Dancing with the Stars

The field continues to narrow on Dancing with the Stars tonight.  We started out the season with 13 teams, and now we're down to the top 10.  The real competition is beginning in earnest, and we'll surely be seeing more great performances tonight.

The 10 remaining teams will be dancing either the jive or the Viennese waltz tonight.  Unfortunately, one team who will not be performing is Misty May-Treanor and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.  We'll find out the latest news on Misty's injury and who, if anyone, will be taking her place.  Anything can happen, and it'll all be recorded right here so stay with me all night.

Live!  From Hollywood!  This is Dancing with the Stars!

The stars descend the staircase.  Julianne is wearing a cute Carol Brady wig and Corky is wearing a Pepto-colored blazer with glasses that make him look exactly like my friend Bruce.  Conspicuously absent are Misty and Maks.  Sad!

Tom Bergeron tells us a bit about Misty's injury, but we'll have to wait until later tonight to find out what exactly happened.

Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani have the jive tonight, and I'm excited to see it after my interview with him.  During rehearsal this week, Tony took Susan to the Radio City Music Hall for a dance lesson from the Rockettes.  These ladies have some great gams.  Ohhh, I love their outfits, especially, Tony's two-toned saddle shoes.  I still think that she's not giving 100 percent yet, and it's really apparent because Tony's dancing is so grreat and energetic, but she has really improved since the first week.  Susan is wearing an Ace bandage around her ankle today too, but she's still dancing.  Len congratulates her on her dancing, and Bruno gets distracted by her rack.  Carrie Ann wants her to be more courageous and confident.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 7, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 7, for a 21 out of 30.

Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer have decided to do a traditional Viennese waltz tonight with no gimmicks or tricks.  They are even dressed elegantly without any of the chains and tatters that Len hates.  I think they danced this beautifully.  Bruno thinks that Lance has to work on his rise and fall, and he also wants more of the sparkle that they usually have.  Carrie Ann thinks it was fantastic.  Len starts out commenting on Lance's flat feet and horrid posture, but then rounds out his comment with "the best dance you've done so far."  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len give 7 and Bruno gives 7, for a 22 out of 30.

Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke have the jive tonight, and I have high hopes that he'll really excel in this all-American dance style.  He's sporting a super -sparkly teal sport coat, which I kind of love.  Maurice and Cheryl have great energy tonight, and I think Maurice's footwork is great and really precise.  The jive is definitely more suited for him than last week's rumba was.  Carrie Ann says that it was fantastic, and Len has great praise as well.  Bruno says that Maurice can rock and enjoyed the precision of his footwork.  Their scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len give 8 and Bruno gives 8, for a 24 out of 30, their best score thus far.

The next couple is Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff.  So far, Rocco has been very inconsistent in Dancing with the Stars.  In rehearsal this week, Karina put him in a blindfold to help him overcome his self-consciousness.  They've got the Viennese waltz this week, and he even keeps the blindfold on for the first few seconds of the performance tonight.  He has improved his musicality, but there's still something really awkward about him.  Also, I loathed their song choice.  Oops, was that a little mistake?  I think Rocco's arms were in the way when Karina tried to do a little spin.  Rocco puts crazy cat-glass on Len's face, which he keeps on during the critique.  Len is generally positive, although he's a bit condescending.  Bruno is harsher, complaining about his rough edges, but Carrie Ann says that he's the most improved of all the dancers.  Carrie Ann gives 7, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 6, for a 20 out of 30.

Next, performing the Viennese waltz, are Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson.  I've got high expectations for this team because Warren has been so impressive so far.  Warren looks quite dapper in his pink shirt and plus colored vest and pants.  I think he can work on precision, definitely, but in my eyes, he has captured the spirit of the Viennese waltz.  Bruno deems him "big, smooth and beautiful," and Carrie Ann has a crush on Warren and thought it was mind-blowing.  Len says that he's showing up "those skinny people," ha!  Carrie Ann gives 9, Len gives 8 and Bruno give 8, for a 25 out of 30.

