Afterbuzz TV Reviews Dancing With The Stars Season 22 Week 7 With Shirley Ballas
For those interested, you can listen to Afterbuzz TV review Dancing With The Stars Week 7 in the stream below. Note that this week’s guest is Shirley Ballas. The show starts around 8:05pm ET. The video below will also work after the show in case you missed it. Be sure to let us know what you think in comments.
Much better with Darvina in that role. Always love Shirley being on.
I agree Renee, I thought Darvina did a great job being the main host this week. It was much more pleasant and comfortable to listen to.
Wow. Shirley is great. She brought up a topic that I have been thinking about for awhile. As the shows develops and the new pros tend not to have a rigrious grounding in ballroom (versus how the show was original cast) there is a need for the pros to receive additional training. This came up specifically around Keo’s and Whitney’s dances, but I think this is a topic we will hear more about if today’s troupe becomes tomorrow’s pros…
Wow a much better show. LOVING IT SO FAR!!!
So much better with Darvin a at the helm. And of course, Shirley Ballas has great insights and observations. Fun to Skype with Sharna too.
Man, Shirley nailed it on KEO!
Provided the producers didn’t try to puppet her, Shirley would be a perfect replacement for Len who I also adore but, to me, doesn’t seem to be enjoying it as he once did.
She tacked that label on ALL the pros – she reiterated many times that she was talking about all of them. And I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
Me too, Heidi. I love what she said on Val and how he can be “difficult” too (for what we’ve said many times).
This is the only episode I’ve watched this season, I watched for Shirley and I’m glad I took the time.
wow. shirley never disappoints. great episode. love her insights. wish they commented on the team dances.
I gave up on Afterbuzz quite a while ago. But this episode is really, really good! Shirley Ballas was on fire! She did particularly harp on Keo and then she touched on Witney as needing more schooling in ballroom in order to be an effective teacher/partner on DWTS. They need to know these dances thoroughly in order to properly instruct someone else and too be judged. But as she said, Derek is still learning new dances and look where he is! SB also made a rather salient point about each judge on DWTS having a set of well known expectations/ preferences. If the pros would just make a list before the season and incorporate something for each in every performance, they’d be part way to good scores already. I’ve long thought the gist of the content arguments between Len and the pros is often about Len having favorite steps/moves for each dance. When he doesn’t see those, you’re risking his wrath.
I liked that after the skype call with Sharna, and her glossy, careful version of how they are working, Shirley still couldn’t resist her say. Antonio is still not putting in what other contestants are in either time or effort when he is there. And that’s simply not fair. He has some natural talents, a big fanbase and he’s improved at just the right time. But will he keep growing? Also worth noting, Shirley mentioned how Jodie is clearly feeling worn and trying to power through. Nyle still seemed to be hurting from last week’s package edit and it affected him. And Wanya appeared to be very stressed this week when his business commitments came up against his commitment to the show. And she speculated that we might see the athletes react very differently to the coming crunch. They are more used to it and have techniques to power through it and come out on top.
I have her comments on Kim and Sasha. Kim simply didn’t come into this with the natural talent of Jodie, Paige and even Ginger. But she has a fiery personality, a good teacher in Sasha and they turned out entertaining routines with plenty of content and great connection week after week. And they both deserve a lot of credit for that!
As for Shirley Ballas as a judge on Dancing though, not while Mark is still competing! She thinks she’s unbiased but she definitely is, especially towards her cub. Mark’s a fantastic dancer and has grown to be a top pro and very original choreographer/ entertainer. Mama Ballas trying to hide her mama bear tendencies on air would just discredit him in so many sheeple’s eyes.
I tend to agree with the “no Shirley until Mark is done” aspect, but for a completely different reason. I think she, like Julianne, would be initially HARDER on Mark (and Derek if he were to ever come back) than she would be on anyone else. I think only Maks is going to be one so openly biased in favor of his Fam.
Who cares about sheeple?? They are called Sheeple for a *reason*. 🙂
I’m concerned because Sheeple vote. Like the ones who bought into Maksyl, the idea that it was Val’s turn to win and now Sharna is due the Steeler’s fans who believe that Antonio Brown should get the mirror ball for no other reason than that he’s a Steeler.
Sure, sheeple vote. But you have two choices, relax and forget about it because there is NOTHING you can do about it OR relax and hope that they are in the minority this season and vote for who you like.
I guess there is a third option – wring your hands and worry that he might actually win. But why choose that one? First, if he does win, it will be probably the first time in the history of the show that someone who had NO business (doesn’t train, doesn’t dance all that well, and who threw his partner under a bus) winning actually won. Say what you want about Meryl and Rumer – yes, both were HEAVILY pimped to win and needed that help to actually win – but BOTH of them actually put in the work and were GOOD dancers by the end. The same can NOT be said about Antonio, no matter what his fans say.
Excellent points Heidi.
I would have loved to have seen Sharna win with Noah. It would have been well deserved. She worked her butt off and made him shine. Was he the best dancer on the show NO but I could have lived with it because they both GAVE 100%.
Antonio has not been giving his best,and Sharna, well I won’t say she’s not trying, the dances do look a bit better but this isn’t her best work. I do think she has it in her to win an MBT just not this season and not with Antonio. I think Sharna knows that even though she probably should not have said it publicly.
I love Shirley! In fact, it was her and Corky that got me interested in watching ballroom dancing and later DWTS. Shirley is the queen or Grande Dame of the ballroom. I too think they should wait on judging until Mark is gone. I agree she’d probably be harder on Mark and Derek but the whiners would be shouting how it’s favoritism. And as much as I love Maks dancing I can’t stand him as a judge.
I do hope with the summer off that everyone takes the time to further train. Projects are great but like all careers there is always more to learn and room to grow as a person and as a dancer. I seem to recall Cheryl at one point saying she had spent her off time learning AT and it paid off.
Colleen, I see what you’re saying about Mark, Mama Ballas, and the Sheeple.
*Shirley would be tougher on Mark.
*The Sheeple would still feel it’s “unfair” and be less inclined to vote for Mark and his partner.
The end result would be a double strike against the poor celeb who was paired with Mark. That would be sad.
Heidi – do you think Shirley will really be tougher on Mark though? I can’t really remember a time on Afterbuzz where she criticized Mark. Her comments have always been in defense of Mark while she has criticized Derek (AT with Bethany) and Val (calling him difficult). Now these aren’t HARSH criticisms mind you…but they are still a critique. I just can’t remember any time where she’s hasn’t praised/defended Mark.
I could DEFINITELY be wrong though…this is only based on my experience watching Afterbuzz.
It’s a very different thing to “defend” than it is to “criticize”. Any mother would defend her kids, but those same parents are usually quicker to criticize. I could certainly be wrong as well – you never know.
But my main point has always been – if Maks can judge, so can Shirley and the odds of fairness are a lot higher.
I have to jump in here and point out that Derek WON a season while his sister was judging, and the sheeple whined the whole way through. And yet, they still won. The whiners are always the loudest, but it doesn’t mean they are great in number. It’s not impossible.
As a judge, Shirley would have different responsibilities than as a guest on Afterbuzz, which she clearly would take very seriously. Under those circumstances I could definitely see her “bending over backwards” to make sure Mark got as much of a critique as anyone else. She would do it for both their credibility, which is more important and more long-lasting than any particular score that Mark might get.