DWTS14 Mark Ballas: “It’s Going To Be A Fist Fight Until The End”
Katherine and Mark discuss Dancing With The Stars on Showbiz Tonight! Mark thinks it’s “going to be a fist fight until the end” with the level of dancing this season. Katherine is so humble and says if they brought some enjoyment to fans Monday night, that’s what they were hoping for. You can tune into more of this interview below…
Also, Mark has written another new blog for USA Today on their upcoming Jive which you can read about below. Be sure to read the link too because he’s planning something special Monday night to tweet to his fans.
Jive week is always one of my favorites, as it’s one of my favorite dances. This week , I can promise you an action-packed, fun, rockin’ jive with a touch of a theme and some slick, sexy costumes. In fact, I don’t think Katherine has ever worn something this sassy!
Looking back, I’m glad we prepared our jive routine during the four-week training period before the season premiere. It has definitely made this week less stressful when it comes to getting the choreography down.
I am really excited about getting on the floor and showcasing Katherine in the Latin round. Our music this week is really rockin’ too, which always helps with inspiration.
Sometimes with dwts its not always about the better dancer its about fan bases rightly or wrongly and Katherine does not have that big a fanbase in the US however maybe people will see she is good and vote for her as a dancer …i mean people pay money and vote so they should be allowed to vote for who they want….however this season nobody is terrible, there are some forerunners where they appear to be slightly ahead than the others but until we have seen each celeb do one of Broom and one of latin im reserving judgement! my favs from week 1 were in the foxtrots, i prefer that to the cha cha anyways , however this season i will vote for the best dancer and not who my heart wants to win lol
Im confident they’ll survive week 1 and beyond. They’re very good. The best of this good season IMO.
I’m sure that Markie wants to keep all of Katherine previous dance experience mum, seeing that all of the other contestants were not to pleased to find out about Sherri and Val and the whole possibly *cheating* thing.
Maybe someone will throw HIM under the bus to see how he likes it. Maks?? Where you at?
It amazes me how people went after Nicole when she was not the only ringer that season. Hello,Evan. Then Mya who had the most dance experience gets no where the hate Nicole got. Then Kristi who was that dual ringer who danced against no cmpetition!
Dance experience or not, Katherine also already learned foxtrot! Which she then perfected for weeks before the show. The hypocrisy is awful. Sadly Mark is not big enough of a pro star to draw interest from curious press IMO but hopefully he gets down under the bus just so he knows how it feels. But Mark seems to never learn his lessons so might not do him any good anyway.
I am checking out of this season though if it is all Katherine and her amazing arc when it smnot.
I already feel like that jive this Wednesday is going to be an Emmy baiting jive. Why wonder Mark is so happy this season. Now can he also be happy when he had Melissa Hart and Shannon Doherty. She said how he only made time for her whe tmz made fun of him for ignoring her when she wanted to rehearse for the finale for their brief dance. She wanted to redeem herself. He did not care until shamed by tmz. Great teacher, Mark.
Note he said a touch of a theme. Which means he is his usual jive stuff with a rock n roll take or any again he is going to beat ou over the head with his literal interruption choreo. We will see but expecting his Emmy baiting to begin with Katherine.
I’m a little confused- what dance experience does Katherine have? Last I heard this no dancing while singing opera hahaha
****Evil Giggle****
@Heidi’s post is a polite version of yelling
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT !!!!!!! LOL
Moi? Polite? That’s a first.
Ay, Ayana, don’t get everyone started on the whole “dance experience” “cheating” “hypocrisy” thing all over again. I haven’t been following all the discussion but I think the main points are Katherine learned the foxtrot as a teen, had some ballet (not sure on that point), and learned paso doble for a video. The problem for most folks is that she and Mark don’t acknowledge that she’s done these things and/or that it’s given them a leg up on the competition. It doesn’t bother me, but then I’ve worked my way past the whole “ringer” thing because I like to see good dancing more than improvement. Also, I freely admit that I’m not sure I can be 100% impartial on this debate because I’ve taken to Katherine. So on that note, I’m going to recuse myself from any further discussion on this and say that I look forward to Katherine and Mark’s Jive and hope they’ve convinced enough people to vote for them to avoid an early elimination.
Ayana, there is video of her doing a VERY good tap dance and also video of what appears to be a Paso, a la Cheryl Cole. Meaning, not a true Paso but a dance heavily influenced by Paso and taught to her by a pro.
Heidi, please don’t give Maks any ideas about outing Katherine’s ringer status. He seems determined to stay on his best behavior this season. Hopefully he won’t succumb to the temptation.
