There was a report that a couple of hundred calls went to the wrong place because people dialed 1-888 instead of 1-866. ABC's broadcast was correct, the people dialing were not.

From what I read it was a couple of hundred calls stretched over the entire 4 episodes.

in-depth info on phone-gate

To the producers of this show, if you are listening:

Obviously you've got a hit show on your hands. Please work out the "bugs" before season #2. How about separate competitions for the male celebs and female celebs. Please work out a scoring system weighted for professional judges, not fans. That would be a more fair and level playing field. I know people like to vote, but I think this show would have just as many viewers without audience voting.

I disagree with this. There have been a number of ballroom competition shows that have sunk like a stone. I think having audience voting is key to the success of DWtS. That said, I don't think that having the audience vote be the tiebreaker is necessary to success. There are a number of other ways to handle it that would work:

You could adjust the "points" for placement, so that a couple who was middle-of-the-road with both judges and audience would do better than a couple who was the darling of one and the dregs of the other. You could make the judge vote the tiebreaker, instead of the audience. You could have the head judge be the tiebreaker (as in the "extremely unlikely" scenario described in the rules). You could even have a head-to-head danceoff with both couples on the floor to break ties (although that might require some tricky timing adjustments to keep the show at exactly one hour).

The only reason that John's wrong numbers made the news is because they actually went to a company that has 888-whatever as their toll-free number. If the other dancers' 866-number didn't have a corresponding operational 888-number, all the callers would get would the "That number is not in service" message.

The local L.A. ABC affiliate just had an interview piece with the conductor of the orchestra and the mysterious singers. There are three of them: one man, two women, and they stand in the way back of the pit.

At the end of the report, the reporter said that he overheard them rehearsing "Eye of the Tiger." As he said this, in the background I could hear ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" being rehearsed, so there goes two song choices for the night...

I bet this is for the end, not for anyone's performance, given how pointed most of the music choices for the "last dance" have been.

I didn't intend to, and rereading my post I don't think I did. I was pretty clear that I was referring to my own opinion by prefacing most of my statements with "I think" with few exceptions. I state as fact that Rachel didn't do waltz steps the first week, I should have said "traditional" waltz steps. That's how I felt when I first watched it but it was also confirmed when I visited message boards for dancers.

What part of my post infers that I am telling other people what to think? I sincerely want to know.

Thanks in advance

I'm watching the re-run of last week right now, and *sniff* Rachel looked so great in that purple dress for the waltz. When the waltz was finished, she looked so ecstatically happy. I can't bear to watch the next few minutes, because I know what happens. Curse you Tom Bergeron for making the exquisite Rachel Hunter cry!!!

I'm going to miss Rachel during the next hour.

I wish they would use cumulative scores to determine who leaves, instead of just audience vote for one week + judges for one week.

I find Jon O Hurley's facial expressions incredibly distracting. He looks so....ummm.....goofy. That's the best word I can describe it.

The reason I believe this show would do well without audience voting is that it is so different from classic ballroom competitions. First, You know everyone(or some of them), secondly, they are beginners, and that is compelling. And I think I like the show using interesting musical selections. Very surprising that these songs can be used.

infosaturated, your post is fine. Carry on.

I don't think it's likely that anyone will change other people's mind on who to vote for. My intent was to explain my voting logic in order to refute the many comments suggesting that Kelly is only getting votes based on prior fans, not her performances.

I voted based on performances every week.

My running commentary begins

Louis' face during the paso doble scares me to no end.

Foxtrot----

John: I just had a stupid giddy smile on my face watching them. Then again, we learned of Fernando seconds before. Though I did feel that they there were some missteps at the beginning, it was full of elegance. This truly confirms that John is more suited for traditional dance.

Kelly: I do give her credit that she has to do this show AND still work on GH at the same time. But did we learn nothing from last week? Her top was rising up the entire time. It was nice but...eh. There has been improvement since the first watlz but she's still got a ways to go.

