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Dancing with the Stars - Week 5 Breakdown
Week 5
Conspicuous by their absence from Round 5 is Master P and Ashley. He was long overdue do leave as it was obvious from week to week that he didn't really want to be there, or that at least he was there for the wrong reasons.
The Dances
This week all the couples will be dancing the same dances. This will allow all the viewers at home to do a direct comparison of each couple. Everyone will be required to perform a solo Samba routine as well as a group Salsa Routine!
Samba This is the Brazillian Carnival dance -- a fun, fast, playful dance characterized by Voltas, Botofogos, Walks and Whisk movements. This is the second of two latin dances that travel around the line of dance. Watch for a liberal use of open or side-by-side movements as well as a lot of teasing and flirting ... and hips hips hips!
Salsa This dance is one of the more casual of the latin dances. Rooted in Cuba, this dance has a reputation for being sexy and saucy. A stationary dance, look for a lot of play on the man's part as he twirls and turns his partner every which way.
The Dancers
Stacy & Tony Stacy is hot in this dance!! Watching her here it's really hard to believe that she's never danced a Samba in her life. I would be very surprised if somebody danced better than her tonight. I would have liked to see her present a cleaner line early in the routine by closing her legs fully. Bruno said it best -- Stacy is a weapon of mass seduction -- a real lesson in sex appeal! Anna said she was better than the other professional lady dancers -- I wouldn't go so far but she definitely danced like she would fit in with a professional group. Perfect 10's for a Perfect 10 -- despite the disadvantage of dancing first!
George & Edyta Bold effort by George here. It was nice to seem him hit all the required elements such as the voltas and whisks -- a clear effort on George's part to address his footwork critique from weeks past. We even saw him make use of his hips which was great. Unfortunately there were some obvious timing and coordination issues. Another elegant performance nonetheless!!
Lisa & Louis This girl has seen some incredible improvement since the first week. She can get a cleaner samba movement by tracking her knees. Excellent use of hips and body isolations, though she sometimes focused too much on her partner at the expense of the performance. Judges are divided in their opinions here, but scored her favourably overall.
Tia & Maksim Despite a slow beginning (which I later learned was done deliberately, though I don't think anybody got it) Tia has really stepped it up a notch from previous weeks. This dance really brought out personality -- what a classy performance!! I would like to see Tia emphasize the 2 beat for a more authentic samba feel. Unfortunately, I don't think that Tia's performance is going to be enough to help her advance to the next round. Judge's scores are accurate in comparison to the other performances tonight.
Jerry & Anna What an excellent performance by Jerry tonight -- he is doing so well for a guy doing Samba for the first time. Brilliant corta jacas and whisk actions, as well as an awesome partnership. His posture has also improved significantly -- it's like night and day compared to previous performances. The one thing that I am noticing about Jerry's improvement is that he is letting his inhibitions go more and more -- inhibition holds people back far more than talent or ability. Great job Jerry! I might have scored him a little higher than the judges.
Drew & Cheryl Nice crisp sharp movements, though I'd like to see him balance that by releasing some of the energy at the end of each movement. I especially loved the progressive rock element! Unfortunately he's still holding his head forward (or shoulder's up as the judge's might say). Another great performance from Drew, though I didn't feel as much improvement from last week to this week. Judge's scores are well deserved.
Group Salsa Really hard to compare the quality of the performances here due to the unique camera angels required by this type of performance. A real crowd-pleaser though -- very exciting to watch.
I have to say that it's been very exciting watching this whole competition unfold. It's almost enough to make one consider coming out of retirement ... almost. :P
Agree or disagree? Feel free to comment on this blog! Until next week People!
~Brian Antonio
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Dancing with the Stars - Week 5 Breakdown
posted by Brian Antonio on 2/03/2006 09:58:00 PM