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Len Loses It on Dancing With the Stars
The only thing more explosive than Kellie Pickler's paso doble with pros Derek Hough and Tristan MacManus on Dancing With the Stars Monday night was the ballroom reaction to the score it received from head judge Len Goodman: A measly 7. "Just ridiculous!," cried judge Bruno Tonioli who, along with judge Carrie Ann Inaba, gave the dance a perfect 10.
The only thing more explosive than Kellie Pickler's paso doble with pros Derek Hough and Tristan MacManus on Dancing With the Stars Monday night was the ballroom reaction to the score it received from head judge Len Goodman: A measly 7. "Just ridiculous!," cried judge Bruno Tonioli who, along with judge Carrie Ann Inaba, gave the dance a perfect 10.
Still, Goodman was having none of it, calling the choreography nothing but "a hodgepodge of moves just out there to titillate the taste buds. I was expecting more than flashing lights and crashing music!" Inaba immediately protested, saying, "Len has lost it!" Then, after more howling protests from Tonioli, Goodman turned on him, bellowing, "You can't talk unless you stand up! Your vocal chords are stuck up your ass."
"I couldn't believe it," said pro Kym Johnson right after the show. "That dance was absolutely brilliant. I think it's one of the best dances Derek has ever choreographed. I don't know what Len was thinking."
Pickler and Hough tried to take the high road. "If we can make the judges fight, then we're doing something right," Hough said. Added Picker, "I'm gonna bring some soap next week and I'm gonna wash Len's mouth out with soap next time he gets a potty mouth."
But Hough admitted he didn't see the low score coming. "I was a little surprised because we ran into Len earlier in the week and he said, 'You're doing the paso doble, great. Here, do the Salvador.' And I said, 'What's that?' So he showed me, it's a traditional move, and I put it in. So I thought I had an 'in' with Len this week, but he blind-sided me."
Hough also speculated that they received the score so the show could generate some controversy. "Even before we danced, I said, 'The judges [comments] feel a little contrived tonight. Like pre-thought through.' It just didn't feel honest tonight. If I know that Kellie was good, that's all that really, truly matters. I said this to Andy Dick last week: 'When the show's over, the judges' scores, the judges' comments, they evaporate. The only thing that exists is the dance.'"