Joey: Well, the honeymoon is certainly over. I liked it, but I do see the argument that there wasn't that many foxtrot moves in there. At least Ashly said that there was a mix of styles of the two, but she's telling this to an audience where a vast chunk of them can't tell the difference anyways. But it now leads to Bruno: he says he didn't like the story from them, but praises John and Charlotte for their story. Okkkkk

NKOTB fans, raise your hands if this reminded you of the Wildest Dreams special from 1991.


Paso doble:

John: besides the fact he almost tripped at the very end, it was pretty good. However it seemed he shuffled his feet more than actual stomping.

Kelly: What? She was there? Too busy looking at Alec. Yowza.

Joey: Rant first. The first two couples get Latin music I recognize. The young ones get...Eye of the Tiger? What next, Mr T on the floor dancing with his gold chains? Rant end.

Never doubt when you're pissed off, you will dance like you never dance before. And they did. And they were tossed. (sniff.) But it went to show that it's been 17 years since the boyband love started. It's not going to end now.

Never expected Kelly in the finale. But she pushed hard to get there. Should be a doozy of a finale. And more dancing from Evander. Sueee!

Well, I knew that Joey would be going home tonight, especially after their foxtrot scores, but I am still disappointed.

So not to dumb it down to seventh grade, but are Joey and Ashley in luuuurve? At first I thought she just had a crush, and I could've sworn I saw a wedding ring on his finger in the first week. And now? They look so together -- he was consoling her like a boyfriend, and when she started to go off on Bruno halfway through the show, he knew how to calm/restrain her -- grumble mumble -- like a boyfriend.

I think I spend way too much time on this show.

I think without the audience vote, the ratings would drop somewhat. The audience being able to participate and influence the outcome is a big draw.

I agree with those who think the voting needs to be tweaked such that the audience is not 50% of the vote. It's needs to be enough to keep people interested, but not so much to influence it as heavily as it does under the current system.

And I'm not sure what you mean by 'interesting musical selections.' I find them to be bizarre and distracting. They detract from the dance, rather than enhance.

I don't think they are together. I think his knowing how to console her and their "togetherness" is probably just the result of spending so much time together training for the show.

Okay, I just registered and voted...I have truly fallen for this show...

I want John and Charlotte to win, period. They were on fire with the foxtrot tonight--lovely glide. Good paso doble too (although my standard here is Torvill and Dean...)

And I have to agree with Ashly--you give them "Hey Big Spender" what the hell else are they gonna do but go with it? (And BTW, Bruno, it's from Sweet Charity, not Guys and Dolls). I'm sorry Joey and Ashly aren't in the final.

I'm sure Kelly was mad they didn't get "Eye of the Tiger."

And why not a NKOTB song for Joey's final dance?

I so want a Kelly for Christmas, complete with the freshly-fucked hair she was sporting at the end of the show. Barring that, I'd settle for the privilege of eating an olive from her navel.

What was up with Joey's black power salute at the end of his paso doble? Had he been watching reruns of the 1968 Olympics in the Green Room?

Glad to see Ashly with no "e" give Bruno and Len some lip tonight. Something tells me she could kick both of their asses in a real fight too.



You know, I'd not thought of that until they showed that tonight. It really does make me appreciate more how far she's come in the competition having to juggle the demands of a daytime soap with practice, especially since the other "stars" aren't working at the moment...at least not regularly.

I was excited about the music tonight because it seemed so much more appropriate than what they had in previous weeks. And then they had to use "Eye of the Tiger" for Joey and Ashly, and that just ruined it.

Word. Up. As soon as I heard the music I had a feeling that it was going to be a fun routine, but it was going to be hard to keep with the standards the judges were looking for. I think Carrie recognized that they did what they could with the context of the song. The other two? Don't think so.

And Joey is married. When he was asked about his wife's feelings about this he said "Well, she was happy to find out that Ashly is Mormon!" Plus in his interview segments, you see his wedding pictures in the background.

