DWTS Season 10 – The Pros Blog

As many of you know, last season Maks blogged for TV Guide. Well, he’s back and he’s joined by Derek Hough who is blogging for Ok! Magazine. I would swear there is a third pro who is blogging (or perhaps a celebrity) but for the life of me I can’t remember or find who it is right now. Anyone? If you tell me, I’ll add it. 🙂

As I was saying, Maks is at TV Guide. You all know I love Derek, but I find that I have a new appreciation for Maks because of his blogs last season. He gets a lot of crap and sometimes doesn’t do well with his partners – but he says a few things that are illuminating in his most recent blog. And I have to say, he had the line of the night in his and Erin’s package from Monday. She takes away his greatest joy – bitching at people. LOL!! Anyway – an excerpt (“snip” signifies that I chopped stuff out):

Dancing’s Maks Trying to Turn a Tomboy into a Princess
“snip”
People have been coming up to me about my comment in the video package where I say Erin is taking away my one pleasure in life — bitching at people. You should know that was not planned at all. The things I say, I never rehearse. I’m just myself. I think Val put it perfectly when he told me that I seemed more relaxed. He said, “Because when you don’t have all your eggs in one basket, you’re more relaxed about things.” It’s true. I’ve been so excited about work that I’m doing off-season that this season, I’m not like, “Oh my God! I have to win!” I’m just happy about it. I’m having fun and it shows. When these one-liners come out, I’m like, “Hmm, that’s actually funny!”

Erin and I have a difficult relationship — not difficult bad, but difficult funny. We fight about absolutely nothing! We don’t know what we fight about. I think next week’s package, they’re going to include an argument, and I hope they won’t because it’s awkward to watch people get into a tiff. But our tiffs are literally pointless. Ten minutes later, I’m like, “I’m going to apologize even though I have no idea what happened. I’m going to pretend I won, but I’m going to sound like you did.”

“snip”
I thought the judges were OK, but again, they have to stop with the disrespecting comments. When Bruno told Kate she looked like a shopping cart, she was visibly upset. Who wouldn’t be? Chad went up to her later and said, “Kate, can I be your groceries and you can be my shopping cart?” And she just melted! It was really sweet. But it’s comments like those that shouldn’t be said. Len called Erin a “funky monkey.” What does that mean? I’m going to assume it’s good. We could do without anything that puts people down. It’s not about Kate or Tony or my relationship with him. It’s just in general. There were harsh comments that were constructive. Len told Nicole that even though she danced great, he thought there was no substance, her heels were bad, etc. Bruno and Carrie Ann loved it. Agree or disagree, Len gave her constructive criticism. Derek and Nicole can go back and figure out their technique for Len or continue to appeal to the same judges. But then you have comments like Bruno telling Chad that he has a huge, huge, huge personality. You hear the connotation there. You tell me if you think that was necessary. Hopefully they can stop doing that.

Awww… Chad, that was VERY sweet of you. Dang, he’s going to make me love him. 🙂

Derek blogged for OK! Magazine, and he does a pretty good job for a first timer. 🙂 Although, I wish his first time was with me….I don’t mean that like it sounds. 🙂

Derek Hough’s ‘DWTS’ Blog: What a Way to Start!
“snip”
Before we hit the dance floor, I told Nicole to center herself and just have fun with it and relax. I reminded her to fill the whole ballroom up when she danced. She was very nervous. I was surprised because I had thought to myself, she’s had performing experience in front of thousands of people so it should be no biggie for her. But it’s singing where she feels completely at home. Ballroom dancing in a long dress? Not so much. She was completely out of her element and saying she was terrified is an understatement. It was endearing to see that vulnerability from her, though.

During the dance, I could feel Nicole’s nervous energy. The performance felt a little careful. But I have to admit it was coming from me as well. Believe it or not, I still get incredible butterflies before every performance. People are watching and expecting something from you. It’s tough. But we watched it back on You Tube later and I was very proud of the dance. It always looks better than it feels at the time.

For the Viennese waltz, I tried to keep the choreography clean and easy on the eye. I didn’t want to come out and do any crazy tricks. We were prepared enough to where if anything went wrong, I felt we could cover it up and just keep going. We got great comments from the judges and even though Len Goodman wasn’t enthusiastic like Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, he gave us constructive criticism.

“snip”
I felt it was an exciting day not just for Nicole and me, but for the whole show. There was a buzz in the air that felt new and fresh and exciting that I think last season was lacking. Everything — from the new set to the music to the graphics to the amazing cast — gave me a thrill. It made the experience of dancing so much more fun.

On Monday, we’ll be dancing the jive. It’s going to be a non-stop, high-energy dance and I’ve been sweating a lot in rehearsals. I don’t think I’ve physically danced this hard the entire time I’ve been on DWTS. We won’t be dancing to a Pussycat Dolls song, but we’ll be play on Nicole’s background in the dance. This jive won’t really be telling a story; it will be more competition style—go, go, go, non-stop dancing.

Derek tends to be a lot more PC than Maks, but I love the blogs from both guys for what they are – an inside look at DWTS. 🙂