Crushable » Lacey Schwimmer

DVD Review: Dancing With the Stars: Dance Off the Pounds

Lynn — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:20:24 +0000

[Image: Amazon.com]

As promised, here’s the first of my dance workout DVD reviews. The first one that I reviewed was Dancing With the Stars: Dance Off the Pounds, where Kym Johnson, Lacey Schwimmer & Dmitry Chaplin teach some routines for the Swing, Jive & Quickstep.

Kym starts us off with a Swing routine and she’s a terrific teacher. She explains everything very well and shows us only a couple of steps at a time so we can build up to the whole routine. The dance moves are fun, only a little challenging and since swing is my favorite style of dance to do, this section was my favorite.

Then Lacey walks us through a Jive routine. It too was easy to pick up with her excellent instructions. The moves are very similar to those of swing, so it was also a lot of fun.

Finally, Dmitry takes over to teach us some Quickstep moves. This is one of the most difficult dance styles to learn, but he takes it slowly, step by step and it wasn’t as tough as I expected. This portion of the routine is really fast, once we learn the moves in the routine, but it gets the heart pumping and is a great workout.

All three dancers take us through a stretching Cool Down section where we do simple stretches and take breaths. It felt so good after the intense dancing.

Overall, I loved the dancing and the instructions were very well done by all three dancers.

One thing I would have liked more would have been to have more interesting music. The music they chose for it wasn’t very exciting, but it does allow us to hear the instructions clearly, so it’s a trade-off.

The DVD gives us the chance to customize our workout. We can choose one, two or all of the dance portions and we get to choose whether we want to hear the instructions, or turn them off and just dance.

I loved this DVD and will definitely continue to use it. I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Mark Dacascos Talks About Leaving

Lynn — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:41:24 +0000

[Photos: Newscom]

After being eliminated from Dancing With the Stars this week, Iron Chef star Mark Dacascos and his pro partner Lacey Schwimmer stopped to chat a bit about what the season has meant to him. He says it’s one of the great experiences of his life and he explains why.

I can’t help but notice how pale and sickly poor Lacey looks!! And in spite of all of the obstacles he was faced with this week, Mark still says it was a fantastic week. He really seems like a positive person!!

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Two More Go Home

Lynn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:10:44 +0000

[Photos: Newscom]

[Photo: Newscom]

This was both a spectacular and a sad week on Dancing With the Stars for me. The dancing reached an all-season high this week, but we lost two very cool stars.

Michael Irvin was eliminated and it happened just as he got his highest scores of the season. He did a very nice job this week in his performances, but the others did too.

But it’s down to the final five after this week, so it gets tougher to lose anyone. Even though Michael wasn’t the strongest dancer all season, he brought a lot of heart to the competition. It’s no fun seeing him have to leave.

[Photo: Newscom]

And the even sadder part for me was to see Mark Dacascos get eliminated. I’ve mentioned before that I have a bit of a crush on him, so it’s “good-bye eye candy!”

He might have been able to make it through this week, except for the string of unfortunate circumstances he had to face. Lacey schwimmer, his pro dance partner was hit with the flu bug that’s going around the cast. Mark then had to rehearse with Tony Dovolani for a while before Anna Trebunskaya stepped in to help out. Then, when he had to dance for his life, Lacey was back, but still not feeling well. It just wasn’t meant to be for Mark.

What did you think of the two that were eliminated this week? Who do you think will be next?

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Two Go Home

Lynn — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:00:48 +0000

[Photos: Newscom]

[Photo: Newscom]

On last night’s results show for Dancing With the Stars, Taylor Swift was the guest performer and sang two of her huge hits for the audience. Then they got down to business. It was a double-elimination night.

The three couples with the lowest point score combined with the audience votes were identified. It was no great surprise that the three who were in danger of going home were

Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas, Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova and Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower.

The pair with the overall lowest score was eliminated immediately and that was Melissa & Mark. I was sad to see her go, because I like her as an actress. But it’s getting down to the time of the season when the talent is so good that each week is tough.

