Saturday, November 20, 2010

Is Maks Bitter Over Brandy's 'Dancing' Elimination?



The answer is no Maks is all good.

Maks on The Insider




He discuss the elimination and Bristol Palin.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Brandy & Maks In Dressing Room Of 'The View'

Brandy and Maks on The Viw

Maks: Dancing was just ridiculous this season

In case you haven't heard, Brandy and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy were booted from
"Dancing With the Stars" last night in one of the show's most shocking eliminations.

So how's our favorite "DWTS" pro doing today? Not too well.

Read on to find out what he told us about being thisclose to the mirrorball trophy, who he's rooting for now and what he really thinks about Bristol Palin...

Was last night's elimination the most shocking moment you've had on the show?
Yeah, for me personally, it's probably the one that's the hardest to swallow...This season has just been ridiculous since day one. Just one after another after another. Brandy and I think this is the culminating point of this season, it just came crashing down. We almost feel like the effort wasn't worth it. We put in a lot of work. We put in a lot of effort. It's been a very, very difficult season...It just feels like it was an uphill climb the entire time and to really come that short of the finale. It's just very upsetting.

Are you mad at all about it?
I felt really disappointed with Bristol. On Monday night, I found out that she went on record saying that I said something about her along the lines of, "I don't like her because she's still here and she's not a good enough dancer." Every time I've opened my mouth about Bristol, I've been nothing but supportive...For her to come out on Monday night and totally smear my name the way she did, that's just completely uncalled for...I have no idea where she got it from, but wherever she got it from, shame on her and shame on whoever told her that.

What about the alleged right-wing conspiracy theory keeping Bristol on the show? Are you starting to believe it?
I definitely think that the system is flawed. I think there are a lot of problems with it. I have a lot of friends in the Philadelphia area who couldn't call at all. People here, in front of me, picked up the phone, dialed one time and it said, "Thank you for voting. You are over your limit." Anybody crazy would think, "This is a conspiracy theory. Everybody's out there and wants Bristol to win." Not at all. I think it's just a flawed system.

Do you think Bristol could win?
I really don't care. I think at this point I'm rooting for Kyle [Massey] because this kid has come on with no fan base, with not a known name, not someone who is in incredible shape or had a phenomenal dance background...Kyle does have the same resilience as Bristol, same dance ability as Jennifer [Grey], but he's just that kid next door...I think he's amazing.

Source:MSNBC

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Brandy and Maks voted off



I think it's a travesty that they were eliminated. They deserved to not only go to the finals but to win that MBT as well.

ET Backstage: Dancing With The Stars Week 9



Brandy and Maks come in around 0:54

Brandy Monica Maksim DWTS Behind Scenes

Brandy Battles Against Bullying








Brandy Battles Against Bullying On 'Dancing'

Brandy and Maksim Backstage Week 9

Tony and Maks out after the show


They come in around 7:06

Brandy And Maks Stand Up To Bullies

Brandy radio interview

Tom Joyner Show Interview

Brandy phoned into the Tom Joyner Morning Show and talked about DWTS and dating

Brandy Access Hollywood Blog#13

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

After a rousing week of studio time, dance rehearsals, costume fittings, filming of our reality show, and an amazing interview on Larry King, I am completely exhausted. I can look back to the first week of “Dancing with the Stars” and say it was definitely easier with one dance to learn.

The competition is fierce as we round the bases into the home stretch. Learning two completely different dances for Monday night’s show is really testing both my limits and my resolve. Mind you, I’m not complaining. I truly believe that every test that is placed in my path is meant to make me learn and grow as a person. You see, I believe in the old saying of “Manifest Destiny.” I feel that to reach one’s goals you must really shoot for the highest goal attainable. Fact is all of us in the semi-finals want to win. We have shown this through our dedication to rehearsals, dancing week to week, facing down our individual fears, weathering the aches and pains and listening to family and close friends.

Juggling the filming of “Family Business” in addition to “Dancing with the Stars” rehearsals has been crazy this week.

I am ecstatic to be fortunate enough to have multiple projects going on. I feel blessed to be able to fit everything together with the help of my manager/mom, the spiritual counsel of my father and my loudest cheerleaders - my daughter Sy’rai and my brother Ray J.

