I’ll Be the Judge of That! – Dancing With the Stars, September 21-22

Hello and welcome to Dancing With the Stars, Season 9! My name is Kristen Swinton and I will be writing an article after each performance show, using my dance and performance background to judge the contestants. For those of you who are first-time readers, I won’t be including details unless they’re relevant to my commentary. For a full recap of the show, see Sandy Lamparello’s article (for the men) and Chris Harris’ article (for the women) over at RealityNewsOnline.

Before I get started, I just have to comment on how shocked I was that Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas won last season! That’s not to say she didn’t deserve it, mind you. I was just so sure that Melissa or Gilles would take it. What do you all think? Email me and let me know.

I’m totally stoked for the new season. I don’t know any of the celebrities all that well, but I’ve found in the past that it hardly matters. By week three or four I feel like I’ve known them all my life! One of my favorite things about this show is how we get to see the person behind the celebrity. There’s nothing like doing something completely new to bring out the real you. Okay, enough of my blather, let’s get on with the judging!

Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff – Cha Cha

I’ve never heard of Aaron Carter. He sure is a cutie, though. I have a new nickname for Karina this season, “Third Most Naked Dancer.” Edyta, of course, is first, and Kym is second. Aaron moves very well. I wasn’t surprised to hear that he does have a dance background. I loved his energy. His hips were OK some of the time, but other times they didn’t move at all. The choreography was very complex for a first dance. Karina has always been one of my favorite female choreographers. That routine was excellent. What a great way to start the season!

Relay Dance – Viennese Waltz

I like how each couple gets to dance one ballroom and one Latin dance on the first show. I’ve always thought it a bit unfair that they had to do one or the other in the past. Some people do so much better in one or the other, so it’s great that they get to do both.

As soon as Aaron started doing his Viennese waltz routine, I knew he was going to be the man to beat this season. He was so incredibly graceful and had amazing arms. He did have some funky facial expressions, though. That should easily get him first place.

Chuck Liddell & Anna Trebunskaya – Foxtrot

First off, Anna looked fantastic in that dress. It was easy to see when Chuck thought he messed up by the look on his face. I could tell he was trying to smile and perform, but he didn’t quite pull it off. There were times during the dance when it was obvious that he was watching Anna to see what he was supposed to do. His arms looked kind of like airplane wings when they were extended and when he kicked, I got just a little bit frightened. That wasn’t the worst first dance I’ve ever seen, but it was pretty bad. I thought a score of 16 was actually rather generous.

Relay Dance – Salsa

While his dancing wasn’t amazing in the salsa, the overall performance was much better than his foxtrot. The interaction he had with Anna was very good. I credit Anna with some excellent choreography. I think he’ll probably be in second.

Mark Decascos & Lacey Schwimmer – Cha Cha

I can’t believe The Chairman is on Dancing With the Stars! I love him on Iron Chef. Iron Chef is a great show. It’s just too bad that nearly everything they cook looks or sounds completely disgusting to me. Mark’s personality is much less intimidating than I expected it to be. His intro video made me laugh.

Their song choice was very appropriate. Mark’s performance wasn’t the best, but it was adequate. He definitely could have danced for the audience more. He moved very well and had decent hip action. He could have been more fluid, though. Also, his arms were a little bit too sharp and could have been more graceful. It should be a lot of fun to watch him progress in the competition. It really bothered me that Len got on their case for something they haven’t done yet (too much Kung Fu).

Relay Dance – Viennese Waltz

I thought Mark’s Viennese waltz was quite good. He had great fluidity and a lot of elegance and sophistication. Although I couldn’t see his feet the whole time, his fleckrl looked very nice. He should get second place for that.

Ashley Hamilton & Edyta Sliwinska – Viennese Waltz

Even in the sophisticated foxtrot, Edyta lives up to her nickname of “Most Naked Dancer.” I’m glad to see that Ashley isn’t as tan as George. Something about Ashley makes him look like he’d be a great ballroom dancer. Too bad that isn’t true. Ashley has a great smile, but he seemed too unsure of the dance to give a great performance. It seemed like he was lagging behind Edyta a lot of the time. His frame wasn’t as strong as it could have been. He had the same airplane-wing arms as Chuck. A score of 15 seemed reasonable to me.

Relay Dance – Salsa

I didn’t think it was possible to do worse than Ashley did in his Viennese Waltz, but he managed to do it! He didn’t shake much of anything in that routine. He was very stiff and had absolutely no hip action at all. Even his basic step looked funky. Last place, for sure.

Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson – Viennese Waltz

I didn’t know what to expect from Donny Osmond this season. If he’s anything like Marie, then he’ll likely go farther than anyone expects. One thing is for sure, he’s definitely an amazing performer. He had the audience right with him and is clearly a fan favorite already. His footwork could have been better. I saw a lot of toe leads in the wrong places. It’s easy to ignore technical problems, though, when you’re watching someone perform like he does. It looked like he was having a great time. I like the way he agreed with the judges when they criticized him. It was very endearing.

Relay Dance – Salsa

Donny’s salsa was amazing! I expected him to do much worse with a Latin dance than a ballroom one, but I was happy to be proved wrong. He had great rhythm and great energy. Of course, his competition was kind of pathetic. I think he’ll grab first place. I love how surprised he looked when Carrie said he smoked the others.