I hope you won't mind my barging in, but even though I'm not Argillus, I do have some clips from the results show. I think they originally came from Kelly Monaco's fansite, so a big thank you to the people there.

Charlotte and Nick:
http://s57.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0JSDW4R...JX1QCR4NG0BLUXD

Alec and Edyta:
http://s57.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1K7FKZC...OE2H6LFDGZUHZ9C

Bloopers:
http://s57.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3AV8FTW...351S2I2IIK0USX9

Many, many thanks, Andreanne! That is so much appreciated. I can't wait to watch those performances. Thanks again.

Mwah! Thanks Andreanne!

Glad I could rewatch Alec & Edyta's dance, I just wanted to be sure. And now I am. I echo barkley's sentiments! Edyta, no Suxy! for you indeed! Hee.

I enjoyed Jonathan & Anna's dance more than Nick & Charlotte's during the first watch, and I feel the same way the second time thru. I think their choreography is more interesting... and I think I was expecting much more from Nick & Charlotte's.

Aw, I miss the Suxy! already. I'm kinda hoping Alec gets an old lady partner on DwtS 2. Heh.

I watched it and it didn't seem cheesy - it was nice. HOWEVER, I will say that in retrospect, I have trouble believing a couple of decrepit 70 years olds would be able to email ABC, unless they had their grandkids set up the computer for them and find ABC's website. Not to knock old people, a lot (like my mom) are pretty savvy, but most of the ones I've met are like "Who needs that newfangled email anyway?"

Do 70 year olds really use words like "newfangled"? They were in their 20s in the 1950s. Not really that ancient.

Just to digress but my 70 year old uncle, a former engineer, is an early adopter with everything technological and taught me everything I know about computers.

Sorry to be contentious, but the media always portrays seniors as doddering old geezers and it bugs. In reality, even with health problems that may preclude dancing, a lot of the ones I know are still smarter and wittier than a lot of people my age and many (like former Pres. Bush at 80) are still in great physical condition as well.

That said, the "holding hands and crying" is a bit much. Not impossible, but definitely JOH-style cheesy.

Andreanne, I also express my gratitude for the links.

I agree with djork. It was great to see Charlotte dancing with a skilled and graceful partner for a change, but the performance left me a bit flat. (Was that a waltz?) It didn't move me any where near the way I was moved by Johnathan and Anna.

I've never been a Kelly/Alec 'shipper, so that didn't affect my impression of the Alec/Edyta samba, which I thought was pretty sexy. I kind of understand what people are saying, 'shipper fantasies aside, that there doesn't appear to be a strong personal connection between the partners during the dance, especially considering they are a couple IRL. Still, Edyta moves so much damn sexier and more sensuous than Kelly, that it was impossible for this red-blooded male not to enjoy it.

Back to Jonathan and Anna; although I enjoyed all the professional numbers on the two dance-off shows, none of them affected me personally like theirs did. Beyond the elegance and the difficulty of the dance, the two of them seemed to exude a profound joy of their art during the performance. There seemed to be a strong connection between them throughout. Are they partners off the dance floor? Speaking of falling in love from afar, I had never laid eyes on Anna Trebunskaya (she isn't Russian by any chance?) before that number, nor have I since, but I did develop an instant infatuation. She is obviously a lovely young woman by any standards, but mixing that with the grace and talent she displayed seems to raise things to a higher level for me. There is a moment during a bridge in the music when she is extending her body and holding the pose for a moment, and she has a look on her face that demonstrates the purest satisfaction and pleasure. I certainly don't know if that is simply her performance face, or if she was truly responding sincerely and without inhibition to what she was feeling at the moment from the music and the choreography. In my dreams, it is the latter. At any rate, for that moment in time she is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

Since I can't possibly recall the last time I had an expression like that on my face about anything or anyone, is it any wonder I'm ready to give dancing a try?

And if there are any others like me, inspired to dance by this series, shouldn't we be thankful for that, no matter how cheesy, ungracious, unfair, conspiratorial, idiotic the contestants, competition, judging, results, or hostess might be?