Cody Linley and Julianne Hough have the jive tonight.  Just as in all of their previous performances, these two have such energy and exuberance tonight.  They are super entertaining to watch, and Cody does a little gag in which he uses Julianne's leg, pointing up in the air, like a guitar.  I like what he's done with his hair too, it's not so moppish.  Carrie Ann likes his energy, but she doesn't like that he was counting out his steps throughout the whole routine.  Len and Bruno both agree that the first half of the routine was much better than the second.  The scores: triple 7s for a 21 out 30.  The funny thing is that everybody always says, "winner, winner, chicken dinner" when receiving the scores.  I think that is the official catchphrase for this season of Dancing with the Stars.

Toni Braxton and Alec Mazo have the Viennese waltz tonight.  They dance to a rocked out rendition of "Fur Elise" by Beethoven, which kind of rules.  I also love Toni's beautiful 18th century-style threads.  I would totally want to wear that dress and that wig with feathers in it.  I think it's a pretty good routine, but of course, Len trashes it for being too gimmicky and proppy.  Bruno agrees with Len, but Carrie Ann loves it.  She reminds us that the Viennese waltz was originally a scandalous dance, and she appreciates that Toni and Alec brought it back to its roots.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 7, for a 22 out of 30.

The Pepto twins, Cloris Leachman and Corky Ballas have the jive tonight.  It's a physically demanding style, so Corky makes her go through a grueling exercise regime.  They're both really cute tonight, and wow, Cloris is actually pretty flexible.  Uh oh, they're really pulling out all the stops for this dance, like fart jokes and wheelbarrow walk and such.  Of course, there isn't a whole lot of actual dancing at all, but she's like 284 years old!  Bruno call sit their dance "beyond comprehension.  That's all I can say."  Ha ha!  Carrie Ann acknowledges that the audience was completely knocked off their rockers at her hilarious performance.  Carrie Ann gives 6, Len gives 5 and Bruno give 5, for a 16 out of 30.

The final performance of the evening is Brooke Burke and Derek Hough.  Uh oh, it looks like they had a pretty rough week of rehearsals this week.  Uh oh, seems like they got into a big fight.  They dance the Viennese waltz tonight, and it's beautifully romantic.  Brooke really is doing a great job.  She has hardly made a single misstep at all these first three weeks of competition.  Wow, I'm speechless.  It's really good.  Carrie Ann says that Brooke is becoming her favorite dancer of the season, and Len says that it was "simpley the best dance of the season so far."  Bruno loves her lyricism.  The scores: Carrie Anne gives 9, Len gives 10 and Bruno gives 9, for a 28 out of 30.  They have the first 10 of the season, and from Len Goodman, no less.

Now, it's finally time for the Misty update.  She takes the stage, walking out on crutches with a big cast on her left leg.  Tom shows footage from rehearsal on Friday.  There was a huge, loud pop while she was doing the lindy hop, after which, she couldn't put any weight on her leg.  She has indeed ruptured her Achilles tendon, which is an awful injury, and she'll be out of Dancing with the Stars for good.  She was planning to take time off from volleyball anyway, so her injury doesn't throw a wrench into her professional career too much.  She's had a serious injury before so she's confident that she'll come back again stronger than ever.  She's undergoing surgery tomorrow.  Maks joins her out on stage, and they exchange complimentary words for each other.  They promise to be friends forever, and Misty says that she wants to come back to do the jive.  Awwww, now we have a montage of clips of the two of them from their past eight weeks of dancing together.  There's a little inset at the bottom of the screen showing Misty's reaction to the film, and it's quite touching.

And the show just ends right there.  Huh.  I guess nobody is going to be taking Misty's place in the competition.  I think that's good because how can you replace Misty and Maks?

Tomorrow night, Dancing with the Stars will air at 8pm on the East coast and 9pm on the West coast, due to the presidential debate.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)