SPOILERS!!! DWTS Season 10, Week 9 – The Scorecard
Goodness – that was one jam packed hour of TV. Probably too jam packed for me. 🙂 In case you haven’t already heard, Chad went home tonight as I predicted. Now will people FINALLY believe me when I say that Dial Idol does NOT WORK for DWTS? Probably not. 🙂
The Scorecard
Heidi: Predicted straight up that Chad was leaving us. And I was correct.
Courtney: Also predicted Chad.
Couple – Prediction/Actual
Erin/Maks
1st Dance 26/27
2nd Dance 27/29
Evan/Anna
1st Dance 27/29
2nd Dance 28/30
Chad/Cheryl
1st Dance 23/27
2nd Dance 24/25
Nicole/Derek
1st Dance 28/30
2nd Dance 29/29
Marianya’s prediction was that Chad would leave with Erin in either a real or faux bottom 2 (they didn’t indicate either way). Pretty good job!! The only one she was really off base on was Chad and we all know why that is, don’t we. 🙂 Dude was overscored. Same could be said of Erin and Maks, but not to the same degree.
So, next week is the finale. My extremely preliminary view is that Evan will win, with Nicole in 2nd and Erin in 3rd. But hey, I’m just happy I get to see another Hough freestyle. No pressure, Derek. 🙂
Another pretty predictable elim – I think everything played out like it was supposed to. Deep down I think Chad & Cheryl knew it was the end of the line for them – I don’t know that Chad could have handled 4 dances next week. He seemed ok with leaving tonight, and like I said last night: at least he gets to go out on a high note 🙂
I won’t say too much more – gonna save it for the cheesecake awards 😉 But I will express my excitement for Purdue making the college competition finale!!! Sooooo excited for them…I know Utah Valley is gonna be a tough one to beat, but I think my Boilers have a decent shot! It’s gonna be two great nights of performances next week 😀
I agree with you Courtney. I think that Chad and Cheryl could see the writing on the wall. I was really happy to see how gracious Chad was when he was eliminated. That was great of him. Plus, he even left with one last funny comment. Perfect!
Wow, you really don’t think Nicole can win. Every season it comes down to the best freestyle, the couple with the best freestyle always wins. If Nicole and Derek are that couple, they have the biggest chance of winning.
Yah John, in the end I think Chad ended up being a pretty likeable guy…and I did love his “I’ll be back next year as a pro!” comment 😉
Karla, it’s not that Heidi & I don’t want Nicole to win (because we really do want her to!), but I think Evan’s fanbase is gonna be hard to beat. Teenage girls have crushes on him, moms think he’s cute as a button, and generally people respect him because he’s an Olympic gold medalist. I think he could probably dance the hokey pokey as his freestyle and still win, hehe. Nicole, on the other hand, has caught quite a bit of flak in the media for her “drama” during rehearsal, and I still stand by my theory that I threw out at the beginning of the season that women are catty and don’t want a sexy, confident young woman to win. I think it’s also worth noting that since there are 2 sexy young women in the finale, any (straight) men watching the show that are actually voting are probably going to vote for one or the other – I guess it boils down to whether you like blondes (John ;-)) or brunettes (my bf). Then again, now that I think about it, I’m not sure the population of straight, voting men watching the show is big enough to really make a difference either way lol.
Who knows? Nicole may pull it off, and Heidi & I’s faith in humanity will be restored. We’ve got our fingers crossed, but we’re not getting our hopes up too high – it’ll just be that much more disappointing if she doesn’t win 🙁
Karla, it’s not that I don’t think they *should* win, it’s that I think it will be very difficult to do. I think they are, without question, the best dancers. But even Derek has said that if an Olympian makes it to the finale, they don’t lose. It’s happened three times now. People like to think the conventional wisdom is that it comes down to the freestyle – but that theory hasn’t truly been tested with an Olympian in the finale.
Sure, Derek is likely to get lots of votes because he’s likable and cute, and there are plenty of people who love Nicole…and I don’t necessarily believe Courtney’s theory of catty women as a majority of voters…but I just don’t know if an Olympian can be beaten, regardless of freestyle. I guess we’ll find out. I’ll say this – PROVE ME WRONG. 🙂 I would love it if Derek and Nicole fans really pull out all the stops and make me wrong on this. LOVE IT.
It’s so funny to see this, because most HoughZinger fans (including me) think that Evan will win. I hope next week Nicole and Derek will break the ‘rule’ of Olympians in the finals winning and will continue to dance their hearts out. And the pressure is on to perform 4 dances.
A few Nicole fans are saying that Nicole might perform her upcoming single on the second night of the finale, because it’s released on the 25th, the last episode of this amazing season. I hope that it’s true!
TEAM HOUGHZINGER!!!
Courtney and Heidi, you are both right that EVERY TIME an Olympic Gold Medalist has reached the Finals, they’ve won DWTS. That’s been 3 times, right? Apolo, Kristi and Shawn.
