DWTS Season 10, Week 5 – Dancing by the Numbers
The judges are giving me whiplash. It’s like they can’t make up their minds if they want to be hard asses or if they just want to try for rational. It’s truly bizarre. You want examples? I’ll give you examples; Len gives Erin and Maks a verbal pass for not only using a prop, but Maks slowing the tempo of a JIVE for the first however many bars AND using that menu to an extreme. Len then proceeds to rip Damian a new one for having Pam sit at the table for too long. Hey, I agree Len – Damian shouldn’t have done that. But how about, instead of seeming to give Maks a pass then dinging them with a low score so they’re confused, you tell them that they, like Damian (and Derek) broke the rules. Derek broke hold in a Quickstep and got hosed for it, Maks slows the tempo and used a menu and still gets a 7 but with no useful critique, and Damian gets a tongue lashing for using a table and chairs. Dude, your enforcement of your rules and “commandments” seems pretty freakin’ random to me. At the end of the day, any pro who says, “ya know what? We knew we would get dinged, but we went for the audience” has my complete sympathy this season. But no faux confusion (Dmitry), own it.
Dang, sometimes I can nail it. I so totally called “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” for Evan and Anna’s Rumba. It took me a bit to remember what the movie was that immediately sprang to mind when I heard “romantic song in an action movie” – but that is like the ultimate in bizarre theme song for a movie. Anyway…
The MATH.
Here are the Judges Scores:
Dancer/Score
Nicole/29
Evan/27
Jake/23
Erin/22
Pam/21
Chad/18
Niecy/18
Kate/15
Total Judges Points Awarded = 173
Three point spread between Niecy and Kate? I don’t think that’s enough to save Niecy. I hope and pray I’m wrong, because Kate? Was a total beyotch last night and shamelessly brought her kids into it (moreso than before). Poor Tony. Kate was winning me over, slowly, but that was too much last night. And do I have my numbers right? Jake is now in third place? How the hell did that happen?
Dividing the individual scores by the total points awarded gives you the following percentages:
Dancer/Percentage of Total
Nicole/16.76
Evan/15.61
Jake/13.29
Erin/12.72
Pam/12.14
Chad/10.4
Niecy/10.4
Kate/8.67
Nicole and Evan score higher, and Kate and a couple other stay the same, plus there are fewer dancers – the end result is larger percentage spreads between the top and bottom and even between the bottom and the middle. Will it be enough? I hope so, but I’m not confident.
Dancer/Votes
Evan– Still the ringer of the season based on fanbase and ability, although I think Nicole might start catching him in votes. Very good Rumba, although his hips weren’t all that. Evan is a dichotomy – very bland seeming during the show, but so cute during the rehearsal packages, and then not that exciting during his dances. He’s a good dancer, for sure, but he’s not excited me thus far. Nice chest, though, when he was with Anna in the red room pre-dance. And his twitter activity is annoying the living shit out of me.
Nicole – vastly improved from last week, for sure, although I thought that move at the end was kinda strange. Props to Derek for coming up with an actual, flashy Tango to Pretty Woman. I had my doubts. I’m so ashamed. 🙂 I am crazy, but the thing that I still find fascinating about these two is how in sync they are, even when not dancing. That bit when Carrie Ann said they were “Superstaaaaars” and they both immediately mimic her, in sync? Very telling, IMO. These two are pretty tight – although I don’t think she needs to hit him quite so hard. 🙂 As tempting as that may be at times. Even I am tempted to give him a good smack at times – but don’t bruise the merchandise.
I have no clue how the votes are stacking up for the remaining contestants. I don’t even know if I can make a good guess. I think that Evan and Nicole are up there, possibly followed closely by Chad due to his football player status. Below is my pseudo attempt to put them in order.
Chad – Backsliding this week, I think. I’m not sure what the problem is here. I don’t even know what to say about this dance. I think I was distracted by the whole “Jungle Book” deal. And I had a headache, so I didn’t take notes. Calling him safe, either way.
Erin – I’m with Courtney 100 percent on Erin. What started off as charming and fun, is now becoming quite tiresome. I’m just…over it. Just dance, would ya? That said, I personally loved Maks’ temper tantrum, including the jumping. I won’t say more and save it for the “Cheesiest” awards. I have a huge soft spot for Maks, I must confess.
Jake – Dude, why did you have to go the tighty whities route? Why? And if you’re going to do that, lose the freaking band aid on the knee. Other than groaning loudly at the white shirt and lack of pants, I got nothing. He did a passable ChaCha, but he looked better in rehearsal footage I’ve seen.
