Private Members Area – DWTS Season 20 Week 3 Discussion
Tonight was week 3 (Latin Night) of Dancing with the Stars Season 20. If you’re not a Pure DWTS Insider yet, you can do so here. If you are, then I look forward to the discussion in the comments.
What did you think about tonight’s show? Our contact page is getting blown up by people angry with Bruno’s comments. What did you think of them? Any standouts tonight? Was it a hot night of dancing or a hot mess? Maybe that’s how we should classify the couples on Latin Night: Hot Night or Hot Mess.
Also, since we’ve had so much off topic discussion in past private member areas, we thought we’d throw in an off-topic discussion starter as well. This week we’re talking: Celebrity Encounters. Let’s hear your best stories. I’ll add a few of my DWTS ones.
I’ll start off with a few of my DWTS encounters. At SXSW I saw Mark do a small intimate concert at a Bike shop (it was SXSW). I have an hour or so of footage from the event which he asked me not to post until the album came out (did it finally come out?). He did ask me why Pure DWTS hated him. It was a good thing I was there and don’t hate him. He did give me this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR9qzWu61BA
I also saw a ton of the DWTS pros at the opening of a DWTS show in Las Vegas at Tropicana (didn’t last long). I’ve talked about my stories a number of times before so you can ignore them if you’ve heard them, but Tony was the biggest gentleman, out on the dance floor the whole time and having a great time dancing with anyone and everyone. A few of the female pros seemed like they were trying to get on Conrad Green’s (former Executive Producer) good side if you know what I mean. This evening a bunch of SYTYCD people were there and so Allison and Twitch were there and they’d just started dating. Although, I’ve got some great video footage that shows that it was serious way back then. I’ve been meaning to post it so you could see the love birds falling in love on the dance floor.
Lots more stories, but I got backstage at the finale when Brooke and Derek won. I was introduced to Derek and it was when he was dating Shannon Elizabeth. She was sweet and gave me a hug. You’d think it would be great since she’s so beautiful on camera. Sadly it was quite disappointing in person. She was so skinny, it was like hugging a broomstick. Go and try it and you’ll see what I mean.
There’s a few. I’ll share more if people want to hear some. I look forward to yours.
Great post, John. I loved your interview with Mark!! I didn’t know you met Derek and Samantha. Amazing for what you said on Samantha. It was like that when I met Enrique Iglesias after one of his shows (when I was once doing a site on him). He’s a hottie, but, not as hot in person and he was shorter than I expected too. Though that is NOT the case with Derek. He was everything and then some when I met him and Julianne last summer. They were so nice and they radiated.
As most of you know, I met Edyta and Karina this past January and was able to interview them back stage and take photos at “Dancing Pros Live”. That experience was beyond amazing. I still can’t believe that happened. Here’s the link on my experience for those who haven’t seen and read it yet:
https://www.puredwts.com/2015/01/26/exclusive-puredwts-dancing-pros-live-report-photos-backstage-information-and-lots-more/
I’ve also met Lee Horsely (Paradise) and Steve Kanaly (Dallas) in a Goose hunt benefit where I live.
I also got hit in the eye once by Bjorn Born when he served at an exhibition tennis match in Denver. John McEnroe asked me if I was ok afterwards. It hurt so bad and it turned black and blue afterwards but I didn’t care. lol
So, those are my celeb experiences.
I like the topic of Hot Night or Hot Mess. Overall I’d say the night was more of a Hot Mess. I don’t really enjoy Latin Night that much. I know Paso and A Tango don’t really seem to fit in and I don’t like that the songs aren’t all what we would consider Latin.
As for celeb experiences, I’ve actually really only had experiences with DWTS pros. I went to Ballroom with a twist and quickly met Derek, Anna, Tristan and Peta. It was very quick but they were all very sweet. Tony made an appearance at an Armenian festival in the Boston area about 2 years ago that my friend and I decided to go to. He watched a bunch of dancing and then did a meet and greet. As John said, he was extremely sweet to everyone.
I’ve met Derek a lot of times, both in meet and greets and seeing him randomly after shows. He seriously is one of the most kind people I’ve met. He talks to you like he knows you and fully looks into your eyes and gives you all of his attention. One time I went to a show with him and Emma and she was the nicest as well. Julianne is also insanely beautiful in person.
I also mentioned this in another thread in the public area last week, but I did the VIP meet and greet for the DWTS tour this time around. Sasha and Kym were so amazing and kind. Emma and Alfonso were also great again. Mark on the other hand though was a total d-bag. I didn’t say as much on the other thread but he totally blew us off when we said hi and when we said that we were fans of his and loved the show he essentially looked around at the others and laughed a bit. He just left a bad taste in my mouth. Needless to say, I’m not the greatest Mark fan. As Courtney said on the other thread with Lacey, when you pay so much money to see someone (rather than meeting them on the street), you should get some that at least pretends like they’re happy to be there. We met Keo, Sasha, and Val after the show and all three were told that they didn’t have to talk to anybody just standing around (as it was the coldest day of the year in Boston) but all three stopped for a while which was nice.
