, so double bonus. Also? Dmitry lost the buttons on his shirt. Again. I love it when that happens.

All in all, great night. America? Send Kim home. Keep the bull rider.

Tonight we get Rock Night on American Idol, with Slash as the mentor. I know. There are no more words. Just sit back and prepare yourself for the ride.

What did you think about the dancing? Who stays, who goes, and who is your pick to win it all? I’d be happy with a Shawn, Melissa, or Gilles win. Not so much with Kim, and Ty, while I heart him, shouldn’t make the top three. But he can beat Kim. Just sayin.

Oh! And would you like to win free stuff? Send an email to donna@donnakauffman.com with “Yeah, free stuff is good!” in the subject line. I’ll draw a name from the pile o’ entries this Friday and announce the winner of a free book right here. Check in to see if you win!

In the meantime? DISH!

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First the MAC….

So, Survivor is on a real love it/hate it ride with me this season. Last week with the Tyson blindside, it was all love. This week Coach wins immunity, everyone picks on the young kid, and they send Sierra home. Honestly, if I was Sierra I’d be glad to be out of there, too. Wow. Talk about a season of “mean girls.” I’m not sure why everyone was on her case so much, but it was like she couldn’t win from the very beginning. I think Coach had a lot to do with her “bad rep” and, as far as I could tell, every time she tried to talk or get her point across, she was shut down by other people having tantrums. Debbie and Erinn.

Yes, she did stalk off a few times, but honestly? Can you blame her? Wow. Again.

And Coach in a bald faced lie…you do know this is all taped, right? Because I think he honestly believed everything he was saying at tribal. In his head, that’s how he has it all recorded. Man, what an irritating season.

Even then, Sierra was pretty classy about her exit. I’d have been spewing venom at that point and she was pretty much just, hey, I made it a hell of lot longer than I thought I would. Which, true. And yay, now she gets to go live with the meanest mean girl of all….Tyson. Lucky her. At least she’ll be clean, fed, and have Brendan there to deflect the asshole. Poor thing, as much as I want them to send Coach there next week, it’s like a never ending nightmare for her.

Moving forward, did anyone howl in laughter as JT is essentially telling Probst in tribal council why everyone should vote him off? (Immunity threat, social threat….) No, they just all love him to death. So do I, but ya gotta laugh. Hopefullly Debbie, Coach and Erinn will be out the door, then things will get real interesting.

And Debbie…how is it that you’re the principal of a middle school, but you can’t handle drama? And young people? Seriously? Shut up, Debbie.

Okay, let’s move on to the fun part of today’s activities! Free stuff! All ya had to do was email me this week, and loads of ya did. But there can be only one winner, and that lucky Blog Babe is? Maureen E! Woo hoo! Just email me with some title ideas (in case I’m out of your first pick) and an address, and it’s on the way.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. My youngest comes home tonight from college in Colorado for the summer. Yay!

So…now it’s your turn. Were you pissed off at how everyone treated Sierra during the reward challenge? Am I the only one who was rooting for her? Who do you want gone next? And who do you want to win? Taj? Stephen? JT? God forbid, Coach? DISH!!

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Seriously, right? So, on American Idol, 47 million people voted and all of them assumed Adam was safe. Good job, Americker.

Things I loved:

Adam screwing the show’s pacing by going, “Um, this group” in five seconds flat. Ha.

Adam being wrong. Nothing says pick up that phone like putting your favorite son in jeopardy two weeks before the final.

What I also loved?

Adam possibly not winning. Now, I very selfishly want him entertaining me for free for as long as possible. But, for Adam’s sake, it would be so great if the show Daughtry’d him.

The Final Four. Sure, I’m not a Gokey fan ($6000 cleaning bill. Must have been some seriously expensive carpets you smeared icing into, my man) but it will be an entertaining final four, that’s for sure.

What I didn’t love:

Danny giving a two hour answer to Ryan’s short question. Shut up, Danny.

Natalie Cole, though she looks wonderful, considering.

My reaction to Taylor Hicks. I mean, he was kinda hot, y’all. I am so not in like with myself right now.

