Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Time once again for some updates!! Our Featured people sure have been busy, although you may not have noticed since we’ve still been fairly quiet here. I have had to take some time away to deal with a family health issue, but am hoping that things are on the up swing and I’ll be able to dedicate more time again to all of the amazing things I enjoy Featuring! So… let’s get caught up a little bit! Read More…
The Great Gatsby Publicity Photo
Photo Courtesy of The Great Gatsby Official Site
Recently I had a chance to chat with my friend Henry Byalikov about his exciting participation in Baz Luhrmann’s movie, The Great Gatsby. Henry is a familiar name to many of our regular readers, particularly those who followed along on Hector’s and my coverage of Dancing with the Stars this past season. Henry is a Principal dancer on the show, currently performing with the Troupe. Henry is also a busy guy. When not working on Dancing with the Stars, he ties up his off-time with additional projects. In the Fall of 2011, one of those projects was The Great Gatsby. Read More…
Two Nights of Wonderful to Round out Season 16!
Jayne’s Introduction:
Wow! It’s hard to believe that Season 16 has come to an end! Although it seemed there were a number of predictable outcomes throughout the months, the time was splashed with amazing dancing, heartfelt moments, injuries, humor, and great musical performances. The two night Finale pulled out all the stops and jam-packed every moment full of dance for the remaining four couples. As we finish up the season with our final Feature, Hector provides us with a breakdown of the couples’ performances along with his overall thoughts. With him covering the dance details, I’ve added just a few personal comments of my favorite things on each couple as well. So let’s get to it! Read More…
Jayne’s Introduction:
We’re down to the wire this week with the Semi-Finals. The last elimination takes place as we gear up for the grand finale! Hard to believe this season is almost over! But, before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to review the semi-finals and the amazing dances that took place, as well as say goodbye to one final dance couple! The couples had to perform two dances again this week, one being assigned and one being a dance not in the normal line up of dances. This second dance was selected for them by the viewers, after a little input being given by the couples as to their favorite choice. Along with all of that excitement, Tuesday night marked the celebration of the 300th episode of Dancing with the Stars! What an achievement! Read More…
Jayne’s Introduction:
Hello all our DWTS faithful readers!! What a crazy whirlwind week we’ve had! There were two dances per couple, some interesting judging comments and scores, and (created?) drama for the bottom couples. Things here at At a Glance have been just has hectic! So for this week, I am leaving the helm once again to Hector. Read on to find out his thoughts on all the crazy awesomeness that is Trio week! Read More…
Hector Starts Us Off:
Here’s the Lucky seventh week episode, Latin Night, with no one less than featured mega stars Juanes and Michael Buble! DWTS is outdoing themselves! I love the DWTS production team ideas for Season 16! Hope this creativity and no-expense-spared attitude will push ratings through the roof! Can we have eight more years of DWTS? What can I tell you, I love this show! Juanes is a genuine Latin star, very big in Hispanic America for years now, but apparently now interested in a crossover effort. Love to have him splash into American TV, thanks to DWTS. The Colombian singing idol is very authentic, full of beans, individualistic singer! His performances were short versions of his greatest hits, plus Tengo Una Camisa Negra, a big Juanes song, enhanced by a fun and festive dance feature by Troupe members. This sophisticated, elegant, carnival-like choreography was smoothly done by Louis Van Amstel. Read More…
Jayne: This week our review will be brought to us exclusively by Hector! He’s provided a great breakdown of ALL the action of the entire two nights of dancing, drama and frivolity! Thanks Hector, for taking on the full enchilada!
Hector:
We’re halfway through Season 16! Isn’t DWTS a great scenario for celebrating Stevie Wonder Night, with the glittery grand ballroom, the handsome couples swirling around, and Stevie’s wonderful, melodic and dance-able music?! Not to mention the best treat, Stevie himself, singing some of his music. Strange to have the band singers doing a Stevie imitation, though, when he’s right there. Shouldn’t they have tried a different interpretation of Mr. Wonder’s music? Didn’t matter, it was a Wonder-ful night with great music and dancing. Stevie’s music is just right for DWTS, reminiscent of disco, with a bit of funky and a lot of Motown soul, what could be a better blend? It’s fared well through the years, keeping its currency and melodic beauty. It was also cute to hear Zendaya eulogize Stevie! Proof that he sounds cool to young ears! Read More…
Hector’s Introduction to Week 5:
Following the Pro Couple, or Side by Side as they are calling it, turned out to be a good idea after all! I was dubious at first, but to quote the Bard All’s well that ends well! I like it, how creative the DWTS production team is! I’m a sucker for new twists and imagination! That said, I’m also unfortunately the first to dump on the creators when the idea doesn’t work as well, like their dubious Prom Night! In general, in the making of this show, there’s a lot of improvisation, or call it serendipity. It’s part of the charm and attraction of DWTS. In this live show, things don’t always turn out ideally. This would seem logically appropriate, except big networks don’t like losing lots of money or ratings on slightly dysfunctional episodes. I might add that Tom Bergeron, master of ceremonies supreme, helps a lot in fixing and balancing this show! His humor and talent for making us trust that things are under control when they aren’t, is unparalleled! Read More…
Dancing with the Stars Season 16 – Week 4: The Best Year of our Lives!
Hector: Introduction
Week 4 theme brings us The Best Year of our Lives represented in dance. Get out your handkerchiefs and prepare for an inspiring night. This is a good theme night because it’s supposed to bring out the contender’s emotions. If the dancing star cannot put his feelings into dance, nor have an emotional bond with his dancing partner and the viewing audience, it will not work, neither aesthetically or meaningfully. Whether you’re a dance expert or just an average viewer watching, if it leaves you cold, it failed. It won’t get the applause, nor the votes. So get ready for a satisfying review, cause this theme succeeded in eliciting feelings in the dancers, the pros, and in our hearts! Read More…
Here we go again! Hector and Jayne’s dialectic over that entertainment milestone in American TV Culture. What else? Dancing With The Stars! Week 3 brings us PROM NIGHT on April Fools Day!!
Hector: Does anyone have mixed feelings about their prom? Yeah, yeah! Most everyone, even if you were Prom Queen or King (which I was not) probably feels this way. Celebrating an experience like Prom Night, which often brings feelings of inadequacy, is risky. It could be funny and successful, like Grease the movie was, or it could be a turkey. I would dub Dancing with the Stars Prom Night at best a mixed bag; at worse a ship of fools. Biggest fools were the production team, who had the badly handled idea! It didn’t help much to enhance most of the couples dancing and at times made them look foolish. Of course, it’s my opinion. Read More…
At a Glance... 