What is it they say, it’s never too late to go home? A couple of weeks ago, I would have been shouting from the rooftops over Kendra Wilkinson’s elimination, but now, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, I feel mildly bad. Kendra actually went from train wreck to half way decent contender in the last two weeks, having cleaned up her act in more ways than one. Not only was her dancing improving, she adjusted her attitude and on camera persona to be, well, almost suitable for prime time.  Watch the clip of the elimination below.

She was even gracious in defeat, whereas the Kendra of Week 4 probably would have pouted and cursed. Since she was well behaved after her elimination, I will refrain from dishing on all her bad behavior of weeks past.

Now that the playing field has narrowed, let’s talk about some of the remaining contestants. What’s fun to watch on the Results Show are the sound bites of the conversations the stars and pros have with each other before and after their performance. Their microphones are always hot, but the producers only let us hear their chatter during the replays.  What was sad was that we heard Maks tell Kirstie right before their jive to kick high, and yet, she didn’t do it. So caught up in the acting, she actually forgot to dance. As Len pointed out, she needs to be much more consistent. Giving her a 9 one week to a 6 the next pained him, and she definitely needs to step it up…a lot.

Mark Ballas is my next beef. Caught on camera giving a rude hand gesture after Len’s critique the previous night, Mark acted like a petulant little boy. Watch it in slow motion here.  It’s live TV and he should know better. During the Results Show, we heard Mark express his frustration with Len, claiming he doesn’t know how to please him. Well it’s obvious, stop modernizing the traditional dances so much. Mark can’t seem to help himself, and that’s his downfall. He wants Chelsea to get good scores, but he continually puts her at risk with his edgy moves. I’m all for modernizing dances, but if a judge tells you that’s what is holding you back, why are you being stubborn? Not that Len should make Chelsea pay for Mark’s choreography, but that’s the way it goes on this show apparently, and you have to toe the line if you want the good scores.

In a time filling segment, we watched the stars and pros face off with each other in a one on one sit down to discuss their paths ahead. Chelsie tells Romeo he needs to look for ways to improve. Karina wants Ralph to bring more sexiness to his dancing and Kym wants Hines to stop overanalyzing and getting lost in his head. Mark tells Chelsea not to let her mind shut down, especially as the competition gets more grueling. Maks wants Kirstie to keep her personality shining through, but what he probably should have said was do more dancing than acting.  

The guest performances were very well done, especially Wayne Brady’s tribute to James Brown. This was probably the best Macy’s Stars of Dance segment so far this season. Nicki Minaj was awesome, with Lacey and Chelsie performing a pro dance to her song “Moment 4 Life.” Also fun was watching Maks’ brother Val Chmerkovskiy dance with his pro partner Daria Chesnokova to James Blunt's “I’ll Be Your Man”.  Val moves just like brother Maks! The show introduced a new "Spotlight" segment, with a performance by 17 year old ballerina Patricia Zhou.

Next week sees the return of the “Instant Dances” where the contestants have 30 minutes to adapt their rehearsed dance to a randomly chosen song. Dancing with the Stars Week 8 begins on Monday, May 9 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 7 Results: Kendra (Finally) Goes Home

Dancing with the Stars kicked off Week 7 with the Ballroom Greats theme, and it wasn't so great. So what in the heck went on here tonight?  The judges were at their most horrible, and some of the best dancers either danced poorly or were scored poorly. And that means the ballroom greats, Shirley Ballas and Luca Baricchi, who coached them, were a kind of a waste?The only good thing was that none of the dancers suffered a mishap. Instead, guest judge Donnie Burns had a scoring mishap!

It started off well enough, with Donnie telling us nobody does show business like us Americans, giving us that feel good feeling. Then things started to head downhill.  Both of the team cha cha dances were impressive, yet each team scored a miserable 30 out of 40. The challenge for the teams was not only the footwork, but the formation, patterns, and remaining in sync.  The judges couldn’t make up their minds with Team Chelsea – Bruno accused them of being a bit out of sync, while Carrie Ann said the opposite. Team Hines was accused of having bad spacing by Donnie, but overall received the best critiques and yet still scored a 30?

So then came the individual dances, and the judges were really all over the board. And maybe that’s because performances we expected to be good were not so great, or the judges were just kooky from Donnie’s presence. Below are the rankings for the individual dances, with the name of their coach. Just add the 30 everyone received for the team dances to get their full score.

Ralph & Karina (Luca): 36 for their quickstep. Ralph’s first 10 of the season, courtesy of Donnie, and it was so well deserved. Bruno had the best comment of the night, saying their dance was “how to grab a quick one at a speakeasy.” Definitely Safe

Hines & Kym (Luca): 36 for their tango. Len liked it overall but thought it too dainty. Carrie and Donnie found fault with mechanics. Bruno got himself over excited. Hines now ties with Ralph at the top of leaderboard. Definitely Safe

Chelsea & Mark (Shirley): 34 for their paso doble. Once again Len faulted them for his confusion by the mix of the old and the new, while Donnie thought there was too much aggression and not enough refinement. Visibly annoyed, Mark felt compelled once again to defend himself by reciting all the required elements in their dance. Not even Pia Toscano's presence in the audience could assuage him.  Definitely Safe

Kendra & Louis (Luca): 31 for their tango. Bruno felt Kendra hung on Louis too much. The other three thought she did well with demanding choreography. Even with the mostly positive critiques, her score was awful. But why isn’t anyone dinging her for her clunky legs?  In Jeopardy

Kirstie & Maks (Shirley): 30 for their jive. These guys are the most fun, but were the biggest disappointment of the night. Kirstie couldn’t get her legs to do any kicks and Maks’ energy highlighted this even more. The judges all noted her uneventful jive, but credited her for acting the part. Kirstie herself admitted she was so caught up in the acting she forgot to move her feet. The judges commentary didn’t match the scores, and since this isn’t “Acting with the Stars”, Kirstie is In Jeopardy.

Romeo & Chelsie (Shirley) 29 (or 30?): for their samba. Romeo threatened to throw a samba party in his shoes or his pants, but as Led said, he talked the talk but didn’t dance the dance. Carrie Ann and Bruno said he had the wrong bounce, and Donnie didn’t like his footwork. And then the mishap: Donnie held up the 8 paddle, but really meant to give him a 7.  Brooke Burke lent more confusion, first clarifying it was a 7, then said they had a 30. I think the 7 stands, and they are In Jeopardy.

It’s going to be a tough, close call on the Results Show among the bottom 3 by scores, and every vote is going to count. Performances by Nicki Minaj, Maks’ brother Val Chmerkovskiy, Wayne Brady and the Macy’s Stars of Dance segment will hopefully alleviate what’s going to be a rough night. Dancing with the Stars Results Show airs May 3 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 7: Ballroom Greats Rankings

This week is “Ballroom Greats” on Dancing with the Stars, with some of the top ballroom professionals in the world showcasing and lending their craft to the 6 remaining contestants.  The mystery guest judge has been revealed as Donnie Burns, the current head of the World Dance Council (WDC).  His illustrious, record breaking career achievements include 14-time winner of the World Professional Latin Championships and 11-time winner of the International Latin American Dance Championships.

This week the contestants will receive personal coaching by two of the greatest ballroom champions, Shirley Ballas (yes, Mark’s mom!) and Luca Baricchi.