Everyone on my team, including the wonderful DWTS production team, the hair/make-up/costumers and ABC PR ladies all work together for a productive daily schedule that sometimes goes from 5 AM in the morning until midnight. It’s hard work but I’m grateful. I am especially grateful to Maks and his team for being so accommodating and patient. AND, the many supporters and fans who vote for us week to week, Maks and I appreciate all the love.

This week’s dances are the paso doble and the Argentine tango. Both dances are incredibly different in style and adapting to each has been difficult.

I won’t give away what we have planned for our sensual Argentine tango except to say that I’m hoping to channel the sultriness of the famed Rita Hayworth in “Gilda.” I will, however, give my AH family - a special insight into our paso doble. This week’s dance is dedicated to anyone who has ever been bullied in his or her life.

Since Maks and I have experienced being bullied, he choreographed a wonderful routine that will shine more light on this subject matter. Bullying continues to escalate in today’s world of new prejudices.

Being different has always been a problem within society, and I take personal responsibility for teaching my daughter that our differences are what make people so interesting as my parents taught me. Wouldn’t life be boring if everyone was exactly like the next?

I am an advocate of celebrating these differences and am hopeful that I will continue to meet different people who will help me to grow and learn even more about this ever-changing world that I’m a part of it.

I think if everyone takes it upon themselves to meet someone “different” and learn just one new thing, society as a whole would be a much richer community and life can be much better. By embracing these differences and becoming more self-aware, I believe that I am on my way to being the best person I am meant to be.

And in that, I certainly feel like a winner already….

Much love to all my fellow stars and our fans,

brandy

Brandy's "Dancing" Days

Friday, November 12, 2010

Maks TV Guide Blog: Everything's Cool with Carrie Ann

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a great week. Thanks for voting for us!

I just want to get this out of the way: Everything's cool with Carrie Ann. She's passionate and I'm passionate. We made up afterward. Everything's back to normal. I never expected it to get blown up like it did, but I guess it was like, "reality drama"! We talked after the show and everything's great now. The post-mortem is that I don't think it was something I needed to say then and there. But the whole thing goes back to the intensity of the season. We're all busting our butts and working hard every second for the show. I'm trying so hard to do so much and life goes on outside of it. It's not like this is a scripted show. If that were the case then I would be a robot, which is what the show demands you to be. You have to keep your cool and be professional. Honestly, it's close to impossible to do that for the full 10 weeks. It's been five years now — I've done five seasons back to back and another five back to back. With everything that's going on in my life now, I let that particular moment get to me and I lost it. That's it. However frowned upon that moment was — I'm not justifying it — but I'm also not ashamed. I pride myself on the fact that I voice my opinion. I don't think there's anything wrong with speaking your mind and I think everyone should. I wish people spoke out more. In my case, it's just the place and the time. I didn't choose the perfect time or the perfect setting. At the end of the day, the judges and dancers all in it together. The celebrities come and go, but we're the constant.

I understand the point Carrie Ann was making, but I still disagree with it. And that's fine. We agree to disagree. What I was upset about was the face that if you go back and watch other couples' performances, you'd see that they skipped eight bars before dancing. And she didn't comment on that to them at all. You look at other people's stuff and count. Eight bars in, they're only starting to dance. We started dancing four bars in because our song hit an accent at that particular count. Would I love to have started dancing right away? Yes, but you can't always do that with your music. I wanted to make it musically right. On the dance floor in a competition format, yes, it's frowned upon, but if you back it up with dancing, no one's going to deny you praise. It's a matter of personal opinion.

We have the paso doble and the Argentine tango next week. We've finished the paso and are working on the tango now. We're dedicating the paso to everybody who's been bullied. I thought it was great for that particular message. We're taking a risk with our interpretation. Will the audience get it? Will the judges get it? I don't know. But it's something Brandy and I clicked on. We spoke a lot about it and we went through tough, tough moments in our lives, but we came out on top. I want kids to understand that you have to speak up — let your voice be heard. Don't be silent and wallow. Talk because there are people who care and who will listen. Our Argentine tango will be traditional. I think it's going to be fun. We just want to do a good tango. The paso — we want to get people out of their seats.