Kate – I think she also backslid like Chad, but I have to agree with John (via Twitter) that I have seen improvement. That said, she’s still awful and far too awful to stay in the competition. But she will. :::sigh:::
Niecy – I think Niecy is on her way out, unfortunately. While I really like her personality, and she’s no where near as bad a dancer as Kate, she’s also not up to par with the rest of the pack. Not only that, but they gave her a crap dancing spot and she’s surrounded by bigger things – no pun intended. You’ve got Jake in his underwear, Erin fake fighting with Maks, Nicole and Evan killing their dances…and Kate. I don’t think The Insider and Entertainment Tonight pimpage is going to help.
A note about voting – online voting was seriously screwed up on the east coast last night. Most every Derek fan I see on Twitter was complaining about not being able to on-line vote. Since the issues occurred BEFORE you even got to the page to vote (i.e. it wouldn’t let you log in or took forever and got hung up), I’m sure it wasn’t just aimed at Derek fans. They just happen to be the ones who I see most on twitter after the show. I believe the reason for this was seriously heavy traffic – lots and lots of people voting. I believe it was traffic because about an hour after the show was over, it started to improve. This is my caveat – when you have LOTS of people voting, and lots of trouble voting, the results could be…interesting.
Okay, revisting the bottom four dancers in terms of judges scores, we have:
Pam/12.14
Chad/10.4
Niecy/10.4
Kate/8.67
I think this is actually pretty easy. Niecy and Chad are tied and I would bet that Chad is getting way more votes than anyone in the bottom four. So, call him safe. Kate is at the bottom and is 1.73% behind Niecy, which means that she has to get about 17,400 more votes than Niecy per 1 million votes cast to stay. Can she do it? I say yes, she can.
Are Kate and Niecy both getting more votes than Pam? Kate would have to get about 34,700 more votes per 1 million and Niecy would have to get about 17,400 per 1 million for them BOTH to pass Pam and have her be eliminated. Are both those things (and Chad getting a ton of votes) happening? This I find doubtful. Kate and Chad might get more, but not Niecy. I think Pam has won herself a bunch of new fans (like myself and Courtney) and along with that, a bunch of votes. I think she’s safe.
Keeping in my mind the voting caveat above…I think Niecy is going home and I’m not happy about that. Now, off to watch Bergeron’s twitter for clues.
I’m not over Erin and Maks! They have the best chemistry of anyone else on the show. They were absolutely underscored last night.
Jake is absolutely disgusting. He so turns me off and last night was just way over the top. Get off my TV!
I wish we could kick Jake and Kate off tonight, but I agree that it is much more likely that Niecy will be leaving. Too bad….she’s very enjoyable even though she isn’t the best dancer. At least she’s trying which is something Kate can’t claim!
Seriously once they said it was risky business I had a feeling that tribute to the movie was coming. Yes the judges drive me crazy too about the whole use of props too. I also hate it when the dont like the choreography they dont direct the comment to the pro. Props to Louis for admitting that it was him that messed up. I still love Erin and Maks their rehearsal stuff still cracks me up. So happy that Nicole was back to her old self I really thought that dance might have been the first perfect score.
I liked a lot of people’s performances tonight. Nicole was back and ready for action, she nailed that tango and deserved a 30 I thought, love her like always (as well as Derek). I liked Evan’s rumba, it had a beauty to it, but he’s gotta work on emotional connection, and some hips. I was very impressed with Jake, love his new attitude (no more backtalking :D) and he improved a lot as a dancer, great performance, and the technique was much better. I really don’t care what haters say, I just know I’m right, they’re wrong and I ignore it. Anyways, Erin’s jive was fun…but…slowing down the tempo is a no no for the jive (tsk tsk Maks), and it gave her a bit of an easy spot, but when she actually started the fast stuff she was great. Pam’s quickstep was very cute, loved seeing it and hearing the song again. Chad did alright, but he still needs lots of work. I love Niecy, she’s not the best dancer, but she’s got a lot of personality to her dances. Kate…ugh….after last night…just like what Heidi said…after last night…I can’t stand you again. It doesn’t look like she’s trying to her full extent, like she’s going through the motions. Anyways, if Kate doesn’t go, I’m gonna be pissed, because again like Heidi said (a while ago, don’t remember when), if she doesn’t go home, a much better dancer will. I will be super pissed if Jake’s sent home, he’s got a better attitude then Kate AND he’s actually a decent dancer.
Sorry for the long comment by the way haha.
Sad that the judges are co-conspirators with George Lopez to keep Kate in the competition. You mentioned strange judging Princess Heidi. How do you account for Niecy and Chad getting 6’s and then they turn around and give Kate just one point less for walking through a routine. Hey! It’s DANCING with the Stars, judges! Unless of course you want to make sure Kate is within mathematical reach of staying. Yes, the “Keep Kate” legions will torture us by making up the 1.7% deficit I’m sure. Tony was upset? Sorry Tony, that “dance” deserved 3’s at best if the judges used the same scoring as they did for everyone else. But no, Kate has her own special scale.
i’m so getting tired of Erin and Maks, is not cute anymore,it is not funny anymore, and i just saw a interview that they did togheter for george from abc, and they were all bitch about how the judges fall for Jake and Chelsie, stop with the complaing and just dance,i’m done with then, you don’t like he judges score this is your problem but bitching about other couple is ridiculous.
