So beloved Talk Show Host and Television Personality, Geraldo Rivera, will
officially mark the very first Contestant to be sent away from Dancing With The Stars Season 22’s
Ballroom, along with his professional dance partner, Returning Pro, Edyta Sliwinska, in tow.
Geraldo & Edyta
Eliminated,
DWTS Season 22, Week 02.
I must say, I’m very sorry to see Geraldo be the first to hang up
his barely-scuffed Dance Shoes.
Personally, I’m of the (what I am sure must be)
widely shared mindset that DWTS’ very
own Doleful Dancing Despondent, Mischa
Barton, should have been the first to go!
(After all, folks, and let’s face it … Does “Bitter Ballroom Blues” Barton
even WANT to be here???… I believe this particular situation would
very easily qualify as one that is commonly referred to as, “A Mercy Killing”.)
Not that an ever-polite, sincere Class Act (of a “Don’t kid yourself”, bygone Era) such as Mr. Rivera would ever see it that way …
Upon being Eliminated, the always affable Geraldo
noted that, despite having a beautiful, talented, and indeed WONDERFUL Partner such as Edyta, if he hadn’t been the
first to receive the Ballroom’s Boot, he would have “demanded a recount”!
Well, if that doesn’t just about beat all, folks!… Geraldo Rivera, Waltzing away and Watering Up our
eyes, all without hardly adding a scratch to the Glitter Dome’s Dance Floor!
Performing a less than perfect “Salsa”, beloved Talk
Show Host, Geraldo Rivera, and his Professional dancing partner, Edyta Sliwinska, danced (Well,
moved around, at least!) to “Ran Kan Kan” by Tito Puente.
Weeeell, at this point in a Review, folks, I might
take a paragraph or two and declare just how much Geraldo’s dancing lacked when it came to Musicality,
Footwork, Lines, and Frame; but, such ceremony and tradition would seem hardly
appropriate at this particular juncture, as, in reality, Geraldo’s dancing
included positively NONE of the above!
I will say this
for Geraldo’s Performance, however, it was extremely enjoyable to watch (Well,
once anyway, let’s not kid ourselves!) being full of fun and a
for-better-or-worse-HERE-it-is, good attitude!
And the show’s Panel Judges seemed to have the right
take on this Routine (for once!), with Bruno
Tonioli noting that it was “Impressive for all the wrong reasons” and Carrie Ann Inaba quipping, “You
did not make dance great again, but you did make me laugh! …”
See video (below) to watch Geraldo & Edyta's Salsa on Week 02 of DWTS, Courtesy of Dancing With The Stars' great YouTube channel!
Dancing … (Weeell, sorta!) a Cha-Cha … (Oh, is THAT
what that was?!) to “Treasure” … (As in, “National”?No argument!But, as in
“Dance”?? Hmmm …) by the one and only Bruno Mars, … (who would have flipped in his grave … were he in
one.… Although, and come to think of it, Geraldo just may have
inadvertently put him in one ;) …), Geraldo Rivera and his Returning Pro partner, Edyta Sliwinska, submitted their Week 01 Routine.
Geraldo & Edyta
DWTS Season 22, Week 01
Well, I’ll say this for Geraldo, he’s got guts; and, you gotta hand it to him for just coming out there on Monday and throwing himself into the Performance like that!
Geraldo & Edyta
DWTS Season 22, Week 01
Unfortunately, however, it seems no amount of Stage Charisma (or Golden Sparkles!) could serve to cover up for the lack of Musicality, Footwork, and (Oh, heck!) General and/or ANY amount of Fluid Movement displayed within this “Dance”!
Geraldo & Edyta
DWTS Season 22, Week 01
Still, one can’t help but enjoy Geraldo, with or
without the dancing aspect; and, should he continue on in the Competition, it
seems worth noting that, historically, there is always room for improvement on
the show, so who knows?Maybe Geraldo
will come back and do better for Week 02!
Geraldo & Edyta
DWTS Season 22, Week 01
And anyway, the entire Routine wasn’t a COMPLETE waste as Head Judge, Len Goodman, so aptly phrased it in the end, “Well done!Good fun!”
Geraldo & Edyta
DWTS Season 22, Week 01
See video (below) to watch Geraldo & Edyta's Cha-cha on Week 01 of DWTS, Courtesy of Dancing With The Stars' great YouTube channel!
World-famous News Reporter and Talk Show Host, Geraldo Rivera, is joining up
with Dancing With The Stars’ all-new Cast
for Season 22!
Geraldo & Edyta
A well-known Reporter, Attorney, and former
Investigator for the N.Y.P.D, Rivera
is also a highly publicized Author, penning no less than 7 published works,
and is additionally (and primarily) known
for being the Host of his self-entitled Series, Geraldo (1987-1998), a widely popular, CBS Tabloid Talk Show series famous (and infamous) for
exposing society’s seedy underbelly, often “tearing into” and openly discussing
what some might consider to be “Sensitive Subjects”.
