Yes! I was thinking the exact same thing while watching them, even if as a non-ballroom dancer, I couldn't have said it as you did. All I knew was that they had a better cha cha (was that it? I forget) than Kelly. (And I like Kelly just fine.) Those kids were GOOD, dangit! So jealous...

Was that John O'Hurley or Shatner in the freestyle? The Star Trek Enterprise uniform is just SO not a good look.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the ballroom youngens, but they were really cute when they were being interviewed. When they started showing the group cha cha, I thought some of them were just okay. Then we got the girl in purple with her twin brother (Faye and Dale) - DAMN! They were awesome. What I didn't like was the yellow couple's ending pose. Yay that you can do the splits, but I thought it was a little inappropriate for their age group to have that little girl's vagina at her partner's face level. I swear I'm not a cranky 80 year old woman either. This goes back to my issue with age appropriateness (costumes, shoes, choreography, the works) as well as pushing kids too far in terms of flexibility and learning tricks instead of the basics. The camera kept switching around, but Faye and Dale seemed by far the best kid couple out there. The other kids knew the steps, but Faye and Dale had the skills.



One of my issues with Kelly's dancing has been her lack of polish. It doesn't take an expert or years or training to point your feet, but Kelly had a tendency not to pay attention to those kinds of things. Her carriage was stiff and awkward - every time she did a backbend, it looked so, well, awkward. I couldn't figure out if it was her back or her arms or her neck or what. When she did that split lift last night and had her arms over her head, again with the awkward. Her torso was hunched forward and her hands were very stiff like a Barbie doll.



One moment that stood out to me was when she was doing some sort of jazz square step during the freestyle - she was out of sync with Alec and she looked like she was tripping over her own feet.

John and Charlotte's costumes during the freestyle were atrocious. If one hadn't burned my eyes out, the other was enough to finish the job. Oy!

I listened to her entire interview as well, and didn't infer even a hint of what you have said. What response(s) did she give that made her sound full of herself and that it's all about having guys ogle her?

Kelly has always seemed standoffish about men and sex after the whole rape ordeal. I find it hard to believe she came off full of herself or anything like that in the interview.

She easily could've been a famewhore and left that sinking ship that is General Hospital for a better gig, but she said no matter what, she's staying with GH. That doesn't mean she won't go to primetime, but she won't leave GH. She also hasn't been throwing herself at the press like John has. Basically, he's desperate and she's not.

The best was when they were on Leno and Kelly flew and Jay caught her. I enjoyed the bloopers a lot, they were so funny (and thankfully, there was barely any remains of Trista!). Was that girl who was interviewed Kelly's best friend or something? I missed the caption. She was on GH though, wasn't she Bridget the foster girl who Courtney took in?

I really hope next season we get some hosts that aren't so wishy-washy. And I really thought the whole judges scoring was a waste of time better spent on giving us more bloopers!

Yep, that's her. Her name's Lauren Petty, and apparently she's been friends with Kelly for seven years. She looked a lot better last night; I don't know what GH does to the women to make them all look so bad on camera. NLG and TB always look so much better in the mags or on talk shows than they do on the show.

Yay for good detective work, barkley. :) I was trying to dance around it but... yeah. I still vote for a dancing Artem and Alec Mazo hotness-off. :)

More on topic... the dancing kids really made me want to rent Mad Hot Ballroom. And second thought? (other than cuteness!) Some of their heads are really too big for their bodies. Mean, I know. I almost fixated on it. Except for the hotness.

Okay, in case anyone didn't highlight the spoiler - it's not a spoiler anymore.

The mystery celebrity we've been talking about is Artem from SYTYCD. He was 2 rows behind Carrie Ann.

I'm pretty sure he would know most of the pros since he's from the Bay area and I think he teaches at the same place as Jonathan and his wife.

I suppose it's all a matter of subjectivity and perspective. And, I'm sorry, but I don't doubt that she was traumatized by her rape ordeal (I've been there myself)...but she does NOT carry herself as someone who is afraid of being sexual & having everyone around her KNOW that she's a sexual being. And I'm wording it very mildly here.