Will, if you have actual content and something to say, you can be as long as you want. 🙂
I can’t account for it at all Paula – that’s exactly what I was saying. How is it that Kate, who barely moves, is pulling scores not far off from Chad and Niecy. It’s wack.
As someone who has been known to be a little wordy herself – I appreciate a good, long comment too, Will 😉
Last night’s scoring (and really the scoring all season, really) seems to be really spotty – and almost subjective. While I agree that Pam & Damian spent a bit too much time futzing with the table & chairs, I’m really surprised that Len didn’t like their content more – they actually did quarter turns (the basic step of the quickstep), forward locks, and chasse reverse turns, real “meat & potatoes” steps, which Len usually goes for. Chad & Cheryl, meanwhile, just did a bunch of running steps & bounces, which is really only done at the high levels of quickstep (and mixed in with more basic steps, like Pam & Damian’s) – “fluff” that Len doesn’t like. And I also agree about Erin & Maks not getting called out about the menu & slow portion of their jive – I felt like saying, “Seriously??? You’re choosing to overlook 20 bars of this crap?!” In the same token, I feel like Jake was overscored – I saw him stumble quite a few times when watching his cha-cha (which I found to be mainly Chelsie gyrating around him) again, and yet he scored higher than both Erin & Pam, who didn’t make a single mistake. And Len really does have a hard time complimenting Nicole – it’s as if his jaw locks up everytime she does well and it pains him to open it to praise her.
And yes, agree 100% about Evan – he’s bland. Good dancer, but bland. He’s this season’s Mya – good dancer, but no performance value. Only difference is that he will probably still win (Ringy McRingertons), while Mya did not. Now let’s just watch and see how many times I get accused of discriminating against Evan just for saying that. 😉
I loved Erin and Maks Jive….as usual underscored. Pam and Damien were cute also…got a good score for an easier dance. Jake did well but was completely overscored. Nicole and Evan were good too…there is something to perfect about Nicoles dances sometimes that bothers me. Its like the truth comes out that she is a professional dancer and i think its unfair, to some extent Evan too. Chad and Niecy were horrible. I love Niecy too…Glad Kate went home, she was pretty horrible.
BTW, Dmitry did not fake any confusion. He often stated that they were bridging both the dance and the show. He was confused about the rumba and lambada last season b/c Len stated he wanted less then more. The judges are erratic and never consistent so it is just best for the pros to do what they feel is right within a certain limit of course. Everyone will get dinged eventually except for Maks of course. Derek is only getting dinged b/c Len does not really care for NIcole. If you are not a tall blonde, Len usually has no need for you.
BTW, Nicole is as bland as they come. MYA was excellent but there was no beating Donny Osmond in any season. To many chubby 48 year old cat lovers watching the show.
No way Nicole is going to catch EVAN in votes. As people get voted off, they are going Evan’s way because he is not as snobbish as Nicole and he is a RECENT gold medalist.
That’s right, Nicole isn’t going to catch Evan, because Evan is the Ringer of the Season – I’ve been saying that all along. Congrats for joining my team, Jean. 🙂
As for the rest of your commentary – you and Katie seem pretty desperate to score some kind of point. LOL – whatever. Let me know when you want to have a real discussion.
Jeanmom, I’m really kinda surprised that you describe Nicole as both “bland” and “snobbish” – I haven’t gotten either of those vibes off of her. If anything, I think Evan is running the risk of being bland – he is a great dancer, but there seems to be a big disconnect with both his partner and the dance itself. Thus far, Nicole has been quite animated on the floor, and has been great at channeling the character of each dance as well as connection with the audience and her partner.
As for the “snobbish” part – it seems that every season, there is a sexy, confident female contestant that gets accused of being arrogant or conceited, and not to point any fingers, but it seems like it’s other women doing the accusing. I don’t know if it’s just female jealousy or cattiness at work (and I’m totally not trying to accuse you of it, jeanmom, so please don’t take it that way), but I’m starting to notice a pattern of it from season to season. I know that people accused Mya & Joanna of it last season, and I remember Melissa being torn apart in season 8 – and she was one of the most down-to-earth people on the show that season, if you ask me! Brooke also got thrown under the “OMG she’s soooo arrogant” bus in season 7, even though I thought she was too vacant to even fully understand what was going on, let alone be snobby about it. My point? It seems like the talented, attractive women that are being targeted & accused of arrogance season after season, and not any of the guys, regardless of their conduct. Someone tell me with a straight face that there isn’t at least SOME female cattiness at work here…