Dancing With The Stars -- Week 2 (Vote)

[Porfirio Landeros]

Previous Dancing With the Stars Discussions
Preshow and Week 1 Discussion (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9152)
Week 1 Poll (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9845)
Week 2 Discussion (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9909)
Week 2 Poll (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9927)
Week 3 (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10023)
Week 4 (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10123)
Week 5 (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10219)
Finale (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10312)

Soundtrack (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9893t=10122)
Judges & Contestants (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9928)
In the News (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10054)
Music (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10036)
Sold Out (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9883)
Free Tickets (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9233)





I guess I'll be more specific, Who would you vote through to next week if you only had one vote?

[Breathe]

I guess I'll be more specific, Who would you vote through to next week if you only had one vote?

John O'Hurley gets my vote without a second thought, but I'm so happy Kelly and Alec are going to get to have sex again next week. Maybe by that time they'll be able to dance a little too.

[smoozer]

I guess I'll be more specific, Who would you vote through to next week if you only had one vote?

John O'Hurley gets my vote without a second thought, but I'm so happy Kelly and Alec are going to get to have sex again next week. Maybe by that time they'll be able to dance a little too.

LMAO

[Big10]

I guess I'll be more specific, Who would you vote through to next week if you only had one vote?
Is that why you left out Trista/Louis? Otherwise, I imagine there might be some people who really liked their performance.

[chachachacat]

I think John & Charlotte were the unquestioned winners.

[tsb]

carrie called it - john & his partner are the couple to beat. but don't underestimate the resources NKOTB & soap fans have.

EDIT: i think john benefited from having a partner that specializes in standard vs. latin.

[Breathe]

I think John & Charlotte were the unquestioned winners.

^are^

[tacad]

I went dancing (at the moose for tsb) and forgot to tape it. I've really got to get TIVO.

[tsb]

I went dancing (at the moose for tsb) and forgot to tape it. I've really got to get TIVO.

i have it on tape. if you come to my party on the 25th you can watch it then.

[Porfirio Landeros]

BTW, our dance-forums Week 1 poll had Louis/Trista in last place, so be careful who you [don't] vote for, because I guess we're always right here ;)

[Rugby]

I "hope" people are voting on how well the star has learned to dance, but I think a lot of people are voting for the people they like instead. This is "not" a popularity contest! It is a "dance" contest and let us please remember that. If we are going to vote for whom we like regardless of how well they are portraying the dance than it is not a fair contest. All these people have worked hard and deserve a fair shake but if we are voting on popularity than lets just line them up on stage and vote and forget the dancing. Kelly is popular, it seems, and I think she can just stand there and people will vote for her anyway. If you vote "just" because you like that person than don't you dare utter a complaint if you feel a judge at a competition is doing that, as you are proving to be acting no better. Please think of this before you vote.

[Breathe]

I "hope" people are voting on how well the star has learned to dance, but I think a lot of people are voting for the people they like instead. This is "not" a popularity contest! It is a "dance" contest and let us please remember that. If we are going to vote for whom we like regardless of how well they are portraying the dance than it is not a fair contest. All these people have worked hard and deserve a fair shake but if we are voting on popularity than lets just line them up on stage and vote and forget the dancing. Kelly is popular, it seems, and I think she can just stand there and people will vote for her anyway. If you vote "just" because you like that person than don't you dare utter a complaint if you feel a judge at a competition is doing that, as you are proving to be acting no better. Please think of this before you vote.

ummm....did you check out the poll? John and Charlotte are dominating. Most people here (i.e. read the spoiler thread) think that John is the best.

Like I said above, I don't mind Kelly continuing - she and alec are pr0n stars together and a little danceporn never hurt anyone. But I voted for John. Duh.

[Rugby]

On this site, not on others.

[tsb]

ABC hosts a message board and there are a number of soap & NKOTB fans posting there raving about how great their idols did. <gag>

[Infosaturated]

I "hope" people are voting on how well the star has learned to dance, but I think a lot of people are voting for the people they like instead. This is "not" a popularity contest! It is a "dance" contest and let us please remember that. If we are going to vote for whom we like regardless of how well they are portraying the dance than it is not a fair contest. All these people have worked hard and deserve a fair shake but if we are voting on popularity than lets just line them up on stage and vote and forget the dancing. Kelly is popular, it seems, and I think she can just stand there and people will vote for her anyway. If you vote "just" because you like that person than don't you dare utter a complaint if you feel a judge at a competition is doing that, as you are proving to be acting no better. Please think of this before you vote.

