Tuesday, November 27, 2007

And the winner is...

...Hélio Castroneves has won the fifth season of "Dancing with the Stars" tonight.


Helio, seen here (on the right) in an Associated Press pic dancing with his partner, Julianne Hough, at an Indiana Pacers game, is probably more familiar as a race car driver than a dancer.

Admittedly, I don't watch the show, but it's nice to see someone without dancing experience take the title.

Like Melanie Brown spent all those years as a Spice Girl, dancing on stage before millions of fans. I thought the same thing when Joey Fatone was competing on the show ... he was in frickin' *NSync, for God's sake!

Anyway, it's nice to see Helio bring home the trophy for the guys. Maybe he'll take a victory lap!

5 comments:

Miss Mellie said...

Sean, ballroom dancing is far different from anything Mel B or Joey Fatone did on stage. That is basically hip hop crap and that takes gymnastic ability but there is nothing fluid or pretty about it. Helio and Mel B both improved immensely. We could not go wrong with either one winning. I loved that Helio won because he brought such fun and sparkle to the stage. Mel B brought diversity and elegance. They both are amazing.

Sean T. McMann said...

My point: Mel B. and Joey had some sort of professional dancing experience. How much do you think past contestants like Jerry Springer or Jerry Rice or Emmitt Smith had? For me, it's more impressive when someone without a dancing background learns the steps, masters them and makes it far on the show, if not win. Makes sense, right?

Phil Strum said...

It's like wrestling, in a way.

No really, hear me out.

If everyone on the show stunk, the show would be a joke and everyone would laugh at it by the water cooler the next day.

Therefore, the producers bring in a few ringers. Not necessarily those with ballroom experience, but some people that could put one foot in front of the other. They were solidifying that what they put on the air would have some credibility and some, to use another wrestling term, workrate.

The same argument came up when Stacy Keibler of pro wrestling fame was on. She had an extensive background in dance and people seriously had a problem with that. I think it was a smart move. If people think someone was getting jobbed by going against a more experienced dancer, more people will watch and voice their support.

Therefore, one of the appeals of the program, which by the way, my mom loves.

Anonymous said...

Right off I must say that choosing between a female and male dancer is pretty frustrating because they both do have completely different roles as partners. Therefore, there should be a female AND a male winner and I guess they'd have to have separate shows for that so not much chance of that happening. But, having said all that, I really am so happy that Helio and Julianne won.

Anonymous said...

While Helio exudes a delightful boyish charm and had improved greatly as a ballroom dancer, out of the last two standing, IMHO, Mel B. was likely the better dancer and the most improved.