Other than that I just have some SYTYCD stories, but I’ll just share one of them. My friend and I went to the Boston auditions for season 10. We were in the morning group but then ended up being able to stay for the 2nd half of the day as well. We slowly made our way towards the front (which was still 10 rows back or so) and then when the dancers who didn’t get tickets to Vegas right away danced again, Nigel told my friend and I to come sit up front (they don’t have anybody sit that close because of camera shots). Mary, Marko and Ryan (S8) and Gev (S5) ended up sitting with us and talking for a while about the show and dance in general. When they all went back to where they needed to be for the judging again we were still there and Jeff Thacker (other Executive Product with Nigel) asked who told us to come up there and we said Nigel and he was kind of surprised but then let us stay there for the rest of the time. Being a giant fan of dancing in general, it was a really cool experience. We also saw Alan Bernsten’s audition that day as well.
Sorry…that ended up being longer than I expected!
John, that’s interesting that Mark said that – was that after one of his “off” seasons? Because lately Mark has gotten a lot of love here at Pure!
I’ve kinda touched on a lot of my celebrity encounters before, but I’ll restate a few notable ones.
Dated the son of a high-profile Chicago sports executive for about three and a half years (who has since retired, but was at the height of his notoriety when I was with my ex). Because of this, I got to meet a lot of professional athletes, had dinner with a lot of celebrities, and partied with quite a few as well.
Some stories:
Carmen Electra was as sweet as can be, and although she has bad skin, she’s still very beautiful with the right makeup. We danced together at a club and I felt really friggen dumpy, haha.
Michael Jordan was friends with my ex, and about five feet away from him he propositioned me for sex. He was “married”, it was not at all flattering to me because he slept with everything that moved. Not only that, but he had the biggest ego ever. Totally disillusioned with Jordan, although he’s still the greatest player ever.
Had dinner with Chris O’Donnell. I had a crush on him prior to that, but he was pretty boring and self-centered, and not nearly as cute in person.
Cameron Diaz – very different on two occasions. First one, she was really unattractive with terrible skin and a bad attitude. The second she was absolutely glowing, her skin was under control and she looked magnificent and we joked together all night long – really goofy and fun.
Eddie Vedder – watched a whole game with him, and while he was super nice, he was also rip-roaring drunk, loud, and smelly. We were instructed to never bring him into the owner’s box again. He did give us a personal copy of a demo tape as thanks for the seat, food, and booze.
Okay I could keep going forever, but will take a break for a bit!
I’ve never met ANY of the DWTS pros!
Fig,
I understood why from his perspective he thought we hated him. It wasn’t true. Some of the writers here have been disappointed by some of the actions he’s done (or not done) and his relationship with Derek. So, that came off as hate. To be honest, he was actually pretty cool about it all I thought.
In fact, when I was backstage at DWTS and met Mark for the first time, I’d just met Derek as well (introduced to him by his mother). Derek was friendly and nice, but it felt like a Hollywood friendly. Basically, I meet hundreds of people, so he was nice but he was going to meet another hundred people that day. Mark was actually the opposite. He stopped playing the guitar and really took time to say hi and get to know my wife and I.
Moral of the story: Be careful judging someone based upon your first meeting. You never know what they’re going through that day which may cause them to react a certain way. Sounds like that’s what happened with Cameron as well.
Mark reads everything that isn’t a positive, glowing recommendation for sainthood as “hate” – that’s just how he’s wired. He CARES what people are saying, whereas it seems to have less of an impact on Derek these days.
But we’ve connected on twitter a bit and he seems to have gotten over the whole “PureDWTS hates me” mentality. At least, I hope so. That’s kind of an immature viewpoint, labeling every (well-earned) negative comment as “hate”. Hate is a very strong emotion. I only have strong emotion for one Pro. π
Oh boy, where to begin…
DWTS pros I’ve met:
*Met (very briefly) Lacey & Dmitry at the VIP meet-n-greet after one of the Vegas shows 3 years ago. Lacey was standoffish and seemed annoyed that she had to even be there; Dmitry couldn’t have been nicer. Joey Fatone was also very nice, as was Carson Kressley.
*Val accidentally bumped into me in the on-deck area on pro show night at the Ohio Star Ball about 12-13 years ago. He was running around trying to find his partner, as his heat was about to start; I had just emerged from the ladies room. He stopped and said “I’m so sorry!” before darting off again. I think he & his partner, Valeria, ended up winning their event that night, as well as the show dance round.
