DWTS Maksim Chmerkovksiy Says He’s “Done Dancing” On The View
Val and Maksim Chmerkovksiy were on The View today. One of the things that Maks mentions is that he’s done dancing on Dancing With The Stars. He said, “When I came back to the show, it was not the same. I was different, probably. When I came back, I saw this amazing talent, Val [Chmerkovskiy, his brother] included. I looked at it and thought they can do much more and better, I was taking up a huge spot.” Thanks to The Wrap, here is some video. The Wrap also included this quote…
At the end of the episode, moderator-for-a-day Jenny McCarthy clarified that although Maks is not going to come back as a pro dancer, but he may return in some capacity at a later date. That can be translated as “judge,” but we don’t know for sure.
I don’t mind if he comes back as a judge once…just please, don’t let it be full time. I like the judging panel just as it is.
ETA: So, Andy Cohen interviewed Maks on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens LIVE” while Joan Rivers sits in. He talks on more of the same on Dancing With The Stars. And did you know that Kirstie Alley isn’t speaking to him? Interesting. And again, they have to ask on his relationship with Meryl and J Lo.
ETA2: Interesting….Maks has signed with a different agency. You can read about it at Hollywood Reporter. Thanks to Ashley for the heads up.
Dancing With the Stars’ Maksim Chmerkovskiy has signed with ICM Partners, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
On July 29 he announced on The View that he would not return for DWTS’ 19th season. His signing with a major agency (he previously was with Rebel Entertainment Partners) signals that he is ready to parlay his DWTS fame into further opportunities.
Good grief…. 1 Mirror Ball win and he acts as if he can’t do any better… maybe he can’t. None of the other winning pros acted this way after their first win or second and third wins for that matter. Season 18 was NOT the be all /end all of DWTS , he needs to get over himself.
It sounds like his dwts story is over now aside from judging maybe so now hopefully we can put season 18 to bed and look to season 19
::edited by Heidi – Don’t tell people how to post::: Season 18 was the best ever and you can see that by ratings. He wants to leave on top because Ike some atlethes he does not need anymore wins with DWTS. He has achieved perfection and his dream with Meryl Davis, why taint that ? The passion, emotion, love and chemistry he had with her will not be found ever for him or any other dancers in the show. He is a great dancer and a great person and deserves the best. MnM will forever be remember.
Season 18 was NOT the best ever, not even according to the ratings. It had better ratings than the recent past but that is attributable to the entire cast, not just Maks (although a showmance has gotten many an audience – just look at Twilight and Vampire Diaries). That is easily shown by the crappy ratings they had when Maks was on the show prior to this past season. Anyone who truly believes the ratings are impacted – seriously impacted, not just a tiny 1% – by any ONE professional dancer is delusional. You can’t honestly tell me that Charlie, Meryl, Amy, Candace, Danica, James, Cody, Derek, Mark, Cheryl and all the rest weren’t just as valuable as Maks. Delusion.
And let’s be real – Maks wants to leave now because he’s getting older and he knows he’ll never have another partner who is as massive a ringer as Meryl who he can showmance to the top with – I notice that great dancing wasn’t in your list, Kathy. I don’t blame him, if the ONLY reason you do the show is to win a MBT. And for PR for your studios. But in reality, Maks himself realizes that he doesn’t bring as much to the table in terms of choreo and dancing as Val/Derek/Mark and everyone else – that’s just a matter of training and nothing to be ashamed of, really. As long as he admits it, he’s a bigger person than most of his fans are.
Anyway, I wish Derek would do something else – well, I mean I wish he would leave DWTS. Clearly that boy IS doing a lot of other things.
I’m glad he realizes what I’ve believed all along – the show has changed and he hasn’t. But seriously….. This is the same news over and over again. He didn’t say he wouldn’t judge he just said he wouldn’t dance. I hate when people in the spotlight DRAG SH** OUT LIKE THIS. It’s annoying.
And….. I just wish he’d shut up and let Val be the cute one.
I am so sick of this guy. I just wonder what he would have done if he did not win the MBT – like Hillary Clinton said, she was afraid for his sanity if he did not win. Goodness, the crying, the emotion, I’ve never seen any of the other pros display such thing when they won.
And still, he is playing the JLo/Meryl thing – he won’t just say that he is not dating them oh no, he’s still trying to drag the delusional M&M fans into continued shipping. And speaking of delusionals, they are not convinced that M&M will be proclaiming their engagement pretty soon.
How is he going to judge when he can’t even come up with an interesting routine? Will we be seeing more of near kisses/walking/rolling on the floor if he is going to be a judge since
he thinks that is a novel way of choreo?
And Season 18 is not the best and M&M is not the best. To even compare
Derek’s routines with Maks’ is laughable.
Maks, enough already. Bye Bye
A year from now how many people will even remember who he won with? Season 18 will always be the season Maks finally won. Meryl will never be more than an afterthought and the accessory that got him the win.
I read into his words as him saying the OTHER PRO DANCERS are better and more talented…doing better choreography and dances such as contemporary, hip hop, disco, jazz, fusion, Bhangra (cough cough)…etc.
During all star season, he made it known that he didn’t like how the show was making pros do hip hop, disco and jazz…..he said it after Karina’ s hip hop with Apollo.
