Dancing with the Stars

I've wanted to start a blog about ballroom dancing for some time now and what better opportunity/excuse is there than blogging about "Dancing with the Stars"? So...this is the first post on the Toledo Ballroom Dance Blog and tonight's topic: DWTS!

This season is the most competitive ever and I am amazed that the celebrities can dance as well as they can in such a short time. If you've ever tried to learn a dance routine, you can appreciate the complexities and difficulties of the routines. And performing them live is incredibly stressful. In addition to the routines, I am very impressed by the level of performance and acting by the dancers. How is it that a race car driver can smile and be at ease in this arena?

My pick for the winner this year is Sabrina. I know, it's not fair, she's had other dance experience and that gives her an advantage. But there have been others with dance and performance experience as well...remember 'N Sync and Joey Fatone? Others have had ballet, etc. I don't like that DTWS is not consistent about the celebrities' dance backgrounds...personally I think to be fair, they should all have NO dance background. However, some of them have, not just Sabrina so I don't understand why she seems to be getting some negative press about this. So until the show standardizes it's selection process...my vote is for Sabrina...she is the best dancer and performer and should win.

I have to say that I was surprised that Wayne Newton, who performs live regularly and has a musical background, was probably the most nervous performer. I was also surprised that he wasn't a better dancer, after all those years in the music biz...

I love Helio...his enthusiasm, charisma, and hard work are impressive. I was pleasantly surprised by how well he performs. He could win this if it weren't for Sabrina. Jennie is improving a lot but her posture is inconsistent and she does this weird thing with her mouth that gets on my nerves. Cameron is fun and improving a lot.

I also really really like Mel B. Love her personality and spunk and she's a good dancer, especially in the Latin. Being a Spice Girl of course means she's had music/dance/performance background, which helps but again...others have music/dance backgrounds as well. Marie is a good performer/actress...another celebrity with experience in the biz. Her personality is a bit too forced for me however; her dancing is not bad but she needs to develop more speed. Jane is beautiful and graceful...her ballet background shows...but needs to develop bigger moves and be more expressive. Her tango after her mother died was truly touching. I admire how hard Floyd worked but his posture was very bad and his personality did not show much until the night he left. I didn't want to like Mark Cuban but his extreme hard work and graciousness won me over. He was not a strong dancer but he gave it his all; I believe this was a humbling and meaningful experience for him and I liked him at the end. Also admired his stage presence in light of having no experience.

So ends the first blog post! I'm looking forward to next weeks 10/29 DWTS...my prediction for who will leave next? Jane.