She Thought She'd Dance

I have been an avid fan and faithful viewer of Dancing with the Stars since the very beginning, but as it is with many relationships it hasn't always been perfect.  

For instance, I never really understood the need for that second night of programming - a full hour just repeating the performances, and then an hour-long "results show" full of filler and contests for kid dancers.  It all seemed extraneous to me.  I really just wanted to see who was eliminated, and if the truth be told it was fine with me if I was just surprised the following week with which celebrity didn't show up.

So I was pretty optimistic when I heard that Season 17 of DWTS, which begins airing next week, will now be just one two-hour broadcast on Monday nights.  The viewers' scores from the week before will be combined with the judges' scores of that night and the eliminated couple will be announced at the end of the night.  Works for me.

The cast this season seems like a pretty good bunch.  I'm intrigued by the fact that Bill Nye the Science Guy will be a contestant this season.  Will he bring the same wacky approach to dancing that he always brought to  science?

But my favorite Season 17 DWTS cast member by far is Valerie Harper.  Back in the 70's, Harper played Rhoda Morgenstern on the The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  I loved Rhoda.  Rhoda was the neurotic, smart, wise-cracking, self-deprecating, overweight friend of Mary Richards, the star of the show. She reminded me of, well, me.  

I hung on Rhoda's every word and move.  I cheered when she lost weight, and when the character was so popular that she was spun off into her own show, entitled Rhoda.  She gave hope to wise-cracking sidekicks everywhere that we too could emerge from the shadows of our more glamorous friends to get lives of our own.

It wasn't until much, much later that I came to the realization that...are you ready?...Rhoda was never overweight.  Not ever.  And furthermore, Valerie Harper (and therefore Rhoda) was and is an extraordinarily beautiful woman, at least as beautiful as Mary.  I can't speak for all the viewers, of course, but she certainly had me fooled.  That's when I realized the true genius of Valerie Harper and what an exceptional actress she actually was.  She had me convinced that she was as ordinary-looking as I was.

Back in March, Valerie Harper, now 74, made it public that she had been diagnosed with  a rare and terminal brain-related cancer, almost three months after she was diagnosed and given three months to live.  Like Gilbert Grape's brother, she could go at any time. Sadly, I braced myself for her death announcement.

But Valerie wasn't done living yet.  First she started shooting a movie, and now when Dancing with the Stars came calling, she decided to dance.  She has said that she made a decision to live life fully until she dies.  Maybe that's a lesson we all should embrace.   She continues to inspire us all.  

Dancing through Life

Now that we are about halfway through this season, it is obvious that no one involved in the show itself has read my blog on “How to Win on Dancing with the Stars.”


In the third week, Kristen Cavalleri of The Hills went home. Everybody on the show was SHOCKED because she danced very well that week. After her very gracious speech about what a wonderful experience it all was, she admitted that she was disappointed, and added, “Clearly, it’s not REALLY a dance competition.”

I thought I explained all this. Of course it isn’t all about the dancing. There are several other factors that come into play, including having a compelling back story.

Kristen went home on “Most Memorable Year” (aka “Compelling Back Story”) Week. The contestants talked about their most memorable year and danced to a song of their own choosing to represent that year. Let me tell you, there was one incredibly compelling story after another.

There are really no words that adequately describe the inspiration in human form that is DWTS contestant J.R. Martinez, motivational speaker and former All My Children actor. J.R. was serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq when he drove his vehicle over a land mine. He suffered severe burns over 40% of his body, including his face and head, and lost an ear. He was 19. No number of scars can mask this man’s spirit. He radiates positive energy and his beautiful smile brightens up a room. He is one of the most attractive people I have ever seen, and is coincidentally, one of the best dancers this season.

J.R.’s most memorable year was the year he was injured. He talked about the incident, and his injury, and how his mother’s strength and courage helped him to get through what was obviously an extremely traumatic time for him, both emotionally and physically. She told him that people would like him for who he was and not what he looked like. He talked about all the soldiers who gave their lives in the war, and danced to a song that was dedicated to all of them. Well, there wasn’t a dry eye in OUR house, and the dance was beautiful.

Chaz Bono talked about his transformation, and danced to a song written by his father Sonny Bono about what is it to be a man. Ricki Lake’s marriage broke up and her house burned down, but she found new love in her now-husband. Well, we’ve all had those years, now haven’t we? Carson Kressley talked about how difficult it was growing up as different as he was from his schoolmates. Chynna Phillips danced to a song she wrote herself –Hold On, her big hit with Wilson Phillips- to help her get through a very bad time with her father. Nancy Grace talked about the premature birth of her twins, who are now healthy five-year-olds sitting in the audience with Dad each week.

Kristen’s most memorable year was when she graduated high school and had to decide whether to go to college or be on a TV show. Now, it’s not young Kristen’s fault that she had not seen real trouble in life yet, but if the producers don’t want to set it up for contestants with compelling back stories to beat contestants who dance well early in the season, then they should skip Most Memorable Year week.

By the way, J.R. Martinez is going to win this season. Remember you heard it here first.

I Hope You Dance

There was an avalanche of negative reaction at the announcement of Chaz Bono as a contestant on the upcoming Dancing with the Stars. It seems there are a number of folks out there who actually believe that allowing a transgendered individual to dance on a television show will somehow threaten their idea of what America is.

Oh, I shouldn’t have been surprised. There are plenty of small minded and mindlessly mean people in this world. I’ve known more than a few. It’s just that I figured out as a preteen that all people are equal and have the right to believe what they like and live how they choose. What can I tell you? It makes it hard for me to accept such ignorance.