*Met Julianne in a bathroom at a competition, also about 12-13 years ago. Told her I loved her costume; she got excited and said “Oh thanks!” in a very high-pitched voice. She couldn’t have been more than 14 or 15 at the time, and had reeeeallly short blonde hair.
*Haven’t actually MET Tony, but he hangs out with the bf a lot when he comes to town – and always wants to go to a cigar bar. When Jonah called to say he’d be a little late getting home as a result, I heard Tony in the background yelling “Sorry, Jonah’s girlfriend!” Had to laugh a little at that one.
Other celebs I’ve met:
*New Kids on the Block: met the whole group twice when I did VIP for two of their concerts. Donnie was flirtatious with me both times, and I was a babbling idiot, but he is totally gracious with all of his fans; Danny Wood was a non-event – nice, but didn’t say much; Jordan Knight OOZES narcissism, and came across the fakest of the five and seemed pained to be there both times; Jonathan Knight is quiet and a tad awkward, but very sweet and gives great hugs; didn’t get to converse with Joey McIntyre the first time, but I think he may have been high the second time I talked to him – the slow “heeeyyyyy” in a Boston accent kinda tipped his hand, but he was cool nonetheless.
*Shawn Stockton from Boyz II Men: not sure if this actually counts as “meeting” him, but I had 2nd row seats when they did “The Package Tour” with NKOTB & 98 Degrees 2 years ago, and was within catching distance when they sang “I’ll Make Love to You” and were tossing roses to the girls in the crowd. He smiled and threw one right at me, but a girl 2 seats down dove directly in front of me and intercepted it, about knocking both me and the girl next to her over (bitch). Shawn saw it happen, stuck up his index finger (as if to say “Hold on a minute”), handed a rose to a security guard, gestured towards me and had the security guard personally hand me a rose. I mouthed “Thank you!” and he smiled and blew a kiss back. He’s totally ok in my book, because that was just kind of awesome of him π
*Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead/Boondock Saints: super nice guy, but he’s gotten to be so popular at conventions that he doesn’t have a ton of time to really personalize his interactions with fans – so as a result it’s pretty much “Hey, hi! What’s your name? Awesome, how do you spell that? Thanks so much for coming out here today, I appreciate it!” Called me “cutie” all three times that I’ve met him. π
*Sean Patrick Flanery from Boondock Saints/Powder/Dexter: VERY fun to interact with, and very animated. His line isn’t as long as Norman’s, so he has time to be really leisurely with his interactions with fans – he’s a third level black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and actually demonstrated an arm bar on me once (there’s video of it on my YouTube channel – putuincespence). We’ve also run into him several times “after hours” at conventions – he watched the Kentucky vs. Louisville final 4 game with us last year in March at a hotel bar in Louisville, and we ran into him on Halloween in Columbus. He may or may not have smacked me on the ass with my riding crop (I was dressed as a dominatrix). Overall, great with the fans – highly recommend. π
*Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead/Days of Thunder/Guardians of the Galaxy: VERY flirtatious, and probably the most fun celeb I’ve met π Told me I was gorgeous and proceeded to smooch my ear/sniff my hair – also carried me over the threshold at a con π ALWAYS glad to see me, and knows me by name now. Big bear hugs. He makes my daddy issues scream. π
*Scott Wilson from The Walking Dead/The Great Gatsby (the original one w/Robert Redford): Quiet, but very polite and kind of adorable in a grandpa-sorta way. Came up to our hotel room and did shots of fireball with us. Had just learned how to fist bump, and was doing it with everyone that night (which was actually his 69th birthday). Super cute.
*Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones/upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie (he’s Aquaman): super chill, VERY tall. Shared an elevator with him and he asked me to tell him what floor we were on because he didn’t have his glasses on. Is BFF with Michael Rooker at conventions they both attend – both like to go out to the divey-est bar they can find and drink Guinness.
*Andrew J. Ward (Gareth from The Walking Dead): very nice, kind of quiet and awkward. Actually from Indiana – we talked about things Indiana folks do. Cuter in person than on TV.
*Steve Gonsalves from Ghost Hunters: VERY SWEET, very polite, actually quite a proper gentleman – told some guys that were giving us a hard time at a bar to apologize to us. Still chat from time to time on Twitter.
*Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from Austin Powers): nice, but kinda sleazy. Offered to show me his pee-pee. I declined. But he took a pic with us and kissed my hand at the end of it. Soooo…win?
I may think of more…that’s all that I can think of off the top of my head right now.
I completely agree, John – while I’ve had bad experiences with celebs and that’s my only basis for comparison, the ones that I know or got to know a bit better over multiple occasions were almost always favorable.
The only one I didn’t like over multiple meetings was Michael Jordan (I really can’t stand him). So I’m always glad to hear good things about celebs, even if my own experience wasn’t great.
