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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Will Aly Raisman Win the Mirror Ball Tonight in Dancing with the Stars Final?

Viewer votes now play a big role now in who wins the DWTS mirror ball trophy.

  Aly Raisman won an Olympic gold medal for her gymnastics; will she be able to win that Dancing with the Stars mirror ball for her dancing? Aly and her dance partner Mark Ballas made it this far, to the season finale to Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars. They made it to to the final four. But that DWTS mirrorball could turn out to be out of reach without support from you, Aly's Needham-Newton-Burlington community and her other fans. The final four dancing teams — Aly and Mark, Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff, Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough and Zendaya and Val Chmerkovskiy — performed three times Monday night, including a cha-cha relay. Perhaps of biggest import score-wise: the freestyle. Aly & Mark won perfect scores for their …

Monday, May 20, 2013

Dancing with the Stars Finals Start for Aly Raisman

Competition heats up as a near-perfect performance lands Needham Olympian Raisman in the final four couples on ABC's dance contest.

  After a near-perfect performance, Needham's star and Olympian Aly Raisman is going on to the Dancing With the Stars finals. Last week, Raisman and her partner Mark Ballas danced the rhumba, which garnered a perfect 30 from the judges. Their perfect score was followed by an Afro Jazz dance, which netted 29 out of 30 points. That nearly-perfect performance tied for the top of last week's leaderboard. The duo with Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff also received 59 out of 60 possible points. In last Tuesday's results show, two couples were at the bottom of the field: Zendaya and Val Chmerkovskiy, who scored 55 Monday night, and Ingo Rademacher and Kym Johnson Bruno, who finished the semifinals with the lowest score of 51.  Ultimately, …

Monday, May 13, 2013

Aly Raisman Preview: Dancing with the Stars Semifinals Begin Tonight

Two weeks left of Aly & Mark and four other celebrity-professional dancing couples vying to win the DWTS prize.

  Dancing pairs have gotten picked off — by Dancing with the Stars judges and by viewership votes — for eight weeks. Now, let the semifinals begin! When last we saw Needham-based Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and her dancing partner, Mark Ballas, on last Tuesday's Results Show, they were one of five pairs who survived until Monday night's semifinals. The full list: DWTS viewers voted Afro Jazz as the dance Aly & Mark will tackle tonight for the semifinals. One more couple gets cut by the end of the results show Tuesday night. Dancing with the Stars airs tonight at 8 p.m., with the Results how Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Aly Raisman Makes It to Dancing with the Stars Semifinals

Viewers vote for the dance she and her dance partner will do next week.

  Aly Raisman has survived an eighth week on Dancing with the Stars, proving she may turn out to be as much of a champ on the dance floor as on the gym floor. Raisman and her dance partner Mark Ballas found out Tuesday night that they've made it to next week's Dancing with the Stars semifinals. DWTS viewers voted Afro Jazz as the dance Aly & Mark will undertake next week for the semifinals. Who did not make it to the semifinals: Sean & Peta (The Bachelor reality show star Sean Lowe and professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd). At the end of Week 8, Aly & Mark are in second place with a judges' score of 56 out of 60. The Needham gymnast and her partner did well in in Monday night's show, nailing a 29 out of 30 score with their their first dance…

John Casy

8:01 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013

Aly Raisman has been on the patch for awhile. Who really cares if there on the Dancing with the stars. Patch needs to get some real news on and stop waisting print on Aly!   more ›

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Aly Raisman Lands Great Scores on Dancing with the Stars

Raisman and her partner did well on the Monday, May 6 edition of Dancing with the Stars.

