Finally watched Dancing with the Stars

[arabian]

Going into it, I had hopes for Apolo Ohno (LOVED him in the Olympics) and Paulina Porizkova (she's so pretty), but I was quite surprised to walk away with not only liking those two bunches, but also liking tremendously two others. I tuned out last season early on because unlike the first two seasons there was no one I really liked and the really good dancers did nothing for me personality-wise, so I wasn't looking forward to this at all, but after watching it ... I got FOUR that were great.

Paulina Porizkova -- Okay, we all knew she was beautiful, but who knew she was so dang funny? Stiff and clearly uncomfortable, but her extensions were divine and I do see a lot of potential when (if) she loosens up.

Joey Fatone -- Never an N*sync fan and not expecting anything from him, but he amused me in the clips and had me clapping and grinning on the dance floor. Wonderful!!! And deservedly got the highest scores. He was so good that I had to go back to find the mic pack swinging around they were talking about because I just enjoyed watching him so much.

Laila Ali -- What a beautiful, beautiful woman ... and her dancing was sublime. I loved watching her and I thought that she and Maksim were wonderful together.

Apolo Ohno -- Love him! Even with less practice than the others, dang was he good! Yes, I could see the technical mistakes the judges pointed out (also, that he continued to look at the floor a bit, which wasn't pointed out), but he has soooo much potential. Hopefully, he can get some more practice time in. (I do think that the hunching over may be a problem since he does that in speed-skating, however, his sport takes mucho discipline so he may be able to overcome. I hope so; I lurve him and want to see him (and Laila and Joey) around until the end.)

As for the others.

I thought they were way too nice to Clyde Drexler. Seems like a lovely guy, but the worst dancer on the floor, I thought.

John Ratzenberger (all 72 years of him, snerk!) was surprisingly good.

Heather Mills was okay, but I can't get over how horrible she's being to Sir Paul that I just can't like her.

The beauty queen and her partner were sooooooooo annoying and not that good.

Ian Ziering was good, but I'll admit it here, Cheryl does nothing for me. She's a great dancer, probably a lovely person, but she does nothing for me and I positively HATE her hairstyle.

Billy Ray Cyrus, not very good, but deserved better scores than Drexler.

Leeza Gibbons barely edged out Drexler as not being the worst of the bunch. And sorry, she just annoys. She just comes across as so fake.

But hey, I got four -- FOUR!!! -- that I love so I'm happy!

Comments

[hiddenlocket.livejournal.com]

I completely agree about Drexler I thought he was easily the worst on the floor, and the judges were being way too kind. When his arms were supposed to be sraight they were still at 90 degress angles....

[harper47.livejournal.com]

Wasn't he terrible? I couldn't understand why the judges weren't ripping him for his posture. If this were really a competition, he would have scored very, very low.

Would you mind if I friended you? I'm looking for more posters that are interested in Dancing to compare reactions to.

[hiddenlocket.livejournal.com]

Yeah I was shocked when the judges were being so kind to him.

Sure! I'll add you as well :)

[arabian.livejournal.com]

He was horrible, I can only imagine that he was an absolute sweetheart and that's why they were so sweet to him.

[harper47.livejournal.com]

We did agree didn't we Jennifer? And though I think Ian is going to do well, he isn't in my four either. It's nice to have so many to root for.

I predict Leeza or Shandi (was that her name?) as exiting first.

[arabian.livejournal.com]

We really did ... which is rare for us. Hee!!

I thought Ian was good, but I just thought that Joey, Laila (!!! -- seriously, girlcrush!!! and Apolo were better, had more potential and/or more charisma than he. And Paulina was just frickin' awesome personality-wise and her extensions were gorgeous.

I hope Shandi goes first simply because at least Leeza's partner is likable, this new guy with Shandi is creepy.

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

Apolo was probably my favorite -- I thought he and his partner had the best chemistry (better than Joey & Kym, although Lalia and Max were close :)

I didn't think anyone was worse than Billy Ray Cyrus. :x He's like the countrified version of Master P. I'm not even sure he was trying. At least Clyde was putting effort into it. :/

Paulina could end up being a Kelly-like sleeper? :)

(We'll agree to disagree on Cheryl. ;)

[arabian.livejournal.com]

Love Apolo! He's wonderful. Really, really good chemistry. That youngin' was delightful. Laila (!!) and Maksim were great too.

Cyrus was bad, but I just thought Drexler was horrible. I didn't get that Cyrus wasn't trying at all, nothing like Master P. Of the two, I actually saw less effort from Drexler.

Paulina could. Kelly was really stiff the first couple of episodes, but by the end was amazing ... and I'm still pissed they did that dance-off because she and Alex WERE better than John/Charlotte, bedamned the AHHHHH! that surrounded them. They deserved to win and that shouldn't have been diminished the way it was. I really wish Kelly hadn't agreed to that, but there was no way she could without looking bad.

I know that many love Cheryl; I don't dislike her -- I just have never been wowed by any of her pairings. I liked Drew a lot, but my heart was TOTALLY with Lisa/Louis, so I didn't commit to Drew/Cheryl. And last season, I thought Emmitt was actually not very good at all and so, I just don't see the AHHHH! that everyone else does about her. And I really, really, really, REALLY hate her hairstyle. She's a great dancer, seems like a doll, but I've never been into any of her dance pairings and did I mention I hate her hair?

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

I didn't get that Cyrus wasn't trying at all, nothing like Master P.

Master P was the wrong person, in retrospect -- more like the countrified George Hamilton. Not really doing the steps, but trying to do a "performance" -- hamming it up for the audience.

I actually started watching DwtS with like...four eps left in S1 (because my parents were watching, actually -- plus, the ratings were so good, I had to see what was up), and my parents' favorites were John/Charlotte, so I ended up rooting for them, too. It's weird, because Kelly got a lot of flack for her "soap opera fanbase," yet every fan I've seen of hers...didn't watch GH. So that's kind of an unfair rap.

I liked Drew a lot, but my heart was TOTALLY with Lisa/Louis

Ahhh. Understandable, then. :) I didn't even start out rooting for Emmitt last year, even though he was with Cheryl -- I liked Willa/Max, and Monique/Louis, but really disliked Mario by the end. Plus, I love football, and I loved Cheryl, so...it made sense. ;p

I can understand hating her hair, but I do think it's gotten better since early S2. It looked a lot softer in the fall.

(Other than her and Drew's freestyle, my favorite Cheryl dance was actually her and Tony recreating "I've Had the Time of My Life." That was outstanding :)