Week Two of “Dances With Helio” and I can already tell you I am SO thankful to whomever invented the DVR. I was able to watch the epic 163rd baseball game – all 13 innings of it – and then quickly breeze through DWTS at a much more tolerable pace.
Of course, I fire up the DVR and see Curt Cavin sitting in the front row - comforting, assuring. Kanaan and Wheldon need to get down there as well.
Here’s what I know: Helio got the most points of anyone, besting even the Spice Girl and the Cheetah Girl. I don’t know much about dancing, but Helio actually looked like he does this for a living. His “mambo” was freaky good.
DWTS expert Jennifer says: Wow. Seriously. Wow. Helio was hot, he was sexy, he was full of energy, and he was having fun out there on the dance floor like the mambo is something he does to just blow off steam. What great showmanship! I think the judges were so overwhelmed by how good Helio was that they laid off on the bad race lingo analogies. My favorite moment was that back bend move Helio did. I guess climbing in and out of those racecar cockpits makes one mighty limber!
As silly as all this Dancing madness may seem to race fans, one striking thought occurred to me last night. Helio is good enough that he’s going to be around a while, and viewers – presumably not racing fans – will get to know the guy. It’s a safe bet to say he'll snag some personal sponsorship or endorsement deals out of this as a result of his bump in popularity, which would make the IndyCar series the only sport in the world that would have both a recognizable male (Helio) and female (Danica) participant who regularly compete against each other.
What that means in the long run, I don’t know. But it's pretty cool.
This Could Be a Real Shot in the Arm
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Nowadays, whenever I discuss IndyCar marketing – I do so with caution.
After writing a post last summer that called into question some of the
marketing eff...
1 day ago
Are you finally catching on to what I've been saying about how big this is for Helio and the IRL?
I'm telling you - that Helio phone company needs to get on the Helio sponsorhip quick fast in a hurry. "Don't call us a phone company. Don't call me He-lee-o".
I've never thought of Helio as "hot", but I have to confess that I was glad to have my TiVo last night - that dance was worth a few replays. Check out the Dancing with the Stars message boards on ABC's website - it's awesome to see the country enamored with Helio.
Assuming that he stays in the competition for awhile, this is actually making me more bummed that there isn't some sort of Los Angeles race in March. That would have likely drawn a throng of Helio fans, as Dancing with the Stars is big business out here.