Is that a rumba Charlie's doing in that clip?
Nope.
Were the judges right to deduct points for that?
Yep.
He should be held to the same standards anyone else would be. There's only one problem: One of those deductions was based on an "illegal" lift. And Charlie White didn't choreograph the dance, he just danced it. Beautifully.
In this case, I think the choreographer is almost entirely at fault for those low scores. I kept waiting for that moment when Charlie would shift into full rumba mode... and it never happened. Even his partner Peta's hips didn't move that much -- that's the biggest controversy aside from that lift I mentioned.
Yes, Charlie does need to heed the judges' advice about getting up off those heels. But on or off 'em, he does what he's given to do smoothly, with a ballet dancer's grace.
Peta may, in fact, have been counting on his prodigious ability to move and "emote" so well at the same time, to send him back to the top of the leaderboard. The movements were perfect for Charlie, who played his role to a "T."
But it wasn't a rumba. That much is true.
For those smarting from the scores... relax. It's part of the "plan." The people who choreograph the "plots" of shows like these know exactly what they're doing. Charlie's legions of fans are energized. So are the people who'd been waiting to see him get his "comeuppance."
That keeps those ratings high. NeNe Leakes knows -- that woman has an uncanny knack for using controversy to stay in the public eye. I was delighted to hear her declare Davis and White too "sweet" to be picked on. Though she still thinks they have an unfair advantage. Sigh.
If the voting really does matter -- there has been some controversy about that, too -- I can only hope the fans don't go the way of the columnists and commentators who already have Charlie down for the count, after only one slight trip up.
He hasn't put a foot wrong up to now -- even in the jive, despite one judge's insistence that he was a tiny bit "off." Wasn't true.
And he took the "bad news" this week with his usual amiable grace. Here's hoping they'll pick on somebody else next week.