Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Dancing with the Stars - Season Premiere

This round of Dancing with the Stars got off in fine form with a pretty eclectic group of "celebrities" hitting the dance floor. The debut was divided into 2 nights, first the men and then the women.

The guys started things off pretty well. Penn Jillette (from Penn & Teller) self describes himself as " Bigfoot" (which is not so far from the truth as he is a pretty big guy), but I liked the way he played things up and added his own little flair. Not a " going to the finals" kind of performance but a good presentation. I'd love to see if he could bring some wacky illusions to his performances and hope that he sticks around for a few weeks... bad news is that his score was pretty bad so it's up to the voting public. Time will tell...

Jason Taylor (the football guy) is one fine looking man.... and moved pretty good on the dance floor. I think that football players have to have good footwork so it may explain why Jason (and earlier contender Emmett Smith) have done well. Jason seems more metro sexual than Emmett and every so light on his feet (lol) yet so comfortable with his sexuality... as he keeps saying... who cares? He looks good and moves well so has my attention... and the judges seemed to like him also so he should go far.

Cristián de la Fuente is a sexy looking Latino TV and film star, but unfortunately is from Chile (and as he says they are better known for their wine and sea bass than their dancers), and has to cha cha his butt off and gets a decent score. He knows how to work the audience and has a certain charm to him so he should be around for a bit.

Adam Corolla was a disaster waiting to happen. The guy is a so out of his element it's incredible... and he got the poorest score of the evening (it seems that 5 was the lowest mark and that 9 ended up being the highest) with 3 fives and was kind of pissy with the judges. I don't think that is the way to go and he'll probably be the first voted out of the guys. Some one has to go and better him than some one who actually seems like they want to be there...

Mario (no last name) was hot hot hot... our little R&B singer can shake his groove thing like no one's business and he looked great. Good chemistry with his partner, great presence and amazing posture, he really looked at home and comfortable in front of the audience. He was my favorite guy and got the best score out of the guys with 3 eights.

Steve Guttenberg did the final dance for the guys and did a nice job. He loves being on the show ( I wonder is that because there is not much work Steve?) and seems honestly interested in being on such a "family oriented show" as he calls it. Family friendly I guess... just don't take the costumes seriously boys and girls.....

So that was night one..... the level of performance is pretty good for round one and it looks like our ladies have their work cut out for them.

Shannon Elizabeth (the chick from the American Pie films) starts things off. Shannon is young and has legs for days... but doesn't look comfortable or in her element at all. The judges give her a nominal score and tell her to practice and to keep wearing the short skirts. (what?) It looks like our tomboy is probably around for a few more weeks.
Monica Seles is/was an amazing tennis player, but once again this is another contestant that seems to out of their own element. We have 3 different athletes in this round, and Monica seems to have the greatest difficulty (and it's cruel to say but she looked like a drag queen in that outfit- yeesh!) and doesn't seem to hit the mark at all. She gets that dreaded triple 5 score and is probably the first woman voted off. I won't be surprised if it happens...
Marissa Jaret Winokur was the complete opposite of the previous performer. Our Broadway girl (star of Hairspray) may be not the typical shape, but the girl has oomph for days! She was the most radiant, energetic and contagious of all the women and got a good score. Once she works more on content (and she can do it), she'll do much better. I hope to see her around for awhile, and would love to see her go all the way to the finale.

Priscilla Presley was the shock of the night.... I was originally gasping every time they put her on screen because she has had some pretty major work done (and probably emptied a few Botox factories) and has *ahem* such limited facial expressions that I was really worried about her being able to move... and perform on stage. She shocked everyone there, got a standing ovation, and blew the crowd on their asses with a lovely foxtrot. They matched the top score of the guys (triple 8s) and I can not believe the woman is 62 years old.... and did the death drop in her first dance.... OMG.
Kristi Yamaguchi has lots of experience being a Gold medal Figure Skater, so I figured that she would do well in the competition since there are a few common elements. Not only did she do a beautiful, elegant dance, but she raised the bar even higher and got triple 9s for her work. Well done... and unless the voting goes wacky she should be in there for the long haul. It probably doesn't hurt that she has the ultra cute Mark Ballas as her partner...... good thing Kristi is married with kids so Sabrina (from last season) doesn't have to worry about her bf dancing with another woman.
Marlee Matlin was the final contestant of the evening, and over all the most remarkable. Well know for being a deaf actress who went far in Hollywood (and done some amazing work), I thought it was a very interesting challenge for some one who can't hear the music to go and dance in a competition. She did an amazing job and surprised most of us (I think), and I really do have to applaud Dancing with the Stars for letting people with all kinds of different physical handicaps (challenges for you politically correct people) participate. Not every show does that ( I did notice it in Last Comic Standing already) and it's a nice, inclusive thing to see.
That's round one..... now to wait for next Tuesday to see who leaves (my bets are Monica and Adam) and I am looking forward to seeing more competition....I do miss Maks though... and don't think the new "Mambo King" is a decent substitute..... come back Maks!