It was a bummer that Kurt left. He's such a cool guy. I know there's been a lot of talk about the past few eliminations, but it's about the votes. If you didn't vote for who you think deserved to stay, I don't think you can complain. I also think for every person who's upset that Bristol is still in it, there are a handful more who are happy she's still in it because, well, she is. She's an element in our show. She's doing her thing and she's giving her fans something to vote for every week. Again, it just goes to show, it's not about the scores as much as it is about the votes. Kurt overcame a huge score deficit a few weeks ago on votes. I've been on the receiving end of this situation and I've also been on the other end. It is what it is. Everyone who is still on the show deserves to be on.

Right now, Brandy and I are just focused on the semifinal. We're not thinking about the final yet. if we go through to the finale, it would be cool and it's definitely our goal, but we can't look too far ahead. I need to take everything one step at a time because, as I've mentioned, this season has been very tough on all of us pros. Yesterday, I was at my worst. I was ridiculous. I was mentally and physically done. It's really hard. No one — absolutely no one — understands what we go through no matter who you are. You haven't been in our shoes. You have no idea how difficult it is. When you get to the final, you are so drained that you become a shell of a person. You're on complete autopilot. Once it's over, you go, "I have absolutely no idea how I did." I love our fans. I love my fans. I love seeing what they like, bad or good. The positive stuff gives me a good reinforcement and tells me I'm doing something right. Most of the negativity I laugh at because it's so stupid or unreasonable since these people clearly don't know anything about ballroom dancing or what we go through. It's funny to me that there's so much negativity spewed at everyone. Why don't you get up and try to do what we do? People judge me for being a certain way. Honestly at this point, I really don't care. I only care about what Brandy thinks right now. I know what my past partners think and how good our relationships are — and people are still speculating about how we supposedly "hate" each other and whatnot. I love when I get tweets from people who say they created a Twitter account just to tell me they hate me. If you hate me, why waste your time making an account to tell me? If I hated someone, I would never waste time doing that. It's really amazing the lengths people go to behind the protection and anonymity of the Internet to be mean. But I'm not letting those people get to me. I'm just focused right now on Monday. I'm tired. Brandy's tired. But I know we will bring our best next week.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Maks

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Brandy and Maks outside Larry King

Brandy on The Big Tigger Morning Show

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

TV Guide elimination interview week 8

Brandy Access Hollywood Blog#12

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. --

Here we are in the semi-finals and I can’t believe how far I’ve come in such a short amount of time. To say that this experience has made a large impact on my life and on my persona would be an understatement. This Monday’s dances were both rewarding and humbling for me. I felt so great in our rehearsals and my confidence continued right up to our second dance. I felt secure with the dance moves that Maks had taught me, but not knowing the musical element of the piece definitely put my nerves on edge.

We were the last couple dancing our waltz, which meant that we were the last ones to get to our ‘Instant Dance’ music and rush off for a quick 20-minute rehearsal backstage. I’ve never really paid attention to the stage and set up until now, but that night I noticed absolutely everything.

“Dancing with the Stars” has been on for 11 seasons and is a well-oiled machine. From the producers and the camera people, down to the technicians and stage crew, everyone knows what they’re doing, and they get it done fast. So, it was with a small amount (OK maybe, a large amount) of anxiety in my heart, that we changed into our second costumes and left for the backstage training areas which were located right behind the stage. We went through the brilliant (in my opinion) choreography many times before we were called back to stage to perform. Sitting on the steps and looking at the audience, I felt the calmness, and the music began. I remember smiling through our routine and hitting the right moves… and then came the judges’ critique.

Each week, I make certain to listen to the judges as they point out what I’m doing right and wrong. After all, this is a competition and a part of this experience is to become the best dancer that I can be. So, I’m always paying close attention to them no matter how happy or disappointed I may be with the final scoring.

This week was different. This week’s scores seem to reflect more on our choice of choreography than the actual footwork and technique. While I was stunned at how the evening turned out, I really am more stunned at how big of a deal it turned out to be in the press.

