DWTS: Ochocinco Hitting Midseason Form

Two weeks, I sat down and watched “Dancing With The Stars” for the first time in my life. I believe that a part of me died that day, or maybe I grew a little, I’m not sure.

In the end, I was entertained and, well, my trigger-happy “recording” finger had set things for a series recording. As such, I found last week’s “DTWS” sitting on the DVR when I sat down to plot out the remainder of the work week.

So, I eschewed the other items on the DVR (horror movies, the “Life” series and other reality fodder) and clicked play. I did it without hesitation, like ripping off a band-aid.

Instead of writing a 9,000-word tome, I’m going to hit this quickly and show some love to the big ones — no, I’m not referring to Pamela Anderson (Scherzinger?).

Erin Andrews – She battled through a back injury and looked far more confident and trusting following last week’s blindfold tomfoolery (it had a ton of applications, evidently).

Evan – He snapped off his moves and, like Andrews, looked a lot more confident despite the dual-score thing coming into play.

Still, should these performers, ice guys and whatever else be in this thing?

Niecy – Seems to get through just fine. I noticed a couple of positioning issues w/ my untrained eye (take your worst stereotype of a 5-foot-7 fireplug trying to dance and crank it up to 11). Just didn’t seem to enjoy herself.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the “more hips” comment. Seriously?

Aiden – He looked stiff and you could almost see the steps coming together in his mind. Couldn’t feel the passion in this dance despite the outfit Edyta was sporting. It probably made him a bit nervous … and ultimately sent them home.

Nicole Scherzinger — What else can you say? She was nervous a bit about hands and her footwork following previous week’s criticism. However, it was still a smooth, stylized and sensual performance.

Bruno asked for “a little more sex.” You could only laugh.

Jake – He struggled with his footwork in the practice videos. Made a nifty move during his dance to “Never Met A Girl” across the stairs, but unfortunately had a couple missteps thereafter. He was definitely more into it, which seems to have helped. It pushed him up the leaderboard a couple spots.

Kate Gosselin & Tony – Gosselin is one of the stars everybody tunes in to watch each week. She made it through the Lady Gaga episode in the previous week & then had the latest court drama from the ex to fuel her. Kate still looks like she’s anticipating the next several steps and it makes things choppy, but she seemed more confident. It ain’t pretty, but it’s getting there …

Chad Ochocinco – He got the audience chuckling in the pre-taped piece by talking about his “hip action.” Ochocinco was much looser and more of the guy I and other sports folks have become accustomed to seeing. Ochocinco was in a flow and much improved — he just looked more comfortable in it.

Oh, and TO was there again. Where’s his gig?

Pamela – Well, what else needs to be said? This was a dance that left men with their jaws agape and happy that they sat in on the performance. Terrell Owens’ face in the crowd said it all. That was a dance ….