Bruno Tonioli-related stories
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 2:22AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Recaps

(
S09E14) It's week seven of
Dancing with the Stars, and the pressure is on. Lacey Schwimmer was the victim of a cold; Anna Trebunskya has stepped in to help Mark Dacascos. The other victims tonight were the professionals who were forced to wear costumes designed by the celebrities. While it worked for Kelly, it backfired on Joanna.
You know that there will be longer commercials between performances when you get a professional opening sequence. Five professionals and one woman who wasn't named performed a tango and paso doble. The dance was supposed to be an example of teamwork, but the paso and tango was also not as synchronized as I expected.
Continue reading Recap: Dancing with the Stars - Performance #7
Posted Oct 27th 2009 12:42AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Dancing With The Stars, Episode Recaps

(
S09E12)
Dancing with the Stars had the Waltz or Jitterbug for individual dancing, but the big twist tonight was the Mambo group competition. All the couples will dance the mambo at the same time. The judges determine the elimination: as the couples dance, Len holds up a paddle and that team is eliminated. The first couple cut gets two points while the last team standing earns ten.
As the contestants walk down, both Louie Vito and Chelsie Hightower trip on the way down. It's a bad omen and never a good way to start the show.
Continue reading Recap: Dancing with the Stars - Performance 6
Posted Sep 24th 2009 1:10AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews
(S09E03) Two nights, two eliminations, and a lot of unnecessary crap until the eliminations. Thus is the
Dancing with the Stars elimination process. And we're live. Unfortunately, no outbursts from Macy Gray tonight.
Encore performance –
Kelly & Louis
– Viennese Waltz – One thing that I loved about the performance was the way that they incorporated the dress into the performance. It still brings Sharon chills.
After a quick recap of the women's performance last night. The eliminations begin with the men first. The first two couples safe are Louie & Chelsie and Aaron & Karina.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Performance 1 Results
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 12:38AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews
(S09E01) We begin the ninth season of
Dancing with the Stars with a men's professional routine. As good as all the men are, it's just not as compelling as women's flowing (or non-existent) dresses. Tom and Samantha welcome us to the show and reminds us that there are minor twists, including extra double eliminations. Our first twist is the Relay: basically a rehashed group dance.
We welcome our dancers for the first time down the stairs. While the women aren't performing tonight, they descend and sit in the audience. Macy Gray wanders down the stairs totally confused to as where she is.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Performance 1 Part 1 (season premiere)
Posted May 19th 2009 12:38AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews

We're finally at the end of the season with the three strongest dancers. After ten weeks, I have no clue how Belinda Carlisle did back in week one. At this point, you could tell me that Nancy O'Dell was eliminated in week two and I would believe you. The mirror ball trophy was placed in front of the judges table and the judges seem excited about the competition. Unfortunately, we got some more disappointing freestyle performances.
The interesting thing about the three competitors is that their strengths are in different categories. Shawn is probably the quickest learner and can technically perform. Gilles is best with Latin, and Melissa is best with Ballroom. Melissa probably has the biggest hill to climb, coming from third place and stuck with a Latin performance.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Week 11
Posted Apr 30th 2009 10:55AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars

This week on
Dancing with the Stars, Len ruffled some feathers by announcing that Ty should go home and that potential professional dancer Mayo was too tall. Both proved him wrong. This caused an uproar from several viewers that Len is too old, stuffy, biased, or mean. This led me to wonder if the judges are expendable.
The show shouldn't go the way of
American Idol and add a judge, because the time allotment would go bonkers and the scores would confuse viewers (getting a 30 is a lot easier than getting a 40). Let's take a look at the positives and negatives of our three judges.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Expendable judges?
Posted Apr 7th 2009 1:16AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews
(S08E08) With the passion of the Paso Doble and the grace of the Viennese Waltz, most of the contestants have proven that they deserve to be here. Even Steve-O has improved leaps and bounds since week one.
Carrie Ann was on the attack the whole night. She had to be angry at her hairdresser and took it out on the contestants. This week was one of those weeks where the lift continues to be debated. She accepts Shawn for being artistic, but penalizes Melissa for a flub. More analysis after the jump.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Week 5
Posted Mar 17th 2009 2:14AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Dancing With The Stars, Episode Recaps
(S08E02) - "We all know what Bruno wants." - ChuckThe show was a little off this week with the random sound cue during Ty's judging, the frozen video with Lawrence, the new judges paddles and Steve-O, but the performances were a lot better than last week. Most of the weaker dancers improved, and the rest basically stayed in the same scoring bracket. After the jump, an overall look at all the performances.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Week 2
Posted Nov 26th 2008 12:15AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews

(S07E21) In the grand tradition of Dancing With The Stars, everyone came together for the glorious task of turning 3 minutes of results into a two hour ratings bonanza. If you have seen the finale before, you know how it all went down. Take a couple of musical numbers, interviews or dances with all the eliminated contestants, and add in a whole lot of replays as the show looks back at all that has gone on. It's not the greatest recipe for a two hour show, but after 20 episodes of top ten numbers, I suppose they've earned it. I'll not spoil the big surprise before the jump, so hit the link for a brief look at all that went on, and to find out who took home the mirrorball.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 10 The Finale
Posted Nov 25th 2008 12:10AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews, Episode Recaps

(S07E20) After two and a half months, and nineteen episodes, it all comes down to this. Our remaining three couples made their way back to the ballroom for what Tom called, "The most closely contested finals ever." That was an apt description after what we saw in the semi-finals. With Lance & Lacey wrestling the lead away from Brooke & Derek as we neared the end of the season, it really looked like season seven could go to anyone. How would it play out? Would it all come down to the big freestyle numbers? And, oh yeah, which dancing kids team won? The answers to all of those questions, and a look at the rest of the finals performances, after the jump.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 10 The Finals
Posted Nov 18th 2008 1:02AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews, Episode Recaps

(S07E18) And then, there were four. If you wanted, you could make an argument for Maurice Greene, but I think the viewers did a solid job narrowing the field down to these four teams. Coming into the semi-finals, all of them had a legitimate shot at making it to the big show next week. It would all come down to their two week 9 performances. Along the way, we had a little bit of something old, and something new. As in years past, the stuffiest of the judges made his rounds to all of the final four teams for Len Goodman's Master Class. New to this season, they also managed to work in two pro numbers as examples of what to look for in the salsa and the jitterbug. It all added up to a pretty entertaining night. There were 10s, and there were 7s. Who came out on top? The scores, and a rundown of all the performances, after the jump.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 9
Posted Nov 12th 2008 12:02AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews

(S07E17) It's crunch time. A trip to the semi-finals was riding on the results tonight. One couple would fall just short of that goal. Would it be the steady, season long leader, Brooke? Or the young, and sometimes erratic, Cody? Have fans warmed up to big Warren Sapp? Or do they prefer their championship athletes to be of the faster variety, and favor Maurice? And what of Lance & Lacey? Is it just Len, or have fans turned on them too? The answers, are after the jump, along with a rundown of the various performances and taped packages. Those include my favorite results show performance of the season, and my most hated piece of filler as well.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 8 results
Posted Nov 11th 2008 12:20AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews, Episode Recaps

(S07E16) Week eight. We're getting down to it now, just two weeks away from the finals. You can certainly make a case for a couple of teams that would be considered the favorites, but at this point in the competition, anyone can win. All of the teams are one bad number, one set of nutty judges scores, or one weak fan vote away from elimination. Upping the pressure this week, not only would each team be performing both a ballroom and a Latin number, but each star would have to do a 15-second solo.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 8
Posted Nov 6th 2008 1:10AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews

(S07E15) After a night off so we could all take in the results of the big election, it was time to head back to the ballroom and knock six teams down to five. Tom opened the show by calling Monday the wildest night yet, noting that the gap between top and bottom has never been so great. That disparity is, of course, the result of the ridiculous team judging. Would it lead to another shocking elimination? The results, as well as a look at musical guest Lionel Richie, two pro performances, the return of Dance Center, and stars of dance with Dave Scott (pictured), is after the jump.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 7 results
Posted Nov 4th 2008 12:02AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews, Episode Recaps

(S07E14) I can only speak for myself here, but I was really looking forward to the return to the ballroom as week 7 approached. If you've been playing along with the home game, you know that the whole Cloris thing was working a nerve with me. With that bit of business dealt with, and the return of my favorite dancer, Edyta, this week was shaping up to be a great show. And in many respects, it really was. There was a performance judged worthy of a coveted 30, as well as a handful of 9s tossed about. But then we got to the new group face off, and I've got some issues with that one. I'll get to that, and a rundown of all the performances, after the jump.
Continue reading Dancing With The Stars: Week 7
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