Last comment: Even the idiot hostess looked positively ravishing in that dress, at least the little bit of her I saw at the opening of those performance clips. Sorry I missed the dance-off results show.

Nope, I use words like "newfangled" when I want to exaggerate a point. And my point still stands. I don't believe that older adults who embrace technology to the point that they're firing off emails to random celebrities are in the majority. I know there are many, but I still think his story is a load of crap and that was one of the red flags to me.

Yup, married. Yup, Russian. And yes, definitely beautiful. Let's hope she gets cast on DWTS 2.

Well, I'm in the distinct minority (of one?!) when it comes to preferring Charlotte and Nick's foxtrot. I just loved the ease and elegance and simplicity of it, as well as the discreet sensuality. They looked like they were drifting over the dance floor. *sigh* They used their technique but didn't flash it.

It's not that I didn't enjoy Jonathan and Anna's dancing, which was beautiful. The routine just didn't get to me as much as it did to everyone else. It looked a bit busy for my taste.

As for Alec and Edyta, I think I missed the macho, hyper-protective vibe Alec had with Kelly. That's probably because Edyta looks like someone who can take care of herself. They did look like they were having fun, though.

Okay, the technological expertise of senior citizens is kind of off-topic, so.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1175514

Didn't see this article posted about John O'Hurley appearing on Broadway next year in Chicago. I didn't know Robin Givens could sing and dance.

Oops -- deleted discussion of 70-year old mother emailer. Didn't see Miss Alli's post soon enough! Sorry.

If anyone is interested, JOH is on Drake & Josh tonight at 8:30 EST.

No, you're not alone. Charlotte and Nick were amazing and my favorite. Everything they did seemed effortless.......very smooth.

Well, it's not for nothing that Charlotte is a champion dancer who happens to specialize in the Foxtrot! ;)

A friend of mine, knowing what a pathetic DWTS groupie I've become, taped a recent appearance by Tom Bergeron on The Tony Danza Show. (Does everybody have a show now? I want one too.)

Whoa! Whatever happened to blandness? Bergeron smilingly called the dance-off an "anomaly" and the "sore sport edition," saying Kelly had won the original "fair and square." He said he told the producers that he voted for Gore and had learned that sometimes you just have to suck it up and move on.

The series is coming back in January and he knows at least some of the people who will be on it, but wouldn't name names.

Three months to go.

Good for Tom! I couldn't have said it any better.

And once again, Tom B misses the point.

So I've gone back and watched a lot of the clips on Raphael's site. It was interesting that when I turned off the sound, I was forced to look more at technique rather than just letting the music influence my perception of whether I enjoyed the dance or not. I was surpised at how much more I picked up by watching it that way. Boy, there were some train wrecks early on. I thought Rachel was a better dancer than I gave her credit for, and Joey was worse than I remembered the first time around. Joey's energy and enthusiasm (and Ashley's_ carried a lot of his dances, but just watching his feet, wow.... not so good. I think he'd be great in Broadway musicals, he's definitely got the stage presence, but not very crisp in the footwork.

And WORD about Charlotte and Nick......she just floated and swayed as natural as can be. Somebody else mentioned how flashy the other couple's dance was (I can't remember their names, but not Alex and Edyta) and I agree. It was technically strong but the level of effort was more obvious.

Me, too. What was the point, again?

The point is that if you lose, make sure to be a really poor sport about it, and by doing so, you can force a rematch.

John O'Hurley did not force the rematch. ABC wanted to capitalize on the ratings and, IMO, amped things up between John and Kelly post-show so they would have a hook on which to hang one.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were all part of the salary negotiations for the dance-off. They may have even been given their designated roles for the coming hype and then played them out.

And now that the dance-off has received such a poor reception not to mention that the ratings were cut by half, Bergernon is being sent out, IMO, to push it all off on John so that he will take the heat.

I think it was all about as credible as pro-wrestling.

However, if John allowed himself to be used this way and did not have the savvy to at least have arranged for some protective guidelines, then I have lost a lot of respect for him. I think he has taken much of the good will the original show generated along with his increased profile and seems at the moment to be putzing it away. Hosting Mrs. America? Who unless they were desperate for money would choose to do that? I hope, though, that all this is just a temporary glitch and John goes on to do some impressive things with his career. I like him and think he is very talented.

