Thanks mully

I wasn't really taking sides, I just hated the dress....

Dance Off here we come !

Woo hoo! I love this publicity for the dance off. Do you guys know if Alec will be in tow for Tony Danza and Jimmy Kimmel?

Thought she said "Did you see anything?" as in "Did you see me mess up?"

I think sometimes our Suxy! imagination gives others an impression there is something really inappropriate or shocking going on -- well there is, in our heads, because it's Kelly & Alec and they're always messing around with each other's clothes -- but it was just an oops! I was clumsy moment and Kelly being funny covering for the boo-boo.

I wish there is a screen cap of her View appearance because I think some of you will be surpised how modestly she is dressed. I mean you can't see any curves -- nada, the only skin you can see is her arms and that's why mully was saying she looked sexy anyway. That Maxim shoot is what it is -- a shoot for a men's magazine, many well-known and respected actresses have posed wearing less for general consumption fashion mags. Everytime I've seen Kelly on a talk show she is dressed in very normal attire, and more modestly than most actresses her age. {Actually I think she owns this one knit top in multiple colors, lol.}

Ok, enough of Kelly's clothes from me.
'WaWaWalters' I love it! She said she was rooting for Kelly all along, yeah baby! And the girls didn't want her to give up her trophy. Don't do it Kelly, it's your disco-ball-on-a-stick! :)

Glad the Suxy! did not lose a step. Seriously, that "I'm sweet on you look" they gave each other right before they danced is swoon inducing. {Btw, I don't think I've paid Bruno enough homage for coining my favorite word, heh.}

ETA Good point mully! I abide by the truce! My 2-cents are in too, he-heh.

Many actresses have posed nude at the start of their careers, I'm not disputing that. However, once they've achieved some success, they don't do it any longer. There was also an artistic quality to Charlize' photos that is missing from Kelly's. It's not a suprise to me that so far the only career benefit that Kelly has reaped from her success in DWTS is another chance to pose naked in a men's magazine. No new acting jobs (rumors about Desperate Housewives don't count), no appearances posing in classier publications, just more nudie pics. That's going to be her career and it appears she is fine with it. Meanwhile, I haven't seen Charlize Theron posing for Maxim lately.

As for Hilary Swank or Halle Berry doing nude scenes in films, to me, that's a whole lot different than doing soft core porn in men's magazines.


Because calling attention to her body and the fact that she'll flash her naughty bits at the drop of a hat is the only thing she's got going for her?


If she's such a talented actress, then why hasn't she been able to parlay her success on DTWS into acting jobs rather than more nudie pics? I've seen her on
GH, granted the show's writing is terrible, but she is barely competent as an actress. She's lucky to have Steve Burton to act with, he is carrying her in most of their scenes, IMO. For that matter, she's an ABC employee and they've certainly managed to get her on all of their talk shows, but when it comes to getting her a guest appearance acting on one of their night time series, it hasn't happened. With all their desire to capitalize on the success of DWTS and Kelly's part in it, her own network hasn't given her any acting gigs as a reward.

What do nude layouts have to do with DWTS? And the appropriate place to discuss her acting and career choices, as well as Steve Burton's superior dramatic skills, is the General Hospital thread.

Kudos to Kelly for realizing that viewers of DWTS and The View are not tuning in to see her flash them -- uh, amend that to not all viewers. Buyers of Playboy or Maxim expect to see skin.

And she does need to learn how to dress appropriately if she's going to dance on a show, although Alec seems to handle her very gingerly in these appearances.

Eeeeeeeeeee! I hedged my bets and woke up to see Tony Danza.

As the segment with Kelly is winding down, she's dancing with Tony, and I was content in the fact that she has become a good follower able to improv with Tony. They're twirling around...

Then bam! Out of the corner of my eye I catch Alec coming out and he gives them a stare 'Let go of my woman!' And Kelly happily goes back to his arms and they dance the rest of the segment!!!

And they looked really fab dancing, Kelly looked much more relaxed -- the Suxy! tension must have been relieved pre-show ;) No 'Let's Get Loud' this time around, just good cha-cha music. For the View they were relying on their old freestyle routine but I think they really spent some time 'practicing' this weekend, Kelly looked really confident in her dancing.