So, she's some sort of hero because she hasn't left General Hospital? I don't get that. Besides which, we don't know her whole situation, we don't know what offers and opportunities have/have not come her way over the years.

And...seems to me that I've heard as much about Kelly/Alec appearances in the media as I've read about John appearances. If not more. So I really don't think it's accurate to say that she hasn't been throwing herself at the press. And I'm not saying that in a negative way...I don't blame anyone who uses this opportunity as a chance to further their career. They'd be foolish not to.

I completely agree that there was something off about the atmosphere in the Dance-Off, especially after watching the marathon over the weekend. BrainyBlonde I felt the same as you when you wrote



Before each dance, Kelly and John looked like they were about the throw-up all over the dance floor. I hated how bitter John seemed in his interviews. Everything seemed so tense rather than fun. The judges were on the defensive and extraordinarily grumpy. I suppose the only thing you could count on is Lisa Canaan's incompetance. I still loved watching them all dance again (and I really liked seeing the professional dance together!!) but the show seemed so serious. It was like they all forgot it was supposed to be a wonderfully cheesy summer show about ballroom dancing and instead made it into this hardcore competition. It all seemed particularly ridiculous when you watched the exhibition dances of Ashly/Louis and Jonathon/Anna because they were just so wonderful and beautiful. I think Kelly and John have done amazing jobs learning the dances, but they still have so far to go.

I think the show would have been better if they just had an exhibition, like they do in the Olympics for ice skating after all the medals have been given out. Then we could watch our favorite couples dance. Instead of looking sick and tired, they would have seemed much happier because they were not defending/going after another disco ball trophy.

I also LOVED the blooper reel and I would DEFINITELY buy a dvd of the show just to see more rehearsal footage. Plus, I want to relive the whirlwind romance of Kelly and Alec falling in love over the dance that I completely made up in my head :-)

On to the dances -- overall I liked Kelly and Alec's dances better because, for me, they are more fun to watch. I enjoyed their music choices better because it made me want to get up and dance as well. I also love their chemistry when they dance together and they do seem to be wrapped in themselves while they dance, while John does a lot of mugging for the camera. I didn't like any of the random moves that required Kelly or Alec to be on the floor (I kept yelling, get up and dance!) but I did like the fact that their dances seemed very fun and energetic. Plus, I wish someone could pick me up and throw me around like that!

That being said, I liked John and Charlotte's waltz, but I was a bit horrified by their costumes (the previously discussed free-style atrocities and Charlotte's blue number in their rhumba also terrified me). Also, I was actually covering my eyes at the end of their rhumba (i think) which ended with Charlotte's hair tangled up in John's crotch. They are so much better when they stick to elegant, graceful dancing, and I will never understand why Charlotte and John keep stepping away from that in their free-styles because it does not make them look good. What was up with their free-style anyway? The whole "anything you can do I can do better" idea doesn't really work when one of the party can in fact dance better. And why did Charlotte think it was a good idea in a dancing competition to have one of the dance moves be "stick your hands through John's legs and wiggle them"?

For the life of me I will also never understand why the judges continuously praise John's ability to get into a new character with every dance, when they routinely panned Joey/Ashly whenever they added that theatrical element to their dances. And I definitely thought back to Len panning Ashly/Joey's foxtrot when he said that Kelly and Aelc's quickstep was a hot mess. I laughed remembering Ashly's furious face and Joey putting a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from jumping the judges!

I was also surprised at how often both John and Kelly messed up. If I noticed it with no dancing experience whatsoever, it means it definitely stuck out.

Does anyone know what the show tonight is going to be like? I voted but I had a hard time getting through, so I have no idea what is going to happen!

I think John came off as a bad sport, saying how surprised he was at not winning; and making it seem as though Kelly and Alec did not deserve the win. I voted as much as I could get through for Kelly and Alec just for his poor attitude.