Tom Bergernon, on the other hand, I've given up on. When the show first started, I thought he was awful. Then I came to appreciate him. And now with this latest report about him out acting as ABC's hatchetman and bad mouthing one of the contestants, I'm back to disliking him intensely.

And this has also affected the way I regard the show in general. I wish all of the networks would come out with very successful dance shows (because there cannot be enough dance), but wouldn't mind if ABC ended up tanking with theirs.

I see it's not an option to think he actually meant what he said. Personally, I think that was his own opinion. ABC has nothing to gain by telling him to say that the Dance-Off was the spoilsport edition.

But would Bergernon, someone who has been in television so long, be out spouting off an opinion that was not the party-line of the people signing his paycheck?

Professional credibility? Personal integrity?

If Tom Bergeron was worried about either of those, then why did he appear on the showdown episodes in the first place? I presume he, as well as Kelly, John, and everyone else, received a rather hefty appearance fee, probably a lot more than they got for the original show, for doing the dance-off. If TB was really so worried about his credibility and integrity and felt so strongly that the idea was a bad one, why did he appear at all? We know that none of them were under contract for it, that the dance-off was added at the last minute as an extra, if Mr. Bergeron was really so offended by the concept, then perhaps he should've taken a pass. He took the payday and then dissed it. Either he's a hypocrite or he is doing the network's bidding and those remarks were scripted for him.

I caught Tom Bergeron's remarks and my impression was that he was just poking fun at all the people who are taking it way too seriously. I don't see any vast conspiracy by the network. These daytime talk shows at not really important because hardly anyone watches them and I doubt that anyone takes what is said on them seriously. I think it's great that Tom is having a bit of fun with it.

As someone upthread said, the dance-off was bid to cash in on the show's popularity and get some more milage and high ratings out of it. Unfortunately, the scheduling was bad. Airing it during premier week was a mistake. I think the dance-off would have done better if it had been aired a week or two earlier while the competition was still airing reruns.

Are we talking about Bergeron's attitude toward the dance-off, or O'Hurley's toward the series?

Judging from the context of peppypen's remarks (with which I totally agree), I'd say that the "he" being referred to is Tom Bergeron.

Oh, and thanks to calli for writing this:



Well done, calli! You said it far more eloquently, and far more civilly, than I ever could have. :)

That was a rhetorical question, legaleagle44. ;)

I doubt if Bergeron thought resigning over the dance-off was worth it. After all, he didn't resign when DWTS committed terrible crimes against music, though he did comment on the Sonny and Cher Viennese waltz (more credit to him). When he says he loves hosting DWTS because he enjoys the show and it's live, I believe him. He wouldn't want to walk away from that job just because he thought the dance-off was a dumb idea.

Of course, there's no denying it got dumber when it tanked in the ratings. And I'm sure Bergeron would have moderated his comments if ABC or the producers had told him dance-offs were going to be a regular feature of DWTS. So that's the message to the next series' loser: suck it up and move on. It's OK to be America's second least crappy celebrity dancer.

BTW, did anybody else think that the music and the singing were much better on the dance-off than during the regular series? That can only give us hope for next time.

I missed Bergeron's comments. I was ready to bury this faux O'Hurley victory and his assclown behavior once and for all, just put it out of my mind completely. But good for Bergeron. His comments are hilarious and right on. The Sore Sport Edition indeed.

BWAH!

This is on topic so stick with me,,,I saw a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel tonight and his guest was Clay Aiken who does some reporting for the tabloid show "the Insider". His first assignment was being backstage at the DWTS dance off. Naming no names and trying to politely tell the situation he said the non-winner ran off stage upset and everyone told him to go after her. He said it was very uncomfortable to invade someones space like that.

I guess Kelly didn't take the loss too well.