The other Suxy moments:

- Kelly again talks about the physicality of 'dancing' -- yeah baby!
- As Kelly encourages everyone to pick up dancing, she says it's not only great for your body but a social activity, she's like "It can be intimate... {beat} ... or not." -- yeah, we all get lost in the thought too, Kel :)

I can't believe that I actually taped the Tony Danza Show just to catch a glimpse of the suxy! I can't wait until I get home from work to watch this.

Edited for my attempt of a recap: The beginning segment with Kelly was just her and Tony talking. I must mention that Kelly looked absolutely gorgeous in a nice cream colored pants suit. Tony asked her about how long it took for her to learn the dances and she told him that she practiced four hours every day and she hadn't had a day off in months. He asked her about her always being the underdog and she said she couldn't understand why people tried to put her down all the time. She also brought up the dance-off and confirmed that people were complaining that because she was an ABC employee that the show was somehow rigged for her to win. She said that she agreed to the dance-off because she felt like she didn't have a choice but to defend her win.

Then in the next segment, Tony asked her to dance. They began with Tony doing a few moves and her mimicing him then they danced together. Then Alec came out from back stage, tapped Tony on the shoulder and asked to step in. Tony backed off. To dance with Alec, Kelly proceeds to remove her suit jacket to dance with Alec, leaving her in a very sexy red lacy camisole and her low riding hip hugger suit pants. She and Alec start dancing into the commercial break and the inner fangirl in me couldn't stop squeeing. They looked HOTTT!!!!

I can't believe I forgot about Tony Danza today! I missed 'the suxy!' moments, damn it! Thanks to djork for recapping what happened. I would have loved to see the "leggo of my woman!" look that Alec gave Tony. And Kelly and Alec dancing suxily, of course.

OT but...

BWAH! If you call blinking and not blinking, not to mention the constipated look, acting. Such an awesome thought, Andreanne! This seriously made me giggle in my cubicle at the office.

SleepDeprived I forgot to say, it was definitely not just the look, Alec actually goes to claim his woman. I was very cute and staking territory-ish, heh.

I'm hoping one of Kelly's fan sites will have mini-downloads of her appearances.

Aut235 I hope you can give a better recap when you watch this later. I didn't tape the show and my brain was completely short-circuited when I saw Alec come out. I just squeeed so loud, it was really such a surprise, I totally wasn't expecting him to be there at that point. Like they didn't even announce him coming out or anything, I just blinked and there he stood.

Needless to say my memory is completely addled by utter joy and excitement.

Recap of Kelly on Howard Stern today- with pics, & Alec was there too:

http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.php?d=1126508400

Did anyone else see the promo for the "Dance-off" between John O'Hurley and Kelly Monaco on Sept. 20th?

This just seems like a really bad idea. No one wins in a situation like that. Either Kelly wins again, and JoH just looks foolish, or he wins and everyone points and says "See, she shouldn't have won anyway!"

Bad idea, ABC. Bad idea.

I couldn't agree with you more, winterwhitewolf--and I'm a die-hard John fan! Still, I'll be watching the dance-off, but every time I think about it, I want to scream:

Let it go already, ABC! FREE JOHN AND KELLY!

This Sunday, September 18, ABC Family Channel is doing a Dancing with the Stars first season marathon starting at 1 PM.

I listened to the entire Kelly interview on Stern yesterday. Stern's website (link is a few posts above) gives a decent summary. A few little tidbits not mentioned that may (or may not) be of interest.

• When Stern suggested she was paid 100 grand for her first appearance on DWTS, she confirmed that was exactly correct.
• When Stern suggested she was being paid 1 million for the dance-off, she was somewhat equivocal, but stated that was "more-or-less" correct.
• She recounted in great detail her experience being drugged and almost raped back during her playmate days. Apparently she avoided that fate because she only took a few sips of the spiked water and therefore never lost consciousness.
• She is incredibly protective of her boyfriend and their relationship and largely shut down during these type of high pressure questions. He was in the green room the entire time, but would not come into the studio. It was pulling teeth just for her to state that he was Puerto Rican. She stated that he has a career in the music industry working on the "back-end" (WTF does that mean?) but because her career has gotten much busier since DWTS, he is now acting as her full-time manager. One could infer from her dodgy responses to some of the relationship questions that they live together.
• And for those that just have to know, she does have a vibrator and uses it when she is with her boyfriend.
• Alec was in the green room as well, and entered the studio near the end of the interview. He had a chance to plug the dance school in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In partial response to Stern's questioning about how he could avoid physiologic arousal while dancing with such a sexy partner, he said that DWTS was his first time working on a TV show and he had had enough anxiety that the former issue was hardly (no pun intended) a concern.