I disagree.

1) The entire set-up is skewed to begin with. Would "rising stars" be asked to compete with world champions in any other venue? If we just vote by which couple is best, then the most experienced couples will win by default.

2) The extreme bias shown by the judges in the first show offended many viewers many of whom are not Kelly fans and many of whom are dancers so it isn't just amateurs that noticed.

I agree with what seems to be everyone here that John and Charlotte were the best. We disagree about Joey and Ashly verses Johnathan and Rachel.

Nevertheless, if I vote for John and Charlotte there is a good chance Kelly will go home instead of Evander, and in my honest opinion Evander should have gone home this week not Trista. At this point there are only two celebs with no dance experience left, Evander and Kelly.

I thought Kelly held up well the first week and was just as good as Trista and Rachel (for different reasons) and better much better than Evander. I feel she showed growth this week but that the choreograhy was lacking. Maybe Alec didn't put in rumba steps because he didn't think she could do them but maybe she could and we just didn't get a chance to see her try.

Last week Kelly was somewhat stiff, almost more of a tango look than a waltz, but did do a lot of waltz dance steps. This week Kelly was far more supple and really through herself into dancing ( don't see where the judges got "brittle" from). I think she has oodles of potential if she can get it going all at once so to speak.

So, my vote will go to Kelly because I think she is the most interesting contestant in terms of developmental potential. For someone without any formal experience in dancing I think she is doing exceptionally well. I am looking forward to seeing what she and Alec can pull off.

If everyone votes for whomever is the best dancer technically, then invaribly the votes would have to go to the more experienced dancers. How can Alec compete with Johnathan on a purely technical basis when Johnathan is a championship Pro/Am dancer with a partner who has a ballet background verses Alec who has far less extensive experience and a partner with no experience? Might as well just line up the pros by their level of experience and skip the voting. How could Edyta or Ashly compete against Charlotte?

I have to keep voting for Kelly until Evander and Rachel are gone, unless next week Evander goes home and Rachel does something that impresses me other than ballet moves and those gorgeous leg extensions of hers. They are great, but I now have two tapes of them. I don't need to watch leg extensions and splits for six weeks. Maybe Evander will go home and Rachel will surprise me in which case she will get my vote.

Once it is down to John, Joey and either Kelly or Rachel depending on next week's performance my vote will become more of a toss up.

I will be voting on the basis of most improved celebrity. So far I think John and Joey are most improved.

[discovery]

I "hope" people are voting on how well the star has learned to dance, but I think a lot of people are voting for the people they like instead. This is "not" a popularity contest...

I hear what you're saying, believe me that I am disappointed that Louis and Trista went home while Evander and Edyta are still here. And if they have future seasons, which I hope they will, I could see there being a problem with one of the celebrities being more famous than the others and having a particularly vocal fan base.

That being said, I think that bottom line is that this is entertainment, which makes it different from a ballroom dance competition. Part of me wants to vote for evander just because I think it would be entertaining to see him dance each week. Although I haven't voted for him so far, I think it's my and everyone's prerogative to do so.

[Breathe]

good perspective info - of course that brings into the bias of the judges - do they vote for most improved or what? Apparently Evander's dance tonight was better than Kelly's last week. I'm still waiting to see someone figure that one out for me...

[Purr]

John O'Hurley and Charlotte Jorgensen - Quickstep

They're getting my vote online. That quickstep routine was awesome! :D

[pygmalion]

It was. 8) :D And yes, my online vote will go to them this week, I think. I have to think strategy about whom I don't want to be eliminated, though. Hmm... :?

[kansas49er]

John O'Hurley and Charlotte Jorgensen - Quickstep

They're getting my vote online. That quickstep routine was awesome! :D

For a non Ballroom dancer, it was by far the most inspiring. For the most depressing, Holyfield. He should have gone first, although I did not see the first go round. By the way,he is the only one I know of by name, the others I just don't know. BUt Krista and Louis? He may be a great dancer, but he danced (from my perspective-knowing nothing) with himself.