Plus, as I mentioned my exbf’s dad (technically stepdad) was high-profile – and the media liked to make fun of him for his appearance and gruff manner. But the man was an absolute saint to me, and had tons of loyal friends and treated them well. He was actually way better to me than the guy I dated, haha.
And of course I think of 2 more right after I hit submit…
*Jon Bernthal (Shane from The Walking Dead/Coon Ass from Fury) – Cool when he’s sober, but a loud, obnoxious drunk and a huge pothead. Doesn’t even try to hide it. Was also part of the group that came up to do Fireball shots in our hotel room – was loudly proclaiming that he was gonna “go find his bag of weed”, and actually got in us trouble with the hotel management for being so loud. A friend of mine actually ended up sleeping with him later that night and apparently had quite a good time, but I was 10,000% done with his shit after about 5 minutes after meeting him.
*Manu Bennett (Slayde from the TV show Arrow): Nice at first, but quickly became creepy. Hits on a lot of his female fans; has a wife and kids at home. Handsy. Not a fan.
I think we learned a lot about Courtney’s interests in that write up.
Spoilers for Disney week (or rather, an extension of the spoiler I already gave)…
Rumer is dancing to something from The Little Mermaid.
Riker is dancing to something from Pirates of the Carribbean.
Thanks, Courtney! I’m ready to move right past most memorable year and right on to Disney week. Hopefully it’s a good as the last time they did it. I really enjoyed the opening number before.
Thanks for the spoilers Courtney!
No idea what Riker could be dancing too from Pirates. For Rumer my guess is the Ursala song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and it’s a Paso or something dark…but then again that kind of goes against the theme of Disney week. Maybe she’ll surprise me and she dances to “Kiss the Girl” or something.
DLT, that’s too funny. I bet she does Kiss the Girl.
I do love the Pirates of the Caribbean theme.
Court, sorry if this is really dumb and obvious – but what were the other spoilers you gave about Disney week? I can’t recall anything specific about it.
I’m excited for more Disney stuff! My favorite theme week!
Yay…thanks for the pay-off on that earlier tease, Court.
Rumer keeps saying she’s goofy, and I’m willing to believe that. So it sure would be nice to see that side of her personality on the dance floor. Do you think they’ll take the easy way out and recycle “Under the Sea” or give us something different?
I can see Riker as Captain Jack Sparrow. Of course there’s only one Johnny Depp, but: Riker’s lean with a hint of the feminine in his dancing style (the hand thing); he has his own brand of showmanship; and we know he likes to wear guyliner now and then.
@Fig – I actually only have those two spoilers right now, because there apparently has been a big brouhaha about song rights (again) and as of right now, not all of the Disney week songs have been cleared yet. If it’s anything like season 18, it may be the Thursday before Disney week before everything is locked-in – I remember that Cody & Witney thought they had “Hakuna Matata” until the Friday before show day, when the agreement fell through and they had to switch to “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”. You guys will be the first to know when I have updates π
If a certain song gets cleared – we’re going to have at least 1 samba during Disney week, to a song that hasn’t been used yet.
Oh okay, I just thought I might have missed a spoiler you posted elsewhere.
I agree that Riker is going to pull off a fab Jack Sparrow.
Random slightly amusing story:
I was at Disneyland in February and eating lunch. A guy opens up this raggedy paper bag and in the middle of the dining area puts on a full Jack Sparrow costume – but one that looked and smelled like it had been marinating in a garbage truck for a few days, and he reeked of rum. This guy obviously took roleplaying to a new level and began interesting with all of us around him as Jack, until he was escorted out by park services. One of the workers told me they have to regularly remove Jack Sparrow wannabees from the park, as for whatever reason it’s a pretty big thing. I guess there’s a lot of guys that just want to be Jack – so I hope Riker realizes how lucky he is, getting a chance to do Disney-sanctioned fun.
began interacting with us, not interesting us – is what I meant to say. He did call me his “savvy love” haha.
Off topic, but I wanted to put this out there for whenever you guys have the time again – I LOVED the series you guys did years ago evaluating each of the pros strengths and weaknesses. It was a lot of fun really digging into each of them, and I thought they might be ripe for another evaluation since so many of the pros have changed since then, and each of the old-timers might deserve another look. I realize that within the season it might be time-prohibitive, but maybe for a time when things aren’t so hectic!
If not, no worries – just wanted to mention it when it was on my mind.
Hey Court, sounds like you have some interesting intel on Disney Week. Hope you get clearance to share it.
Getting to know you:
Met Mark post-show during the Kristi Yamaguchi season. Met her mom as well. Had a fun chat with all 3. Her mom is super sweet and Mark seemed as if he had all the time in the world.
Met Tony too, agree he is the gentleman of the ballroom and so very proud of his wife and kiddos who were also backstage. I think Tony had been eliminated and was doing his first post show interviews for maybe Access Hollywood? Not sure.