It was just a matter of time before Shirley, now retired from competitive ballroom, officially entered the DWTS sphere. Shirley’s been orbiting around it, attending every show in support of Mark, and with former husband and partner Corky Ballas, has coached nearly every pro on the show at some point early in their careers. Shirley was one of the top competitors in the 1980s and 1990s, holding a myriad of titles under her belt: 1983 International Latin Dance American Champion, and the 1984 UK Open Champion in Professional Latin with first husband Sammy Stopford. With second husband Corky, the pair won 7 US Championships, are 3 time UK National Champions, International & Star Champions, and 2 time winners of the most prestigious competition in the world—Open To The World British Championships.

Luca is also a retired ballroom champion, who in his career was a 2 time winner of World Ballroom Dance Championship 1999 and 2001 and winner of International Professional Standard Championship 1999–2000.   These ballroom greats will be coaching the celebrities on dances they have not yet performed:

• Kirstie Alley: jive
• Kendra Wilkinson: tango
• Romeo: samba
• Ralph Macchio: quickstep
• Chelsea Kane: paso doble
• Hines Ward: tango

This week also sees the return of the team dance off, where the 6 couples are split into 2 teams to face off in a cha cha cha. The teams are Kirstie, Kendra and Hines versus Ralph, Romeo and Chelsea.

Another set of ballroom greats appearing on DWTS this week are Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko. This pair recently won the WDC Latin Championships and are currently ranked #1 by the WDC. According to their Twitter and Facebook pages, the couple will be performing on Monday’s performance show.

A special treat this week on the Results Show is a performance by Maks' brother Val Chmerkovskiy and his professional dance partner Daria Chesnokova. Nicki Minaj and James Blunt will be the musical entertainment. The Macy’s Stars of Dance segment will be a tribute to the late James Brown, and the show’s first ever “Spotlight Segment” will feature 17-year-old ballerina Patricia Zhou, a recent addition to the Royal Ballet. Check out the slideshow below of this week's ballroom greats.

The burning question is our mind is, can we get through the week without an injury? This season it seems the mishaps and injuries are happening on a weekly basis, what with 2 for Kirstie and Maks, 1 for Mark, 1 for Cheryl Burke and 1 for Karina Smirnoff. In this video clip below shot during rehearsals this past week, Ralph and Karina talk about the incidents and what has become known as the “Bermuda triangle” area on the ballroom floor.

Dancing with the Stars Ballroom Greats week kicks off on Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12: Week 7 Spoilers

We say goodbye to Chris Jericho in week 6 of Dancing with the Stars. Given his low score of 22, this comes as no surprise. Although Chris has been consistently praised by the judged for his holds, frame and posture, his dance fell flat last night and the fan votes couldn’t save him.  Chris acknowledged it wasn’t his best dance and at this stage you have to do your best.

The Results show opened with NKOTBSB, the acronym for the synergy of the New kids on the block and Back Street Boys, with a pro dance by LaceySchwimmer & Tony Dovolani and The Troupe.  In the next NKOTBSB performance, the pro dance with Anna Trebuskaya and Peta Murgatroyd was way too short, and I know Anna fans will agree. Results order went down differently this time, with the 4 top scoring couples declared safe in groups of two.  Kendra’s stripper samba dance was the chosen encore.

So the big moment everyone was waiting for arrived, and no, not the elimination. It was Pia Toscano singing while rumoured boyfriend Mark Ballas danced with Karina Smirnoff.  Pia gave a powerhouse performance, singing "I’ll Stand By You". The two blew kisses to each other afterwards. Sorry, but I gagged at this.  I'm not liking this coupling so much, maybe because it reeks of the typical publicity machine.

Ralph Macchio and Kendra Wilkinson were brought on stage next, with Kendra declared safe. This left Ralph and Chris as the last contenders facing elimination. How mean was this to do to Ralph & Karina after their mishap? Like Ralph said, it wasn’t a mistake, it was a mishap.

Next week the competition heats up as the 6 remaining couples take on two new dances that they haven’t yet danced. They’ll receive coaching from the top ballroom coaches in the world, and be judged by the “most decorated” ballroom champion. The next Dancing with the Stars performance show airs Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 6 Results: Chris Jericho Eliminated

 “Guilty Pleasures” night on Dancing with the Stars was a night of triumph and tragedy, as we watched Hines get knocked off the top of the leaderboard, we witnessed the season’s first 10, and oops, another fall. Season 12 is fast becoming the season of mishaps, and the latest involved Ralph & Karina. More on that later including video, for now let’s check out the contestants’ guilty pleasure songs and their rankings by scores:

Romeo & Chelsie 28: waltzed to “My Heart Will Go On” Carrie Ann called it magical and marveled at Rome’s emotional connection to the dance, she gave them the first 10 of the season. Len says Romeo shows great maturity in his waltz for a young man. Bruno said Romeo DiCaprio’s ship will sail on and on. Did you catch the kiss Romeo planted on Chelsie?  Rome got the first 10 of the season. Definitely Safe

Chelsea & Mark 28: quick stepped to “Walking on Sunshine” Len was happy to see them fuse high energy with control. Bruno got a suntan from such a luminous performance and Carrie Ann said sometimes magic happens twice in a night, giving them the second10 of the season. Kudos to Mark for dancing on an injured ankle. Definitely Safe

Hines & Kim 27: Viennese waltzed to “The End of the Road”. No longer in the lead, but Len deemed Hines the Most Valuable Partner. Bruno drooled at their flawless chemistry, calling them 2 birds in love chasing each other, and Carrie Ann thinks Hines was thinking too much. Definitely Safe

Kirstie & Maks 26: samba’d to “Hit Me Baby One More Time” Len was pleased that Kirstie fulfilled the potential she showed in week 1.  Bruno shouted “hit me Kirstie one more time”, claiming her wiggly bum sent shockwaves thru the airwave. Carrie Ann wants to see Kirstie in the finals.  With only a 2 point spread between them and the bottom, and a fan base not given to rabid text voting (which saved Kendra last week) I'm going to have to declare  Kirstie & Maks In Jeopardy. And yes I hope I'm wrong.

Kendra & Louis 25: samba’d to “Living La Vida Loca”   Kendra finally found her niche on the dance floor or should I say the judges table, where she shimmied and shook so well she gave Carrie Ann “too much information.” Len admitted to palpitating, calling her dance his guilty pleasure, Bruno demanded (but didn’t get) a lap dance. Even though Kendra is still near the bottom of the leaderboard, I am going to go ahead and declare her Definitely Safe, because she’s been in the bottom before, is still here and she’s better than she was all season. And yes, I hope I'm wrong.

Ralph & Karina 24: paso doble'd to “Everybody Dance Now”. Okay here’s how it went down: the dance started off full of energy and excitement, then about midway through, Karina tripped on Ralph’s matador coat and took a hard spill to the floor. Ralph pulled her up quickly and Karina was discombobulated, but he got them back into the groove. The dance finished perfectly, but it was obvious Karina was shaken and fighting back tears afterwards.  While the judges had to make mention of the mishap, they all agreed it was a fabulous performance. Check out the video below. Ralph was applauded for recovering the dance and received 8s across the board. In Jeopardy by score, but will the voters save him for having saved Karina?

Chris & Cheryl 22: tango’d to “Don’t Stop Believing” This was a total song/dance mismatch, and Chris couldn’t make it work. Mixed reviews from the judges, Bruno called it “granite” and noted Chris lost timing at times and overall though Chris was having an “off” night, while Carrie Ann said she thought the pressure got to him and it wasn’t a fun or exciting dance. Len accused Bruno of having an off night; and he noted Chris’ good footwork and posture and thought it was good overall. In Jeopardy

Don't forget the Tuesday night "block" of DWTS on ABC.  At 8 p.m. is The Road to the Finals, followed by the Results Show at 9 p.m. Read a preview of the shows here.  The three couples "in jeopardy" on the Results Show will not necessarily represent the bottom three. Kirstie explains it best in a tweet this week:

@kirstiealley: Ppl have been asking..DWTS is not like IDOL. 3 couples at risk, 1 is the lowest votes, the other 2 can be even the highest

Here's a recap of the Week 6 dances:

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 6: Guilty Pleasure Night Rankings

As we head into the second half of Dancing with the Stars Season 12, Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli have taken stock of the remaining contestants and offer up their expertise on what it takes to be a contender in the finals. From here on in, only the strongest can survive, and as Len says “the fewer the flaws, the higher the scores”.  So what guidance do the judges give the 7 remaining contestants? Read on.

