Today, fill your cup of life with sunshine and laughter.
~Dodinsky


24 November 2010

Dancing Fool


The Dancing show last night was interesting.

Keep in mind that this was the ONLY time I've watched the show all the way through without falling asleep (not a comment on the show - it's a strange effect that watching TV has on me). I don't know what the show's format is supposed to be, or who the previously booted personalities were (except I had this strange feeling of deja vu during some of the interim dances - was that Knightrider? He looks like hell! And Mrs. Brady? If that was her, I suspect a liberal use of cryogenics ...)

Most of the show dragged and was boring to me because, frankly, I didn't know what trials and tribulations the various dancers had undergone through the season so most of the stuff between the performances was irrelevant to me. I was watching this because Trav says the dancing is amazing. He's right.
Two moments last night were of the "breath-taking" genre:

That guy, Kyle ... I missed whatever his first dance was called, but it rocked! He and the blonde chick he was dancing with were so into it and they made it look like so much fun, I wanted to get up and skitter with them. It brought a genuine smile of pleasure to my face - something TV is not generally capable of doing. I totally see why they called him a consummate entertainer. His expressive face was almost as cool to watch as the dance itself. Who is he, anyway?

Baby danced last night and made me cry with the Viennese Waltz. That was truly of a sensual beauty. I have to give her this - she does elegant VERY well. It was a pleasure to watch her dance again after all these years - maturity has a grace and loveliness all its own. (I can say that - she's close to my age!)

I'm not sure Jennifer should've won though - doesn't she have dance in her history? Pretty sure that Kyle guy was starting from ground zero and if she wasn't, the playing field couldn't have been too level ... but that being said, she was clearly the best technical dancer. Still, I wouldn't want to make that decision - they were as different in their style as you can get and I loved watching them both.

Which left me feeling a little sorry for the other girl - Bristol? I loved seeing a big girl make it to the finals, even though her skill wasn't in the same league as the other two. I thought her cha-cha was wonderful - just as good as Baby's although not as fun as Kyle's (Strange how both Jennifer and Bristol wore the same type of outfit for that, eh?), but her other dances were a bit ... wooden? I suspect she's worked her ass off to get to the level she displayed last night but that could likely be said about most of the contestants, so I'm not sure what made her so special to the voters. Maybe there's something else I'm missing? Feel free to enlighten me.

So here's my irreverent and unenlightened take on this bit of Hollywood pop culture - just let them dance. That's what the show is supposed to be about. Put aside all the scandal and drama and just ... dance.

1 comment:

Travis Cody said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I always thought this was a program you might enjoy for the music and the dance.

Kyle Massey has been a Disney Channel actor for several years. I didn't know much about him before he came on DWTS, but he charmed me from the beginning. Absent Jennifer Grey, I likely would have come around to voting for him. His first dance last night was a Tango. I loved the way his partner, Lacey Schwimmer, choreographed fresh and youthful dances all season for him.

For me, the balance against any advantage Jennifer may have had with her earlier dance training is the fact that she is 50 years old and physically frail. I think it was more her maturity and experience that helped her than it was any dancing she did when she was younger. Her elegance was truly attractive. The first time she danced that Waltz, it was even more emotional because of the connection she felt with Patrick Swayze.

As for Bristol, her last name is Palin and she is the daughter of the 2008 Republican VP nominee in the US. That's what made her so polarizing. I thought she improved tremendously.

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