However, it’s ALSO true that EVERY TIME someone with the last name of BALLAS or HOUGH has made it to the Finals, THEY’VE WON! And that’s been 5 TIMES!
So… ONE of those things will be proven wrong. Either an Olympian WON’T win when in the Finals, or a Hough/Ballas won’t win when in the finals.
Or, a total upset could happen, and the underdog could win, meaning neither the Olympian or the HoughBallas will win.
Frankly, if Evan, Nicole and Erin were all in separate seasons, I think ALL OF THEM could be the winners. And definitely, if voting for the best dancer, BOTH Nicole and Evan deserve the trophy.
I really do think that it WILL come down to the freestyle, and which pro can come up with the best and most creative choreography. I am sure all of them will get some help. Maks is definitely going to push Erin, She’s not as good a dancer as MelB, and she’s got more nerves than MelB. But, his best friend is Tony. Can they come up with choreography that can top both Anna and Derek? Doubt it. IF he does, will she nail it? With 4 dances to prepare…. Don’t think her dance skills come anywhere near Evan and Nicole. We have Anna, who I am SURE will get help and advice from her hubby, but he was the one who choreographed the doll dance. And there was that tweet from Travis Wall. Then there’s Derek… Jules WAS in LA Monday and Tuesday. Together, their choreography can’t be matched, even if Anna has help from Travis Wall. And it sounds like Derek and Nicole are both thinking they can’t beat Evan, so hopefully, they’ll be able to take some of the pressure off them, and she can go out there and shine and have FUN!
Anyway…. I do think that the Freestyle will decide the winner.
I agree with you Lori, but 3 of the the five times a Hough or Ballas has won, it’s been with an olympic athlete. So I think it’s really hard to say who will win between Evan or Nicole.
Lori, you make a very good point and one that I hadn’t thought of – if Mark, Derek or Julianne make it to the finals, they win. BUT, Marks two wins were with *Olympians* and one of Julianne’s was with an Olympian as well. The other two wins (Derek/Brooke and Julianne/Helio) were during seasons that had no Olympians in the finals. So, I’m afraid that theory doesn’t quite hold up as well. Incidentally, Mark’s two wins are often discounted as significant (by some fans of the show) BECAUSE he danced with Olympic gold medalists both times. Most people think, and I agree, that Kristi would have won no matter who she was paired with. Shawn? I think she would have won with either Mark or Derek, but anyone else would have been questionable, for reasons of height, age, etc. She might even have been too young for Derek, who seems to have a bit less of the “boy next door” thing that Mark can put on.
I did see Derek leaving his own birthday party at an ungodly early hour WITH Julianne and he told the paps he was going to work, so…frankly, I hope that Jules is giving him help. It would be much easier to try out your tricks with an experienced dancer before you try to teach your partner.
Julianne is awesome at creating freestyle routines, if she is giving Derek some help or trying out tricks that would be really good! I do think Nicole and Derek are the only couple that I’ve seen that could beat the Olympics ”curse” lol
Was it Julianne or his other sister? But if it is to work, then I am guessing she might have been helping. I hope so! Two terrific dancers, two terrific freestyles, I mean three are possible! Yeah, Mark won twice with those Olympians and it is often discounted. Julianne’s one win was with an Olympian too.
It was Julianne, John. He arrived with Marabeth and Julianne, but when he left he was only with Julianne. Dad and step mom apparently showed up in a different car.
Hmmmmm……. I never actually connected it that the 3 Olympic champions/DWTS champions were all partnered by Houghs or Ballas. Therefore, it speaks higher for the skills of TheHoughBallasFamily. Right? Right? Or is it just my poor-deluded-fan-of-both-HoughKids-mind talking?
As for Derek’s sore neck, keep in mind that design a dance that Jules did 2 weeks after surgery. She was still in pain, and Derek said later that he was worried, and they hadn’t ran through the whole thing at all, but he knew that when it came time, that she would be able to push past it, and that it would turn out incredible. I think Derek’s the same way, and he will be able to perform on Monday and Tuesday nights.
And John, I hope you don’t mind me saying, that I’m surprised you didn’t realize it was Julianne and not Marabeth who left with Derek. Not only is she female, she’s blond. Haven’t you stated that you loved blond females best? 🙂
Different John. I don’t think winning with Olympians speaks higher of their skills. Kristi and Shawn were very popular going in. Kristi and any pro would have won and I think Shawn and Mark or Derek would have won. I guess Apolo was different since speed skating is not a huge sport with a following like gymnastics or figure skating. Apolo and Julianne are seen as one of the best of any season so it is a testament to her skills.
I’m sorry, John!
I feel like high school! Someone would shout “LORI!” and at least 50 people turned around and shouted, “WHAT?”
Didn’t mean to mix the two of you up.