To get completely back on topic, the interview summary suggests that JOH challenged KM to the dance-off. I don't remember if that was actually what was said during the interview. I find that a bit hard to believe that an actual challenge was issued. I assume ABC "challenged" both of them to make an easy million and make a whole lot more for the network at the same time. But I suppose a dance-off stemming from a personal challenge is a better story.

Stern did paint JOH as a sore loser and Kelly neither agreed or disagreed with that assessment. Whether she is just assisting in playing up the rivalry to help out the network, or she is really a bit annoyed at some of the cat-fighting is open to interpretation. She really didn't sound very excited at all about doing the dance-off, although she has a million reasons to be excited.

Wow, I could see why Kelly & John would have been tempted to do the dance-off.

In her View interview, she said she would be donating all her dance-off proceeds to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina -- or Hurricane 'Corrina' if you were Mrs. Laura Bush (things you learn from Howard's show...)

OK, nothing against Kelly, but that? Is way TMI. [irony]I'm quite sure that her boyfriend was grateful for her sharing that bit of info, too--especially since she's otherwise so protective of their privacy.[/irony]

Agreed. Not sure if you are a Stern fan/listener, but he has made a career out of knowing just how obnoxious and probing to be in order to glean this kind of intimate detail out of guests. He is also extremely persistent.

She didn't exactly volunteer any of that info. It was dragged out of her over a couple of minutes and several variations of questions.

I finally saw the Danza show and the suxy lives!!

As far as the dancing goes, Kelly looked really good and she looked so much more confident in her dancing than she has before.

DWTS Dance Off: Revenge of the Suxy.

I can't believe I missed Tony Danza! There has to be some clips out there, can anyone help me out? I gotta see the suxy!

Oh, and ew about the Howard Stern interview.

Soaptown USA has a really good interview with Alec. It doesn't even mention the suxy at all and manages to be a very good interview.

GiGiPeach, Kelly Monaco Web has Tony Danza clips up: Behold the Suxy

re: Soaptown USA article. OMG! Alec said they "inspired" each other! Awe. Just... awe!!! It was so meant to be. They were both the last to be cast and I can't believe Alec was notified he was cast the day before and they had to start right away because everyone else had started training. I think they only had 2 weeks as oppose to what everyone else got (6 weeks?).

Me thinks that Alec was notified so late because what ever professional dancer was chosen depended on which star they were able to cast at the last minute. And they gave him a pic of her prior to meeting her. I wonder if it was Suxy at first sight :D

Awe, it's kismeth!!

BTW: I've been meaning to ask this. But I programmed my vcr to tape Danza and for some reason it taped the season finale (as oppose to the season premiere). Did this happen to anyone else? Well, I got to see Danza with the Stars anyway. (I'm so glad to see how embarrassed he was saying that stupid title, "Danza with the Stars". It means that he wasn't the genius who came up with that title and hence, he has retained a bit of dignity in my eyes). Well, I lurve him for the good KM interview.

I won't say the dance-off is a good idea at all. But I'm ready with my spin on a possible JOH win. To counter the "Kelly Conspiricists," my theory will be that a JOH win was "rigged" in order to make things "even" between the two finalists.

Personally, what I know is that I went into DWTS a big JOH fan. He was my main reason for watching. However, now I can't stand the sight of JOH. I cringe at his commercial for that insurance company.

Kelly and John will be on The View via satellite today (Monday.) And the winners of the DWtS dance-off will be on Oprah this Friday.

I caught the tail end of John and Charlotte on the Creative Emmys this weekend. They danced (the Quickstep, I think) and then, they presented an award. Charlotte looked beautiful in a lavender dress with purple orchids in her hair.