Kendra: First let me say she should have been elimated already, period. (Yes, pun intended.) But for some reason, she’s still on the show. It can be said that technically, she’s not that bad a dancer, it’s more her attitude and behavior that are hurting her scores (and her image.)  And Len seems to echo this point when he says “It’s not the physical that stands in her way, it’s the mental”.  Carrie Ann feels Kendra doesn’t believe in what she’s doing, and if she doesn’t believe in it, they’re not buying it.

Hines Ward:  He was my pick from the beginning to win it all, and so far, he still is. Hines has surprised the judges with his awesome performances all season, but they want to see him take more risks and really push himself to the limit. 

Chris Jericho:  Carrie Ann says he’s a great performer but lacking in musicality. And without musicality she says, you’re not dancing,  you're just going through the motions.  I don’t think musicality is something you can learn. Either you have it or you don’t. So I don’t think Chris can overcome this particular flaw.

Chelsea Kane:  The biggest risk taker, but Carrie Ann says sometimes it works for you, sometimes against you (a callback to the spankings she and Mark received over his choreography.) Len says she needs to blend the traditional with the modern ideas. Now, this is outright unfair. Chelsea is at the mercy of the choreography conceptualized by pro Mark Ballas, and that’s exactly what these comments are about, the choreography.  So if the judges were doing an accurate assessment, they would have to say that Chelsea has been able to handle whatever is thrown at her, but it’s up to partner Mark Ballas to give their dance the right blend of the old and the new.

Ralph Macchio:  With his performances thus far, he makes you believe he’s good, but the judges can see past it. Their consensus is he has to overcome some jerky movements. Still, Ralph has great showmanship and personality, so hopefully partner Karina Smirnoff can work on the jerk.

Kirstie Alley:  Carrie Ann marvels at her grace and elegance, but the judges agree Kirstie needs to work on her stamina. She must be able to maintain the energy in the last 10 seconds of the dance at the same level as the first 10 seconds.  The pros know how to build and maintain stamina, so Maks Chmerkovskiy should be able to make Kirstie stronger.

Romeo: Carrie Ann says he has heat, but Len notes a lack of refinement. Bruno touts his passion but says that passion must be tempered with control to make a winner.

Those contestants who can overcome these flaws will be the ones battling it out for the mirrorball trophy in the finals, so say the judges.  Do you agree?

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12: The Judges' Mid-Season Breakdown

I’m used to having the Monday blues, but this week I officially change to loathing Tuesdays. Once again, a very sad but not surprising Dancing with the Stars Results Show: America’s adopted sweetheart, Petra Nemcova and her partner Dmitri Chaplin were eliminated from the competition.

Hines Ward & Kim Johnson were saved first, and Kirstie Alley & Maks Chmerkovsky were the first couple deemed “in jeopardy”.  Romeo & Chelsie Hightower’s foxtrot was chosen by the judges for the Tuesday encore dance.  She lost her hairclip just as she did the night before.  That was a distraction for me that kept me from thinking about Kirstie & Maks’ fate. Somehow I made it through Toby Keith’s performance , and it helped that Lacey Schwimmer and Maks joined The Troupe for a quick pro dance.

In the next segment, the 3 couples tied at 2^nd place in scores were brought up on stage, with Romeo & Chelsie and Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas deemed safe. That left Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke to join Kirstie & Maks in jeopardy.  Week 1 eliminee Mike Catherwood returned to do a faux behind the scenes intrigue piece,  the highlight of which was watching Maks attempt comedy.  A Macy’s Stars of Dance routine followed in which more and more dancers appeared out of nowhere throughout the number. The highlight of this segment was listening to Brooke Burke botch the word “choreographer” in her introduction.

The 3 couples with the lowest scores were next up:  Petra & Dmitri, Kendra Wilkinson & Louis Van Amstel and Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff. This was a big moment. Ralph was declared safe first. Who would be saved out of Petra and Kendra?  Kendra (!!), forcing Petra to join Kristie and Chris in jeopardy. Again, this isn't necessarily the "bottom three" by votes, just the show's way of having cruel fun with us. But, this is where I cried. Either Petra or Kirstie was going home, beacause I just knew Chris was safe. You know the rest from here, so now I am going to join the other protesters and conspiracy theorists on the Dancing with the Stars/ABC message board. Misery loves company.

“Guilty Pleasures” is the theme next week, those songs that people can't admit they like, and once we find out what dances that means for our remaining dancers, we’ll let you know.  One rumor, which was confirmed by Tom Bergeron at the close of the show, is that American Idol cast-off Pia Toscano will be singing on the show next week. Read our coverage on that here. The next Dancing with the Stars performance show airs Monday, April 25 at 8 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 5 Results: Petra Sent Home

Dancing with the Stars week 5 performance show took on Patriots’ Day with an American-themed dance off.  Outfitted in various forms of red, white and blue, the contestants danced to songs celebrating the USA.  We’re officially mid-season now and the competition grows increasingly fierce. How did the couples stack up on the board and who faces elimination? Let's take a look:

Leaderboard Rankings

Hines & Kym: 27 Even though it seemed to me that Kym danced around Hines, Bruno called his rumba the best dance of the night while Carrie said Hines has the best hip action. Even Len thought it was Hines’ best dance. Definitely Safe

Chris & Cheryl: 26 Chris consistently gives a powerful upper body performance due to his perfect frame and posture. Bruno though their foxtrot was elegant with a sweeping sense of romance. Carrie says Chris is a “real contender”. Although Len said there was flat foot work and will give Chris an 8 when he deserves it, Len coughed up the 8. Definitely Safe

Romeo & Chelsie: 26 Romeo showed he has come a long way with his posture and precision. Bruno says Romeo’s foxtrot had swagger and was full of flavor. Carrie feels Romeo has unique style for ballroom. Len called it “charming”. Definitely Safe

Chelsea & Mark: 26 This couple continually has the “wow” factor from week to week. Bruno said their samba combined the best of America’s positive energy with the sizzle of Brazil. Carrie thought it was simply “fantastic” and even Len said their dance was “really good fun.” Definitely Safe

Kirstie & Maks: 23 With a little help from “Dance Doctor” John Travolta during rehearsals, the “curse” was broken. Carrie called their foxtrot bold, ambitious and magical. Bruno said the dance was “American Woman meets the Russian Gigolo” and may have tried to buy Maks for the night. Len was the downer in the excitement, saying their dance wasn’t his “cup of tea”. Although there’s a 4 point spread between Kirstie and Hines, she has a lot of fan support to make her Definitely Safe

Ralph & Karina: 22 They had the unfortunate luck of trying to mesh a samba with the very country “Sweet Home Alabama”. No easy feat. And feet weren’t Ralph’s problem, it was his hips.  Len called him out for not being consistent week to week and noted his lack of hip action and rhythm. Bruno bellowed something similar but in his Bruno way it came out “Give me sex”.  Carrie said it was entertaining and recognized the challenge he had with the music. If his fan base doesn't pull through, Ralph is In Jeopardy

Petra & Dmitri: 22 Carrie thought Petra took a step backward with her quickstep because of a few stumbles while Len felt Petra coped well with the speed of the music. Bruno gushed about her lines and thought the quality was good overall. Her outpouring of love and gratitude for America and her overall sweetness probably touched everyone’s heart, but she is still In Jeopardy

Kendra & Louis: 22 This couple had the distinction of dancing the show’s 1000^th competitive dance. Len felt she was much better than last week while Bruno gave her pointers on being camera ready. Carrie, perhaps feeling bad for causing Kendra distress last week, said this was the most confident she has seen her and deemed her dance the most patriotic of the night. After the heart to heart talk Louis admitted to having with Kendra, he did pull her disposition out of slump. Still, the cursing and whining in the rehearsal producer packages will not win her a lot of votes and probably turned off many of her existing voters. Therefore, I deem Kendra Likely to be Eliminated.

