I thought Kelly's tempo was slower for her Samba too as well as John's Quickstep.

The Access Hollywood thing was stupid. They had some "dance expert" on for a few seconds pointing out the problems with Kelly's routine, but they didn't show him looking at John's routine." It was a very unfair piece. Kelly had nothing but nice things to say about John.

barkley, I just saw this piece too...what crap. Access Hollywood is just desperate for airing any controversy left from poor DwtS. Kelly has been classy throughout all the interviews and second-guessing. Hmmm...maybe after Fox's dancing show starts airing everyone will move on.

The magazines seem to take the same aproach, just fueling the fire I guess.

The tempo is dictated by the conductor, not a machine. Unless he has a click track to follow, variation in tempo is inevitable. If he has conducted the piece only a few times, chances are the variation will be even greater.

The AH piece was garbage. They completely ignore the fact that the judges' scores have nothing to do with who won, just so they can keep the controversy going to boost ratings at KM's expense.

Okay, not complete garbage. Maxim cover shoot? Rawr.

The Hollywood Reporter posted this tidbit for us DwtS fans today:

July 20, 2005

ABC, 'Stars' in step for 2nd season

The ABC summer hit "Dancing With the Stars" has waltzed its way to a quick renewal for midseason, the network said Tuesday. "'Dancing With the Stars' has played a pivotal role in a great summer season for ABC," ABC president of entertainment Stephen McPherson said. "The show is tremendous fun, perfect for our brand and a wonderful boost for our schedule." "Stars" is scheduled to return in early 2006, but a specific airdate has yet to be determined. Other details also are scant: ABC hasn't decided which celebrities will be recruited to rumba the second time around or how many episodes or format changes might be in store.

Julie Warner was just on with Craig Ferguson,,,,what a windbag. In not so many words she said there are 2 shows that would mean her career was over and she would just fire her agent and go back to school rather than being on them.

Dancing with the Stars
Celebrity Fit Club (okay,I agree with that one)

By the way, what career? And who is Julie Warner.......?

I think it was a good thing. By tackling the issue head on it allowed Kelly an opportunity to respond directly to the criticism. It will only serve to increase her popularity. Most people are not scouring the entertainment news for comments on this "controversy". People are going to be saying WTF?

Commentator: Now that DWTS is done, John O'hurley is busy prepping his own reality show and that's after losing in an upset some still say shouldn't have happened. Today Access investigates.

Cut to Kelly..

Kelly: Dancing is in the eye of the beholder
(her demeanor/tone of voice was sweet)
Kelly: We got really lucky that night, and John is great and I am not going to take that away from him.
(voice soft, and she was smiling)
(Clip of Kelly spinning away from and back to Alec, looks great)

Commentator: It was Kelly Monaco's wining moment but was John robbed of the dwts crown? Dance instructors from coast to coast believe John is the clear winner here and have been voicing their outrage over Monaco's perfect 10 scores on a routine most call flawed.

(clip of Kelly when she won, jumping up and down looking beside herself with joy, like a little kid, Alec hugging her with a huge smile on his face...clip of part of Kelly's freestyle ...cut to John and Charlotte dancing in practice, not an impressive clip, they appear to be doing old-fashioned basic steps...)

(Commentator introduces expert while another clip of Kelly dancing very well plays.)

Tony Potts: How do you account for 3 10s?

John Cassese: I don't. (looking puzzled)

Tony Potts: Cassese analyzed Kelly's routine and pointed out every mistake she made.

(while more of Kelly's routine is playing)

Cassese: Okay now this is acrobatics (backbend off stage) and she is being judged on acrobatics and she is being judged on theatre arts. (again showing a clip of Kelly doing really great up to date latin dance moves)

Tony Potts: So that shouldn't be in there?

Cassese: Well no, definitely not. There were portions when she wasn't on the beat with him and she wasn't using her hips.

(showing clip where they aren't doing the same step because they are in transition, looks a bit awkward for a second but not horrible) (cut to clip of end of routine where Kelly lands on her knees)

Cassese: It was a definite fall she lost her balance there..no mention from the judges about that.

(cut to Kelly and Tony Potts)

Kelly: I was supposed to slide into it (tone slightly self-deprecating, followed by big grin as she said..) but I was so excited I kind of just like.. boom boom!..I knew I had to hit that last beat!

(IMO she came across a bit like a kid that's really happy cause they won the talent contest at the picnic, very endearing and I think at the root of the "girl-crushes".)

(camera focuses on Kelly's knee where she is apparently pointing out where she hit.)

