For all the ABC execs who were hoping the “danger factor” would play a substantial role in Skating with the Stars… week three was the week they’d been waiting for. Slashed hands, swollen wrists—even vomiting! (But since the show's still losing viewers, I'm not sure it was worth the ABC execs' wait.) Here’s the quick recap, if you can stomach it:
FIVE couples are left. The performance this week is supposed to tell “a romantic story”, and has to include a jump of some kind on the part of the “star” (single revolutions of course).
Rebecca & Fred— skate to Katy Perry’s Hot & Cold… in the package they show that she’s injured her wrist to the point she’s supposed to be icing it and “taking it easy”, but we all know what that means… work harder!!! They still do a decent job. Her solo jump is a flip (my own fave).
Bethenny & Ethan—they skate to Halo…she remains pissed about the judging and how last week she was scored lower than those who fell down. She rants a lot and appears to be trying hard, but personally, I don’t see much improvement. Her jump is a toe loop—it’s OK. Laurie Ann (the clueless one) gives her a “7” at judgment time, and we never. Hear. The. End. Of. It.
Vince & Jennifer—In their fluff piece, Jennifer takes Vince to “basic training” with a pack of kids she teaches. They pretend to adore his tattoos… it’s very sweet. They skate to You’re Beautiful… ah, and as the song says, he indeed will never be with her. He manages a waltz jump. Laurie Ann gushes about his showmanship…and I notice Vernon Kay (the trying-hard-but-is-no-Tom-Bergeron-host) is starting to look like he’s passing a kidney stone when he’s dealing with Johnny. Vince’s back is apparently injured this week… but ah, no worries, he’s out of the running anyway. (They were voted out at the end of show.)
Brooke & Jonny—He’s taken 3 hard falls in the past couple days, and she got her hand sliced to ribbons via one of his blades earlier yesterday. Can they get this done? Well, sure they can. I’ve no idea what the music was, but they do well. I think their jump sequence was a flip/toe loop combo? Little rough (2-ft landings) but the ambition was clear. Last lift a little shaky but oh well… they’re in first anyway!
Keauna & Brandon—my daughter had to go to bed and watched just long enough to see the lovely footage of Brandon yakking en route to the hospital, and was dying to know… whatever was wrong with Brandon and would it keep him from doing more Sonny w/a Chance episodes?? They didn’t go into much detail, so we’ll say “severe flu symptoms” and leave it at that. The show has to play a rehearsal tape of the K & B performance (as they’ve done under similar circumstances at Dancing w/the Stars), and Keauna has to sniffle on the sidelines, glittery headband and all, and hope everyone got a sense of just how hard they worked this week. (The tape was fine; I don’t remember what Brandon’s jump was though.) Johnny got a jab in during his evaluation to basically call out Brandon for not having a “show must go on” mentality— in other words, calling him a wuss. Vernon jumped in with the friendly reminder that “Puke doesn’t look good on ice”, to which Johnny chirped “Been there, Vernon!” Nice.
So do we remind ourselves of the Disaster in Dallas ’03 where Johnny’s “show must go on” mentality was a little underdeveloped… as he gave up relatively early in his free skate and withdrew due to injury?
Or is that too dated a reference at this point?
Nah, of course it’s not. Here’s a peek at it for those who need (or maybe just want) a reminder. Sorry if that seems snarky, but of all people to come down on a performer for giving up too soon or for an illegitimate reason… let’s just say the pot was definitely calling the kettle—or perhaps the kettle’s “aura”—black. ;-)
And by the way, they also filled some time with an ensemble performance featuring co-host/commentator Tanith Belbin, who talked Ben Agosto into braving this show as well.
RATINGS NOTE: Unfortunately, all the other first-run programming of the night took its toll. The first 60 minutes appear to have brought in just under 5 million viewers; the last 30 kept only 4.5 million of them. We’ll have to see if the numbers keep dropping next week (when House might return with a new episode?), or if they can hold steady from here.
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5 comments:
Nice report. Thanks! Your reference of pot and kettle isn't quite accurate, however, because there is a huge difference between being sick (fever, stomach flu, etc.) and being injured. Johnny was injured in the 2003 nats and skating with certain injuries (or when uncertain of the severity of the injury) can cause further damage. He has skated with a flu, between puking his guts out, with a frozen toe, etc. He's certainly not a wuss.
Johnny Got His jab and evaluation, in principle, Brandon was screaming that the show must go on" mentality
Agreed, Anonymous... there is a big difference, and Johnny has certainly proven his mettle through the years. But the list of people who have withdrawn mid-program from a Nationals (for whatever reason) is decidedly short, and Johnny's name will forever be on it. He also has to live with the quotes he made to the press about his 2006 Olympics "I missed the bus to the rink," "my aura was black," etc... which, sorry to say, still sound ridiculous.
He may not be a wuss, but I maintain that he's one of the last people that should be drawing attention to someone's inability to perform at a given time. Just an opinion, of course!
In other words, calling him a wuss. Vernon jumped with a friendly reminder that "Puke does not look good on the ice" with Johnny chirped "Been there,
It took time for DWTS to become the show that it is today. Give SWTS the chance to make the needed adjustments. I think Johnny Weir is fine and will become even better,which means that you'll be given the opportunity to really go on the rampage.
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