It especially irks me that many of these people take this stance in the name of Christianity. Before I officially became a non-denominational spiritualist, I was Catholic, which IS a form of Christianity. I seem to remember being taught that Christians were supposed to love and not judge their fellow man. Furthermore, I know plenty of real Christians who do just that. So people who use Christianity to defend their hatred of and discrimination against anyone who lives or believes differently than they do not only aren’t really Christians themselves, they are giving a bad name to the good, decent, authentic Christians out there.

People may accuse me of being open-minded to the extreme. Guilty as charged, I’m afraid. Despite this, I never fully understood why people would actually go to the extreme of physically changing their gender. Maybe it is just because the idea of elective surgery is a foreign concept to me. I pretty much limit my surgical procedures to those that are absolutely necessary. Transgendered surgery always seemed such an extreme measure and so very final.

Because of Chaz Bono, I finally get it. He was of course born as a girl named Chastity to Sonny and Cher. As an adult, Chastity came out as a lesbian and was an active gay rights activist. I never had a problem with Chastity Bono but never felt a particular affinity for her either. Then she decided to undergo transgender surgery and became Chaz.

I have not seen the documentary or read Chaz’ book about his journey, but I have seen him on several talk shows. I like Chaz VERY much. He is warm, engaging, intelligent and articulate. It struck me that as Chastity he LITERALLY was uncomfortable in his own skin. I admire that he is making his process so public, and I believe that he is sincerely doing so in an effort to help others, to increase awareness and understanding of transgendered individuals. I appreciate his wit, his candor and his bravery.

Of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction (and people think I don’t know anything about physics). There were lots of people, including his professional dance partner Lacey Schwimmer, who spoke up supporting Chaz and his right to participate in a televised ballroom dancing competition.

And his mama Cher also took to the internet, mouse ablazing, to defend her offspring. Cher basically said that what Chaz was doing took guts and these haters should give him a chance. She said that no matter how old you or they get, you still don’t stand by and let people mess with your children. Although I’m pretty sure she didn’t originally use the word “mess.” Ah, it was good to hear from Cher again. Chaz thanked his mom and everyone else for their support, and just said that all negative response had made him determined to work harder on his dancing.

So if Chaz Bono wants to dance on DWTS, I say he should go for it. I hope he dances presentably, has some fun and wins some people over with that great personality of his. I’m rooting for him, and am looking forward to seeing Cher cheering him on in the audience.

Reporting from Steeler Country

Now the Royal Wedding is just a happy memory, and Bin Laden is a bitter one. The Rapture scare is over, and seemingly we are all still here.  Finally, the local media can get back to the topic we really care about here in Pittsburgh.
In case you haven’t heard, the Pittsburgh Steelers went to the Super Bowl last season. If you are unaware of this, you obviously do not live in Western Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t an easy season for our Steelers. With Ben Roethlisberger forced to sit out the first four games of the season as a NFL-sanctioned punishment for alleged misbehavior off the field, and injuries to some key players including Troy Polamalu, no one would have been surprised if the Steelers didn’t even make it to the playoffs. But make it they did, and while it wasn’t always pretty, they WON those games! And off they went to their 8th Super Bowl, playing for their 7th win.

I knew all this despite the fact that I didn’t tune into a Steelers game until the second half of the first playoff game. How did I keep so well informed, you ask? I live in the greater metropolitan Pittsburgh region, aka “Steeler Country,” where news of the Steelers trump severe weather warnings (Pittsburgh’s second favorite news topic), savage assassination attempts, natural disasters, political elections, and just about everything else on local newscasts.

The Internet has revolutionized the way I don’t watch football – I can keep up with the game without ever turning on the TV, or while enjoying the figure skating being broadcast on another channel, or even while picking up my weekly groceries when the supermarket is empty because everyone else is home watching the game.

Of course, I couldn’t grow up in Pittsburgh completely untouched by the Fever. Back in the 70’s and 80’s when the Steelers first started winning Super Bowls, I watched religiously. I’ve seen The Chief three times. This one-man show about Art Rooney by Rob Zellers and Gene Collier was produced and performed several times at Pittsburgh Public Theater. I still get chills watching the footage of the “Immaculate Reception,” almost as exciting as when I watched it live.

I can barely bring myself to say this, but, our beloved Steelers did not win the Super Bowl this past February. I can’t remember who won, but it really doesn’t matter, now does it? Football in Pittsburgh is all about the Steelers.

A pallor fell over our local newscasts. Without the Super Bowl to cover, they were forced to go back to covering car accidents and homicides. No one was happy about it. Then we heard the news. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward would be competing on Dancing with the Stars!

Oh happy day! There was rejoicing all over the Steel Valley! A Steeler would be competing for a prize once again. Hines explained that he was doing DWTS as a chance for redemption – if he couldn’t bring home the Lombardi Trophy he would bring home the Mirror Ball Trophy to Pittsburgh.

Hines and professional dance partner Kym Johnson have proven worthy of the attention, which has been excessive, of course. Hines has turned out to be likable, and a pretty fine dancer, with his fans in the audience waving their Terrible Towels after every dance.

Then Kym suffered a horrific and potentially dangerous neck injury in rehearsal, right before the semi-finals. As they were wheeling her out on a stretcher, Kym was worried about Hines missing rehearsal time, but Hines was sincerely just worried about Kym and her well-being. Kym rallied, and came back to dance on the next show. Hines broke down in tears after successfully completing the dance. OMG, Hines proved he was a sensitive guy and a gentleman, in addition to having a great smile and killer moves on the dance floor.

Now the day has come - the finals of Dancing with the Stars. Tonight, the citizens of Steelers Nation will again be perched on the edge of our seats- Terrible Towels and voting devices in hand – waiting for our Steeler to take it all, for the glory of Pittsburgh.