Skating With the Stars Week Two Recap and Standings

Added December 9, 2010:

Skating With the Stars Episode 2 - Kisses and Cries! (by OlympianUncut)


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'Skating With the Stars' - Week Two

After what seemed like a pretty smooth first week, tonight things got tense on the ice. Jonny Moseley was skating with a pulled groin and Bethenny Frankel has barely slept in weeks. And the judges weren't holding back this week... every point had to be earned — there were no freebies!

The pairs this week ice danced to either a Tango or Swing.

Each week, there will be precise figure skating rules the Stars must follow. Throughout the competition, they'll need to perform specific "Required Elements" in their routine. This week there were two:

Required Element #1: The Step Sequence. A footwork pattern of turns and rotations in the routine. Judges will be looking for tricky toe-steps and smooth turns on the blades edges that must be executed in unison.

Required Element #2: The Dance Lift. During the lift, the pair must travel across the ice, and the woman must release her hold during this move. Judges are looking for speed, strength, and balance for the men, and body control and grace for the women.

Skyrocketing to the top of the leaderboard in Week 2 were Brandon Mychal Smith & Keauna McLaughlin. And not only did Brandon impress on the ice, we also got to see him in his element on the roller rink. Keauna couldn't keep up! As for their Tango, Johnny Weir said it concisely: "That was amazing... my head's going to blow off."

Last week's leaders, Rebecca Budig & Fred Palascak tied with Jonny Moseley & Brooke Castile for 2nd place. The judges loved Jonny's musicality, but are pushing Rebecca to show more emotion in her moves.

Bethenny Frankel & Ethan Burgess fought through her exhaustion to earn decent scores, but the judges felt that Bethenny was too stiff.

And there were some falls this week. Vince Neil stumbled to the ice at the end of his hold with partner Jennifer Wester. The judges scored them low for technicality, but Laurie Ann was impressed with Vince's musicality, saying he was "absolutely Tango."

Sean Young fell twice in her 40's-inspired Swing with partner Denis Petukhov, disappointing the judges who were otherwise complimentary about how much she loosened up from her performance last week and showed great character on the ice.

In the end, with the two weeks of judges scores combined with last week's viewer votes, Sean Young became the first star eliminated from SWTS.

The Scores:

Jonny & Brooke skated a Swing to "Jump Jive & Wail" by the Brian Setzer Orchestra

Technique: 24 points (8/8/8)
Artistic Impression: 20 points (7/6/7)
Total: 44 points

Vince & Jennifer skated a Tango to "El Tango de Roxanne" from the Mouiln Rouge Soundtrack

Technique: 13 points (6/3/4)
Artistic Impression: 17 points (6/6/5)
Total: 30 points

Bethenny & Ethan skated a Swing to "The Boy does Nothing" by Alesha Dixon

Technique: 17 points (6/5/6)
Artistic Impression: 16 points (6/5/5)
Total: 33 points

Brandon & Keauna skated a Tango to "Shut Up" by Black Eyed Peas

Technique: 24 points (8/8/8)
Artistic Impression: 25 points (9/8/8)
Total: 49 points

Sean & Denis skated a Swing to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by Bette Midler

Technique: 12 points (5/3/4)
Artistic Impression: 18 points (5/7/6)
Total: 30 points

Rebecca & Fred skated a Tango to "Whatever Lola Wants" by Sarah Vaughan

Technique: 23 points (8/7/8)
Artistic Impression: 21 points (8/6/7)
Total: 44 points

Eliminated: Sean & Denis (30 points scored this week)

Standings Week Two:

Brandon & Keauna  49 Points
Rebecca & Fred  44 Points
Jonny & Brooke  44 Points
Bethenny & Ethan  33 Points
Vince & Jennifer  30 points

SWTS Interview with Johnny Weir (This interview was actually done after Week One.)

Unfortunately, week two of 'Skating With the Stars' was not without drama.  Near the beginning of her segment Bethenny Frankel clearly says 'F**k Johnny Weir'.  ABC did a poor job of bleeping her comment, and the fact it was still in her segment indicates the network may be looking to create drama and perhaps help ratings, which for the first week of the show at least, were more than respectable.  Aside from the fact Bethenny's comment shows an extreme lack of class, not to mention poor sportsmanship; it also did nothing to calm the rantings of some of her more extreme 'fans'.  They have been wailing on the judges, Johnny Weir in particular, since the first episode was shown last week. 

This week the rantings of some of the more extreme elements of her fandom went way over the line in sending rude, nasty and homophobic tweets to Johnny Weir.  I sometimes check Johnny's Twitter feed to see what fans are talking about to him; however I had no plans to check his feed Monday night until I heard from some other fans some rude things were being said to him by so-called 'fans' of Bethenny Frankel.  I could not believe what I saw when I went to his feed and started reading.  Some of the Tweets were what a person might expect from someone disappointed in how their favorite was scored (although the one that commented Vince Neil had fallen on his 'fat ass' was uncalled for), and the fans were (unfairly) taking it out on Johnny Weir.  However, some went way over the line; hurling gay slurs at Johnny, accusing him of hating and conspiring against Bethenny, and absurdly of conspiring with Jill Zarin against Bethenny. Apparently some of these fans genuinely believe there is some sort of conspiracy against Bethenny Frankel engineered by Jill Zarin (Real Housewives of New York City).  Check out my friend Misfit Mime's Blog Special to the Blog: Interview With Denis Petukhov! (And Right Back Atcha, Bethenny...)  regarding Week Two of 'Skating With the Stars'.  She tried to make some sense of what was being said by two of the more extreme Bethenny fan tweeters in Johnny's feed, and both of them flat out told her they believed there was a conspiracy against Bethenny.  One of these two people writes a daily Blog titled 'I Hate Jill Zarin'.  Yes, really!  (MM's Blog includes a wonderful exclusive interview with Denis Petukhov, and also addresses Bethenny Frankel's comment directed at Johnny Weir.) 

While I would maintain Bethenny Frankel can not be held responsible for the extreme behavior of some of her fans any more than Johnny Weir can, I can hold her responsible for saying nothing publicly about their behavior; therefore allowing it to continue unabated the same as if she agreed with it.  It is impossible to believe she knows nothing about what is going on with this segment of her fandom.  One of the things that is most disappointing is August 3, 2010 Bethenny hosted the GLAAD Manhattan event at which Johnny Weir appeared.  They were photographed together at the event and seemed to get along fine.  The fact she hosted this event would suggest that she has awareness of, and cares about, issues that affect the LGBT community.  That she would not now, in any way, shape or form, speak out against those of her fans who are hurling insults and gay slurs at Johnny Weir via Twitter, is extremely disappointing.  In fact her most recent tweet on the subject was a jab at the judges:      

I guess her comment about Johnny Weir was her own attempt to make HERSELF feel important?  I also do not understand what was nasty about the comments made by Johnny Weir or either of the other two judges on the show.  Why can Bethenny and her fans not realize maybe the judges might be accurately assessing her performances on 'Skating With the Stars'? 

It's sad that Bethenny has made no attempt on either her website, Twitter page, or Facebook page to request the more extreme elements of her fandom not attack Johnny Weir personally the way they have been doing.  Johnny Weir was bothered enough by what was being said that he posted this Tweet on his way to LAX for a long flight to Australia:

Now that I have all of that off of my chest, here is Week Two of 'Skating With the Stars' the full episode!  The video can not be embedded from it's current source, sorry!

A secondary source for Episode Two: