'Dancing With the Stars' recap: The House of Flying Swaggers

On last night's Dancing With the Stars' season 12 semifinals, I, Annie Barrett, Fringe Fairy T.T.S. (to the stars), became an official citizen of Planet Mirrorballus. And damn if it wasn't a lovelier plane of alternate reality than I'd ever expected. The lights are much brighter there -- you can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares, and bedazzle yourself in five different shades of crystal-studded bracelets...because the wardrobe department happens to have 10 billion of them lying around!

My visit continues today, but here are a few highlights of my liiiiiiiiiiiive experience so far. The asterisk/tilden combos are my textual approximation of "sequins and fringe," with fringe clearly winning because it's totally in motion. (Skip to page 4 of the recap if you're itching to see the couples' scores.)

*~*I arrived on set during dress rehearsal, so the hair and makeup trailers were abandoned. I took plenty of video footage of the mysterious bags of hair lining the floor -- don't worry! Look for a video diary of my ballroom voyage next week, in time for the liiiiiiiiive finale. Read More...