John mentioned on The View this morning that he and Charlotte will be doing the rhumba and a waltz tomorrow night. Both teams will have to do two dances they never did on the show, as well as a freestyle. No mention of what Kelly and Alec will be doing but I wonder if one of their dances will be the cha cha. They did a small portion of the cha cha on the Tony Danza show so it's possible it's a dance Kelly recently learned.

Well, even though I wasn't crazy about the Dance-Off idea when it was announced, I have to confess I am getting excited for it, and am having the usual suspects over for a viewing party. The ABC Family Marathon of episodes got me in the spirit of things -- some of the bits I hadn't paid attention to when the show first aired, esp. with Kelly and Alec (sigh!), b/c I didn't really care much about them in the beginning, as I didn't know who she was, and he honestly seemed pretty assy from his "I'm the best looking man on the floor" iceman deal the first episode. So there was some suxy I had missed originally that I got to enjoy this time around.

It sounds like from the linked Soapnet(?) article on the previous page that Alec is retiring from competing? I wonder if that's so, and how Edyta feels about that. Some of that article didn't make sense, as I had thought he and Edyta had been partnered (and dating) for years, but the article said they had only begun dancing together shortly before filming DTWS.

Terrible admission: I didn't watch this when it was on over the summer. I just couldn't make myself get excited over a New Kid, Rod Stewart's ex and J Peterman. Although I did consider watching because of Kelly--I gave up GH a couple of years ago, but remembered her from her quite creditable work on PC. Nonetheless, I thought "Meh. I'd rather Patrick O'Brian again."

Listening to all the 'controversy' afterward, I wondered what in the world it was all about.

So it was great to see the whole thing repeated yesterday afternoon on ABC Family channel. I must say, I'm VERY impressed with the Suxy.

After having the chance to watch it all in a row, though, I think I know why Kelly and Alex didn't get voted out, and why they deserved to win.

They didn't get voted out because the first week, the judges were just too mean to Kelly. That whole 'you look like you came from the hospital' thing was just plain mean. And you could totally see that Kelly's feelings were really, really hurt, especially when it was clear that she had worked hard and was really doing her best.

Nobody really likes Trista all that much except the ABC execs. So Kelly got a sympathy vote from a lot of people that saved them, and Trista and Louie were out. And Kelly gritted her teeth and went to work.

The next week, there was just no saving poor Evander. It wasn't the Terminator and Tinkerbell--it was more like a T-Rex and Tinkerbell. So the Suxy was saved again, and Kelly worked even harder.

By the 3rd week, Kelly had gotten seriously determined, and she took every criticism and she worked it. And they never looked back after that. You could see watching it that as she really buckled down, she started to have some confidence. The 5th week, which is what the final audience vote was based on had the foxtrot--which is kind of an evil dance to watch, even when it's done beautifully; so the undecided audience didn't really have any investment in that first dance. It came down to the pasa doble; and the truth of it is, 'Fernando' overacted--I thought for a minute I was watching William Shatner, he was so over the top! That would have been my reason for voting for the Suxy and not the Aged Gracefuls.

I think what outraged everyone was the 3 10's for the freestyle, and that's what really generated all the controversy--that the Aged Gracefuls had danced really quite brilliantly throughout the competition, and hadn't gotten so much as ONE ten--and her was the Awkwardly Moving Oompa Loompa getting three of them! I can see why some people where outraged.

Even so, in that last dance, the Suxy put it all out there, more so than any of the other teams ever had, (even New Kid and the Mad Girl)--everything that Kelly had learned, everything more that Alex could teach her in a week, and they just went out there, and just went for it no holds barred. That last landing on her knees had to have hurt like hell, but she didn't even react.

The Aged Gracefuls didn't push that last half inch, and the Suxy did. And that's why they won, and totally deserved to.

I think this rematch might be very, very interesting. Because this time the Aged Gracefuls know that they have to go balls to the wall and if they're going to win, they have to take some real chances. The Suxy already knows how to do that, and I think they will again. The question is, does JOH have it in him to push that hard?

I think there was some confusion with the terminology: they turned professional a year or so ago, but they've been dancing together as amateurs for several years.

Did anyone catch the dance-off quartet on The View? I used to like John O'Hurley, but he's now coming off as a bit sanctimonious. He criticized the voting and said he didn't feel like a loser because he's been very busy and his phone has been ringing off the hook. Charlotte was beautiful (little or no makeup) and charming, as always.