Jamie going the vocoder route. Best mentor ever, but can’t anyione just sing, dammit? Altho, props for getting the movie plug in there since Fox hates it that you’re in an NBC owned property. HA! Nobody puts baby in a corner.

Things I am excited about:

Rock Week. Two songs each (they’d better!) and Slash taking the mentor program right into the tanker. (What in the hell is he going to tell someone like Kris?)

What else I am excited about…possibly sending Coach home on Survivor tonight. Come on, it could happen!

Your turn….DISH! Who’s your top three? Who goes home next? And how many lives does Sierra have? More than Matt? Where is the Tribal Save when you need one? Oh, right….last week.

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It was Rat Pack night on American Idol and color me disappointed. Not in the performances, they were all pretty decent. But normally when we get down to top 5, we get two songs. So I feel kinda gypped.

Jamie Foxx was the mentor (I know, random, right?) except he was really pretty excellent and did a fair job getting the contestants to pull the best out of themselves in a way that they could actually understand. Except, well, Gokey. Who will never get it because he knows he already has it. He’s from a musical family, doncha know.

So Kris sings The Way You Look Tonight and does a nice, soulful version of it. But, again…nice. Not blockbuster. Jamie loves the adorable dude and wants to cut a record with him. And I will agree that he is the most out-of-the-gate marketable of the 5 remaining. It won’t take much imagination to package him in the Mraz Mold. And it will work. Jamie ain’t stoopid. Still…it was nice. And Simon isn’t wrong about him being more confident about his abilities and how it will raise his game if he grasps that. B+

Alison actually pulls out another really wonderful performance with Someone To Watch Over Me, this one an understated ballad where she keeps her growl in check just enough so that we appreciate her singing. I really - REALLY - wish she’d learn to enunciate the words more clearly, only because the way she growl/slurs her way through the song indicates that while she appreciates the material musically, she’s not actually connecting with the song itself. And that disconnect is, I think, a large part of why America isn’t falling in love the Kelly Clarkson Way with her. Still, a very good job for her. A-

Matt sings Funny Valentine and, once again, he proves why he is all over the brink of really defining himself as an artist, but never quite sealing the deal. Also a very, very marketable guy, but he’s not quite owning it like he should, though he did respect his range more clearly this time. B

Danny. Danny, Danny, Danny. Even Jamie is like, Danny, Danny, Danny. He doesn’t know what to do with the earnest poseur either. He sings Come Rain or Come Shine. And he delivers, as he always does. He’s a very good performer-slash-entertainer. (Cut and paste, cut and paste…) But he’s not a defining presence who will command enduring record sales. Sorry. B+

Adam gets the Broadway entrance, and, really, why not? He gives a very Adam performance, the Muse version of Feeling Good, and, like Gokey, he delivers, as he always does. The difference is, I will download this. And buy a concert ticket. He is both entertainer and artist. I’m not sure there’s much more the guy can give us, but then, brilliance is hard to top. At least he’s consistent with it. A

Who is going home? Alison or Matt. I’d go with Matt. Alison deserves a final 3 slot.

Which leads to who goes home on Dancing With the Stars. And it ain’t Ty! Wooot! Of course, who I’d have sent home? Was Robin Thicke. About five notes into song number one. Yikes with the live singing. Stay in the recording studio, Son of Alan. The dancers were the only saving grace. And no, I don’t mean the dancers on the stage with him. (What was UP with that? Did they not explain how this show works? It was like he didn’t get why suddenly the crowd was cheering…and it wasn’t for him.) Then, on Song 2, we got Pasha and Anya and I was SO psyched. Until they came out. What was that hideous mop of hideousness on Anya’s head? Wow, talk about distracting. And their dance was almost manic, when they are normally stunning together. So, major disappointment there. I will just rewatch Dmitry/Kym and Alec/Edyta from dance–er song 1.

