Photos
Video
Week 6 results on 'Dancing with the Stars'
The good news: this Dancing with the Stars result show had less taped filler segments. The bad news: it seemed to have more Samantha Harris interviews. Mute button, thou art my friend.
Spoilers
During the recap of last night, Shannon was in tears after being called out for her lack of hip action and Derek went off on the fact that other couples are hitting "horrific, demented lines" and getting 9's and 10's. The audience "oooo"ed at that because thems fighting words. Speaking of fighting, the group Country number gets the encore.
Back from the commercial break, we get a number from musical guest Ashlee Simpson performing her new single with two pairs of professional dancers. If any of you are wondering, I'm fairly certain she's singing live this time. Strangely enough, I kind of like her. I saw a YouTube clip of Ashlee playing Roxie Heart in Chicago in London and she did well plus I found that jig she did on Saturday Night Live oddly endearing.
Anyway, after that we get the Leaderboard reminder complete with more Upset Shannon who took umbrage to Carrie Ann telling her that she can't dance but is trying really hard, which isn't exactly what she said but okay. Well, after all that bawling she gets rewarded by being saved first. Marlee & Fabian, however, are not as lucky - they're in the Bottom Two.
We get our first painful reaction interview after the commercial break. Derek has big old lipstick marks on his cheeks and forehead. Uh-huh. Anyway, Shannon (mostly) & Derek apologized for being so "heated" in their post dance interview. Uh-huh. That's what the kids call "good PR." I really do like Marlee and would like to see her get another chance but I think the point deficit may be too much to overcome.
The Stars of Dance segment is back this week and featuring Riverdance, sans Michael Flatley. It was enjoyable. There's not much else I can say about it as it is what it is.
After yet another commercial break, Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris introduce the DWTS Kids segment, only Samantha's mic isn't on initially. Somehow I doubt that was a mistake. Brandon & Brittany are 13 and have been dancing together for 3.5 years. They're dancing the Cha Cha to "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. They're very good, they both have great lines and Brittany deftly recovered from getting her skirt caught on her heel. Brittany is deaf in one ear so naturally Tom made a brief Marlee connection to that. It was mentioned in the taped segment and they explained that he mouths counts or gives hand cues to make sure they're on the same page.
The other couple is Austin & Liza and they're both 12. Austin chose ballroom dancing to be a rebel since everyone else at the school is a jock, but he says he gets more girls. Austin is barely 5-feet tall and Liza is about 5'2. They're dancing a Samba and when they do this double-sit maneuver at the end, they both fall over thanks to the height difference but they were very good too. This one will be hard to decide.
Ugh! After yet another uncomfortable Samantha interview, we find out the Brandon & Brittany move on in a split decision. A random aside: I think I've figured out one of the major things wrong with the house band. It's that the singers try to sound like the artists they're covering instead of just singing the song as their own but using the same structure (runs and such). Example: the standards come out great...except when they're trying to sound like Frank Sinatra.
We're now treated with a filler piece about how hard it is to judge/critique the couples. Carrie Ann says it's like they're married - she has two husbands and they're both crazy. Also, they all say there are times they feel they've over or under score someone after the show.
The next couples that are safe are Marissa & Tony and Cristian & Cheryl. I'm not surprised about either. I figure they're saving the Kristi & Mark reveal to try and breed tension. Unfortunately, instead of getting on with the results, we get another painful interview with Samantha in which she tries to get Marissa to say who she thinks is going home. Boo! She also tries to toss it back to Tom but actually, it's back to the commercials.
With 3 minutes left, let's see if we get reveals in a timely enough fashion for the booted celeb to give a proper goodbye. Kristi & Mark are safe as are Jason & Edyta. Mario & Karina are in the Bottom Two.
As I feared, Marlee & Fabian are out. Since Shannon was the closest to her points-wise and wasn't in the bottom, it was mathematically inevitable. She gave a lovely interpreter-assisted farewell and Fabian thanked her for making his first season so memorable and probably the best season he'll ever have. Tom took a moment and stepped out of his host bubble to tell her, as a friend, that he was very proud of her as a majority of the remaining contestants were teary-eyed.
