TV Jots

I’m sure I’m not the only viewer who believes the intensity of the gripes was over the top and unwarranted—in other words, the judges’ complaints mainly seemed geared towards preventing Laila, an obvious dancing natural, from continuing to dominate the competition—and, hopefully, audience members’ votes will put everything back into proper order. Nevertheless, the evening of dramatic ballroom Tango and energetic American Jive dancing was entertaining and further sweetened by the promise of seeing aging rockers Survivor perform “Eye of the Tiger,” their early 1980s “fight to the finish” hit from Rocky III, during tonight’s results show. Who knew those guys were even still together?

Shandi Finnessey/Brian Fortuna—Jive

• Score: 7 (Carrie Ann), 7 (Len), 7 (Bruno) = 21/30 Points
• After filling out the bottom two spots alongside Paulina Porizkova and her partner Alec Mazo, the couple eventually voted off in the first elimination last week, Shandi Finnessey had a lot to prove to both her partner and viewers last night. Her dancing still had not progressed as much as I was hoping it would, but at least she dared to move her hips a little. It was also a good sign during the rehearsal footage that she demonstrated more humbleness and respect for Brian, a professional dancer, and less bossiness simply because she’s taller and older than him. Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli noted her overall improvement, taking time to also point out that she still needs to work on her precision and “flailing” arm movements. Shandi appears to have learned her lesson—she’s got an excellent partner in Brian, and it’s all on her to step up to the challenge and work hard if she wants to stick around. My score for the performance was in line with the judges’ 7s.

John Ratzenberger/Edyta Sliwinska—Tango

• Score: 7 (Carrie Ann), 6 (Len), 7 (Bruno) = 20/30 Points
• During the rehearsal footage, Edyta accurately described the Tango as a dance where the performers have to look like they’re madly in love, but also like they hate each other. In addition, the male partner needs to project intense machismo. John got the last part correct, putting on good face throughout the entire routine. Unfortunately, his movements were too wooden, almost robotic in a not good way, and it was highly apparent that Edyta was doing all of the work. That is, until the very end, when John dragged her clear across the dance floor by her arm. Ouch! Since the routine wasn’t up to snuff with the pair’s previous two outings, in my opinion, I gave their efforts a 5. The judges agreed that the performance lacked sufficient precision and sharpness in the moves, although John acted his role well.

Clyde Drexler/Elena Grinenko—Jive

• Score: 6 (Carrie Ann), 5 (Len), 5 (Bruno) = 16/30 Points
• What in the world happened to the Clyde from last week?! He totally disappeared, that’s what. The judges were 110 percent correct for feeling that Clyde regressed rather than progressed this week, and after such an incredible improvement last week, too. The lovable former NBA star looked painfully uncomfortable and/or embarrassed during his turn on the dance floor instead of confident and relaxed like he should have. Carrie summed it up when she noted that Clyde only seemed to put in a fourth of the effort required and that he danced “little.” As much as it pains me to say, Clyde’s Jive was only worth a 5; Carrie Ann was generous for giving him a 6.

Laila Ali/Maksim Chmerkovskiy—Tango

• Score: 7 (Carrie Ann), 7 (Len), 7 (Bruno) = 21/30 Points
• The judges did their best to find something to gripe about in order to rein in the obvious top contender, so they focused on Laila’s busy schedule during the training for Week 3′s performance and blamed her dedication to fulfilling her prior commitments as the culprit for an allegedly less-than-compelling routine. While their criticisms about the Tango requiring constant contact were accurate, the negative feedback seemed more like a ploy to bring Laila and Maksim, *the* couple to beat, down to the level of the other competitors. Fine—that might work for now. Busy Laila or not, the performance was still lovely, adequately alluring, and worthy of an 8 in my score book.

Apolo Anton Ohno/Julianne Hough—Jive

• Score: 7 (Carrie Ann), 8 (Len), 8 (Bruno) = 23/30 Points
• The fast, energetic pace made it crystal clear that Apolo is not a natural dancer as he fumbled step after step yet kept on going. Although the shades of greasy, ponytailed John Travolta and bobbed Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction were cute, all of the fun that Apolo and Julianne had couldn’t elevate the routine above a 6 in my opinion. The fact that the judges gave the pair as high as an 8 only makes me suspicious of how they determine their scores because in no way, shape, or form were Apolo and Juliane better than Laila and Maksim this week. Thank goodness the audience’s votes count for half of the total scores.

Joey Fatone/Kym Johnson—Tango

• Score: 8 (Carrie Ann), 8 (Len), 8 (Bruno) = 24/30 Points
• This one was a difficult segment for me to watch. The Star Wars light saber bits at the beginning and end, the long skinny braids flying off the back of Fatone’s head, and the drab brown outfits made the performance entirely too cheesy for me, and I’ve been quite forgiving of Joey and Kym’s clowning around in the first episodes. I imagine if the foolishness doesn’t calm down in a couple of weeks, I’ll probably begin wondering if the couple is capable of ever getting serious. Joey and Kym are undeniably well matched, however, and their routine was an easy 8 for both me and all three judges.

