In honor of his superfluous descriptions (''a little minx on the prowl'!" "''You're like sunlight — you can never have enough!'' ''You look like a beautiful sailing ship stranded on a sandbar'' among others,) time to discuss the uh, energetic Bruno Tonioli, the man who gave us the word "Suxy."

Also, "sizmic."

Edited, because grammar matters, kiddos!

I can never look at him without thinking of him dancing half-naked in that awful Elton John video ("I'm Still Standing").

Okay....WHAT?!

I don't know if I want to look that up on youtube or not. I'm a little afraid to. On the one hand, there's morbid curiosity. On the other, I might get sick.

I think the show could replace Bruno with a five year old doing mad libs and we wouldn't notice anything.

Here's the video. He's in black.

Bruno isn't bothering me this season, maybe because he likes the people I like. The only part I still don't care for is when he tells people they aren't putting on enough of a show. Not every dance will be a big show, and when they follow his advice, Len usually brings down the hammer.

While we're at Youtube, this is still my favorite Bruno judge moment. Drew's reaction to his comment, and then Bruno laughing so uncontrollably he can barely finish what he wanted to say.

I respect Bruno for not hedging like the other two did on previous result shows and actually answering Tom's question. He said what everyone on the set and at home was thinking and already knew: that Mel B is the better dancer and deserved to continue more than Floyd did.

On the other hand, judges are supposed to avoid even the appearance of partiality. If Mel had been bounced and Floyd had continued on, he would have had that much more fuel to feed his persecution complex.

I saw Bruno and Carrie Ann in Central Park in late September when I was walking past Wollman Rink and saw a sign for Bruno v. Carrie Ann auditions. They were taping outdoor auditions for that upcoming show. It was a pretty informal set up and a very small crowd of the curious, but they had a nice blue elevated stage with video screens behind it. Bruno struck me as just a really nice, smart man. He was a much more relaxed version of his TV persona. He was really kind to the crowd and to the one person I stayed to see audition. He wasn't that hyper "on" personality, but engaging. Comfortable in his skin.

Found him unbearable during the first season, but now I think he's so campy and over-the-top, he's hilarious. I love his strange similes and metaphors. "It was like watching Godzilla throwing around a delicate flower!"

Is there someplace on the web where someone has compiled all of his quotes?

Buon compleanno, Bruno! Happy 53rd Birthday, and many, many more to a DWTS/SCD judge who talks and jumps around like a kid with a sugar and caffeine overload on Christmas Eve!

I love Bruno. He looks like a cat who has just discovered the biggest bowl of fresh cream when he awards his "10"s and while his comments are sometimes a little bizarre, their essence is usually spot-on.

Bruno's reaction to the disaster known as Marie's freestyle was one of my favorite moments of the season.

My favorite "brunoism" this season has to be when he complimented big studly Cameron on his Viennese Waltz by saying "You looked like a big grey albatross, my darling!"

Bruno in his days supporting Bananarama!

He's a backup dancer here.

He has a small acting part in their music video, at 59 seconds.

LMAO

Actually, he's pretty good-looking in the first video; boyfriend had quite a body on him in those days (he still does, but watching him tonight on the British companion show to Strictly Come Dancing, It Takes Two, I could see that he's starting to show his age. All that constant traveling back and forth between Hollywood and London is bound to take it out of the man eventually, I guess.)

Now, I do know that the one video of his that he'd never want to have see the light of day again is the one he's the most famous for: Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" that was linked upthread. Bruno in a black spandex singlet--even he cringes with embarrassment any time he sees it!

I've been rewatching a lot of clips from older seasons and I've decided that Bruno is by far my favourite judge. Aside from being totally hilarious, he's the least nitpicky of all of them but still manages to frequently give constructive criticism in terms of both performance and technique.

He's by far the most entertaining; while Len's crankiness can get on my nerves and I find Carrie Ann totally useless, Bruno provides both entertainment and valuable judging.

Yes, he gets a little carried away with those 10 paddles. I will give him credit this season for being the only one to not give Marie a 10, though. Shocking.

I will freely admit that Bruno is the main reason I will be tuning into Dance War on Monday.

And on that note, enjoy this gem of a clip, featuring Bruno, Len and the other Strictly Come Dancing judges. Singing. (LOVES IT!)

I agree, curlyq. Bruno cracked me up this season with his comments. He does seem a bit hyper to me, but I tend to agree with his assesments most of the time. I don't think he's overly tough on the celebs b/c, let's face it, it's not as if we're expecting them to be turning into pro dancers any time soon. The celeb dancers are meant to be entertaining and I think Bruno judges them based on how he was entertained or not by their performances.