I also think he's just too over the top with the faces he makes while dancing. Given the trouble I had getting through on Kelly's line [I did manage to get through about 14 times between my two phone lines and a cell, but got a lot of busy signals.] I didn't try John's line, because I didn't want a vote to go to him just for me to satisfy my curiosity over whether it was busy.

I wonder if J & C got a lot of votes just because people were dialing their line to see if they could get through after K & A's line was busy.

I really want Kelly to win to wipe that smug smirk off John's face.

Kelly looked physically exhausted and emotionally strained, John spewed venom, Alec looked worried about his partner, and Charlotte seemed very subdued. I remembered her saying that she disliked the mean-spirited aspects of competitive ballroom dancing, and I wondered if this component of the "dance-off" was causing a problem for her. It wasn't a fun evening of froth for either participants or spectators, that's for sure.

I know I'm in the minority, but I've always appreciated Tom Bergeron in this series. Maybe because I've never seen him in anything else.

John made Charlotte look bad in the rumba, which is an unforgivable sin in my book. He was so focused on himself that he caused her to make mistakes. By the next dances, I was so turned off by his attitude that he could have turned into Astaire and I would just have stared grumpily at my television. Their fractious freestyle pretty much summed up the tone of the evening. I hated her costume, and John looked like he gained back those 20 lbs in his gut.

Kelly was lacking her usual feisty sparkle. She didn't seem as disconnected from the music as she had during the previous series (not great praise, I know), but the fun aspects of her dancing weren't there. She just seemed too tired and emotional to project. Alec was the only one of the four who danced up to his usual standard. I liked their chacha, hated their quickstep and liked their freestyle. Not loved, just liked.

As for the exhibitions, I would have liked to see Len score that foxtrot -- he would have exploded with outrage. All this showbiz open untraditional work! No new steps! The dance was gorgeous to watch; I thought Jonathan Roberts looked wimpy and lacking personality during the original series, so it was fun to see him in his element. They were the only dancers who deserved tens.

It was interesting to see Louis and Ashly make so many mistakes in their jive. I haven't rewatched it, but it seemed to me he stepped out of a spin and then nearly slipped at one point. (Since I'm feeling charitable, I'll point out that could have been due to the floor.) And did Ashly fall or did he forget to catch her?

As for the bloopers reel, I'm really, really glad Alec was able to pull back his kick just in time. Poor Kelly would still be in the hospital if that had landed. She's a brave girl to keep on dancing after that.

I've seen Bergeron on his Fox morning show and on AFV, but I agree that i really liked him in this series. He added the right amount of cheese so the show didn't get too serious about itself, but even his cheese couldn't save the Dance-off from becoming the fiasco it turned out to be.

I don't know how they say John turns into a new character for each dance, I only see one character - preening narcissist who thinks he can be a bullfighter sometimes.

Uh oh. Kelly's pissed.

Aww Jonathan picked her up. That was cute.
And you could see he really did want to say he felt vidicated with the win, but Charlotte said "no" a few times under her breath.

What an utterly craptacular waste of 30 minutes of my time. So John wins the viewer vote. Big whoop. He acted like he had just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Some bluthering about how it feels so private and so public. STFU John. Kelly was so much classier than you when she said that it was all about the charity.

BTW, I liked her charity, a hurricane relief fund, a lot better than John's Golfers against cancer charity. Not that cancer isn't important, but why golfing?

When they showed the recaps of Tuesday's show, wow, does Peterman look like he's barely contained in that stretch shirt. And what was Charlotte thinking wearing that dress with the little holes all the way from head to toe?

So wow. John truly is multi-faceted. In addition to being not being gracious loser, John is also a poor loser. I'm glad you feel vindicated over this grievous slight that was your not winning the first time. Glad to see Kelly take the high road and say nice things, even though you could tell she looked seriously bummed. Interesting that the numbers were separated only by about 2,000 votes -- I wonder if the closeness can be attributed to the short call-in time.

