Sean says...

Well last night was the men's turn on Dancing With The Stars and it was a little less intense only because Stefan and I were calmouring to see Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan and pro Mark Ballas dance again. The men were ok in my eyes. The two stand out couples were 2-time Indy 500 Winner Helio Castroneves and partner Jullianne Hough (last season's winner with Apolo Anton Ohno) and Abercrombie & Fitch model Albert Reed and his partner Anna Trebunskaya (who's husband is Marie Osmond's partner, Jonathan Roberts).

Helio Castroneves

I would give the edge to Castroneves who had a great dance partner (she's only 20!) in Julianne (her brother Derek Hough is the partner for Jennie Garth and former professional dance partner is Mark Ballas) and really was elegant and dashing last night. Let's see if Julianne can do what she excelled at with Apolo!  Reed has the hip movements and enthusiasm though that could make him a fan favorite... and well he isn't afraid to take his shirt off for the ladies. In fact guest co-host and former Season 2 winner Drew Lachey said that it took him 6 episodes to wear an outfit like Reed wore last night.

Albert Reed

Reed shrugged it off and said that if he made it through a few more rounds he would do it without a shirt! Well!  Lachey smirked and said "Well I think you won a lot of female votes and maybe even some male votes with that comment!" Basically with A&F catalogs under his * um * belt, Reed I don't think has a problem showing off his body at all. <face of shock>

Unfortunately we couldn't find any video of the men. When we find some we will post Castroneves' and Reed's first take at ballroom. In the meantime try and find the various "easter eggs" of past dance performances by some of the pros!

In the middle of the pack are billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and partner Kym Johnson and All My Children soap actor Cameron Mathison and partner Edyta Sliwinska.  What is weird here is that both Cuban and Mathison both suffer from hip problems. Cuban just have hip replacement surgery two

Mark Cuban and Tongue

months ago!  Mathison was diagnosed at age 4 with Legg-Calvé-Perthes syndrome, a condition that involves the degeneration of the hip joint (which is interesting since his official website talks about how he is a big celebirty basketball players as well).  The both did well although they were stiff in some places - probably because of their hip issues - and Cuban kept sticking out his tongue throughout the dance. I guess with these two you say "break a hip" before they go on huh? 

The bottom performers last night were WBC Super Welterweight Boxing Champion Floyd Mayweather with partner Karina Smirnoff and Mr. Las Vegas (and Branson, MO) himself Wayne Newton and dance pro and Season 2 and 3 winner Cheryl Burke.  Mayweather ended the night with the lowest judges score but he wasn't that bad. Granted the introduction film of his workouts with Karina were testy and he threatened to quit we are told, but he actually was enthusiastic and tried. Newton on the other hand was I think given a pass simply on his personality. He was basically told a lot of good things to his face and then handed a low score. He was truly awful and acted like he really didn't try. The man has done a lot of work for our troops through the USO but this was just sad. I will say though that Cheryl and Karina were amazingly professional and kept to a standard they always show. What's sad is that the lack of commitment perhaps by their partners - or is it inhibitedness? - will sideline them perhaps early to just Result Show exhibitions.

Julianne, Cheryl, Edyta, and Kym

On a special note about the show last night, I have a huge bone to pick with the director and I think Stefan would agree with me here. Everytime the hosts mentioned that one of the celebs would be going home soon they always cut to a picture of Josie Maran!  Now the woman did WAY better than Newton and Mayweather and even Mathison even, but she is getting such the raw deal. She was told to her face the night she danced that she was awful and now the director has the cameras cut to her when "going home" is mentioned. Is it just sexism or is it they just don't like her? I mean the same criticisms leveled at her really should have gone Newton's, Mayweather's, or Mathison's way in the harsh tone they gave her. If she goes home tonight in round 1, it was death by show and not her own doing.

My peace is said! I am sure Stefan will ring in his thoughts shortly!

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Sean says...

Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas

Yes yes yes, Stefan and I have been overtaken by a show that is basically cheesy and silly reality television, Dancing with the Stars (with Stars said in breathy dramatic fashion). But the show reminds me at least about the variety shows of the 60s and 70s where dance and music were celebrated. Granted some of the dance and music is crappy and the celebs not that notable, but it certainly brings a smile to our faces. The judges, especially Bruno (watch the clip for an example) can be a little weird.

Here is an incredibly unexpected performance by Sabrina Bryan of Disney Channel's Cheetah Girl movies and her dance professional partner Mark Ballas that turned out incredible! It is so great to see people having fun and being good at what they can do!  Hopefully she can keep up the dance throughout the season... and yes I just wrote that. EEK! Sadly you will probably hear about more of this show as the Fall progresses... Enjoy the clip!

Cha Cha by Sabrina and Mark on "Dancing with the Stars!"

Stefan says...

At this point in the proceedings, here is how I ranked last night's contestants:

#6: Josie Maran (dancing obviously does not come easily to her, but I give her full credit for putting herself out there)

#5: Marie Osmond (a little disapointing; her natural charm and show biz training carried her thru her stiffness)

#4: Jennie Garth (she is paired with the cutest prof. dancer, Derek; I predict he will be able to mentor her over the next few weeks, and she may be the dark horse)

Melanie B & Maksim Chemerkovskiy

#3: Jane Seymour (she has natural grace and class, without being pretentious; I would love to see her - a woman in her late 50s, and in fact, the oldest competitor they have ever had on the show - win)

#2: Melanie B. (a real surprise - she kicked some major butt last night; she is definitely one for whom to watch out)

and #1...

SABRINA BRYAN!!! (head-and-shoulders above all of the other competitors; amazing to watch!  In fact, Sean and I rewound it and watched it four times, and never tired of seeing her in action.  She truly appears to be enjoying every second of her performance...and she is adorable.  I will be very surprised if she doesn't wind up in the top two at the end of the competition. 

But, it is very, very early in the competition, so it is truly anyone's game!

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