Week 2 of Dancing With The Stars Madness (TiVo Cooperated This Time, Yay!)

So no more hasselling the Hoff. Very interesting America. I would have thought you would have taken out someone else first. But there you go.

Leading off tonight is Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke doing the jive. He's a big guy. On Dancing With The Stars, this dance has rarely been that kind to a the big man, especially one with the nickname of the "Tank" who has a tendon injury. I like his attitude. Interesting choice of song by the producers (Tush). He's what I expect, heavy on his foot. And I wonder if he was supposed to catch Cheryl in the face with that kick over. Overall, nice routine. He was in time with the music, but not particularly bouncey. And there were no kicks and flicks, but I think that has to do with his limitations. Len was nice to him, but he pointed out something that most other athletes who are tall on this show don't ever get: he kept his steps small. I thought above the knees, he was fine. 21 was a little higher than I thought they'd give, but there you (I would have expected a 19).

Following up that was Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas doing my favorite ballroom dance, the quickstep. Another interesting song (Suddenly I See). She starts off right on his hip, good for her. Things start to get a little fuzzy as they head back up towards the stage where she gets off his hip. Nice spin turns, but then again, she is back in on his hip. The more open she gets in this dance, the more wrong it goes. The kicks and flicks did not go well and I think it hit her confidence a little since the last section was not nearly as crisp as the start. Bruno gets shouted down, but he is making valid criticisms pointing out there was good but there was bad. And then Carrie Ann does her best impersonation of Paula Abdul blithering on about her dancing. Len was generous, but then again he knows Michael Bolton is waiting to dance. The 19 was a little generous.

Brooke Burke note of the night: she is wearing a great dress. A significant improvement over the atrocity of last week's reveal show.

Brandy and Maksim. Its a train wreck waiting to happen. When will it start? Dancing the jive to some song that was a mystery to me. Brandy looking good in the naughty school girl outfit. Too bad she is lost out there and off beat. Her footwork is not crisp, its not to the right place and then Maksim threw in a solo. Was he trying to get Len to come down on her like the Wrath of Khan?  She is making Rick Fox look like he was bouncy. Can someone please explain the standing ovation she was given? That was a fracking disaster of a dance. Even Carrie Ann had to admit that there were problems. Ahh the train wreck seems to be starting, Maks threw her under the bus and she returned the favor to Len. Will someone please explain to me this score? Mrs. Angrybell is calling foul along with me because Fox's dance was better, yet got the same score. Are they trying to keep her on because they liked last week.

Michael Bolton and Chelsea Hightower drew the jive. The song is Hounddog. And Bolton comes across in the clips of the training as a whiner. Lots of mucking about at the top of the steps. Once they get to the dance, its kind of sedate. If anything Bolton comes across as heavier on his feet than Fox., And the longer into he gets, the more he loses the jive steps. Part of the problem is that much of the time the steps he is taking are larger than Rick Fox's, and he is surrendering a few inches to Fox. About all I can say that is good about this routine is that he didn't drop Chelsea. This was not a question of chereography. It had a lot of basic in it. This was a lack of execution. Powerful comment by Bruno that this was the worst jive they've seen in the history of  the show. Mrs. Angrybell wonders if Bruno got shot down by Michale Bolton to earn that 3. The total was 12.

Audrina and Tony followed up that routine with a quickstep. Whats up this season? Didn't someone get the memo that Tony is the cougar magnet, not the young single magnet? Mrs. Angrybell wodners how she manages to go on as oppressed she is by this show. Crying? Really? Ms. Partridge, grow the frack up. You are on a contest. Sheesh. Did she raid Anna Trebunskaya's closet? After all that, it kills me to say, she is dancing well. Tony finally got someone who might stick around for a while. Footwork is pretty nice, just little improvements need to be made. I missed the posture problems. So far, best dance of the night. As much as it pains me, she should come back, bloody cry baby. And Tony misses the waxing by a point. 23 was a good score.

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough had to find someway to follow up last week's score. This week, its the jive. Who knew that Baby had cancer. Like the footwork. Its crisp. There's the nice bounce to it most of the time. Her kicks are good and her hands extend  well. I think Derek went a little too conservative with the choreography here. It left her dancing in one spot too much when there might have been a better solution. She moved really well. Good routine. Nice follow up to last week's routine. 24 was a good call by the judges, though I have to say I'm a little confused why they got the extra point that eluded Audrina.

Margaret Cho and Louis van Amstel somehow survived elimination last week. This week they get to seek redemption with the jive. Really, second week and all the women seem to want to break down for these absurd reasons? Going for the Blondie look to compliment the song, but its working for Margaret here. Plus, she is dancing much better than the brief clip I saw last week. Some footwork trouble, but its light years better than the dance that Brandy turned in. Its not as good as either Jennifer or Audrina's routines, but she is executing most of the dance better. Plus, this is one of the few times I think Derek gets out-choreographed. Louis has a weaker dancer for a partner, as opposed to trying to choreograph around an injury, but he makes her look more mobile. Margaret and Louis just got hosed. That dance was better than what has been established as the midpoint for the jives tonight (i.e. better than Brandy). The 18 was just wrong.

Kyle Massey and the still blonde Lacey Schwimmer doing a quickstep. By the way, who told her that she should go blonde? And there's a bit of mucking about at the top, but that quickly gives way to the dance, thankfully. Not a fan of this song, but whatever, the producers don't listen to me. Its not precise. His posture is mostly ago. Mrs. Angrybell thinks that the dressers hate Lacey because that outfit makes her look like she was attacked by tulle. I didn't think it was anything special. Good but not great. Mrs. Angrybell disagrees with me about Lacey's new hair. She thinks she looks better.  That 22 seems overly generous.

Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya drew the jive. Let's see how this goes. Apparently Anna never saw Top Gun, because that's where Highway to The Danger Zone comes from. Have to say I am impressed by Kurt. He is lighter on his feet than any of the other NFL greats that have hit the dance floor that come to mind. He needs to watch his hunching. Its not so bad here, but its like he is trying to be smaller and instead of taking smaller steps, he hunches a bit. It was good, solid dance. They gave him a 21. I'm confused by the scoring tonight.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Karina Smirnoff are looking for some improvement. Is she trying to show off her belly to compete with him? Just wondering. Please, someone gag him. Please. Posture needs work, he needs to not look down. He is on his toes too much, but he's keeping time most of the time. He needs to be in on her hip, and not pull away from her. Wonder how many times he's been told to stand closer to a woman. Anyways. As it goes on, lots of little mistakes are sapping his confidence and he starts to look more tentative. Well.. it wasn't as bad Bolton. There was a lot of charity in that 18.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas were the clean up tonight doing the quickstep. I think the costumer must be a Democrat. How else do you expect putting Bristol in outfit that makes her look that heinous. She sometimes has this look on her face thats screams "I'm surprised I haven't tripped yet." Footwork is good, but needs to get off the toes and into the proper stepping, but the dance is moving along well. She hung in on his hip pretty well. Good routine. Ms. Palin, please, you are doing well. Stop looking like you feel like you are going to trip. Fake it. Act perhaps. Just like Bruno said to. 22 was the final score, maybe a smidge high but whatever.

Alright, so who do you throw back this week? The men this season, with the exception of Rick Fox and Kurt Warner are... not great. I'm not loving Kyle Massey. Sorry. I'm just not. Michael Bolton, you have little to fear. You won't have to be showing up for rehearsal too much longer if America votes as it should.