Commentator: well despite her hit to the knee when Tony Potts spoke with Kelly at her first photoshoot with Maxim magazine she was quick to defend her form.

Shot of Kelly looking fantastic posing in a white bikini, and another clip of her dancing.

Tony Potts: Did you feel that your performance was flawless?

Kelly: No,(emphatically) the performance absolutely wasn't flawless but the judges were not scoring on a flawless performance and it wasn't about doing a perfect dance. (insert clip of a great lift with Alec spinning around during the lift)

Tony Potts: Not like 10 like the Olympics.

Kelly: Exactly

(shot of Kelly and Alec beaming with the hilariously tacky trophy)

IMO Kelly came across as a very sympathetic character who was genuinely happy like a little kid when she won the contest and people who are criticizing her win are coming across as way too serious, old-fashioned and nit-picky.

If there is any negative fallout from this it will be in tarnishing the image of dance teachers leading people to believe that regular dance instructors only like old-fashioned "Fred Astaire" style dancing that people's parents do.

I'm not answering questions concerning the relative ease of Quickstep at various speeds until someone can tell me exactly how many measures per minute each performance of the Quickstep was danced at. :-) :-)

Hooray for a new series of DwtS in early 2006. My TiVo will be ready.

Who is Julie Warner? I watch WAAAAYYYY too much TV and I've never heard of her. I checked her entry on IMDb and the only thing I've ever seen her in was a bit part (Joe's Woman) from that Kiefer Sutherland/Kevin Bacon/Julia Roberts movie, Flatliners. Ohhhhkaayy. Methinks her career could acutally benefit from a run on DwtS. Well, whatever, some other 40-year-old actress will get to benefit from the exposure.... :-)

(edited for spelling)

Hey Zig, I actually knew who Julie Warner was (Doc Hollywood) but you just proved what I was implying,,,,,who knows or cares who she is. She could only hope to be on some kind of reality show.It would be a step up.

I have no idea who Julie Warner is either.



This is the part that was really stupid because if he had been shown a clip of John's freestyle what would he have considered the first 30 seconds of John's routine where he didn't dance at all or the straddle moves? Shame on Kelly for that back walkover!

He obviously missed the part where it was a freestyle dance.

Being the daughter of someone who taught band/orchestra in high school for more than 35 years, I realize that. However, I also know that a good conductor knows the difference between, say, 110 beats per minute and 120.

The plot thickens -- the conductor was in on the conspiracy, dunh dunh dunh! Just kidding, dominar. In the long run, the controversy is probably best for the show and the final two couples, because it keeps the show and their names in the media a bit longer. It sounds like John has settled down and is playing well with others now about the show, and has moved on to talking about his future projects, not the loss of the Tackiest Trophy in History. And I hope whatever Kelly does next isn't anything stupid or ill-advised. I can't imagine what sort of "talk show" she was offered, but that sounds iffy.

ETA: Has anyone seen "Burn the Floor?" Supposed to be some ballroom dancing spectacular thing. It's on DVD, don't know if it's worth a look-see.

Also, "So You Think You Can Dance" is starting on Fox tonight. My friends and I are hopeful it will get us through our DWTS-Alec withdrawal. Someone upthread promised a male latin ballroom dancer made it to the finals, and Alec pales in comparision to him (surely not!). So maybe as this thread wanes (weep, weep, sob, sob), we'll catch each other on that thread.

You have to have a career before it is over. I had to look her up on IMDB just to find out who she is. She played Megan O'Hara on Nip/Tuck. I can understand why she wouldn't want to be on a show that was number 1 every week with over 14 million viewers a week. That would be career suicide.

I also scratched my head and said "Julie Warner who???" Hey, maybe the A-list won't be on DwtS, but it has done wonders in raising everyone's profile...everyone from the pro dancers to the "stars". I guarantee it will get boffo ratings for next season. Here's today's Variety report with more details:


ABC refills 'Dance' card

Alphabet orders 'Stars' for another year

By JOSEF ADALIAN


ABC is planning a ballroom blitz next year, ordering up another season of summer smash "Dancing With the Stars."
Alphabet's formal pickup of the BBC Worldwide skein, confirmed Tuesday, had been expected for weeks. ABC said it doesn't expect to bring "Dancing" back to the air until midseason; early winter seems to be the most likely option.

ABC Entertainment prexy Steve McPherson said "Dancing" has "played a pivotal role" in ABC's summer strategy.