I missed the show but I just saw the end. Kelly looks like someone punched her in the face. I give her a lot of credit for not breaking down right there and making a positive spin of the situation by talking about charity.

I am very very surprised, but I will post more later when I am not so confused...

At least I won't have to tape Oprah tomorrow!

John continues to exhibit poor sportsmanship even in victory.

Alec does not have the suxy with Edyta.
Charlotte and the professional male were breathtaking.

While I appreciate the fact Kelly is a gracious winner AND loser, I'm glad John won. Mugging, vindictiveness and any other bad characteristics aside, I took a look at the website for John's charity and am impressed that he's been involved with them for a decade. Cancer is still a deadly disease for many people and research is still badly needed to find a cure.

Maybe John is a bad loser, or maybe the whole competition went to his head. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm satisfied. Overall, I thought he was consisently a better dancer than Kelly and he and Charlotta performed wonderfully in the dance-off.

Alec looked like a starving man being given his first meal when he danced with his own partner. Ditto Charlotta. I'm glad they got to fully strut their professional stuff for the audience to enjoy.

I'm glad he feels vindicated, too. (what? that was sarcasm? :-))

JOH clearly believes himself to be the better dancer, and he wanted the votes to bear that out. Now, why is it so important to him to be the better dancer, I am not so sure. But he clearly has a very strong sense of "justice." It's a moral issue, an issue of right and wrong.

Tonight will probably be the best night's sleep he's had since the finale.

I wonder if it hadn't been for the outcries and petitions if there would have even been a dance off.

I'm sure Kelly will sleep better tonight too since everyone will be off her ass about winning the thing and that she came out every bit the winner - even if she didn't get the most votes tonight.

I'm very sad for her that her pure joy over winning the season had to be tarnished with that stupid dance off.

Edyta is en fuego! I hope next time they pair her with someone decent so she gets more exposure. She was fantastic and she didn't deserve to get stuck with leadfooted Evander Holyfield.

I just didn't like how instead of just graciously smiling and acknowledging the win, JOH closed his eyes, threw his head back, and exhaled. Like he had finally gotten the monkey off his back. I could almost hear him thinking "It was oh-so-painful to have lost last time, I've lost so much sleep over it during the past two months, and now I am finally a winner."

Considering that Kelly had nothing to gain and everything to lose from doing this, he could have been a lot more gracious. If charity wasn't involved, I doubt she would have done this.

Well, ABC managed to "Millionnaire" another surprise hit. I won't be watching DWTS again. The overly long dance off, followed by an hour repeat, followed by a half hour of crap waiting for the results...all to have Kelly's real and legitmate win taken from her because JOH had a whole summer to make people feel sorry for him.

Neither win means anything now. There's no need to waste my time knowing that a win is never a win as long as there's an asshole who can whine his way into a do-over.

I changed the channel as soon as John was announced. I hope he got a trophy so he can shove it up his ass and do a few hundred graceful spins around on it.

Thank doG for DVRs. Instead of watching the filler, I rewatched the opening dance when Kelly and Alec danced the too tight pants off that blowhard. And they did prove for the world to see that they definitely are a superior dance couple and that Kelly is a thousand times better dancer than that fatass!!!

Then I rewatched Alec and Edyta over and over, ignoring the judges and spandex gut's partner, until the whiny titty baby got his way. Ass. Now shut the fuck up! And stay the hell off my tv!

WORD

So are we going best 2 out of three now? Dancing with the Stars the Rubber Match?

I'd congratulate John O'Hurley on his fantastic win, except I don't think he's going to like the publicity he'll be getting from this little spectacle.

Strangely enough, I feel most sorry for Charlotte. I'm sure she was involved in this pathetic farce against her better judgment.

Kelly, from what we've learned of her character, will come out of this fine. At least the poor kid can get some rest now.

I never watch Oprah, but I'm going to tape her show and hope she gets to ask O'Hurley a few questions.

Congratulations to the winner.

Boo. Eh, at least now John will shut up about the injustice of it all.