Alec could lose the hat. Poor Kelly sounded like she had a cold or laryngitis, and some View-lady commented that, from her body language, she was pissed at O'Hurley. (I have to agree with that.) She seemed to relax a bit when Alec entered the conversation.

And did she or Alec say they were "playing around" when referring to their dancing together? I couldn't help thinking of that expression as fodder for some of the TWoP shippers! Kelly also referred to Alec as part of her "daily regimen," which he thought was funny and came back with "personal fitness trainer," to which she agreed.

ETA: Oops, sorry, arroz con pollo, I see you caught the interview too.

Bwah! So much Suxy! fodder :) I can't believe I missed the View, didn't know they were gonna be there. Sigh. Thanks for the recap Andreanne!

Man, I want a daily regimen of Alec's hot ass too. Go Kel! ;)

Is the dance-off tomorrow or next week. Heaven forbid I actually miss it.

Why do I keep missing all these View appearances? Damnit! John should just quit while he's ahead and not keep bitching about the voting, the scoring, built-in fanbases, ets. He's rapidly wasting what goodwill he has with many people.

Welcome to the show, Bossysheryl! I agree with your assessment about how things went. And I think the couples (I love the "Aged Gracefully" term, though poor Charlotte is only 34!) are going to get more polarized, do more of "their" thing. I imagine John being more hammy, more over-the-top, b/c he thinks that's what people want (and maybe they do!). To me, that will make for a rather obnoxious viewing experience, but whatever. I think Kelly and Alec will be going all FCC-be-damned-sexed-out, because capitalizing on the suxy and the speculation about their relationship will be useful to them. And that will probably annoy those who think she's "skanky" and all that. But, we'll see!

ETA: Djork, the Dance-Off is tomorrow. It's an hour and a half. I have a feelign the first half hour is pure filler, b/c before the Results Show on Thursday, there is one-hour repeat of the Dance-Off.

As said above, the winners will be on Oprah, but since I think they're just opening/closing the show with a dance, I don't know if the dancers will be on Oprah After the Show on O, but maybe!

Hee! I'm sooooo excited about the Dance-Off and seeing the Suxy tomorrow!

Annlaw, I'm so jealous. I wish I had a viewing party to go to.

Anyway, I taped the View but haven't had the time to see it yet - however I did catch a glimpse of the View at work today (what great timing that my boss finally got a new working tv for the breakroom!). I heard the "daily-regimen" and all the thinly disguised Suxyness. Thank God I was alone in the break room coz I was giggling like 12 year old. And I was thinking of you SuxySuperFans here at TWoP :) (Man, I don't even want to think about what we're going to do with ourselves when all this is over).

BTW, the voting has changed. The phone lines will close 15 minutes after the show. I believe you can vote during the show but I don't know when you can start voting. I mean, are they really going to allow people to vote before they even start dancing? And online, it's one vote per email.

Also, for KM fans, watch her on Jimmy Kimmell tonight. Maybe he'll be there ;)

Okay, I wrote this entire reply and somehow it disappeared. Grrr. Anyway, I posted a few times during the initial run of the show but I have since disappeared since I started law school. However I spent all day yesterday watching the marathon on the family channel and, while I think the idea of a dance-off is very very very silly, I am still excited to watch more dancing! I had forgotten how enjoyable the show is to watch. There is no better way to take a break from legal memos than watching a couple waltzing to "Toxic" or wondering how Alec can still be hot even when he is dressed like Aquaman.

I must say that when I first watched the show I was a Kelly/Alec fan and I was very happy that they won. Upon rewatching, I found that I really enjoyed Joey and Ashly was well and I have no idea why the judges were so harsh on them. Even though I didn't giggle like a 12 year old at the "suxiness" like I did watching Kelly and Alec dance, I found myself smiling during all of Joey and Ashly's dances.

And while I would have been happy with a John and Charlotte win during the intitial run, John's comments and the way Kelly was eviscerated in the press really makes me angry. My feelings have changed and I do not think I would be happy anymore if John and Charlotte win the dance-off. I hope that Kelly and Alec have a blast dancing during the dance-off and that they "win" again. How do you win that thing anyway? Also, bossysheryl I totally agree with your assessments and I also think it will be interesting to see how the couples treat the dances tomorrow night.