Len and Carrie Ann are kind of too critical at times. Although with Len, I didn't mind it b/c he seemed to be equally critical or equally complimentary. He didn't expect Mel to do one thing and then Jennie another, although I do think he graded Marie pretty generously towards the end. Carrie Ann, OTOH, had her own crazy grading system that she wielded depending on her mood. Her inconsistency drove everyone crazy b/c if you're going to nitpick some about one thing, then do it for all of the contestants.

Having seen some clips of Dance X, Bruno is similar in terms of critiques. He has his energy and hyper praises, but then grounds it with specific comments. He, unlike Carrie Ann, has an idea of what the character and elements of each latin/standard dance should be. This is different from Carrie Ann and her own moody, inconsistent comments. Bruno does have a realistic view in recognizing you need to dance, but that they are celebs. I was annoyed by his comments toward Jennie, but he did give her tens when he felt she earned it. I realized then that Bruno, much like the audience, looks for that performance element. Going on other forums, I realize how much the audience responds to that and I think that is why he got tough on Jennie after that fox trot. He wanted her to translate more on t.v. to knock Marie out of the competition.

It does say something if Bruno does not give you a ten. I felt Len was a bit too generous to Marie the last few weeks. I would like to see Len and Bruno give criticism and comments similar to what they gave during the finals all season long.

Yes. I think this is one of the best things about Bruno. He holds the celebs to an appropriate standard; he doesn't expect them to be as good as the professionals but does expect a good routine with good performance value. IMO, Bruno finds the correct balance between comparing the celebs to each other and rewarding their own personal improvement.

ETA:

Yeah, Bruno was a bit hard on Jennie, especially after that lovely foxtrot. I think you're right about his motivation behind it; it was a sort of "tough love" approach and it kind of worked (Despite not making it to the finals, they did go out on a great note with that fabulous Cha Cha and a deserved 30).

I used to like Len the best, but after watching for a while (and just watched most of the concurrent Strictly Come Dancing in Britain that ended on Dec. 22), I've decided he's dishonest. He wants to please the public - he wants the show to be successful - and whatever he has to do or say to make that happen, I believe he would, whether he believes it or not. Bruno I think is more earnest and honest.

I still like Len as a wit, and I even think he's a bit sexy (yeah I know I need therapy), but I don't trust him to tell the truth as he sees it. Oh, he does sometimes, but he's all over the map. And that helps me understand the Helio thing better (though the others raved as well - sometimes even worse - Carrie Ann's "you bring tears to my eyes" sheesh! though I remember that episode and the reason she was crying by the time Helio performed that night is because she had made a complete fool of herself over liftgate a few minutes earlier... but I digress and it may be just my own Helio-hating warped opinion)

Carrie Ann is sometimes good but I don't trust her judgment. Well, I'm not sure I trust Bruno's, lol, but I like him the best. He seems to sort of admit he goes by emotion a lot of the time. And he's so sweet :)

ETA: My real favorites are Arlene Phillips and Craig Revel-Horwood in England. They're both better than our razzmatazzmic judgie-boys (or our insecure, defensive girl judge - though I'm sure I'd be the same.) I love those "call it like it is and face the music" folks. Craig's been physically attacked by the angry husband of a contestant and a fan in the street! Len was compimenting Craig's candor and he quoted Churchill, who said that one of the three hardest things to do in the world was to criticize someone to his face. (wish I could remember the other 2)

This may be off topic, but do Bruno and Len do SCD and DWTS concurrently? Are they in the States Monday and Tuesday and then fly to England for SCD? I aks this b/c sometimes Bruno's hair looks different (like it's either longer or shorter) so I didn't know if they were all taped right now or are just airing at the same time.

They sure do. Luckily, SCD only airs once a year, but during that time, Bruno and Len do DWTS here Monday and Tuesday, then fly back to England for SCD on Saturday. They tape the competition and results show all at once, then fly back to the U.S. for next Monday's show.

I have no idea how they keep up the energy, but they must rack up the frequent flyer miles like nobody's business.

Thanks dbrain2004. Wow, how do they manage to do all that? That's alot of traveling in one week. I happened across a few of the SCD episodes from this year, and for some unexplainable reason, I just thought that show must have been taped at a different time. I would say good for them as they can rest up now, but since Bruno has Dance Wars, and then DWTS shortly after, he probably won't have a break until the summer. BTW, when is the SCD schedule released? I assume they only start up in the fall?

Bruno also was working on Dance X in England right after DWTS season 4 with auditions and the actual show during the summer.

He must thrive on the workload.

Seeing another side of him on Dance War, a less frivolous side, was a nice change of pace. He also got to wear something besides a suit. He knows how to pack a pair of blue jeans, that's all I can say.

Bruno & Simon Cowell to switch places





Hmm, he says he hasn't signed a new contract for DWTS, I wonder if that means it may be possible we get some new judges for the next couple seasons.

There's a very funny outtake clip from the last series of SCD featuring Bruno and the rest of the strictly judges:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWq-jmndJPo

It happened whilst Cliff Richard was rehearsing and the photo in Bruno's hand is him sporting a rather brief pair of briefs!

It took me awhile to realize Bruno was my favorite because his Stacy love drove me insane at times in S2. Also, he loves him some bad rumbas. But come to find out he's my favorite of all - for such an OTT guy I think he's the most sincere.

He also beats the other two judges pretty soundly in that fun poll on that voting site.

I watched Bruno in the Elton J. YouTube from the link upthread. Only I had the sound off too, unable to reach up and hit the speaker button.

I don't know what to say ...


Would that be a good topic for a separate thread here?

If you just want Bruno's quotes, put it in this thread.

If you want to start a "Greatest Quotes from DWTS", that would be a separate thread, in the Whimsy section.

Did anybody catch what Bruno said after Tom said "YOU must be happy" after Cristian De la Fuente blew Bruno a kiss? He said a couple of things then broke up laughing but I couldn't make them out.

I like Bruno. He's entertaining in his own right. Billy Ray being a a crazy bear lost in a swamp for instance gives me a chuckle. I tend to like his critique more than his praises though. For instance "do you have an extra pair of batteries in your pants" is less funny to me than the bear comment.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the contract for SCD not DWTS -- all the British judges are trying to get more money because the judges on the British XFactor (a show like our American Idol) get like ten times as much. If I remember correctly, Len and Bruno each get more than 200,000 for a DWTS season but only 60,000 for a SCD one. (I think that was pounds not dollars so double the numbers to get the equivalent in dollars.) And SCD is 12 weeks instead of 10.

My figures may be off -- but I remember that they make considerably more for the American show than for the British one, yet the Beeb is making a fortune off of SCD and its offspring.

ETA: Looks like my memory was right - but the XFactor judges get 15 times as much!! -- here's an article about the salary situation with all the British judges:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1773

Something like "I think I've been outed!"

Bruno really likes to give Mario high undeserved marks.

I think it's his way of countering Len's ridiculous scoring. The same score for Mario and Adam? Really, Len?

Bruno continues to hold a special place in my heart as my favorite judge. He's such a delightful ball of crazy. Whether he's calling the tango a bitch, demanding more sex in a rumba, or randomly shimmying like a gigolo during Kristi's critique, I find him entertaining and fun. Plus it gives me endless joy to know how much he annoys Len.

I agree Embrace. He provided more entertainment tonight (Get Out!, LOL) than just about all the dancers except for Mark and Kristi. Thank you Bruno.

Book me a seat on the Bruno love train as well. Even though I wish we had more dancesport-oriented judges on our panel, our show would really lose something special if Bruno were to leave, in my opinion.

While I do love his raziness and yes some of the times Bruno will up the score by one to overcome what he know Len will score. Also they get along better than you think. I remember on christmas segment for SCd where len had this christmas hat and he and Bruno were giggling like they were drunk.

Why I like Bruno is he identifies problems and gives advice how o fix it... Case in point Shannon.. Hips not moving, placement of feet is solution.. Mario Control is a little off and so it is not as smooth as it can be....

Moments like this remind me why I heart Bruno.

Thanks loveisthedrug, for posting that link! That was hilarious.

Simon Cowell to swap judges' chairs with Bruno?



Extra interview with Bruno & Simon Cowell

Interview with Bruno

I really liked that interview. It wa s funny how Simon also said that Bruno was Paula. I do not think so. Paula is too medicated. Bruno has moments when we can actually understand him. What I also noticed was the way Simon just shook Bruno's hand without waiting to hear what Bruno was planning. For some like Simon that is trust. lol. It is funny that girl is Simon's girlfriend.

Pics of Bruno at soccer game in LA

Bruno was on Leno last night. He was hilarious and funny. Of course they showed more of Bruno in Elton John's video as well.

Just saw Bruno's appearance on Leno. I thought it was hilarious how he practically couldn't take his eyes off of Matthew Fox and how far away from Bruno Matthew Fox was sitting. Restraining order!

ROFL. I cannot figure out who to feel sorry for more.

Bruno's dancing secrets-Extra

I think this was my favorite Bruno season ever. I like his new hairstyle, he usually had constructive comments, and he didn't seem to be making as many hyperbolic comments to get attention.

Yeah I loved him for being constructive. He explained Shannon's hip movement problem that it looked like Derek still do not even at the end. He highlighted that Mario's problem was control over his body.