Met Max before he became too much MAX. Kym was a sweetheart too. Hung out with Tom Bergeron by his limo while his driver was taking a bathroom break. Humble, nice guy and just as funny off-camera. Offered us a ride to our car. LOL.
And speaking of hugging. Edyta–good lord she’s tiny. But she’s solid muscle and super, super nice.
Does anybody remember Brian Fortuna from the early season(s)? What a jerk! But I will throw that out as maybe he had a really bad day. Whatever happened to him?
And I’ve had face time with Willie Nelson, and some NasCar types whom I do not follow and had no idea with whom I was speaking until some pre-teen boy said, “Do you know who that is?” So I acted ever so excited after he shared their names, car numbers and more sponsors than I can think of! THEN I headed to the bar—such a headache ya’ know.
Got some intel to add about Disney week (which some of you may have seen me talking about on Twitter, but I didn’t name names…I’m doing it here):
Apparently Rumer & Val are at odds over what song/dance to do for Disney week. They have The Little Mermaid, but Rumer (and the producers) wants to do a rumba to “Kiss the Girl” while Val is trying to push her to pick a paso doble to “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. Val’s reasoning? He “doesn’t feel like he can choreograph to ‘Kiss the Girl'”, which I think is a load of bull. I listened to the song 5 times, trying to see if there was some sort of problem with the rhythm – none. Super easy to choreograph a rumba. The bf even said he’s had to dance to it 3 or 4 times with students in various showcases – it’s adorable, and basically a gimme in the choreography department. Add to that the fact that Rumer is quickly becoming one-note with all of these hard, edgy routines, and I think “Kiss the Girl” is a perfect choice for her. I think doing a dance to a villain’s song during Disney week is a huge risk, unless you can make it campy & fun like NeNe & Tony did to “Cruella De Vil” – and I don’t see Rumer & Val being able to do that with “Poor Unfortunate Souls”.
Thoughts?
I said some of this to you on twitter, but in most cases I usually default to the pros choice. They tend to know better about what they can do and what will work better.
With more details about the choices and songs, I’m definitely all for Rumer going with the rumba. If the producers want it (aka, they can get it cleared), Rumer would be happy dancing to it, and the type of dance fits the song, they should absolutely go for what the celeb wants. It especially baffles me that they’re not going with the rumba after their main critique is that people want to see another side to Rumer. I know Val likes the paso, but come on dude…
And what I was saying on twitter is that perhaps the celeb has the right idea. Of course, I knew what Court was talking about so that was kinda cheating. π And Courtney spelled out why I think Rumer is on the right track. All of her dances have been hard and sharp -to the point they all look the same. Does Val not see this?? Or is he afraid Rumer can’t Rumba? Heh. It’s his job to teach her and I think she’s perfectly capable.
I can’t figure out why he has a problem with this. Some of the crap songs that have been handed out over the years that the pros have choreographed to – hell, some of the crap song/dance matchups have been Derek’s very best work. So why is Val having a problem here? His personal favorite is Paso?? Tough shit dude, think about your partner. She is totally on the right track, wanting a cute, happy song. Maybe SHE feels one note too!
Maybe Val is trying to avoid the romance angle since so many people have hammered the pros for the showmance angle before.
Thanks for the intel Courtney! When I saw you mentioning it on twitter I didn’t think it was Rumer only because during the Riker livestream she said they had Tango for Disney Week (must have misunderstood her or she got her weeks mixed up).
When you told us she had “Little Mermaid” my first thought was she was going to dance to the Ursala song since it’s so dark and powerful and that seems to be their MO BUT I did say that doing “Kiss the Girl” would be a nice change and surprise a lot of people. I really don’t get why Val doesn’t realize how one-note they’ve become. Based on the pictures from their Waltz it seems very dark again so I think doing “Kiss the Girl” would be the perfect for them. The song basically choreographs itself! Hmmm. Should be interesting to see what ends up happening.
Kind of goes back to their one livestream where Rumer was trying to take a stand on some things and Val very much wanted to be the boss.
Maybe Val is afeared of Papa Bruce? Can’t get too close to the daughter?
Just throwing it out there. Maybe some parental intimidation being felt. (Start wild rumor…. now!)
@John – I wondered the same thing, but in typical Val fashion, he seems to be taking things to the extreme, doing the complete opposite of what he did last season with NO ROMANCE WHATSOEVER – problem is, dances like rumba are unavoidable, and if he continues to go the hard, edgy route week after week, viewers will get bored. He may as well get rumba out of the way now – while he has a fairly innocent, adorable song to do it to. As far as rumbas go, “Kiss the Girl” is pretty benign.
@LurkerB5 – If Val was truly afraid of Bruce, I think he [Val] would be doing everything in his power to make sure Rumer got what she wanted. Please the apple of daddy’s eye = please daddy, so to speak.