Although I still think Kelly should not have to defend anything, I am totally going to be watching tomorrow night and giggling over my favorite "couple". Bring on the suxy!!

On the Personality Parade of yesterday's Sunday newspaper's "Parade", somebody asked if JOH was bitter about the loss and being robbed. The columnist replies "Not in the least". Apparently he has been watching the alternate coverage of the controversy. It does make me sick that Peterman got a sitcom, a talk show, three pictures, and a Broadway show. I hope Kelly's final take from all of this turns out to be much bigger.

Aww, I love all the Suxy! love. What will happen to us after the dance off, sigh. I wish the Suxy had a permanent home... and I kinda wish if Alec does DwtS 2, his next partner is an old lady :)

Saw Jimmy Kimmel tonight, unfortunately Kelly's better suxy-half was not there. But it was still a great interview.

I really liked what Kelly had to say. Jimmy brought up how she used to be a Playmate and how he thought it was cool she was able to make a name for herself after that. Kelly said she was a Playmate in 1997, and was very proud of what she was able to accomplish since then because she said it was a 'good mold to break'. She was very candid and said 'let's face it when you hear Playmate or Playboy, there is a stigma attached to it', and she's glad she's able to move on to better opportunities.

Something about her I really respect, she's got this no BS, no excuses attitude. That and she's just so darn cute.

Btw, she looked lovely in a green calf-length dress very similar to her Regis & Kelly blue dress.

Thanks annlaw for the dance-off reminder. Weeee! Suxy tomorrow -- I can't wait. I hope they do the tango for their Standard/Smooth! arroz con pollo I think you're right and the cha-cha will be their Latin and that's what we got a preview of in Danza. Bring on the suxy, indeed!!

ETA I thought Kelly looked quite tired, like her eyes were kinda baggy -- like she did that night of the Paso. She said she woke up at 5 am, and would not get rest until after Kimmel. She was doing 12 hrs of soap work, 4 hrs of practice. Poor Kelly, I hope she is well-rested for tomorrow. Did you hear that Alec? Be good tonight -k-, you both need your rest ;)

For all of you West Coasters, there was a great, DWtS segment in the second hour of Good Morning America today. They showed K/A and J/C practicing in CA. Both couples looked great and the music was a great improvement over what they had to work with last time. Then, they showed an interview Kelly had done recently with one of the co-hosts in the NYC studio which was really cute. The guy asked her to dance with him and after a few basic steps, she asked him to show her his moves. So, they started doing silly stuff like The Shopping Cart and The Sprinkler. It was very cute. I love that Kelly has such a good sense of humor about herself.

Looking forward to tonight! Twelve hours and counting!

This short, voting time is making me nervous though. It often took me 20 minutes or more to get through on the phone lines back in the summer and I would imagine that there will be even more people calling in this time.

34!! 34!!! Why the hell does she look so much older?? I would've thought 44 for sure. It boggles the mind--she is such a lovely woman. Maybe being partnered with Peterman makes her appear older?? One thing I gotta say about her is that she has the most lovely hair color--very natural and beautiful. So many ballroom women have that solid-one-color harsh platinmum hair, very very extreme and unflattering.

I have to watch 7 TV shows tonight, simultaneously (No TIVO) in a 3 hour period. I am carb loading as we speak. Wish me luck.....

From this morning's preview on GMA, the couples will be dancing:

John and Charlotte:
- Rhumba
- Waltz
- Freestyle

Kelly and Alec:
- ChaCha (to Lady Marmalade, it looks like)
- Quickstep (to Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend)
- Freestyle (to Pink's Get the Party Started)
Looks like they're going with a medly of Pink/Moulin Rouge

I can't tell what the music for John and Charlotte is -- the songs weren't recognizable to me. I don't know if the music they showed in the clips is the actual music, or just musical cues GMA used.



I know! She looks much younger when she is in her practice garb and make-up, and not done-up for performances. In rewatching DWTS on ABC Family, I noticed how really lovely Edyta is without all her make-up on, too. In the first episode when she's being interviewed about being trepidatious re: dancing with Evander, she looks very lovely, not severe, and non-orange. As the ballroomers on the board have pointed out before, I guess ballroom make-up isn't about being necessarily the most flattering to the dancer, but to complete an aesthetic. That's why Rachel always had that awful crows-feet enhancing sparkly eye shadow. Kelly and Trista must have put their feet down about what they'd allow to be done to their faces.

I thought and still think the dance-off is a lame idea. But now that it's here, I can't wait! I'm weak that way. Anything to get more dancing I guess. Like many who post here, I used to watch those PBS broadcasts as a kid. And the marathon this past weekend rekindled my interest in a DVD (repeated viewing also won me over to Joey & Ashly when I was not a big fan during the original airings). What I caught of the marathon reminded me of how much I enjoyed the actual show even though the shine was taken off by the the weird post-results press and general speculation.

Plus the interviews, etc., that have been going on recently have been pretty fun (managed to catch Regis and Tony Danza both with K/A). On a sad note, the TV listing for one of the shows - I think Tony Danza - has an "Alex" Mazo as one of the guests. Maybe Jay Leno and whatever company that writes these blurbs share the same intern. [And that same intern preps Regis right before he interviews.] Guess it's a step up from "KM's partner" or even no mention at all.

In total agreement with bossysheryl's very thoughtful post. The first few eliminated contestants gave K/A some breathing room to get it together and to start charming the audience. I watched the first episode only because of all the press regarding Evander - and I loved his smile and seeing him move around. But I was pulling for J'OH early on. Did not know who KM was in the beginning or care until the jive routine with her "pump action" legs - which was about the same time that I started noticing/speculating that Alec was kind of shielding Kelly by positioning himself between her and the judges for some of the more in-sync choreography. By the end I was pretty much buying the suxy and much preferred to concentrate on baseless, wild speculation of other positioning between the two. Much in keeping with the lightheartedness and camp of the show.

Best news yet: the dance-off does not really conflict with the Rockstar: INXS finale! Thank you, ABC programming dep't.

I've been out of the country for a bit and am a relatively new poster. So I'm sorry these replies are so late in coming (way back around page 196 when there wasn't much else to talk about):



Saw bits and pieces on television. Thanks! I'll have to keep my eyes open for it now. I liked how he went balls-out in Monkey Bone (another movie with Dave Foley in it) with all the wild gesticulating and gyrating to the songs. I'd like to see a contestant who just goes for it. Super fun and entertaining.



Sorry that was me. I said "female actress with martial arts training (or Michelle Yeoh, since she’s pretty recognizable)." I knew about Michelle Yeoh's experience which is why I just didn't flat out name her, but it was hard for me to find any female actress with martial arts training - recognizable enough in America - who does not have a dance background (usually ballet). In fact, it seems like many actresses have the dance background and use that to learn the choreography for the fights in the films. Ah well.

I'm excited about the dances Kelly and Alec will be doing. I think had they done the tango as their standard dance, they would have been playing it "safe," and been criticized for not being able to do anything that isn't latinish and sexy. I think it's smart after Kelly's Maxim spread to step back the sexiness a notch, to show that she's more versatile. Even I, a big Kelly/Alec fan, will be glad to see something that will be more about the dance and less about looking like they're about to pounce on each other. Not that that's not fun, too (hee!), but it does open themselves up to criticism for being a one-trick pony couple.

Plus, I always thought John's much-vaunted quickstep was not quick enough, and for all the gushing about it, it was a watered-down, slower version of the dance b/c of the shape he was in. I think Kelly and Alec will really be able to put the energy and speed into the dance, as seen with their great footwork with the jive. So You Think You Can Dance showed that the quickstep can be fun and flirty and youthful and energetic (not just a dreamy, Fred-and-Ginger era number), and I think Kelly and Alec will do really well with it.

I think John and Charlotte will shine on the waltz, but I don't know that John can pull off the sexiness of the rhumba -- putting on his "this is my sexy man" face won't cut it, I don't think. It looked like their freestyle was going to be fast again, which I think may not be playing to their strengths, but we'll have to see.