[Swingolder]

Gosh, I missed it again!

[Katarzyna]

It was. 8) :D And yes, my online vote will go to them this week, I think. I have to think strategy about whom I don't want to be eliminated, though. Hmm... :?

They should allow peope to vote for the couple they want eliminated...

[SDsalsaguy]

They should allow peope to vote for the couple they want eliminated...
I think I'd like that better myself as well. Hmm...

[new-ish]

The big disappointment for me last night was not knowing how the public vote went.

I would guess Louis' arrogant attitude hurt them in the public vote. It's hard to support that unless you really show yourself to be THAT much better.

On the second show, I was amazed that all the guys did so well on Quickstep. That is one hard dance.

Anyway, I loooove this show. I hope that someone who knows how the TV networks decide these things will tell us what viewers can do to make sure there are more seasons.

[Katarzyna]

The big disappointment for me last night was not knowing how the public vote went.

I would guess Louis' arrogant attitude hurt them in the public vote. It's hard to support that unless you really show yourself to be THAT much better.

On the second show, I was amazed that all the guys did so well on Quickstep. That is one hard dance.

Anyway, I loooove this show. I hope that someone who knows how the TV networks decide these things will tell us what viewers can do to make sure there are more seasons.

All people have to do is watch it... In the couple 1000s of Nelsen tracked homes...that determine the ad spending for the TV in the US
:? :? :?

I wish they were more clear on the voting process too.. maybe next time...

[Katarzyna]

They should allow peope to vote for the couple they want eliminated...
I think I'd like that better myself as well. Hmm...

:twisted:

[aimerrouge]

I was surprised at the ratings this show is getting. I thought I would be the only one watching.

John and Charlotte are wonderful. What I really loved about their performance is that they danced "pretty." Splits, death drops, neckdrops, etc. are nice, but they aren't required to dance beautifully. I think a lot of people forget that. I hope they win.

Joey looks like he's having fun.

Evander has feet of clay.

Kelly has a hot body. That alone will keep her in competition. Unfortunately, her dancing (though she greatly improved this week) leaves much to be desired.

I was amused and surprised Trista (the former Miami Heat "dancer" ) was uncomfortable with the Rhumba.

Rachel, I think her dancing is missing something, I'm not sure what.

[tacad]

I went dancing (at the moose for tsb) and forgot to tape it. I've really got to get TIVO.

i have it on tape. if you come to my party on the 25th you can watch it then.
Cool! :banana:

[Phil Owl]

I have to admit I really enjoyed John O Hurley's and Charlotte's quickstep, and I don't even LIKE quickstep at all. He really rose up to the challenge admirably, plus he has so much natural personality and wit anyway!

Definitely enjoyed ALL the rhumba routines, though Kelly's was the weakest of the 3, comparatively speaking. Watching Evander Hollyfield quickstep was painful though, it just seemed like an ill-fit for him (I hear he fared way better with cha-cha though).

I have to admit, this is very entertaining to watch, especially seeing people who have NEVER done ballroom or latin or dancing of ANY type rise up to challenging material. If anything, I hope it would encourage people to try it themselves.

[Another Elizabeth]

I agree with what seems to be everyone here that John and Charlotte were the best. We disagree about Joey and Ashly verses Johnathan and Rachel.
You asked in the other thread what was wrong with Joey. It's his posture (as all three judges noted). It's really clear to a ballroom audience, but it might not be to the general public. It appears to me that he is nervous about stepping on his partner (common for new leaders in the standard dances). He tries to avoid it by sticking out his butt. Then he has to cave his chest forward to keep his balance, and he starts dropping his shoulders and armline. This was exacerbated by the fact that the choreography was too difficult for him. (Part of why John's dancing with Charlotte was so nice was that she picked stuff that he could do - a nice, swinging quickstep with just enough bounce to keep it in character.)

The sad thing is that most of the "instinctive" responses to the fear of stepping on your partner (like Joey's butt, or the also-common shuffling of the feet), actually make things worse, not better. With a good teacher and a little more time, I think he could be quite good. (Not saying that his current partner isn't a good teacher, but some people take longer than others to train their reflexes.)

