Private Members Area – DWTS Season 22 Week 7 Discussion
It’s time for the Dancing with the Stars Season 22 week 7 and you know what that means. Time to enjoy some friendly, educated banter with the Pure DWTS Insiders. 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.
Time to let it all out (sometimes literally since this is the private members area). What did you think of this week’s episode? What was your favorite part? Let’s relive some of your favorite moments or comments.
What did you think of Icons night? Do you like the new theme?
How about the team dances? Did Team James Brown or Team Beyonce win in your book? I don’t know why people are making this out to be the battle of the sexes. There are 4 guys and 4 girls on each team. Just saying.
Anyway…let er rip!!!
I feel like after a few of last weeks dances, this week had a lot to live up to and it just fell flat over all for me. I would be more than thrilled if we never have another theme week for the rest of DWTS history too. With so many forced themes, it feels as though it not only limits the professional dancers in song choice but forces them to choreograph to a song that the style may not always go with.
I’ll have to go back and watch the team dances again, while I am #TeamJamesBrown all the way (Cause, Wanya) I didn’t necessarily think that the girls dance deserved that fewer points for their overall score.
I really thought because of the major over scoring in the beginning of the episode that it was Jodie and Kim going home. I imagine that’s what the judges may have assumed as well since they were so generous with their scoring for both of them. I’m surprised that they put Wanya in jeopardy after he had the highest score of last weeks dance. I’m not sure if this means he’s not getting the votes I hope he is or if they are just trying to rally more. At the same time though, if they were gonna rally for more votes for anyone I’d prefer it to be Wanya as opposed to Ginger or Antonio.
Will definitely miss Von and his dedication. Kim came off very pissed and bitter & while I understand she may be disappointed I think she could have done a better job of filtering that reaction. Like Heidi said on the other thread, it was clear Sasha didn’t prepare her.
Those are all my thoughts for now. I plan on re-watching some dances so I’m sure I’ll be back later with more thoughts and to discuss with everyone else too! 🙂
Tonight felt a little underwhelming to me. LOVED Paige’s dance and enjoyed Team James Brown, but no one else really stood out to me. Also doesn’t help that I didn’t really enjoy the opening number or any of the bumpers. Wow…I’m just negative Nancy tonight hahaha.
While I expected Kim to be eliminated I was really bumped to see Von go. Especially after seeing what a great time player he was.
wow, just spent an hour trying to catch up on things. Thanks MODS for everything – you guys always nail it. Reading so much at once made me think of two things:
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1) PH – the comment about “entitled” new pros. I agree completely – its like when kids sports teams hand out trophies to every kid. Trophies are supposed to be earned. Same idea for these pros. Im gonna use Val as an example since he seems to be the pimped male pro, but what happens in 5 years when Val (because of pimping) has won as many MBT’s as Derek? In the books – they look equally talented, and Dereks accomplishments then get diminished by a certain amount. That is complete BS IMO. So this pimping by TPTB and this sense of entitlement really harms the people who put in the effort, try their best, do the show because they love it – not because they “deserve it”.
2)Long shot – but could Ginger be the surprise elimination? The surprise could be because she just got the first perfect score. It has happened before when someone gets their best score/leads the scoreboard and then gets sent home the next week. And this could – sort of – explain the 30 she got. I agree with the comments that it was a strong dance, but not a 30 when compared to others. Could the 30 have just been to “setup” the surprise?
I don’t think ANY other pro will get 6 trophies to match Derek. Not even Val. Just think about it from a logistics stand point. For Val to tie Derek he needs to win 5 times. That’s a lot. There is no way they can pimp him to a win every season – I don’t think they’re even trying this season. I think this season is about Ginger and her membership in the ABC family. But say they successfully manage to get Val a trophy every third season. they would need FIFTEEN seasons for him to tie Derek. Personally, I doubt the show will last another fifteen seasons. We don’t even know if it will last FIVE.
For Derek to win 6 times, he had to be on the show for 16 seasons. That means he won about 38% of the time. Val is already in his 10th season and has only one once or 10% of the time, assuming he doesn’t win this season. I don’t think there is a pro on the show that can make up that kind of ground to match Derek. And Val has been given ringers nearly every time and was pushed hard to his first win. They just can’t do that season after season and expect the audience to stick with them.
I think i didnt explain myself clearly. As you pointed out – it would be very difficult and unlikely for Val to tie Derek. I was just using that as an example. My point was just that I feel like when they “hand out” wins to certain pros, it diminishes the hard work of the pros who actually earned it. I have kids, Average kids. Im not here to hand them a trophy and tell them they are the best at something, when they aren’t. If they want the top accolades, then they have to earn them. I have a slacker and an over-achiever, do they deserve the same rewards/grades in school? I dont think so.