Keep in mind that the couples deemed "in jeopardy" on tonight's show do not necessarily represent the bottom three by votes. Supposedly two of the couples are chosen at random, but it seems to me the choices are made to heighten the drama. Therefore, expect to see at least one of the "definitely safe" couples awaiting their fate up until the last minute.

We’ll find out tonight which couple is sent packing on Dancing with the Stars’ Results Show, Tuesday, April 19 at 9 p.m. (EST) on ABC, with musical guest Toby Keith. For a quick recap of the performance show dances, check out the video below:

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 5: America Night Rankings

In honor of Patriots’ Day, which occurs the third Monday in April (not to be confused with the Patriot Day on September 11), the Dancing with the Stars cast is going all-American. Dancing to American-themed songs that is, although some of their dances have roots in other countries. Interesting fact: many of our pros were not born here, but we know they will do justice to the USA just the same. We have a mixture of dances we've already seen this season and one new dance. So who's dancing what?

Fan favorite Kirstie and partner Maks will take on the foxtrot, a dance known for its smooth, continuously flowing movements across the floor. Therefore, grace and elegance is what makes this dance work.  Kendra & Louis also have the foxtrot. This will be interesting because grace and elegance are strengths of Kirstie’s, but weaknesses of Kendra’s.  Last week Kendra famously claimed “I just don’t care about it (elegance)”…well, this week she better care!  If Kendra does more dancing and less talking, she could possibly survive another week, though I think her time is coming to an end.  And Kirstie and Maks, please do what you have to to keep yourselves together, one more mishap and we've got a real “Kirstie Curse” on our hands.

Romeo & Chelsie will also be dancing the foxtrot. Romeo should do well with it if he has been heeding Len’s advice to work on precision and posture.  Chris & Cheryl will slow it down with a Viennese Waltz, and we hope Cheryl’s feeling better after straining her thigh during week 4’s paso.

Livening things up will be Chelsea & Mark and Ralph & Karina doing a samba. Mark does a mean samba, but Chelsea’s been called out on her hip movements or lack thereof, and the samba is very much in the hips. Ralph really needs to be on his game, as we haven’t seen much hip action from him yet.

Hines & Kym will do a sexy rumba… there’s no way it can’t be sexy with these two.  Petra & Dmitri have the quick step, a faster version of the foxtrot they did in the season premiere. The judges gave her all 6’s for that foxtrot, and since these dances are so similar, we hope to see a marked improvement.

Dancing with the Stars week 5 kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Week 5 Spoilers: Who's Dancing What?

Last week, Kendra Wilkinson landed on the bottom of the Dancing With the Stars leader board with an 18 but managed to stay in the competition thanks to her fans at home. Whilst she remained unhappy with the score it was some of the comments by judge Carrie Ann Inaba about her being "afraid of elegance" that really upset the reality TV star.

This isn't the first night that Wilkinson has come under fire for her technique and her posture, with reference to some particular assets of hers being mentioned by the judges in the past when they have given their scores. Previously Wilkinson has fired back to these criticisms in regards to her lack of previous dancing of this kind, and it is a well known fact that Kendra was previously a stripper and elegance isn't necessarily a requirement for this kind of dance. However, these comments by Inaba really seemed to touch a nerve for Wilkinson on the night and reduced her to tears backstage, later she explained this as her hormones taking over, which her partner Louis added was a joke.

Whatever the reason for this reaction she did add to reporters on the elimination night that when it comes to elegance:

"We have our own definition. Elegance is what [my husband] Hank [Baskett] sees, not what Carrie Ann sees. That's what I care about.

She further added why these comments hurt coming from this particular judge:

"Another woman telling me about elegance eats away at my ego. I'm a huge Carrie Ann fan, and she's [usually] so sweet, but that one comment – I felt belittled at that moment and embarrassed."

Is Kendra right to air these concerns about this particular judge? Just because Carrie Ann is normally a certain way does that mean that her remarks should always be this way? As Kendra is coming from a background that exudes sexuality rather than elegance as it is discussed here it could be considered as a factor that might cloud the judgement of the panel. With any kind of reality competition such as this the contestants background will give some pre conceived notions as to who and what the performer is like. It seems to hurt Kendra more that it was Carrie Ann that made these comments and not one of the male judges. Her career has focused on receiving praise from a male centric audience, so it is not surprising that she seeks some positive reinforcement from a female and why these remarks hurt all the more and take away some of her confidence.

It will be interesting how Kendra will fair tonight, she is performing the 'Foxtrot' for American week and hopefully she will be able to shake these comments and give a performance that both Carrie Ann and herself can call elegant.

Kendra Wilkinson's Dancing With the Stars Concerns

Going in to this week, Kirstie & Maks fans were anxious for them to recover from last week's unfortunate mishap. We had to wait until the end of the night to see if the "other shoe dropped", and sadly, it did. Literally. We have the scoop on that in a minute.

Dancing with the Stars week 4 stars and pros embraced classical music last night and the whole experience was out of this world! .  The music and performances were beautiful and graceful, yet explosive and intense. The musical guests knocked it out of the park, as did most of the contestants.

The challenge for the dancing couples was to not let the music of the very powerful 46 piece orchestra overpower the dance. As pro dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy said, it’s more challenging to choreograph to orchestra than it is to regular music because orchestra doesn’t have beats to follow.  In spite of these challenges, all the couples did amazing work this week:

Romeo & Chelsie paso doble: All I can say about these two is WOW. Len called it intense, very aggressive, very passionate, but as usual took issue with a shirtless man on the dance floor and said Romeo still needs more precision. Bruno thought it was powerful and that Romeo got it right with difficult music; Carrie called it a paso with swagger.  Carrie 7, Len 8, Bruno 8

Kendra & Louis Viennese Waltz: If not her dancing, then her mouth is going to send her home. We saw in the rehearsal clip that her whole attitude toward ballroom dancing was really poor, and I don’t think the judges care for that too much.  She had some missteps in her performance which Bruno noted. Carrie accused of her of being afraid to be elegant. Len chastised Bruno for forgetting that these contestants are beginners but he had nothing positive to say about her dance. Carrie 6, Len 6,  Bruno 6.  Her song was “Time to Say Goodbye”, which could prove to be an omen.

Sugar Ray & Anna Viennese Waltz: This was a delightful and upbeat waltz for the most part. I tend to think if Anna could have made it a little less childlike, they may have fared better with the judges’ scores. Carrie said it had sparkle and was charming. Len called Ray the ‘sugar plum fairy’ and was entertained. Bruno said it had cartoonish charm but was effective. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7.

