So long Sabrina. Sabrina Bryan, Mark Ballas by Carol Kaelson/ABC
by guest blogger Katie BottnerEpisode Recap: "Elimination Number Six"I am speechless! I think I can still hear the boos resonating from the TV as we just learned Sabrina Bryan is going home. She was pegged to be one of the final two in this competition. What happened? I didn't think her latest dance was enough reason for her to go home this week. The rest of the dancers better stay on their game. Sidenote: after reading your comments about a possible romance between her and dance partner Mark, I have to say I agree. Did you catch the "baby" and "I love you"? Hmm...I was also shocked — shocked — that Jane Seymour was announced safe second. Now, we did not get to see Jane tonight as she was absent due to a bout with food poisoning. I'll bet she is feeling better now!Did everyone catch Marie mouth, "I am going to faint" when the judges made her wait through a commercial break to find out her fate? It was a surprise that she was not in the bottom two, but that Cameron fo...
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"Oh Crap!" Jonathan Roberts, Marie Osmond by Carol Kaelson/ABC
Well, I think it's safe to say tonight got off to a rocky start. After delivering a decent samba, Marie Osmond passed out right on the ballroom floor! Longest. Commerical Break. Ever. I could be mistaken, but I thought I heard a few laughs from the audience at first, who must have thought she was joking around. But they quickly fell silent when Tom Bergeron went to break. During the commercial, I got so worried. I started to wonder what would happen if something went seriously wrong with her. Visions of heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms went through my head. Would the show really go on? Thankfully, she just became winded, and despite some embarrassment she's going to be fine. What a trooper! But Samantha Harris had it right; fainting was not going to get her a 10. This dance garnered Marie her lowest score yet.How great was Jane Seymour? When her dance started, I got a good view of the back of her dress, or lack thereof. What a body on her! I was amazed a woman 29 years my senior...
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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Cameron! Cameron Mathison, Edyta Sliwinska by Carol Kaelson/ABC
Episode Recap: "Week Four"Did the foot touch the floor? Who cares! I love the lift. Carrie Ann was digging her grave with the audience by calling out Jane Seymour, Jennie Garth and company. I consider a lift to be something over the shoulder... like Dirty Dancing! Let the people lift, I say.Here is my main problem with the show: of the two dances each performance night, one is always more exciting than the other. How can you expect me to be wowed by a waltz when the Paso Doble is setting the floor on fire? Is it just me? What do my loyal readers think? I think it would probably get boring if everyone did the same dance, though, so I really have no solution to my problem.Tonight's BestOur first perfect score went to Sabrina Bryan. I must say it was well-deserved. She set the bar very high for the night and though some came close, Sabrina has shown she is the front-runner in this competition. At this point, I have no idea if anyone can beat her!Where did Cameron Mathison come from? Th...
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Mel B jives to the top! Melanie Brown, Maksim Chmerkovskiy by Carol Kaelson/ABC
Episode RecapTango! Tango! Tango! And the jive! Without a doubt, Jennie Garth was my pick of the tango dances! You could see the fire and anger in her face, which is what the tango is all about! I was glad to see her strike back after her slip last week! She didn't score the highest, but I think her improvement was the most notable. Way to go, Jennie!Jane Seymour also had a great tango. Loved the wig! Very Bond girl! The death of her mother may have her down, but she is not out. She'll be in the competition for the long haul! Did anyone else think Carrie Ann poured the cheese on a little too thick? It was nice that she was moved by Jane's dance, but I couldn't help but wonder if she was going to break out and cry!So who had a bad tango? Cameron Mathison did! It was not his technique, but I thought they spoofed the tango. How dare they mock the mother of all ballroom dances!? They took the passion out of it and made it quirky, which I did not care for at all. The technique was there,...
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Was this Wayne Newton's swan song? Wayne Newton, Cheryl Burke by Carol Kaelson/ABC
There are no words to describe the hotness that is Helio Castroneves! He's bold, he's sexy, he's suave and that smile makes me melt! Yum! I am 100% in his corner! He can dance, and he's going to be very tough to beat!Sabrina Bryan may have lost the top spot, but she still put on quite a show. She proved to be elegant as well as saucy! She has done well in both the latin and ballroom dances, and that will keep her at the top all the way to the final show.Mel B also proved that pop dancers can be elegant. I was surprised her quickstep was so smooth. She pulled it out! I would love to hang out with her. She cracked me up when she "strangled" Drew Lachey!Could it be? Marie Osmond in the top three? I didn't think she was technically better than those who placed below her, but she had a different vibe. A fun vibe! I found myself cheering for her and it took me by surprise! But Marie, the hair was no good! Was that a flower in there? I had no idea. Hair, bad. Dance, good!The 21 Club: this ...