"The show is tremendous fun, perfect for our brand and a wonderful boost for our schedule," he said. "Having 'Dancing' and 'Brat Camp' both emerge this summer as assets for the future gives us great upside."

Andrea Wong, ABC's exec veep of alternative programming, admitted that the original decision to put "Dancing" on the air was something of a risk. "It was an odd left turn, so it's especially gratifying to see it embraced by so many people," she said.

"Dancing With the Stars" easily ranks as the summer's biggest hit to date, averaging a 5.1/15 in demos and 16.8 million viewers over its six-week run. Those numbers also make the show the summer's most-watched skein on any net since "Survivor" bowed in 2000.

Skein's success won't necessarily impact the casting process for cycle two.

"You get more people who want to do the show, but that doesn't make it any easier to book," said Paul Telegdy, VP of programming and co-productions for the BBC.

Telegdysaid producers won't be looking to just lure bigger names to the show. Instead, what they're interested in "is the story they're going to bring to the show."

No major changes are planned for season two, though Telegdy said he's sure ABC will up the episode count from season one's six segs.

BBC Entertainment Group topper Wayne Garvie said the company was satisfied to see American viewers embrace "Dancing" as passionately as Blighty auds did the U.K. version of the skein (dubbed "Strictly Come Dancing").

"For the second season, we guarantee even more tears, tantrums and tangos," he said.

"Strictly Come Dancing" inspired a disco-flavored spinoff in the U.K. While it seems likely the BBC will eventually try to set up that format Stateside, there's been no movement on that front as of yet.

As for the precise scheduling of the "Stars" sequel, net can easily afford to hold off on returning the show given the number of big guns returning to ABC this fall: "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," "Boston Legal" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

Having the skein on hand for, say, a January premiere could also give the net a nice weapon to help launch its new Monday lineup. ABC could also use the show on Wednesday nights, allowing "Lost" to take a midseason breather (thus minimizing in-season repeats).

A March premiere might also make sense to avoid bumping up against NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics.

I don't know if the guy I was referring to made it to the finals, but I know he and his partner made it through the prelims to the "Hollywood" rounds, so we should get to see them.

See you on the other thread!

Maybe it was someone else talking about it? Hmm, I thought I read that the ballroom couple made it to "Hollywood," but there the woman was cut. Or am I hallucinating? Hehe.

Looking forward to DWTS II in January. I'm afraid all the to-do about "built-in fanbases" will mean that the professionals from Season One won't be brought back, to avoid ABC's having to hear cries of foul about how Luis didn't have much a fanbase from the first season, but Alec and Charlotte did, etc. I also kind of doubt Charlotte would do it again, now that she and John have other plans, and it seems like they would either want all the old pros back, or get new ones.

We're talking about the same couple. I just don't know if the man made it all the way to the finals or not. The woman was cut during one of the Hollywood rounds, the guy went further, but I have no idea how many cuts they do before getting to the final 12 or 10 or whatever they're going to go for. Perhaps zigletto knows for sure.

A good conductor has a very good approximation of what 110 or 120bpm are. (120 is easy anyway, since it's 2 beats per second, but I digress.) I also teach music for a living, and I am a drummer/percussionist, which usually requires me to set the tempo for the bands I play in. The difference between (again, using your example) 110 and 120 is perceptible but rather small, especially when you only have one measure to count off, and I think it is more reasonable to believe the conductor happened to be off that night.

I knew who she was, but I think doing DwtS would be a step up for her. Outside of Nip/Tuck, I am not aware of anything she has done in years.

For those who are wondering whether ABC played any role in setting up the 'storylines' for this show, here's your proof:



In addition, we are promised


In other words, they feel that the storylines last season including Kelly the feisty underdog and John the suave jokester were so successful that we can expect it laid on even thicker next time.

If TPTB feel that setting up storylines for each of the competitors is integral to the show's success in its second season, surely they felt the same with the first edition, lending credence to the speculation that they knew what roles to assign the various competitors and probably knew what the outcome would be from the very start.

I don't remember where it was - maybe Dancescape? - but I remember reading an interview with Charlotte where she said that they get to pick the tempo for the music, and praising the band for staying "right on the metronome."

Ballroom people usually talk about MPM (measures per minute) instead of the BPM (beats per minute) typically used by musicians. Quickstep is supposed to be 50-52 MPM (200-208 BPM). I would say it is easiest around 46-48, and starts getting really hard when it gets below 44. Can anyone report what speed John used for the final?