And they're dancing their goodbye to "Dust in the Wind." What the hell? Awful, just awful.
Should Marlee have gone home? Next week we get two dances per couple - who do you think will struggle the most with it? I think it'll be Cristian - Jason and Shannon could go either way. Did you like that Shannon & Derek apologized for what they said in their post-show interview?
I guessing you meant to say "thou art my friend" not "though" in the opening paragraph.
Not surprised that Marlee is going home. Honestly, it was her time.
What's with Marissa still in it? Who's voting for her?
JW | Apr 22, 2008 7:43:45 PM | #Sorry to see Marlee go, but can't argue with the selection. She seemed to have leveled off a couple of weeks ago while the others continued to improve. Did anyone else think the judges' comments to her sometimes came off as patronizing? Not that I think they were meant that way, but the inevitable comments of "you weren't all that good, but for a deaf person it was amazing" got a little much for me. Marlee did a much better job than most people could, hearing or not. Looked great doing it, too.
Brad | Apr 22, 2008 10:33:08 PM | #Austen and Liza were GREAT-I'm glad I put it on my DVR--it just makes you feel good to watch them...THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONES RETURNING TO THE SHOW!!! Too bad the public couldn't call in how they feel about the kids' performances!
A. Lindsay McDaniel | Apr 22, 2008 11:13:46 PM | #JW...greetings. I'm one of the people voting for Marissa, among others. She represents what this show is supposed to be about. She improves each week and is clearly working her butt off. Hers was one of the best performances last night.
Now, my love of DWTS and the three judges aside, I am so happy that Derek lashed out. Since season one there have been numerous inconsistencies in the judges scoring and they also play favorites (which is actually par for the course in the highly political world of ballrom dance competitions). I actually enjoyed the "behind the scenes" segement with the judges because it really supported some of Derek's critiques. They are human, they sometimes miss things when they are distracted and, as Carrie Ann pointed out, theirs is not an exact science. I'm sorry but they were way too harsh on Shannon this week. Her dance was beautiful and well executed. I found Shannon and Derek's candor refreshing. They had nothing to apologize for.
As far as the rest of the pack, Marlee is a class act all the way and she clearly was not looking to get by on sympathy. Even she looked annoyed everytime the judges tried to soften their critiques with "your so inspirational" blather again this week. Hers was the weakest dance this week and her departure was justified. I'll miss her. I have to say, though, I am beyond bored with Kristi. Yes, she is a technically proficient dancer but there is just no genuine passion there. She's like a dance fembot. Even her reaction to being safe this week was little more than that fake-out thing people do when they know they were not in danger but they have to pretend otherwise. I'm hoping for a DWTS shocker that sends her packing.
Finally, to the blog author: enough with the harping on the live band and singers. We get it, you don't like them. Move on. Besides, when you ding a show's music in the same article where you wax poetic about the wretched Ashlee Simpson I'm gonna question your musical taste. While not as awful as the Kylie Minogue debacle a few weeks ago, Simpson is marginally talented at best. You can tell she was singing because her thin voice was flat and lifeless throughout her performance. Her dancers were no better. I really wish the whole Simpson clan would disappear for good. As far as Riverdance goes, why would you expect Michael Flatley to be there? He left the group more than a decade ago due to "creative differences" (i.e. his bloated ego).
Ron H. | Apr 22, 2008 11:27:25 PM | #What Marlee did on the show was admirable and inspiring, but after the last couple of dances her handicap really started to show. I don't know why they assigned her Latin routines one after another, she simply could not perform well without having Fabian to lead and give her physical cues all the time. I imagine that she would've done fairly well if she had a chance at the tango and foxtrot. Anyway, I'm glad to see her gone (and I don't mean that maliciously), it was just getting too uncomfortable to see her being so out of her element on the dance floor, and keeping her around would be a farce.
Jason | Apr 23, 2008 3:31:44 AM | #I am disappointed with DWTS when it comes to Marlee... she is at a huge disadvantage because of the fact that she can not hear... she would have continued to improve just like everyone else is she could hear, or perhaps if DWTS had jury-rigged some device so she could feel the sound of the music. And comparing the little girl who is deaf in one ear is comparing oranges and garpefruits - sure they are both citrus, but they are very different.
