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Pretty good is the new perfect on ‘Dancing’

Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas score a 30 for a sloppy paso doble

COMMENTARY
By Ree Hines
msnbc.com contributor
updated 12:18 a.m. ET Oct. 16, 2007

In a repeat of last week, it was another evening of big scores on “Dancing with the Stars.” Only this time, the highs were even higher as the celebs took on the ambitious Viennese waltz and paso doble. There’s no doubt the talent is big this season, but whether it matches the numbers handed out by Len Goodman and his cronies is another question all together.

The Viennese waltz is the graceful, twirling ballroom routine, filled with almost constant clockwise and counterclockwise turns. At least in theory — not so much when Mark Cuban got a hold of it. Admittedly, the Mavericks man and partner Kym Johnson put on their best dance of the season, but that’s still not saying much. No matter how hard Mark tries, he just doesn’t have the lines or the fluidity of a dancer.

Bruno Tonioli called Mark “Bigfoot in a suit,” and that sounds about right. And while Carrie Ann Inaba complimented Mark for finally putting an end to the lip-synching, she failed to notice he had not. At least returning co-host Samantha Harris added some unintentional levity, greeting Mark with a full-on Porky Pig impression: “Abada-abada-abada.” (Welcome back to live TV, Sam!) Decidedly less funny, the 16-at-best dance earned Mark and Kym a 22.

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Pretty good is the new perfect
Sabrina Bryan spent the last two weeks proving that she could take on fast, intense numbers, but this week she promised to show some contrast. Performing the paso doble, the Cheetah Girl had plenty of opportunity to show her softer side with the role as the cape in the bullfighting drama. But she didn’t. Sure, she slowed things down in the appropriate moments, and still showed her many strengths, but her moves lacked smoothness or subtlety.

Did the judges knock off any points for that? Quite the contrary. Somehow this dance earned the first perfect score of the season. Carrie Ann declared it “perfection,” and Len could find no fault in it.

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Next up, Jane Seymour and Tony Dovolani followed last week’s remarkable tango with another dance that seemed tailor-made for Jane. Her perfect posture and natural grace ooze waltz, and that early ballet training showed in her lines. But this wasn’t as big of a hit with the judges.

In fact, Carrie Ann seemed downright cranky about a rule-violating lift she was sure she witnessed, despite Tony’s protests. Len decided not to worry about it, and dubbed the night a “lift-free zone.”

“Since when does a head judge go so soft?” Carrie Ann interrupted.

There was even a replay of the controversial move before scoring, which revealed that it was no more or less of a lift than everyone else was doing. The 26 the pair received would have been about right, if other scores weren’t so inflated.

Are they watching the same show?
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. didn’t take last week’s criticisms lightly. “My scores better change, and I mean it,” he said.

He growled it really, in a way that implied the judges needed to improve, not him. Maybe the scare tactics worked, as his barely passable paso earned two eights and a seven.

The seven came from Carrie Ann, who this time laid into pro Karina Smirnoff for another lift infraction. Carrie Ann was like a dog with a bone about the lifts all night. Otherwise, all the feedback was positive for lumbering Floyd. Len even told the boxing champ that it was a “bloody good job!”


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