Oddly enough, she did the same thing (rushing off during an interview for some 20 minutes to compose herself) on some gossip/entertainment show before the dance-off ever took place. Not that I want to feed the shippers too much ;) , but it happened right after some interviewer said this would be the last time she would dance with Alec. I think the problem was exhaustion more than anything else, although I'm sure she was disappointed about not winning.

I think we can all be grateful to Kelly that at least she's not talking about going two out of three...

Considering the stinky ratings for the dance-off, Kelly might be talking about going 2 out of 3, but nobody's listening.

I also saw that Desperate Housewives has decided to cast someone else in the role that Kelly was under consideration for, so her acting career hasn't seemingly benefited at all from DWTS, unlike JOH.

Well Kelly's acting career before DWTS is nothing to scoff at either. She's an actress on a 40+ year old soap opera, she's getting a steady cheque, and I think she likes what she's doing.

JOH on the otherhand? He really had no where else to go but up. He's in a few tv commercials and he's guested on Drake & Josh. I wouldn't say that's a huge success.

Marc Cherry admitted that he was never considering Kelly for a role on DH. Also, her career is actually pretty good. She was extremely popular for Port Charles (and Emmy nominated). Her time on GH has been rough, but she's still very popular there as well. I don't think she has anything to worry about.

Kelly didn't ask for the dance-off in the first place. She was trying to be happy with her win and forget the damn show but the media kept up her win being a fix nonsense so she went along with it.

As far as her career goes Kelly is in the driver's seat. She can pretty much write her own contract when it is up for General Hospital when it is over and if she decides to stay. She too has gotten offers for other acting gigs but it is up to her if she wants to do them or not. She may be on Housewives or not. Who is to say? People in the biz lie all the damn time and she just may pop up on there.

She is very private and all the media attention may cause her not to want to take roles that will push her further into the spotlight. Her boyfriend has already been outed last month when Kelly has been in soaps for almost 8 years and people never even knew she had one.

dr gailey, you make it sound like you know Kelly personally, and, if you do, then you might be right that Kelly didn't want the dance-off. But, from what I saw in the media, Kelly was perfectly willing to capitalize on her success on the show by appearing on the talk shows, etc., so I find it hard to believe that she wasn't thrilled with the chance for more prime time exposure.

I'm wondering what acting gigs she's been offered, once, again, if you know her and have personal knowledge please share. The media has mentioned nothing other than Desperate Housewives and TPTB on that show announced that Kelly was one of several actresses up for a role on the show and that she did not get it. Maybe they'll give her something else later, but the sort of fame she got from DTWS is pretty fleeting and I doubt anyone will even remember who she is in 6 months, let alone cast her in a major network show.

As far as 'writing her own ticket' on GH, once again, DTWS did give her a little more visibility, but I haven't heard that it has translated into bigger ratings on the show or more interest in her character. From what I understand, she and her character are not fan faves. In a year or two, or whenever her contract expires, no one will even remember DTWS, especially since she has been unable to capitalize on it as an actress. Apperances in men's magazines aside, she hasn't been able to up her visibility in the industry or translate her victory into acting jobs in the past couple months, when her opportunity was best, how is she going to capitalize on it later once everyone has forgotten her?

As for Kelly's boyfriend, do you really think she kept him hidden or is it just that she was a minor player on a soap and nobody cared enough to find out about him before DTWS? Sure, she got a little notoriety with the show, but she and her boyfriend of 13 years (what is up with that?) will be anonymous again soon enough.

This isn't true, she's one of GH's top stars and part of one of their most powerful couples, Jason and Sam. When she began on the show she was hated, not because she sucked, but because the storyline made ZERO sense. For one, on Port Charles (also set in the same city as GH), she played a different character.



By winning, you have to go on the promo campaign. She was very lowkey about it as well, I definitely don't see her as a famewhore. When I watched her on those talk shows she seemed very grateful and happy about the experience. I don't think she was interested in this dance-off, but who can blame her? Nobody else wanted to see it either.

I don't know Kelly as a personal friend but I have spoken to her a few times online. She is very candid with her fans and tells us stuff when she wants us to know.