#6 Ria
Maks feeds off the tabloids instead of it being the other way round. He really likes the tabloidy gossip because it keeps his name out in news to boost his jewelry and vodka sales, business ventures of his that have nothing to do with dancing. Judging from this, his passion obviously isn’t dancing. Why did he want the MBT in the first place? What did he want to prove other than boost his ego and money? “Done dancing” makes it sound like dancing is a very unpleasant chore for him. I don’t think anyone who has that mentality has any business judging others who put their heart and soul into it.
Well he’s going to be on watch what happens live tonight with Joan rivers and I am very interested to see how that duo will work lol
I am not a fan of Joan Rivers but I hope she ask him questions that will put him in the hot seat.
I seriously hope he is not judging next season. He has slept and had relationships with two of the pros and was engaged to one of them. His brother is a pro on the show and his best friend is as well. Imo, he has too much baggage to be a judge. Just would be ridiculous for him to be giving opinions with so many vested interests and skeletons in his closet. If he means what he says then he should cut the chord and move on.
I very much agree Judy. Being a judge in a show where you have slept
with several of the pros competing and a brother pro to boot would be very much a travesty and too tacky for me. I sure wish they would choose a judge who has a ballroom dance background and a legitimate resume this time. I also wish they would kick CAI’s ass out because she is one of the most incompetent judges I’ve ever seen.
I could say so much about this…but I’m just gonna stick by my longtime hypothesis that Maks is the Kanye West of DWTS. “I’mma let the rest of you pros have your moment…but me ‘n’ Meryl had the greatest partnership of all-time. We changed the game…we are ICONS! I’m done.” *mic drop* *joins high-profile gf with large hindquarters at club*
As Heidi once said, between Maks & Lounge Lizard Grubman, we’ve never seen someone talk so much about what they’re NOT doing, and the amount of talking he does about his activities seems inversely proportional to how much he’s actually doing: the more he talks, the less he’s actually got going on. Basically the complete opposite of Derek: ten bazillion irons in the fire, and can’t bothered to say more than a couple words about any of them. 😛
yah and there was also a rainstorm in the Sahara last week … whatever floats your goat Maks — only thing keeping him relevant these days is JLo
Kate(1) — You said it all perfectly.
Reading through the comments reminded me of a video I saw once of Maks explaining how he got into dancing. He essentially said that he wasn’t good at anything else. It feels like it was part of the Russian culture to put your kid into lessons for something. So dancing is just something he did because his parents couldn’t find anything else he was good at. No passion for the activity at all. Therefore not a surprise that he’s done dancing; without the passion it’s just a lot of really really hard work. He mentioned that he was going to give the mirror ball to his mother, and said something to the effect of finally getting her off his back about never having won. He is so not into it. Shouldn’t be a judge.
Hell, Derek tweeted about his book signing tour and it was like a freakin’ MIRACLE. He has yet to actually tweet about his new TV show with Mark, other than a picture. I think his publicist might be holding his dog hostage to actually get to promote himself a teeny tiny fraction of the amount that Maks himself. 🙂
@Susan — that would explain his poor teaching skills.
If Maks is done dancing, what exactly is he going to do? That is, besides selling vodka and dating/not-dating J.Lo. He might choose to teach at DWM permanently, but IMO he’s too much of an attention-wh*re to be able to stand being out of the spotlight (tabloids) for too long.
And I don’t buy that he saw the other pros as more talented than him, it’s unlike him to be that magnanimous. That was probably the only reason he could think of to give rather than everything PH #4 stated.
I agree with you all. Heck, this is just another typical Maks interview with his brother sitting beside him just looking cute, while Maks does a lot of talking about a lot of nothing. Nothing new, but everything old. While Derek is blazing a trail of glory to becoming one of the greatest dancers & choreographers through the 21st century. His fame speaks for itself, he doesn’t need to appear on the tabloids to keep his career alive. Why even his tour was called “Move Live Tour” and it couldn’t have gotten any more “alive” as what people saw first-hand. Derek is living his dream and going strong!!
I have to agree that as permanent judge, Maks has had personal relationships with at least 2 of the female pros (that we know of), his brother who he most assuredly whats him to win the MBT next, and a co-business partner also an active pro on DWTS. How could having them standing their looking at ex-lover, or brother or business partner and judge them be anything but normal? Just not a good idea.
I’d rather keep the judges we have who aren’t personally connected to the pro dancers. Maks says he is done with the dancing. (that’s because his heart never was in it) But, I did enjoy Maks’ Latin dancing very much.
If Len should retire permanently, replace him with someone not connected to the show. It would just spell disaster otherwise.
Maks compared to Kanye West. Very interesting comparison.
“Kayne West”…that is an interesting comparison. lol And the first post has been updated with his new interview with WWHL for those interested. He talks on more of the same. Though I didn’t know Kirste wasn’t speaking to him anymore?
I just wish that tptb would monitor sites like this for opinions other than that Maks is saving DWTS from oblivion. Just don’t think they have a good feel for what viewers actually want. But there seems to be a lot of ladies who love Maks and they champion him. Personally, the less I see him on my tv the better and if he was on the show as a permenent judge I would not watch. I am sure I am not the only one.
Ya know…I feel sorry for Val. He always has to take a back seat to Maks. I would have liked to have see him interviewed more. If I was Val, I would try and separate myself more from Maks career wise because he’s more focused and the real talent here while Maks seems to be all tabloid right now. It’s sad.
