Chicago (IL) – Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will surely remember his dance performance on the reality show Dancing with the Stars
for as long as he lives. Not only did Woz
embarrass his dance pair Katrina Smirnoff, who is a world champion pro
dancer, but he was taunted by the three-panel judges who didn’t spare
a word to graphically describe his nerdy moves. But kudos to Woz who had
guts to prove that yes, nerds can dance, too — and do so in front of
the 20+ million viewership. Our advice though to Woz: Get in line for the
Dancing with the Nerds show instead. At least there you’ll stand a better
chance — although the ultimate winner of that show would probably have to be,
without a doubt, Steve Ballmer.
Apple co-founder Steve
Wozniak, or “Woz” as he is affectionately called, appeared on the eighth
season of the popular reality television show Dancing with the Stars
yesterday evening to demonstrate his dancing skills (yes, it has been a
slow week).
As you may know, the show premiered in
the summer of 2005 and very quickly became popular. The basic idea is to pit 13
pairs of dancers against unforgiving judges who score and comment on their dance
moves (or lack thereof) in front of twenty+ million in the TV audience. If
you’re asking yourself in bewilderment what business does a successful Apple
engineer have on a reality show like this, then join the gang because we here
at TG Daily have been scratching our heads over this one as well.
As
you’d expect from a self-proclaimed Segway fan and a member of a Segway
Polo team, Woz’s entrance during the pre-dance segment had him riding a
Segway to meet his partner. From there, however, it was a fast downhill
ride for Woz and his dance partner, 31-year old Ukrainian world
champion professional dancer Karina Smirnoff — with whom Woz has been
paired for this season of the show.
Judging by the performance Woz put
on last evening, he managed to embarrassed Smirnoff who, as was painfully obvious, struggled to keep up with the unpredictable, arbitrary
moves made by the 58-year old Apple engineer. Naturally, the three-judge panel wasn’t impressed.
Woz: “Nerds can dance!”
Although
Woz has been reportedly honing his dancing skills for weeks, the couple
sank in spectacular fashion having received just 13 points out of 30 — the
lowest score of the evening. But all is not lost for Woz, at least not yet, as he gets
to dance again next week when aggregated scores from both performances are combined with votes from viewers who vote online or
over the phone. The two couples with the lowest scores are
then put to a competition scheduled for March 17 to determine who
leaves the show.
As for Woz’s performance, the judges didn’t spare any words as it was quite humiliating. Judge Goodman labeled his dance routine “a
disaster,” while Tonioli graphically described his moves as “a Teletubby going mad in a Gay Pride parade.” That, however, didn’t dampen Wozniak’s playful spirit. “I’m having so much fun that they’re
testing me for drugs tomorrow,” Woz joked. He also managed to raise Smirnoff’s eyebrow by explaining that “a lot of dancing is analog” during the practicing segment.
The highlight
of the show was when the show host Tom Bergeron asked the Woz what he should do in case Safari hangs, to which Woz
replied without blinking: “Reinstall.” While Woz maintained that his appearance in the Dancing with the Stars is “the most incredibly fun thing [he’d] ever done,” in reality the Apple co-founder surely knows a thing or two about
having fun.
Having a blast of fun
Wozniak
and Steve Jobs together founded Apple Computer in 1976. While Jobs went
on to become the ultimate visionary and salesman, Wozniak’s engineering
spirit led him to design and build by hand the Apple I. He also designed and
engineered the Apple II, Apple’s first mass-produced personal computer
that put the company on the technology map — especially in schools. While Woz continued playing
with electronics in the years ahead, he would eventually leave Apple in
1987 because he “wasn’t having fun anymore.” To date, Woz remains an Apple
employee and he still receives a small salary.
Wozniak used to date Emmy-award winning comedian Kathy
Griffin, whom he fell for after seeing her standup performance in
Saratoga, California. The couple hit it off, and Woz even appeared on
Kathy’s TV show. But, it wasn’t until sometime around June of last year, just weeks before
iPhone 3G launch, that the media discovered the two broke up and now remain “just friends.” Not content with being single, Woz soon met Janet Hill, whom he then married in August 2008.
WOZ SHOWS THAT NERDS CAN DANCE, TOO!
The March
9 appearance of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in front of 20+ million
viewership of the TV reality show Dancing with the Stars was a total
disaster: The three-judges panel scored the performance of Woz and his
partner Karina Smirnoff with the lowest score of the evening, achieving 13 out of 30. While all
is not lost for Woz who still has time to learn some moves as the show
progresses,
he will still need both his legs to outdance Lil’ Kim and Denise
Richards who, among others, who are scheduled to compete as well.
(No video? Watch it on YouTube!)
STEVE BALLMER: KING OD THE DANCE FLOOR
While
Woz’s dance leaves something to be desired, he would surely score high in a “Dance with Nerds”
competition. But we could hardly see Woz winning beside the incredible
talent of Steve Ballmer, who remains our most powerful character
in the “nerd stage performance” category.
(No video? Watch it on YouTube!)
STEVE BALLMER: THE BEST OF REMIX
The public
performances of Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer have earned him an
astounding following on YouTube. Some of his greatest fans have created
remixes of his greatest hits, like this one above.
(No video? Watch it on YouTube!)
