are certain moments that occur in life that are so exquisite, they leave you breathless.
The challenge is, if you blink, you might miss them.
There was just such a moment during the dramatic rematch of last summer’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars.
Whether or not you saw the show, see if you sense the profundity contained within the moment about to be described:
John O’Hurley, popular actor from the television comedy Seinfeld, was squared off against Kelly Monaco, **** star of The Young and The Restless.
The series had started with six well-known stars, each teamed with a professional dancer with whom they had to learn difficult ballroom dance routines. Each week, base upon their televised performance, one team was eliminated.
This was determined by which team received the lowest number of votes from three experienced judges whose votes counted 50%, and millions of call-in viewers whose votes counted for the other 50%.
All along, John O’Hurley and his professional dance partner, Charlotte Jorgensen, had been the judges and America’s favorite to win, scoring the highest by a landslide nearly every show.
But in the breath-taking final show of the competition, after receiving three perfect 10s from the judges for her final sizzling performance with partner and dance professional Alec Mazo, Kelly Monaco snatched the certain victory away from O’Hurley .
That show in itself was extraordinary. Monaco had almost been eliminated in the first two shows of the summer series, her dancing then described by one of the judges as “a disaster.”
But with a spunk and tenacity that made her win the hearts of the judges and millions of the show’s fans, week by week, her dancing improved, until she and Mazo overcame the elegance that had all along been the trademark of John O’Hurley and his partner.
At the start of the rematch, O’Hurley expressed his great disappointment in losing the finale and his extreme desire to win back that which he felt had been stolen from him.
Monaco, always spunky, expressed in no uncertain terms her desire to retain her trophy.
In the rematch, Monaco and O’Hurley each had three dances with their professional partners to try to garner America’s votes, which would determine the winner. (The judges had no vote in the rematch).
Though both couples danced admirably considering that just a few months earlier they were total novices to ballroom dancing, neither couple in my opinion danced with the soul and the fire that made the original competition so electric.
Watching, I was, in fact, slightly disappointed.
But then, preceding the second round of dance, something so extraordinary occurred, something so ethereal, I find myself a very long time after the show’s airing finally sitting down and attempting to capture the unforgettable moment on paper.
It came during an exhibition performance featuring champion ballroom dancer, Jonathan Roberts. He had been paired during the original competition with one of the stars, but was eliminated with her during the third round of the summer series. Now he was dancing with his wife and professional partner, Anna Trebunskaya.
And thus the moment begins.
It starts with the haunting notes of live singer Brian McKnight singing “Fields of Gold.”
And then, two dancers seem to simply materialize from off stage.
There is something immediately captivating.
They are whirling.
Their motion is effortless.
Something indefinable transcends the great hullabaloo of the tremendously publicized television show.
How do you describe magic?
How do you describe a perfectly still pond the moment a single drop of water - a tear - falls upon its surface?
How do you capture the perfect unison of two bodies dancing on sound waves rather than a floor?
How do you put into words two people - a man and a woman - a husband and a wife - whose deepest union is suddenly given form?
The show’s host, Tom Bergeron, is visibly moved by the performance. Normally the funny-man of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” he stumbles over his words when greeting the couple at the end of the dance.
And the moment is passed.
It’s back to the competition.
The show is not about the two spirits who for a moment left millions breathless; it’s a competition between two stars, Kelly Monaco and John O’Hurley.
John O’Hurley wins the rematch.
He is vindicated
By the end of the show, you most likely have forgotten the transcendent ninety seconds you witnessed earlier.
They could have been imaginary.
It was just a sideshow, after all.
But the moment hasn’t let me go.
Having recorded the show, I replayed that exquisite minute and a half over and over.
And not wanting to lose the ephemeral beauty of what I saw - what I’m still feeling - I’m writing these words.
* How many such extraordinary moments pass in your life, my friend?
* Moments that you never think about a second time simply because you’re so busy getting onto the next moment?
It happens to me all the time.
And, like a dream, if I don’t write something down immediately after to remind myself, I never think of it again.
And what is it you and I are running after if not that which may already be passing right before our very eyes?
* A child’s delight.
* A look of love.
* A hilarious misstep.
Next time a moment like the one described in this article passes, stop what you’re doing. Become silent. Record it. Whisper your gratitude.
You needn’t earn a million dollars.
You needn’t run following the next latest and greatest fad or fashion.
You needn’t spend a dime.
Just stop.
Be present with the moment.
Feel the spirit.
Feel the oneness.
It’s right there.
It is . . . The “Real” Dance with the Stars.
Ida
How can I find the designer who made Samantha’s dress for the finale of Dancing with the stars on Tuesday night (5/20/08)
Frederick
Former 98 Degrees boy band member Drew Lachey, who recently emerged victorious in the second season of Dancing with the Stars, will be again appearing on stage, as he is now the host of a new Dancing with the Stars spin off. Entitled Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, the six-week-long series will be airing this winter on ABC. Open auditions for the new reality series started this month.
