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Dancing with the Stars season 14 premiered Monday and tennis superstar Martina Navratilova turned in what Carrie Anne Inaba dubbed an “elegant” and “refined” performance.
Much ado was made by the judges over Martina’s appearance. She’s admittedly glammed up for the show, and she wears it well, sporting a glitzy black and pinkish number to dance the foxtrot with dance partner Tony Dovolani.
Carrie Anne was full of compliments for Martina telling her she looked beautiful and adding, “I love the biceps. I love strong women.” She added that Martina needs to work on her turns.
The show’s resident naysayer Len Goodman said that he was close but not quite there with Martina’s routine, urging her to be less careful and safe next time. When he said that she needed to “come out and wow” the audience a game Martina replied, “Wait for the jive.”
Martina’s former tennis rival Chris Evert was in the audience offering support. In the end Martina and Tony scored 7, 6 and 7 giving her a total of 20 and one of the lowest scores of the night.
We here at SheWired are torn about the producers’ compulsion to doll up a butch icon, and also about the reaction of viewers gushing about how beautiful she looks in a glitzy dress. On one hand, Martina had to know what she was getting in to when she signed up for a dance competition as ballroom dance is based on tradition, but on the other hand, the public really does seem to love when butches dress up in frilly clothes.
"Really? I’m just not that feminine. See these biceps? They're useless!” Martina said when she was shown the heels she had to wear.
What do you think about Martina’s look?
