Dancing with the Stars Fall 2008: Week One, Part One

Live, from Hollywood, the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars kicked off this evening on NBC. We were formally introduced to the season's brand new cast of 13 stars and their professional partners as they offered up their first dances of the season. Co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris quickly got things started by introducing the night's first pair.

Celebrity: Cody Linley, Hannah Montana
Partner: Julianne Hough, two-time DWTS professional champ, country music recording artist
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: Cody likes rap music. He's also the youngest-ever competitor on DWTS. "If I can just stayed focused on the dance rather than Julianne's hotness, I think we can cha cha all the way to the top."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: Black shirt and suite, red rose, red lining
The Performance: Cody looked pretty solid to me. He seems to have good basic moves, though he was a little sloppy on his feet. Still, a great effort.
The Evaluation:
Len - "High-energy dancing and full of confidence... great job." But he cautioned him against being overly energetic.
Bruno - "The slash of youth, bursting with energy and excitement" and told Cody to channel his energy into technical cleanliness.
Carrie Ann - "What I see in you is incredible potential."
The Scores: 6, 6, 6 = 18

Celebrity: Rocco DiSpirito, chef
Partner: Karina Smirnoff
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: Rocco cooked for Karina to give her a sense of who he is. "I'm a chef. I'm so far out of my comfort zone we need new words to describe it."
The Dance: Foxtrot
The Outfit: Classic black tuxedo with tails, red lining
The Performance: I think Rocco is totally cute, but he's not really much of a dancer so far. He was off a few times with his footwork and didn't seem to be sensing the music very well, but seemed to be having fun.
The Evaluation:
Bruno - "That was a foxtrot on the brink of chaos."
Carrie Ann - "I thought it was really cute... what you have going for you is a great connection with the audience."
Len - "For me it lacked any finesse... but good attempt."
The Scores: 5, 4, 5 = 14

Celebrity: Toni Braxton, Grammy award winner
Partner: Alec Mazo, season 1 DWTS pro champ
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "My goal in this competition is very personal... I want to prove that I can go out on the dancefloor and do my thing."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: Two-piece fringed, cream colored
The Performance: Toni did really well with the dramatics of the number and she seemed pretty sure on her feet.
The Evaluation:
Carrie Ann - "I thought that was like we should be in week five - it was fantastic."
Len - "You've got to try to straighten your knees" to improve hip action, but really good.
Bruno - "I like my divas slinky, sultry, sexy... I am really, really pleased."
The Scores: 7, 7, 8 = 22

Celebrity: Maurice Greene, Olympic Champion
Partner: Cheryl Burke, two-time DWTS pro champ
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "My athletic training has not prepared me for this one bit."
The Dance: Foxtrot
The Outfit: Navy blue suit and shirt, sequined collar
The Performance: Maurice had a lightness about his feet that made me think of former champion (and Cheryl's former partner) Emmitt Smith. I'll be very interested to see how he does in the long run.
The Evaluation:
Len - "There were parts that were wild, parts that were wacky, and parts that were wonderful."
Bruno - "You have a great presence onstage" but told him to watch his posture and his footwork.
Carrie Ann - She said she wanted to call him "Mo James Brown".
The Scores: 6, 6, 6 = 18

Celebrity: Brooke Burke, model and host
Partner: Derek Hough
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "I love to do crazy things that I've never experienced."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: Brown pants with fringe and bra top
The Performance: Brooke definitely has a dancer's body and can move quite well. I'm impressed! I do wish she'd look a little more enthused while she's on the dancefloor, though.
The Evaluation:
Carrie Ann - "Four babies and your torso moving like that... it's amazing." Praised her legs, energy and strenth.
Bruno - "Brooke is going for broke. That hip action - Len was panting."
Len - "Best dance so far."
The Scores: 7, 8, 8 = 23

Celebrity: Ted McGinley, actor
Partner: Inna Brayer, Brooklyn native and first season on DWTS
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: Addressing the male TX crowd: "Guys, I dedicate this foxtrot to you."
The Dance: Foxtrot
The Outfit: Black tuxedo, white shirt
The Performance: Given that I'd pegged Ted as having zero dancing ability at all, I was pleasantly surprised with what he delivered. It wasn't the stuff of DWTS champions, but it was decent.
The Evaluation:
Bruno - "At moments you had the elegance of Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, and then you turned into Steve Carrell in Get Smart."
Len - Praised Ted's footwork and said "overall, well done".
Carrie Ann - She told him he needs to get over his fears but said he has great potential.
The Scores: 6, 6, 6 = 18

Celebrity: Lance Bass, *NSYNC star
Partner: Lacey Schwimmer
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "I was the worst dancer in the group (*NSYNC)." "Lacey is a bit crazy but so am I." "It's about time that entertainers take our trophy back."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: Black vest, pants, grey shirt
The Performance: I thought Lance's performance was reminiscent of earlier boy-bander appearances - solid, rhythmic, very good. I stand by my original prediction that Lance will be a DWTS contender this season.
The Evaluation:
Len - "What you did, you did well. It was young and modern. The trouble is I'm old and traditional."
Carrie Ann - "I thought that was hot, hot, hot."
Bruno - "That was edgy, spunky... you should be proud. A cha cha cha for now."
The Scores: 8, 6, 8 = 22

Celebrity: Cloris Leachman, Oscar-winning actress, 9 Emmys, Golden Globe, oldest DWTS contestant ever at 82 years of age
Partner: Corky Ballas, father of Mark
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "Corky and I have a combined age of 129 years."
The Dance: Foxtrot
The Outfit: Long dark blue/purple dress with deep v-neck
The Performance: Cloris was just too cute for words and I'm so impressed to see her out there tackling DWTS competition. That said, she usually didn't point her toes and was definitely on the slow side, but still, wow.
The Evaluation:
Bruno - "Cloris my darling, I love you. You were floating about there with the imposing presence of Battleship Geriatrica..."
Len - "I thought you acted that dance beautifully... mind your cleavage. I've always wanted to be a toy-boy, this could be my big chance."
Carrie Ann - (While Cloris was seated in her lap:) "I admire you for everything you've done."
The Scores: 6, 5, 5 = 16

Celebrity: Jeffrey Ross, stand-up comedian
Partner: Edyta Sliwinska, DWTS pro mainstay
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: Jeffrey brought Edyta flowers as a "peace offering" when they first met. "I won a dance competition at the age of 10 at summer camp and tonight I'm dancing to the same song."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: Shiny light blue shirt, dark blue pants
The Performance: Jeffrey is clearly not a natural dancer, but he certainly gave a 70s pimp-esque kind of vibe this evening if nothing else.
The Evaluation:
Carrie Ann - "Well, the flirting was good... but the form was bad, the musicality was off..."
Bruno - "... nothing really worked."
Len - "I tihnk everyone that comes on to Dancing with the Stars is a winner..."
The Scores: 4, 4, 4 = 12

Celebrity: Kim Kardashian, reality TV star
Partner: Mark Ballas, reigning DWTS pro champ
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "I have terrible balance."
The Dance: Foxtrot
The Outfit: Long plum colored dress with pink accents.
The Performance: It was ok, but Kim isn't really a natural dancer. She just looked awkward at times, though her musicality was ok.
The Evaluation:
Len - "It was clean, it had nice musicality" but "it was a bit cold; there was no chemistry between you."
Bruno - "You remind me of Princess Jasmine" but he wanted her to connect more with the audience.
Carrie Ann - "I think you move very well" but noted that she wants her head to move more to connect with the audience.
The Scores: 6, 7, 6 = 19

Celebrity: Susan Lucci, daytime TV star
Partner: Tony Dovolani
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "I'm not Erica Kane, so I feel scared to death."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: Short red one-piece with fringe
The Performance: Susan looked stiff and very nervous - her musicality was a little off, but she certainly has the body to do well if she can overcome the nerves in the weeks to come.
The Evaluation:
Bruno - "You looked like a lady - a gorgeous lady - but the cha cha cha needs a slut."
Carrie Ann - "Your body is banging in that red outfit but... I think you need to gain a little more weight..."
Len - "It was neat, it was precise, and it was a bit too careful... throw caution to the wind..."
The Scores: 5, 5, 5 = 15

Celebrity: Misty May-Treanor, Volleyball Olympic Gold Medalist
Partner: Maksim Chmerkovskiy, the 'bad boy of ballroom'
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "There is not quitting, there is no crying in ballroom dancing."
The Dance: Foxtrot
The Outfit: Black dress with silver accents
The Performance: I thought Misty used her arms very nicely, and was generally impressed - I'd had visions of Monica Seles from last season dancing in my head, but she did better than I'd expected.
The Evaluation:
Carrie Ann - "I have never seen anyone attack a foxtrot with so much intensity." She cautioned her against "muscling" the dances too much.
Len - "I thought that had an elegance about it... your arms I thought were really nice."
Bruno - He told her to watch her weight placement during turns, and to watch her shoulders but said she could "go a long way".
The Scores: 6, 8, 7 = 21

Celebrity: Warren Sapp, retired NFL star and Super Bowl Champ
Partner: Kym Johnson
An Interesting Tidbit/Quote: "I like footwork."
The Dance: Cha cha
The Outfit: White shirt, light brown vest, pants
The Performance: I have to say, I'm very impressed. I didn't have high expectations for Warren, but he's very light on his feet.
The Evaluation:
Len - "You're a great big bundle of joy."
Carrie Ann - "That is so much fun... to end on such a positive note... you brought such joy to the dancefloor."
Bruno - "Big boys can dance!"
The Scores: 7, 7, 7 = 21

Tomorrow evening, the first DWTS star will be eliminated, and then the remaining 12 celebrities will perform another routine for the judges and TV audience to score. As far as this evening's performances go, I was most impressed with Warren Sapp. I wasn't expecting much from him at all, but he's surprisingly light on his feet, and he did an amazing job of keeping up with Kym's moves. Cloris Leachman was adorable - both her performance and her post-dance antics were amusing. I was also pleasantly surprised by Misty May-Treanor. I'd halfway been expecting her to be uncoordinated and overly athletic, but she proved she can be elegant and dance quite well. And finally, a big 'wow' goes out to Brooke Burke. She was coordinated, hot, and moved really well. She's an inspiration to moms.

As for the other side of the coin... Jeffrey Ross did nothing for me at all, and I also wasn't impressed with Ted McGinley. Part of me expected Kim Kardashian to do better than she did as well. I'm guessing that the first star to go will be Jeffrey, only because he had the lowest judges' score, and I had no idea who he was prior to the start of this DWTS season.

Tune into DWTS tomorrow evening for more season seven action!