An Evan on DWTS news roundup
Two Major Victories, One Big Worry
by Deborah Starr Seibel May 11, 2010 09:14 AM EST
Monday night was one for the record books: For the first time ever, head judge Len Goodman got up from his chair, giving Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough a standing ovation for their 1950’s themed paso doble, a showstopper that earned the dazzling pair their first perfect score. “There was nothing I could see to criticize,” said Goodman.
Then Erin Andrews hurtled herself off the stage and onto the shoulders of Maksim Chmerkovskiy - the most daring leap ever performed by a celebrity - during the opening bars of their Argentine tango. It was the kind of move you might expect from a professional stunt person, or an athlete from Cirque de Soleil - not from an ESPN reporter who stands over six feet tall in ballroom heels. “It was the most nervous I’ve ever seen Maks,” says Andrews moments after the show. “We didn’t even do it in dress rehearsals.”
“My shoulder has bothering me this week,” says Chmerkovskiy, who insisted upon the risky move, “because of her leaping on it.” Chmerkovskiy says he’s also drilled into Andrews the need to hold the last pose of the dance. But on Monday night, he says, he was so excited that she had executed the routine - and the leap - so well, that he was the one to abort the pose at the end, rushing to break the spell and give her a high five. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’” says Andrews. “I didn’t know where he went.”
Scherzinger and Andrews had reason to celebrate. But if you were watching closely, this was also a worrisome night for another major contender, gold medal figure skater Evan Lysacek. Looking noticeably thinner - even gaunt - Lysacek tied for second with his waltz and futuristic cha cha. But he admits that he’s lost far more weight than he ever intended. ‘Oh my god, I’ve lost tons of weight by accident,” he says. Lysacek is on the road every week, a headline performer in Smucker’s Stars On Ice tour. His partner, Anna Trebunskaya, travels with him for their daily practices. “We usually will sacrifice sleeping and eating for the sake of training when we’re on the road, because I only have so many hours in a day,” says Lysacek. “So I’m starving right now.” Lysacek is a good six pounds under his Olympic weight, which was minimal to begin with. “Six pounds is a LOT,” he says, rubbing the contours of his thin, tired face.
He’d better start eating his Wheaties if he wants to overtake the frontrunner, Scherzinger, and stay ahead of a surging Andrews.
Do you think Evan Lysacek can win the competition, given his weekly performances across the country for Smucker’s Stars On Ice?
Source: http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/dancing-with-the-stars/two-major-victories-one-big-worry-5005.html
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This week's People blog:
Hi everyone! We’re just hours away from our eighth performance show of the season. If I sound energized it’s because Anna and I had an amazing road trip since last week’s shows. The Stars on Ice tour swung through Chicago over the weekend, which allowed me to spend a little bit of time with my family -- especially my mom. It was a little bit of quality time that meant the world to me and put me in great spirits to come back to Los Angeles on Sunday morning.
This week, each of the remaining five couples will dance two full routines. Anna and I have the slow waltz. It’s a bit different than the Viennese Waltz we performed earlier. It’s different timing, different tempo and a different vibe. Do I sound like a dancer? I think after this many weeks of rehearsing the different dances I’m catching on to the lingo and I actually understand what I’m talking about. The waltz is a beautiful, enchanted dance for us - and one I hope you all enjoy watching.
Our second dance will apply to this week’s decade theme. Each couple will perform a routine that exhibits the flavor of a certain decade, and Anna and I will be dancing our cha cha to ‘the future.’ It’s so fun to see her rise to the challenge of not only choreographing a new cha cha, but one that has a futuristic vibe to it. We worked on technique, of course, but we also worked on including some android-like moves (not too robotic) that would remind you that we’re from the future. Because we were traveling, we didn’t get a sneak peek at what the others are doing for their theme performances. So again, the fan in me is excited to see what my pals have come up with for their respective decades.
As the weeks are winding down toward the end of season 10, I am feeling really good about all of the shows we’ve done so far. My goal when I signed on to do Dancing with the Stars was to learn all of the dances that I could. I wanted to know that by the end of my time here I could do a paso doble, a cha cha, a waltz and more. I think the mirror ball trophy could be anyone’s this season. It’s probably going to come down to the freestyle dance and the audience vote.
But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. In fact, none of us wants to look too far ahead. We’re taking things literally dance by dance, week by week. The mentality I’ve had as an athlete all these years is to take care of my job on a given day because that’s all I can control. That’s how we’re all viewing the remainder of the season -- starting with tonight’s show. Sit back and enjoy, and by all means don’t forget to VOTE! -Evan Lysacek
Source: http://tvwatch.people.com/2010/05/10/evan-lysacek-cha-cha-top-8/
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DANCECENTER IS UP ON YOUTUBE:
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AND HERE'S A LINK TO SOME RANDOM BILLY BUSH INTERVIEW WHICH I HAVEN'T LISTENED TO YET.