Dancing with Mario, Week 6
The chemistry between R&B hitmaker Mario and Karina Smirnoff seems to be getting stronger by the minute. Their rumba on last night’s Dancing with the Stars was their hottest performance yet.
If these two aren’t careful, those pesky romance rumors will bubble up again. Even so, Mario won’t let that stop him. “The only thing I’m nervous about, really, is continuing to raise my score each week,” he says. “That’s my fear going into next weekthat my performance won’t be as strong as this week.”
They’ve got a lot to live up to. Their fancy footwork on the rumba earned them a 27 out of a 30.
Read on for my latest exclusive chat with Mario to hear about ripping a bedsheet off of Smirnoff, the Shannon Elizabeth-Derek Hough romance rumors and why his mom doesn’t have much love for judge Len Goodman…
Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba loved your rumba. But Len said he thought it was too raunchy. What’s up with that?Len is really the star of the show! Forget about us! That’s his personality even off the dance floor. I just think he’s a guy that has a lot to say about whatever.
Your 6-year-old brother was in the audience. What did he think?He just enjoys watching the show, but now that he’s been on TV I think he’s going to enjoy it a little more.
Is he a star in the making? Is he also a singer?He seems like a pretty good dancer from the way he was moving his hips on TV, but he doesn’t sing. He plays soccer. He likes soccer and he loves animals.
And your momdid she have any problems with it being too raunchy?She thought the performance was great. She said it was very hot. She doesn’t like Len too much, because of his comments each week. He always has something to say.
OK, what on earth was Karina wearing? What was that white thing?The white fabric was supposed to be a sheet. In the dance, I was supposed to take the sheet off of her, but before the dance we decided not to do it. We didn’t, because she would have been, um…That would have gotten some other comments from Len.
I have to ask you about Shannon and Derek. Were you surprised when you heard they were rumored to be dating?No. They’re both young, attractive and have great fun together…I don’t know if the rumors are true or not, but they don’t look bad together.
Dancing With The Stars: Week 6 results
(S06E12) Coming off of performance night, conventional wisdom said that Marlee & Fabian would find themselves in the bottom two. The big question… Who would be joining them? We are now far enough into the competition that there are no more easy eliminations. And, as we saw, that other couple in the bottom two was somewhat of a surprise. Leading up to the elimination though, the bigger story might have been Shannon & Derek reacting to the judge’s comments. All that, and a rundown of the entire results show, after the jump.
Tom and Samantha kicked things off with the recap of performance night, and reactions from the dancers. Mario, Cristián, and Marissa all showed well. Marissa was thrilled that Carrie Ann gave her a nine. Cristián said, “It feels so good to get a good score. This is how Kristi feels every week.” Mario sang a little song about getting two nines and a ten.
On the other side of the coin we had Marlee, Jason, and Shannon. Marlee said she did the number better in rehearsal, but that’s what happens sometimes. And then it all went a little off the rails as we got to Shannon & Derek. Shannon was crying and insisted that she did the hips. Derek joined in complaining about the judge’s comments. He asked what about all the heel leads, feet off the floor, and the horrific, demented lines people have out there. And they are getting 9s and 10s? It was rather shocking from both of them. Jason had a much more laid back reaction, saying he’s just going to have fun and let the rest work itself out.
Len was up next to choose an encore and he went with the group dance. That was a good choice. It’s nice to see them all together having so much fun. Parts of the performance might have lacked a little of the polish from performance night, but it is results night, and the scoring paddles/phones are not in play, so that’s ok.
After a break, Ashlee Simpson took the stage to perform “Boys”. I wasn’t really expecting a lot, because I’ve just never been a fan. That being said, I was kind of impressed with her. It’s a good song and she did a nice job performing it. Not my favorite musical guest or anything, but well done. My internet chose to blip my signal during the intro, so I missed who the dancers were accompanying her. They were very good though. The girls looked fantastic in their little red dresses, and the guys were smooth in their suits and fedoras. As has become par for the course, most of the camera time was given to Ashlee.
