Dancing with the Stars

Last week, Sabrina Bryan and her partner Mark Ballas ruled the competition with a Dancing with the Stars debut for the record books.  Along with Jennie Garth and Derek Hough,  Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough, and Melanie Brown and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Bryan leaped ahead of Dancing with the Star's usual grace period and set the tone for the rest of the season:  no surrender.  Will the top dancers from last week repeat in the first co-ed night of competition, or will a new team fast step their way to the top?   Tune in with us as we provide live blow by blow action from tonight's competition.

The stars are introduced and everybody is looking good.  We're told from the get go that these guys had four days to prepare for tonight. Obviously, some of these guys needed to make use of every moment of those four days.  Time to see if they are up to the task.

Mel B is looking classy tonight. We get a moment of her sterling performance from last week, and a better cut of her training session that isn't loaded with snarky comments.   Could be the etiquette coach that Maksim called in.  She is definitely likable.   Part of this could be due to the fact that she is now finding herself out of her depth and relying on Maksim even more.   Despite putting forward a better face,  the choreography is weirdly out of time.  It doesn't help that the singer with the band is butchering "Take on me."  The judges love it though.  23.

By contrast, Mark Cuban and Kym are awesome.  And Cuban look much less dorky without the facial hair.  There is still a strange consistency to the set.  No real 'wow' moment, but still a hair better than Mel B and Maksim.  Actually, strike that.  A full head of hair better.  None the less he gets an 18.  Robbed?  I must say.  I'm voting for Cuban just on principle.

Time for Wayne Newton to make up for last week.  He's frigid and stiff from the beginning.  Cheryl doesn't slow down unless they are engaged, which makes Mr. Las Vegas look like a wax dummy of himself.  Newton is either talking to Cheryl or is lip syncing badly.  Better than last week?  Yes.  Good enough, no way. A pitiful 15.  Wow.

Marie Osmond is up next.  Now she definitely has the energy for quick stepping and will be doing a Mambo.  I can see this.  The training clips show a pretty aggressive choreography.  Donny is in the audience!  The performance is surprisingly good.  Here is the first competitor of the night to really show that she is rising to the challenge of the last week.  The judges agree.  A firm 24 for Marie.

Albert Reed and Anna Trebunskaya kick it off with a spectacular start.  Albert slides down the bannister and they hit the ground running.  Again, the timing is off, but the music selections have been absolutely horrible for quick steps.  Reed has come in lacking in the celebrity department, but has found a niche here.  He is famous for Dancing with the Stars.  The couple walk away with a 21.

Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough are up next.  Julianne is munching on gum while she trains.  Talk about multi talented.  Helio is still just a charming likable guy.  The Mambo is straight up the best of the night in just the first 30 seconds. I'd be very surprised if someone didn't dig up some dance experience in Helio's past.  Impressive. This could be Helio's night to take the lead. 27.  Near perfect.  Will be tough to beat.

Jennie Garth and Derek Hough are definitely up to the challenge.  Quick step offers some advantages over the Mamba in dynamics, so it is an opportunity to impress the judges.  It's good but there is a head butt and a few off balance moments, so Garth will take a slip for that. Surprisingly they stay out the teens with a 21.

Cameron Mathison is up next and he is kind of whiny. Edyta is wearing something reminiscent of native American dress that got run over by a lawn mower.  Cameron appears to be wearing Albert Reeds suit from last week.  The set is not bad.  The judges are pretty gracious. They score a 21.

Floyd Mayweather has another shot this week, he is looking much more focused.  Much more in line with what people were expecting from him in the beginning.  Floyd is uneven at times on the dance floor, looking perhaps a little mechanical at times, but perfectly smooth at others.  The judges seemed more upbeat about his performance.  Floyd manages a 21 which puts him a four way tie.

Jane Seymour was one of the highest scoring celebs last week.  The big challenge during training was hip wiggling, a must for a good mambo. Seymour has no trouble getting it down.  For 56, Seymour is one of the hottest chicks on the floor tonight.  The musical selection is actually a Mambo standard, a relief from the pop songs.  Yet another 21.

Sabrina Bryan is back for another run.  She has to beat Helio who devastated her score from last week and holds the highest score so far.  They have to hold back the hip hop and work together to make it happen.  It's a great quick step, but we get to see that Bryan is weaker in a unit.  Still, she manages a 26, which makes them second.

Helio shoots to the lead,  he is currently my second runner up pick, but after this week I am leaning on putting him back in my number one spot.  I need to see another week of Sabrina to be sure.
 

- Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)