I mean, I know that a little drama goes a long way and this was definitely ‘dramatic,’ but I wasn’t expecting the reaction from outside the studio and later that night — or even on Tuesday from the press. What was a minor disagreement between my partner and Carrie Ann turned out to be the ‘drama for the week’ for “DWTS.”

Anyways, Maks went over to Carrie Anne on Tuesday and they both walked away with everything being OK. I know that Maks is a very passionate person and since dance is his life, I understand how he felt.

By the same token, Carrie Ann is there to help us ‘Celebrities’ become better dancers and continue to learn the intricate moves. Her criticisms are meant to motivate us each week to give just a little more for the audience to see and enjoy. Seeing both perspectives and being behind the scenes, it really wasn’t everything that it was made out to be.

What you saw on both nights made for some great TV and that’s one of the reasons why the ratings for “DWTS” remain so high.

C’est la vie.

Now, it’s on to Wednesday and my next two dances are the Argentine tango and the paso doble. I admit that I am looking forward to both. I’m sure that Maks has some dazzling choreography and costumes in mind for us!

Next week will take us one-step closer to that coveted Mirror Ball trophy and the competition is stiff. I have a new appreciation for everyone who has come before me and for those who will come after.

I’m going to miss Kurt, my trailer-mate. Kurt introduced me to one of my favorite “True Blood” actors, Joe M, at Tuesday’s show. He and his whole family will be missed, but I know that we’ll see each other again.

Much love to all my fellow stars and our fans,

brandy

Maks: It's not a grudge thing

Maksim Chmerkovskiy told reporters on Tuesday that he may have verbally sparred with judge Carrie Ann Inaba during Monday’s installment of Dancing with the Stars but he “doesn’t have anything against Carrie Ann and she doesn’t have anything against me.”

At the end of Tuesday’s telecast, Inaba took a moment to announce how she respected all the pros – an obvious attempt to mend fences after she and Chmerkovskiy argued about how it took “four 8s” for him to begin his cha cha cha on Monday with Brandy. Chmerkovskiy tried to dismiss the comment by saying “relax, don’t worry about it” but Inaba quickly replied that ”Kurt did more dancing” so the two began to talk over one another. Brandy just stood there silent while patting her heart.

“I wasn’t looking for Carrie Ann’s apology,” Chmerkovskiy said after Tuesday’s show. “I think we all do our jobs. We are very passionate. We actually spoke when the credits rolled [Tuesday] so it was very pleasant, a very polite conversation. We are good. It’s not a grudge thing. I don’t have anything against Carrie Ann, she doesn’t have anything against me. She said what she said at the moment, and I responded like someone who has put in two and a half months in trying to make someone the best they can be. Whatever I thought, I thought, and we’re past it.

“My concern is that fans think I’m crazy and that I’m some kind of like attention hogging…whatever,” Chmerkovskiy added. “It’s not about me wanting to be in the spotlight. I want to be in the dark. I want Brandy to be in the spotlight. That was the whole point of yesterday.”

Brandy said she really didn’t know what to think of the argument. “I just wanted to stand by Maks and understand where he was coming from, which was from a good place of passion and defending me,” the actress told reporters. ”I want to win this for Maks because Maks has been to the finals so many times and he deserved to win. And he says, `baby, don’t win for me. Win for you!’ I’m like, ‘But I want to win for you, too, dude!”

“It’s actually funny,” Chmerkovskiy continued. “ Brandy says to me 10 times today, ‘I got your back!’ And I feel bad. That’s not supposed to be her job. It’s supposed to be my job to have her back. We’re actually a partnership. I don’t feel like I’m dancing with a student, I feel like I’m dancing with an equal partner.”

Source

Access Hollywood Interview week 8

Maks Vs Carrie Ann Feud on Dancing With The Stars DWTS

Brandy and Maks week 8 elimination

Maks challenges DWTS judge

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Unaired confessions week 8

Maks Apologizes

From E! online

You guys came out on top of the leader board last night. How do you feel about how the night went?
I feel great about everything. Actually, I wanted to apologize, I guess, to all the fans. There was a bit of lost temper on my part and it's not something I always resort to. I'm not like that. I just felt so proud of Brandy's performance. I think she's doing phenomenal, and she's really trying so hard and I felt like she was maybe a bit overlooked and that caused me to speak out. I'm just sorry because the fans. …They don't want to see all that drama, they want to see us composed and professional, and I lost my temper a little bit.

