The Bachelor is so two weeks ago. Now it's what I consider the best time of year: Ballroom time! And what better way to celebrate Ballroom Time than by kicking it off by watching "Strictly Ballroom"!!! ("Pam Short's broken both her legs, and I want to dance with you.") If you've never seen this movie, and you like quirky and silly, you MUST see it. I insist. It's directed by Baz Lurman (is that spelled right?), which means it's packed with brightly colored costumes and funny makeup and dance numbers. Kind of appropriate for a movie about ballroom dancing, right? I have enjoyed this movie since I saw it clear back in the early 90s, and I will continue to enjoy it until Tim and I can enter the "over 50s" dance round. (Tim doesn't know this yet.) The plot is simple: Plain-looking, mousy beginner Fran approaches dashing, flashy open-amateur Scott and asks if he wants to dance with her. This goes against ballroom etiquette and propriety, and on top of that, they want to make up NEW STEPS!!! Oh, it's shocking alright. Does that get you hooked? It should.
Following a very necessary viewing of Strictly Ballroom, a healthy dose of "Dancing With the Stars" is in order. Yes, it's that time again! I love that they have 3 seasons a year! This season is as starless as usual (Jewel was the biggest star there, and dropped out due to injury, to be replaced by a Playboy bunny). Some of the super stars involved this season are Jewel's husband (I don't remember his name, but he's a rodeo star), Belinda Carlisle, Steve-O from the show Jackass (I only know who he is because he and his buddies did a photo shoot with ANTM), and Denise Richards. Nancy O'Dell was one of the stars, but at the last minute got injured and was replaced with...drum roll please...Melissa, the girl that got dumped on the Bachelor! Awesome. I feel bad for her, because when they introduced the other celebs, it was, "the actor" or "the rodeo star" or "the Grammy winning rapper", and with her it was, "Let's show a clip of Jason dumping her!" And now she's famous for getting dumped on TV. I just hope this show goes better for her so she can be introduced at the next reality show she's in as "the winner of Dancing with the Stars!" She only had 2 days to learn the waltz, and I thought she was great. It helps that she used to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Back to the show. The reason I believe it's important to watch Strictly Ballroom first is so you can compare Len Goodman to Barry Fife, and Edyta to Tina Sparkle. Bruno Tonioli is a creature that can't be compared to anyone. Unless you can think of a really annoying Italian that feels a need to come up with really bad alliterative phrases to describe the dancing. Yikes.
Some of you are probably thinking, why watch ballroom dance? I watch for the completely ridiculous costumes, the live band (yes, Harold Wheeler's band is awesome--how many bands have you heard pull off the Star Wars theme and Sir Mix-a-Lot in the same night?), and the sparkly shoes. And the secret hope that somehow I will become famous and get to be on the show. Did you see how much weight Marie Osmond lost?
4 comments:
THERE ARE NO NEW STEPS!
"Feel the rhythm!" I love how when I read all the Strictly Ballroom references they were instantly in an Australian accent in my head. I find it hard to watch Dancing with the Stars after seeing So You Think You Can Dance. I'm always disappointed with their lack of skill:(
Did you notice that 3 of the pros were on So You Think You Can Dance as contestants? Dmitri, Chelsea and Lacey were all on SYTYCD, and it's nice to see that they have a job, even though they didn't win. They probably get paid better than the winners. But I know what you mean, Angela. It's hard to watch the celebs struggle through the dances when you watch SYTYCD and see how effortless it looks to real dancers. Any votes on who's going this week? My vote is for the computer guy.
I can't believe that Steve Wozniak (or however you spell it!) survived the first elimination. Crazy! Go-go girl wasn't great, but she was sure better than he was. I've never watched So You Think You Can Dance, so I don't have that point of comparison, but I love watching the stars get better and better each week. Sometimes you know from day 1 who the winner is going to be (hello Kristi Yamaguchi) but every once in awhile there's a good surprise. I think what's her bucket from the bachelor has a distinct advantage - cheerleaders do a lot of dancing. She won't have to learn how to move her hips. I love this show!
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