A rundown of the scoreboard led us to the first results of the night. As you know, in no particular order… Shannon & Derek were safe. That was followed with the announcement that Marlee & Fabian were in the bottom two. Not much of a surprise there. Samantha was backstage with Marlee & Fabian and Shannon & Derek. Marlee said that if she is back next week, she is totally up for the challenge of two dances. Derek had lipstick kisses all over his face, playing up the rumors. Shannon apologized for their remarks after the judging. Derek joined in, saying that’s not really like him. It felt a bit like damage control to me and I’m wondering if those outbursts will have repercussions with the fans in the weeks to come.
The stars of dance were up next. Led by principal dancers Michael Patrick Gallagher and Alana Mallon, it was Riverdance. It wasn’t what I was expecting. The opening solo was so long, and then to see just the two of them share the stage was really fun. Usually when I have seen Riverdance in performances like this, it has always been the big group performance. They got to that eventually, and it was as good as ever. The synchronization is just amazing. This was a nice change, and it was certainly worthy of the stars of dance title. Some curious trivia for you. Alana Mallon is the only Scottish dancer ever to perform lead in Riverdance.
The kids were up next, with the thirteen and under category. Brittany & Brandon led things off. They’ve been dancing together for three and a half years. Brandon had a great quote, “We want to show America that we can dance as good as old people.” Interestingly, Brittany is deaf in one ear. They did the cha cha. It was a fantastic number. Their speed and precision was incredible.
Len said they were phenomenal. It was sharp, it was crisp, great rhythm. Bruno said it was dancing of the highest standard. Superb movement, and incredible timing. Carrie Ann said it was perfectly stylized and their attention to detail was great.
Austin & Liza were couple number two. They presented a little different picture as Liza was a good head taller than Austin. They danced the samba. They were both very good. Austin has all kinds of style and energy, and Liza is already very polished. I just couldn’t get past the size thing. And neither could they, as Liza knocked Austin over on their finishing move.
Bruno said they were another two rising stars. Like a fanfare on the floor. He said Austin may be small, but his talent is huge. Carrie Ann thought they set the stage on fire and liked how they worked the room. Len said they came out all guns blazing, calling it fast and crisp. He added that America has a great future in dancing.
After a break, the kids were back with Samantha. Brittany said that she was inspired to dance by DWTS vet Ashley Del Grosso. Austin and Liza found each other on the internet. The judges voted: Carrie Ann - Brittany & Brandon. Len - Austin & Liza. Bruno - Brittany & Brandon. They’ll be back later for the finals.
Next it was off to a rather weak package about the judges, and the pressure they face. Bruno talked about the expectations of show day. Carrie Ann said that she gets nervous before the performances. Len and Carrie talked about the difficulty of taking notes while watching the show. They also touched on the pressure of being put on the spot right after the performance. Len said he feels terrible when he’s criticized someone. It was pure, unadulterated filler. I would have much rather seen another Ashlee Simpson number, or the pros dancing, over that.
Back to the results, Marissa & Tony made it through to the next round. They were soon joined by Cristián & Cheryl. He looked completely shocked to have avoided the bottom two. Backstage, Samantha tried to interview Marissa and Cristian, but it just wasn’t happening. They were alternately so thrilled and shocked that they just couldn’t get it done. Cristián could barely form a thought and joked that he can only speak in Spanish at the moment. Marissa said she was surprised to see Marlee in the bottom two. Both couples said they were ready to be doing two dances next week. As they headed to another commercial, Karina did not look happy.
Finally, it was time to get down to it. Kristi & Mark were safe. Jason & Edyta were also safe, leaving Mario & Karina in the bottom two with Marlee & Fabian. After their scores on performance night, I did not see that one coming. In the end, Marlee & Fabian were sent home. Marlee thanked the judges, Fabian, and her family. Finally she thanked Henry Winkler for his support through the years. Fabian said Marlee made his first season here the best that it could have been.
