Last night, after the dancers foxtrotted and waved their Matador capes, Martin Devlin was the third contestant to be eliminated from Dancing with the Stars. The two sets of longest legs in the contest left in a swirl of capes, leaving the serious contenders to fight it out.
Miss Prozac had to keep checking her television guide to make sure she hadn’t stumbled onto some alien station. Instead of the usual cliché ridden presentation, last night’s Dancing with the Stars was professional and light-hearted. Craig Revel-Horwood suggested he’d taken his happy pills, but there seemed to be more to it, with the entire judging panel and host Jason Gunn lifting their game from the previous week. We can only suspect they’ve been reading The Important Questions we posed…
In a masterful display of restraint from Paul Mercurio the Gene Kelly mentionitis count stood at only two at the end of last night’s show.
In a complete break from tradition, judge Alison Leonard decided to actually critique the dancing, instead of spending the entire time trying to come up with clever and witty remarks that end up sounding clichéd. What a refreshing change.
Brendan Cole stepped up to the plate and lobbed a few clichés of his own, telling Monty Betham to be the man he is, but overall it was a much more simpatico judging panel.
Having his girlfriend in the country appeared to be a calming influence for Brendan Cole, with Craig and Brendan breaking out a peace treaty for the evening and both being far less critical than usual. Perhaps they took all the complaints about “harsh” comments from Geeling Ng and Peter Urlich on board. Or, maybe, someone just plied them with cocktails and wine before the show.
Paul and Craig were razzing each other like a couple of schoolboys, and Miss Prozac could almost suspect that Craig had a crush on Paul the way they playfully argued at the end of the judging panel.
Host, Jason Gunn looked fully defrosted this week. Last week you could still see the ice after they hauled him out of his cryogenic vault, although we do hear rumours that Jason had the ‘flu last week, so perhaps that accounted for the pasty-faced countenance.
Co-host Candy Lane still struggles with her scripted segueways to Jase, but appeared far more relaxed than usual and started to show some of her natural charm in the backroom interviews. But what was with the gladwrap she was wearing? And a helpful tip to TVNZ… while Jase is doing the intro at the beginning, could the camera zoom in on him, instead of showing Candy standing there beside him smiling like a beauty queen about to be crowned?
Miriama Smith and Jonny Williams
The couple with the ‘special connection’ raised the stakes by challenging Tina Cross for the poor relative trophy. Miriama Smith and Jonny Williams visited her home town of Porirua where they visited a low decile school. Miriama explains that they both come from ‘humble beginnings’. Could this pitch for the sympathy vote backfire as it did on Tina?
Miriama has come a long way from those ‘humble beginnings’ living in France, Australia and London, and is a regular at D-lebrity err celebrity parties.
But on to the dancing… Miriama and Jonny kicked off the show with a Paso Doble. Surprisingly, none of the judges commented on the fact that Brendan Cole did a Paso to the same music in Strictly Come Dancing, to less than stellar reviews from judge Craig who described it as a bit 80s and Flashdance.
At the end of the dance, the pair had a wee mutual admiration session. Miriama might be happily single, but young Jonny is clearly smitten.
The choreography was spectacular, and while some of the judges didn’t like the use of contemporary music, Brendan said it was extremely creative, even if the connections weren’t as smooth as they should be. Paul gave Miriama Smith a couple of tips to watch her arms and shoulders. Presumably so she doesn’t get snapped in any more compromising positions.
The judges loved it, the crowd loved it and they scored 32.
Cory Hutchings and Rebecca Nicholson
Cory Hutchings thinks he’s more of a fan of ballroom as it fits with his idea of dancing. After a tentative start, our Christopher Reeve look-a-like sashayed across the dance floor with Rebecca Nicholson. It wasn’t a stunning performance but it was competent. He ended the routine by picking up partner Rebecca and swinging her over his head like a surfboard. Miss Prozac feared he’d end up tossing her into the audience but she landed smoothly.
The judges enjoyed it but thought it lacked fluidity and scored the routine 29. Meanwhile Candy is still hoping to see Cory in tight lycra in future episodes. Miss Prozac is sure that accounts for Cory's popularity with the voters. We all want to see Cory back in lycra.
Tina Cross and Aaron Gilmore
What gives? By some trick of makeup and lighting, Tina Cross looked younger and sexier than Miriama who is her junior by about 15 years. The choreography was super sexy, but the music was clashing and discordant.
