Back after a week off

I was out of town last week and couldn't blog the show, but I'm back this week.

First up is Laila and Maksim. They're doing the quickstep and they're pretty good. She looked like she was having fun, especially considering how hard the quickstep is. Aside from John O'Hurley, I don't remember many stars doing it well. The judges loved it and I think they did well, too.
The Judges's Scores: 10-9-10
The High Lord's Score: 8

Next up is one of the people who should be kicked off this week, John and Edyta. I think right now, it should either be John or Billy Ray who gets the boot because they're clearly the worse dancers left. He's not light on his feet and he's plodding along while Edyta does all the work. John's not nursing wounds like George was, but he looks he's going at about half speed.
The Judges's Scores: 8-7-8
The High Lord's Score: 6

The judges must be feeling generous tonight. All their scores seem about 2 points too high.

If this scoring keeps up, the World's Cutest Couple should benefit. Did Apolo just say there's an "Asian American Hall of Fame"? Why am I not in that? How did I not know about this? In other news, did you also know that there's an Asian-American History Month? There is! And it's got 31 days, too! (May). Someone call the AAHOF and tell them they need a High Lord!

Back to the dancing . . . they're definitely cute and graceful. I wasn't blown away, but they were good. He seems very natural on the dance floor, which is more than I can say for some of the other dancers (Ian, John). I think the judges might give them a 30 . . . that is until Len started rambling. Maybe someone needs to induct him into the Crotchity Old White Man Hall of Fame. How can they give Laila 10s and Apolo 9s? WTF?
The Judges's Scores: 9-8-9
The High Lord's Score: 8

Billy Ray helps Cheryl coach Ian up. The segment is pretty funny, but will it help him be less robotic? I think Ian has hit the wall. He's neither as talented as Drew nor as driven as Emmitt and I don't think Cheryl can get any more out of him. They were okay but not fantastic. How can they get 9s when they gave Apolo less?
The Judges's Scores: 9-9-9
The High Lord's Score: 7

Billy Ray looks like he's going to the prom in Kentucky. Can Karina's earrings (in the filler interview) be any bigger. They almost have their own gravity well. Billy Ray almost looks graceful. Karina's doing all the dog work, but at least Billy's trying. I like John better, but I think he'll stick around for a while.
The Judges's Scores: 5-6-6
The High Lord's Score: 6

The last to go in the ballroom round is Joey. He and Kym are doing the foxtrot. I guess I'm not a foxtrot guy because most of the guys have bored me tonight. Joey looks like he's having fun (which is always good) and he's singing along with the music instead of counting along in his head.
The Judges's Scores: 10-9-10
The High Lord's Score: 8

The ballroom round ends and Laila kicks off the latin round. Except for the fake-looking smile she's got, I rather liked it. I don't think she's going to win, but she was good tonight.
The Judges's Score: 10-10-10
The High Lord's Score: 9

That gives Laila the first perfect score of the season. I didn't think it was that good, but it was deserved.

John and Edyta are dancing to "Under Pressure" and that same guy who massacred "Hungry Like the Wolf" is singing. Is this the Latin round or the ballroom round? I can't tell from John's dancing.
The Judges's Scores: 7-8-7
The High Lord's Score: 6

Is Cheech going to try his hand at dancing next season, after losing on the singing show?

I think the judges really want Billy Ray gone. It seems to me they're overpraising John and lowballing Billy Ray.

Joey thinks he's the frontrunner, but I think it's Apolo. He's technically near-perfect, energetic and he's got tremendous chemistry with Julianne. If Laila got 10s, they had better give Apolo 10s, too. Plus, Julianne had "wardrobe malfunction" which is always good.
The Judges's Scores: 9-9-10
The High Lord's Score: 10

And for once, Bruno is the "voice of reason" and he's right. Are they running short on time or did they plan on dispensing with the filler before the latin dances?

Ian comes back and Cheryl is shaking for all she's worth. Ian just strikes me as too mechanical. Passionless is the wrong word, but he seems hung up on the technical aspects of dancing and isn't feeling it.
The Judges's Scores: 9-9-9
The High Lord's Score: 7½

Back for more are Billy Ray and Karina. I'd almost rather hear Sanjaya than the guy who's singing right now. Like John, Billy Ray lets his partner do all the moving. This was better than the last dance, but not by much.
The Judges's Scores: 7-7-7
The High Lord's Score: 6

They're running over time and if they'd just shut Samantha up, they could have finished on time. I'd like them to shut Samantha up.

Closing out the show are Joey and Kym again. Going last isn't nearly the advantage it is on American Idol; in fact it might be a disadvantage since they limit votes and people can use them all up early in the show. Is this the latin round or the 50s round? Why is there a jive? They're good. I don't think they're as good as Apolo, but Joey's got the most raw talent (boy bander, duh!) of the dancers. On paper, this is his show to lose, but I think Laila (and her inflated judges's scores) and Apolo will give him a run for his money.
The Judges's Scores: 10-10-10
The High Lord's Score: 9

Apolo, Laila, and Joey are going to be in the finals. Everyone else is just waiting around to see what order in which they're going to be kicked off. Billy Ray needs to go home. Then John followed by Ian. After that, it's all about who peaks at the right time.

Someone recommend your friendly neighbourhood High Lord for the Asian-American Hall of Fame!

High Lord. Out.

Read The Full Article:
http://highlorddave.blogspot.com/2007/04/back-after-week-off.html

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