So I guess what it comes down to for me is that I think Derek (followed by Mark) is the best choreographer ever on the show. His talent is endless. And Mark just has completely wild interpretations of stuff that I love. And I guess in my book when I think of male pros, Derek should be at the top from a talent perspective. And maybe since I am not in the dance world, I look at media reports, which give cold hard facts like number of wins, number of finalists, etc. And those things dont give credit to creativity and true talent in teaching. So I guess what I was trying to say was that I hate that Val seems to be moving up in those type of stats, when he clearly doesnt have the same talent level as Derek or Mark.
As far as pimping – we will have to agree to disagree. Having him dance in glitter and little shorts front and center, when every other male pro was dressed – Im not sure how we weren’t supposed to think he was “special”. I wonder what happened to the Val who told Glamour (s19) that he wasn’t just a piece of meat. lol Guess those ticket sales needed a boost!
Sarina, I’m pretty sure when PH said “I don’t think they’re even trying” in regards to pimping Val, she meant pimping him to another win because the first part of the sentence was about winning. The pimping we’re seeing for Ginger and Val is more about Ginger being a member of the ABC family. Yes, they do keep Val front and center in group numbers (with or without clothes) and feature him prominently in promos, etc., but that’s a different kind of pimping.
There are so many inherently unfair parts of DWTS as a “competition” that I’ve basically not cared about the real competitive aspects of it for a while. In fact, I consider all of those additional pieces that are unfair as part of the fun in predicting what’s going to happen or not happen. Anyone that places value on the fact that someone “won” versus someone who didn’t just doesn’t understand the show. Yes, that’s a lot of casual people who only read headlines and don’t think critically about what’s really going on with the show. That would never happen in the Private Members area though 🙂
Cidra is correct – I clearly was talking about being pimped to WIN. Of course he is otherwise pimped! I just don’t think they care if he wins again and without that, he may very well not win again.
Val’s stats are NOT moving up. As shown in my previous post. Even including all factors, like finishing place, he doesn’t even come close to Derek. And really, which pro has two actual Emmy statues?? The Emmy’s don’t hand those out like candy.
Didn’t mean to upset anyone. I used Derek as an example only, Mark only has two wins – so one more for Val would put him even – in the record books. Thats the point I was trying to make, and the only one. And actually the Emmys validate what I am saying – Emmys are voted on, voted on for an entire piece of work. They aren’t handed out for numbers/stats only. And thats why Derek has them and Val doesnt – and will probably never have one.
Sorry to step on toes – Ill just go back to the sidelines and keep watching for entertainment value only.
Unless of course you follow the theories that Emmy’s can be bought too. They’re not literally bought, but they’re “bought” in the sense that you have to do the circuit and promote your worthiness almost like a politician. If you watch Empire, then you’ll have seen some of what I think happens with those awards.
Derek and Nappytabs have gone a long way to eradicate the issues with the Emmys. It’s now a peer group instead of a committee. In any case, the main awards are where most of the problems supposedly are.
sarina – you didn’t “upset” anyone. This is how discussion works. An exchange of ideas, sometimes not agreeing – mature adults do it all the time without getting “upset.”
Kenny Ortego called Derek Hough a “legend” if I remember correctly Bruno has referred him at the Master, and Len has called him a “genius.” Add, Derek never needed “pimped” to win a MBT. And, Derek’s 2 Emmy Awards were based on DWTS dances with his celeb partner, except for the “gravity” dance. Val will never reach this level. Mark would have a better chance than Val, but even Mark would have to really push it. And, Mark could have a good chance at a 3rd MBT if Paige keeps doing as fierce as she has been lately.
Actually, Derek’s second Emmy is for his dance with Julianne to Sia.
You could definitely make the case for Derek being “pimped” on the show. He had his very own Macy Stars of Dances for heaven’s sake. One could argue that he deserved it and others that were “pimped” didn’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that the viewing audience got to see more of that person.
I also think the producers don’t “pimp” nearly as much as we talk about them pimping out various pros or couples.
The difference being – IF what you say is true, Mr. Devil’s advocate – is that when Derek has his own Macy’s, the show WINS EMMYS.
You also forget the fact that it was widely publicized that ANY PRO can go to production with a pro dance if they have an idea. That’s what Derek did. I suspect the others are rather short on ideas.
Besides – we were talking about being pimped to win. The opposite was usually true for Derek.