Why Dancing With The Stars is Still Awesome

Vivaca Fox, you were gone far too early. The departure of Sara Evans was sad, but classy. And even Willa Ford should have stuck around longer. And yet, I'm still going to be there for the final showdown between super-gay Mario Lopez and my teddy bear boyfriend Emmitt Smith.

Why Dancing With The Stars is Still Awesome

1. There's a certain classical elegance this show brings to prime-time television.

2. Tom Bergeron may be ridiculous, but he makes a darn good host.

3. The judges! Often it's more fun to watch them bicker than anything else. Is Len grouchy today? Will Carrie Ann put the smack down? Is Bruno really Roberto Benigni in disguise?

4. The womens' costumes! Who will look hot this week, and who will look ridiculous?

5. The music! Where else can you see someone dance the jive to George Michael?

I wanna dance with...somebody!

Dancing With the Stars - a week of interesting events! Not exactly scandalous, but as close as you can get on this show.

It all started with the all-Latin show on Tuesday, where the couples performed either the party-like Samba or the sexy Rhumba. Most everyone did well (I especially liked Emmitt Smith), but the queen of the dance floor had to have been Willa Ford, who steamed it up with her partner Maksim. Rumors abounded about whether they were dating in real life (they aren't). And then in another shocker proving America's opinion is lightyears from my own, Willa was sent home. Sadness!

But only days later, it was announced that Sara Evans is now going to get divorced, and decided to leave the show to focus on her children.

So in an interesting turn of events, fans are asking that Willa to return for another week. But I just heard her say on CNN that she wouldn't - "America has spoken." Well, sure - but they were wrong!

What will ABC do now? Stretch out a results show so long that it covers a full week and a half? Or is Willa playing coy, and she will indeed be back?

Find out tomorrow night!

Rise and fall

This week's episode of Dancing With the Stars didn't have any one performance that I found truly amazing, but there were surprises.

For the couples dancing the waltz, the challenge was to make a soft sweeping dance something that would ignite the audience. And of all of them, Jerry Springer accomplished that the best! Yeah sure, he totally played the daughter's wedding card, but it was still elegant and charming. Monique and Willa were also quite lovely. I found Joey's to be especially disappointing - it was all high-kicks from his partner. *snore*

For those who danced the paso doble, I felt they all lacked the right balance of power, drama and precision. Mario was very strong...TOO strong. Sara's dance had a song that was far too slow, and thus it looked anemic. Emmitt was back on target (and DAMN his partner is fierce), but he needs to figure out what to do with his big hands when he's not holding something - he looked like he was going to swat somebody or something. And what the hell was up with Vivica's outfit? That too-long patchwork skirt and ridiculous boots were just WRONG.

My pick to go this week was Sara - she is a nice person, but is just not delivering what she needs to. When you're being out-performed by Jerry Springer, you really need to reexamine your committment!

But I just heard the news, and apparently Vivica was eliminated. Unfair! She was so awesome! Well...except for this week.

Color me sad!