Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke - Season 8

[BritLit]

According to his interview with George Pennachio at OnTheRedCarpet, he said they are not giving him anymore cortisone shots. He will have surgery when he completes this show; surgery which will require a pin placement in the shoulder.

To cite that great lawyer Perry Mason: Was he lying then, or is he lying now?

Dancing With the Stars frontrunner Gilles Marini has a good excuse for why he didn't remember his Monday night jive routine until the 11th hour. It was the Cortisone shot!

We'll let Gilles explain...

"They shot Cortisone and then after two weeks I have to take a lot of medicine," Gilles tells E! News backstage after tonight's elimination show (bye bye Steve-O). Of course, Gilles is talking about his shoulder injury, which he will undergo surgery for once the show ends. "[Cortisone] makes me a little drowsy, so I can't remember the steps."

E! Online - Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip, Celebrity News

Note to ABC: This poor guy is killing himself for your silly show: first he didn't eat all last week 'cause he was practicing day and night and now the drugs are frying his memory. Just give him the darn disco ball and send him home before he winds up living in a cardboard box and foraging through the dumpster at the Safeway. . .

[Blues Songstres]

This is not my perception at all. First of all I don't even think the individual celebs feel that they are all pushing themselves equally, much less I as a long time viewer of DWTS. In no other venue do any set of people push themselves the same amount, so why should this be any different.

I have no idea of who actually pushes themselves the most this season, but I would certainly believe that Gilles, and yes Mel, are among the hardest workers.
Oh and I FULLY believe that Cheryl requires ALL of her partners to work hard. I believe that she's a "drill sargeant".

I agree. There's no way one could convince me that Chuck, for instance, has exhibited the same drive, commitment and hard work as Gilles, or as many of the other competitors.

Methinks people read way too much into some of the comments made by the dancers. I really doubt that Gilles meant any disrespect for his fellow competitors when he made his comment about the "8" feeling like a "3". And I seriously doubt any of his competitors took exception to the comment. I'm also sure his feelings on this were based on his failure to deliver to his own expectations. From what I understand, Gilles and Cheryl increased their rehearsal time considerably this week. I'm sure he was hoping his performance would be better than it turned out to be (not that it was bad). I have a feeling that he sets his personal bar high and feels that anything less than that level is just not good enough for him. So his personal bar is set higher because he is more a natural at this than most - what of it? Give the guy a break.

Further, I don't see Gilles as being "whiny". Carrie Ann commented that his arm movement in parts of the dance seemed "small", and he said that was due to his shoulder injury. I haven't seen him everywhere complaining about his shoulder. His rehearsal clips show that he works and doesn't complain. He has come out every week with a wonderful performance and no complaints. I have heard much about the injuries to Steve-O and Woz and relatively little about Gilles' injury. "Whiny" is a word I'd use to describe Chuck, LT or DAG at times. But Gilles? No.

Just my opinion.

[Peacheater]

A 9-8-9 score on Monday represents a remarkable result from a very demanding dance for Gilles. Three specific dance movements put specific strain on the shoulder separation, and unless he received a Xilocaine injection prior to dancing, I don't know how he did it. I have never danced with an injury that painful, and would never allow a student of mine to do so. One must applaud his courage and determination while wondering if this experience will have been worth it in the end.

The first evidence of the affect of the injury is at the 19.6 second point following music start. When Gilles pulls Cheryl through his legs, it is clear in slow motion that he is pulling her predominately with his left hand while his right is having trouble compensating for the fact the Cheryl is not centered behind him (she is right of center from the camera perspective). This would be an unplanned strain possibly not experienced in practice. This is not an error because in real-time speed, the judges would not have seen it from their vantage point.

The second occurs at the 26 second point in a series of three right arm extensions. With a separated shoulder, it is possible to begin the arm extension and generate speed to the rhythm of the music without pain, but the difficulty is in stopping the movement with the arm extended above the shoulder. This must create a substantial moment of pain at the very point where the extension must be stopped to return the arm to its beginning position to execute the movement again and again, all the while attempting to focus on footwork.

The final example is at @ 56 seconds when Gilles extends his right arm fully overhead while laying back, reaching to touch the floor. Here his solid core likely saves him with not much of his weight actually resting on his hand, but the act of will to place himself in that position had to be both painful and extraordinary to achieve the result. I'm not sure if this was a brilliant addition on Cheryl's part or monumental risk-taking.