Petra & Dmitri paso doble: Everyone knew it would be a challenge for Petra to take on the aggressive intense character of the paso doble, but she pulled it off. Len didn’t think she could do it, but admitted to being more impressed than depressed. Bruno got carried away with her character, and caused a ruckus with his comments and gyrating, much to Carrie’s embarrassment. Carrie felt it was a powerful, passionate, brand new Petra. Carrie 8, Len 7, Bruno 8.

Ralph & Karina waltz: Overall, this was a moving and beautiful interpretation of Romeo & Juliet. I thought I saw an error with his footwork, but the camera quickly panned up. Bruno called it brilliant storytelling. Carrie said Ralph has an honest connection to the emotions. Len said after 2 weeks, Ralph’s back from the wilderness. Carrie 8, Len 8.  Bruno 9. And incidentally, no mention was made of a creepy hand nor of the Karina/Playboy scandal.

Hines & Kym paso doble: Another WOW and a standing ovation.  Carrie said Hines was in the zone and got a touchdown. Len offered up a measly “doing great”, while Bruno says Hines has the killer instinct. Carrie 9, Len 8, Bruno 8.  And the audience booed!

Chelsea & Mark Viennese Waltz: Dancing to the theme from Harry Potter, their dance rightly embodied the whimsical with youthful exuberance. But, once again, Mark stepped outside traditional choreography and was spanked. Len tells Chelsea every time he sees her, something about him just jars him, and it wasn’t a compliment. Next he accused Mark of failing to interpret a 300 year old traditional dance and told him to stop distracting Chelsea.  Bruno came to Mark’s rescue again, calling it a magical and fabulous, and technically speaking, the best dance of the night. And Bruno was out of his chair once again.  This time tie breaker Carrie sided with Bruno. Carrie 9, Len 8, Bruno 9.  As before, Mark defended himself stating that he was simply trying to incorporate 300 year old moves with some new ones.

Chris & Cheryl paso doble:  A very powerful and wonderfully choreographed paso. Bruno called it majestic, likening Chris to the God of Thunder, and marveled at his ability to hit all the accents in the music. Carrie felt he was so connected to the music and lauded his form and technique. Perhaps still crabby from beating up on Mark, Len said Chris let the music conquer him. Carrie 8.   Len 7, Bruno 8.

Kirstie & Maks waltz: Unfortunately, their comeback dance after last week’s fall was not without incident. So Kirstie’s shoe fell off as she was sitting on the floor at one point during the routine (and this time she was supposed to be there). She adjusted the shoe and didn’t miss her cue when Maks came to pick her up. Now, Carrie acknowledged that Kirstie didn’t miss a beat, so why did she have to make a big deal out of it? It did not interfere with the performance.  Len panned her for needing improvement in her connection and technique. But Bruno saved the day when he said it was a fantastic, ethereal performance. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 8.  Kirstie had a sense of humor about it exclaiming “don’t anyone else’s shoes ever fall off??”

Tom Bergeron closed out the show while holding his own shoe in his hand. So we have Chelsea & Mark at the top with 26, and Kendra & Louis at the bottom with 18. Tomorrow night’s results show will feature the Macy’s Stars of Dance segment and performances by Jennifer Hudson.  Dancing with the Stars results show for week 4 airs at 9 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 4: Classical Night Recap & Kirstie's Shoe

What’s in store on week 4 of Dancing with the Stars? It’s a classical music theme this week, and DWTS is pulling out all the stops. The performance show will feature traditional and modern classical music, courtesy of house bandleader Harold Wheeler and a 46 piece orchestra. Featured musical guests are violinist David Garrett and opera singer Katherine Jenkins, who will appear on both the performance and the results show.

In addition, the season’s first Macy’s Stars of Dance performance will feature a specially choreographed routine from “Swan Lake” by three principal ballet dancers.  Pro dancer Mark Ballas tells us via USA Today Dancing Journal that the couples will be dancing to songs from movie soundtracks.

And what dances will our couples perform?

Ralph Macchio and Kirstie Alley: waltz  Bruno Tonioli wants Ralph to get his creepy hand under control, and this week partner Karina Smirnoff tweeted that Bruno will be “proud” of Ralph’s hands. Can’t wait to see what she was able to accomplish. Maks Chmerkovskiy tweeted earlier this week that he underwent electric stem therapy to repair tears in his leg muscle, so let’s hope this couple holds it together. Here’s a funny clip of the Kirstie and Maks discussing their upcoming waltz:

Chelsea Kane, Sugar Ray Leonard and Kendra Wilkinson: Viennese Waltz Chelsea and Mark have to play by the rules to keep within the judges good graces; Sugar Ray needs to build upon his successful paso doble of last week to strengthen his standing, and Kendra not only needs to channel her inner lady once again, she shouldn’t let annoyance show on her face during results night.

Chris Jericho, Romeo, Petra Nemcova and Hines Ward: paso doble Chris’s story dance wasn’t praised so highly by the judges last week and he was given a good scare during results show. Thus, Chris will need to step it up in his paso.  Same deal for Romeo, whose goal is to rebound from landing in next to last place.  As the paso doble represents the drama of the Spanish bull fight, Petra will have to show some fierce emotion to pull it off, while Hines will need to keep his now famous smile in check.

Watch Dancing with the Stars week 4 performance show on April 11 at 8 p.m. (EST) on ABC. Is anyone as curious as I am to see whether Tom Bergeron mentions the Karina-Playboy controversy?

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 4 Spoilers

Wendy Williams and partner Tony Dovolani were voted off Dancing with the Stars in week 3, and this was hardly a shocker.  Scoring a sorry 15, the spread between her and Sugar Ray and Romeo, both tied at 20, was too wide to overcome. While Wendy certainly had a Wendy Williams Show fanbase, apparently she was not a DWTS fan or judge favorite.

The other two couples who found themselves in jeopardy were Kendra Wilkinson & Louis Van Amstel and Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke.  And then the heart thumping moment came down to Wendy and Chris. See the video below.  Host Tom Bergeron was quick to point out that Wendy and Chris were not necessarily the bottom two, even though one of them was definitely going home.  I really don't know how that's possible. If Wendy wasn't in the bottom, why would she be eliminated? I have to assume the comment was more for Chris and Cheryl's benefit. So in effect, we really don’t know who else lags behind in fan votes.

On a brighter note, tonight’s show featured pro dances from Lacey Schwimmer & Dmitri Chaplin and Mark Ballas & Chelsie Hightower. It’s always a treat to watch the beloved pros do what they do best with each other.

Next week's theme is Classical Night, with 2 hours of new dances set to classical music, and featuring a performance by violinist David Garret.  Dancing with the Stars week 4 performance show airs on April 11 at  8 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 3 Results: Goodbye, Wendy

Dancing with the Stars was up close and personal for Week 3’s ‘story night', with tales of love, loss, hope and perseverance. An otherwise beautiful night of dancing turned scary when Kirstie and Maks took a nasty spill. More details on that below. So let’s break it down:

Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani’s fox trot was meant to portray the lean, early years of her career in which she slept in her car at times. The song choice “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” was great, but the dancing not so much. The judges panned it, with Len citing that Wendy took a step backwards after her improvement last week. Carrie 5, Len 5, Bruno 5. I don't think anything can save Wendy now.

Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas’ cha cha depicted a cute puppy love story complete with song written for her by a past love. They really killed it but Carrie was a downer, criticizing Chelsea’s hip action. Carrie 7, Len 8, Bruno 8, 

Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke’s rumba portrayed a heartfelt, soulful piece dedicated to his deceased Mom, which reduced Carrier to tears. Len and Bruno noted Chris’ emotional connection, they called him on a lack of fluidity. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7,

Kendra Wilkinson & Louis Van Amstel’s rumba was  an expression of her love story with hubby Hank, and this was dance was red hot and smoking! Not just because they were dressed in red or because Kendra was so overcome by the smoke she wobbled down the stairs, but this dance was sizzling. Len claimed there was unnecessary gyrating, but gorgeous leg action. Carrie loved it and Bruno called it teasingly erotic.  Carrie 8, Len 7, Bruno 8.