Then we get the news that Ty is safe and finally it’s down to Chuck/Juliannne and Melissa/Tony and I’m pretty sure it’s Melissa going, which is a shame that she yet again leaves a show with an unfortunate exit…only it’s not Melissa at all! Wow, the troops really rallied for her. Yay! The flip side, is it kind of sucks to see Chuck go when I was just finally falling for the two. But then, it is Chuck. I’m not crushed or anything. And way to throw your teammates under the dance bus, Chuckie. He seemed happy enough to get out of Dodge and by the time he was done saying goodbye, I was ready for him to leave again, too.

The filler commercials were alternately cringe-worthy and kinda funny. The silver mirror balls did make me laugh. The Make Me A Dance Show Pro competition, not so much with the entertainment. Is this really the best they could offer? Not that they can’t dance, they’re all pros, but the personality aspect isn’t grabbing me. Ashley’s sister dimmed for me this week, and the blonde lost me all together with the pageant-y answer (zing, Samantha! Altho shut up and let Mayo answer the question you asked him. Sigh.) I find Mayo strangely appealing in all his tallness, and Alec’s brother in all his unwashed hair sleazy-still-sexiness. And yet, underwhelmed. Just hire Artem and be done with it already.

I’m thinking Ty is history next week. Leaving us with Shawn, Kim, Melissa, Gilles as the Final Four. Which - not a bad deal, really. I just kind of realized how many women are left and will likely make it to the end. Hunh. Not bad!

And! So You Think You Can Dance is almost here. Woooot squared!

Now it’s your turn…who goes home on Idol tonight? Who goes home next on Dancin? Who’s your pick to win it all? DISH!

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…to the end of Timbira. Ahhhhhh.

I kind of liked how Sierra tried to fight for herself. Attempting to rationalize with Coach was definitely an act of courage. Or…something. And I had no problem with her being happy she was in contention to win with one puck left to slide. I mean, Debbie is all “did you see her celebrate? How dare she?” (And I generally like Debbie…) But then when she won, had no problem at all dancing around and hooting about how it all couldn’t have worked out better, yay them, crush the kids dreams, rub it in her face, woo hoo! And she’s standing right there. So, shut up, Debbie.

And next week, to think that Coach has the audacity to ask where her loyalty is after he wrote her name down? Loyal to what? His whim? And how amusing is it that suddenly it’s Coach and Debbie and….um….is that grasshoppers I hear? Seriously with those two. How quick the (supposedly) might have fallen.

Not that Sierra is in any better position. JT’s got no love for her at all, so she’s still a man without a country. Her only power is the value of her vote. I hope she parlays it all the way to the end. She won’t win, but I won’t care. Just sticking it out would make me happy.

I did feel bad for JT having to go back on his word to Coach, then listen to him spout on about how much he knows JT’s word is worth…which I’m sure in real life, out-of-game context, is probably very true. For JT’s sake, I’m glad he realizes that, ultimately, this is a game. And went with the strong move.

And Tyson? Just one word. HA.

Now on to the giving away of free stuff! Yay! Clearly, no one was guessing that Debbie was going to win immunity, because….whyever would they? So everyone had an equal chance this week as I drew from everyone who entered. And this week’s winner is Joyce M!! Woo hoo!! Just send me an address and a few title ideas (in case I’m out of your first one) to donna@donnakauffman.com. I am actually packaging up weeks worth of winnings here today with every hope and ambition of getting them all shipped out this weekend. Thank you for your patience!

I hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend. It’s stunningly gorgeous here today, so I am heading down to the riverside to work. (Nice office space if you can get it.) Now if my two main characters would just get their act in gear and let me write this %$^%$#% story as I planned, instead of heading off in all manner of other directions that I have no clue what to to with, that would be just peachy.

Also? DISH!!

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So everyone ran a pretty decent leg. I am liking Tammy and Victor more and more. They handled being “leg leader” by default, as they raced through China with their Mandarin speaking abilities quite well. Should have come in first after all that.

I’m not even going to really get into the over-hyped bitch fest between Jen/Keisha and Margie/Luke other than to say I think they each believe they are in the right and the other person pushed first…and that Phil was right when he was trying to point out that the sisters weren’t laughing at Luke. Everyone was tired and very over done and I’m hoping we move on from that. Also - well done Team Redheads this leg, but wow does Jamie need some self improvement work. I think the part that bothers me most is that she acknowledges she’s horrible to people and that it’s a problem, but kind of shrugs like, “well that’s just who I am.” Grow up. Fix yourself. Kudos to Cara for being able to race with that and stay remotely sane.

