Afterbuzz TV And Shirley Ballas Break Down DWTS18 Week 8
Below is the new Afterbuzz TV episode for the Dancing With The Stars Quarterfinals. Shirley Ballas was their guest. They first discussed Abby Miller and how she judges. They felt much like we did on her.
Next, they reviewed all the dances and duels. I was noting to myself while listening how Shirley and our Courtney shared similar views about the dances technically (if you haven’t read Courtney’s new power rankings, do so here to see what I mean).
Also, many of you have been wondering if Derek Hough helped with the choreography of the opening number. He did along with Mark and his dancer Meesha. Shirley also plugged Mark’s new music and video. I almost cried during this part for how she explained “Dancing is Mark’s hobby, but, music is his passion”. Beautiful!
Anyway, great show. See if you agree or disagree with them this time and let us know in comments.
Well, that was some serious advertising for Mark’s new single by mum Ballas 😀
To me, that really showed that if the show ever went for a fourth judge, Shirley would be the perfect fit. She’s got the perfect knowledge with judging credentials and it’s a shame that we’ve had people such as Redfoo guesting instead of her. She said she’d want to be on the panel and I think she’d work great.
You have to love how Shirley goes on about Mark and, to a lesser extent cuz it’s further out, Derek’s activities, promoting them though.
I LOVED this episode. This is the best Suri’s done as leader. She kept things on track and moving but still allowed for good depth of discussion. I loved hearing what Shirley had to say. Of course they love having her as a guest and respect her so much and it’s very clear why.
She sure does love those 2 boys. But I think she has deep affection for many of her past students and would judge fairly and give positive and constructive feedback.
I didn’t mind the promotion. All their guests have a chance to promote what’s going on in their lives. She kept that promotion to discreet times when she was asked specifically about her life or about Mark.
I love Shirley Ballas. Though she is obviously biased in terms of Mark and Derek in wanting them to win, I think she would be a very fair judge. Since she’s trained almost all of them she would most likely treat them all the same.
Great show I thought. Got to love Shirley promoting her son but why not!! Jules seemed to reign himself in which was a nice change from the week before in particular.
I really enjoyed this afterbuzz, and I am now a big Shirley Ballas fan. She seemed to bring a grace, calm and even perhaps order to the studio-even Julz toned it down a bit (yay!), agree with Judy. That could also be because the regulars were on their best behavior, showing her respect, as she had coached Anna and perhaps Julz? Their respect for her stuck out even more to me given ALM being on DWTS this week, and the negativity surrounding her. Somehow I just can’t see Shirley making suggestive and icky comments about male dancers while judging them and their partners.
I had no problem with Shirley promoting Mark-she did it so nicely, with such affection and motherly pride, and pretty much only spoke about him at the end when invited to do so. It did not detract from the show for me.
I liked that they seemed to stay on track a bit better this week (less Julz pop ups perhaps), and concentrated more on the dances and the plusses and minuses. Anna is beginning to grow on me. I missed Kristyn, but I thought Siri did a good job. Thumbs up.
Courtney, do you happen to know IF DWTS has ever considered/asked Shirley to be a guest judge on the show? She probably wouldn’t be known to the general public like some of the guest judges this season. But definitively in the dance world and the DWTS fandom she would be well known. I think if Len were ever to retire, Shirley should be considered (if she has the time) because I think she can be tough, but she has the resume to back herself up. I just love Shirley! I think she wld be great as a judge on SCD also!
You know Mark gets his pimping abilities from both Shirley and Corky. But I didn’t mind Shirley promoting Mark so much here because she is SO PROUD of him and he has been working for many years to reach this point. Mark’s song is great, the video looks like it’s going to be amazing, and he he has a lot of support from his friends and family. Mark and Derek aren’t going to be on DWTS forever… Derek has a ton of stuff and options he can turn to if he didn’t want to be on the show. I’d like Mark to have success off the show as well.
@Elmari – I don’t really have any intel on that. But with regards to whether the general public would know her or not, I think she would be more well-known (as Mark’s mother) and relevant to the average viewer than, say, Donnie Burns, who was a guest judge back in season 12.
Just a few thoughts on Afterbuzz…
*For the love of god, pleeeease don’t add fuel to the showmance fire, Suri & Co! It’s beginning to get hard to have a rational conversation with some fans without them launching into an in-depth analysis of Meryl & Maks’ body language and how it shows they’re meant to be together forever.
*Everyone keeps talking about how Maks is “happy, calm Maks” this season. Ummm, duh – he has a contender and he thinks he’s gonna win. But even with that, he’s still had a few little Maks tantrums – the samba duel rehearsal is a good example. He’s still the same old Maks…he’s just hiding it a bit better this season. And Meryl just copes better than his previous partners…
*I don’t think Danica & Meryl were at as much of a disadvantage with their duel as some (namely Anna) are saying – no one said they COULDN’T dance together in hold, just that they didn’t HAVE to. I still stand by my claim that Danica doing a shadow roll with Meryl would have brought the house down. And you can do far more interesting samba choreography side-by-side than what Maks & Val gave them – hell, I would just cobble together some moves from Yulia Zagoruychenko’s solo work in she & Riccardo’s showcase sambas; just seems like they got a bit lazy and just threw something together at the last minute.