I was really hoping that once they GAVE him his mbt he would go away. Pleaseee NO to using him as a judge. 🙁
Sooooo full of himself always. And isn’t this show supposed to be about the CELEBRITY? Meryl was put on the show and NOT with Derek JUST so Maks would get his turn to get a cheap mirrored trophy. If Meryl had been with Derek e viewers would have seen a season similar to Shawn J. Packed each week with stunning choreo and prob the real fun, genuine Meryl instead of some degraded and fake version of a lovesick child holding onto “her man”.
He can’t be a judge. His bias is beyond so obvious it would degrade the show even more than just if Derek doesn’t come back. If Derek isn’t on no-one will even try to bring on their version of good choreo and with no-one to push them the show won’t be worth watching. What I really want to know from these producers is WHEN can we STOP hearing anything about Maks? He should go use JLo for publicity more and STFU about the show he cares nothing about It drives me even further from the show every time his name comes up. In fact I used to like Val but now I want him gone too.
And S18 was not the “best” ever Maks. Someone still gloating over winning over a girl with no legs and her partner who outdanced him and was the modern true story version of Cinderella has a serious problem.
It seems with Maks that whenever you get a positive you get two negatives.
It was a positive thing to admit that it’s time to move on from dancing on the show because you’re getting older and possibly holding younger more talented dancers back.
But…….and it’s a big but, here we are almost 4 months and what has his public profile been? Appearing on talk shows still talking about his win, coyly diverting questions about his alleged celebrity hookups (Jlo, Kate Upton, whoever else Lizzy can get) and promoting his chances as possible judge on the show.
It’s kind of sad really. I get a whiff of almost desperation from him. He’s been top dog for so long now, at least in his mind and now there are other younger Alphas emerging.
If he ditches Lizzie, stops talking so damn much, ends the cheap publicity driven “romances” and grows the hell up then I’ll take him seriously.
Vogue, I agree about Val. While Val has some douchy tendencies, he’s a better dancer, choreographer and public personality than his brother. There’s some depth, intelligence and maturity there. I hope he never slips down that slippery slope of irrelevance that his brother seems to have.
Thanks Susan and I agree!
I knew it!
I was waiting to see what Kirstie would do when Leah got Tony for a partner and Tony, Maks and Val loved her and became friends with her. I just pictured Kirstie watching Leah on the show having a great time with Tony with steam coming out of her ears, livid that they liked her and in Kirstie’s mind chose Leah over Kirstie and her cult of Scientology. Absolutely nuts!
The whole Kirstie thing is ridiculous but makes total sense and explains a lot. I’ll never understand Scientology and I’m glad Leah got out.
And to make matters even worse, the whole cast loved Leah and her interviews for Extra with Tony were freakin’ hysterical. She’ll probably keep doing that. Poor, poor Kirstie. At that age and making your friends choose between you and your ex-friend. That’s some religion you got going there, honey.
Same ‘ole from the new tabloid sensation trying to make something out of nothing. Not a good thing when the only thing you have going is quitting your job and filling in air time with a lingering showmance and a high profile tabloid romance. Whoopee!!
Well said PH.
When your religion teaches you to hate and shun anyone who befriends or even likes an ex-member that’s pretty scary.
That’s not religion really, it’s people, in this case David Miscavige and his minions using religion as a means to control, manipulate, obfuscate and benefit for their own selfish means.
Bye Bye Maks! NOT sad that we won’t be seeing you as a Pro on S19! Now could you PLEASE take Tony with you? Pretty please?? I agree Heidi! Leah and Tony’s interviews for Extra were a HOOT! Especially the one with Derek 😮
I read the book that was written by Jenna Miscaivge, a former Scientologist and the niece of David Miscaivge..the head of Scientology. It is MIND BOGGLING what they go through. It’s a cult if I ever heard of one! Leah was questioned when she asked David where his wife was at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes 2006 Italian Wedding as no one had seen her publicly for awhile. Well THAT didn’t go over well with David and Leah was given the cold shoulder. I’m sorry but if someone told me that I couldn’t talk to a family member because they were Jewish and I was Scientologist…Um, NO!
So three things:
1) Well, that makes room for Artem, which is probably a good thing.
2) She isn’t talking to Maks because of that? What a weird reason.
3) Since Jenny is free of the View, I hope they get her for this season. I know she is a bit controversial (that whole needles thing) but if there is one thing that I like, it’s a large personality and she has that in spades.
Sidenote, Joan Rivers is hysterical. I was having the worst morning watched those videos and laughed so hard with the window open that my neighbors must think I am the Joker or the Riddler from Batman.
I give Maks a lot of credit for not hiding his friendship with Leah despite knowing what kind of “fallout” there would be with Kirstie. And kudos to him for speaking out about it. I’m sure Kirstie thought he’d never say anything publicly and make her look bad.
That’s sad and weird. I suspected Maks and Kirstie weren’t on speaking terms. She didn’t campaign for him during S18, and she didn’t congratulate him on his win.
Oh how I would hate having Maks on as a judge an will be happy if he is not on the show again even though I really enjoyed him dancing with Mel B and others. This last season, though, with Meryl’s real effort and abilities ignored for the romance-that-wasn’t and all the attention on Maks was just too annoying. The worst for me would be for Maks to be a judge and Derek to come back (which I selfishly want)and having Maks in a position of perceived power. And as someone else said …a judge who is supposed to judge two dancers that he had relationships with, a brother and a best friend…and so goes he reputation of the show.
