Dancing With the Stars 8: A Premiere Full of Surprises

[Photos: newscom.com]

Tonight’s season premiere of Dancing With the Stars was full of surprises. For example, a couple of people were better than I imagined them to be and a couple of them were worse. Sadly, Jewel & Nancy O’Dell were officially out of the season due to their injuries. But we were introduced to two last-minute replacements.

The first replacement dancer was Holly Madison. I guess she has a lot more time on her hands now that she and Criss Angel have broken up. But if she doesn’t improve her dancing pretty quick, she may be free to do whatever she wants again soon.

The other surprise replacement was the jilted Bachelor’s choice, Melissa Rycroft. She took the dance floor and showed that in only two days she is a better ballroom dancer than several of the others. I think she may be around for a while. She’s a very pleasant surpise!

As for all of tonight’s dances, here’s my review and the judges’ scores:

		Judges’ Scores
Style	Review	Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Cha-Cha	Lil Kim & Derek Hough – It was a fair performance, but it’s a very different thin g to do hip-hop and ballroom, but I think Lil Kim has potential to improve. She’s got the basics. And it’ll be fun to see her progress.	7	7	7	21
Waltz	Belinda Carlisle & Jonathan Roberts – A good first dance, but she’s still a little stiff and flat on her feet. She did show that she has potential to be much better and it will be fin to watch her improve each week.	6	6	5	17
Cha-Cha	Lawrence Taylor & Edyta Slawinska – For a first time dancer, Lawrence is pretty good, but lacks confidence. He’s a man that can already move his hips and he has a couple of moves, he just needs to get more confident with the dance steps. I think he’s going to get much better as he goes along.	6	5	5	16
Waltz	Steve-O & Lacey Schwimmer – He was actually much better than I had expected. He was serious about the dance and not horsing around. I had expected him to be absolutely horrible, but he was not so much. I think he may actually get better!	6	5	6	17
Cha-Cha	Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke – All I can say is that I loved watching him…and he wasn’t bad at the dancing either. He performed the best male dance so far by a long shot!!! I think he may go very far this season!	8	8	8	24
Waltz	Chuck Wicks & Julianne Hough – He’s pretty good too! I think Julianne has a way with teaching him to dance. I think he’s got real potential and will definitely get better.	6	7	7	20
Cha-Cha	Holly Madison & Dmitri Chaplain – It was clear that she only had a week to practice. Dmitri did his best, but she really needs a lot more work. She was very stiff and hesitant. It will be interesting to see how she improves.	6	6	6	18
Cha-Cha	Ty Murray & Chelsea Hightower – He seemed like a fish out of water and very uncomfortable. But I have to give him props for effort. I like him and hope he stays around to get better. And Chelsea was terrific!	5	4	5	14
Waltz	Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas – Oh, my goodness! We have a contender! She was graceful and her movements were perfect, even though she is such a beginner. She looks like she’s been at it a while. I think she’ll be around for a while this season.	8	8	7	23
Cha-Cha	Steve Wozniak & Karina Smirnoff – He was much better than I expected. I think he’s a bit stiff and needs some polish. It’ll be interesting to see him next week to see if he improves. He’s a courageous man and surely enjoys dancing. I just wish I could hear what his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Griffin has to say about his dance. He may be our first to go.	5	4	4	13
Waltz	David Alan Grier & Kym Johnson – I see some potential in him. He has some grace and just needs more practice to get the steps. I don’t think he’ll be first to leave, for sure.	6	7	6	19
Cha-Cha	Denise Richards & Maksim Chmerkovskiy – She is a fair dancer and will probably not go home in the first couple of weeks, but needs to improve her skills. She’s a bit stiff and timid in her movements.	6	6	6	18
Waltz	Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani – I have to say that she’s not half bad, and she only had two days to learn the dance. I’m impressed. She definitely will improve. She’s very graceful and has wonderful potential!	8	7	8	23

Next Monday will be the second performance by each dance team. And then the first pair will be eliminated. I expect Steve Wozniak or Steve-O to be first. Who do you think will go home first?