I’m glad Team Weeble had a good final leg…and also glad they were finally booted. We’re down to the final four and all the teams left are good racers, so should be a good race to the end.

Tonight - more dancing! Tomorrow night - more singing!

Right now? Free books! First I want to thank all of you who came out to support us at the signing this past Friday. Gorgeous day and a very successful signing. Fun all around!

Okay…so to be eligible for a free book this week, you gotta work for it. Tell me who wins immunity on Survivor this week. You have until Thursday at 8pm EST to send an email to donna@donnakauffman.com with “Not leaving this week!” in the subject header and the immunity winner’s name in the body of the email. Your choices are: Coach, Tyson, Debbie, Erinn, Sierra, Stephen, Taj, or JT.

If no one gets it right, I’ll draw a name from everyone who guesses, so you might as well give it a shot! Best of luck - winner announced right here and only here on Friday.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend - and now? DISH!

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Okay, a few words. Thanks Survivor production editors for setting up the show beautifully to make us think that Coach was finally not going to infect my Thursday nights any longer, then….denied. You send home a player that I both like and like to look at. And keep Coach. And Tyson. In what universe is this acceptable? Not mine.

Would have liked to have seen the rest of the behind the scenes scheming on why Taj & Co opted to go along with the Coach plan instead of the Brendan plan, but whatever. Possibly they just couldn’t conceive that Brendan was actually telling the truth about his admiration for JT and wanting him in the game. Or think that he is a much bigger threat down the line than Coach could ever hope to be, which? True.

I feel mostly sorry for Sierra, who should never, ever grovel to the likes of Tyson or Coach, and that makes me almost physically ill. But I am holdidng out hope for the Taj Triumph where upon she sits back, coming into the merge down 4 to 6 in tribe members, watches the strong tribe canibalize itself…then takes out the rest of them one by one and Jalapao survives anyway! HA. That? Would be about the only way this game could turn around for me right now.

What else would turn my day around? Giving away free stuff! Made it easy on you this week. All ya had to do is send an email. And a bunch of you did! But there can only be one winner…and that lucky blog babe? Is Carol T!! Woo hoo!! Congratulations! Send me an email with your title choices (in case I’m out of your top choice) and I’ll add your prize to the stack awaiting delivery.

Thanks for playing everyone. Tune in next week for more MAC and another chance to win. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. It’s going to be a gorgeous sunny day here - perfect for a stroll through a picturesque Civil War town and maybe some frozen custard, and oh, yeah, a massive book signing. Hope to see some of you in Boonsboro today! (See Monday’s post for booksigning detals, or go to Turn the Page Bookstore’s website - link in the right hand column!)

But now? Time to vent–I mean talk about your reaction to the show last night. DISH!

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So, the kids sing, the judges talk, Jennifer Hudson is wonderful some more and Miley Cyrus is really, really not. and then Ryan tells us that they’re going to mess with Anoop some more than put him on the Stools of Indecision, along with Lil and Matt. I totally picked the bottom three.

Anoop is sent to safety…and finally we’re told that Matt is the bottom feeder this week, and Lil races to safety while we listen to Matt kind of butcher his song again….and I’m so sure he’s heading home. Only….not so much! The judges save him so he lives to butcher music another day. I like Matt, especially when he agrees to stay in his range, so I’m not entirely upset at this turn of events.

However, Simon buzz kills the celebration by reminding them that two of them leave next week. And the theme? Disco.

I can think of about ten million ways they can each screw this up. Should be interesting if not entirely entertaining.

Tonight we’re back on Survivor with Taj & Co. And if there is a Reality Show God, they will find some way to send Coach packing.

Now it’s your turn….who do you want to see leave next week? What disco song will Adam sing? Who’s gonna take Donna Summer?