Micheal & Anna and Louie & Chelsie had to face off in a dance competition and were dancing for their lives. The judges chose the pair to send home from the two performances.

Michael and Anna went first and danced a very fun Samba routine. Michael danced better than I have seen him dance all season! Louie is going to have a tough time pulling this win out…

[Photo: Newscom]

Then when Louie & Chelsie took the floor to perform their Jive routine, Louie just couldn’t seem to get the beat right. He seemed to be having a great time and didn’t drop Chelsie once.

The judges conferred and told Louie tht he was the next to go home. So Michael Irvin lives to dance anther day.

I really like the dance off they did. It seems a bit more fair than going just with the votes. What did you think of the two that were eliminated this week? Who do you think will be next?

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Week 6 Performances

Lynn — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:34:41 +0000

[Photos: Newscom]

On last night’s performance show of Dancing With the Stars,

the pairs faced off doing either the Jitterbug or the Waltz. The Jitterbug is similar to the Jive, with elements of Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing. It’s enthusiastic, fast and a whole lot of fun. On the other hand, the Waltz is slow and graceful with rise and fall and the pair should almost look like they are floating. Both are very fun dances, but totally opposite in nature.

Here’s the rundown of last night’s performances:

		Judges’ Scores
Style	My Review	Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Jitterbug	Mya & Dmitry Chaplin - She looked like she’s been doing this dance for years. I still think she’s one of the front-runners this season.	8	7	9	24

Waltz	Melissa Joan Hart, Mark Ballas - To me, this was not her best dance performance. She lost the steps multiple times and just seemed far too hesitant. I hope it doesn’t mean she’s going home this week.	7	7	6	20

Jitterbug	Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer - I loved the performance, it was a lot of fun and his tricks were great. I did think he lost his momentum between tricks once, though. Overall, very, very good.	9	9	8	26

Waltz	Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff – He did a very nice Waltz. His moves were smooth, had good rise & fall and his technique was very good. I wonder why he has so much trouble getting audience votes…	8	9	8	25

Waltz	Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova - I think this was his best dance performance yet. He had pretty good technique and was quite graceful on the floor.	6	8	6	20

Jitterbug	Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel – I could see that Louis left some of the tougher footwork out of the routine because of her injured foot, but what was there, she did a great job with. I had fun watching it.	7	6	7	20

Jitterbug	Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower – This was easily his best dance ever! He actually danced instead of walking. His great tricks had to help him a bit too.	7	7	7	21

Waltz	Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough – It was a really nice Waltz, but she did make one very awkward move during the routine, going through Derek’s legs. I don’t feel that she is as strong a dancer as the judges have seemed to this season.	8	9	9	26

Jitterbug	Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson - I think that was my favorite Jitterbug of the night. He made one stumble but he did a great job!	8	8	8	24

The group Mambo dance marathon was next and this is was the order they were tapped out of the dance:

Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova – 2 points bonus
Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower – 3 points bonus
Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas – 4 points bonus
Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel – 5 points bonus
Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer – 6 points bonus
Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson – 7 points bonus
Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff – 8 points bonus
Mya & Dmitry Chaplin – 9 points bonus
Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough – 10 points bonus

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

Be sure to watch the results show tonight at 9/8c.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: This Week's Performances

Lynn — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:53:28 +0000

[Photos: Newsom]

On last night’s performance show of Dancing With the Stars, the dancers had to bring the intensity. Some danced the Paso Doble, some did the Argentine Tango. It was a great night of dancing.

