Thoughts on DWTS: Season 11

Dancing with the Stars is the only show I'm watching on primetime these days. As a regular viewer, I've noticed that this is the first season the show has felt below par. The cast doesn't lack for entertainment. In fact, the cast - B-list and all - is my favorite element. This doesn't change the fact that show night feels a bit lackluster. The weird, negative energy from last week made it clear that a lot of the charm and sparkle of past seasons that I love most about DWTS has dimmed. It certainly didn't seem like a great time to bring out the brand spanking new round stage and unplug the band.

I understand the reasons for it - the judges/producers wanted to focus more on the actual dancing. But I love the special effects and general over-the-topness - the glitter, the lights, the big stage that in no way limits the choreography of these creative professionals. Even with the audience packed so closely around the stage Monday, the energy still lagged. (And was the only one who detected ushers spaced throughout the audience to amp up the spectators? It also seemed like a weird night for Sarah and Todd Palin to be among the voyeurs...I mean, spectators...with people raunching it up with the rumba and Argentine tango. Her presence made things in the ballroom almost as awkward as Florence and Corky's rumba.)

I will say that some of the charm and magic that drew me to the show to begin with glimmered for the first time since the Season 11 premiere. Len's shirtless on DanceCenter. The hilarious appropriate/inappropriate signs. Maks and Bruno both seemed to be in a far better spirits. The producers cut most of the training videos to come off as entertaining, not mood killing like Maks and Brandy's last week. The scoring is improving marginally. No more room for elimination night fake-outs. And the Tom Bergeron Butt Pinching Brigade is back on track. I'm still rooting for Team Grey - Jenougher - and right now there's a poll going on over at ABC.com where fans can choose their Top Ten Dances. I'm campaigning for Gilles and Cheryl's Foxtrot. Choose your favorites here!

Here's hoping DWTS recaptures a little more of the magic from seasons past. Like this....

Derek Hough's Emmy-nominated Paso Doble with Chelsea Hightower


Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas's Macy's Stars of Dance Performance...which ties nicely into what I'll be doing on the plains Saturday ;)



Care to share some of your favorite DWTS moments, Cozies?

(A reminder: I'll be presenting an online workshop with Laura Breck and Lisa Lipkind Leibow all week long on Grogging at The Muse Online Writing Conference, as a reminder for those who are interested. And don't forget to check back in Saturday for contemporary, romantic suspense and paranormal recommended reads!)

DWTS is Back and I'm Watching!

So Dancing with the Stars premiered last night for its eleventh season. I have to admit that I wasn't all that excited about this one. And when I was watching, there didn't seem to be anything all that remarkable about the first thirty minutes. That is until Jennifer Grey took the floor.

Is it just me or does she still look exactly like Baby? The hair might not be as big, but it's still there. Maybe that's why the dance was so emotional. Like most everybody else in America, I'm a fan of Dirty Dancing. I still get the same little shivers and thrills I did the first time I saw it. Grey cited her reasons for joining this season's DWTS cast for wanting to recapture the joy of dancing. Her partner, Derek Hough, chose the song "These Arms of Mine" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack to dance the Viennese waltz. (Derek, honey - are you trying to kill us?) I don't know about everyone else but from the first few words of the song, I was zipped back to the '80's with Johnny and Baby. In rehearsals, Grey seems to have had a similar experience. As Derek's marking out the choroegraphy and she's watching, at first she's really excited and then she crumbles and so does everyone who ever loved the icon that is Dirty Dancing and Patrick Swayze. Her reaction moved the pro, Derek, in rehearsals and judge Carrie Ann Anaba and millions of others on show night.

As Margaret Cho noted in her DWTS rehearsals, the show is all about learning to ballroom dance and getting an unexpected dose of therapy along the way - for the celebs and even sometimes the coaches and members of the audience themselves. I expected this season's cast to be overshadowed by Bristol Palin's place on the line-up, but at the end of the night the only thing anyone was talking about was Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough. "This is why I love what I do," Anaba announced. Similarly, this is why I love DWTS. As host Tom Bergeron reminded viewers, the character of Baby inspired millions of women to dance. Thank you, DWTS for recapturing that last night. Team Grey!!!