I think the costuming he used was at least partly designed to camouflage the butt problem, and it worked fairly well - you wouldn't notice it unless you knew a little about what you were looking for. But all the judges caught it immediately.

[Infosaturated]

Thanks for the information Elizabeth. I have the show taped and will watch it again with your comments in mind.

[Warren J. Dew]

For the most depressing, Holyfield. He should have gone first, although I did not see the first go round. By the way,he is the only one I know of by name, the others I just don't know. BUt Krista and Louis? He may be a great dancer, but he danced (from my perspective-knowing nothing) with himself.
Check out the threads on this forum on the first round. Krista and Louis did the worst in last week's poll, for reasons that can be found in those threads. There's also a link to videos if you want to see for yourself.

I haven't seen this week's shows, but I have to say that Evander was probably the best natural dancer among the men last week - he was lighter on his feet, and obviously felt the music. Unfortunately, he didn't feel the music in the accepted ballroom Latin way. It would be interesting to know what the nonballroom swing community felt about it, since they more sensitive to backbeats and less focused on the downbeat than ballroom dancers are.

[pygmalion]

I agree, Warren. Evander definitely felt the music, last week. This week, it seems he felt out of place. Making the leap from one type of music to another isn't easy. Maybe he's having trouble with the transition. *shrug*

I'm not suggesting that he should be held to a lower standard in this competition, but I saw a pretty good freestyle dancer last week, bad footwork notwithstanding. I bet he can "throw down" in a club. 8) (Sorry. The slang just popped out. :lol: :lol: ) It takes a long time, I think, to connect a club dancer to ballroom music. But if he sticks to ballroom long enough (a big if,) look out! :wink: :lol:

[Medira]

I agree, Warren. Evander definitely felt the music, last week. This week, it seems he felt out of place. Making the leap from one type of music to another isn't easy. Maybe he's having trouble with the transition. *shrug*

I'm not suggesting that he should be held to a lower standard in this competition, but I saw a pretty good freestyle dancer last week, bad footwork notwithstanding. I bet he can "throw down" in a club. 8) (Sorry. The slang just popped out. :lol: :lol: ) It takes a long time, I think, to connect a club dancer to ballroom music. But if he sticks to ballroom long enough (a big if,) look out! :wink: :lol:I think the biggest difference between last week and this week is the fact that Evander looked like he was having fun last week. This week, he looked like we was suffering from one heck of a painful brain cramp (which could have very well been the case). I completely agree though, he can do it. He will probably just need a little more time to get there.

[Stiletto One]

I think Kelly's dancing is getting there, and fast.

And as far as Rumba went, Kelly and Alec's rumba looked/felt the most like Rumba; the other two routines, I was like "***, that looks like cha cha" they were so snappy.

Anyway, I have no worries about John making it, so I'll be voting Kelly unless she does something incredibly bad. That, and I feel like she keeps getting unfairly gutted by the judges. (What's with the scores, anyway?)

[Laura]

I watched this week's episode in person and I would not say that Kelly is being unfairly gutted by the judges. She can't move her legs and has bad balance. That said, she did a good job of writhing. It was really funny to hear Louis van Amstel's mom sitting next to me going "That's not Latin dancing!!!" during her routine.

Kelly will stay in a while because she has a gazillion fans from both her soap opera and Playboy days. And that it was it is...I just hope she keeps showing the improvement from week to week that she did between the waltz and rumba. At that rate, she'll be acceptable by the final. And no matter what I think of her dancing now, I certainly agree that she's the "most improved" and if her fans keep her in long enough to give her a chance to show even more improvement, then that's not a bad thing in the end.

Infosaturated comment about Alec Mazo's preceived lack of experience. Alec has been teaching for some time now, although he only recently became a Pro. This is because US Amateurs at a certain level are allowed to teach. He trains a gaggle of very talented and accomplished Latin dancers in San Francisco. The thing with Alec, though, is that he's teaching youths who are already paired up, and also group classes for kids. He's not teaching adults, and has never done Pro/Am. I think he's a great looking guy, and man can he dance, and the kids he trains are all awesome. He's got a lot of experience (multi-time US amateur Latin finalist), so it's not like he's just some green rising star going up against the likes of Jonathan Roberts.