Kelly did all the talk shows that a normal winner of any contest does just like John did. As far as her character goes on General Hospital she is insanely popular now. She was the victim of bad writing for her first year and a half but it has gotten better. She had the longest lines at GH Fanclub Weekend and her fan event was sold out.

As far as her boyfriend goes her keeping him a secret this long was a rare feat in the soap opera business. Fans know everything about their families. Soap magas find pictures of everything and the fact that we finally saw a picture of him is astonishing.

Kelly has gotten offers for things just like John has including a talk show. She has outs in her contract to do them but she hasn't really taken advantage of it. She will let her fans know what she has in the works as she does them.

FWIW, JOH has done tons of voice-over work. I'm constantly hearing him on various cartoons, as the voice of so-and-so.

And though some may scoff at this as a profession, he's had no lack of work since Seinfeld....and it's a paycheck. There are lots of actors/actresses who've done this, some as a sideline.

In terms of Kelly's career?
I'll admit that I'm a soap-snob. I'm not impressed by someone who is a 'soap actor/actress', no matter how long they've been doing it, or on which soap opera. I just don't view it as 'real acting'. That's my opinion. I used to watch soaps, too.

To me, JOH and Kelly are pretty equal in the 'success' department, at least from what I've seen/heard/know. Neither of them is an A-list, serious actor/actress. They've seen 'success' in their own venues. Good for them.

That always makes me mad considering that some "big names" came from this genre and that some of these actors are MUCH better than some of the famous fucks who are paid $20 mil a pic.

I just don't undestand the hatred of this woman when she is benefitting just as John has. It is more that ABC pimped this shit out until it died, not her.

But they weren't big names until after they left.

The point is that they are just as talented, not what their level of fame is.

Everyone can have their own opinion.....

Personally, I really don't want to see JOH on my TV anytime soon. I was a real fan of his until I watched all the snotty comments he made on the rematch. I can't imagine what kind of show they could put him on.

The current issue of Playboy has new unpublished pics of Kelly from her original 1997 appearance in the magazine. All I can say is that these photos move me on a primal level.

On an unrelated note, this is my first posting since Hurricane Katrina. My house suffered minor damage - a couple of holes in the roof, cracked windows, gutters torn loose - but the same can't be said of me. About two weeks after the storm I was standing in the bed of my truck unloading trash and fell over the side. The fall broke both bones in my lower leg just below the knee and drove the knee joint down onto the bones.

I underwent emergency surgery the first night to relieve swelling in my leg. During that procedure - called a fasciotomy - the surgeons also attached an exterior fixator to my leg to hold the bones in place until the swelling subsided enough for another operation. The fixator was a system of external rods secured by screws into my thigh bone and ankle.

Since then, I've had additional surgery, including a bone graft and the installation of permanent plates and screws. Happily, the fixator is now removed, but doctors won't allow me to attempt to walk for another 8-10 weeks. So, in the meantime, I'm watching more television than ever and scurrying around the house on crutches and wheelchair.

Oh my goodness, FormerOlympian. Rushing in with arms filled with bouquets of flowers and stacks of get-well cards.

I'm glad you seem to be well on the way to total recovery but any period of restricted activity must be especially frustrating for an athlete. Hope everything continues to improve.

Best wishes to one of my favorite posters -- the witty, brilliant, and always wonderful FormerOlympian!

FormerOlympian , I was wondering where you were. I am so sorry to hear about all the problems that have come your way. I hope things are progressing for the positive and wish you the best. Thanks for keeping us posted. So glad to have you back.


eta: What type of dive were you doing off the side of the truck?,,,,oh, that's right you're a swimmer. Well, what in the world were you doing trying to dive?

One more question, are you scurrying around the house in your speedo? (Okay just let me dream) Any home health care needed?

I just tried to send you flowers but my local flower shop doesn't know who FormerOlympian is !! Well, damn them.

Geez, FormerOlympian, you've got to learn to take it easy! I'm suffering from major leg pains just from reading the description of your injuries.

More seriously, at least your morale seems pretty good. Best wishes for a speedo... oops, I mean speedy recovery, and I hope the Kelly pictures will at least help to cheer you up.