Romeo & Chelsie Hightower’s rumba was dedicated to 2 cousins he lost as a child. The judges noted his emotional connection to the dance but called him out on some misteps. Len felt Romeo took a huge step backward from last week. Carrie 7, Len 6, Bruno 7.

Hines Ward & Kym Johnson’s samba: a celebration of his Mom and her sacrifices.  This couple was awesome as always and the audience gave them a standing ovation. Carrie was happy, Len was proud. Carrie 9, Len 8, Bruno 8.

Petra & Dmitri Chaplin’s waltz  was a story of hope and rising above challenges, how her tsunami experience lead her to form the Happy Hearts Fund, which rebuilds lives for child victims of disasters; Petra danced like she was born to waltz, and received her best scores so far. The judges said she danced like an angel, noting her heart shines through her dancing.  Carrie 8, Len 9, Bruno 8.

Sugar Ray & Anna Trebunskaya’s paso doble  was a forceful expression of his perserverance in beating the odds in his boxing career. Complete with boxing gloves, Sugar Ray nailed it like champ. The judges agreed it was a huge improvement, with Len noting he dominated the dance. Then how to explain Len’s crappy score? Carrie 7, Len 6, Bruno 7. 

Kirstie Alley & Maks Chmerkovskiy’s rumba represented a turning point in her life; the agony and the ecstasy of a period in her life in which she lost her mom and nearly her Dad to a car accident, and within hours was hired for her first major acting role. The dance began beautifully but quickly turned ugly. Very early in the dance, Mak’s leg gave out, causing them both to hit the floor. They stood up, and after an awkward moment of trepidation, Maks lead them back into the dance for a  graceful recovery and finish.  Maks was quick to blame a pulled muscle in the hopes that the judges would not penalize Kirstie. Amazingly, the judges were KIND about it in their comments by relating  it to Kirstie’s personal story. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7.  That fall was really tough to watch. Let's just hope Maks recovers from his injury in time to rehearse next week's performance.

Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff’s rumba was lovingly dedicated to his soulmate of 24 years and ended with Ralph on bended knee kissing his wife's hand.  The overall presentation was good, but the Len noted it lacked some refinement and needed more hip action. Bruno complained about Ralph’s “spatula hands”.  Carrie went up against her counterparts arguing that they missed the point, that it was a sweet rumba. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7.

Petra & Dmitri and Hines & Kym top the leaderboard with tied scores of 25, while Wendy & Tony weigh heavily on the bottom with a 15. Who will be sent packing tomorrow? My guess is Wendy Williams.  Find out on Dancing with the Stars Results Show April 5, at 9 p.m. (EST) on ABC.  The results show will feature Selena Gomez as the musical guest with a pro dance by Mark and Chelsie.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 3 - Performance Recap: Maks Drops Kirstie

Get your popcorn ready, because tonight is “story night” on week 3 of  Dancing with the Stars. We’ll see a sizzling mix of latin ballroom and one waltz, with each of the dances embodying a personal story of the celebrity contestant. It’s interesting to note that 5 of the 10 couples are dancing a rumba.  As Jennifer Lopez’s character said in the movie Shall We Dance, the rumba is a “vertical expression of a horizontal wish.” That means these rumbas will be personal stories of a romantic and sexy nature!

So who is dancing what? Here is the breakdown along with some tidbits collected from the contestant Twitter pages:

Wendy & Tony: fox trot; No word on their story but there is a Facebook campaign to get Wendy on Saturday Night Live. Hey, it worked for Betty White.

Petra & Dmitri: waltz; Tsunami survivor Petra says her story is one of going from sad to strong.

Kirstie & Maks: rumba; Maks revealed that their rumba is based on sad and somewhat dramatic story from Kirstie’s life. Read Mak’s TV Guide blog here. Anxious to see how they top last week's big kiss finish!

Hines & Kim: samba; no comment yet on the story behind their dance, but get ready for some sexy samba moves from this hot couple.

Kendra & Louis: rumba; Kendra says her dance will be a power of love story. During rehearsal, Kendra decides to restrict her ladylike behavior to just one day a week from now on. Check out the video of  their rehearsal.

Chris & Cheryl: rumba; Chris says his dance will express his (entire) life story.

Sugar Ray & Anna: paso doble; I am going to go on limb here and say the story here is Sugar Ray’s career. We can draw a parallel of the boxing ring to the bullfighting ring, as the paso doble is based on music that is played during a bullfight.

Ralph & Karina: rumba; Though they haven't said much about the story, my guess is it has something to do with Ralph's recently celebrated 24th wedding anniversary. While thumbing through their Twitter pages, I came across a link to a video Karina posted for an inside look at their rehearsal.

Romeo & Chelsie: rumba; No deets on the story, but the question is, while dancing a sexy rumba, will Romeo be able to keep his shirt on?  Check out Wendy’s DWTS video diary featuring a shirtless Romeo.

Chelsea & Mark: cha cha cha; Mum’s the word thus far on their story. But, does it matter? Are you as excited as I am to see what Mark whips up after last week’s jive drama?  Mark is sure to treat us to another masterpiece and let’s just hope the judges get it right this time.

Dancing with the Stars Season 12 week 3 airs tonight, Monday April 4 at 8 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 3: Story Night

Dancing with the Stars Season 12 is in full swing, with Week 2 underway and one couple on their way out. For their 2nd dance, the couples had to perform either a quickstep or a jive, two dances that require stamina and the fanciest of footwork. Low scores dampened the mood, and Len Goodman’s crankiness was a standout theme of the show. Tom Beregon even offered Len some fiber to alleviate his mood!

We went into Week 2 with some burning questions from last week:  Could Mike Catherwood redeem himself? Will Wendy Williams bring “Wendy” to the dance floor?  Would Kristie Alley and Ralph Macchio pull off another fab performance?   I have the scoop along with the scoring breakdowns right here.  The scores from tonight are added together with scores from last week, with the highest possible total being 60. The combined results for each contestant are included in parentheses.

Sugar Ray & Anna Trebunskaya’s jive:  Sugar Ray gave a decent performance, but the judges called him out on his imperfect footwork. Len tells Sugar Ray he is in jeopardy. Carrie 6, Len 5, Bruno 6 (34/60). I think he was robbed, his footwork wasn’t perfect, but it certainly wasn’t deserving of scores that low, not in week 2. After watching him fall in his rehearsal/producer package, I was just glad he made it through the routine.  

Kendra Wilkison & Louis Van Amstel’s quickstep: Finding it too stressful to be a lady, Kendra was the crier this time in the producer package.  And while her steps were good, she was lacking a bit in the elegance department. Overall the judges thought her performance was good, but noted she messed up a little on her footwork. Len invented a new word: “your chesticles hit Louis a few times.” Carrie 7, Len 6, Bruno 6 (37/60).

Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas’ jive:  Mark was all but spanked by the judges for introducing some unique choreography to the jive and they claimed the dance lacked actual jive movements. Only Bruno appreciated the risks Mark took. Mark retaliated by reciting a list of all the jive elements that were in fact incorporated into the routine. Carrie 6, Len 5, Bruno 7 (39/60).  Another scoring robbery here. Their dance was perfectly executed, and yet none of the judges noted this.

Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke’s quickstep:  For a big wrestler, Chris sure bounced around a lot, and that’s just what the quickstep calls for. The judges heralded his light breezy, footwork and good frame.  Bruno loved the way Cheryl tamed Chris into a “gazelle” (isn’t that an antelope?).  Carrie 8, Len 7, Bruno 8 (42/60).

Petra & Dmitri Chaplin’s jive:  Although the jive was a risk for Petra’s long legs, it was a very nice and neat performance. The judges encouraged Petra to build on her core strength to help with her “placement”. Carrie 6, Len 6, Bruno 6  (36/60). Petra was robbed. She overcame a huge challenge in dancing a jive - because it is so difficult when you are long and lanky - and she performed it so effortlessly.

Kirstie Alley & Maks Chmerkovskiy’s quickstep:  I was very excited to see if Kirstie could pull off another great performance tonight and I thought she was fantastic. Once again, she was sharp, on point and her chemistry with Maks is awesome. The judges gushed about her talent and her connection with Maks, but noted she lost energy toward the end. Carrie 7, Len 6, Bruno 7 (43/60).

Mike Catherwood & Lacey Schwimmer’s jive: I was hopeful Mike could pull himself him up and I know viewers would agree he did.  His kicks were sharp and precise and he handled the choreography well.  The judges weren’t quite so kind. They were entertained but compared Mike to a “wasp at a picnic” and “fly stuck on flypaper”.  Carrie 6, Len 5, Bruno 6 (30/60). There's a lot of talk about Mike and Lacey being too sexy for TV, and they are pretty hot together! 

Romeo & Chelsie Hightower’s quickstep:  A really great performance by Romeo and finally the judges perked up. Romeo was smooth and showed nice footwork. Len called it the best dance of the night and they all agree he shows great promise and musicality.  Carrie, 7 Len 8, Bruno 8 (42/60).

Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani’s quickstep:  Wendy promised a comeback and she did try to get her big personality into the dance. The judges recognized her sassiness was there and overall she showed improvement, but noted she lost a bit of steam in the middle. Carrie 6, Len 5, Bruno 6 (31/60).

Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff’s jive:  Feeling the pressure of maintaining his lead, Ralph gave it his all, but the judges thought he got carried away. While noting his likeability and his ability to embody the character in the dance, the judges thought it was frenzied and needs more footwork precision. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7 (45/60).

Hines Ward & Kym Johnson’s quickstep:  Okay, this was THE best dance of the night. Hines and Kym were simply awesome and flawless, and deserved 8s across the board. The judges praised his technique, grace and control. But Mr. Crankypants couldn’t bring himself to give it to Hines.  Carrie 8, Len 7, Bruno 8 (44/60)

Ralph Macchio maintains his lead with a 45, while Mike Catherwood remains at the bottom with a 30. But as DWTS fans know, it’s all up the viewer votes now, and anything can happen. The scores from the two performance shows will be tallied with viewer votes to determine the first couple eliminated. The Dancing with the Stars Results Show airs March 29 at 9 p.m. (EST) on ABC, and yes, Chris Brown will be appearing as of this writing!  ABC is also airing a recap of the performances beginning at 8 p.m.

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 2 - Performance Recap

On tonight’s Dancing with the Stars performance show of week 2, the 11 couples will perform a requisite quickstep or a jive. The quickstep is a faster version of the foxtrot but with its own distinct style, and the jive is a variation of the jitterbug.   These are two fast tempo ballroom dances that require lots of energy and precise footwork.  Everyone needs to be on their game. So who’s dancing which tonight? Here is the full breakdown, courtesy of the Twitter pages of our stars and pros:

Quickstep:                                                                                                 Jive:
Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani                                                          Sugar Ray & Anna Trebunskaya
Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke                                                                 Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff
Kendra Wilkinson & Louis Van Amstel                                                Petra Nemcova & Dmitri Chaplin
Kirstie Alley & Maks Chmerkovskiy                                                       Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas
Romeo & Chelsie Hightower                                                                 Mike Catherwood & Lacey Schwimmer
Hines Ward & Kym Johnson

Both of these dances require dancers to be light on their feet, and because the footwork must be clean and neat, expect the judges to make foot placement and technique a focus of their commentaries.  Watch out for Chelsea and Mark tonight – the jive is one of Mark’s favorites – so expect a great showing from this couple.  Pro dancer Lacey is not only fantastic at the jive, she is the lightest and fastest on the feet the show has ever seen. Will partner Mike Catherwood be able to keep up? 

Tonight's 2 hour live performance show of Dancing with the Stars airs at 8p.m. (EST) on ABC.

Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Week 2: Couples Dance Quickstep or Jive

The night so many of us have been waiting over three months for finally arrived – Dancing with the Stars Season 12 premiered tonight ­­­­­– and was the fantasy as good as the reality? You bet. The night was full of excitement, tears and surprises!

Our infamous judges, Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli were all back for Season 12 as were funny man host Tom Bergeron and his sidekick Brooke Burke. The live two hour premiere kicked off with an introduction of all the contestants set to the theme music that we know and love so well. So let’s get to the dancing of Week 1:

Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas’ foxtrot:  The judges agree it was a youthful, fun performance and recognized her talent, but urge Chelsea to extend her lines more. Scores: Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7

Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani’s cha cha:  The judges felt her dance lacked her personality and they could see her fear and timidity.  Scores: Carrie 5,  Len 4, Bruno 5

Hines Ward & Kym Johnson’s cha cha: While noting his exuberant, confident performance, judges agree Hines should work on his posture and Bruno wants more swivel in the hips. Carrie 7, Len 7, Bruno 7

Petra Nemcova & Dmitri Chaplin’s foxtrot:  The judges felt her charm, grace and elegance, but she must work on her posture.  Carrie 6, Len 6, Bruno 6. After stating she would not penalize Petra on the season opener, Carrie gave Petra a 6?

Romeo & Chelsie Hightower’s cha cha: After stating he wanted to bring back the legacy of his family to DWTS (after Dad Master P had scored 2s), Romeo didn’t disappoint. Judges acknowledge his vibrant, sexy performance and technique with decent scores, but said he needs to work on posture. Carrie 7, Len 6, Bruno 6.

Sugar Ray & Anna Trebunskaya’s foxtrot: While judges liked his performance overall, they hit him harm on his posture. Carrie 6, Len 5, Bruno 6.

Kendra Wilkison & Louis Van Amstel’s cha cha:  The judges liked her performance and acknowledged that Kendra took on hard choreography without missing a step. Her biggest flaw is not straightening her legs enough. Carrie 6, Len 6, Bruno 6.  I think she was robbed though; her performance was as good as the other high scorers of the night. The judges might not have been thrilled with her producer package, and more on that later.

Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff’s foxtrot: The audience gave Ralph a well deserved standing ovation and the judges were mighty impressed as well. They felt he showed great showmanship, nice execution, with Bruno calling it the best foxtrot of the night.  Len remarked on Ralphy’s “creepy hand” that just sort of appears at times and told him to learn to do something with it.  Carrie 8 Len 8, Bruno 8.

Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke’s cha cha:  A powerful performer with energy, fun and entertainment, but the judges want to see more content (steps) in his dance. Carrie 7, Len 6, Bruno 6.

Mike Catherwood & Lacey Schwimmer’s foxtrot:  Well, Mike didn’t think he had dance ability and unfortunately he is right. What he lacks in skill he made up for in personality. He’s a very funny guy and I think America will want him to stick around for a while. The judges all agree he lacks dance quality and is  jerky, and want to see him put forth a good effort in next week’s jive to save himself. Carrie 5, Len 4, Bruno 4.