Oh Court…you seem to underestimate Val’s ability to make that beautifully benign song raunchy π You might also recall that he doesn’t actually Kiss the Girl in that song. It’s all about the foreplay.
@DLT – Last I heard, none of the Disney week dances/songs/movies were set in stone yet – still a lot of clearance issues to contend with before everyone knows for sure what they’re dancing…so maybe Rumer spoke too soon? Apparently they’re trying to clear “Hakuna Matata” again, too – will be interesting to see if they’re successful, considering they couldn’t manage it last year for Cody. If they do – somebody has samba.
Rumer wasn’t mic-ed during the livestream so it’s very possible I just completely misunderstood her…not a big deal though.
The only thing I can think of for why Val wants to do a dark Paso on Disney Week (other than he likes the Paso a lot) is that he wants to stand out and have a break-out week. Other than week 1 where the judges all but told us Rumer was winning she hasn’t really shined (IMO) the last two weeks and I think Val desperately always wants to be at the top all the time. They very well could have a stellar night tonight but I know personally I’m much more looking forward to about 4 or 5 other dances more whether it be because of the subject matter (Noah) or the performance (Willow and Nastia).
I wonder if Val *thinks* he needs to end the song with a kiss, and wants to avoid that because of the no showmance angle – and the whole Janel/Rumer thing. Because man, even *I* could choreograph a rumba to Kiss the Girl.
Court – it may be a matter of which fear is stronger; make sure Daddy’s Little Girl is happy, or make sure one is keeping one’s hands *off* Daddy’s Little Girl… π
@Fig – Right?! And John brought up a good point about the song – in the movie, Eric never actually gets a chance to “kiss the girl” because those two eels of Ursula’s (Flotsam & Jetsam, maybe? It’s been awhile) bump the boat right as they’re leaning in for the smooch. Val could copy the scene from the movie completely and not have to actually “kiss the girl”. And it would be freakin’ adorable, and would show off Rumer’s “fun, goofy side” that she keeps telling us she has but we have yet to actually see – which is why I am just baffled as to why he wants a dark song like “Poor Unfortunate Souls” instead. Does he think he may have a shot at an Emmy with the choreography he does with that song? I have no idea. It all just seems like a no-brainer to me that they should go with “Kiss the Girl”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a paso to Poor Unfortunate Souls – but Val’s reasoning behind it just boggles. Plus I agree that it’d be to Rumer’s advantage to use Kiss the Girl – and as far as rumbas go, it might actually be the least sleazy way to do a rumba (that’s not in homage to a dead person) possible.
Maybe Val hasn’t seen the movie in a long time, and doesn’t remember that there’s no kiss at the end? I dunno, but it’s just dumb.
Thanks for giving us the scoop, Court. Now why did I just *know* it was Rumer and Val having a problem agreeing on the song/dance style? *eye roll*
I agree with all the arguments in favor of doing a cute rumba to “Kiss the Girl”. It’s the right choice in every way. Val is behaving exactly like big bro did over Maksyl’s Disney song. Maks didn’t want to do “I Wanna be Like You”. These guys just need to get over themselves.
Fig, Maybe Val has *never* seen The Little Mermaid. For all that his family has been here since he was a young boy, he seems remarkably oblivious to American cultural touchstones.
I want Rumer to dance the rumba now if nothing else to see Sasha and Henry dressed up as eels for the end of their routine.
I kind of think Rumer might win this “battle” though if the producers are on her side also. Wonder if it will make it into the package at all though. I’m thinking not since the producers want to show Rumer/Val in the best light possible.
@Cidra – I tend to think that Val is far more experienced with American culture than he lets on – he’s been here more than 20 years. I just think he likes to pull the “durrrr, I’m just a clueless Russian immigrant!” card when it’s convenient for him. Just like his fans try to claim that some of the douchey things he says just get “lost in translation” because English is not his first language – sorry, but after 20+ years stateside speaking English, I don’t think you get to pull that card anymore. I think the only pro that could probably pull that card right now is Keo – I’m guessing his first language was most likely Afrikaans, Zulu, or Xhosa, because DT says they were seriously considering subtitling the guy in he & Charlotte’s rehearsals. His English is pretty marginal, at best – I guess he kept saying that he & Charlotte’s rumba was going to “blow people up”, as opposed to “blow them away”. He’s about on-par with Oksana’s shaky English back from when she was in the troupe.