Julie Warner should be so lucky to be on a show seen by as many as people as DWTS had this past summer. The last show I remember her from is "Family Law" on CBS a few years back. Checking her filmography on IMDB, she hasn't done much since.

I think this storyline stuff the producers seem to be coming up with is a bunch of horses***! Just let the professionals teach the celebrities the dances and let the viewers watch and vote on them. Is that too much to ask for? Sheesh!

Yes, but IIRC, that interview was given before the final. Up until the finale, I would have tended to agree with her.

Hey, that would require, like, work to figure that out! :) But a 10-second difference in a piece that is roughly only 90 seconds to begin with is *roughly* an 11% decrease in tempo. It would seem that going from 46-48 to 44 MPM is about a 5-10% decrease, if my math is correct (and assuming J/C started out at 46-48 MPM, of course - which I have no way of knowing).

Either way, it's just a small thing that irked me.

I think that is taking a pretty big leap of logic. I don't think anyone ever doubted that they type-casted and edited to exploit whatever kind of story they could create, but I don't think they planned in advance for Kelly to be the underdog. She was type cast as cute sexy, and Rachel as sophisticated sexy, and Trista as girl next door sexy.

There will be another funny person, another heartthrob etc. and when choosing stars they will try to get people that will be interesting and witty or better still lose their temper in rehersals. That doesn't mean they plan who will be voted off and who will win.

Thanks for the recaplet of Kelly's interview. I'm sorry she has to deal with all this crap instead of being able to just enjoy her win. But, it does sound like she's showing what a classy person she is in the way she is dealing with the bitterness & unfair nitpicking of her performance.

This makes me even MORE happy that she won...proud of her progress throughout the show and her handling of the aftermath.

I tend to think that if ABC's main goal in putting on DWTS was to propel the career of an ABC employee, they would have either picked on with more drawing power (i.e., maybe Courtney Thorne-Smith -- that sitcom is on ABC, right?), or one that has a new show in the pike for the fall, or will be joining an existing show (i.e., someone who will be joining Alias, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, or Lost, to keep last year's ratings up). I just don't think Kelly Monaco, ensemble player on a soap is really the right person for the network to have relied upon to carry the day.

ETA:

And I hope that's how they continue with it. Because I don't want a bunch of manufactured tension/drama/fighting/character development. What's always nice about first seasons is that they tend to be more "real" (well, you know, as real as a show that has selectively paired people off to learn complicated dancing under great time constraints and then films them, interviews them, and edits them can be). I thought the character development/story arcs were nice this year without being forced. They showed Ashly's crush on Joey, and her having to get over it and boss her older and !way famous and hot! partner around. They showed John's getting back into shape and his running gag track on how things were going. They showed Kelly learning more confidence/grace from Alec and in turn loosening him up. It was all done very nicely and lightly, I thought, though so have complained about overdoing Kelly's pluckiness/underdog angle.

Next season I'm afraid we may get some young starlet with serious body image/confidence issues we are required to care about. Or some jerk/diva that is absolutely horried to his/her partner. Maybe we'll be subjected to a class clown type that won't buckle down and drama ensues. I hope not, though, b/c I think there is enough drama and "good copy," so to speak, in concentrating on pairing the pros and stars off into good, dynamic, chemistry-laden couples and letting it go from there.

I think "proof" is subjective and in the eye of the beholder. To me, this doesn't prove anything. All I interpret by "story" is whether or not the celebrity is interesting. They cast Evander Holyfield because he's known for his boxing and he's big, will that hurt him? They cast Rachel Hunter because she's a scintillating model with ballet training, will she be able to adapt? Joey McIntyre learned a lot of dance moves as a boy bander, can he adapt those to ballroom? Trista Sutter is [gag]America's Sweetheart[/gag], will she capture the hearts of America in yet another environment?

That's what I think is meant by "story". Not "we have a girl who can't dance, let's show her working hard and rig things so that she wins because it's the ultimate feel-good story of the summer".
Word. I think I might have said it before, but if ABC was going to rig anything in favor of any of them, I would think that they would have "chosen" Trista, since she's their go-to girl when it comes to reality shows. And we all saw what happened to her.

IMO sure, the producers can edit a show and give the audience the "types" required for the reality genre (read: sexy/spunky, underdog, handsome but slow, handsome but stupid, ugly but loveable, lol!). If contestants are boring, who wants to watch? Now, that doesn't mean I want to see ridiculous catfighting - well, okay, the ballroom world really does have catfights, I gather - but the part of season one which appealed to me was how everyone seemed to let their hair down, get along during the rehearsals and had fun.