Other than that, I found myself agreeing with a lot of what was said – Shirley & I did kind of share a brain this week, Vogue 😉
I think it was Mischa Gabriel who helped with the choreography for marks song. He was also in step up 4…. Or I could be completely wrong lol
Oh and I love Shirley Ballas…. She is the Mary Poppins of Dance
#10 Courtney, re calm Maks. I think part of what’s also keeping him calm is he’s got a bigger “support system” around him this season. Besides Val and Tony, now he’s got Erin around at rehearsals and on show nights and with all the traveling and time they spend doing their own traveling, eating out, etc. I imagine he’s bonded a lot with Sharna. And he seems to always have someone from back home out there visiting.
Courtney, I think you both did too. So cool!! 😉
Also, amen to what you said on the Maks and Meryl showmance. I had to work today and my boss is believing it all hook, line, and sinker. I had to tell her that it’s not true.
Love Shirley Ballas! I think she would make the perfect permanent judge and replace CAI. She’s a legend and she’s funny and witty and personable. I think that would also be a great breath of fresh air in the judges chemistry with two ballroom Brits and Bruno.
IMO, Maks has always had a huge support system around him. Former troupe members were his students, he has a great big group of family and friends that support the heck out of him. He’s never been lacking in the ego department. But he’s a grown man and shouldn’t need all of this extraneous support in order to not blow up in irrational tirades towards women. I feel sorry for Meryl having to put up with him and having to constantly calm him. That’s not her job. That’s no one else’s job but Maks’. I agree he’s just hiding it better this season, to an extent.
I thought Shirley was really unbiased. She had very kind things to say about Maks and how affectionate he is with people he knows. It leads me to believe that perhaps this kind of competition is perhaps just not a good fit for him. This has nothing to do with his dance ability or even his ability to choreograph. We all have to know what works for us within the context of our careers and abilities. For example, I can work with sex offenders of children. Lots of people in my profession can’t. That doesn’t mean they aren’t great therapists,they just aren’t their best with that population. The Maks Shirley described doesn’t sound like the Maks we see. She did of course follow up her comment with the fact that Meryl is a contender and I thought Julz was spot on when he talked about how rare it is to be able to just tell a celeb what to do and they can just do it. The showmance thing is “yuck” but he does seem a bit kinder this season though at times I can see that tick in his cheek…lol. Ha, can you tell I am wishy washy about him this season and frankly that is better than other seasons…lol.
Does anyone know if they transcribe these shows? I have too short of an attention span to ever devote time to watching the clips, but I would love to zip through a transcript on the very small chance they are available. This is nothing against AB or the people on them, it’s just my own personal hang-up with watching videos, and this goes for most of the press clips and everything else. This is why I ADORE when you guys summarize and editorialize on the content, it keeps me informed to what is being said out there and helps me appreciate all the diverse opinions.
I thought this was a really good AfterBuzz; Shirley really brought a lot to the table, and it was great to hear her opinion. She has such a lot of experience with *all* the pros on the show (past and present). I missed having Kristyn in house, but Suri did a good job of keeping things moving (once a little *too* fast – Julz had to jump in to talk about Amy and Derek’s AT).
I agree that Charlie and Candace’s contemporary was underscored – there was no need to dock them two points for a slight slip by Sharna that I *think* I may have finally spotted – and I think that dance deserved a perfect score. I also think that James and Amy’s jive could have been a perfect score as well.
I think Shirley Ballas is a beautiful woman inside and out, and I think she would be a great judge on DWTS whether it be a guest or regular. She sure is proud of Mark & Derek and I’m sure Julianne as well. I enjoyed listening to her opinions of each couple. I would rather she would have been on as judge for week 8. But next week we will have a refreshing change for a guest judge. I enjoy Afterbuzz because it great to get your opinions and having a pro like Anna and a guest like Shirley gives great insight to what professional dancers think about the dances of each couple.
I finally found the time to watch. First off, Shirley looks absolutely fabulous. I’ll have what she’s having!
Julz continues to annoy me with his over the top antics. Whenever Anna was speaking Julz kept looking off and making faces to someone out of camera range. It was incredibly distracting.
When Shirley Ballas says that their were many side by side Samba steps Meryl and Danica could have done that would have looked better than what they did, then you better believe it. I can think of three off the top of my head (don’t know what they’re called, but I can see them in my head) and I’ve never danced Samba in my life.
I always miss Kristyn when she’s not in studio, but Suri did a great job as host.
All four handled the ALM as judge business very well. The displeasure they felt at her being a judge on the show was stated maturely.