In a recent interview he said it’s becoming difficult to get legitimate celebrities on DWTS. I sure hope he moves on to greener pastures, and I don’t mean the judges seat.
I am happy Maks is saying good-bye to DWTS, in fact I was happy the first time he left.
This past season had excellent dancing and excellent contestants, but fixing it for Maks was not right. He would not be able to keep with the new dances and the younger dancers, so I wish him all the best, and judging is not included. There will not be another Meryl for him. I watched the entire season over this summer, and saw incredible dancing from Charlie and Sharna, James and Peta, Amy OMG did she improve and gave us all such inspiration and Derek proved once again he is the man. Mark helped Candace grow and so much of that got lost in the MBT for Maks.
Jolie #41: You described it perfectly. Instead of letting the season be one of great dancing, the producers decided to sell out to ratings by creating a soap opera. It was obvious from the first question Maks asked Meryl in the 1st rehearsal package. Now, the shippers want the “lovers” to perform on the premiere? Thanks, but no thanks. Let them salivate over the ice dance program and let the rest of us move on to a new season.
Oh.. lots of reading…
Well I’m with mimi f. alexander – Maks was paired with M – to win the MBT (Let us not forget – Derek ASKED to dance with Amy, by his own words) – for 2 reasons – either to return as a judge (NO!!!), or to leave (YES please)… During the whole season all you could hear was – I or me… I really got fed up with it… you are right he became so full of him self – it sickening…
Val is much more easy going, his season with Kelly was funny (MY WATER BROKE….), the music competition with Mark B., very nice choreography, let me stay and develop and mature as a better dancer then his brother is.
Maks in a “position of power” over Derek? Only in his and his fans minds. Certainly not in Derek’s, I’m sure. I wouldn’t worry about that. Maks judging Derek is ludicrous on so many levels. 🙂
My response to Maks being “done with Dancing”, Thank u 6lb 8oz baby Jesus! and Maks, don’t let the door hit u where the good lord split u.
LMAO and well said, PJ(#45)
@PHeidi #44
Coming from you….I fell of my seat laughing! Love your quirky humor. 🙂
I really don’t think the showmance was planned (…not by the production team anyway-bear with me).
I don’t think anyone would have – could have pre-season guessed Maks and Meryl having such a great and sparkling romantic chemistry. That was unexpected. Looking back at first interviews it is obvious they were going for the olympian rivalry scheme, and the insider info that charlie was supposed to be with either karina or peta reinforces this. I think the rivalry is why they gave her Maks, even though on paper they seemed so missmatched: long time fans would have known Maks’ history with the female pro (valid for either Peta and Karina… ) and it would have made sense for casual viewers as well,Maks is the male pro I can see acting out this scheme, I can’t see Derek or Mark in a rivalry situation.
But I think they (production) jumped on the romance/showmance as soon as they saw the possibility. That’s why Charlie became visibly obsolete and was messed with.
I was very much sucked into the romance thing, I will admit it (…and as a long time Maks fan I am now very much dissapointed with his post show behaviour) With some distance and a cleared head I looked through interviews and packages and I now think Maks somewhat planned the whole thing. Or at least he is gulty of initiating it (and playing it up and milking it).
Of course it wouldn’t have worked without actual great chemistry, but I think he decided to take this route quite early on. He started making romantic references in interviews sooner than it made sense. He (brilliantly) coreographed the extremely romantic contempo-foxtrot when the story didn’t require it to be romantic at all, then romantic puppy face and talk and act during switch up and then the very much staged ‘all us right in the world’ and ‘the thing that I love about Maks’ package before their Jungle book samba… I think that was the point producers got on the bandwagon too (it’s the first time carrie ann mentions he and meryl are ‘so in tune with eachother’- although in my perception this became evident at a later point, and the beginning of the end for charlie) and the rest is history.
As I said I don’t like the way he acts and speaks since the win, he really looks like a (slightly) self absorbed man child and I also have a feeling he will link himself to meryl until he can get away with it because he knows it melts hearts and that it increase his value associating himself to such class as opposed to the sleaze he is normaly associated with.
… and I am happy he is done with dancing. It was time. I loved him ( at one point) but I do think it’s as good as it can be for him on this show as a dancer. I think he would be a good judge, because he can be funny, even when he doesn’t mean to be… But I also think it would bring a lot of scrutiny because of all the personal connections he has with other pros (karina, peta, sharna, cheryl,val,tony) and would make it very hard for him… To be a good and somewhat fair judge he would have to be very controlled and he is specifically liked and apreciated by most fans because he isn’t very controlled, but very instinctive and spontanous. So it’s a though one. I would like to see him part of the show but I am not sure what capacity he would be good in.
As for Derek I think he should also hang up his competition shoes and coreograph: group numbers, macy’s star numbers… and with the results shows returning so many other things. That is something I look forward too.
I am bit bored of Cheryl and maybe Tony as well. Maybe a good shake up of the cast will be good.
#48 Annie I think showmance is always in Maks’s bag of tricks. It’s just a matter of whether or not he’s going to have the right chemistry with his partner to make it work. He did with Erin and Kirstie and now Meryl. No doubt he would have played one with Hope too if they had gotten along.
