Couples - Helio&Julianne[Champs]#5:She hopes to be his "little good luck charm" at the Indy 500 - Page 3

**YoursToHold** · 04-22-2008, 11:52 AM

If you want to relive!

Group Dance

watchmebleed · 04-22-2008, 12:59 PM

Oh I was on top of that last night

I have the dance downloaded so I watched it in full screen mode on my comp

I just love how Helio and Julianne are supposed to be like the leaders of the rebels in that dance. Hee

ericfan1 · 04-22-2008, 08:42 PM

I loved Helio on ET tonight. He is a natural on camera.... Derek and Shannon deny anything was going on and said that pic was photoshoped.. Yeah, right!!!!! Helio did not buy it either... LOL!!!!!

watchmebleed · 04-23-2008, 12:38 AM

I'm actually very surprised that Helio was teasing them since he knows first hand how it feels to be bombarded with those questions...but I'm guessing ET told him he had to ask about that, I'm sure its their "top story" they want showcased re: DWTS.

**YoursToHold** · 04-23-2008, 08:09 AM

Wow! Helio had me dying yesterday. He had a little problem spelling kissing though.

He was hillarious & I just love him to death.

ETA: A few quickies, but nothing to special.

watchmebleed · 04-23-2008, 12:59 PM

Aww, very cute Beth, thanks!

Yeah Helio is too funny and I just think he is so endearing when he has trouble with English. Hee.

**YoursToHold** · 04-23-2008, 07:49 PM

Did anyone catch ET tonight? It is the perfect job for him. He was so over excited when Cheryl said she lived in the same appt as Gerard Butler. When she meant appt complex

I wish he got to do it a little more often!

Thanks Diane.

ericfan1 · 04-23-2008, 08:03 PM

I agree Beth... Helio is a natural on camera, he seems so relaxed and flirty. I love him... Derek was a little defensive about the judges assessment of Shannon's dancing.... Standing up for his woman. LOL!!!!!!

**YoursToHold** · 04-23-2008, 08:25 PM

Yeah - The comments will probably hurt Derek&Shannon this week although I hope it doesn't.

Helio is made to be on TV.

watchmebleed · 04-23-2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoursToHold (View Post)

Did anyone catch ET tonight? It is the perfect job for him. He was so over excited when Cheryl said she lived in the same appt as Gerard Butler. When she meant appt complex

Haha that was so cute!

Here's a really good article about Helio Leading Man: Helio Castroneves - Indianapolis Monthly

And since this is the H&J thread, here is the part that pertains to them/DWTS:

Quote:

Helio believes, has always believed, that he has the blend of off-the-track charm and on-the-track ability to carry open-wheel back to racing’s center stage. “I want that weight on my shoulders,” he says. “We just had to find a way to get our message out there.”

And not just any way. Around 2004, another ABC reality show, The Bachelor, came calling. But Helio turned down the title role because he felt it didn’t mesh with his wholesome image. “It wasn’t clean,” he says. Plus there was his longtime girlfriend, Miami business executive Aliette Vazquez, to whom he became engaged in 2006.

But Dancing—which pairs C-list celebrities with professional dancers in an elimination dance-off—looked right. Entering its fifth season, the show had become a cultural phenomenon. Almost 20 million people tuned in weekly to watch the likes of Jerry Springer, rapper Master P, and boxer Evander Holyfield try their feet at dancing. “The only risks were if I fell and hurt myself,” says Helio. “Or if I was a horrible dancer.”

In August, with racing winding down, Helio and a cast that included Marie Osmond, Mark Cuban, and Wayne Newton met their partners in L.A. and began rehearsals. Over the 10-week season the pairs performed before a panel of judges, whose scores were then combined with call-in and Internet votes from fans at home. The team with the lowest cumulative score was eliminated. But more than a dance contest, the show was a reality-TV soap opera. Each episode featured behind-the-scenes footage of the teams rehearsing. Viewers saw the relationship between star and pro from the first meeting, watching them evolve into rivalry, friendship, and, in some cases, what at least looked like romance.

Enter Helio’s partner Julianne Hough, a 19-year-old blond knockout and reigning Dancing champion. Every week eager viewers tuned in to watch the melodrama: Hough leading the inexperienced Brazilian through his first steps. The elation in Week 2 when their mambo received the highest score. Helio driving her in a convertible down to the beach to “get in the mood” for the rumba in Week 5, dancing in the sand before an orange sunset. Then rock bottom when that rumba did not please the judges.

In Week 6—the cha-cha—the pair seemed to click. As the sensual performances became more natural, their scores climbed. Soon the two were everywhere in the media together, from ESPN to 20/20 to Entertainment Tonight. The IndyCar Series launched a “Vote Helio” campaign, distributing T-shirts, buttons, and yard signs, and sending e-mail reminders to more than 80,000 addresses each week to vote for the electric duo. Then in Week 8, the quickstep, Helio dipped Julianne and bent to give her a brief kiss. The audience erupted.

In the finals, Helio and Julianne did an encore of the quickstep—complete with an extended kiss. And although their judges’ score only totaled 84, behind an 85 for Spice Girl Melanie Brown, the judges were overruled by the fans at home, who had fallen in love with the couple.

The day after Helio and Julianne were crowned champions, Vazquez announced that the engagement was off. Had he sacrificed personal privacy in exchange for fame? “You don’t need to be someone you’re not to be famous,” he says. The break-up was “a shame,” but Vazquez is a “fantastic person,” and he was “sure we’re going to be friends.” In other words, Helio was not about to let controversy cloud the moment.

Today, Helio and Julianne maintain they are just friends. But the public who saw the kiss, and wanted so much to believe that it was more than just part of a pre-rehearsed dance routine, would not be denied. Could chemistry like that be faked? In January, at a closed rehearsal for the Dancing live tour, in front of 18,000 dark and empty seats, the two were playful and flirtatious, exchanging smiles, embraces, and little pats on the butt between numbers. Nothing that screamed romance. But nothing to dispel that notion, either. And ever the gentleman, Helio won’t say anything more about it.

On another note: Wow, thats interesting to hear that The Bachelor approached him first! That would have been really interesting!

But I'm glad he turned it down and it's so true that he seems way too, I don't know, nice to do that show

It's so degrading.

Oh and one other thing. From the last paragraph on the article, "pats on the butt"?!!

I wonder if the reporter was able to write that with a straight face

!!

ericfan1 · 04-23-2008, 09:54 PM

Interesting article... thanks for bringing it over and posting.... little pats on the butt... HAHAHAHA!!!!!

watchmebleed · 04-23-2008, 10:00 PM

I know!

You're welcome!

ericfan1 · 04-24-2008, 08:22 AM

girls....

watchmebleed · 04-24-2008, 09:40 AM

Hey Sue, hows are you today?

Another race comin up this weekend!

**YoursToHold** · 04-24-2008, 10:38 AM

Yeah i'm glad he turned down The Bachelor. That show is a waste of time.