Next week, Erin will be back as all the couples have to do two new numbers. It should be fun. In the meantime, check out AOL’s extensive Dancing With The Stars coverage, which includes photo galleries, polls, and a live chat.
Jonathan Roberts on Dancing With The Stars: Week 5
We’re back for what ended up being something of a strange week five. After the highlights and big scores of week four, things were a little rougher this week. I talked with Jonathan about that and a number of other things.
After the jump, find out how the difficulty of the samba and the rumba might have contributed to those scores. Jonathan also gives a little more background about what happened with Shannon & Derek and what his role as potential stand in was. We also touch on what might be the cause for the string of male winners on the show. And there was just enough time to sneak in some viewer mail.
Brett: I guess we’ll start with favorite performance of the night. For me, I thought it was Kristi & Mark again.
Jonathan: Tonight was interesting for me. I wasn’t actually blown away by anyone. Last week there were several. I think Jason, Kristi, and Shannon really were impressive for me. And tonight I thought there were several good numbers, but nobody blew me out of the water.
With Kristi, her leg extensions were great, her movement was great, but maybe because it was a slower dance, Kristi didn’t blow me out of the water. After what she did in the pasa doble last week, that was a professional quality routine. It was absolutely incredible. And for me, even though the rumba is the romantic dance of love and a little softer, it didn’t make be go wow. It was a good number, but it wasn’t as amazing as last week’s number.
Brett: Do you think that maybe the lowered scores and the lack of those wow performances came from the fact that it was the samba and the rumba and it’s just harder for the celebrities to do a great routine with those dances?
Jonathan: That’s actually a great observation. The samba is actually one of the most difficult of all the Latin dances because of the speed and the technique in it. The samba requires incredibly fast knees, feet, and hips. And yet, you have to move around the floor. It’s extremely difficult and the timing of what we call as professionals the bounce action in samba is extremely difficult to do.
And in the rumba, because the rumba is slow it’s actually often hard to make it look impressive. Let’s take a dance like the quickstep or the mambo, because it’s naturally fast and fun, it’s easier to make that look great. Whereas the rumba, because it’s so slow, unless you have that perfect technique, choreography, action, and emotion, it can be very hard to make that look impressive.
Brett: I think those are things we saw tonight. Like with Shannon & Derek. She just doesn’t have the time and the skill to really do that dance.
Jonathan: With Shannon, I have an inside track here. During the rehearsal, I guess in the late morning at some point, Derek started throwing up and got really sick and had to be taken to the hospital. So, they called me and said, “Jonathan, can you come to the show right now? We might need you to dance with Shannon.” I drove over to the show and watched a video and learned her routine. I was all set to perform it with her. We even walked it through once on the stage to make sure that I knew what I was doing. I don’t know if I was very good. Then Derek made it back from the hospital and said “It doesn’t matter how I feel. I’m going to dance. I don’t want to let Shannon down.”
So, I think for Shannon, the afternoon was a whirlwind of emotions. Not knowing if her teacher was going to be there. Trying to help me learn the routine because it’s a last minute thing. It was pretty scary for her. So I think she did a fabulous job. The routine was quite fast and I think Shannon’s samba was probably the hardest routine of the night as far as the speed and the movement and the kicks and the flips. Because of what happened in the afternoon she might have been a little freaked out. I definitely think the judges were way too hard on her and she should have gotten higher scores for it.
Brett: You’ll have to help me out with Mario & Karina because I got home just as they were finishing. I did hear the judge’s comments and noticed that they finally all agreed on his performance.
Jonathan: Yeah, the past two weeks the judges have given three different scores for Mario & Karina, so it was nice to see them agree on it. I think Mario really listened to what the judges said, and he did what they wanted. It was a really authentic ballroom routine. He had an old song by Ella Fitzgerald and he came out and did classic moves. He had a nice clean outfit. You saw his personality. He really listened to what the judges and Karina had to say and had a great routine.