@DLT – I am preparing myself for none of this to show up in their rehearsal video – and for me to subsequently get labeled a liar, but hey, that’s par for the course these days π That’s the struggle with having a source behind the scenes: you never know what’s actually going to show up in the rehearsal tapes, thereby corroborating your story, and what is going to get swept under the rug completely and make you look like you fabricated everything. Case in point? Season 18 switch-up week – Meryl & Val and Danica & Maks both got pretty whitewashed rehearsal packages: Val was far harder on Meryl than what was shown (I recall DT being taken aback when Val screamed at one point “YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!!” when Meryl was struggling with a step), and there was a lot more friction between Danica & Maks than what was shown (something to the tune of “Just shut the f*ck up and dance” was uttered, as well as Maks calling a camera man a “c*cksucker”). But because it didn’t show up in their packages, I got accused of making the whole thing up. Oh well – depending on what dance Rumer & Val end up doing, you’ll know who won the battle π
It’s a blessing and a curse Courtney! You would think people would use their brain and realize that just because something didn’t make it into the package doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. They fit a week’s worth of rehearsals into one minute long clip — hence how the producers are able to craft whatever storyline they want for a couple. A celeb/pro can give them a soundbite to run with without them even realizing it. I remember the S18 spoilers specifically as so many people were trying to claim you were liar because god-forbidden the C brothers aren’t perfect.
SOMETIMES it’s a good thing though as I remember last season I was worried about how Alfonso would be shown in the group rehearsal footage after what you told us. I was worried he would come off like a diva but luckily they gave him a very good edit. So sometimes it works in the favor of the celebs I like.
I think the convenient ignorance of American culture applies to Maks as well. Some of his fans always tried to claim that English is his second language so it may get lost in translation. My response was always that he must be stupid then, because he’s lived here for 20 years – and starting in the most formative years. Most kids pick up that stuff at lightening speed.
Court, there was something fun with Derek and Emma that we were waiting for too – last season I think – that never showed up on the show at all. And now I can’t remember what it was…
@Heidi – The “accidental boob grab” bit with Emma, Mike, & Derek. π
Remember when Val, Danica, Max and Meryl were having a disagreement in rehearsal and all of a sudden Grandma C. shows up from Brooklyn. REALLY I believe that is called deflecting the C boys bad behavior. Lets focus on Grandma and they did. I always knew you were telling the truth Court. In Brooklyn we call it the Russian scam. Nobody plays the game better then they do. Sad be very true!
I am anxiously waiting to see Sharna use Noah as a jungle gym. They are the best. Also looking forward to seeing Willow and Mark. Maybe 1 or 2 others but Disney isn’t my favorite night but it is the shows Parent Co. so whata ya gonna do?
Thank you mods always a good dialogue. Did John say he wanted to discuss foreplay? rotflmao
Oh, yeah!! Mike asked Derek if it was okay if he accidentally grabbed Emma’s boob and Derek said something like “yeah, it’s fine, I do it all the time”. And Emma had some come back to that. Right?
Those two have a very interesting relationship (Derek and Emma) – they did the “guess the butt” game and Derek guessed Emma for one and said something about a great butt and Emma said something “you can grab it whenever”. Kinda odd, actually. π
@lynn – Exactly – whenever I was talking about something good that Val or Maks did (or in this case, some sort of indicator that Meryl & Maks were “taking their relationship to the next level” with her meeting his family – bitch please!), I was telling the truth; the minute I said anything bad they had done, I was a “pathological liar”. I swear, an alarming percentage of Chmerkovskiy fans have Jewish mother syndrome – they don’t believe those two stooges are capable of sinning in any way. And yeah – Grandma C was a complete diversion tactic from the fact that they were having a disastrous duel dance rehearsal, which ended with a disastrous duel dance performance. But who cares???!!! GRANDMA C IN DA HOUSE!!! WOOT WOOT! *sarcasm* Another fun fact about that rehearsal: the C-boys were genuinely surprised about Grandma showing up. Surprised to the point that Maks snapped at a field producer “Why are you even interrupting us?!” when the poor guy stuck his head in to let them know they had a surprise visitor. Notice that didn’t make it on film…can’t have Grandma C’s perfect little angels looking anything less than well-behaved π
lynn,
foreplay’s the topic for next week π
On that note, don’t you think that Kiss the Girl is such ironic foreplay since she’s the one that wants the kiss? Reminds me of The Bachelor. I’ve always found it ironic that everyone on the show is always interested in a relationship with The Bachelor. I can’t remember any girl ever being like, turns out we didn’t bond and I wouldn’t want to marry him. Or he’s a jerk, I’m sending myself home since he’s not the one. It’s amazing how people look at someone different when they’re a prize to be won as opposed to a random person they met. I’m just saying. They could put me on The Bachelor and the girls would swoon over how in love they are with me and I’m ugly. It’s amazing how motivations change when your perspective is different.
For the record, my wife and I would have an issue with me being on The Bachelor, but you get the point.
Back to Val, you’d think he’d want the girl chasing after him like they do in Kiss the Girl.