Don’t forget to enter this week’s Free Stuff Giveaway - details for that and info on my booksigning tomorrow are in Monday’s post!

And now? DISH!

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Seriously, that made me laugh. Ah Tammy. And your brother? Totally gay. “I love Whitney Houston!” The karaoke was hilarious, both intentionally and un. It was pretty much the only time Jamie has been remotely tolerable. And the fact that she owns her horrifying behavior? Makes me forgive her not at all. Yes, Jamie, you can do something about it. And Cara? She deserves some kind of medal for putting up with the crap with relative good grace and good humor (which is tough to do while being totally embarrassed by your teammate’s behavior pretty much full time.) I’m thinking Jamie’s chances of any long term relationship has diminished greatly - at least with anyone who is a television viewer. I don’t even play for that team and I was thinking, “Damn, you can just see what living with her would be like. Yikes.”

Also? TAKE YOUR DAMN FANNY PAKS! Sheesh. Two things that ticked me off: First, the sisters just not keeping their sh*t literally together, though major props to younger sister for not going awf on big sis. Totally owed her a major Told Ya So. But the really big pisser? The freaking idiotic Team Weeble gets the Non Elim leg pass after AGAIN breaking rules and being complete morons. Where was the non Elim last week, when it would have saved a great team?!?! Wow, wrong on so many levels of wrong it makes me love the show a little less.

On the good side, Margie/Luke did great and even did a Detour that was about as ew as it gets unless you’re eating horrifying things. Good thing she was a nurse, because that? Was hard to even watch. Also good are Tammy and Victor, who I enjoy mostly because they really are sincere in how much fun they are having. And because Victor cannot possibly think he’s staying in the closet much longer after the party taxi karaoke scene. Just sayin.

Even with those high points, not my fave episode. Not even.

On a more positive front! I am doing a booksigning this Friday as the launch to our annual writer’s retreat. I’ll be at Turn The Page Bookstore in Boonsboro, MD starting at 11am this Friday and going until it’s all over, which is always way later than the stated time. Nora will be signing, along with PC Cast, Carla Neggars, and a slew of others. To check out all the details (or join the “virtual signing” if you can’t attend but want a signed copy anyway) just click here. Hope to see some of the blog babes there in the crowd!

Okay, on to this week’s Free Stuff! I made you work last week, so this week, I’ll take pity. Just send an email to donna@donnakauffman.com with “Yay! Free Stuff!” in the subject line. One winner from all entries will be announced right here this Friday. Good luck!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Dancing tonight! Right now? DISH! Who do you want to see win the race at this point? Who needs to leave asap?

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Except, a Joe-free game…isn’t really much different than the game with Joe. Sorry to see a player go out that way, but other than bringing Jalapao down in critical numbers, now that they’ve merged, I don’t see it affecting the game much.

And Brendan? Dude, when you have a secret alliance and wait too long to so much as wink at your alliance-mates? Could have sent your backside home. I hope the two-day reprieve turns things around for Taj & Co. because I don’t know how much more of Coach I can take.

I do know I can take giving away more free stuff! This week we went old school, back to the scavenger hunt and you guys came through like the happening blog babes that you are. I asked you to tell me which book the character Pepper appears in, and everyone got it right. The Cinderella Rules was indeed the correct answer.

And…yes, there is a reason I chose that character for the scavenger hunt this week. She is the character I get asked about most, in regards to giving her her own story. So…? Stay tuned!

The winner of the free book this week is? Blog Babe Judy A! Woo hoo!! Just drop me a note with your title choices (in case I’m out of your first choice) and I’ll add your prize to the pile of books I have yet to ship out - but I am!! No, really.

I hope everyone has a happy Easter! Or simply indulges in the excuse for making chocolatey goodness a big part of your weekend plans.

See you Monday with (YAY!) new Amazing Race MAC! If any of you have been following Our Phil on Twitter as he bikes across America, it sounds like an amazing, if absolutely grueling, trip. I’m enjoying the pics and posts. If you want to Phollow Phil too….click on my Twitter link and you’ll find him listed in my “Who I am following” window and can link direct from there.

Happy Hoppy Day everyone!

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