This season’s Week 6 of “Dancing With The Stars” introduces us to the very tantalising theme of “Guilty Pleasures”. Think “chocolates”. Lol!! But seriously, this theme ought to bring out the “creative” side of the remaining celebrities participating this year. And as usual, some will succeed while others will fail in their attempt. As I am unable to watch this popular dance competition on my country’s free television channels, I would only stream online the videoclips of those of my “favorites” but occasionally I would also view the other contenders who had made “waves” during their week’s performances.

So here’s my progress report of my 2 favorites – Kirstie Alley and Ralph Macchio.

The videoclip I managed to acquire online started with the rehearsal where we found Kirstie having a much more difficult time than usual. Or perhaps the pressure is getting on to her? Regardless, after witnessing scenes of her frustrations at trying to get the choreographed dance steps done right, she ended up lying on her professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s lap. This clearly indicated the close rapport they both shared. The personal attention which Maksim had been administering to Kirstie by way of a close one-on-one interaction and the bolstering of Kirstie’s confidence to spur her on had clearly indicated that he’s the “perfect” partner for her. Each time we see Kirstie hugging Maksim, we feel both the comradeship and intimacy that is so evident in their relationship. Is there or is there not a “romance” brewing underneath all that “heat”? We hope so, right??

On the night of the performance, were my eyes deceiving me or did Kirstie look slimmer than before? Did she lose all that weight within a week? Also, Maksim spotted a different look altogether. He was completely unrecognisable in his “clean shaven” appearance. It took years off his age. Personally I prefer his “old” look which makes him more “manly”, yes??

After completing their “samba” dance routine accompanied by Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time”, she kissed him. Ah… so sweet!! They had executed the steps of the samba so smoothly, almost in fluid-like motion with clockwork precision. Kirstie’s fringed skirt which she “wiggled and shook” vigorously certainly brought the best out of her sexy “bums”. When one of the judges Len Goodman mentioned her history of a series of “misadventures”, I couldn’t help but smile as memories of both of her previous dance “mishaps” came rushing back. Well this week was quite a “breeze” for this adorable couple and when a score of 26 was announced, I’m sure it brought a lot of joy to all Kirstie Alley fans who would like her to still remain in the competition.

My other favorite Ralph Macchio who has been “inconsistent” throughout the competition had more “bad” weeks then “good” ones and for the first time, he encountered his first “mishap”.
During their “paso doble” dance routine accompanied by C+C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat”, Ralph’s professional partner Karina Smirnoff tripped after she skidded on the dance floor but fortunately, Ralph did not lose his “cool” during this unexpected incident. He effortlessly pulled her up and although in the next few seconds they looked a little “jerky”, they managed to continue with their dance routine earning high praises from the judges for being able to recover from this “mishap” and completing their performance. Although they did not do as well as Kirstie and had this little “incident” under their belt, they managed to pull in a triple score of 8 from all 3 judges giving them a total score of 24. I for one found their performance pretty darn good. “Paso doble” never looked this great!!

I think it was not so much the dancing itself which caused Ralph Macchio’s performances to look slightly “off” week after week. From the videoclip showcasing the rehearsal, it can be seen that when Ralph is dressed in casuals, his shoulder posture is very much evident. In fact if I recall correctly, he had a similar look even when he was young as can be seen in his movie “Karate Kid”. In this week’s clip, when he showed his partner Karina his Karate Kid Daniel-san’s “wax on, wax off” moves (to incorporate into their dance routine), you can see his shoulders’ stiff-looking bone structure very clearly and that is his “archilles heel”.

After last week’s fiasco, this week’s “paso doble” was magnificently choreographed and it contained many moments of “whoa”. The costume especially the gold-lined jacket (with tail) which Ralph dorned looked great and it was in line with the dance genre and he definitely looked “hot” in it. Although the overall performance was not “perfect”, the choreography certainly took on a life and “style” of its own and the high energy both Ralph and Karina gave had fire and passion with an “oomph” for great measure. I marvelled at Ralph’s successful execution of those difficult dance steps and it was wonderful to see such joy in his face after weeks of looking tense, pressured and scared. I thought he’d lost his confidence altogether then. Thank God our “Karate Kid” is back!! And a last minute thought about his partner Karina Smirnoff. Did she look a little worried and pressured the last few weeks as well? Even during the past interview segments, she spotted a “far away” look. What exactly was in her mind, I wonder?

Anyway when the results for the week was announced, although Ralph and partner were placed at the “Bottom 2”, they were saved. Phew!! The ones to exit were professional wrestler Chris Jericho and his professional partner Cheryl Burke.

Check out the following 2 videoclips of Kirstie and Ralph and witness for yourself why I still continue to cheer them on in spite of their shortcomings. With fans like me around, how can they go wrong… yes??