The thing for me with Mario is that when I look at him from the neck down, he’s incredible. He’s got rhythm. He’s got movement. He’s got style. He’s aware of his partner and you see him actually leading. He’s quick on his feet. But when I look from his neck up, because his posture is a little forward, it doesn’t end up looking as impressive as it could. I thought he did the best he has done so far, because his posture was up, but to really achieve the top position that he wants, he’s going to have to fix that.
Brett: Interesting. Do you think that comes from the fact that his experience is outside of ballroom?
Jonathan: Mario is a very musical person. You can see that in his body. He feels the rhythm in his body. And often when you’re used to dancing in a club or just having fun with it you don’t try to stand upright and look like an Arthur Murray couple. You hang loose and you chill, and that’s what he’s used to. Mario breathes music and he gets into it. And sometimes the more he gets into it, from the outside it doesn’t look as effective. Whereas if he was a little more cold and upright, even though it’s not what we want exactly, he would actually look more effective on some of these ballroom moves. Not all of them. Like when he does the little chest shakes and things, he does it exactly right. But on some of the more posture positions, like when he has Karina in his arms, if he could just be a little more stiff, or cold, it would actually look better.
Brett: The dance that I disagreed with the judges on tonight was Cristián & Cheryl. I thought that was actually better than a 23.
Jonathan: The thing with Cristián is, I think he could have got higher than a 23, but I don’t think this week was as good as last week. I think Cristián looks better in the fast dances. When I remember him in the quickstep and the pasa doble, especially the pasa doble, he came out and he owned that dance. He had the big cry. He used his arms. He was really strong and I felt he just took control of the dance. Here in the rumba, and maybe this is a general comment for all the guys, it is harder for the guys to look softer in the rumba, without looking too soft. You want to have these flowing arms and these slow movements, and look graceful. Sometimes that makes it hard for the guys to really command the floor. I felt that with Cristián he was soft and aware of his partner. The routine was beautifully choreographed, He actually had really good movement, but he didn’t take command of it like he did in the pasa doble.
Brett: With Marlee & Fabian, would you say that the lower scores fall under the fact that the samba is so hard to do?
Jonathan: I think with Marlee, and maybe I’m wrong because I’ve never worked with her, but I think that as the show goes on the difficulty of her not being able to hear the music is showing up more and more. In the beginning of the show, the first three dances, you have a little over a month to prepare for that. I think she really got ready, and even though she can’t hear the music, the training time compensated for it. Now, she really only has four or five days to learn the routine. I thought tonight, because she had a few stumbles and missed a few places, that her inability to hear the music kind of showed. She looked absolutely incredible. She was tan. She’s in shape. The arm movements were good. There was just a little lack of musicality in a few places. And I thought she looked a little more unsure than she had in some of the other routines.
Brett: Moving on to Marissa & Tony, I thought it was another very fun performance, and I think it’s notable how big a reaction she got from the crowd.
Jonathan: Yeah, I think Marissa has turned into a little bit of the underdog, even though the judges have been nice to her. Every week when I see Marissa on set she thinks she’s going home. Every week she’s like, “It’s the last week. I’m done for.” And yet she’s going out there and she’s not letting that hold her back. In a way, I almost thought she went for it the most tonight out of everyone. It may have not been as technical as Kristi or as elegant as Jason, but she went out and as Len said, she was more bounce to the ounce. As far as sheer enjoyment, and crowd pleasing, and seeing someone not let anything hold them back, Marissa was my favorite there.
Brett: Now with Jason & Edyta, I kind of agreed with Len regarding that last move of Edyta’s. It was really incredible that she can do it, but it takes the attention off of Jason and makes it about her, and the focus, I think, should be on him.