I think Maks stuck his toe in the water with his over the top comments in the first package about wanting to marry Meryl. By the week of the foxtrot I think he’d decided a showmance would work and went for it because he wasn’t going to leave any stone unturned in making sure he got that trophy.
It’s probably a good thing for the showmance world that he’s leaving the show. There are now four women he’s been/rumored to have been involved with up in that sky box. While there will always be shippers for any showmance he plays it’s getting less and less believable, and making him look more and more ridiculous, to keep pretending he’s falling for his partner when you have an ex-fiancee, an ex-girlfriend, a rumored FWB and a rumored partner hookup standing over your shoulder every week. Aside from the fans rolling their eyes and thinking here we go again, how many women are going to want to play that game and become yet another chapter in this tabloid life he seems to enjoy living?
I imagine Meryl’s regretting her decision to play along with it as she gets dragged into all these talk show and JLo stories and has kids sitting on social media probing into every move she makes and posting information they seem to pull out of their asses as “proof” of some fantasy relationship. I think, like most of his other partners, Meryl likes Maks, shared a bond with him and wants to continue that friendship. But I also think, like most of his other partners, she’s gone back to her real life and the bond starts to fade (as it does with ALL the couples). We’ll see a year from now if she’s still even associating with him. With his big reveal about Kirstie this week, it doesn’t seem any of his former partners bother with him much now except Erin.
Annie, I don’t think taking out too many popular pros in one season is a good idea. Maks is well loved as is Derek. So, we already know Maks won’t be back. Can’t take out Maks, Derek,Tony and Cheryl all in one season along with a new executive producer. I don’t think that would be good for ratings.
I watch the show for Derek, tbh. I also like Mark but we never really know which Mark we are going to get. It all depends on his partner. Last season brought out the best in Mark. The BEST Mark I’ve seen in many seasons. So, I guess we have to wait for another month to find out which one we’re likely to get. Same with Peta, but not to the same extent as Mark. I do LOVE the dancing but Derek just BRINGS IT! Henry, well, he seems QUITE egotistical and taking after Maks since he spends lots of time with the ‘fan’. Didn’t he take a ‘road trip’ with Val and Artem shortly after the season ended? Artem hangs with Maks too.
Taking out so many popular pros can be a good thing for the show, or a bad thing for the show, and I’m not so sure what will happen yet. But yes, we are probably going to lose a whole bunch at once.
Out of Derek, Mark, Maks, Tony and Cheryl, it is possible that we’ll be without all but Tony, who seems to have it written that he can dance whenever he wants. Cheryl has hinted strongly that she’s ready to move on, Maks said he’s done dancing, Derek has hinted again that he will move to another capacity for the show (but he’s said that before and they lured him back) and from the way I read the Glamour article, I felt that Mark was hinting that there was a strong possibility that he isn’t going to be on, either.
Just saying, there’s a possibility that we WILL be without the 4 most popular pros.
No, it’s never good to get rid of that many established pros at once, but it will open up the show to start to move back to the CELEBRITY being the star of the show, and, it’ll open some room for some absolutely fabulous dancers to take center stage. Sharna, Tristan and Emma are some examples of that….
#donna
Meryl is very private, she is coy or doesn’t bring up certain things but i found so far that she doesn’t pretend or lie. I don’t think she and Maks had any sort of ‘decision’ to play a showmance. I also think that by the end she (as well as maks) were caught up in the bubble and their flirting and acting was coming from a real place.They weren’t playing for the audience, but they were very much playing with eachother. Let’s remember she was also exhausted from the SOI going on up to the last minute and if reports are true that she broke up with a longtime bf just beforehand,she just had the giant presure of the olympics taken of her shoulder, all these circumstances make her prone to getting caught up in a fantasy (…that after week 3 everyone was projecting onto them) and to be flirty and playful.
I agree with his first comment being the ‘toe in the water’, what a brilliant way to put it!
Since they stopped all their public interactions after the JLo incident came up it’s hard to tell what their current situation is, so maybe we’ll never know how much their weird and ‘special’ bond stands the test of time and distance. (already at this point she’s hardly associating with him publicly… can’t blame her…)
#kelly
I think derek is a brilliant coreograher but for some reason I never get that much into his partnerships… I am not even sure why… For example I like Maria M a lot, but I found myself rooting for Katherine and Mark that season. I also liked Nicole S and thought they did some extraordinary dances but I was rooting for Evan and Anna for the win. I have no idea why.
I like Mark all the time, and don’t see ‘different’ Marks… I enjoyed best his coreography with Chelsea and Katherine. But believe it or not the partnership I enjoyed the most was with Bristol. With all the crazyness going around them he handled the whole situation brilliantly and for her limited abilities he tried everything to display her in the best light. He really earned my respect that season. And I hope he comes back.
I see Artem potentially filling in Maks’ shoes, as the sexy more mature guy, and I think it will suit himm well.
I also think that newer pros like Sharna, Peta, Val, already gathered enough momentum to keep ratings afloat (with the right cast of celebs and some good decisions production ofcourse) if Tony, Cheryl, Derek and Maks all move on.
#53 Annie by your own admission you’re a shipper so you’re going to see things differently. I never saw anything real about their flirting and acting. I saw it as Maks knowing what’s worked before and Meryl following his lead. In fact I laughed my way through the whole hold my hand package because it was so poorly acted by both of them. As for their lack of public association I think it’s simply a matter of them trying to get the shipping to stop already. There’s some really scary people out there.
