Dancing with the Stars Season 12

Dancing with the Stars season 12 has started!

Here are the judges' scores from week 1:

- Lil' Romeo (or Romeo as he likes to be called now) and Chelsie Hightower - 19
- Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya - 17
- Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 24
- Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke -19
- Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 21
- Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer - 13
- Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 21
- Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 18
- Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 18
- Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani - 14
- Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 23

The couples performed as expected in the main. Ralph Macchio was even better than expected and Kendra was a bit of a disappointment.

Mike Catherwood can't dance.

There is no results show the first week as the couples will be dancing twice. The first couple to be voted off will be announced March 29.

Week two saw some couples improve and some fall back.

Here are the judges' scores from week 2 with the combined score across both weeks in parentheses:

- Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 19 & 23 = 42
- Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya - 17 & 17 = 34
- Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 24 & 21 = 45
- Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke -19 & 23 = 42
- Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 21 & 23 = 44
- Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer - 13 & 17 = 30
- Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 21 & 18 = 39
- Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 18 & 18 = 36
- Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 18 & 19 = 37
- Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani - 14 & 17 = 31
- Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 23 & 20 = 43

Highlights:
- Mike Catherwood and Wendy Williams both improved from week 1 but still scored the lowest points.
- Len said "chesticles" and made everyone laugh except Kendra who he was referring to (he also said "messin' abaht" which I always enjoy)
- Romeo was much improved as was Chris Jericho
- Mark Ballas dressed himself and Chesea as mimes - it was almost Bristol and the Gorilla Suit all over again - the judges did not like it

The results how was a bit of a tame affair. There was the "Pro Dance Troupe" which will be performing through out the season, there was Chris Brown and, best of all, they had miked up the couples so we can here them as they prepare and when they actually dance. Louis is a chatterbox!

After lots of gloomy music it was down to Mike Catherwood and Sugar Ray - and Mike was sent home.

He wasn't very good at dancing and seemed uncomfortable trying to be serious - he was much better at dancing when he was "messin' abaht" (there it is again) after he was eliminated.

Down to 10!

Week 3 was story week, where each celebrity had to pick a time or event in their life and tell the story through dance. This has had some bad results in the past and this season was no different.

Most of the stories were about people who had passed on - mothers, fathers, cousins etc. Wendy chose sleeping in a car and brushing teeth in a bird bath just to be a bit different. Kendra chose her husband, Ralph his wife, Hines his (still alive) mother.

The highlight was Maks hitting the floor in pain. Most of the reports had Kirstie tripping which was a little unfair. Maks fell and pulled Kirstie down. His thigh went apparently. There is huge potential for silly weight jokes here, suffice it to say the fault lies with Maks.

Here are the scores:

- Rapper Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 20
- Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya - 20
- Original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 21
- Wrestler Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 21
- Football player Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 25
- Disney actress Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 23
- Model Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 25
- Reality star Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 23
- Talk show host Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani - 15
- Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 21

Overall the scoring was higher with Petra and Sugar Ray improving markedly. Obviously Wendy and Tony were significantly behind the next couple, and were indeed eliminated the following night.

I don't think Wendy enjoyed he experience and was glad to leave.

Week 4 was Classical Week were the couples danced a waltz or paso to music from a 46-piece orchestra. There was also a lively young man on violin and a very impressive opera singer.

The music was lovely, the dancing was lovely, but I'm just not sure they went together very well!

Overall most of the couples did better apart from Kendra and Louis (apparently Kendra's hormones were to blame). Kirstie lost a shoe (after the previous week's injury to Maks' thigh - what's going to happen next??) and Cheryl Burke also strained her thigh.

Here are the scores:

- Rapper Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 23
- Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya - 21
- Original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 25
- Wrestler Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 23
- Football player Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 25
- Disney actress Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 26
- Model Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 23
- Reality star Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 18
- Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 22

Kendra looked in trouble at the bottom there and Chelsea/Hines/Ralph appear to be the three front runners.

The results show wasn't too bad this week - Jennifer Hudson sang, the guy with the violin was there again and we were treated to some lovely ballet.

The final three were Chelsea/Mark (they had the highest scores - were the producers toying with us?). Petra/Dmitry and Sugar Ray/Anna. Yes, Kendra wasn't there. Maybe the nation took pity on her because it was that time of the month, like no one else has that.

And Sugar Ray and Anna were eliminated. Really nice guys don't seem to do well!

Week five was American week or Americana week depending on who was talking at the time. Each couple danced to America-themed music and most dressed the part too.

Here are the highlights:
- Ralph was good but we're not really seeing much progress after his great start to the season
- Chris Jericho gets better and better. Len did one of his risque comments referring to Cheryl's bosom as "the Rocky Mountains". Wait, maybe that was a lowlight...
- Petra and Kendra did solid performances but neither really stood out.
- Romeo and Chelsie performed to "New York, New York" and did an excellent job - and were the highlight dance in the results show
- Kirstie had John Travolta join practice with her and Maks. Did it make a difference? I don;t think so, Kirstie is not really progressing and will have to rely on her kookieness and Maks' abs to see them through.
- Chelsea and Hines cemented their positions as the front-runners. Hines hips' were devine,

Here are the scores:

- Rapper Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 26
- Original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 22
- Wrestler Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 26
- Football player Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 27
- Disney actress Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 26
- Model Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 22 - eliminated
- Reality star Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 22
- Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 23

So, three couples shared the bottom score - no clues as to who's going home there!

The results show wasn't too bad again this week - Toby Keith performed, we had a very good Macy's Stars of Dance and there were some little vignettes through out.

The final three were Kirstie, Chris and Petra. Yep, Kendra was missing again.

And Petra and Dmitry were eliminated. Petra seems a really nice person and didn't dance too badly for a supermodel. Shame to see them go.

Guilty Pleasures?? That IS Dancing with the Stars!

This week the couples danced to a song that they, or the producers (it wasn't clear), felt were embarrassing or should be a secret. Some of the songs, to me, weren't. "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey is just a song. "My Heart Will Go On" was the theme for one of the most successful movies ever. Some people won't like them but I bet a lot do and would admit it!

The performance show and results show featured old Boy Bands - Hanson, New Kids On The Block and Back Street Boys. They also had Mark Ballas' alleged girlfriend, Pia Toscana (guilt AND pleasure!).

Anyhow, here are the judges' scores:

- Rapper Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 28
- Original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 24
- Wrestler Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 22
- Football player Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 27
- Disney actress Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 28
- Reality star Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 25
- Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 26

Everyone did pretty well this week. Kendra focused on her strengths (both of them) by jiggling a lot and improved her score. Romeo and Chelsea each got a 10 from Carrie Ann. I must say Romeo's performance was one of the most enjoyable I've seen on the show. Hines was consistent again, Kirstie was back on track and didn't fall over. But Karina did. Ralph did really well to pick her up and carry on aftyer she tripped over his coat tails. Seriously! They still got a 24 from the judges.

The results show was a standard results show filler and more filler. I do enjoy the microphones they put on the couples - Karina sobbing "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" was riveting television.

When it came down to the end Chris Jericho's somewhat lackluster performance mean and end to his journey. He really was a great guy - witty, intelligent and does a mean impression of Len.