Ian Ziering/Cheryl Burke—Jive

• Score: 8 (Carrie Ann), 8 (Len), 8 (Bruno) = 24/30 Points
• All while Ian and Cheryl performed their lively and fleet-footed routine, I kept thinking, “Yeah—now we’re talking!” Their’s was the best performance of the third week, and why the judges chose to give the duo measly 8s I will never understand. Cheryl took Ian to check out some strippers to help him with his hip action, a decision that paid off tenfold during their fun, well-executed choreography. I gave it the high score of the night, a 9.

Leeza Gibbons/Tony Dovolani—Tango

• Score: 8 (Carrie Ann), 8 (Len), 8 (Bruno) = 24/30 Points
• Leeza obviously had the goal of delivering the best performance possible when she stepped out onto the dance floor, and she accomplished it beyond her wildest expectations. Her routine with Tony looked the most like a simple, traditional Tango, what with the ultra stiff frame, frequent head snaps, and quick kicks. It was also kind of boring to me, as well. Yet, Leeza’s efforts—which included putting a temporary Tramp tattoo on her bosom in response to Bruno’s suggestion that she should have “let her tramp out” during last week’s Mambo—definitely deserved an 8, no matter how much I would have rather seen her kick her leg up and (finally) shake her hips with some Jive. The judges lavished praise on Leeza’s improvement, with Carrie Ann observing that the talk show host brought it to the floor and Bruno verifying that she is back in business.

Heather Mills/Jonathan Roberts—Jive

• Score: 8 (Carrie Ann), 8 (Len), 8 (Bruno) = 24/30 Points
• It’s official—Heather Mills really is absolutely amazing when it comes to working with and around her disability. She and Jonathan gave the 50s sock hop theme all it was worth and then some, despite the enormous challenges the Jive dance style presented to Heather due to the bounciness of the steps and the lack of bounciness in her artificial leg. Not willing to back down from the difficulty, she wore sneakers for extra spring in her step and bounced like the best of them, to the tune of an 8 from me and the judges.

Billy Ray Cyrus/Karina Smirnoff—Tango

• Score: 7 (Carrie Ann), 7 (Len), 7 (Bruno) = 21/30 Points
• If Clyde hadn’t performed so poorly, Billy Ray would get my vote again for the least impressive competitor (Carrie Ann can keep claiming he’s the most improved dancer from the first week all she wants—I ain’t buying it). Since Clyde did perform below par in the third round, however, Billy Ray is spared my wrath this week. There are three things he’ll have to do to stifle my criticism in the future: loosen up (the Tango was actually a good dance for him since he’s so chronically stiff), stop concentrating so hard (his mega-focused facial expression is distracting), and quit talking while he’s dancing (who besides him needs to track the beats?). He committed all three offenses once more this week, forcing me to dole out the relatively low score of 6.

Judges’ Leaderboard for Week 3

1. Joey Fatone/Kym Johnson
   Leeza Gibbons/Tony Dovolani
   Heather Mills/Jonathan Roberts
   Ian Ziering/Cheryl Burke
2. Apolo Anton Ohno/Julianne Hough
3. Laila Ali/Maksim Chmerkovskiy
   Billy Ray Cyrus/Karina Smirnoff
   Shandi Finnessey/Brian Fortuna
4. John Ratzenberger/Edyta Sliwinska
5. Clyde Drexler/Elena Grinenko

tv|jots Leaderboard for Week 3

1. Ian Ziering/Cheryl Burke
2. Laila Ali/Maksim Chmerkovskiy
   Joey Fatone/Kym Johnson
   Leeza Gibbons/Tony Dovolani
   Heather Mills/Jonathan Roberts
3. Shandi Finnessey/Brian Fortuna
4. Apolo Anton Ohno/Julianne Hough
   Billy Ray Cyrus/Karina Smirnoff
5. Clyde Drexler/Elena Grinenko
   John Ratzenberger/Edyta Sliwinska

tv|jots Leaderboard for Weeks 1–3

1. Laila Ali/Maksim Chmerkovskiy
2. Joey Fatone/Kym Johnson
3. Ian Ziering/Cheryl Burke
4. Heather Mills/Jonathan Roberts
5. Leeza Gibbons/Tony Dovolani
   Apolo Anton Ohno/Julianne Hough
6. Shandi Finnessey/Brian Fortuna
7. John Ratzenberger/Edyta Sliwinska
8. Clyde Drexler/Elena Grinenko
9. Billy Ray Cyrus/Karina Smirnoff

Related Links: Dancing with the Stars Recaps

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8pm EST (performance) and Tuesdays at 9pm EST (results) on ABC.

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