What a load of crap. If this is what the show is, then I won't watch. I've had enough of that from watching the Olympics. I want to watch people dance, not to hear a manufactured sob story. Does everybody have to triumph over tragedy? Nobody is ever born into a normal family, has natural talent, and works hard to become successfull? Are American's so pathetic we can't like a story unless it includes several of the following: mother killed in car crash while X was a baby, father was an alcoholic who spent time in prison, raised by her blind diabetic grandmother who worked 4 jobs to raise X, X overcomes some accident / illness / physical challenge, X's boyfried died of cancer and X is competing to honor his memory. Oh, and X is now HIV positve and unsure of what future she has left. GAG!

Ok, more tangos? that's good.

More tears and tantrums? Pull your heads out of your butts, ABC people. Not everybody likes watching angst and agony and tears and tantrums. There's a fair whack of us who like TV that doesn't involve backbiting and bitching. Maybe that's why the ratings were so good? 'Cause it was fun (F-U-N, fun) to watch? Ya think maybe?

I think the only story I saw was the one about the sexy young soap actress and her hot, steamy, secret love with her gorgeous dance instructor ;)

I like that one a lot. Hee.

Wordy McWord, to this Rabrab!! This is what pisses me off SO MUCH about the shows nowadays. We show support by watching when a first season has something that is fun, spontaneously funny and/or exciting, honest, etc.....and TPTB Somehow think the only way to keep us interested is to dick around with the formula! Gah!! Hate. That.

STOP manufacturing Drama....it is so boring.

I think getting to know the stars a bit was fun. I wouldn't have wanted to miss Evander and Edtya at the jive club or Kelly and Alec in the pool etc. Nobody will want to watch if they are all dull and boring.

Memo to ABC: It's already a huge hit!!!! It doesn't need tinkering. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!! There's so many other reality shows which feature drama and angst. It's really too bad if TPTB are going to turn DwtS into another one of these. If it turns into "Survivor - Dancing with the Stars edition", then I don't think I want to watch.

Uh..... unless, of course, there is someone as en fuego and rioja caliente as the sensational Rachel Hunter on it. I'm such a sucker for a pretty face! ;)

A few random things today:

I saw on Extra that Kirk Douglas wanted to be on DWTS next season with his daughter-in-law Catherine Zeta-Jones. This will probably never happen, but it would be interesting to have her on - with all her previous training and all. However, I like the idea of having stars without little to no dance training. Because this show is less about winning a competition than (don't laugh) the "triumph of the human spirit".

I was channel surfing while I was waiting around for Access Hollywood to come on and guess who I see on Wild on E! - none other than Kelly Monaco. It was the Bermuda Triangle episode and they were in Miami for a spring break thing. Anyway, Kelly was there with the Playboy Extreme team. She was rock climbing against this guy and she ended up winning. There was a shot of her in a bikini (I wish I had her body) and shots of her dancing in some hot club.

The Access Hollywood thing was definitely one-sided. But props to Kelly for her complements to John. See, that's grace under fire.

I hope we don't lose too many posters on this thread to the Fox dance show!

mully wrote:

That's so cute! I love Kirk Douglas. Too bad he is so old now. How fragile is his health? I'd be worried about him having a heart attack doing the quickstep.

blackwing wrote:

I totally agree. I don't need or want manufactured drama.

That was the only story I saw too.

More fangirl stuff...

I've heard from reports of the Fan Club Weekend, Kelly is pushing Alec to get into acting. Considering her current on-screen partner refuses to take his shirt off and do love scenes, I think a hot Russian Count needs to come to General Hospital.

I say NO to heightened manufactured drama. People told me they liked DwtS partly because it was more natural and good-natured, and it wasn't about people being mean to each other or backbiting or being humiliated by eating bugs and that sort of thing.



Oh jesus....

barkley wrote:

That would get me to stick a tape in the VCR for a few weeks. :) A bit off-topic but why won't her on-screen partner take his shirt off and do love scenes?

I love it!


I like the way way you people think!

I think we should go to ABC.COM and make our wishes known, that we don't want manufactured temper tantrums...TPTB have to know the show doesn't need whiny stars!

I was looking at the results of previous DWTS versions around the world and noticed some interesting patterns. First, 4 women and 2 men won. It would appear as if it were slightly easier for women to win, but with such a small sample it's hard to tell. An explanation could be that women (the "stars", that is) have a slightly easier time of it not having to lead. But that's really neither here nor there.