What do you think about the Bristol Palin conspiracy rumors?
I'm sure people are talking about Bristol still being in the competition—like it's some kind of conspiracy. I'm happy for Bristol. She's doing something she's probably never going to do again. And as far as conspiracy, that's why the show is what it is. People are entitled to vote for who they want to and I applaud that.

Do you think that her mom Sarah Palin is helping Bristol?
I don't know if her mom being Sarah Palin helps her in popularity. I'm pretty sure it adds to it. Again, I don't look at Sarah Palin in the [video] packages as a political figure. I look at Sarah Palin in the [video] packages as a mom, a proud mother and somebody who is happy to see their child do something like this. I just look at Sarah as a loving mother in that sense.

Israeli Dancing With the Stars has a same-sex female couple. Do you think there should be same-sex couples on the show?
I just think that everybody is entitled to their lifestyle and to their way of living, and if Israeli Dancing With the Stars showcases a same-sex couple, it certainly represents the choices of many, many, many people out there. ...Whatever my beliefs are, it's irrelevant. I'm heterosexual and that's my choice, that's how I live, but I came to this country because it gave me freedom to be who I wanted to be, an opportunity to excel in what I wanted to excel. ...I applaud the risky move Israeli Dancing With the Stars took.

DWTS cast Dances They've Made Up

Brandy and Maks Interview Week 8 Access Hollywood








Brandy's Blind Date Dancing With The Stars DWTS

Brandy and Maks Interview Week 8

Brandy Loves Dancing NOW

Brandy and Maks on Extra









Brandy and Maks Cha-Cha-Cha

Brandy and Maks Waltz

Friday, November 5, 2010

Maks TV Guide Blog

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a great week. Thanks for voting for us!

Well, we had another very good week. Our team dance went great and I'm so proud of Brandy for the foxtrot. Gilles was funny because he came up to us afterward and apologized for giving us a 9. I told him, "Friendship aside, you were being the judge."

I mean, I've got to admit, I felt like the whole time the celebrity judges weren't particularly looking for anything. I think having the celebrity judges was an exciting gimmick. They were more or less there to say something nice, give a 10 and move on. I felt like Gilles wanted to give a 10. I don't think there's anything wrong with them handing out "free" scores to inflate our scores.

Len's 10 was the highlight for Brandy this season. She was like, "Oh my God!" I'm not trying to show off or whatever, but I seriously think she did one of the best performances. People are talking about the face she made after her little slip-up, but it was minor and I still think, overall, she did a fantastic job. Whether or not judges deduct points for that is up to them. It's totally up to the viewers. I'm just focused on having Brandy do her best.

Rick leaving is another example of the judges not being a factor. I don't know why he got fewer votes, but it's totally undeserving. I feel like his fans were like, "Oh, he's safe." He's a stand-up guy. This guy is amazing. I can compare him to Jerry Rice and how super-nice, genuine and smart he is. He has this very contagious smile. I know some people were surprised that Bristol was safe, especially since she said she wanted to go home. I feel like, why would you want to go home? You put yourself out there for people to vote — and they do — and instead of embracing it, you're undermining the participation. If she embraced it better, I think she'd be having a lot more fun.

So next week, we have the waltz and the Cha-Cha for Instant Dance. First, I think everyone needs to know that getting music the last minute is part of competitive ballroom competitions. You work on five routines, go to the competition and you don't know what music they're going to play. But Dancing with the Stars is not a competitive ballroom competition. The beauty of Dancing with the Stars is that we can come up with the costume, the look and the stage performance beforehand so we can put on a show for people. It's not a straight-up dance competition. And we have to teach the celebrities. They only just got familiar with learning a dance in a week and now they don't get the music. So for our purposes, it's going to be messy. If anything, I find it unfair to the celebrities because we've had past winners going like, "I would never be able to do this. This format is crazy." Seven seasons ago — which sounds like a long time ago, but isn't because we have two seasons a year — we had a show that everybody loved and everybody watched. And it was a simple show. The dances are still iconic and phenomenal. If you noticed, on the list of iconic dances, most of them were from the middle seasons, except for Nicole, who was out of this world last season. It got so crazy in the later seasons.