Regardless Maks is gone now so he can concentrate all his attention on pumping up this JLo thing and I don’t have to watch it take over the show anymore. For that I’m happy.
Of course Maks was the initiator of the showmance – he knows enough about the show to know it will carry you farther. Sad that he wasn’t confident enough in his abilities or Meryl’s to let the dancing do the talking, but there you go. Win at all costs. But if you think that the producers aren’t ALWAYS looking for a showmance to promote, you crazy. Hence, Peta and James. They are looking for showmances, controversy, awkwardness – they are into the true reality show spirit and how to get ratings. Luckily, they have some great dancers that turn it into a higher quality show than, say, Big Brother. Also, luckily, they know they need great choreographers because Emmy’s are good PR.
That’s kinda what it boils down to – which side are you going to play? The creative or the showmance? It kinda seems like Derek should be the older one and Maks the younger one. Derek had his showmance (that turned into real romance) way back in season 6 and has matured greatly since then, every season. Maks is like the little brother that it still figuring this stuff out. And may never figure it out.
I can tell you that Season 18 was the worst season ever for me. That showmance completely took over the show so that a lot of worthy celebrity contestants were overshadowed by it. The judges, producers etc. all jumped on the bandwagon that I stopped watching the show and just went on Youtube to watch the celebrities that I liked.
M&M’s packages were cringeworthy(and I am not even going to comment on their so-called dances), the PDA was OTT and made me lose a lot of respect for Meryl(sadly as I used to love her and Charlie). Everything was for Maks, Maks, Maks. Derek and the rest of the pros who won the MBTs all credited their celebrity when they won. Meryl was an afterthought, just a means of getting Maks his MBT, IMO.
No one pro by him or herself has that much of an impact on the ratings, no matter what their fanbases have to say about it. The ratings hinge on the whole package together. I think you can lose a bunch of pros all at one time IF you do as good a job casting the show as they did last season. But that’s a big IF. I tend to think they lucked out last season. That makes it more important that you keep a couple of the big names around until some of the others have a chance to become big names. VERY hard to replace Derek, but I don’t see how they can possibly keep him as a competitor – who are they going to find that tops Amy Purdy in terms of inspiration and challenge?? But I can see him doing Macy’s Stars of Dance.
And, I feel like I have to remind everyone what I said before last season: a network is always looking to cut costs. Last season we lost the orchestra. I postulated that eventually there would be certain pros who are just too expensive to keep on the show, Derek being the big one. If they are looking to save money again, I can see the main pros getting cut in favor of new, cheaper, blood. Derek, Mark, Cheryl, Karina are the four who spring to mind. Everyone else is probably under a long term, not as profitable (expensive to the network) contract.
Maks? Mature? LOL! Derek is FAR more mature that Maks is. As for not getting into Derek’s partnerships…well, that’s very easy to see why, Annie. You loved Meryl and Maks. Nuff said. Talk about night and day! Derek produces amazing dances with an actual partner, as opposed to making it all about some fake, fairytale romance. I’ve never seen a ringer so wasted as Meryl was.
#56 Ria I agree with you that the showmance made me hate this past season and that by the end everyone was involved in pumping it up to make sure Maks won.
The funniest part is I’ve seen a lot of the shippers pointing to Carrie Ann as “proof” Maks is dating Meryl. She said they should get married so what we were seeing was real because she would know. No, what we were seeing was another character in this reality TV show pushing an agenda.
#donna
I am not completely sure what exactly the term ‘shipper’ covers, but I am (ashamed?) to admit that I was fooled. Even after being a Maks fan for years,knowing his game, watching him play with Erin and the others, i found those mostly funny and not to be taken seriously (just like anything else on reality tv)..
For some reason this season I totally lost my mind and was fooled that this was different and the lovely genuine girl with the gold medal and amazing personality (i am a figure skating fan so I kind of knew what meryl was like) did actually get to him and that the handsome russian bad boy stirred some welcomed passion into the very calculated life of the ice princess. And yes, I had the very disturbing thougts that it would be the best real life fairytale if they did end up together on the back of this (it’s not without precedent, Artem is in a relationship with the actress he won the UK version with, or at least they were together for 4 years) and was a bit happy for Maks for getting himself on a right track, as I said I was a fan for years, even through his Hope episode… I know, I know, am ashamed and have no idea what I was drinking…
In hindsight it’s clear it’s not a bit of perspective Maks gained on his year off but some acting skills 🙂
Anyways, lesson learned, not just for dwts but for anything else… Next time I sense getting sucked into something like the nature of the relationship of people who I have absolutely no connection with I will stop and check for holes in my life I am trying to fill with fantasizing 😀
Looking forward to a great cast and show for season 19!
# Princess Heidi
Oh, don’t get me wrong, please. I love Derek’s coreography. I love the dances he imagines, I love the way you can see him being inspired by whoever his partner is and I love the fact that this leads to him tayloring the dances to best fit his partners. I loved how he handled Amy this season. I was sure that with all the visible effort put into getting Maks a trophy he and Amy would win. I think their take on the freestyle was downplayed by the judges because in any other season it would have meant winning.
That’s why I really hope his creative juices stay on the show and he gets to coreograph the group damces, macy’s and maybe other special numbers.
