On Monday night, Season 8 of Dancing With the Stars premiered. Here is a summary of some of last night's season debut:Rapper Lil' Kim & Derek Hough- Two writers for Entertainment Weekly picked Lil' Kim to finish in 7th place. Their reason: They don't think America will vote for a former yardbird. Hopefully voters won't let Lil' Kim's past affect their voting because she was one of the best celebrity dancers last night, scoring a 21 (out of 30).
NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor &- Edyta Śliwińska- Although he will probably improve, I still think that Lawrence will end the streak of former NFL players going deep into the competition.
Jackass star Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer- Lacey's edgy style combined with Steve-O's daredevil antics will likely provide some of this season's most "must see" moments. The pair made a solid debut last night with a surprisingly restrained waltz.
Actor Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke- Because Gilles isn't widely known, he probably won't have the advantage of a large fanbase to light up the phone lines initially. As a result, he will have to depend on his footwork to carry him through. If last night was any indication, Gilles will no longer be best known as "The Naked Guy" from Sex and the City: The Movie. He and Cheryl achieved the highest score on last night's season premiere (24 pts).
Rodeo champ Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower- Ty is waaaay out of his comfort zone, but dude did at least get out there and try.
Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas- Shawn's background makes her a natural for DWTS. She made the waltz look easy.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak Karina Smirnoff- Steve's participation in the competition is the biggest surprise to me. He surprised me even further by opening his routine draped in a pink boa. Even though Steve won't be in the competition long (he and Karina got the lowest score tonight, 11 pts), he is having fun.
Actor/comedian David Alan Grier & Kym Johnson- I expected David Alan to clown it up during his performance, but he seems to be taking the competition more serious than I thought he would.
Actress Denise Richards & Maksim Chmerkovskiy- At times, Denise was Kim Kardashianesque with her dance moves. If you saw Kim on the last season of DWTS, you know that comparing Denise to her is not a compliment. Denise does have potential though. From the looks of it, Denise and Maksim behind the scenes would make a reality show all its own. She holds the distinction of being the first celeb this season to shed tears during rehearsals.
Reality star Melissa Rycroft (she was the one who recently got jilted by "Bachelor" Jason Mesnick) & Tony Dovolani- Her background as a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader does help, but Melissa still deserves props for doing a mean version of the waltz with only 48 hours to prepare. Melissa was a last-minute replacement for Access Hollywood co-host Nancy O'Dell, who had to withdraw due to an injury during training. I'm glad that Melissa is good because even if she sucked, she would likely get some sympathy votes because of the "Bachelor incident" and be allowed to stay on DWTS at the expense of better dancers.
Did you watch last night? If so, what are your thoughts?
Here is the clip of last night's top scorers, Gilles and Cheryl during rehearsals and performing the cha-cha-cha:
5 comments:
I thought this was one of the best...well I'll say it. This WAS the best opening night show of the series. I found a lot of the stars funny and fascinating. This should be an amazing series.
I love Lil Kim...and I loved her attitude and her dance. If she can get votes she'll go a long ways.
Giles was not too shabby but I say that for the selfish reason of eye candy. He was really good though!
I even thought the exciting addition of Melissa was interesting. She has a lot of advantages being a Dallas Cowboys Dancer/Cheerleader though.
I wasn't into Denise Richards at all...but I've never been a big fan of hers.
I thought Steve Wozniak was hilarious. He was hanging out on Kathy Griffth's show last year...but he really blossomed and was more camera savvy on this episode.
I think there is a lot to look forward to...
And as ever the band was awesome!
Great recap! Denise was surprisingly bad and Melissa was surprisingly good so it all evens out. I thought Lacey and Steve-O did a great job. I was worried for Lacey being stuck with him but he's better than a number of the guys this year. I look for Ty or Steve to leave first.
Chelsie is on DWTS now?? Oh, I love her! I may have to start watching.
Too bad her old partner Mark won't be on. That was my boy. But he's not ballroom.
Former yardbird?
Candy: Even though this season is lacking a bit in star power compared to previous years, I think it will be an amazing one like you said. Nancy O'Dell's injury turned out to be a lucky break for the producers of DWTS because it allowed them to add someone who's been getting a lot of buzz lately (Melissa Rycroft from The Bachelor).
Kristi: Thanks! I didn't know anything about Steve-O until the show started. However, once I learned that he had been on "Jackass", I wasn't expecting much from him. He was a pleasant surprise. It's too bad that Steve W. is likely going to get bounced earlier, because he is entertaining.
BeckEye: Because I don't follow SYTYCD, I wasn't familiar with Chelsie until the other night. They do a variety of dances on DWTS, so I wouldn't be surprised if Mark becomes a regular at some point in the future.
Sheri: "Yardbird" is an old school slang term for a convict or prisoner. I first heard it in the episode of "The Rockford Files" that guest-starred Isaac Hayes and Louis Gossett, Jr.
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