Dancing With The Stars champion speaks up

Curtain-raisers:

• Tom Jones, the Welsh singer who conquered millions worldwide with his classic hit It’s Not Unusual, is performing at the Araneta Coliseum on March 28. Jones gained international recognition in the ’60s as a singer and performer for his exuberant live act that included wearing tight pants and billowing, open shirts in an Edwardian style that often sent excited audiences, especially women fans, shouting and swooning. Aside from It’s Not Unusual, Jones’ other hits were What’s New Pussycat?, Thunderball, Green Green Grass of Home, Delilah, Help Yourself, Love Me Forever, I Who Have Nothing, She’s A Lady and Sex Bomb. Since 1965, Jones has sold over 100 million records. (Note: For inquiries about his Big Dome show, call Ovation Productions at 532-8883.)

•  Reader Renato L. Garcia said that he agrees with Mr. D (whose stomach turned when the housemates were put in a room with snakes, etc.) that the ABS-CBN reality-TV Pinoy Big Brother became “repulsive,” especially when it showed two housemates peeing in their diapers...Another reader (who requested anonymity) said that in the beginning he found the Melason “loveteam” cute until the couple became “OA” and Melissa started “displaying intimate actions normally relegated to the bedroom,” such as massaging male legs and toes, putting on adult diapers, etc. Asked Anonymous Reader, “Is it right for the housemates to drink and show misdemeanors in a stupor state, puking, talking nonsense, indiscreet actions...?” He’s calling the attention not only of the ABS-CBN management but also that of MTRCB head, Madame Consoliza Laguardia.

•  The good news is that, according to reports, German “Kuya Germs” Moreno is preparing several projects for his dear friend Nora Aunor, including a concert at the Araneta Coliseum, an indie film and a “mainstream” film for Regal Films. The bad news is that, according to Funfare’s L.A. DPAs, Nora may not be able to come home this year (or in the very near future) without risking her green card. She would be a perfect addition to the roster of heavyweight actresses (Sharon Cuneta, Susan Roces, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Kris Aquino et al) cast in principal roles in the Regal franchise Mano Po, wouldn’t she? But unfortunately...

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The forthcoming Philippine Starball on Feb. 13 will again have Charlotte Jorgensen as presenter and commentator as she did last year. Starball chairperson and organizer Michaela “Pinky” Puno, wife of DILG Sec. Ronaldo Puno, has so much faith and trust in Jorgensen’s knowledge of dance, given her track record as a dancer, choreographer and teacher of ballroom dancing.

In case you didn’t know, from 1989 to 1994, Jorgensen was seven times Danish Champion in Ballroom and 10 Dance. In 1994, she was World Champion in the Amateur Category. In 1999, she was a medalist in the World, European, British, USA, UK and International championships. In 2003, she taught Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez dance steps for their starrer Shall We Dance.

One of the highlights of her career was her winning the Dance Off competition in Dancing With The Stars in which her partner, John O’Hurley (Mr. Peterman in the hit US TV series Seinfield) bested the other couples in the season.

In the following interview, a transcription of which was passed on to Funfare by the Starball organizers, Jorgensen talks about, among other things, the controversy surrounding the first season of Dancing With The Stars.

How did you feel when you were chosen one of the professionals to dance in the first episode of Dancing With The Stars?

“It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. There was innocence about the show because ballroom dancing had never really been showcased in that format, not on a major network in the US.

“The ABC executives were nervous; they were worried that they might have a flop in their hands. Well, time has proven them wrong. John was lovely; he put his trust in me. I believe that I got the best of him because he didn’t have any expectations to live up to and therefore it was pure. By the second season of the show, this was gone and the celebrities knew that they would have a chance to restart their careers by being part of the show.”

How rigorous was your training with Hurley, considering that he was not a dancer?

“John was busy and so was I, so we tried to adjust our schedules so we could rehearse. The production didn’t stipulate how much time we needed for the practice. John gave me two days and two hours per day. Too short. But I couldn’t force a grown-up man to work for more time than he could commit. So I tried to make John fall in love with dancing and it worked. On the second week, I got three days with three hours practice per day; on the third week, four hours per day for four days. Soon, we were rehearsing six to seven hours per week. On the seventh day, John had fallen completely in love with dancing.”

How were the five weeks of the competition?

“John and I did very well — Cha-Cha for Week 1, Quickstep for Week 2, Tango for Week 3, Samba for Week 4. We also did a group Viennese Waltz. For the semi-finals on Week 5, we did Foxtrot and Paso Doble. Both dances went very, very well; I believed we were on the top of the scoreboard.

“The finale was our best-marked dance which were Quickstep and then Freestyle. The trouble started with the Freestyle in which we scored 27 out of 30, which was really good. The other couple danced last and they did a number where the female partner sort of crash-landed on her knees from one of the lifts and they scored 30 out of 30 and subsequently won the famous mirror-ball trophy. What caused the controversy was the fall and also the fact that the way the scoring was done for the finals, it was only the judge’s score from the night and the audience score from the previous week that were counted.”

So what caused the controversy?

“The way I looked at it, we would not have won even if they gave us full-house marks. Instead, they gave them (the full-house marks) to Kelly as she was the winner anyway based on the audience votes which couldn’t be argued with since those were the rules. However, our fans and several journalists didn’t let it go as easily as we did. Some of the journalists called it ‘Sambagate’ in their stories. They were questioning why Kelly, who was an actress in one of ABC’s soaps, won considering her fall, etc. Because of the accusations that the results were rigged, they decided to do a Dance Off where we would again go head-to-head, this time just for charity. I think that sort of made our fans happy.”

And how did you feel when your fans made you win in the Dance Off?

“John won Dancing With The Stars — The Dance Off and I believe it made him happy. As far as I was concerned, my job was well done. In reality, I was there for him to be able to perform his best and if he won, then I must have done him justice. Of course, winning the DWTS Dance-Off was exciting but it honestly did not compare to winning in the ballroom-dancing world because DWTS was John’s win and not really mine, if you know what I mean. I was there for him, not for me.”

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