Rock, Paper, Scissors with the Stars?

I felt really badly for Kelly. I saw tears in her eyes as JoH acted like he'd been vindicated. I felt bad that she'd worked so hard to win this competition and now it's tarnished by this.

I'm in total agreeance, barkley. I think Alec fell completely in love with Kelly during this experience. And I think she's internally fighting it with all her might. But Alec is too much of a gentleman to do anything but wait. And I think this is partially why he says he no longer feels the need to compete. He just eliminated one of the obstacles that would stand in their way.

I am wondering how Alec no longer wanting to compete will affect Edyta because her stated goal has always been to be the best ballroom dancer in the world. It's why she moved away from all her family in Poland.

I would absolutely kill for her body though, and she does dance like a dream - but no suxy for you!

As a full supporter of The!Suxy!, I love this. I am too bitter at the moment to describe my feelings about tonight's results, but I do feel badly for Kelly. She really put herself out there, already a champion with nothing to gain, only to have her win tarnished by O'Hurley, who's acting as if he just won the Olympics or something. I hope the media doesn't spin this as some sort of poetic dance justice for John, because in reality, it was just a crapload of pity votes, which is even less valuable than the alleged "undordog votes" that led Kelly to her win.

Anyway, now I'm just hoping for a season 1 DVD with LOTS of rehearsal footage, and that no one cares about John's "victory."

Hee! Or how about "Battleship of the Stars"?

I'm just glad this is over though the commentary will probably never end. Next season, I'll probably watch again, but I'm definitely not getting as invested as I did this initial season.

I'm torn between wanting Alec on my screen dancing and never seeing the suxy again because that was a special connection. *sob*

Well they can't have Twister of the Stars because JOH would ruin it - unless it was side-by-side Twister wars with Kelly and Alec on one mat and John and Charlotte on the other. You know the Suxy would be throwing that match just so they would end up on the floor together.

I totally agree with everything you said. I liked JOH so much in the original series, (though I thought Kelly deserved to win), but since his arrogance during the Dance Off I can no longer stand him. Someone upthread described him as preening and narcissistic, and I think that is a very apt description. He's a sore loser and a bad winner. I really wanted to smack that smug expression off his face at the end.

I only tuned in for the last few minutes tonight... and now I am done with this show for good. It's been completely ruined for me.

Guh! So mad. I'm having a bad day, this plus potential spoilers from SYTYCD. Bah!

Are there anymore Kelly/Alec interaction after John is announced the winner or should I just turn off the tv then. Does Alec hug her?

Who knows what's to become of the Suxy! Maybe ultimately they are the winners of this dance-off. Sigh.

I guess John's momma never taught him the importance of living by the phrase "Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat". Seems like he's living his life according to his own warped philosophy of "Be a smugtastic smarmy asshat in victory and a crybaby tittysucker in defeat."

I really, really hope there's a huge media backlash against JOH and the stupidity and poor judgement of ABC to air this "Dance Off".

Was that Nick Kosovich dancing with Charlotte? I bet she was glad to dump the beer-belly for that!

I think that was his name. Charlotte looked absoutely thrilled.

BTW, crybaby tittysucker is my new favorite phrase for my fantasy football foes. (Poor guys getting beat by a girl with a team name of Pretty Pink Ponies.)

You sound almost bitter, barkley. ;) Be careful you don't turn into an O'Hurley (my new favorite expression)!

Nick Kosovich is (or was -- I can never keep track of all the permutations) the partner of Lena Bahcheva, who I heard was Snow's sister (from SYTYCD). I'm not sure if that last part is true, though. Still, small world and all that.

Well I'm scared straight now! To ever be compared to that is inconceivable.

I'll stick to the Suxy from now on.

Well, after reading that Howard Stern transcript a few pages back, I wish they'd go for it...I was a JOH fan, but think Kelly's a gorgeous girl who can do better than a guy who cheated on her. (OK, so that happened towards the beginning of their relationship, but I'm old-fashioned that way.)

