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Dancing with the Stars – The Latin Round

Okay, maybe it’s my faulty memory, but I don’t remember them doing a Latin night before. I thought they always had a Latin and a Ballroom dance each week. Now it’s fine if they are doing something different. But the way they are talking, they make it sound like this is something they do every year. Whatever. Let’s get to the hot Latin action.

Marie Osmond & Jonathan Roberts – Samba – When I heard that Marie was doing this show, I thought that the Latin dances would be her problem. She proved me wrong again tonight. That was hot and fun. It did seem potentially too safe at times. And just as Len was starting to praise it (or so it seemed), she fainted. But it looks like she is fine after all and handling it was good humor.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 7 Len – 7 Bruno – 7 Total – 21 I would have liked to hear what the judges thought of it. Maybe it was that it was too safe. I was expecting higher scores.

Jane Seymour & Tony Dovolani – Rumba – You know, I always think of Latin dances as being fast. Yet this is dance two and the second slow one. Frankly, I found this one a tad boring. It was hot in spots, but the dance was made up of lots of holds and arm movement. This was not a holding contest but a dancing contest. I agree with the judges that it was classy, but they seemed to think that was a good thing. I was left wanting something more.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 9 Bruno – 9 Total – 26 I completely disagree with that. I would switch Jane and Marie’s scores if it were up to me.

Mark Cuban & Kym Johnson – Samba – Say what you will about Mark, he continues to entertain. That was a very entertaining routine. And I loved their choice of music, the theme to “I Dream of Jennie.” But technique was lacking and his lack of natural dancing ability still hurt it.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 7 Len – 7 Bruno – 7 Total – 21 Only one point down from last week. And tied with Marie. This could spell doom for Marie. This dance was more fun, but Marie’s was overall better in my opinion.

Sabrina Bryan & Mark Ballas – Rumba – Okay, so obviously the Rumba is supposed to be a slower dance. But the difference between this dance and Jane’s is night and day for me. Hot and sexy with some wonderful dancing. And very convincing. I sure don’t know what Len’s problem was. There’s a reason Sabrina has been at or near the top of the leader board every week.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 9 Len – 9 Bruno – 10 Total – 28 You know, it is so hard to read the judges sometimes. Len gave that a 9 after those comments? Still, it’s a score that matches the dance for a change. In fact, this is the first one where I agree with the judges.

Jennie Garth & Derek Hough – Samba – Now there’s the higher energy I was looking for. And, despite the pre dance interviews, it wasn’t all about the shake. Jennie pulled those off, too, but there was lots of great dancing in there. An absolute great routine in my opinion. And this time I find myself agreeing with Len. You just never can tell from one dance to the next who you will agree and disagree with.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 9 Bruno – 8 Total – 25 I thought it was a little better than that. The scores are definintely all over the board tonight.

Helio Castroneves & Julianne Hough – Rumba – Now if someone tells me to look sexy, I wind up looking like I am in pain. I think Helio suffers from the same curse. I couldn’t take my eyes off his face most of the time since it was so amusing to watch the pained looks on his face. And Bruno agrees with me. I can tell Julianne didn’t care for the comments, but it was how it struck me.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 7 Bruno – 8 Total – 23 That’s a nice score considering how he looked. That wasn’t the best they’ve done.

Mel B. & Maksim Chmerkovskiy – Samba – Every season there seems to be one couple who fights their way through each week. And it never hurts them on the floor. That’s true of this seasons fighting couple, too. While I didn’t care for it, I do agree with the judges that it was a great Samba with lots of energy. I would never know they were sick based on that performance.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 10 Len – 9 Bruno – 10 Total – 29 And the judges showed that they did indeed believe this was the best Samba of the night by giving it the best score of the night.

Cameron Mathison & Edyta Sliwinska – Rumba – Cameron said he wanted a sizzling hot Rumba that would make the judges need a cold shower. I don’t know about them, but I need one. Of course, those spins are very close to the lifts that got everyone in trouble last week. In fact, Carrie Ann said one of them one. Still, for my money that was the best dance of the night.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 9 Bruno – 9 Total – 26 Looks like Carrie Ann did indeed knock them down for the lift. I hope Cameron can keep this up because he is becoming a great dancer.

The scores are a bit more spread out this week. Here’s the judges leader board.

1. Mel B.

2. Sabrina

3. Jane (tie)

3. Cameron (tie)

5. Jennie

6. Helio

7. Marie (tie)

7. Mark (tie)

So, my predictions.

Since Mel B. hasn’t done an encore yet, I’m going to guess that she does the encore this week. She had the high score, so it’s a logical choice.

The bottom two is much harder this week. Even though he’s tied for the bottom, I’m going to leave Mark off the list. He’s going to need a much lower score then that to get eliminated. He should be the one going, not the two stars who had bad nights.

So the bottom two are going to be Marie and Helio. And I bet Marie’s fans are rabid enough to save her, so Helio will be the one to go. Which is a shame because I think he’s the best male dancer on the show.