Kirstie Alley & Maks Chmerkovskiy’s cha cha:  Kirstie’s dance was a wonderful surprise. She looked so great on the floor and her steps were on point. The judges said in fact she showed the best foot placement of the night, and said her performance was sizzling, musical, cheeky and overall well done. Carrie 8,  Len 7, Bruno 8.

So what were the more interesting moments during the show? The producer packages, naturally. Wendy’s package certainly didn’t do her any favors, as it chronicled her tears during a few rehearsals. See the video below.  The judges could smell her fear as she danced across the stage and called her on it. Wendy nearly broke down when she received her scores. Sugar Ray was shown nearly breaking down in his package and Ralph showed he had no confidence in his body. Luckily for Ralph, his performance wowed the crowd and the judges. Kendra’s package showed an overly confident woman and she came off a bit trashy. Kendra may doing well dancing, but I don’t think she’s going to win over middle America. 

The biggest surprise of the night was Ralph Macchio, based on interviews and rehearsal videos, the bloggers were all but writing him off (myself included!)  But, not only did Ralph prevail with a standing ovation, he tops the leaderboard at 24. Rounding out the bottom are Mike & Lacey with 13.

These scores will be tallied with viewer votes to determine who stays and who goes on next week’s results show. The Dancing with the Stars Results Show airing March 29 at 9 p.m. (EST) on ABC, will feature two performances by Chris Brown, as well as the drawn out, agonizing elimination. Who do you think will be the first to go?

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Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Premiere - Week 1 Recap

ABC has released a new promotional video for the live 2 hour season premiere of Dancing with the Stars, and it is hot! The cast looks sharp, confident, and ready to take to the ballroom floor Monday night. Forget the dancing for a minute, this cast is simply gorgeous to look at. All of them - young and old, stars and pros - look amazing in their costumes. Note the cute exchange between Kirstie Alley and partner Maks, they are going to be one fun couple to watch. The way Kendra Wilkinson shakes it in her fringe dress, she leaves no doubt that she is in it to win it.

There is going to be stiff competition this season, most notably between Hines Ward, Romeo, Chelsea Kane and Kendra. Kirstie and Sugar Ray are reportedly very determined and dedicated to their training, which will make the season all the more competitive. If you haven’t seen the rehearsal videos yet, click here. 

The stars and pros are busy rehearsing all weekend, with camera blocking to take place on Sunday. The cast will take to the floor Monday night to perform their first dance of either a fox trot or a cha cha.  Don’t miss the live 2 hour season premiere March 21 at 8pm (ET) on ABC.  It’s going to be an exciting night!

Dancing with the Stars Season 12 Premiere: ABC's New Promo Video

It seems that Kendra Wilkinson, ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner, fiance of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett and new star of her very own E! celebrity reality show is expecting a baby.  Kendra and fiance Hank are expected to get married later this month at the Playboy mansion, an item that we're sure to see and hear a lot more about soon on Kendra's new reality show (aptly titled, Kendra), but the news of her being pregnant has come as a bit of a surprise to most.  It'll certainly change the dynamics of her new series slightly, where she certainly won't be doing stripper pole dancing in her living room and partying it up with her friends, at least not on the scare she normally would.  However it does mean we'll get to see her get big and fat and most likely whine and complain a whole bunch on television.  That should be fantastic for ratings...right?  I bet E! is thrilled.  The network released this statement about the upcoming bundle of joy today:

"Hank and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child together. We are touched by the outpouring of support by our family, friends and fans."

Source: Chicago Sun Times

Kendra Wilkinson Pregnant!

Last night Kendra Wilkinson of Girls Next Door fame and ex-girlfriend of the coolest old-dude in the entire world, Hugh Hefner, premiered her brand new reality series, Kendra, on E! Television Network.  As with all reality shows, and especially celebrity reality shows, I found myself watching not out of curiosity or interest and not even for the occasionally blurred but naked boob of Kendra.  No, I found myself watching out of total confusion.  One minute, I was innocently clicking through the channels, looking for an old episode of Two and a Half Men, or maybe even Frasier, and BAM! there was on E! without even realizing it.  I rolled my eyes the second I realized what it was, but I didn't change the channel.  Over the next hour I hit my guide button 4 times, and attempted to change the channel at least 5 times.  But not once was I successful.  I'm truly ashamed, but at least I get to provide you all with this great review of the show!

Now, to be fair, I can't review a celebrity reality show like Kendra on the same scale as any other show on television.  If that were the case I'd have to give it a negative forty on a one to ten scale, because let's be honest, no matter how often some of us might watch shows like this, they are ultimately late night television for bored, rerun-overdosed viewers.  In fact, I'm convinced that most people that watch these shows just get stuck on the channel and can't change it for unknown reasons, just like me (that or its the boobs).

The premise of the show is simple enough, Kendra has moved out of the Playboy mansion and has a house on her own now.  She'll be starting to pursue her career (in what, I'm not sure) and she's also engaged to be married to Philadelphia Eagles football player Hank Baskett.  The first two episodes have plenty of Kendra showing her boobs, as well as her getting a stripper pole installed in her living room (even though she doesn't have a couch, chair, or even a bed in the house), and having a house-warming party that had Girls Next Door alum Bridget stopping by, as well as Hef and one of his new girlfriends (can you say awkward?).  Obviously people who liked The Girls Next Door would be right at home in this new show, and is the obvious target audience, but the rest of you would probably find it as boring as I did, despite an occasionally funny moment.  Had I been successful at changing the channel during this first episode, I'd have absolutely nothing at all good to say about this new show.  But, as I already explained, I wasn't successful in changing the channel, and I stuck around for round two of Kendra.  And surprisingly, it got better.  I KNOW!  I was surprised too.

I should make it clear that the second episode had an obvious difference from the first.  You see, Kendra's fiance, Hank Baskett, came for a visit to see Kendra in this episode and the dude is hilarious.  Most of the episode revolved around Kendra and Hank taking a visit to the Playboy Mansion (Kendra's first since leaving and Hank's first ever) to introduce Hank to Hef.  Despite a nervous Hank and Kendra, all goes smoothly (because let's be honest, Hef's a pretty classy guy) and during the tour of the mansion Hef offers to let the couple get married there.  They'd be only the second couple to have their wedding there (the other was Hef and Kimberly Conrad) and naturally Kendra wants this.  But Hank, being the more regular kind of guy, is concerned about the level of control they'd have over planning the wedding as well as not wanting his wedding to be some naked party at the mansion (and what, I ask you, is wrong with that?).  Anyway, the best scene of the episode is when Kendra calls Hef to give him their answer and hands the phone to Hank before Hef answers.  An annoyed and confused Hef assumes its a prank call and hangs up on poor Hank.  I haven't laughed that hard at a reality show moment in I don't know how long.  It was really pretty funny.

Now I'm certainly not suggesting that you tune into Kendra, because I just can't do that to you.  If you watched Girls Next Door with any regularity, you're already watching Kendra.   The rest of you might enjoy turning this show on late at night, if there is absolutely nothing else on TV.  If I had to rank Kendra compared to other Celebrity Realty shows I would have to say that its FAR better than the Kardashian's and Tori and Dean, which are both watchable on occassion.  And it buries Denise Richard's show in the mud, but then again seeing that woman makes me want to vomit (I seriously have to keep a trash can near me if I happen to pass E! when her show is on).  So take it for what it's worth and if you get stuck there some night, like I do from time to time, enjoy it, its not the worst thing that could have happened.

Kendra airs on Sunday's at 10/9 central on E!, but beware, it is followed by Denise Richards show, so you'll want to immediately change the channel.

Review: "Kendra" Premiere Event on E!