Here’s the rundown of last night’s performances:

		Judges’ Scores
Style	My Review	Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Paso Doble	Natalie Coughlin & Alec Mazo - Her moves were quite powerful, but lacked the staccatto that they needed. I thought it was a really good performance, though.	7	8	7	22

Argentine Tango	Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff - That was hot! He really made a cmeback this week, in my opinion.	8	8	8	24

Paso Doble	Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova - What an improvement! He got ahead of the beat a coupel of times and lost it completely once, but overall, it was really good! (Be sure to wash any nickels you get from now on…)	7	7	7	21

Argentine Tango	Mya & Dmitry Chaplin - She’s such a great dancer that if she doesn’t win or at the very leas make it to the finale, there’s somewthing terribly wrong!	9	9	9	27

Paso Doble	Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer - Ithought it was wonderful! He’s really great at this style.	9	9	8	26

Argentine Tango	Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson - He’s always pretty good, but this time, he was fabulous. And the Bro-mance between Donnie and Bruno continues.	10	9	10	29

Argentine Tango	Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower - It was better this week, but he still is very flat-footed, not dancing as much as walking.	7	8	7	22

Argentine Tango	Melissa Joan Hart, Mark Ballas - She was wonderful! But if Mark’s still contageous, she’s definitely got the flu now… In spite of what the judges said, I thought whe was great.	8	8	7	23

Paso Doble	Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel – (Louie’s been enjoying the makeup a lot for the past couple of weeks…) Ozzie Osbourne was there to see her rock out the paso doble to his song Crazy Train. And she did a great job of it too!	8	8	8	24

Argentine Tango	Joanna Krupa & Maksim Chmerkovskiy – There was a significant stumble, but other than that, it was spectacular. And I got to see my favorite hunky pro dancer, Maks dance tonight!	8	8	8	24

The group Hustle dance routine choreographed by Corky Ballas was a festival of polyester & big hair and it was a lot of fun! But it’s not exactly a dance for the dancers to be judged. At least I hope not! Only Mark, Donnie, Mya and Michael seemed even the least bit comfortable on the floor doing the Hustle.

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Week 4 Performances

Lynn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:05:05 +0000

[Photos: Newsom]

On last night’s performance show of Dancing With the Stars, we were introduced to four new dance styles for the show; Lambada, Charleston, Bolero and Country Two-Step. Two of them were completely unfamiliar to me, so it’s hard to know if they got them right or not, but they were all very entertaining. With the new styles, the dancers were given the permission to do lifts, where they make sense with the dance. It was an interesting night, indeed.

Here’s the rundown of last night’s performances:

		Judges’ Scores
Style	My Review	Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Country Two-Step	Chuck Liddell & Anna Trebunskaya - I’m not a fan of Country music or dance, but Chuck seemed to try to step it up for the dance this week. Bless his heart, he still looks pretty unsure on the dance floor. Sometimes, he was just walking next to Anna. I like him and hope he stays in it.	6	5	6	17

Charleston	Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas – It was a comical and completely fun routine and this time, by Jove, I think she got it! She did a great job this week.	9	9	10	28

Bolero	Natalie Coughlin & Alec Mazo – Since I know next to nothing about the Bolero, I have no idea if she did the dance properly or not. She did seem to do a lot of still poses and she looked vry fluid and graceful in between them, but I don’t know if that’s what the dance should be or not.	8	8	8	24

Lambada	Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff - It looked pretty amazing to me, but then, I know nothing about this dance style either. They did miss the final lift, though.	6	6	6	18

Country Two-Step	Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer - He looked so much more relaxed this week and it looked like the two-step was his dance for sure. He only lost time with the music for a brief moment, but other than that he looked flawless.	8	7	7	22

Charleston	Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel - She was positiely wonderful! She danced it perfectly and it was a fantastic piece of entertainment! Well done!	8	7	8	23

Lambada	Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough - It looked like the Lamabada to me, but in my opinion, she’s still a little hesitant in her moves. Derek looked hot!	9	8	9	26

Charleston	Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson - I think this was his best dance so far this season. It looked pretty fantastic to me. Donny & Kym were almost perfectly in sync.	8	8	8	24

Bolero	Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova - Was it just me, or did he just do a lot of standing still while Anna danced around him? He did get the chemistry in it though.	5	6	5	16

Country Two-Step	Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower - I thought Louie looked extremely uncomfortable and out of his element. He is heavy on his feet on the dance floor, but that works much better for him on the slopes. Even though I like him, I suspect he may be going home soon.	5	5	6	16

Lambada	Mya & Dmitry Chaplin - She is an absolutely wonderful dancer! If she keeps bringing it like this each week, I’m guessing she could win. This was a flawless performance.	10	8	10	28

Be sure to watch the results show tomorrow night at 9/8c.