On the new show, Dancing with the Stars judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba will be pit against each other to show off their choreographic prowess. Right now, the two are on the hunt for talented amateur dancers and singers in the open auditions held in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville.
After the contestants are chosen, they split into teams with Bruno or Carrie Ann to compete in song in dance to eventually form “the ultimate dance team.” Audiences at home will be given the chance to choose which performers will stay and who will leave in the live, hour-long reality series.
Dancing with the Stars airs its new season on Monday, September 24, with celebrities such as billionaire Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Mark Cuban, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Josie Maran and iconic Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton appearing on the show.
For the first time in the show’s history, this season’s Dancing with the Stars will features 12 celebrities competing for the title. Six men and six women comprise the largest cast on the show to date. The first week will feature a showdown between the men and women, as the women’s performances will be aired on September 24, while the men will perform the following night, Tuesday, September 25.
Grammy Award-winning country music icon Dolly Parton will also appear on the show to perform on the results show on Wednesday, September 26, kicking off three straight nights of Dancing With the Stars’ first week.
For more resources about Dancing with the Stars Champ Drew Lachey to Host New Dance Show or for the full story of Dancing with the Stars please review this link http://www.buddytv.com
Ruby
I am wanting to know the name of the song that Jessica Simpson sang last night on Dancing With the Stars? It was the remake. I think it was called Angels. I want to know who originally sang the song.
Edgar
The last season of Dancing with the Stars featured Marie Osmond, whom we all did not expect to reach such heights as she did in the competition. Despite her father’s unexpected death and her on-camera fainting spell, the entertainment personality made her way to the final three with her partner Jonathan Roberts, who helped her compete against Julianne Hough and Helio Castroneves and Melanie Brown and Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the finale. Marie’s stint on Dancing with the Stars has earned her a lot of new fans, who may be glad to hear that she might be appearing on television soon.
Rumors say that Marie will be working with her brother, Donnie Osmond, who coincidentally was a Dancing with the Stars correspondent for Entertainment Tonight in the last season.
“Sources have indicated that there’s been interest from networks and syndicators in the pair,” the Washington Post reported, adding that “talks revolve around hosting duties for reality series in primetime and a syndicated talk show for daytime.”
Both Donnie and Marie had built a career in the entertainment industry, spearheading a number of television shows in the past decades, including variety program Donnie & Marie, which ran from 1976 to 1979 and a talk show of the same name which ran from 1998 to 2000. On her own, Marie has worked with a sitcom and a variety show, both short-lived. In the 1980s, she appeared on Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, and has worked on TV films as well.
Aside from her television endeavors, Marie also garnered success in a form of a gold record for her Paper Roses album in 1973. She also had a run on Broadway, and later co-founded the Children’s Miracle Network with John Schneider of the film Dukes of Hazzard. Since 1991, Marie has owned a thriving doll business as well.
As of now, fans will have to wait and see if Marie and Donnie will indeed be returning to televisions after her successful stint on Dancing with the Stars.
For more resources about Dancing with the Stars or for the full story of Dancing with the Stars: Marie Osmond Returning to Television? please review http://www.buddytv.com
Timothy
The last season of Dancing with the Stars named two-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves as the triumphant winner in the competition and he believes that it is time to close this chapter of his life and move on, as soon as his work on the show’s tour concludes.
“The career of dancing is going to stop right after the tour is over,” the 32-year-old race car driver said in a conversation with IndyStar.com. “Right now, I think I’m going to put my money on racing. I want that Indy (victory) a third time. I know I can do it.”
Helio Castroneves established himself on Dancing with the Stars and on the racetrack for his good-natured grin and fierce enthusiasm. On December 11, Tuesday, the fifth champion of Dancing with the Stars was in Indianapolis Motor Speedway to take some photos with the Indy 500 Borg-Warner trophy and the one he earned on Dancing with the Stars, which held a shining mirror ball.
“I like this one,” he said, referring to the Dancing with the Stars trophy. Turning to the Borg-Warner, he added, “I like this one, too, because it’s a little bigger.”
It was a very victorious win for the race car driver, as he really worked extremely hard with his partner, Julianne Hough, on dances including those he did not like so much.
“I did not enjoy [dancing Jive]. It was very tough, it was a lot of little things that you have to be a professional to know,” he explained. He also added that he disliked the rumba since it required him to act, which was totally not his forte.
But all his hard work did pay off in the end, as Castroneves was named the fifth champion of Dancing with the Stars. He even shared that since his win, he has been teased by his fellow race car drivers.
“Mostly everybody’s been very supporting… I mean you joke around, you know, but they say, ‘What about sequins on your race suit?’ And I say, ‘No, maybe I’ll put them on the helmet. Maybe it’ll flash a little bit more,’” Castroneves told IndyStar.com. “It’s all good and I’m very happy they were able to support me.”
For more resources about Dancing with the Star or for the full story of No More Dancing for Helio Castroneves After Tour please review http://www.buddytv.com
Allen
