DWTS Season 16 – Derek Hough Blogs for TV Guide
And another pro blogger joins the ranks. Derek is very sporadic with blogging – some seasons he does them and some seasons he doesn’t. Anyway, he’s excited about Kellie and, while not saying he broke the rules a lot, he does say that’s what people claimed but guess what?? He and Shawn also had the most Youtube views (by huge margin) and he wants to go memorable again with Kellie. Will he break the rules? I imagine, as usual, there are some who will claim he does when he doesn’t – but I think we can be sure that he will NEVER be boring. Thank god. Let’s hope that Mark and Val follow his lead and make this season about AMAZING dancing. Here’s an excerpt of Derek’s Blog from TV Guide:
I’m having a great time with Kellie. She’s a wonderful person and such a hard worker, and I’m so happy I decided to come back this season. I had every intention of taking the season off to work on some other projects, but ultimately it didn’t feel like the right time to leave. On top of that, I’ve always multi-tasked and I love the show. I was actually in the hospital with my mom and I had this overwhelming feeling that I wanted to do this season. It didn’t feel right to take this one off. I’ve been trying to listen to my instincts a lot more, so I’m really happy I listened because I met Kellie. The funny thing is Kellie’s grandfather is a huge fan of the show and wanted me to be her partner, so Kellie is very excited because she gets to fulfill her grandfather’s wish.
We have the cha-cha as our first dance. Kellie’s looking great. She has such natural ability and skill. The cha-cha will be very traditional since the first dance is about an introduction, but our second dance, the jive, is really going to surprise people. We’re going to step it up a little bit. I like to play around with my partner and see what they’re good at and work around that, and Kellie’s good at almost anything — no joke! I’m constantly impressed by what she can do. The choreography is going to be super-intricate. We were working on it the other day and I said, “We’ve only got 20 seconds, but there’s more choreography in those 20 seconds than there is in an entire dance.”
I’ve gotten heat from the judges, especially last season, for “breaking the rules” and being too out-there with choreography, but I’m not really going to change my approach. I think you’ve got to push yourself, and that’s what we’re doing with the jive. A fan told me that Shawn had more YouTube views than anyone else last season and that’s sort of what I choreograph for — not the number of YouTube views, but people who want to go back and watch it again and again. I’d rather please the people who watch the show and entertain them than just please the judges. I want to do both, but if it means I kind of have to step out of line, so to speak, I will. We want to step it up and challenge ourselves. I value the judges, but I want to make a lasting impression and good routines. There are a few that stand out. But no one else says, “Remember that samba you did one time that was sort of forgettable?”
Thanks for this, PH! Glad to hear Derek doesn’t plan on becoming a “judges’ pet” after the scolding they gave him last season.
I’d love to see Val thumb his nose at the Stooges too and go out on a choreographic limb with Zendaya because I’m sure she can handle it, but he might decide to play it straight in hopes of finally getting a MBT for the Chmerkovskiy family mantle.
omg, i had the exact same thought. I read the blog before i came on here, and I got really excited.
Derek of course needs no spurring to be creative and always seems to push himself choreo wise…but then i thought, all 3 male pros that have the potential to be the most creative choreo-wise (derek, mark, and hopefully val) ALL got some darn capable partners.
So i hope derek comes out of the gate swinging and really pushes val and mark, because this could create some amazing dances this season.
and the most creative females in karina and kym didnt get duds either
The problem with Melissa winning last season is that it could be seen by Val and Mark as a reflection of Derek’s choreo, as brilliant as it was. I think that’s asinine and him and Shawn not winning was a lot more complicated than that…from people not wanting Derek to win again, to poor tony, to a lot of people assuming Derek/Shawn had it in the bag….the list goes on. What I don’t think it was is a reflection of Derek’s choreo or supposed rule breaking – that seems to be limited to die hard wacko fans of other pros.
So…are mark and Val really desperate to win? Or do they want to be the guys who have dances that people watch over and over again? Do they want to be guys with a legit shot at an Emmy? Because playing it safe wont get them either, IMO. Look at what dwts dances have been nominated. Those with celeb partners have included Derek and Nicole’s rule breaking quickstep and mark and Chelsea’s wizard waltz.
Of course, if Mark and Val make it to the finale with Derek, Peewee baseball rules dictate Val wins. 🙂 I’d be okay with that if he goes balls to the wall and cuts loose on the choreo.
I guess we find out in the next couple weeks.
I can see Mark especially, and Val too now, believing in themselves that they are also very creative, that creativity is part of their identity, not just fabulous dancer and with their capable partners really go for it, competing among themselves to really shine separate from, or in some kind of calculated balance with, these 3 judges points.
Beyond alienating the judges (at least officially for scoring and critique purposes), I think there is some portion, be it big or small, of the viewing audience who also just want straight up ballroom dancing, like the old days of the show and are offended by what they see as “broadway or theater”…So, like Derek did last season, anyone who wants to “step out of line” as he put it, should have frank talks with their celebs so they understand the risk.
Guess there’s something for everyone. Some will do the take the more traditional approach and others will add some outside the box to it.
And as yo said, Karina and Kym didn’t get duds either. Let the games begin!
I so love how Derek answered his fans questions in his blog. I’m not a country music fan,but I do think he and Kellie look adorable together and no matter who his partner may be, I always enjoy watching Derek’s creative choreo!
I’m loving this. Please Derek, continue to post these every week!!!
I’m hoping that Val was given a creative push last season by Derek like he claimed. And I hope that Mark has some balls. 🙂 The fact that Mark and Derek are sharing videos of their partners with each other gives me some sort of hope.
Then I hope that Kellie, Zendaya and Aly really ARE as good at dancing as we think they might be.
Hope Val’s creativity isn’t just a speedo flamenco. =/
I said it before and say it again: that Tri(o)bal Samba was the best dance of last season, IMO.
Just hope the pros don’t do this just bc they are looking for an emmy…
I think Val can do better, if he wants to, Carlos.
As for the Emmy – there has to be balance. Fit the dance to your partners strengths, make it entertaining, be creative and don’t worry about Len so much. Derek got yelled at a few times last season but most of the time it was for bullshit reasons. Not a single rule was broken in his Cha Cha, but he still took flack from Len for a *cow*. They got crap for that Tribal Samba that also didn’t break the rules – and many professionals said afterward that it had plenty of Samba content. It’s not that they have to break the rules so much as they can’t choreograph around fears that it might not fit Len’s *subjective* opinion on what should (and shouldn’t) be in a given dance style. And most of the time, that’s exactly what it is – subjective. The very uneven way that critiques are handed out should be enough to make you say “F#$k it” – I’m going to make this a great dance, one way or another. There is so much manipulation in the judges comments and so many agendas, that at some point you have to just go with your own gut. I think Derek has figured that out. He’s always had the show figured out, but I think he’s developed an even deeper understanding of what’s going on. Maybe Len told him one too many times, behind the scenes, how great his dances are.
Great blog. I appreciate Derek’s honesty and he is definitely paying attention to his fans.-lol His routines with Shawn were amazing and memorable. As many have said, he only choreographed one routine that broke the rules. He is a very passionate performer and lives to entertain. His choreography is proof of that!!
I can’t wait to see him and Kellie hit the dance floor and he seems to be super excited as well.
Go Derek!