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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JabbaWockeez on Dancing With the Stars

Lynn — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:43:30 +0000

Here’s the amazing performance by the JabbaWockeez on last night’s Dancing With the Stars results show. They did a routine to Singing in the Rain and it’s very different than anything I’ve ever seen them do before. It’s quite fun!

And be sure to watch closely for two mystery dancers (Lacey Schwimmer & Mark Ballas) who join them in the end. I love the JabbaWockeez. They are fantastic, no matter what they do!

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Week 3 Performances

Lynn — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:04:41 +0000

[Photos: Newsom]

Tonight was Latin night on Dancing With the Stars. The dancers had to perform either the Rumba or the Samba. One is hot, slow and romantic, the other is red-hot and lively. It was a lot of fun to see another side of some of the dancers.

Here’s the rundown of tonight’s performances:

		Judges’ Scores
Style	My Review	Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Rumba	Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer - Yes, my crush on Mark is still intact…I thought he did a great job!! He is so smooth and his movements seemed to really flow.	6	6	6	18

Samba	Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough – To me, this time Derek was doing all the showboating and Joanna didn’t get any of the interesting moves. She is graceful, but I wasn’t as impressed as I could have been.	7	8	8	23

Rumba	Mya & Dmitry Chaplin – She was wonderful! I can see her in the finals! I thought it was flawless.	10	7	10	27

Samba	Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas - She was far improved over last week. She gets better with each performance. She may be someone to watch.	6	6	7	19

Rumba	Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower - He didn’t do any tough moves, but the moves he did perform were really smooth and right on target! It was finally a great job from Louie.	8	5	7	20

Samba	Debi Mazar & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - She was better than last week, but a bit reserved for my taste. She just doesn’t let go and have fun with it.	6	5	6	17

Rumba	Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson - He did a good job with it, but there was part of his demeanor that looked like the wasn’t that comfortable with the dance style.	7	7	7	21

Samba	Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova - He did a fair job of it, but lost the beat a few times and looked very reserved. He needs to loosen up and have fun more too.	5	4	5	14

Rumba	Natalie Coughlin & Alec Mazo - She was wonderful! But she did tend to look him in the chin, rather than the eyes. She should learn that the eye contact is the most fun part of a dance! But it was great!	9	8	9	26

Samba	Chuck Liddell & Anna Trebunskaya - He started off rough, but got better as he got into it. He does still need to loosen up, but he did a very decent job of it.	6	5	6	17

Rumba	Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff - He lost his footing a time or two and just didn’t have the romantic feel. He does a good job with the moves, though.	8	6	7	21

Samba	Tom Delay & Cheryl Burke - In spite of a stress fracture in both feet, he decided to perform anyway. He did a valiant job dancing it, but it was very clear that he was in pain. He held back a lot, but it was understandable.	6	4	5	15

Samba	Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel - She definitely made her comeback this week. She was very graceful and did allthe right moves. Good job!	7	6	7	20

Be sure to watch the results show tomorrow night at 9/8c.

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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Dancing With the Stars 9: Kathy Ireland Goes Home

Lynn — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:16:33 +0000

[Photos: Newsom]

[Photo: Newscom]

This was a fun Dancing With the Stars results show that started with the judges’ choice dance of the week, Mya & Dmitry Chaplin’s Jive.

Eleven of the couples were only separated by three points with the judges’ scores, so it was anyone’s week to go home. While we were on the edge of our seats, waiting to find out if our favorites would stay for another week, Joss Stone, the USC Trojan Marching Band & Selena Gomez each performed for us.

After some amazing performances by the pro dancers, we finally got to find out that Kathy Ireland & Tony Dovolani were eliminated this week. Kathy seems like such a nice person, full of grace and style. It’s a shame that didn’t translate into better dancing. I wish her well.

Find out about all of this season’s dancers. Here are their bios.

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