Taking Sides: Leachman is agile but annoying on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Our toes have been impatiently tapping for four weeks waiting for our column’s week to roll around again ... or was that just us keeping time to the sambas and rumbas on “Dancing With the Stars”?

Today, we’ll pick our favorites, possibly trampling on a few toes in the process.

LIGHT ON HIS FEET

Christine Simmons: I can’t believe that “Dancing With the Stars” is in its seventh season. It seems like it was just last season we were watching Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke doing the chacha, which for me, is still the best moment on the show ever. I still watch it on YouTube.

But the show must go on, so now we’re watching Cloris Leachman and Lance Bass... ew. My how things have changed.

In all fairness, I have to say kudos to all the contestants who attempt these intricate dances. But for me, Warren Sapp is my favorite. Dude was having fun and that made him just a pleasure to watch. The audience really seemed into his performance, too, and as we all know, it’s not just about skill. Popularity plays a major role.

Susan Pierce: He and Brooke Burke are my picks for the final two.

To be such a big guy, Warren Sapp is unbelievably quick on his feet. The former NFL defensive lineman always looks like he’s enjoying dancing as much as he would be sacking quarterbacks.

I’ve got to give credit to his partner, Kym Johnson, too. First for teaching a nondancer such smooth moves, and second for showing no fear when this bear of a man — who left the NFL with 96 sacks to his credit — is barreling toward her at full steam in some of their choreographed slides and lifts.

I also think it’s possible a Hough may again be in the finals — only this time it won’t be the cute blonde, but her brother, Derek. He and Brooke Burke have proven every week they are the couple to beat.

LONG SHOTS TO TAKE HOME THE DISCO BALL

Susan Pierce: Last week Toni Braxton was voted off and I’d say that was fair. I’m surprised Susan Lucci is still in the competition because she just seems so tentative and unsure of herself when dancing. She has most surprised me. Since she is such a diva on daytime TV, I expected that persona to overflow into the prime-time dance-off, but it hasn’t.

Christine Simmons: I pretty much agreed with the judges; I thought Toni Braxton was stiff and looked uncomfortable in her own skin. It just seemed like she struggled through the entire dance. I agree that Lucci hasn’t brought it like I thought she would. They are all out of their comfort zone, but it just shows more on some than others.

And I have to mention the large amount of makeup on the contestants. What’s up with that? Susan Lucci looked a little bit like a drag queen in close-up shots of her. I know traditionally dancers wear a lot of makeup, but it was really unflattering.

LEACHMAN: SENILE

OR SELF-CENTERED?

Susan Pierce: Just like Jerry Springer, the addition of Cloris Leachman to the cast was a nod to senior viewers as well as for the comedian’s entertainment value.

She has certainly proven that senior adults can maintain healthy, active lifestyles well into life. She has performed dips and quick-steps that many women half her age wouldn’t attempt.

However, she has also shown an annoying habit of repeatedly wandering into camera shots during other contestants’ interviews, seemingly unknowingly with a blank expression on her face.

Several times she has not only walked into shots, but interrupted their interviews. Feigning such senility isn’t funny, it’s rude. Is she that selfcentered that she can’t share the spotlight? That producers have let this continue is inexcusable.

Christine Simmons: Cloris Leachman scares me.