Dancing with the Stars: Marie Osmond Update and Farewell to Mark Cuban

Wow, it looks like Marie Osmond has mild asthma, which could definitely have been a contributing factor to her fainting spell on Monday. From a behind-the scenes account at TV Guide, her partner Jonathan Roberts said:

She'd already gone through a rough week. And she has a little bit of asthma and all the fires in Malibu affected her. She told me earlier today that she was feeling a little light-headed. And I could tell about halfway through the dance because some steps went wrong and her breathing was getting really bad."

And also this, from the same report:

In fact, Osmond had been experiencing breathing difficulties throughout the day. "She said she had been inhaling some of this bad, smoky air [from the wildfires]," said Harris. "And then you have a hot room, hot lights, a sexy dance and bam."

I can give you first-hand confirmation of these facts. I've lived in California all of my life and cannot recall a time where the fires spread as fast and where the smoke was as thick as it's been this past week. Where I live, (north of Los Angeles and east of Malibu) the smoke rolled in Sunday so fast that it was frightening. While we weren't in any danger of being overtaken by fire, we were in clear danger of being overwhelmed by the smoke. Our schools remained open this week, but the students have been kept indoors in air-conditioned comfort away from the still-billowing smoke from two fires -- one of which remains out of control.

If you're in Southern California, read WebMD's article about the smoke danger. I found it to be very helpful. As I write this, the smoke is staying to the east but as the afternoon heat bears down, it tends to billow over the house at about 4:00 PM each day, so I'm taking their advice to stay inside and limit exercise to indoor activities. Let's hope Marie Osmond isn't working too hard and is able to come back next week for round six on DWTS.

I also want to give a big round of applause to Mark Cuban, who was eliminated this week after giving what I consider his sparkiest and most entertaining performance of the season. I've been rooting (and voting) for Mark all season long, and was really sorry to see him go, though I was afraid it was inevitable as the competition heated up. What is remarkable to me about Cuban being there at all is that he has undergone hip replacement surgery on his left hip.

Dancing, particularly competitive dancing, requires that dancers have their toes turned out at least slightly. Mark struggled with this from the first day of the show, writing:

The Samba is more like the Jive. It doesn't have the jumping, but the up and down and hip action means that i have a hard time going to my left. I cant turn my left foot out. Cant thrust my left hip out. I just dont have the muscles or flexibility in my left leg because of my hip replacement. So when you watch our Samba, you may get a little chuckle watching our entire routine go right.

Each week the judges would score him low no matter how hard he worked, or how skillfully his routines were crafted because he physically could not master that toes-out technique. It's a shame, but I can't blame the judges for scoring the dancers based upon established guidelines, either. Still, Mark Cuban is one of the most upbeat, personable guys I've ever seen on that show, and he really set an example for all of us who are baby boomers with a few extra pounds to shed. From his final DWTS post on his blog:

For 8 weeks I got to get up every morning knowing that no matter how sore I was, I had a goal that required me to challenge myself physically and mentally from 2 to 6 hours or more every single day. I did it. I loved doing it, and I lost 30 lbs doing it. Thats a win.

I agree wholeheartedly with him. While I wish I'd had a few more weeks to watch him, the time I did have was really inspiring. My better half had better watch out -- I'm thinking about signing us up for ballroom dancing lessons!

I just have one choice left before me now...who should get my votes for the rest of the season? Who's your favorite? I'm thinking Helio, but I'd also really like one of the women to win. Jane Seymour is definitely on my short list. Even my daughter thinks she's a beautiful dancer, which is high praise coming from a competitive dancer who thinks anyone over 20 is "old".

Related Topics:

• Dance Your Way to Fitness
• Let's Dance!

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