After rigging the show for Kelly back in season 1, the producers have done their damnedest to ensure that there's a female winner this year. They gave defending two-time champion Julienne a crappy partner in Adam. Then they gave their other two-time champion a partner who is generally unknown to the general public in the hopes that it would keep her out of the winner's circle again.
And to top it all off, they got Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi to pair with the guy who probably should have won last year to be the woman who could win without needing an exec at ABC to make "the call" for her.
It's a tribute to Cheryl Burke that she's advanced this far with a celeb who started behind the 8-ball in terms of votes and then got hurt. She truly is the right combination of teacher, motivator and taskmistress that it takes to turn an underachiever into the winner.
Kristi is the outright favourite to win at this point. Jason has done well under Edyta's tutelage, but he has always come up just a little short. c crashed the party this year and may end up stealing 2nd place because of the sympathy votes.
The opening dance is the cha-cha-cha, a dance all three couples will not only share the style, but the same song. It's up to the pro to choreograph the dance for their partner and the celeb not to botch it.
Opening the show are Cristián and Cheryl. They will be followed by Jason and Mrs. Six Pack, then Kristi and Mark will close out the dance. Then it's time for the best round of the show: the free style.
Remember this is the round when Drew kicked some ass with his "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" dance, Jerry donned the 'fro and Tony's crappy choreography killed Stacy's chances at winning, leaving it up to Emmitt and his Hammer routine to win. Who will surge to the front of the pack this year?
While I'm waiting through the Royal Caribbean commercial, I'd like to point out that my friend Mary from work told me I needed to get a haircut. It's starting to look a little shaggy. It's too short to pull back, but it's too long to stay down. Plus I have lots of wild hairs that are hard to keep under control. In about three more weeks they will be long enough for their weight to hold them down, but right now, I'm approaching the Liu Kang look.
Now back to the dancing:
Could they pick a crappier song than "Dancing on the Ceiling"? I'm underwhelmed by Cristián. I do like the dress. Mrs. High Lord likes the open shirt. They're better with the second viewing, but still not great. Jason also seems to be moving slowly. The steps don't really match the pace and tempo of the music. Jason and Edyta get in lots of tricks, but a couple (like the jump over her head and then scooting back between her legs) seem a little out of sync.
My stepdaughter showed up right as Kristi and Mark were starting their dance so I hit pause on the DVR and let her collect the baby, who was glued to Mrs. High Lord (aka "Mimi"). They talked for a while and now it's time to hit play.
Kristi and Mark are actually keeping up with the music. She gets in lots of hip action to accentuate the frilly dress she's wearing. Plus Bruno will give her a 10 because of the opening kiss.
Jason misses a step or two in the synchronised moves at the end.
The Judges's Scores:
Cristián and Cheryl: 8-9-9
Jason and Edyta: 8-8-8
Kristi and Mark: 10-10-10
The High Lord's Scores:
Cristián and Cheryl: 8
Jason and Edyta: 8½
Kristi and Mark: 9½
Who didn't see those scores coming from the judges?
Wouldn't it be great if Kristi won in May, which also happens to be Asian-American History Month (we get 31 days, Yea!).
After drawing the Pimp Spot for the group dance, Kristi and Mark go first in the freestyle. In the intro piece, I just found out that last year Mark blew out his shoulder; why didn't I know about that? Do you think that was the real reason why Sabrina was prematurely eliminated? They bring in the future Mrs. High Lord to help them out . . . yummy! I love the Chuck Taylors. And the stunts seem to flow well in to the choreography instead of being a series of tricks with a few moves in between. She does miss a hold during one of the lifts, but overall it was fab. You know they brought a 2x4 to the competition when even Len lurves the tricks.
The Judges's Scores: 10-10-10
The High Lord's Score: 9
This is what you call a royal beat-down.
Next up are Jason and Edyta, who have spent this season as the front runners to be the first runners-up. He's thinking too much about the dance and not just letting it go. Even Mrs. High Lord thinks Edyta is hawt. This is no knock on Edyta, but I wonder how well he'd have done if his partner were Cheryl, who always finds her partner's strengths; Edyta still seems to be choreographing a little for herself. I predict a strong second place finish for these two.
The Judges's Scores: 9-9-9
The High Lord's Score: 9
I thought for sure they'd get at least a 28.
The last dance belongs to Cristián and Cheryl. To me, he's living on borrowed time, much like Marissa has been for the last couple of weeks. His weak arm has become a glaring weakness. I don't know how well he can really do with only a right arm. Showing him hurting himself in practice will get him lots more sympathy votes. They're the weakest couple left and it's because they can't do everything else the others can. Cheryl choreographs to Cristián's strengths, but I still don't think it's enough. It's not bad, but they're clearly a second-tier couple on a night when that's not going to get them invited to the final dance.
The Judges's Scores:
The High Lord's Score: 8
Unless Kristi finishes dead last in the voting, she's going to win. I think Cristián might be able to land in the top two if he gets really luck in the fan voting, but I think it's very likely that Jason becomes the first loser and Cristián and Cheryl have a good showing, but still finish third.
In a flip to another question I asked, how far could Cheryl have taken Cristián if he hadn't hurt his arm?
Tomorrow it looks like we've got the Idol performance show at 8:00 followed by the two-hour DWTS season finale at 9:00. See ya'll then.
High Lord. Out.
Monday, May 19, 2008
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3 comments:
Mark's injury last year was at the finale, during their dance, but he covered it up and then went to the hospital. Sabrina went to the hospital the minute the finale was over.
In other comments, I understand the need to have a female winner, but I think they pushed the line a little to far in their manipulations - choosing contestants, scoring, etc. - so that now, to me, it just feels like Kristi is an unwitting plant.
Still, she's obviously the best dancer, so unless she gets voted out for being too good (shades of Mario Lopez and Emmitt Smith, although Mario also had a perceived attitude problem to go with it), I think the producers will get what they want.
During the freestyle, I don't think Edyta has been that high off of the ground without a boarding pass. When Jason lifts you, you get lifted!!!
The way to get a female winner without seeming to be too manipulative is to find a guy pro who isn't a diva (Louis) and who doesn't make the dance all about him (Tony).
The one thing Cheryl and Julienne excel at is maximising the talents of their partners and covering for their weaknesses with choreography.
I'd also say there is a double standard for the female celebs. We in America have an perception of beauty that favours the young for females without the same bias towards men. That's why John O'Hurley did so well while letting his hair turn white while older women (with the exception of Marie) generally do not fare well in the fan voting.
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