A more interesting pattern seems to emerge regarding the jobs of those people who win. In all six of the cases so far, there is a strong connection between the winner and the channel on which DWTS airs. In the UK, the show airs on the BBC: a BBC newspresenter and a BBC soap star won the first two seasons. In Australia, the program airs on the Seven Network: a Seven Network actress, and a Seven Network travel program host won the first two seasons. In New Zealand, the program airs on TV1: a rugby player won (and rugby is broadcast on TV1). In the United States, the program airs on ABC: an ABC soap star won.

Co-incidence? Quite possibly. But a pattern, nonetheless.

For those interested, here is a list of the winners so far:

UK1: Natasha Kaplinsky, BBC Newspresenter
UK2: Jill Halfpenny, BBC One soap, "EastEnders"
AUS1: Bec Cartwright, Seven Network program "Home and Away"
AUS2: Tom Williams, Seven Network travel program "The Great Outdoors"
NZ1: Norm Hewitt, Rugby Player
USA1: Kelly Monaco, ABC soap "General Hospital"

Apparently, Jesus disapproves of his taking his shirt off and doing love scenes but has no problem with him portraying a mob hit-man.

That Jesus... what a card.

Topic: I agree that the whole fun of the show was the naturalness of it. That may be one reason why I refuse to believe the conspiracy theorists. I liked seeing the rehearsal scenes with everyone. I liked seeing the bit where they did the group waltz and Rachel got in John's way by sticking her booty out at him. I liked seeing how the different couples interacted and I loved watching them all dance!

If I want the tears and tango... well do the ballroom circuit reality show and let me see a bunch of fake-tanned, finely toned, sequined bitches (male and female) back-stab the hell out of each other while cha-chaing and foxtrotting their little tootsie off.

Because honestly? I'd be there for BOTH shows.

He could just mean that they plan to show more of the rehearsals, which some of us were posting as "wishes" for a second season.

Some assume it's his born again status. But years ago he was told by his "mentor" (who plays mob boss Sonny Corinthos on the show) that he should keep his shirt on if he wanted to be considered a serious actor. He took the advice to heart. It wasn't hard, since he hates anything soapy anyway. He doesn't want his character in love or doing any family shit. He just wants to play out "guy" stories, which is why he loves being a mob hitman on the show. He hates even the kissing scenes, and fights against them like mad, being quoted as saying that he doesn't want to kiss actresses because he doesn't know where their mouths have been. Nice, huh?

Kirk's quote was definitely tongue in cheek. It came during an interview he and Michael Douglas gave to promote their upcoming HBO documentary. Kirk suffered a stroke in 1996 and still has difficulty speaking and currently he's recovering from knee replacement surgery on both knees. At 88, I don't expect we'll be seeing him on DWtS.

Bwahaha!

Now, THAT"S funny....I don't care who you are.

There's another facet to having your own network's stars on this show....it's easier to book them. The other networks don't want THEIR stars on your network...they feel like, why should they help your show? I know this for a fact because I have a friend who works at a network. They tried to get a star from a competitor for a one-time appearance, but that star was forbidden by his show's network.

That and, as I understand it, isn't most of British broadcast television various channels of BBC? I know there's also SkyTV, and perhaps some others, but it's kind of different than over here, where there are 5-7 main broadcasting corps fighting it out. I guess my point is that does it make sense proportionally that if a British television show is going to have a television personality/star on it, both will probably be affiliated with BBC? Or has the market broadened up since I was last over there?

I know nothing about Australian television, so can't address that, even as poorly as I tried to address the BBC thing.

Dandesun, didn't I see you at the last competition?

You have seriously just made me fall out of my chair laughing! Thank you for the best moment of my day.

lol, maybe he's referring to the fans of the show!
I think the tangos refer to the audience perception that some of the couples were having elicit flings on the side ;)

But I agree that the producers were probably referring to the rehearsal footage and how the stars dealt with the training and their dance partners.

You go Kelly! It seems from his Q&A, Alec wants to try it out too, but is probably a bit shy, so I'm glad Kelly has his back more ways than one, hee. Maybe then they can have their hot torrid love affair, 'cuz you know it's the storyline! I would come home from uni everyday just to watch.

I have a friend years ago who stayed home sick for 4 days and fell in love with that mob guy and made me watch him with her, so I was pretty sure his name was Sonny. So, it was really cute and hi-larious when Alec in his Q&A kept referring to him as Sunny. LOL, Sunny, the mob boss with the constant non-sunny disposition!

Amen!