As far as Marissa goes... I think she will have quite a fan base and go at least a couple more weeks. How many other seasons had a short chubby woman in it? Keep in mind that the majority of the viewers are women, and that most people in the US are overweight and you have your fan base. It is nice to see someone like me going places.
chica | Apr 23, 2008 6:46:08 AM | #as i predicted marlee is out...fro here i feel th competition will be all about Kristi's i think it will be boring from here...i was not happy to see Mario in the bottom two but that happens ...i am happy for brandon and britanny,they deserved it. When u can pull off having your skirt caught in shoes on national tv so gracefully, that shows a lot of experience and professionalism.
la_mant00 | Apr 23, 2008 6:57:19 AM | #Derek and Shannon didnt bother me at all. The dancers are so 'politically correct' all of the time it is good for them to give an honest emotional opinion. They didnt curse at the judges, or say anything out of line. I felt they were a bit underscored- Shannon's lines were beautiful and the choreography great. Add a bit more hips and it would have been stellar. They are putting their all in and emotion shows they are passionate. Derek had points too but its a lost cause given the format of the show. It will never be completely fair. Their on-air apology was a good move to save the judges or fans holding a grudge but for myself, it wasn't necessary.
........
I think Kristi and Mark know they are probably safe but remember the Sabrina factor last year at week 6, I really think the relief is genuine. Mark went through the shock before. And having Mario and Karina in the bottom 2 after a huge score proves the vulnerability too. Although I'm not surprised because they do not seem to be a particularly loved couple. It is really hard to say who is leaving week to week because they couples have been largely inconsistent other than Kristi with some great and some rather weak dances.The 2 dance weeks now will tell the story!
.......
To me the 'point' of this show (other than entertainment and ratings) is up to your own interpretation. With the exception of season 1, before it was a monster hit show, it has never been about the 'most overall improved dancer' but more 'the most likeable and somewhat improved of all the best dancers'. The winners and majority of the finalists from season 2-5 were all front runners from the beginning and one of the best, if not THE best, dancers that season. And not all showed leaps and bound of improvement (esp if they were good from the beginning) but at least some. I myself can't vote for mediocre dancing. I am a musician and artist that also loves dance. I just want to see a combo of great technique, partnering, choreography, and personality. Whoever has the best combo is who I vote for. But the beauty of the show is everyone can look at it the way they want to. :)
I still find Marissa distracting to watch and it's inevitable that she WILL leave, so I wish she would. *I* am not malicious either; I just don't like watching her dance and she's over the top as far as reactions. I realize I may just have a THING about her.
I'm in full agreement with the condescending way the judges treated Marlee - the same way they treated Heather Mills (who cares, though?) by prefacing everything they said by how inspirational they were. It IS a shame that Marlee had all the rough Latin dances to do, other than the waltz that made Carrie Ann cry - because, you know, Marlee's deaf and that was inspirational.
As irritated as I get at this show, I don't know why I like it so much. LOL!
Do you suppose Samantha makes up the stuff she says? Surely nobody would SCRIPT that for her???? I can't believe how insulting she is to everybody - she's pretty much across the board with that.
I hope Derek and Shannon are really improved next week because I like them together.
Jan | Apr 23, 2008 7:09:58 AM | #Bravo to Shannon for telling the judges off for their blatant favoritism of Kristi and Jason and Mario while others on the show (always the women) are criticized and scored more harshly. What's a bet that the judges read our comments here and elsewhere about the overinflated cores of Jason an Co? That would explain the segment last night in which they "explained" how they judge as if they don't know from the moment they sit down at the desk that they're going to fawn all over Kristi and Jason.
I hope they're happy now that they got rid of Marlee. I for one will miss her.
Francine Fishpaw | Apr 23, 2008 7:19:44 AM | #I really do think that the prodcuers and their assistants are reading the DwtS message boards and blogs like this one. This season alone, the results show has seemed to go out of their way to address questions and defuse any controversies or conspiracy theories that are going around.