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Back to the runway for Josie Maran? Dancing With the Stars by Adam Larkey
Episode Recap: "Eviction 1" So Josie Maran was the night's ballroom roadkill. Was anyone really surprised? Didn't think so! Sorry Josie, I'm just being honest. Very classy of Alec to ask the viewers to vote for his new wife Edyta and Cameron Mathison, though. I was not happy about Mark Cuban being in the bottom two! And who voted for Wayne Newton? Please shout if you're out there, because I don't get it. On a lighter note, Dolly Parton sang "9 to 5"! (And some new song I had no interest in.) Question: Does anyone know when she started straightening her hair? I loved the Dolly with the gigantic mane of curls. It just wasn't the same!I thought Kenny Mayne's bit was really funny! How about those old photos of Len Goodman? He looked the same only with more hair! So, the first week is over! Was it all you thought it would be? Who got your vote this week? My eyes are already on next week and the next victim. Start making your predictions now, because it will be here before you know it.For...
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Wayne Newton, Dancing with the Stars
If you were watching closely on Monday night, you saw 12 new stars make their grand entrances down the twin curving staircases — and two of them tripping. And it wasn't the women having trouble with their long gowns and high heels: It was All My Children star Cameron Mathison and Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton.
"I think they're terrified of the women," said Dancing with the Stars executive producer Conrad Green the next morning. "I think the men's knees went to jelly when they walked out. So many people are cocky before they enter the ballroom. But it's actually quite intimidating."
So the season is fast shaping up like this: The women are stronger dancers than the men. "The women are just fierce, says model
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Will Josie Maran and pro Alec Mazo waltz their way to a win? Dancing With the Stars by Adam Larkey/ABC
Sure, it may sound like the beginning of a lame joke: "A boxer, a Spice Girl and a Mormon waltz into a ballroom...." But there's nothing funny about the spirit of competition in this blockbuster reality series, which opens Season 5 with 12 hot-to-foxtrot contestants. The roster includes the aforementioned Floyd Mayweather Jr., Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown and crooner Marie Osmond, respectively — as well as Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan, pro racecar driver Helio Castroneves, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, 90210 alum Jennie Garth, actress Josie Maran, soap stud Cameron Mathison, legend Wayne Newton, model Albert Reed and Jane Seymour (yep, the Medicine Woman is gonna shake it!). We'll meet everyone, but the first round of performances on the premiere will feature female competitors only, while the men strut their stuff in another 90-minute episode the following night. — Joe Friedrich
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Cameron Mathison
Here's something you don't know about Cameron Mathison: The Canadian-born soap star was diagnosed with a degenerative hip condition (called Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease) at the age of 2. He spent six months in the hospital and the next three and a half years in steel-framed leg braces and crutches. And now, at age 38, he's on Dancing with the Stars.
"I think I'm ready," says Mathison, who has played Ryan Lavery on ABC's All My Children since 1998. "I think I'm in decent shape. But my hips are very tight. And my hamstrings. Between the traveling and juggling two jobs, I know that this is really going to kick my rear end."
It's certainly going to be a challenging schedule: Mathison will be spending three days every week in New York taping the soap (and rehearsing
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Cameron Mathison by Donna Svennevik/ABC; Jennie Garth by Stephen Lovekin/WireImage.com; Wayne Newton by Steve Granitz/Wireimage.com
Jane Seymour. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Wayne Newton. Jennie Garth. The lineup for the fifth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars — premiering Sept. 24 — will again showcase actors and singers not known for their dancing, as well as former teen idols, models, athletes, and names many have never heard of. "The people who work best for us have a good story, who come from a field where you think, 'Wow, why are they doing this?'" says executive producer Conrad Green. That includes "Mr. Las Vegas," Wayne Newton, whom producers have been trying to land for two years. "I've worked my entire life doing two shows a night, seven nights a week," says the 65-year-old. "But this is a whole different ball of wax."The casting may seem arbitrary, but it's a very precise process. Explains Green, "We tend to start by thinking about a few key people we'd love to get on the show, or professions we haven't had. There are certain professions and personality types that the audience really engages w...
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