I flove this show and I couldn't vote cause I liked all three couples for different reason. Kelly/Alec were "suxy", Joey/Ashly were fun, and John/Charlotte were way elegant. I expect J&C to win next week but it should be a close competition.

I did think the judges were a little unfair to J&A with their foxtrot comments. It seems like their was miscommunication between Ashly and the organizers as to how "open" the foxtrot could be. And what's wrong with Guys & Dolls?

Was it just me, or was Ashly in control of virtually their whole Paso? It certainly looks like Joey was reacting to her, rather than commanding the attention. And I didn't see a lot of passion from him; he came off as majorly cold to me --pissed off, not passionate.

I can kind of see what Bruno is talking about. John and Charlotte have a level of interaction that indicates there's a story behind the dance; Joey and Ashly are acting out a story, almost like intrepretive dance. There's a difference.

And if someone else is picking the outfits, then I have to believe that Charlotte is insisting on some pretty heavy input, and on getting what she wants--and she knows what works well for her and what works well for each dance.

Foxtrot:

John/Charlotte were wonderful. They really were very elegant and graceful. He also put the mugging on pause, so it didn't detract from the dance.

Kelly/Alec really have improved. She did seem a bit more relaxed. Every time they talk to her about being stiff, I get Ballet on Ice flashbacks. Alexy smacking my arms yelling, "STRONG ARMS! THEY MUST BE STRONG ARMS. NO STIFF - STRONG!" She's getting more towards the supported rather than stiff. Still, the costumes, they gotta go.

Joey/Ashly got robbed. It's been obvious since week one that the male judges were destined to hate him. They seemed to be far more nit-picky with them than with any other team. I don't think that's right. It was obvious that, no matter what they did, the scores were going to be low enough to knock them out of the competition. I agree there wasn't as traditional a foxtrot in their routine, but it still had the elements. Whoever said that about the flip-flopping on whether or not they like a story in the dancing - WORD!

Paso Doble:

John/Charlotte - I expected a lot more mugging than we saw, since they seemed to want to emphasize the "acting" part of the dance in the explanation. While it was a nice dance, I didn't think they were the class of the field in this one. They were very good, but not the best.

Kelly/Alec - Was it just me, or did it seem, several times, that (when they were doing side-by-side steps) either Kelly was missing quite a few steps, or Alec had a few too many steps? There just seemed to be a lot of times in the syncopated steps that Kelly didn't doo all of them.

Joey/Ashly - I felt theirs was the strongest of the Pasos. It had passion, flair and a story. The music, well, sucked, but the dance done to the music was very good. I think they were robbed on the scores.


It was obvious, once Rachel was voted out, that Joey was going to be the next one to go. There were only two male dancers left, and they have been all about the John love, for the most part, from day one. God forbid Boobarella not be there for the finals. They might miss her popping out of her top again..../bitter rant.

The routines tonight really reflected the different styles of the pro teachers.

Charlotte gave John a basic routine with lots of international style steps and he improbably pulled it off, which is what made him look so elegant.

Ashley blew it with that jazzy, open style foxtrot routine. It just didn't look very much like ballroom foxtrot after John nailed his routine.

John also benefited because the latin number tonight was paso, which doesn't require much hip motion. It will be harder for him to win the latin number next week against kelley given how much she's improved.

But what the heck did Alex do in the paso? That number is a samba, and they danced a samba. I guess the judges didn't take it out on Kelly, but the routine or the music didn't remotely resemble paso.

Those skimpy costumes in the foxtrot prove that ABC is definitely going big time for the jiggle factor.

I'm sad Joey is gone; I thought he was really good, and his last dance was great. However, while I think it's a tough call, I think the other two couples are slightly better.

I agree that John's facial expressions are really distracting, and annoying. At first it was like, oh cute, but I wish he had quit it already.

Now that Joey is gone and my NKOTB-loving heart is shattered, I'll be voting for Kelly. She is improved dramatically and I think she's a feisty little dancer. I hope she wins.