Hard for me to feel that badly for either of them - they both got $1M for this debacle, and I doubt the people who liked Kelly all along defected to JOH (and vice versa). It's over and they can go back to fielding the nice bump of offers. ABC, on the other hand, went from the frying pan into the fire with Round 2.

barkley thank you for making me laugh! I am actually quite surprised at how upset I am right now. I think it is mostly the look on Kelly's face that depressed me. Still, let me try to focus on the positives in that ridiculous results show (in a side note, ABC had better rethink that whole results show idea because, like that in American Idol, it is a ridiculous waste of time)

After the two couples did that weird dance together thing that made no sense, Kelly finished the dance with her hand on Alec chest and kept it there even after the dance was over. John and Charlotte disengaged right away. And I giggled like a 12 year old because, frankly, if i were Kelly I would act the same way!

I really liked watching Alec/Edyta dance and Charlotte/Nick(?) because it was great to see them strut their stuff with professional partners. I loved how fluid Charlotte and Nick were - they looked like one person most of the time! And I totally agree that Alec and Edyat looked good but something was definitely missing. The suxy was just not there. Alec seemed a lot more professional and mechanical in the dance with Edyta, if that makes any sense, which is weird to me because aren't Alec and Edyta supposedly together?

If I were Charlotte, I would be very very angry at the costume designer for all the atrocities they dressed her in for the dance-off. The only outfit I liked was the one she wore for the dance with Nick. And I really want her hair!

Also, after Alec danced with Edyta and then walked over to join the group, Kelly gave him a high five. And then he took his proper place by her side <sob>

Lets hope they are off somewhere together having a great time and trying to wipe the past few days out of their minds.

Frankly, I never expected John could beat Kelly in a popularity vote. I am very confused right now.

Kelly is the true winner, because she is gracious and classy. She has more maturity and class in her little finger than John has in his entire body.

I have her hair,,, I need her body!!!!

Why was Edyta wearing toilet paper ?

When they announced JOH as the winner of the 'Dance Off' I had the sickest feeling in the pit of my stomach. And by the look on Kelly's face, I think she had it too. I can't imagine winning a competition, only to be shat on by people for it. Extremely disappointing.

I actually enjoyed JOH during the first series, but man, I absolutely hated him tonight. So smug and condescending.

Kelly, you're the true winner because:
1.) You're gracious in both winning and losing.
2.) You're incredibly, incredibly, incredibly suxy.

Oh yes.

P.S. I think this entire thing was rigged by ABC to prove that the network didn't fix the first series so that an ABC star won. Someone call TVGuide, stat!

P.P.S I hate Charlotte, too. :)

Alec and Edyta performed the same routine that he did with Kelly. It was good to see how it's supposed to look.

I hope the ballroom professional finals will be on primetime this year because that would be great.

As for the rest of the dance-off, the best thing about it was the money for charity.

Most amazing thing tonight was that Lisa Canning looked good in a dress. Finally!

Well, since (IMAO) John deserved to win the first time and didn't, it's only fair that it goes wrong in the other way the 2nd time, just to even things out. Way to fuck it up even more, ABC.

In re-watching the dance off itself, I give Kelly 2 out of the 3 dances. Her quickstep I thought was pretty lame, and I think it's because her short little legs just don't look right in that dance. But hers and Alec's Latin and Freestyle were both better than J/C's.

Because of my Kelly distaste, I've been immune to the Alec love. But watching him dance with Edyta tonight, I was finally able to focus on how his gorgeous booty moves. Mmmmmm. Charlotte looked relaxed and happy dancing with Nick.

I don't understand why some people are down on John's charity. Because it's golfers? What difference does it make who's championing it if the money is for cancer? It's not a golf charity. Would you feel differently if it was teachers against cancer? Nuns against cancer? I don't watch golf so I don't know who all is involved, but I imagine some well known golf pros participate and help raise funds.

The only thing that wasn't fair is that John didn't have to go home with a hideous trophy.


BWAH!!