Warren Sapp moves one step closer to glory on Dancing With the Stars

It's now down to the beauty, the boy band-er and the bone-breaker.

With Hannah Montana man-boy Cody Linley finally shown the door on Tuesday's Dancing With the Stars, next week's final comes down to two of the show's best dancers and its most charismatic entertainer.

And what a surprising lineup it is: Maxim magazine staple Brooke Burns is the show's front-runner, with a long line of impeccable dances behind her; 'N Sync-er Lance Bass has overcome the judges' disdain for stars who they suspect have a bit of dance experience and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Warren Sapp has flung his surprisingly nimble bulk around with flair, charming judges and the audience alike with his wide smile and boisterous attitude.

My biggest critical barbs are saved for whatever genius at ABC management turned tonight's results show into a two-hour ordeal, packed with an oversize load of distractions that had little or nothing to do with the actual competition.

Forget the first hour, which was mostly a rebroadcast of Monday’s dance performances. Did we really need several kiddie couples competing in a pint-size version of the contest? Or a way-oversize Aretha Franklin wheezing through two tunes wearing something that looked like an aluminum foil-covered tent?

Dancer Julianne Hough was courageous, gamely launching into a tune from her country album on an evening that included performances by Aretha, John Legend and Leona Lewis. And am I the only one who finds it distracting to have major musical stars singing in the background during dance numbers, like a band working the best sock hop in history?

If this contest mostly comes down to dance skill, Sapp is heading home early next week, making room for a Bass/Burke showdown. But the judges seem to love Sapp’s rough charm, and hospital recovery rooms are filled with NFL quarterbacks who learned the hard way that you never count the man out.

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Comments

[Robin 'Roblimo' Miller\]

Those results shows purely suck. All drawn-out pseudo-drama and filler. I watched a couple of minutes after my wife called me into the living room to see Aretha Franklin.

"She's got to be 400 pounds," Debbie said.

"But she can still sing," I replied.

"She sure can," said Debbie.

Five minutes after Ms. Franklin left the stage, I was back to reading a book.

[Lin Young]

Hey, I know Aretha doesn't look the way she did when she was younger and I have always wondered who on earth designs some of the clothing she wears (or what possesses her to wear it), but Warren Sapp looks plain goofy when he dances. He plain looks goofy all the time anyway, nimble on his feet or not. I must say, the fact that mountain of a man moves so fast ought to make him one of the modern marvels of the world. But I'm not so sure that Sapp is so much charming people as merely shocking them. It is shocking to see the guy dance, about as shocking as seeing Aretha in those things that double as dresses for her. Let's face facts, TV today doesn't so much entertain as merely shock the audience by broadcasting one absurdity after another as we channel surf through shows searching for entertainment. It all leaves me wondering if the TV executives are all crazy or something. But kudos to you, Eric, for hanging in there and managing to watch 2 hours of Dancing With the Stars, I generally catch a few minutes of the show here and there periodically and that's more than enough.

[Dancing Fan]

The author is obviously not a fan of the show. The dancing while the guest is singing is not at all distracting, and how can you even question the talent of the young dancers or the need for them to be there. Although this is not my favorite season so far, we who fact the show faithfully like it just the way it is.

[Steve]

Sapp makes me sit up and smile! I hope he wins it all.

[shanice,10th grade,largo high]

i think that sapp is doing really good! i hope that he can win dancing with the stars!go warren sapp!