Mar 30 2009
Marini Maintains Red-Hot “Dancing” Appeal
Gilles Marini- aka Naked Guy from the Sex and the City movie- not only caught Samantha Jones’ eye, but also millions of Dancing With the Stars viewers. The Frenchman is an early favorite to win the dancing title this season. (picture courtesy of www.dancingwithdastars.com)
As if Melissa Rycroft didn’t have it bad enough when Jason Mesnick humiliated her on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose; now, her near-perfect score of 29 on this evening’s Dancing With the Stars gets overshadowed by season eight’s first 30.
And who do you think scored the perfect dance? None other than French heartthrob Gilles Marini. After settling for a three-way tie for first in last week’s competition, the actor/model and partner Cheryl Burke performed a smoldering Argentine Tango, utilizing all the necessary ingredients- anger, love, lust, hardness and, softness, to name a few- to leave the judges- and likely viewers- needing to cool themselves down.
Fanning herself, judge Carrie Ann Inaba could not even speak when first called upon. Bruno Tonioli called Marini the perfect Latin lover, and even Len Goodman- who awarded Rycroft and partner Tony Dovolani “only” a 9 for their Lindy Hop- succumbed to Marini’s charm and dazzle.
This was the first occasion in the ABC series’ history that contestants performed either the Lindy Hop or Argentine Tango, the latter which also did wonders for Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough, who finished third with a 27. Tied for fourth with a 25 were Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson and Mark (who tied for first last week), and rodeo king Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower. Judges wanted to see less of Johnson’s gymnastics flips and more technical dancing, with Inaba saying the Lindy Hop was not her dance. However, the judges continued praising Murray’s improvement, with Inaba exclaiming ever-so excitedly to Murray, “You’re a DANCER!”
Though the judges were handing out plenty of compliments, they also continued to hold nothing back in regards to the underachievers. While no couple suffered a dramatic drop this week, Jackass’Steve-O and partner Lacey Schwimmer undoubtedly were disappointed with their results. The judges applauded Steve’s making it through his routine, but handed him the exact same score from last week (15).
Playboy model/reality star Holly Madison endured another rough week, looking about as disoriented as Anne Heche back when she wandered into someone’s home, took a shower and planned to take everybody away in her spaceship. Yeah, it was pretty bad- but not as bad as Wozniak on his best day.
And how DID Steve Wozniak fare this week? Good news is that he improved upon last week’s disastrous score of 10- the bad news is that he and partner Karina Smirnoff scored a miserable 12 for their Argentine Tango. As usual, Smirnoff radiated, but there’s only so much she can do with Wozniak, who may as well don a blindfold each time he takes the stage.
Thanks to viewer support, Wozniak escaped elimination (not to mention the bottom two) last week. Will he be so fortunate tomorrow night, when the- as host Tom Bergeron labeled it- dreaded double elimination sends two couples packing?
If Wozniak does not survive, blame it on Smirnoff neglecting to introduce the Doughboy Poke into their dance, as she promised last week. Inaba may find Wozniak adorable, but, let’s be real- he ain’t no Pillsbury Doughboy. Well, at least he’s not without the Poke.