Aly Raisman got near perfect scores on Monday's edition of Dancing with the Stars. Raisman, a Needhamite Olympian, and her partner Mark Ballas, during their first dance of the night, strutted their way to a 29 out of 30 score. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba gave the pair a 9 score, whereas Len Goodman and Bruno Tonilo each gave them a 10 score. For the second dance, Raisman, Ballas and a third dancer performed a trio dance which garnered them a score of 27 out of 30. Each judge gave Raisman a score of 9. In total, Raisman received 56 out of 60 possible points.   Viewers still have time to vote. To vote for Mark and Aly, visit ABC's website and the DWTS Facebook page. Voting closes at 11 a.m. The Dancing with the Stars Results Show starts at 9 p.m…

Monday, May 6, 2013

Another Week of Dancing With the Stars for Aly Raisman

One of the show's remaining actors went home last week, and the show announced a tribute to one Boston Marathon bombing victim.

  Pineapple salsa won Aly Raisman another week in the "Dancing with the Stars" runnings. That is, a Salsa routine that involved pineapples.  Which means that the Needhamite Olympian will be on the show again tonight, at the same old time and channel: ABC, 8 p.m. to 10:01 p.m.  She was declared safe about a third of the way into last week's results program. However, the team that wasn't safe was that of actor Andy Dick and his partner Sharna Burgess, who went home. During last week's results show, Host Tom Bergeron announced that the program would also follow the recovery of Adrianne Haslet, a ballroom dancer and instructor who lost her leg in the Boston Marathon bombing. Haslet is putting together a routine to perform on the show later in …

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

A "Dancing With the Stars" Run Continues for Aly Raisman

Needham's Olympic medalist survives another round of Dancing with the Stars, another star is not so lucky.

  She's still dancing, and she's dancing for Boston. Aly Raisman, Needham's own gold-medaling Olympic gymnast, survived another round of ABC's Dancing With the Stars with her pineapple-throwing performance.  "I never shimmied that much in my life." Raisman said behind the scenes, "and I liked it a lot." She was declared safe about a third of the way into last night's program.  However, the judges and fans scores end up sending actor Andy Dick and his partner Sharna Burgess home. Burgess was reportedly angry about the judge's treatment of her partner.  Following the Boston Marathon bombing, a ballroom dancer and instructor who lost her leg in the attack did announce her intention to dance for the competition. Host Tom Bergeron said they …

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Mother's Day How-To Recipe from Blue on Highland's Chef Peter Tartsinis

Looking for a recipe for Mother's Day? Chef Peter Tartsinis of Blue on Highland demonstrates how to make Seared Duck Breast with Farro Risotto & Orange Maple Glaze on the cooking TV show The Chefs' Table Series.

Needham Wind Ensemble Playing in Philadelphia

The Needham Middle School Wind Ensemble is playing with a select few other student bands this weekend.

  Aspiring wind musicians are gathering at the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia to play--and Needham's Pollard and High Rock Schools are joining in. The Needham Middle School Wind Ensemble is among a handful of student groups playing at the Independence Center this Saturday, May 4, at 2 p.m. From the Press Release The group rehearses after school once per week, and exists to give advanced middle school musicians an experience of playing challenging literature in a few-per-part setting. The Wind Ensemble curriculum is extensive, studying a wide variety of classical and contemporary wind band literature. Since its inception in 2008, the Needham Middle School Wind Ensemble has consistently received exceptional ratings at …

Aly Raisman Wows Dancing with the Stars Judges on Latin Night

But they did not win immunity from being eliminated this week.

  Going into Monday night's live Dancing with the Stars performance, Needham native Aly Raisman wasn't even sure who her partner would be, after Mark Ballas this week hurt his back doing a lift of Aly. The Olympic gold-medaling gymnast trained much of the week with someone else. But Ballas was back Monday night, and Aly & Mark were in fine form, dancing a hot salsa for a score of 29 out of 30 in week 7 of the season. Then, DWTS threw in a fresh competitive twist: a dance-off among six of the seven competing couples. Aly & Mark won a cha-cha dance-off against another couple, which scored the gold-medaling Olympic gymnast and her professional dancing partner some extra points from the panel of judges. That means they ended Monday night at …

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