As an aside, I saw a small flaw in Chery's performance. It occurs at the worst possible moment, in the first 15 seconds when she is dancing alone, stage right -- a left/right consecutive step kick executed without returning her hips to the centered core in the middle of the crossover. The resulting affect is to make the dance look a little frenetic at the beginning, and may have initiated the judge's false impression (setting the tone) that the entire dance was a bit too rushed. I don't think it was, it just appeared that way.

In the rest of the routine, Cheryl is perfectly balanced, as always, and clearly anticipating every fast step. She is mentally and physically in place before the next step. Gilles, other then the mistake in footwork that Len notes and I did not see in 5 slow motion replays, performs a technically excellent routine. He seems rushed only in comparison with Cheryl because he is always exactly on step while she anticipates each one. The difference is very, very subtle, and I sure Cheryl saw it immediately when she reviewed the performance video.

It is clear to me that Gilles is not healing and I think this will cause him difficulty in the weeks ahead. If Kim's stage presence and confidence continues to grow, she may have fewer discernible flaws at the end, from the judge's perspective.

(The above is a dispassionate observation. My "favorite" will be whoever I view the pair executing the best dance in their final competitive performance. I'm not a fan of anyone; I'm just a ballroom dancer. )

[illusions]

(The above is a dispassionate observation. My "favorite" will be whoever I view the pair executing the best dance in their final competitive performance. I'm not a fan of anyone; I'm just a ballroom dancer. )

That is quite some observation Peacheater! And while it may only be yours, to my untrained eye it sounds very plausible. That was a great effort on your part to dissimilate the dance like that. Gilles is dancing remarkably well under the circumstances. Let's just hope he won't have to deal with pain the rest of his life by delaying the surgery.

[angelic_one2002]

I give Gilles huge kudos for withstanding the pain he's having, and still dancing like he is.

[MissThing]

Let's just hope he won't have to deal with pain the rest of his life by delaying the surgery.

I've had that exact surgery - not to worry, there's no rush to get it done, in terms of future pain. Sadly, in my case, my body rejected the screw, so I had to have a second surgery to have it removed.

[MiniDiva]

I rewatched the dance and I did not see exactly what Peacheater was talking about, as the dance was so fast and frantic to me and my untrained eye. They may have made selective moves to spare Gilles shoulder, but I did not notice. They stayed in step and it was a complicated routine, but it did not feel like the "jive" to me. Someone else quoted Cheryl stating that it was not her song choice, despite that, Cheryl did a good job with the choreography. I am sure her choice of song would have been more suitable and less frantic and the "jive" would have been more apparant to the "untrained" eye. For me, the music and the frantic movement detracted from the performance, however, the overall performance was good. I was disappointed that we did not get to see the fun and humorous side of Gilles this week. Lil Kim and Derek deserved the first place spot.

[ironcat]

But there again comes an opinion. I don't deny she's not a good dancer but I don't think she's as great as her fans think. I thought Brooke was overrated and boring but a good dancer, and Kristi a good dancer, not so boring, but I still preferred Jason over her. I also think we'll never know whether the majority of people voting for her are TB fans or not but I wouldn't believe that's not somehow coming into play, or that people may just like her even if they don't think she's the best. Everyone's got their own reasons for voting.
But the difference of opinions makes these messageboards interesting

I think this is the crux of the matter, our opinions of who is the best is based on different criteria for each of us. Although I came into the show liking Melissa, I can honestly say I would not continue to support her staying on the show if she had turned out to dance like Denise, and I suspect I am not alone in that sentiment. As for Gilles, since we have created this "to the death" rivalry between them, I am trying very hard to remain objective when I watch him, since it is obvious to me that he has talent, and I think it would be my loss if I allowed my preference for Melissa to impinge on my ablility to enjoy Gilles' dancing. I honestly think all four at the top are very good, and since so far, they have only performed half of the dances, feel it is too early to say who is deserving of the title "best dancer".

[tango7]

I give Gilles huge kudos for withstanding the pain he's having, and still dancing like he is.

Yes, but I can't help being reminded of the situation with Cristian de la Fuentes. I don't know the technicalities of each of their injuries, but I hope Gilles is able to continue to perform well and finish the competition.

[TonyDovolaniFan]

Peacheater, thanks for sharing that! I really hope Gilles isn't doing long term damage to his shoulder by continuing.