Passion

This one kinda caught me off guard a bit with Heather Mills voted off Dancing with the Stars in Week 6. I figured John Ratzenberger and Billy Ray Cyrus would be eliminated before Heather. Even with her artificial leg, Heather’s a better dancer than either of them, but this is just a testament to how hotness matters.

Would you rather watch Heather Mills or Edyta Sliwinska dance?

So John Ratzenberger, you owe your advancement to Week 7 all to your partner Edyta. As payback, how about supporting Edyta’s commercial endeavor of selling instructional dance videos over at Dancing Like the Pros?

Related: Recap of Dancing with the Stars 2007

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Lots of interesting quotes came out of Dancing with the Stars in Week 6. But first, is it me or does it seem like more of the stars are “making the connection?” Instead of merely doing their dance routines, the stars and their partners are connecting the dance steps with their personalities, resulting in enjoyable performances.

Joey Fatone was first up, and he is steadily becoming the one to beat on the show. For a guy with his body frame, he moves so well and so smoothly. With advice from previous contestant Jerry Springer, Joey and Kym Johnson’s choreography was entertaining and exciting. A very good start to the show. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said to Joey, “You’re insane!” All 9’s across the board.

Heather Mills and Jonathan Roberts followed with a paso doble that I thought was okay. The judges scores reflected that sentiment with scores of 7-8-8. I have to say it again, but Jonathan is a great partner for Heather. He compensates for Heather’s artificial leg so you forget about it. While I’m sure Heather is quite adept herself, I think Jonathan’s strength and balance is how they can make spins look effortless.

Last week John Ratzenberger was the one who “made the connection” and had fun on the dance floor. This week, John again tapped into his fun side for what partner Edyta Sliwinska called a “mambo-licious” performance. The pair received scores of 7-6-6. The 6’s were in honor of Edyta’s six pack abs I think. John is probably on his way out this week so that he can sit in the studio audience with Cheers pal, Norm (George Wendt).

Laila Ali is holding it down for the ladies. Her cha cha with Maksim Chmerkovskiy brought the funk and the flava to the night. She’s “making the connection,” dancing with attitude and confidence. Scores of 9-9-10 with Judge Bruno calling Laila a “magnificant obsession.”

Karina Smirnoff had an excellent game plan for this week letting Billy Ray Cyrus select his own dance moves. During their jive, Billy Ray went honky tonk but looked the most comfortable of the entire competition. And boy is he a performer, playing the audience and throwing his hat to the fans in the balcony. As Judge Len Goodman said, “You’re entertaining, and I love to watch you.” Billy Ray and Karina got their usual scores of 7-7-7.

I like the music choices of Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough. This week, they danced the sensual rumba to Gwen Stefani’s Cool. Their choreography was very artistic though I thought the “brother-sister” pair lacked the needed chemistry for this dance. The judges liked it giving them 9-9-10, and Carrie Ann saying, “Your shapes were beautiful.” When did Apolo shave off his soul patch?

Ian Ziering is in trouble. He hasn’t “made the connection,” and the judges are on him about that. Partner Cheryl Burke is trying to up Ian’s game by saying she “wants bullfighter, not Beverly Hills.” Their paso was intense but got scores of 8-8-8. Ian got the strangest (but true) advice from the judges telling him to watch Billy Ray’s performances and learn from him.

Hard to call this week. Heather, John, and even Ian could be in the bottom two. Ratzenberger is probably out on Week 6.

Related: Recap of Dancing with the Stars 2007

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The stats on Clyde Drexler:

NBA Hall of Fame, NBA Champion 1995, All-NBA First Team, Olympic gold medalist, 10-time All-Star, One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. During the 1987-88 season, averaged 27.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.51 steals per game.

Eliminated Week 5 of Dancing with the Stars. Weekly scores of 15, 16, 18, 16, and 13, giving an average of 15.6 (out of 30).

Denied!

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Week 5 of Dancing with the Stars saw the stars stepping up and making this a great competition. You can see the top dancers starting to pull away from the rest.

Was Duane “Dog” Chapman in the house or was that Ian Ziering? Ziering’s blown out do reminded me of Dog. Anyways, his performance was still solid, but he needs to find the zone. As the judges pointed out, he has to connect all the pieces and go out there and simply perform without overthinking and overperforming.

Sorry Clyde Drexler, but you really have to glide out of the competition. Watching your performances and judges’ evaluations are just painful. Maybe it’s your style, or maybe it’s the overall choreography that doesn’t match? I’m not placing all the blame on your professional partner, Elena Grinenko, but I don’t know if she knows how to compensate for your style and height. Other partners like Cheryl Burke, Jonathan Roberts, and Karina Smirnoff know how to hide the weaknesses of their star partners and accentuate their strengths.

Yes, Heather Mills has a good partner in Jonathan Roberts. Not only did he wax his chest for their samba, but he knows how to bring out the best in Heather. So she ate it at the end of their performance when she tried to balance on her artificial leg. That’ll only remind people that she has a fake leg and will bring in additional votes. Good call on the “accidental” trip up.

Wayne’s World said Joey Fatone was the dark horse of this year’s competition, but he might actually be the frontrunner. But first, is Alfonso Ribeiro gay? This Silver Spoons and Fresh Prince star and dancer is always seen with ‘N Sync-er and gay Lance Bass. Back to Joey, although kinda chunky, the Fatone moves extremely well. Kym Johnson might have a winner in her bosom hands.

John Ratzenberger is safe this week. Not the best dance, but you could tell he was having a great time doing his thing on the dance floor. I think he realized boogying down with partner Edyta Sliwinska ain’t a bad thing.

Laila Ali and Maxim rumba-ed to Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On and got their best scores of 9,10,9. The judges loved their performance, but I thought it was a little boring.

Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough. PERFECTION in the words of judge Carrie Ann Inaba. Their samba was exciting with tough moves, and you had to like Julianne’s Sanjaya-like hair. First perfect scores this season. But… is Apolo and Julianne following the same streaking arc as Mario Lopez? Peak too soon, and you can only go down.

Can two dancing couples be eliminated this week? Billy Ray Cyrus is just as painful to watch as Clyde Drexler. With his schedule picking up leaving less time to practice, Billy Ray can’t keep up. He still works the crowd, but he’s gone in Week 6 when two dances per show kick in.

Week 5 should be the final week for Clyde “The Glide.”

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Just a recap of Pulpconnection’s coverage of Dancing with the Stars 2007 (Season 4).

• Apolo Has Lifted Off! (Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough DWTS Champs)
• The Finals of Dancing with the Stars (Week 10 Finals)
• Will the Appeal of Julianne Hough Make Her a DWTS Champion?
• Ian is Ousted (Ian Ziering eliminated)
• Week 9 of 10’s of Dancing with the Stars (Week 9 Semi-finals)
• Unlucky Eight for Billy Ray Cyrus (Billy Ray Cyrus eliminated)
• Billy Ray Got to Go
• Last Call for John Ratzenberger (John Ratzenberger eliminated)
• It Takes Two on Dancing with the Stars (Week 7)
• Is Ian Ziering in Dancing Trouble?
• Heather Mills Separates from Dancing with the Stars (Heather Mills eliminated)
• Quotable Dancing with the Stars (Week 6)
• Drexler Denied (Clyde Drexler eliminated)
• The Stars Are Stepping Up (Week 5)
• The Drew Crew Still Got It! (Leeza Gibbons eliminated)
• The Judges Dominated Week 4 of Dancing with the Stars (Week 4)
• Shandi Who? (Shandi Finnessey eliminated)
• Tough Competition on Dancing with the Stars (Week 3)
• Who’s Hot on Dancing with the Stars? Kym Johnson and Julianne Hough, that’s who.
• Paulina Porizkova is Pau (Paulina Porizkova eliminated)
• Dancing with the Stars Bringing in the Hits
• Dancing with the Stars Season 4 Begins
• Cliff Claven is a Dancing Star?
• ABC Television News

This list will be updated throughout the season.

Related:

• Recap of Dancing with the Stars 2007 (Season 5)
• Recap of Dancing with the Stars 2006

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