Ugh. Sorry to see Joey go, even though I knew it was going to happen. I did cheer silently when Joey said he was going to keep his mouth shut -- the judges just don't seem to go for their types of performances and they didn't seem to like Joey much at all. Their final dance should've been to "I'll be Loving you Forever."



(raises hand) I betcha I still have that on videotape in a box in my Mom's attic somewhere.

My votes go to John and Charlotte (busy signals still) - I think most of Joey's votes will. My very untrained eye just doesn't see the greatness in Kelly that the judges do.

Carrie Anne was quite nice tonight...I wonder if they told her to tone it down a bit.

We've already learned that the dancers are given 5 songs to choose from for each dance, so, if Ashly didn't think 'Hey, Big Spender' was the right song for a foxtrot, she had other choices. I think she chose it because she liked the idea that there was a 'storyline' there to work with, similar to what they did with The Jive. Unfortunately, they really didn't do much foxtrotting at all, just as they did very little jive a couple weeks ago. The right team went home, IMO.

So I take it that this audience vote combined with the judge's scores from next week crowns the champion? So the viewing audience doesn't even get to vote on the final dances. Interesting.

Is there a conspiracy out there in favor of J Peterman? He got the perfect bullfighting paso doble music. It was tailor made for his hamming. And Joey gets "Eye of the Tiger"? Ridiculous.

I'm voting for Kelly. I thought she did well and looked great.

Joey said something about being on the show next week. I'm guessing all the couples will do a waltz, or some kind of exhibition where each couple does a different dance. Good news: I get to see the lovely Rachel. Bad news: I also have to see Twista.

Good luck to Kelly!

I like bitchy Ashly.

So I guess we're gonna have to see Trista "the reality tv star" one more time. GET OFF MY TV ALREADY!

ETA:

But I always think that Carrie Anne is the only fair judge.

Paso Doble and Eye of the Frickin' Tiger?! Whaaaaaaaaaa?? The mind boggles...

FOXTROT:

John & Charlotte: I was making a bagel and I was late getting to the TV and I missed it!!! Damn bagel. Crap. I only saw the final move and pose. **sniff** She looked great.

Kelly & Alec: I thought it was okay. She certainly has improved with regards to the slower, more traditional dances.

Joey & Ashly: Well, I don't know the foxtrot. But that certainly didn't seem like the right sort of dance. It was fun, but it wasn't really in keeping with the other two.

PASO DOBLE:
(The only Paso Doble I've ever seen is the one from Strictly Ballroom and it was fantastic! So I was trying to see if the dancers were taking on the role of Matador and bull or cape.)

John & Charlotte: Great. It was theatrical and they seemed to take on the roles with great ease. It was dramatic and passionate.

Kelly & Alec: I'm not sold on this one. I thought it was kind of goofy. It didn't seem like a dance of a Bullfighter. Alec was strong and dark but I thought she was less convincing.

Joey & Ashly: They easily had the worst music but incredibly they made it work. I thought it was strong and Joey really did have excellent posture, so much so that I noticed it. He seemed arrogant and it fit the dance.

Sorry to see J&A go home. I've been enjoying them, but I am looking forward to the finale. However, I'm not looking forward to the show ending. **sigh**

Lisa Canning is an idiot. She has almost nothing to do and she manages to mess it up. Honestly woman!

Do we know how many dances the two finalists will do next week?


I'm hoping that we will only see the couples who have already been kicked off in one big group dance at the end. It doesn't make much sense to me for them to each dance separately next week.


Of course, Joey might have just meant that they would be in the audience, but I doubt it.

culturevulture73 - WORD on Torvil and Dean. That was, and still is, the most incredible ice dance performance ever. They utterly revolutionized the way free dance programs were approached. Christopher Dean is one hell of a choreographer, as well. He's able to cross over from ice dance to pairs to singles effortlessly, and that's no easy feat, since each discipline has their own sets of requirements.