Jonathan: That is kind of the nature of ballroom dancing, and I think that might be why since the first season we haven’t seen another woman win the competition. All of ballroom dancing is designed to make the woman look good. So, it’s much harder for the celebrity women to do what the professional ladies do. That move that Jason & Edyta did at the end is extremely difficult for Edyta, but for the man he just has to be there and balance her, which is a challenge as well. I think that’s why they were calling that move out. The rest of Jason’s routine was great. He’s got these elegant long arms. He was very aware of his partner and very smooth. It was a very slick routine. The great thing about Jason is that he doesn’t overdo it.
Brett: And that brings us to Priscilla & Louis. I thought the judges were pretty much on with their critique.
Jonathan: The thing with Priscilla’s routine, and I actually think she did a good job, but the music was so slow. It was hard to really make that routine shine because of how slow the music was. I liked her attitude and her feeling in it. She had a few stumbles and maybe didn’t quite sell a couple parts. But for how slow the music was she did a very good job.
Brett: The judges may have been a little hard on her, now that I think about it, with Len saying he was disappointed.
Jonathan: Yeah, it’s kind of like for the guys in the rumba. Sometimes when the music is that slow, it’s easier to hide mistakes in a fast dance. It’s fast and there’s energy and you throw your arms and kick your legs. When it’s a really slow dance, every single mistake you see much longer and is more glaring.
Brett: Getting to some fan questions. First up, Nerissa from the fan site wanted to wish you an early Happy Birthday.
Jonathan: Thank you, that’s nice.
Brett: And she wanted to know if all of the dances are choreographed by the pro partners or if you get any outside help with that.
Jonathan: Well, I can only speak for myself, because everyone does their own thing, but for myself and Anna, we always do our own routines. Sometimes when we’re home at dinner we’ll say, “Hey, how does this stuff look?” But one of my favorite parts of dancing is the choreography. All the partners I’ve had have been very different and I really enjoy coming up with moves that make them look good. And that are unique and different.
Brett: I think that’s probably something that doesn’t get as much attention as it should. A big part of the success of the celebrity is attained by the choreography that the pro provides.
Jonathan: Yeah, absolutely. It’s up to us as the professional dancer to make the celebrity look good. Not necessarily make ourselves look good. At least from my perspective, the better my partner looks, the better job I feel I’ve done. It’s the job of the teacher to make the celebrity shine, because they are the ones that are trying to learn the dance.
Brett: Catherine writes in to say that the professionals are the main reason that she watches the show.
Jonathan: Oh, that’s great.
Brett: And she wants to know if the professionals have any say or negotiation with regards to which celebrity you end up being paired with.
Jonathan: Well, we have zero say. In fact, as the teachers, we don’t even know who we are going to be paired up with until we meet them, or just a moment before that. The show matches us up regarding our height and our look and our personalities. Some of the teachers are quite strong, while others are nice and laid back. So they try to figure out what the best matches with the celebrity partners are.
Brett: Along similar lines, Debbie wants to know if you have any input in the costuming.
Jonathan: Yes, we do have say in the costuming. Of course, when it comes to the women, whatever they feel best in, we always go with that. After we get our music on Tuesday, we go back and meet with the costume director and figure out, based on the music, what the look is going to be and design a costume then.
And with that, another Dancing With The Stars week is in the books. I’ll hang on to the questions we didn’t get to this week and try to keep working them in as time allows. Jonathan will be back with us next Monday night to talk about week 6.
Planters: “Unibrow”
::Snort:: I kind of loved this commercial. I hope to see this one again. It’s very cleverly done: The way to a man’s heart really is through is stomach, which is sort of through his sense of smell. How brilliant: Use cashews as a perfume and have men stumbling all over you, even though you have a unibrow that makes you more suitable as a mate, probably, for a caveman.
The song– what is that song? “I love you baaaaby,” was a perfect touch. That woman they found had some real sass too, flipping her hair and sashaying her hips. Even if she was hard to look at. It was a fun commercial– even though watching it didn’t really make me feel like eating cashews, or even really eating at all.