[Infosaturated]

Infosaturated comment about Alec Mazo's preceived lack of experience. Alec has been teaching for some time now, although he only recently became a Pro. This is because US Amateurs at a certain level are allowed to teach. He trains a gaggle of very talented and accomplished Latin dancers in San Francisco. The thing with Alec, though, is that he's teaching youths who are already paired up, and also group classes for kids. He's not teaching adults, and has never done Pro/Am. I think he's a great looking guy, and man can he dance, and the kids he trains are all awesome. He's got a lot of experience (multi-time US amateur Latin finalist), so it's not like he's just some green rising star going up against the likes of Jonathan Roberts.

Oh absolutely, I realize he is a the prestigious level in ballroom dancing, but, would Johnathan Louis and Alec be likely to find themselves in the same level and style of competition any time soon?

I guess what I am saying is that it would be not only like trying to compare apples and oranges, but apple and oranges of different strains.

How about Charlotte, Edyta and Ashly?

As an ordinary person that knows nothing about ballroom beyond old movies, every single pro is an equally amazing dancer for different reasons, and no way am I knowledgable to rate male dancers against female dancers. Even so, it is clear that they all bring very different skills to the teaching or coaching process and not everyone is a good teacher.

Louis is an awesome dancer and I think the clips making him look self-centered were unfair and taken out of context. His expertise on the dancefloor was self-evident even to someone who doesn't know anything. But does that make him a good teacher for someone like Trista?

I read somewhere that Louis trains Alec and Edyta but that is entirely different from working with someone who's background is cheerleading not ballroom isn't it?

That's what I meant in pointing out the differences between the pro's backgrounds.

[Laura]

Oh absolutely, I realize he is a the prestigious level in ballroom dancing, but, would Johnathan Louis and Alec be likely to find themselves in the same level and style of competition any time soon?

Well, Louis doesn't have a pro partner right now, but he is a former world champion so that automatical vaults him to the top of the heap. As far as Jonathan and Alec's competitive results go, you need only look to the results of the recent San Francisco Open in April:


Pro heat 9 [04/03/2005 22:04]
1 Jose Decamps with Cheryl Burke
2 Jonathan Roberts with Anna Trebunskaya
3 Vaidotas Skimelis with Jurga Pupelyte
4 Alec Mazo with Edyta Sliwinska
5 Nikolai Shapakov with Yana Mazhnikova
6 Danila Kartashov with Nuria Adcala
7 Egor Novikov with Ekaterina Zakharoff
SEMIFINAL Gennadiy Oseshnyuk with Iryna Vikatto
SEMIFINAL Brian Coyne with Deborah Coyne
SEMIFINAL Jiri Kosydar with Monika Dubovska
SEMIFINAL Patrick Ellison with Annie Morrissey
SEMIFINAL Phililp Gott with Olga Ginzburg
SEMIFINAL Tytus Bergstrom with Silke Heleine
SEMIFINAL Ru Bao with Eweliva Basak


As far as Charlotte, Edyta, and Ashly goes, Charlotte has far more experience teaching and dancing standard and winning huge competitions than either of the other two do. In fact, I don't think either Edyta nor Ashly have ever done pro Standard competitions.

Even so, it is clear that they all bring very different skills to the teaching or coaching process and not everyone is a good teacher.

This is very very true, and as you point out there are all kinds of teaching. Louis is an amazing teacher, yet I doubt he ever works with anyone like Trista.

[Porfirio Landeros]

Looks like John O'Hurley is safe this week (based on our poll here). I'm sure Kelly will get a bunch of fan votes again, so I wonder if this means Evander/Edyta should worry?

[Laura]

I'm thinking the bottom two will be Jonathan & Rachel and Evander & Edyta. The rabid fans at the ABC board love Kelly and hate Rachel because they're comparing women to women and just spaz out whenever anyone tries to explain how and why Rachel is a better dancer. Also, Alec being hotter than Jonathan will help Kelly.

I think that Evander & Edyta should go if you look at this from a dance sense, but I would not be suprised if Evander has received enough sympathy votes to keep him in -- especially since the consensus is that Edyta is hot -- people might vote for them just so they can look at her for another week. Sad to say, but I'm afraid Jonathan & Rachel will be going home this week.