Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Nothing But a Good Time (Most of the Time)
By Kim | Season 8 | Episode 1 | Aired on 03.09.2009
So country singer Chuck Wicks is competing this season with his girlfriend, Julianne. That would be tough on a relationship, I think. Especially if they lose really early. Unless Julianne wants to lose really early, because she reportedly wasn't even going to be on this season. Hmm. It might be genius. During rehearsal, they bicker because he's not taking it seriously enough. So how is their waltz? His footwork is good and quick, but his posture is not great. He's pretty graceful for a white country singer, and overall he does pretty well. Probably the best waltz so far.
Bruno chuckles that Julianne is a handful and then says that it seemed like Chuck was having trouble keeping up, but he needs to calm down a bit. Len thought it was hectic at times, but he had good footwork. He needs to work on refining his posture and dances. Carrie Ann thinks he's very graceful, but he nearly lifted her because he's so tall. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 7 and Bruno 7.
Tom interviews Jewel and Nancy O'Dell, the two dropouts. Jewel was supposed to compete against her husband, and she's sad she can't, but she'll be there to cheer him on. Nancy is jealous that Tony will be dancing with someone else, and she's disappointed that she can't compete.
So who's the first new partner, replacing Jewel? Holly Madison, the former Hef girlfriend and reality star, has no dance experience, and only had like seven days of rehearsal instead of four weeks. She's dancing with Dmitry, one of the new dancers this season. She tries to just learn the steps, and he realizes that he can't do much with her technique. So how's their cha cha cha? She really is just walking through it, with no technique, and a few times Dmitry does seem to throw her in the right direction when she gets messed up. She's definitely got the performance part down, but her dancing is pretty bad. She gets really off at one point, but Dmitry brings her back in. I can't fault her too much, given the short rehearsal time, but she had better show a lot of improvement by next week.
The judges are supposed to base their comments on the dance, not the background story. Len thought it wasn't bad, but she needs to improve. Carrie Ann thinks Holly has charisma and goes for it, but needs to strengthen up. Bruno thought she was pretty to look at it, but she lost the beat. She needs to work hard for next week. The cameras keep cutting to Jewel and Nancy O'Dell gossiping it up in the audience. God, what I wouldn't give for a hidden microphone on those two. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 6 and Bruno 6. Holly has a really annoying machine-gun giggle.