After reading some more informed posts, I see what you and the judges were saying about Joey and Ashly. I still think they were robbed. Rachel didn't do much dancing, either, but they had their noses so far up her ass it wasn't even funny.

Okay, so why in the heck did Ashly pick "Eye of the Tiger"? What in the world were her other choices???

I didn't like John's Paso - not enough oomph and stomp, too much mugging. LOVED his foxtrot. He was made for that.

Kelly - well, she's always been my favorite since day 1, and I thought her dance in the Paso was way harder than John's and she pulled it off amazingly.

Joey's posture let him down again, although I have a sneaking suspicion that had he come in second place, we would have seen John and Charlotte going home and the judges weren't about to let that happen again to their favorite dancers.

I just read some of Alec's Q&A at Kelly's fansite and according to him it seems like they have considerable input and choice on their costumes.

Maybe the costumer has several designs from which they can pick? And additionally alter/add/subtract to specification?

I'm actually sad to learn this because... Alec? Teal? Really? It's ok you're still hot.

Mmmm Alec and it seem during the voting that he was bored. I got the feeling he wanted to get voted off.

What paso? That was a samba with a few paso figures thrown in, and that was too much for me. Kelly has improved tremendously since week 2, and her foxtrot was a lot better than I expected, but this was no paso. Shimmys? Booty-shaking? Hip rolls? That was great in last week's samba, but it didn't belong here by any stretch of the imagination. Len Goodman, what does ISTD think of you tonight????? Aaaaaagggghghghgh!

I felt very, very bad for Joey and Ashly. For me, their foxtrot had reasonable technique, a terrific narrative, and was MUCH more in keeping with the idea of foxtrot than Kelly/Alec's routine. Their paso was also better, if nothing else from the point of view that it was actually a paso and not some random assemblage of Latin-y movements. A very sweet last dance, too. I really wish they were still in.

Still, John and Charlotte were clearly the best in both dances. I was really impressed with how, well, genuinely Latin their paso looked, especially given that Charlotte hasn't done Latin in such a long time. Amazing! Thank goodness Charlotte had a decent dress this week.

Pissed Off Ashly is my favorite. I was hoping she'd take off her heels and earrings and go for it. I hate Bruno...

Kelly was dancing the Paso? Sorry, but I didn't notice. I was rivoted to Alec and yum. He's no Paul Mercurio in those boots, but still.. yum.

I started off tonight with a *meh* on JOH's foxtrot and the judges quickly proved I am not qualified to judge anything. There goes that career idea...

Two bits about tonight, neither entirely original:
(1) the music...some of it was dead on, perfect for the mood and the dance, and some of it was cheesy recycled pop crap. I disliked the ballroom-to-current-tunes thing at first, but I prefer that to a mix where some people have "real" music and some have Survivor.

(2) Lisa Canning is brutal. Terrible. Awful. While she didn't make huge mistakes (O'Riley) tonight, she proved yet again she can't interact with people or interview on live tv. Please, ABC, replace her!

It's a bit intimidating to post here as I know bupkis about ballroom dancing. But I must say how sad I am to see Joey and Ashly go. I'm a Joey fan from way back, and I've really enjoyed his performances. He and Ashly really seemed to have developed a lovely friendship, and the chemistry that exists between them rivals John and Charlotte's.

It was also cool to see Ashly in "teacher mode" this week. My favorite moment between them was during their in class segment. I thought Joey mumbling something about giving him another move and Ashly responding with a sharp "What....WHAT?", effectively getting Joey to shut it was great! She took charge and I loved it. It was also fun to see her hackles rise when the judges questioned her choreography. There is so much focus on the "stars" but I'm sure the professionals are feeling the pressure of having so many non-ballroom fans being exposed to their work for the first time.

Kelly's appeal for me mainly consists of seeing just how skimpy her outfits will be from week to week. She does have a body to die for so she can carry anything off. But she and Alec have got to be the most morose couple I have ever seen. Alec especially looks like he's carved from stone. For ballroom fans...is that his usual demeanor?