One of the show’s strategies that annoyed the crap out of me was having a M&M video appear after voting online at ABC.com regardless of the fact that I didn’t vote for them. During season 17, after voting for Amber and Derek I’d get to see that fabulous “boob concussion” video every time. It never got old. This past season all I got was M&M. Now THAT’s really shoving it down a throat which wishes to be swallowing something else.
Agreed Susan #62. In the week leading up to the finals, it seems like the DWTS Facebook page ONLY showed MnM and NO ONE else. Umm hello? There are 3 other couples in the finals! Was so over it.
Unless they get a STELLAR line up of celebrities (PLEASE no more Kardashians or Bachelor/Bachelorettes!!!) I don’t know that it’s a great idea to make so many changes. The primary viewing audience does NOT adapt to change well.
Season 18 had a great cast but was very biased for Maks to win the MBT. The judging, the promotion on their official ABC sites, the interviews and the rehearsal packages were all geared to get the M&M shippers into a deep hypnosis of blind voting. There was no fair competition because there was a showmance involved in skewing the public. Without the showmance, it would have been close between the contestants. I would have to say Amy would have won it. Maks loves this association with all these women and is still bringing up Meryl. He isn’t stupid. He knows that the shippers are still eager and willing to eat everything up if there is any hint of a romance. That is some easy money LOL. For someone who doesn’t want his personal life out in the media, he sure makes damn sure it is out and about every other day in the gossip mags. Meryl went from class to crass in a hurry on DWTS. Post DWTS, she loves the attention in her own way. For e.g. she’s going around favoriting every tweet that mentions a vote for her at the teen choice awards. Why would an Olympic Gold medalist care so much about people voting for her for some silly teen choice awards?
I think that winning and/or attending the Teen Choice awards keeps her in the public eye which is excellent for the advertisers that she and Charlie represent. It is positive PR for the Meryl/Charlie brand.
Oh and I meant to say that I think it is perfectly fine for her to want to win a the award. (My preference would be Charlie but I have no idea who is nominated for those award and I am too lazy to google it!)
News I just saw today.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/maksim-chmerkovskiy-signs-icm-partners-722575
Maks signs with ICM. End of article says he’s still managed by Lounge Lizard Lizzie but you wouldn’t usually pay an agency and manager unless your a huge star and want to. Most just keep and need one and wouldn’t want to pay two people. Waste of money.
And Lizzie tweeted something two days ago saying, “Client changes, we wish you the best of luck.”
And Lizzie hasn’t tweeted one thing about Maks at BWAT this weekend and she tweets everything that man does. She tweeted about him on the view and on WWHL but maybe that’s it?
Interesting if Maks finally got a clue and canned Lizzie and hired a reputable firm planning for a future in the business. We’ll see.
Ashley, he still has Lizzie. She’s PR, ICM is a talent agency which finds the work. Lizzie promotes the work (and drops hints to all major and minor publications about who he’s dating, a falling out with Kirstie Alley, and so on). I’m only surprised it took so long. Derek was with UTA, which is the second biggest agency, years ago – not sure if he still is or not (since he doesn’t promote every breath he takes) – but he still has his same, separate publicist. Then there are booking agents for speaking/dancing appearances, a management team for other stuff. I don’t really understand all the moving parts, but there are a lot of people.
Bummer. I’m always perplexed at keeping people who are bad for business and cost you money.
Re Derek: “(since he doesn’t promote every breath he takes)”…..isn’t that the truth. 🙂
Just more shocked Hollywood Reporter even bothered or thinks anyone cares about an exclusive of Maks signing with ICM.
Well, Melissa, what do you think all this JLo business and his publicly speaking about his feud with Kirsti have been about?? Mission accomplished. Hell, Lizzie probably fed that tidbit to Hollywood Reporter – that’s how this shit works, after all, and it’s not just for Maks. Derek’s publicist has been doing great lately getting the word out about all his various projects.
There is a rumor going around(I don’t know how true it is LOL)that Maks signing with an agency has a lot to do with him trying to push his acting ambition to the fullest now that he is “done” with dancing.
Should we be looking forward to him at the Oscars? They are now calling him the “breakout star” of DWTS. LOL!!!How long has he been with the show?
Again, it’s all PR – Lizzie doing her job.
Compare what the media say about Maks and what they say about Derek and you’ll see the difference in PR styles. It’s quite striking.
I know Lizzie gave that to Hollywood Reporter. Just hilarious HR even bothered. Like anyone cares and on that client list for ICM, doubt he is the priority. Doubt he got the top agents there either. No offense Maks but Julianne is with WME and got great acting gigs with quality producers even if the films themselves were not huge hits. Doubt he stands a chance. Think Derek should keep pursuing acting though bc he would be a great director and the acting experience would only make him better IMO.
Annie, this is my opinion, but I 100% believe the showmance was pre-planned and to a large degree pre-scripted for all the players, including the judges. It was clear as day that the rehearsal packages and the after-dance antics were purposely done. I will agree that the two enjoyed it immensely’ particularly after they realized they were becoming the darlings of S18 and, yes, the couples do get caught up in the moment. Meryl knew what she was doing as much as Maks which I believe us why Maks is so grateful to her for, as he said, “letting him do what he had to do.” If that doesn’t say it all, what does.