She also admitted to learning foxtrot before. So while people are up in arms over Nicole or Roshon this season, they never had ballroo. People lumped Nicole in with the PCD dance troupe which she was not a part of. Btw, pcd dancing is something even Kim K, did once and we know how much of a leg up that gave her on dwts.
Anyway, ringers do not bug me but my issue is the lack of acknowledgement and I think it is something else to have ballroom experience. That is one thng the show was avid about when defending Nicole, Mya etc. But them not admitting it, particularly Mark who threw Derek under the bus despite Mark having more ringers, and them all acting so surprised like she was the second coming of a Brooke or Gilles ( true novices with talent) bugs.
Don’t worry, I doubt Maks takes any direction from me. Or anyone else for that matter.
Oh okay thanks for the info! I’ll have to look for those videos.
I looked everywhere, I see no proof of her dancing the foxtrot when she was a teen. Which by the way was like 10-15 years ago. Sure i saw the video of her tap dancing, so what. She acknowledged in an interview that she took tap lessons when young. People are just trying to start drama. JUST ENJOY THE DANICING!!!!
It’s not Maks that you need to tell….tell LizzieG. She’ll make something out of it if it benefits her guys lol.
Melissa, Did you say that Mark isn’t a big enough star of a pro? You mean the one who danced with Palin’s daughter, then dated Pia Toscano, was nominated for an emmy or two for his season 12 dances? ROTF
You are making his fans, the Markettes, who read this site, heads’ explode right now! 
Spoken like a true fan. But don’t tell people what to think or how to react.
Well people went after Jennifer for dancing decades ago, not even ballroom, and still called her a ringer at 50 with neck injuries. The double standard with some of Mark’s fans are hilarious.
Again, the judges should not fawn over it and try so hard to keep Will and Katherine up. She already learned foxtrot yet judges acted like she was Brooke or Gilles. The tongue baths were a bit much.
Angela, there doesn’t have to be PROOF of her dancing when she said it herself.
He was nominated for ONE Emmy and dancing with Palin was more punishment than perk. And…Pia WHO??? LOL.
That said, he’s a bigger star than some of the newer pros and some of the ladies. I think he only gets beaten by Derek, Maks and Cheryl.
But I don’t think he’s nearly a big star like he was. Kind of like Cheryl. But then again, it only takes one great partner.
I hate the way Mark acts when his partners have trouble dancing like Kim K. He acts like hes over it and doesnt really try. I remember he didn’t really try with MJH until she got a 29.
dancing with Bristol actually had one benefit. Seeing Sarah Palin do that dance move (the shimmy one). That was pretty funny to watch. Oh and he got to have a partner dance in a cage. I think that was a first for a contestant (Miley did it for her DWTS performance so i THINK he stole the idea from her)
Lastly, Mark says “Jive week is always one of my favorites, as it’s one of my favorite dances. This week , I can promise you an action-packed, fun, rockin’ jive with a touch of a theme and some slick, sexy costumes”. I don’t expect polka dots now but i expect the spats. The last time i saw him this excited for a jive was chelsea’s jive. I hope it turns out well.
@vin – Hmmmm…. Chelsea’s jive….. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to Chelsea’s jive: Polka-dots? Check. Bizarre choreography? Check. Getting Tee’d off at Len for calling him on said bizarre choreography? Double-check. Spats? TRIPLE-CHECK!!!!
Markie is about as excited for Katherine’s jive as he was for Chelsea? Oh, boy! Sounds like it’s time to buckle-up!
I loved Chelsea’s Jive.
My expectation for Katherine’s is that it will be more pretty and less punchy. I don’t see her doing kick ass intensity which is so fun to see when the ladies turn it on. But I could be wrong. I can’t even imagine her face making a Jive expression, other then- “oh my, I’m so surprised and a bit confused”- you know, like those: lady gets dragged into having fun by a devilish boy story lines.
I agree Sandy, he has lost some steam. And I think it’s partly due to what a lot of people have mentioned about Mark – that he disconnects as soon as he realizes his partner isn’t that good. I doubt we’re the only ones who notice that.
Putting Bristol Palin in a cage has all kinds of funky subtext too.
Yikes that was a nightmare as well as the monkey suit. I sure hope Mark doesn’t make Katherine to do anything like that. O_O
@Voguerista: If he does put her in a monkey suit or some odd getup I think it would totally throw her off. She looks so damn prim and proper that Latin dances might be her weakness. I can’t see ehr letting loose and having fun in a latibn dance.
@Sally: hopefully they give him a spot in the 1rst hour (like lets say 4th) becuase the quicker its over with the better.