@Heidi – I recall trying to make #slough a thing on Twitter, hoping that they’d show the footage – and then they never did. And yeah, Emma made some comeback to the tune of “no wonder he has such good relationships with his partners!” or something like that. #slough & #kemma are both rather interesting…she’s been a frequent partner for both on different tours. When was it that Derek & Emma were dancing together a lot? Summer of 2013? Was that Ballroom with a Twist or something? And then Emma & Keo danced together quite a bit on the most recent DWTS tour. Maybe she’s just really good friends with both, and flirts playfully (but innocently). But I would totes ship #slough – she seems like she can handle him.
@John – This is why women on The Bachelor swoon, even if the guy is a total dorkapotamus (and why the relationships almost NEVER work out once the show is over): LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. I think one of them even said it in an interview once: you’re in all these beautiful, romantic locations, doing beautiful, romantic things – even if you’re not really attracted to the person your with at first, simply being in locations like that is bound to create some subliminal messaging that builds attraction. And then once the show is over, and the couple isn’t jet-setting off to surf in Hawaii, sightsee in Paris, or sunbathe in Bali, etc., and it’s time to just chill on the couch in sweatpants and actually get to know each other in Hoboken, NJ – sometimes they find that they don’t have a whole lot in common, and don’t like each other much after all. If I had a dating show, I’d make the guys do the most mundane things with me just to see if they were the real deal – Redbox movie nights, failed dinners that make a mess of the kitchen, having to cat-sit for me if I go out of town, buying me “supplies” when it’s that time of the month…you get the idea π
I think she said something about Derek grabbing her boobs all the time, too. Under the guise of it “happens ‘accidentally’ all the time”.
One other thing Court I was so disappointed by Meryl. Seriously who would want to be Max’s 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th sloppy leftover? Disgusting pigs are the C bros.
John your not ugly but definitely not bachelor material. For all of the good reasons. I also have wondered what the heck do these girls get paid to humiliate themselves like they do. Why doesn’t anyone of them take that rose and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Looking forward to your next weeks topic.
I like Emma until I heard Val in an interview say that she was his best friend. Honestly find that hard to believe.
I’m pretty sure Emma is everyone’s best friend. I’m sure she’d be mine if we just had a chance to meet. I might accidentally dance with her too.
Emma loves everyone, and everyone loves Emma – and Val also has a tendency to name-drop. I’m sure Emma would consider all of the pros as “friends” – but I doubt she’d single out Val as her bestie. Her bestie seems to be her twin sis.
I think there’s a few things contributing to the Bachelor swooning: number one, it’s a competition, and even if the girls don’t want the actual man, they don’t want to LOSE either.
I think just as important is that it’s a highly-produced tv show. A friend of mine is very good friends with a famous ex-Bachelorette/Bachelor person and the reality is that they have a story line and that a large percentage of the show is manufactured – not that anyone is surprised by that, but the level of producer involvement is pretty staggering. The fact that none of these relationships work out is absolutely no surprise to me.
Wasn’t it Joe Millionaire that it was leaked he actually had a fling with one of the staff on the show and had zero interest in the two finalist women, and the feeling was mutual.
I guess that’s part of why I never want any of these contestants on DWTS – even Melissa Rycroft, the supposed “jilted lover” was not at all really heartbroken, and in fact that “surprise” break-up was completely fabricated. The fact that they were able to play into her supposed “humiliation” was just nauseating.
Heh…Emma said on All Access that she’s really close with Derek and one other person (can’t remember), but Val’s name wasn’t mentioned. I wouldn’t take Val’s word on anything.
And maybe Emma is the sort who is best friends with everyone. That’s a great thing and she’s pretty awesome in my book.
I ship #slough, but sometimes I see some adorable British actor and I ship him with Emma. I adore Tom Hiddleston, but I would totally ship Emma & Tom Hiddleston. He loves to dance, anyway, and he seems like a benign, charming guy for her π
Maybe tonight’s off-topic discussion in the private area should be “Who do you ship?” π
Good idea Court. Although, we’d have to define ship I think. There are multiple levels and layers of shipping.
How ’bout “Who do you wish would date?” π
My book to PH!
John is correct. ALL words need to be explained especially to me. lol
“Who do you wish would date? Like all of the people this Season or All of the people in the world?
Well in case I fall asleep after the show. I would like to see Emma date Scott Eastwood.
Will have to think about others.
I don’t ship, but I do miss Sasha and Emma – but it looks like they are still great friends so good for them.
I’m not one to usually ship, but I totally would ship Derek and Emma. I saw them live together last winter (right after they had gotten off the cruise together) and they were adorable. They had amazing chemistry dancing together and were so funny. He kept talking about how lovely she was and how she looked good in anything. Seriously the cutest.
@Fig – I don’t know what it is but I was never a fan of Emma/Sashaβ¦or maybe it’s just that I’m not a Sasha fan. It is nice to see them still be friends. I always got the impression Sasha thinks more of himself than he shouldβ¦or maybe I’m thinking of Henry. The only time I really liked him was when he was with Snooki.