It's not just me

According to an article by Bill Carter in today's New York Times, the judging in the final episode of Dancing with the Stars was not fixed. That leaves temporary blindness or incompetence. But what's more interesting than that is the fact that Kelly would have won the last episode whether the judges gave her 10's or 1's. She had already won the audience vote, and that vote held more sway than the judges' vote.

The president of ABC Entertainment suggested that Kelly got a larger percentage of the audience vote because she appears in a soap opera. Duh. According to the article, "...Ms. Monaco took umbrage at that suggestion, saying she surely has had less exposure on television than Mr. O'Hurley, who was an occasional guest star (as J. Peterman) in the 1990's on the NBC hit comedy 'Seinfeld.'" Yes, let's compare the enthusiasm of fans of current soap operas with fans of a show that ran SEVEN YEAR AGO. 'Nuf said.

As the article states, "The network acknowledged that the outcome had offended a sizable portion of the show's audience." That would be anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of dancing, because the people I've heard from weren't offended by the audience vote (or at least weren't surprised by it) but by the judges' scores.

ABC is going to produce another installment in this series, and they're considering somehow announcing the audience vote before the next weekly installment. It's unclear to me how that would make any difference to the outcome. Are they going to have an episode whose sole purpose is to ditch one of the competitors? Apparently that's what they do on American Idol. Either way, ABC can expect to have a large audience for the next installment; this installment had the largest audience for a summer show since Survivor. I'll watch it even if it's judged by a box of rocks.

After you've taken umbrage, where do you store it?

Shall We Dance? (movie), July 21, 2005, my living room

As promised, here are my thoughts on the American version of the Japanese film of the same name. This version follows the original version very closely, with a few exceptions, like the fact that the main character is a lawyer rather than an accountant. Of course Richard Gere (as John Clark, the main character) and Susan Sarandon (as his wife, Beverly) are great, and JLo does a surprisingly credible job as Paulina, the professional ballroom dancer with a mysterious past. Somewhere in the "extras" on the DVD, one of the other actors says something about how you really believe she's a championship dancer. Well, he might, but I don't. She does do a very good job, but again it's the shoulders that give it away; they're just a little stiff, just a little too high. Try as she might, JLo also doesn't quite capture the soul-searching loneliness of Mai Kishikawa, who plays the equivalent part in the Japanese version. Ok, I can't stand it any more. Consider this a plug for a documentary called The Japanese Version. This film explores Western influences on Japanese popular culture. Well, here we have an example of Japanese popular culture retooled for Americans! There's some good dancing in the movie. I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling that some of the moves Link and Bobby do in the Latin competition aren't exactly standard and probably aren't allowed. There's a steamy scene in which John and Paulina tango alone, with the lights off; you can almost see the sparks from all the energy passing between them. The music for that scene is great, but I'll have to get back to you on who it is. The soundtrack also includes a lovely song by Peter Gabriel called "Book of Love."

Doggie Dancing

How fun - Blogger just made it easier to include images! Here's an action shot of my darling doggie. Keep an eye out for a post about a dance I choreographed about her.

Oh, if you're wondering why she's playing sitting down, it's because she's ruptured multiple intervertebral disks and is paralyzed in her back legs. As you can see, it doesn't slow her down much!

Dancing with the Stars, final episode

Bah. Tara Lipinski.

To quote my mom, "Once again naked shake your booty and tricks won out over good dancing. But that’s not really a surprise, is it…."

Dancing with the Stars, week 5

And then there were two.... In the penultimate episode, the couples each performed two dances, the Foxtrot and the Paso Doble. John and Charlotte kicked ass; now every time I see the Paso Doble I'll think of Fernando! I looked for evidence that the dancers were "driving on the slow" in the Foxtrot. Did I see it? Maybe - I think I need to watch it a few more times. IMHO, John and Charlotte have consistently presented routines that are the purest of whatever dance they are doing; in other words, if you want to know what a dance is supposed to look like, watch them. I'm something of a traditionalist, so naturally this appeals to me. That doesn't mean you shouldn't push the boundaries, just don't destroy them! This picture shows how Kelly really needs to relax when she's trying to be graceful. I have to admit that Kelly is doing a much better job than I would have predicted at the beginning of the show. She has a real fighting spirit, and it has served her well. That said, if John and Charlotte don't win next week, I'll be sorely disappointed (as will they). It will be Michelle Kwan versus Tara Lipinski all over again. (Sorry - I went to the Galleria yesterday, "home of Olympic champion Tara Lipinski".) I just read Bruno's weekly blog. He gets to say more there than he does during the show, and he comes off better when he has more time to think about what he's saying. Many of his comments echo mine - do you think he reads my blog? ;) Tomorrow's the big night - merde to all!