Heidi, the article says he’ll continue to be managed by Lizzie, not that she’ll continue to be his publicist. That’s what’s concerning. Obviously Maks loves the tabloid trash type of publicity Lizzie provides but why would he hire this big firm and then let her continue to manage him? Why would a big reputable firm like ICM agree to that or want to associate themselves with trash like her? They sure don’t need Maks as a client.
Ashley, it doesn’t seem Lizzie promotes his dancing projects too much. She’s said very little about BWAT this summer and really didn’t promote Sway at all. She did the same thing last summer – she said very little about Forever Tango and on the rare occasion she did, she excluded any mention of Karina. But she promotes the hell out of his vodka and liquor store appearances around NJ. I think they’ve kept her away from the family business and now that she’s not representing Val anymore I think she’ll concentrate on what she does best – making Maks tabloid fodder.
I just don’t understand why he’d spend all this money on a big reputable firm to manage his career and then let Lizzie continue to screw it up.
In my opinion, I don’t think any amount of PR/agency changes can radically change the core of a person. If you are talented, you will eventually make it given the right channels. BS can only take you so far. 😀
When I saw Derek he made it sound like he was only going to do a movie if it was something that really appealed to him – much the way he’s probably approaching a partner on DWTS anymore. I got the sense that he wasn’t going to do movies just to do movies. Which is a pretty smart move. He’s clearly not limiting himself to any one thing.
Donna, you’re assuming that when they use the word “manage” that they actually mean something other than as a publicist. And you missed the part where I said that people have BOTH all the time. Derek certainly has both Agent, manager and publicist and has for a long time.
No, ICM doesn’t need Maks, but Maks needs ICM and they handle all kinds of people at all levels – that’s what they do. That’s how you get big. They don’t do charity work – you have to pay them a percentage of what you make. Why would they turn down Maks? If he’s willing to pay for their services and he’s serious about getting work – win win.
You last part is right…it’s up to Maks what is promoted. If he didn’t like her representation he would fire her. It’s what I tell complaining Derek fans all the time who say that Sue spends more time on Cheryl than she does on Derek. I’m like “Derek is the one writing the check. He’s responsible for what gets pushed and what doesn’t.” Which is why you never see anything about who Derek is dating in any of the rags unless he gets outright busted by the paps like he did with Nikki Reed. When Derek wants something promoted, it gets promoted. But he seems to discourage a lot of it.
You’re right, Heidi. According to Lizzie she’s his manager and ICM is his agent.
Shall we see a transformation from promoting Denim Vodka to Got Milk due to this agency change LOL? NOT 😀
I hate to say it, but I’m glad that Maks finally won his beloved MBT… Now we will no longer have to play the silly game of Will He or Won’t He. At least we know “He Won’t”. Oh, but stop the presses, now they can use it in a different manner only this time as judge. Oh boy, here we go again..
Unfortunately, Maks and Lizzie are masters of the “will he won’t he” game. They’ve been doing it for how many seasons now? Funny thing…I saw quite a few remarks on twitter that show that we aren’t the only ones on to this stupid game. Even though most of us knew months ago he wouldn’t be back as a pro, they still managed to make a big deal of him NOT being on the show, his fight with Kirstie, and his supposed romance with JLo. I guess if you’re looking for attention for doing nothing at all, you need Lizzie as your PR. I mean, I’ve said it before….I’ve never seen someone talk so much about not doing something.
And I also have to add that I finally saw the entirety of Maks’ comments about Kirstie and damn…the man just doesn’t know when to STFU. If he could have just left it as “I don’t judge People based on their religion”, instead he goes on and on, adding the bit about Science Fiction. As much as I agree with him – and I do find Scientology to be RIDICULOUS – that was actually a pretty cheap shot and makes it very clear that he’s NOT as blase or over it as he would like to claim. Ever hear the saying “Me thinks he doth protest too much?” Yeah, that’s got Maks all over it.
Exactly Heidi. I’m not a fan to Scientology either and I know Kirstie isn’t perfect, but, geez, if he was any friend to her in the past and out of respect for what they had, he should have never said anything and he went too far. I still think there was more to the story too and I’d never trust or take Maks’ word for anything he says for the way he has always been off in the past.
I don’t doubt Kirstie ended their relationship over Leah. Scientologists are pretty adamant about isolating those who leave their cult. However, Maks was really stupid to be so undiplomatic on tv considering how she supported him in the past. Leah Remini’s connection to JLo is a big factor and he is putting his career eggs in that basket rather than Kirstie’s. It is all about connections for him I think. Nonetheless, he should have been more discrete. There are a lot of celeb scientologists that throw their weight around in Hollywood. Would have been better for him to just say he hadn’t been in touch with her recently and leave it there imo.
#85 Judy, no offense but why should he put his career eggs in Kirstie’s basket? She can’t even keep herself employed and she sure hasn’t done anything for his career since he’s known her.
I only meant that before this feud, or whatever it is, he was supporting her new show and they were suggesting that he would get a role in it. She did some stuff for their dance studios. I don’t think he needs her anymore and so supporting Leah and being associated with JLo might get him some better promo. I don’t know, it made sense when I typed it!
#87 Judy not saying it doesn’t make sense, but I don’t think Kirstie’s done anything for him but make a lot of empty promises and blow a lot of hot air. If Leah and JLo can do something for his career then why shouldn’t he explore it? JLo in particular can probably open a lot more doors for him than Kirstie can.