Aaron Gilmore has turned into a real ‘Chatty Cathy’ and was busy having a wee counselling session with the judges while they compared notes. As polite as he was about the whole thing, and as much as Miss Prozac loves him, did he forget his job is to make the celebrity shine, and that it should be Tina speaking and making a connection with the audience?
The judges commented again on Tina’s tight neck and the strain showing in her face. Contrary to rumours of botox leaving her face looking younger than her neck, Aaron insists that being a singer makes her vocal chords really pronounced and well defined. Really? Hmmm, who’s buying that line?
The judges liked the choreography, and Craig said it was fab-u-lous but Paul and Craig scrapped over the music. We’re with you Paul, the dancing was great – best Paso of the night – but the music was dreadful. Tina scored 34 for her efforts.
Monty Betham and Nerida Jantti
Does anyone else think that Nerida Jantti looks like she has that pregnancy glow about her? Maybe, it’s just a matter of being young and in love, but Miss Prozac suspects another sprog is on the way. Especially, if evidence of Shane Cortese, once again in the front row with legs manfully spread is anything to go by.
The pre-recorded video segment for Monty Betham was packed full of boxing clichés about fighting his way back, but it was a boxing free zone once the dancing started. Monty’s foxtrot was reasonable but his facial expressions let him down. His flycatcher was open, which is a sure sign of someone thinking too much, and he didn’t have the rise and fall in his routine that makes the foxtrot so beautiful to watch.
Naturally Nerida defended her partner, but as most of the voters aren’t ballroom buffs, she was probably wasting her time. People vote on their overall impression of the dance and the likeability of the contestant, not the technical details.
Craig said the transitions were lumpy and commented on the nervous face. Brendan wanted Monty to not be afraid to show his feminine side. Paul thought it was “triffic”. Score 29.
Martin Devlin and Lauren de Boeck
In previous weeks Martin Devlin’s moobs were the subject of conversation. This week it was his puku, with Candy commenting that he must be the first contestant in the history of Dancing with the Stars to put on weight.
Marty came out and swirled his cape madly then did his robot zombie dance wearing what looked like a rugby shirt. Still wearing his haughty face from last week – has anyone noticed how well Marty does haughty? – he failed to impress the judges. It probably didn’t help that they admitted to three days of rehearsal, and that he failed to improve on last week’s performance, reverting instead to the standard of earlier weeks.
Craig was remarkably restrained. He failed to comment on the huge hands and the zombie pretending to be an airplane effect with the arms, saying instead that it was laboured, stompy and lacked connectivity. Paul said it was too stiff, too much like the tango and Alison wanted to see him develop the character. Brendan succinctly said it was a bit rubbish (he has a way with words that boy) and didn’t do it for him.
Marty got the low score of the night with 18.
Temepara George and Stefano Olivieri
Temepara George is so gorgeous to watch with her lovely bright smile, although in the foxtrot the expression should be serene rather than joyous. Stefano Olivieri is divine to watch, and Miss Prozac would love to see him dance with another professional dancer in a future episode.
In fact, it would be great to see all the professionals dance together. In the past Candy Lane and Brendan Cole have entertained us with fabulous Ballroom and Latin routines but we want more!
In international versions of the show, the professionals pair up to perform the Paso Doble or Tango for the audience, rather than doing the cabaret type numbers that we usually see from the eponymous Candy Lane Dancers. As our other requests worked so well, we thought we’d suggest TVNZ include some group dances in future episodes…
But back to the dancing. Unfortunately Miss Prozac was so distracted by Stefano’s fabulousness and Teme’s lovely face that she forgot to check the footwork, but it looked like a smooth routine, with the exception of the top line. Funny, that’s something that Teme commented on in her video diary – she promised that we would see lots of top line.
Craig thought the routine was absolutely charming. Paul loved it too but Brendan and Alison both commented on the shoulders or top line. Score 34.
Scores
- Temepara George 34
- Tina Cross 34
- Miriama Smith 32
- Cory Hutchings 29
- Monty Betham 29
- Martin Devlin 18
The public agreed with the judges, placing Monty and Martin in the bottom two and sending Marty home.
Next week the contestants will each be performing two dances, the Samba and a group Waltz.
Miriama Smith may have a slight advantage in the Samba, after her
trip to South America a few months ago saw her learning the Samba and Salsa from the natives…
Photos: TVNZ
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