TVSquad

We've got another addition to our Dancing With The Stars coverage which will kick off in full starting next Tuesday. I'll be talking with Jonathan Roberts each Monday night to get his thoughts on the performances, and various other things going on down at the ballroom.

To get things started, I talked with Jonathan after Tuesday's results show. He touched on the man-go, Steve's elimination, which celebrity he's been impressed with, Carrie's critique of Marissa on performance night, the growing fame for some of the pros, and what he and Anna will be up to now that they are both out of the competition.

OK, before we begin, what is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and bloggers? Ah yes, they do often go awry. Knowing that I would be talking with Jonathan, I set things up so that my phone would forward the call to my computer and I would have a nice recording of the conversation to refer back to. I even had two different people call me to test the setup.

Unfortunately, moments before he was to call, my Mac had a kernel panic and puked all over its shoes. As the phone started ringing, I grabbed a microphone and hit record on my PC. It seemed like a good idea at the time... It left me with an echoing mess of an audio file that I can't quote exactly. Beginning next week we'll have a more standard question and answer, back and forth, posting. In light of the technical difficulties this week, I'm going to do a bit of paraphrasing between the hissing echoes.

I started off by asking Jonathan if he was surprised with Steve going home. He said that he wasn't surprised, so much as disappointed. Steve's partner, after all, was Jonathan's wife, Anna. Asked for his thoughts on Steve, Jonathan responded much as the other dancers and contestants have. He is a genuinely nice guy. He also added that another big plus for Steve was that he has shown improvement each week, and that is a big part of what the show is about.

We talked briefly about the infamous "man-go" performance, as I congratulated him on what was a truly entertaining number. He laughed, adding that he was just a little disappointed that it worked out that Steve's last performance on the show was with him. I asked if that was the strangest performance he has given in his award winning career and he said it was certainly the strangest one on national television.

Our conversation moved to Kristi and Mark next. I brought up the fact that it would certainly seem, based on the scores, and what we have been seeing in our polls here at TV Squad, that the pair have separated themselves as the leaders. He agreed, saying that at this point they are head and shoulders above everyone else. He also mentioned, as many of you have said in the comments, that her ice skating background is a big help.

Asked who he would pick as a favorite, or a contender, to go along with Kristi and Mark, Jonathan chose Jason and Edyta. He elaborated, saying how impressed he has been with what Jason has been able to do. They've had other football players before, and they have done well, but Jason has a grace about his movement. Something that is made all the more impressive when it is coming from someone that is so big and strong.

We touched on Adam and I mentioned that I've been impressed with what he has done so far. Jonathan said that Adam is the kind of guy that you would vote for just to see what he is going to say next. He also added that, like Steve, Adam is continuing to improve with each week. And a lot of that credit goes to Julianne, who has worked out as a great partner for him.

I've talked about the idea that Julianne could be garnering as many votes for her team as Adam is. There was even a commenter last week that said they were voting for Julianne as long as she was still in the competition. I put that idea to Jonathan in relation to the history of the show. Now that the show has been on for a number of seasons, does he see the pros developing fanbases on a level that they are becoming a larger and larger part of the voting process?

He agreed with the idea, and went on to talk about how things have changed with the way ballroom dancing is perceived now. He said that when he first got into ballroom, he was almost embarrassed to tell someone about it. He would explain to someone that he was a ballroom dancer and instructor and they would come back with something like, "My grandfather does that. Can you make money at it?" Whereas now, many of the pros are recognized on the street and people have such nice things to say about how they love the show and they plan their Monday nights around it.

We got back to Monday's show and I asked Jonathan if he was surprised by Carrie Ann's critique of Marissa's performance. He came at it from both sides, acknowledging that the comments may have come across a little harsh, but he agreed with it a little bit. Given what we have seen of Marissa's personality and energy, she's like a little ball that bounces off of everything. Because of that, the judge's, and everyone else, were expecting big things from her in the jive. Unfortunately, it didn't really pan out. It was a little bit boring. He went on to add that it is one of the things that sets the ballroom apart. There isn't any one goal that you have to achieve to measure success. The judging will always come down to opinion.

We finished things up by finding out what's next for Jonathan and Anna now that they are both out of the competition. He's already scheduled to appear on the results show again, and Anna is set to go into heavier training as she prepares to compete at the Blackpool Dance Festival in England next month.

Once again, my apologies to Jonathan, and all of you, for the technical difficulties. We'll do it for real next week after performance night. Jonathan will share his thoughts and reactions to all the dances. In addition, if you have a question for Jonathan, leave it in the comments here or hit up the contact us page. I'll do my best to pass those along to Jonathan next week.