The format and changes are wearing on the professionals too. We are mentally drained and physically exhausted. I've been sick this entire season. I know they want to try new things and keep people on their toes, but I also think it will make for better TV if you can prepare properly. I'm a proud professional and I would never let myself come out with a mediocre product, but I'm going to give a hard thought about what I want to do. I've said this before, but the only thing I can compare it to is to have a professional swimmer swim in Jell-O.

I'm the best at what I do under the proper circumstances. It doesn't make me less professional. I don't want to do instant dances or dance marathons because there's no way to properly prepare for it. I don't understand why we got Argentine tango and paso doble in our semifinal if we get there. They're just way too similar.

All I know is, it' been go-go-go constantly. I haven't seen my family. I haven't sat down. In order for me to provide for my family, I need to work for the entire year. I don't take vacation. After this season is over, I continue working on my studios, shows and other projects. The season is very, very hard. I haven't sat down in four and a half years. But then I go, "I love it." I saw my past partners and we had a great time hanging out and talking. I haven't won yet — and I want to point out that there were only five professionals in the top 10 dances. I think I've done something right, but other times, I go, "I want to go home." I haven't seen my mom. I have to rely on the phone. Then I feel I'm not a good enough son or grandson. All the tabloids and gossip blogs keep saying that Brandy is a diva and I hate her and stuff like that — which couldn't be further from the truth. We have so much fun together and what they don't know is that Brandy was trying to convince me to go to Russia together so I could see my grandma before she died. She had her publicist try to convince my publicist. I sat her down and said, "I love you for even having this thought, but we logistically cannot." It's probably one of the most amazing things anyone has considered. It's an 18-hour flight and then a 9-hour drive. I feel so protective over Brandy because I know how amazing she is as a person, as a mother and how she's turning out to be a true friend. What has she done to deserve the crap that's been written? But the fact that she was willing to do that so I could see my grandma and be with my family speaks volumes about her.

That was a lot of venting! But I guess the bottom line is that the show is no joke. I am having a blast with Brandy, but it has been a difficult season overall. But I am not going to let any negative feelings derail our focus. I know we can get better and I feel like we've really hit our stride.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Maks

Brandy Upscale Magazine Pics

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Brandy Access Hollywood Blog#11

Shocked!

Even a little heart-broken.

That’s all I can say about this week’s elimination of Rick and Cheryl. From our first meeting at the televised cast announcement to our very first satellite TV press tour together, Rick and I have had a very special bond. He has such great energy and is always quick to make me smile. No matter how tough things got, it was a ritual: he and the boys (Maks, Kurt and Kyle) outside the trailer throwing around the football before show time. Funny as it may seem, there are so many changing aspects of this show from week to week, I found comfort and joy in seeing the guys goofing off and having fun. It definitely cut the tension and reminded me of everyday things outside the rehearsal studio. On Tuesday, when they announced Rick’s name, it really threw me for a loop because he had done such an amazing job on Monday night in both his solo and the group (go team Kristi!!) dances. I was still coming down from my own personal high off a great performance by Maks and me when they called his name and we all rushed backstage. I remember walking backstage and seeing Rick and Cheryl first on the press line and all Maks and I could do was rush to give them a hug.

It was very difficult for me to say goodbye, and now it’s finally starting to sink in that this is it! We’re nearing the end of this competition and there are only five couples left standing. The fans continue to speak out each week and believe me – WE ARE LISTENING. As important as the judges’ critique and scoring are, you must by now realize (as all of us ‘stars’ on the show have) that YOU play a very important part in us moving on towards the next week. I try to focus and concentrate on doing my best and improving each week, but more and more I understand that who I am really dancing for is the fans.

I truly believe that’s what makes this show so successful and why DWTS is now in its 11th season, celebrating its’ 200th episode! It’s about connecting with our audience, sharing with you our ups, our downs, and welcoming you into our life… if only for a little time. Well, welcome to my world….

