Dancing With the Stars – Hit me baby one more time!

Before we discuss how well Audrina Patridge performed last night on Dancing With the Stars, there’s something I simply have to say. Maksim Chmerkovsky is a pig. There! I feel much better.

Yes, he’s a fabulous dancer. And yes, he has placed three times in the history of the show. But when it comes to the way he treats his partners, he just makes me cringe. He’s dismissive, angry and often times petulant.

O.K. I hear you gal readers saying he’s hot. And although I detest that term and can’t wait for it to go away, I do agree with you. He’s great to look at. But over the last several seasons, I’ve noticed that his personality is completely lacking.

Last year, when his partner Erin Andrews was going through a hard time with a stalker while filming, Maks showed he could at least be human. But they were rumored to be doing the horizontal mambo as well as all their “scheduled performances,” so that’s to be expected.

This year, he’s paired up with singer Brandy. And even though Brandy professes to admire him and crave his approval, even Tom Bergeron is making Stockholm Syndrome references.

In rehearsal for this week’s dance, Maks repeatedly slaps Brandy. He hits her on the arm and the butt. O.K., not hard. But really? I mean really? It was hard enough to make her wince. It was hard enough to cause judge Len Goodman to comment. Len said, “I didn’t like that whole VT (video) of your way of training.”

And judge Carrie Ann Enaba helped to send us all back to the dark ages when she put her two cents in … “I don’t condone that kind of teaching. But it worked.”

Thanks Carrie Ann. Maybe elementary school teachers should start slapping kids now? It could be called the Dancing With the Stars Method! Sigh.

What a big oaf.

The whole thing reminded me of when I was young. I had a lot of waitressing jobs while I was struggling with the acting bug. And twice I was pinched and slapped on the arm by managers. So. It incenses me when a person of so-called authority abuses their position. Big time.

Maks did defend himself to Brooke Burke, when he and Brandy went backstage to get their scores. He said, “My number one priority is to make my students better. It’s not about the method. It’s about the end result.”

Oh. Alright. And Brooke made it all better by pointing out that Brandy’s scores have improved under Maks “teaching.” Sigh. Did I just sigh again?

Aside from that Mrs. Lincoln. The show was good tonight. The contestants are improving, and a new contender showed her stuff in the form of Audrina Patridge from The Hills. I have no idea who she is, but lil gal can move!

And, although I adore Margaret Cho, she can’t dance. Don’t ask her. I believe she’s this week’s casualty. She looks so uncomfortable with the whole situation, that she may secretly find it a blessing.

But wait. By the whole situation, I don’t mean her fellow dancer The Situation. See, I meant … oh never mind. I’m still boiling over the whole Maks thing.

What do you think? Am I over analyzing?

Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Oct 05, 2010 @ 11:30 EST5EDT