At age 72, Geraldo
enters this Spring’s exciting Competition with the distinct honor of being the
Season’s oldest, competing Celebrity.
“I’m the only Puerto Rican in America who can’t dance!”
Geraldo has quipped of his joining DWTS
and his current Rehearsal progression, “… but I really am very enthusiastic
about it.It’s way out of my
comfort-zone, it was on my Bucket List, this is the third time they have asked [and]
I finally said ‘Yes!’ before it was too late.”
Having been partnered with DWTS’ Returning Pro, Edyta
Sliwinska, Rivera reveals that the almost-overwhelming Ballroom task
ahead will certainly present its challenges!
“In many ways, it’s scarier than being in
Afghanistan [where Rivera has worked as a War Correspondent], where I have been
11 times, or being in Iraq, where I have been 11 times … that’s my comfort-zone - being a War Correspondent or interviewing Politicians
- … that kind of thing.But to be in
this world [of Ballroom Dance] … to have a Pro like this lovely, young lady
<motioning to Edyta, who
was seated next to him> on my arm is pretty ego boosting!”
Geraldo & Edyta
“I think we’re gonna have a blast together,”
exclaimed Sliwinska of her
pairing up with Geraldo.
“… so here’s
the thing,” noted the 34-year-old Dancer, “since I’ve been gone for so many
Seasons, I’m known to be the really patient one, but things really have changed, and now I’m the
most demanding person on here,” smiled Edyta, “so watch out!”, she added with a
laugh.
Still, it
seems that Geraldo will have absolutely zero issues with Sliwinska’s
self-proclaimed, strict work ethic, observing, “It is one thing to walk, it’s
another thing to dance! …”
Dancing
With The Stars Professional, Edyta Sliwinska, is BACK, set to once again Waltz around America’s Beloved Ballroom for the show’s
all-new and exciting, Season 22,
which kicks off on March 21st,
2016!
DWTS Pro, Edyta Sliwinska, returns to the Ballroom for Season 22!
Following an 11-Season hiatus from the Glitter Dome, the 34-year-old native of Poland admits her latest dancing venture to be, though certainly exhilarating, somewhat unexpected.
“I can’t believe it!” exclaimed the elated Pro during an interview given by her former, Season 09 partner, ET Correspondent, Ashley Hamilton, “I never thought I would be back!” “I have been talking to a Producer for a couple Seasons,” Sliwinska further divulged, “and it wasn’t right before.”
The reason?Reportedly the very same one that had prompted Edyta to walk away from the show in the first place, after
10 long and gratifying Seasons as a DWTS
Professional:The raising of a family.
After marrying her then long-time boyfriend and
Professional Dancing Competition Partner, Alec
Mazo (Winner of Season 01
of DWTS, along with Kelly Monaco), in September
2007, Edyta retired at last from the dance program in 2010 in order to focus on
her academic future, and to begin a family.
“After 10 Seasons, I feel like it’s time to think about
my future.” The Dancer had explained, via her Facebook Page, according to
Wikipedia.“… my main goal is to finish
my degree and start building a family.”
And so she did.On January 4th, 2014,
Sliwinska gave birth to hers and Alec’s first child; a son whom they named, Michael Alexander Mazo.
Her life, seemingly, now once again considered to be
on the right track, it would appear that Edyta is more than ready to step back into the role of Pro on the show,
remarking to her Interviewer, Hamilton,
on a set of ET, “… this Season I just
felt like, I’ve been a Mommy for two years, and coming back would be such a
challenge!
Of course, since coming back to the show, Edyta has
been made aware of the few, dramatic changes that have taken place during her
5½ year furlough, such as the recent announcement of DWTS’ 6-time Mirror Ball Winner and reigning Professional Champ, Derek Hough’s, decision to leave
the show.
“They (Derek
and Julianne Hough, who also
called it quits, following this last Season 21 as a Panel Judge) had such a
great and long career on Dancing With The
Stars,” Sliwinska has observed of what some are calling a devastating event.
“And Derek won like [a] million times. I think it’s time for them to move on and do
their own thing.”
But, adds the reinstated Pro enthusiastically, “I’m
sure they will be back!”
In addition to being a supremely, long-time absent,
Returning Pro for DWTS’,Edyta’s surprising and delightful come-back
will also hold the unique distinction, within the coming Season, of being the
show’s only presently Competing Pro who was formerly of the program’s Season 01 Cast!
See video below for an exclusive interview with returning Pro, Edyta Sliwinska, Courtesy of Entertainment Tonight 's official YouTube channel!