Between my daughter, rehearsals and the day to day of running my music, TV and film business, I find little time to rest and sleep these days. Maks and I will be dancing the waltz next week as well as a ‘secret’ dance and rehearsals are tough!!! Sometimes things will ‘hit’ me, all of a sudden, and I find that I just need to take a quick 15-minute break.

Maybe it’s just a walk outside, breakfast with my daughter or even some quiet time at the house catching up with a few close friends, but whatever and whenever I can, I am trying to maintain as normal of an existence as possible within my hectic schedule.

Like most of you, I am working hard and aiming to keep on track with everything that I really want to accomplish. While I can definitely see that Mirror Ball trophy winking at me on Mondays and Tuesdays on-set, I work hard every day of the week just to balance everything else in my life. Appointments, school meetings, holidays, etc… they all have to fit on the calendar and no matter who you are, you have to make it work. Nevermore has being a single working mom (albeit with a really great support group of family and friends) been louder to me.

AND, never has it been sweeter. I know that I will always look back on these days with awe and amazement. I can only hope that the example I am setting for my daughter — as well as for millions of other single moms and children — is both positive and influential. Win or lose, I feel certain that this whole journey has been worth it for me and my family of relatives, friends, and very supportive fans.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Brandy Access Hollywood Blog#10

Last week was all a blur filled with “DWTS” rehearsals, appearances (hope you caught me on the Halloween show for Access Hollywood Live and Ellen) and some special Halloween time with my family!

Maks and I continue to grow even stronger as a duo and this week’s learning of the fox trot is no exception. It’s a very iconic dance and I am truly inspired by our song choice for this dance.

Our second dance has been a little more strenuous.

As you may or may not know, this week I will be a part of “Dancing’s” historic 200th episode (Congrats “DWTS” and ABC) and they’re mixing things up a bit.

We have a team dance and I’ve been chosen along with my fellow stars Jennifer and Kurt to be a part of TEAM APOLO.

The dance is very eclectic and even includes a bit of hip-hop in it, so this part of the learning curve has been a little easier for me than weeks past. It’s very cool to be on the team with Jennifer and Kurt as our trailers are next to each other and we are very supportive of each other as the weeks go by.

I must mention how excited I am to have been chosen by former “DWTS” winner Apolo to be a part of this TV-history making dance!

He’s been a great leader and cheerleader and it’s good to get the chance to work with my fellow stars this week. With that said, Maks is still working to get the best of out of me from week to week and the aches and pains have now sort of dulled into something more manageable for me.

Not that I still don’t find new muscles developing and aching, but I am getting more confident with the quick-learning of the choreography and the feeling that I absolutely have a chance of taking home the mirror-ball trophy! My focus on learning the techniques and then honing the moves so that I am graceful and flow well with Maks is finally beginning to pay off.

I can feel the audience (both in the studio and at home) cheering me on and I always try to dance for the fans.

After last week’s elimination of Audrina and Tony, things really hit home about how much your votes count. In this competition, our dancing will only get us so far, it’s really YOU who makes the decision, whether we go or stay for another week.

Each week, it gets harder and harder to say goodbye to some of the new friends in my life. Audrina and I were getting to know each other and had a chance to hang outside “DWTS.”

She is very bright, smart, quick to laugh and I really love her energy.

I’m going to stop saying that I’m shocked, because more and more I realize that this is a part of the competition. Every Monday, we dance and then on Tuesday, someone leaves.

While it’s a sad thought, I know that my fellow teammates will stay in my life past these days on “Dancing with the Stars.”

I know that through this competition, I am getting the chance to get to know people that I would not have necessarily met and I am a better person for it. I feel certain that when everything is said and done, this experience will help me to become a better mother, daughter, sister and woman.

And hopefully, you, my fans will be able to see the difference in me!

Much love to all my fellow stars and our fans,

brandy

Brandy and Maks outside the 200 episode after party

Brandy and Maks cutest couple award


Around 0:56

Brandy and Maks Week 7 ABC15

Brandy and Maks on the red carpet

Brandy and Maks Interview Week 7

Brandy and Maks Interview Week 7

Team Apolo

Brandy and Maks Foxtrot

Monday, November 1, 2010

Brandy's mix 105.1 radio interview