O-meon.com has an interesting post about something that has been nagging me for over a year. What happened to “The Happiest Place On Earth” catch phrase? Why are we seeing “Where Dreams Come True” everywhere? Wasn’t that just supposed to be a one year promotion?

“To me, this whole ‘our guests came up with Where Dreams Come True’ is intended to replace [Disneyland’s] The Happiest Place on Earth.” My source was referring to remarks frequently made to the media during the first year of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion by Mike Mendenhall, then Vice President of Parks and Resorts Marketing.

During that weekend at Disneyland, I did hear that during the first year of a Year of A Million Dreams, Disneyland Resort personnel had been instructed not to use the phrase The Happiest Place on Earth “with guests, in marketing materials, press releases, or on letterhead, napkins, or paper goods of any kind.”

So was it a nefarious plot hatched behind the oak doors of Disney Marketing? Or is it just an innocent marketing campaign that has been extended beyond it’s original intent? There’s further speculation at the end of the article. I’m not sure you’re going to like what you read, however.

Themeparks and the great Segway debate

As much as I’d love to have one, the Segway never took off as regular mode of transportation, at least in the sort of numbers that were being considered when they were first unveiled. But there is one community where the use of Segways is growing quickly – the disabled.

There are some disabled who had adopted the Segway as a primary mode of transportation because it fits their needs better than other devices. The question is what happens when these disabled want to attend a a theme park? Should they be allowed in? Are they a legitimate accommodation? or a lawsuit waiting to happen?

This debate is not new and has been around since the arrival of the Segway. What’s bringing it to the forefront again is a new group that is providing free Segways to disabled US veterans. This is helping bring the numbers of disable Segway users up.

In Orlando, right now Disney and SeaWorld still don’t allow Segways in citing safety concerns. Universal Orlando says it takes it on a case by case basis. The Orlando Sentinel has more on the issue. What are your thoughts?

Call me dangerman. I live on the edge. Yep, when everyone else has written off ABC’s new sitcom “Cavemen”, I am bravely writing a review of the second episode. Of course, there are somethings you should know from the start. I haven’t seen a sitcom I’ve really liked since “Fraiser” went off the air. Not that there hasn’t been funny material out there, just that the half hour format has seemed pretty much explored to me.

Cavemen, despite the unique situation of the subject, does not attempt to explore those boundaries anymore either. However, I found episode two a much more servicable sitcom than the first attempt. What made this episode for me, however, was not the main storyline (a boring look at elistism when faced with corporatism in an IKEA like setting), but rather the sub-characters.

I really liked the fourth Cavemen’s outlook on life even just from his quick appearance in the kitchen. His attitude is more what I expected from the show in general, very similar to what we’ve come to expect from the commercials. The other storyline with Andy, the third caveman’s, attempt to get the girl down the hall to not be scared of him results in some funny moments.

But a few funny moments and a little promise does not a hit show make. 24 million tuned in to watch last weeks debut. I’m putting the over under on 12 million for this week.

Btw, “Carpoolers”, which follows Cavemen, is a much better sitcom. I have three words to describe it, “The Truth Hurts.” But it’s also funny. I wonder why I’m not reviewing that show.

The Animation Pavilion inside California Adventure is now featuring the Toy Story (II) Zoetrope created for the Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibition. The Zoetrope features a series of spinning discs, each with a different 3-D animation (parachuting army men, Jessie spinning a rope, Buzz walking on a ball, Woody riding Bullseye, Wheezy and an LGM jumping on a see-saw, and an LGM waving.

Be aware that the animation effect occurs because the spinning of the wheels is timed with a strobe light.

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts has announced plans to build a 800-unit resort at the Hawaiian resort district of Ko Olina. Plans include both hotel rooms and Disney Vacation Club units. Ko Olina is a resort destination on the western side of Oahu, near the city of Honolulu.

This is the first stand alone mixed use resort from the Walt Disney Company. Judging by the concept art, it also looks like this resort will feature a water park and possibly some other sort of ‘attraction’ beyond just the Disney brand.

Hawaii has been a popular request from current DVC Members. So I can see the logic of building there first. Groundbreaking should occur in 2008 with the first units scheduled to open in 2011.

Yesterday Epcot turned the big 25. Now it can get a discount on its auto insurance.

Wow. What to say. Sometime this week, I will definitely write something longer with pictures. But in the meantime here are my initial thoughts. There were no major announcements, no name changes, no huge splashy extravaganza, not even any cake. But what there was was done with class and done right. We can debate whether EPCOT deserved more, but I feel confident saying that everyone who was there that day to celebrate the park’s 25th Anniversary enjoyed the events.

I think the big winner of the day was the cast and crew of EPCOT. From the use of actual cast members in the ceremony, the last minute preparations for the history exhibit, right up to the ubiquitous park vice president Jim McPhee, it was never clearer who makes the magic for the guests. Jim McPhee showed he deserves the support and praise of the parks fans. He was everywhere yesterday. Checking out operations, guest experiences, cast member status, and answering guest questions.

I had a great time putting names to faces as I met a lot of other Disney bloggers. We should make meets like this more of a regular thing.

If anyone else was at EPCOT yesterday I’d love to hear your experiences.