Dancing with the Stars served up a big surprise last week when
Toni Braxton and
Alec Mazo were given the boot. I thought that this was a bit of an unfair elimination because they didn't have the lowest score (although they were only one point away from the bottom) and, in my estimation, Toni Braxton has a lot more potential for becoming a great ballroom dancer than all of her scores have reflected.
But considering the behavior of some of her competitors this week, maybe it's because Toni is too classy a lady to stay on the show.
Example #1: Cloris Leachman
To help her with her salsa routine,
Corky Ballas suggested that Cloris get into the character of a hot and spicy Latina. Backstage after their performance on Monday, Samantha Harris asked her what kind of character she was for the dance, and Cloris replied, “A something ho. Whaddya call it?” After a moment's pause, she continued, “I know what it is. A skanky ho.”
I guess if you take Bruno Tonioli's word, then she really did succeed in sexing up her character. According to Bruno, “The old girl can still turn a trick!” Um, OK… I guess that means that Toni should have dialed up her skankiness level to get the judges' attentions.
Example #2: Lacey Schwimmer
Normally on
Dancing with the Stars, it's the celebrity who usually gets the attention, but not with the
Lance Bass-Lacey Schwimmer duo, and especially not last week when they showcased the West coast swing, which just happens to be Lacey's specialty.
Now, I am not nearly as qualified an arbiter of dance as our three esteemed judges are, but even I could tell that Lacey was hogging all the attention away from her partner. Carrie Ann Inaba was particularly schoolmarm-ish in her critique, saying to Lacey, “We already know that you're a champion in this and in a lot of other things. Your goal on this show is to make Lance a champion.”
Still, though, Lance and Lacey managed to get enough votes to keep them safe. They weren't even in the bottom two, even though they were tied for the lowest score.
I've found Toni Braxton to be a very sincere, modest person during her stint on
Dancing with the Stars, not even milking her heart condition for sympathy votes. Maybe if she were a little bit more of an attention whore, she might have lasted longer on the show.
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)