DWTS Carrie Ann Inaba Writes About The Final Four, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, And More
Carrie Anne Inaba wrote about last night’s dances at Parade.com. She also talks of Maks and how they are so much alike. As I started to read over her words, I knew right where it was heading being they are both “Capricorns”. Below are her thoughts about the final four….
Now, I have to say that at the beginning of the season, I would never in a million years have guessed that our finalists would have turned out to be Jack Osbourne and Cheryl Burke, Corbin Blue and Karina Smirnoff, Amber Riley and Derek Hough, and Bill Engvall and Emma Slater. I thought for sure we’d see Elizabeth Berkley in there as well as either Brant Daughtry, Nicole Snooki P, or Christina Milian. I mean, we had the best set of dancers to start off with in all 17 seasons. We started out with some incredible talent, the likes of which we hadn’t seen since our All-Star Season. I think that’s what made it more exciting in many ways. Losing great dancers like that was frustrating, but it was also fascinating to watch. I know it is frustrating on many levels for those who want the “best dancers” in the finals, but I do think that we have two of the best dancers and two of the most improved in the finals. And this is a nice representation of what the show is about.
I will say that by reading my Twitter feed and commentary, it is quite apparent that the fans and our wonderful audience are really split on how they want this to turn out. Some are absolutely up in arms about Corbin and Amber having so much dance in their background. And there are just as many who are upset that Bill has made it this far. But mostly everyone agrees that Jack deserves to be in the finals. It’s interesting to read all the different opinions. I think it’s fantastic that our audience is so passionate about it. I want to say that learning ballroom after being a “commercial” dancer or a jazz dancer or a hip-hop dancer is not as easy as you think. You have to unlearn many things. There is such a specific technique to ballroom and Latin that it can almost drive a jazz/hip-hop dancer insane. After dancing many years with your weight placed one way, your posture slightly forward for the most part, using your head to accentuate every move, learning to keep your head still, posture completely altered, and the weight placement on your feet different depending on the dance is challenging and extremely frustrating. It’s like dancing in a metal cage after being free to express yourself. But that is what makes this competition so interesting even for those who have had dance experience in their background.
Lots more at Parade.com.
She actually brings up an interesting point about Jack – he does seem to be the only contestant that the two camps (the “good dancers only!” camp vs. the “it’s all about the journey, no ringers!” camp) can agree deserves to be in the finale. Maybe amidst all this screaming about Amber, Corbin, & Bill, he’s getting more votes than we think…?
Perhaps that middle ground he has been in all season has turned out to be a good thing?
So true!!
I love Jack! He’s been so enjoyable to watch all season, and I’m so glad he’s in the finals. I feel like both him and Kelly missed their calling as ballroom dancers, because (I re-watched some of Kelly’s ballroom dances today) they’re both terrific in hold. It makes me feel kind of bad for them, having grown up in the spotlight and not having as normal a childhood as they maybe could have had. But hey, they both seem to be doing better, so all the best to them.
Pertaining to Corbin and Amber, I have one question: have they both really had that much dance experience? I used to watch Glee, and the dancing on there wasn’t exactly hardcore, unless you were Heather Morris or Harry Shum. Am I missing something? Did Amber take dance lessons that I’m not aware of?
Same goes for Corbin. I watched HSM a LONG time ago, but as far as I remember, the dancing in that didn’t seem too difficult either. I know Corbin’s been on Broadway and all, but did he ever have legitimate dance training?
Go Jack! 🙂
I just love Jack and I’m back to liking and respecting Cheryl more than I ever have!!
Sara,
Corbin studied under Debbie Allen. She’s amazing and I was so excited to see her in his BTS package last night even I think it might hurt his chances.
I don’t get why people continue with the Amber has so much dance experience thing either. The experience that she has is a practice at learning things with a quick turn around time. Because even though I adore him, they would not bring Chord Overstreet, her glee cast mate, on DWTS and say the same thing about all this dancing background and experience. She literally says in the BTS packages I had to choose singing over dancing multiple times yet people don’t believe her or something, I don’t know.
Drew,
Thanks so much! I didn’t know about Corbin and Debbie Allen, so that clears a lot of things up for me. For a while I thought people just labeled him as “having dance experience” because of HSM and his Broadway work, but that makes a lot more sense.
I don’t get Amber having dance experience either. Learning simple choreography to decorate a vocal performance isn’t exactly “dance training.” If it was, hell, I have professional dance experience 😛
Cheryl was more like her old self this season. I don’t know if it was her partnership with Jack or her new makeover? Something clicked this season.
Honestly, this final 4 is the best of the best.. All for different reasons and something for everyone and I really don’t care who wins this season.
I love her analogy between ballroom/Latin & other forms of dance. I hadn’t thought of it like that before & it makes a good deal of sense. I know a lot of dancers on SYTYCD tend to struggle with ballroom/latin.
And yes CAI, you should have given Bill’s Argentine Tango a 9! It was his best dance and worthy of at least one 9.
Sara, according to Amber she took ballet classes but had to stop at age 12. After that she danced and sang at the church. Her qualifications according to her bio inc acting, dancing and singing.
Amber gets lumped in with Corbin and Liz (and, I assume, Christina) because she is doing well and partnered with Derek. Actual reality never really enters into the discussion when Derek is involved. All his partners have dance experience, dontcha know. 🙂
Yeahhh no. Ballet dancing at age 12 do not a ringer make. If it did, every female to dance on the show would qualify as a ringer. Dancing in church? I think you mean swaying.
If we start counting these things as qualifications to be a dancer, then you have to include dancing in nightclubs – which means EVERYONE is a ringer.
Every smart hollywood type inflates their resume as much as the men inflate their heights.