For example, this week they have a taped segment about how difficult it is for the judges to give scores because it's "not a perfect science", blah, blah, blah... Well, how do you explain that EVERY SEASON the same three judges seem to overscore all the male athletes (Jason Taylor, Helio, etc.), while being overly harsh with the female contestants (Jennie Garth, Mel B., Shannon, etc.)? I have been watching since the first episode, and there is definitely a pattern of the judges verbally pointing out mistakes in a routine, but then not giving them the appropriate scores. The most egregious example would be when Carrie Ann gave Jason/ Edyta a perfect 10 for their waltz, despite the fact that she just told them that she saw the stumble at the end (but she was going to disregard that obvious blunder because it was so "romantic")! BLECH! :-( Maybe it's time DwtS replaces these judges (just like American Idol should replace theirs), so there could be some appearance of fairness!
I was sad to see Marlee go home, but at least she outlasted the likes of Penn Gilette! I actually enjoyed the junior dancers and the Riverdance performance. However, I had to leave the room while Ashlee Simspon was "singing". She's only famous because she's Jessica's little sister, which BTW, I was glad that Drew Lachey wasn't there last night! ;-)
The worst part of the results show was when Samantha asked Marissa who did she think would be in the bottom two, along with Cristian/ Cheryl. Samantha has been a TV reporter for at least a decade now. Hasn't she ever learned about tact? We can only hope that the DwtS producers have read all the negative comments about her and finally get of her!
Paige | Apr 23, 2008 8:58:38 AM | #First of all to JW I am rooting for Marissa because she has improved and is fun to watch. The world would be a better place if more people had her personality. I am not saying that she should be the winner, but her happiness is infectious, what a joy to see the broad smile and enthusiasm on Tony's face. That being said, I vote for Kristi because she is doing a fantastic job. Kristi looked just as nervous as everyone else. She is not guaranteed a final two showdown.
As far as Samantha Harris is concerned she should be asked to leave the show.
I liked that Shannon apologized because it shows her maturity.
To Marlee I wish I had even one ounce of your grace.
| Apr 23, 2008 9:50:49 AM | #
Sorry, I meant to say "along with Marlee/ Fabian in the bottom two" (not Cristian/ Cheryl) in my previous post. :-(
Paige | Apr 23, 2008 9:55:16 AM | #Congratulations to Kristi/Mark, Shannon/Derek, Marissa/Tony, Jason/Edyta, Cristian/Cheryl and Mario/Karina for making it to another week. They were the couples I thought were going to go this far for a few weeks now. I liked that they did the group dance for the encore. The kid dancers did very well. I wonder if there will ever be a mutual decision between the judges for the kids competition.
Penny | Apr 23, 2008 9:58:08 AM | #hey who heard they "honey" derek gave to shannon?LOVE is in the air....
la_mant00 | Apr 23, 2008 11:30:39 AM | #I, too, am tired of the judges being so harsh about Shannon not using her hips. Have you noticed that she's as straight as a pole, and doesn't have any hips? As beautiful as she is, it's impossible to show hip action when there aren't any hips to begin with. Her dancing and confidence levels have really improved. And, let's face it, who wouldn't want to see Derek get farther in the competition?
As far as the "unfair" scoring goes, I totally agreed with Derek. I think that DWTS should have a fourth "rotating" judge every week, and use people that are actual choreographers or professional judges to mix things up a bit.
Responding to Penny's comment about the kids -- each week Carrie Ann votes for one kid, and Len votes for the other, leaving Bruno to be the "tie breaker." It's obvious that they probably do that so the "losers" don't feel so bad. I'm very excited about the kids and looking forward to their final showdown.
Monica | Apr 23, 2008 11:55:27 AM | #Ron H. - I harp on the house band because, as a musician myself, it boggles my mind how they can be so bad sometimes. While I understand that things can go wrong when you're live and I appreciated the difficult of learning upwards of 15 new song every week, they're professionals and the extreme shifts in their performance quality is unbelievable. It also continues to amaze me how the producers can assign such awful songs the the couples knowing full well they're not appropriate for the dance.