I think that John and Charlotte will easily win next week. When my mom confessed to rooting for John, I knew this show was a hit. She hardly ever watches television.

Hating the judges double standard: Joey and Ashly do a fairly good, but not completely in-character, foxtrot and get nailed for it, while Kelly and Alec do a dance that has absolutely no resemblence to a Paso at all, and get praised.

It's soooooooo obvious that ABC wanted to make sure that there was one female star and one male star in the final, although John and Charlotte are most deserving of their placement. Their foxtrot was smooth as silk. It looked effortless. Their paso doble was the only actual paso doble tonight.

On the other hand...

Joey and Ashly wuz robbed. I'm calling bullshit on Greasy Alec and Kelly Half-McNakedcakes Monaco making the final. There was barely any foxtrot in their foxtrot and whereintheheavenlyhellfuck was the paso doble in their paso doble? I was expecting a pole to rise out of the floor and Alec to stick a fiver in her bra. Yeah she's got a nice figure, cuz every week there's a little less fabric in her costume so we can't miss it.

If John and Charlotte lose next week, I'm flying to NY to kick the shit outta some ABC exec.

ETA...WTF is that Inaba chick smoking that made her see those three paso dobles each as a nine? John and Charlotte, 9; Joey and Ashly, 8; Alec and Half McNakedcakes, 4!

That's ok, neither do half of us here. Hee.

I see it like American Idol: when you first start watching it, you have no idea what to look for, but as time goes on, you get a sense of what the judges want and don't want. And it's always open to interpretation. But at the same time, you see glaring mistakes that the judges either gloss over or failed to see it the same way you do. For Rachel, great lines, great posture, not a whole lot of dancing, but Bruno LOVED her and did seem shock that she was tossed. Joey has some issues but did seem to give it more energy and did dance more and yet it wasn't up to snuff for the judges, maybe they were looking for more of the "traditional" steps to those dances.

I'm happy with the final two couples. I like Joey and Ashly but wanted to see them go this week. I think they are good dancers and are all about the entertainment, but they still don't seem ballroom to me. Maybe it's I still picture Joey in his Hangin Tough days.

About tonight, I know absolutely bupkis about the foxtrot but after watching the first two couples, something about Joey and Ashly's just seemed off. To my untrained eye I thought they were very good but it seemed like they were performing a different dance than either John and Charlotte or Kelly and Alec. I kind of had a feeling the judges would go off on them for that.

Kelly- I didn't think tonight were her best performances but I think she does better and better all the time and I still like her feisty personality. It is funny though how the judges went from being on her case all the time to praising her constantly. And man does she have an awesome body. I want her body!

I think John and Charlotte are by far the best when it comes to traditional ballroom and should easily win. There is something about Charlotte. She is so good and yet so elegant at the same time and I think even though John is working hard, she does help make him look good too.

Add me to the bubkis list!! I'm just trying to take what I know from ice dancing and apply it here.

I wasn't sorry to see Joey and Ashly go. I felt like they were becoming somewhat unglued by the criticism and it seemed to be affecting their performances. Her dancing in the first number seemed a bit sloppy to me (but I know jack about dancing so I could be wrong) and in the second all the fist-raising and stepping over her body made me cringe. IMHO they lost a lot of their drive, while Kelly and especially Alec managed to keep improving, or at least not go downhill. Kelly was just OK tonight but Alec was amazing. I think Alec and Charlotte were the real stars tonight. They both did wonderful work and brought out the best in their partners. I think that's why I got tired of Joey and Ashly, because the reverse was true for them. He seemed to be dragging her down.

After some of the bickering and pettiness between couples in the first episode it's nice to see that the final 2 couples have such great relationships with their partners. John and Charlotte are very supportive of each other, and Kelly and Alec seem just as close (and they have more chemistry than most soap couples these days, even in their interview segments, there's heat).

And is she not the most BEE-YOO-TEE-FUL creature without make-up in those behind-the-scenes segments? She looks so much younger than when she's in costume.