As to the non-spoilery part of the GMA interview, Kelly said she took about three weeks off dancing after the first show, during which time she tried to pack on some pounds so she wouldn't get too skinny during the rehearsals for the Dance-Off. She said she did feel a bit "gypped/gipped" (sp?) that her win had been tarnished, and that she had to defend herself, but that she's ready to do just that. Nothing was said that really pertained to the suxy, though. She said she was excited about the Dance-Off and all the attention it's been getting (humorous comparisons to Ali-Frazier, etc.). Then she and the interviewer danced (cute set-up), and she asked if he could lead, and said no, and she said "well I can't lead!" and they just sort of shuffled a bit before showing each other classics like the sprinkler and butter churn, as detailed previously by BrainyBlonde.

I'm such a 12 year old girl - I can't wait for the show tonight!

Little Barkley and I will be on the couch, popcorn and phones in hand! I'm letting her stay up extra long tonight because it's a special occasion.

I agree that John will probably put on his "sexy face" for the Rumba tonight. He just can't help the mugging. I also agree on the quicker quickstep tonight. As we learned on SYTYCD, it is easier to look good when the male partner is the professional when doing the QS (poor Snow!).

Rehearsal footage here:
http://tv.yahoo.com/feature/dancingwiththestars.html

Kelly looks and sounds shockingly tired. And the "Added Pressure" clip tells you which dances they'll be doing tonight, in case you want to avoid it.

If that's true, that's insane. But, it may be omniscient wisdom from ABC that, given how political this has become, people aren't going to vote for who the better dancer is based on the dances tonight. How odd that people have become so fixed on the results of the show!

(And on a side note, for all you so inclined: Could tonight be the greatest night in reality TV history? Not only is there this Dance-Off, but there's also the finales of Big Brother 6, Rock Star: INXS, and RU The Girl, the premiere of America's Next Top Model 5, and the second episode of The Biggest Loser 2. Too bad I'll be at work!)

I think John/Charlotte are waltzing to "You Light Up My Life." Don't know the names the other two songs. Rhumba song is rather slow and boring, and Freestyle sounds like a disco number. I think they are really going for the older demographic vote.

I would hope that surely by now more people are over the bitterness and just tune in to watch the fun, and yes, the suxy! I can't wait and frankly, I think DwtS will kick every other reality show's butt tonight in the ratings.

I am going to have to program the VCR to record both "The Gilmore Girls" and "House MD" but that is okay. No freaking way am I missing this! But hopefully, whatever the outcome, there won't be so much bitterness.

Does anybody know how the voting will be done this time? Will we still have one hour after the show to call in our votes? What about Internet voting?

I inferred from a commercial that the vote would be live...in which case, I have a favor to ask of fellow JOH fans (if any are still out there): I've got a class tonight and won't be home until about 11:30, so please vote on my behalf!

Not that I have any illusions about Kelly and Alec not winning again.

Holy cow, the ABC site does say that phones lines close after 15 minutes - the online polling will be open during the show and until 10:15 Pacific time. Once again it is one vote per email address.

They had better have their phone ducks in a row because people will be really pissed if they can't get through.

I'm currently at work, buried under piles of papers but I couldn't help sneaking a look over here. I can't wait for the suxy! Eeee! Why do I get reduced to a giggly 12-year old whenever I think of K/A? The suxy! is just too powerful.

Curse you big, black bars! I so wanted to be surprised with whatever the couples are dancing tonight but I just couldn't resist. But, thanks, annlaw78. I can better prepare for tonight now.

Closing after 15 minutes? Crap! You can bet that I shall be armed with the house phone and my cellphone, ready to call in during the show!

**Gotta finish work now so I can get home in time!

After seeing Kelly on Jimmy Kimmel last night and then hearing her commentary tonight, I must say I just don't like that sorry little bitch. At least their performance didn't consist of a bunch of dry humping like it did last time. If she wins tonight it will be a crying shame. Her freestyle was lackluster to say the least. She had some pauses, her feet were flat instead of pointed at all times with the exception of the few lifts, and it just didn't seem difficult at all. I would swear Bruno is gay but damn if he doesn't want to fuck Kelly. Or is it Alec he fancies?

I sure hope Peterman wins.

Doh. O'Hurley in spandex.



<runs off to find brain bleach>

I think this is going to be another case of Clay v. Ruben. I've been trying to vote on my cell since the end of J&C's waltz and haven't yet gotten through. I got through three times on my landline and it said I voted my maximum.