As for my strange affinity for Ashlee Simpson, I don't think saying that I don't hate her counts as "waxing poetic." It's not like a compared her to a summer day or called her the sun that rises from east.
As for Riverdance, I didn't expect Michael Flatley to be there. As there are some people who read show recaps because they didn't see the show, I just wanted to throw that in there in case someone wasn't aware.
Erin - I liked seeing Derek exhibit some chutzpah for a change, though I think it was mostly spurned by how upset Shannon was. At this point in the season, everyone's grown so attached to each other that I think all of the professionals would've reacted similarly if their partner were crying.
The dances the celebs were attempting seemed to have been assigned with the express purpose of challenging them to address whatever their big issue was - for Cristian it was his arms and lines, for Marlee it was the counts of a fast Latin dance (notice they were give Fabian's specialty), and for Shannon it was the hip action. Because she didn't show much (if any) improvement on that front, they had to score her low-ish. Yes, the lines were good but she didn't exhibit one of the cardinal aspects of the Rumba - they didn't have much choice. And seriously, she got all 8's. It's not like they gave her 6's. Granted, she doesn't have a lot of hip to throw out but that's no excuse - plenty of the pro's don't have a lot of hips either.
Tamara B. | Apr 23, 2008 12:16:22 PM | #I think the focus of the judging should change - keep using 3 judges, but have 1 solely for technique, 1 for choreography, and 1 for entertainment value. Personally, I enjoyed Shannon's performance this week - it was great choreography and she really danced her legs off. That should account for maybe 1 mediocre and 2 high scores - not 3 mediocre scores.
Java Jimmy | Apr 23, 2008 12:20:06 PM | #I'm really surprised by all the support here for Derek and Shannon's behavior. True character comes out under pressure and these two behaved horribly. It's one thing to disagree with the judges and to be frustrated, but quite another to show such disrespect to fellow competitors. They will never get my vote.
PM | Apr 23, 2008 1:56:21 PM | #I agree that the judges seem to have favorites and score them higher than at least I think they should be (ie., Jason). I also know that the female celebrities actually have a more difficult time than the males. It is my understanding that in ballroom dancing (and ice dancing) the role of the man is to present the woman who does most of the 'flashy' moves. Well, if the woman is the professional, then the team may seem better than if the woman is the celebrity. I try to watch both partners in each dance to decide who really seemed to do well. And, as beautiful as Edyta is (and I would love to see her win), Jason is not that great a dancer. Neither has been Shannon of late, but they seem to, again, only see her and not both partners and therefore score her lower. They need to look past the woman and see the entire package.
Anne | Apr 23, 2008 7:41:45 PM | #As pretty and hardworking as Shannon is, she is still very stiff when dancing. I thought Marlee and Marissa showed more movements than Shannon did.
Catie | Apr 24, 2008 11:43:23 AM | #PM, I, too, am surprised by all the support Derek and Shannon are getting here. I can understand being upset with and getting mad at the judges for their comments, but to publicly level criticism at your fellow competitors, that's classless. All the other couples are working just as hard as Shannon and Derek, and I don't hear them complaining about their fellow competitors. I am glad Shannon and Derek did apologize, but I've lost some respect for them.
CR | Apr 24, 2008 2:00:15 PM | #The thing I cannot stand is whoever is dressing Marissa IS NOT EVEN TRYING to make her look her best!!! My god, it IS possible to dress a full figured woman in a flattering manner & whoever costumes her is not even trying to be flattering!!
But i do not like her personality so I guess I really do not care, nothing she does can make me vote for her because I cannot stand her hyperactivity,EEWWWW! Perky people suck big time
I JUST READ ALL THE COMMENTS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT DANCERS, ETC. WHY DON'T YOU ALL GET REAL!! THIS SHOW IS ALL FIXED, BEFORE IT EVEN AIRS ON T.V. IT IS OBVIOUS TO ME, BUT AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT SEES IT?
Rock N' Roll Mike | Apr 29, 2008 10:49:30 AM | #
Zap2it Twitter Talk
