In Week 1, we had 11 couples on the dance floor: 5 men and 6 women contestants.
- Chad & Cheryl 18 (6,6,6) Cha-Cha-Cha "It's Just Begun"—The Jimmy Castor Bunch
- Shannen & Mark 18 (6,6,6) Viennese Waltz "The Killing Moon"—Nouvelle Vague
- Erin & Maksim 21 (7,7,7) Cha-Cha-Cha "TiK ToK"—Ke$ha
- Jake & Chelsie 20 (7,6,7) Viennese Waltz "Kiss from a Rose"—Seal
- Niecy & Louis 18 (7,5,6) Cha-Cha-Cha "Rescue Me"—Fontella Bass
- Evan & Anna 23 (8,7,8) Viennese Waltz "I'll Be"—Edwin McCain
- Buzz & Ashly 14 (5,4,5) Cha-Cha-Cha "Cupid"—The Spinners
- Nicole & Derek 25 (9,7,9) Viennese Waltz "Hold You In My Arms"―Ray LaMontagne
- Aiden & Edyta 15 (5,5,5) Cha-Cha-Cha "Hungry Like the Wolf"—Duran Duran
- Kate & Tony 16 (6,5,5) Viennese Waltz "She's Always a Woman"—Billy Joel
- Pamela & Damian 21 (7,6,8) Cha-Cha-Cha "Gimme All Your Lovin'"—ZZ Top
Shannen & Mark earned an 18 for their Viennese Waltz, which was praised for being elegant, graceful, and technically difficult.
I think Shannen should have earned all 7s for a score of 21. I really feel that she did better than Chad and Niecy, who both also earned an 18. But, Shannen had a couple of disadvantages. She was second to dance, the first Viennese Waltz of the night, and the first female contestant to perform. Scores are always lower for the first few (unless they are insanely good dancers or something). I'm not surprised she got all 6s, because I know these judges, but after we saw all the dances, she certainly deserved 7s, in my opinion. :)
Shannen needs to work on her extension. She was very elegant and graceful, but if she extends her whole body more and is more fluid, she will be top notch. Her footwork was very good and she was able to handle and perform (even with a phobia of live audiences) a very difficult routine, right out of the gate. People are saying she won't last long, but I disagree. She really impressed me and I think she's a dark horse. I think she might just surprise people. :)
And one other thing I keep meaning to say: I'm really glad Shannen decided to go sans tan. I also choose not to tan. I don't even do the fake tan. Why? It's just vanity. And real tanning really damages your skin. The atmosphere is not what it used to be, friends, so be careful in the sun. And tanning beds are not safe. For me, I've never liked tans. I'm part Native American, so I'm medium skinned when I'm not in the sun (but I get really dark if I'm in the sun), so I don't have a problem with dark skin...just dark skin that isn't naturally dark. ;) You can tell when someone has a tan, real or fake. And it's not attractive to me. All I see is cooked meat and cancer. Sorry for the gross visual. ;) LOL All this is just to say that I'm really pleased to finally see a fair skinned woman stick to her guns and say outright "We aren't promoting skin cancer here, are we? Why do I need a spray tan?" Thanks Shannen! :)
I think Pam's scores were too high. Her Cha Cha was fine, but not any better than anyone else. And, to me, she wasn't appealing at all. She kinda looked like a prostitute who was messed up on drugs and just got beat up by her pimp. Sorry Pam. It wasn't all Pam's fault. I mean, who decided to give her messy, ratty hair? She looked like a train-wreck. :( She deserved an 18, I think.
I loved Nicole's dance, she was very elegant - but her footwork was not so much. :( She deserved Evan's score (8,7,8), but not 9s. I think Carrie Ann and Bruno forgot to look at her feet and just stared at her pretty face. ;)
Everyone else was scored pretty decently, although, Kate got a bit of a low score. I think maybe she deserved all 6s. She was pretty graceful out there.
Next week, we will watch the Jive and the Foxtrot. Those couples that did the Cha Cha will be doing a Foxtrot and those couples that did the Viennese Waltz will do the Jive.
Mark and Shannen will have a Jive. I spoke already about Mark's history with the Jive. I have a good feeling about this. I wasn't sure at first, how Shannen would handle a Jive, but after seeing her V.Waltz and watching Mark's previous Jives again - I think Shannen might actually do well with this dance. I'm guessing her outfit will be more like Kristi's outfits, since she has tiny legs like Kristi did. Sabrina, Shawn, and Melissa had more muscular, curvy legs and all had much fuller skirts.
On Tuesday of week 2, the Beach Boys w/John Stamos will perform, as well as a group of Haitian dancers for the Macy's Stars of Dance number (which will raise money for Haiti), and finally, the pros will dance a routine choreographed by Travis Payne (Michael Jackson's choreographer). Sounds like a pretty good show! :)
One couple will go home. :( Sad. It's hard to say right now, because they all still have another dance to show us, but Kate, Aiden, and Buzz are at the bottom for now.
Twitter updates from the week:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1634466/20100322/story.jhtml An article from MTV talking abt Shannen's appearance on the Ryan Seacrest show
http://www.kiisfm.com/mediaplayer/?station=KIIS-FM&action=ondemand&item=18264719&feed_name=onair.xml - Audio of Shannen on Ryan Seacrest
A little discussion of Shannen's week 1 performance over at the Examiner: http://bit.ly/9svcUo
A CBS news story with a little recap of Shannen's first week: http://bit.ly/9icwJG
http://bit.ly/aRXIR4 some mention of the high ratings of the show last night (Monday, March 22, 2010), as well as a pic of Shannen and Mark :)
Photo @dohertyshannen posted, on her Facebook, of her backstage: http://bit.ly/9rdEVF
ABC.com's episode guide for Week 1 on DWTS: http://bit.ly/athKWM
http://bit.ly/bfHKCS DWTS week on Millionaire will begin on Mon the 29th. Mark is one of the celebrity ? askers :) check your listings!
