PureDWTS Season 21, Week 7 – Team Dance Predictions

So according to our source, the teams for the team dances are getting picked immediately after tonight’s show.  What does that mean? That probably the only couple to do the press line will be whoever gets eliminated tonight (most likely Paula), and the rest of the couples will get rushed directly into their first team dance rehearsal. Tonight and Friday (or Saturday) will be the only time the teams will be able to rehearse together, so the pros will likely work on getting the group portions of the dance choreographed tonight, and polishing later in the week; the couples will be responsible for choreographing their individual parts of the team dance on their own time. So all that being  said – what can we predict about how the teams will turn out? Read on…

Who will the captains be???

Assuming they’re following the old “the two highest cumulative scorers this season are the captains” rule, then the two most likely candidates are Bindi & Nick.  Bindi is currently in the lead with 151 cumulative points, and Nick is in second with 150 points.  The PenaVegas are tied for 3rd at 146 points apiece. I’d say Bindi is pretty much guaranteed a spot as one of the captains, given that if she scores at least a 36/40 on her rumba tonight, nobody can get past her. I think she does this easily, given that she’s already gotten solid 9’s and a couple tens in the past two weeks. If Nick scores at least a 37, he, too, is untouchable – might be a bit more of a struggle for him, as it means he has to get at least (1) 10…a score which has evaded him thus far. But neither one has to be untouchable if the PenaVegas don’t get a perfect score – and I don’t think either one will.  I’m guessing Alexa gets 9’s and Carlos maybe gets 8’s & 9’s – unless Bindi or Nick really steps in it tonight (or the judges just completely lose their minds), I think both have a solid chance of being captain.

Who gets first pick?

I think a lot of this depends on whether or not the pros are even in the room when the captains pick their teams – in the recent past, they haven’t been, so they exert a lot less influence over the picking. They usually give the higher-scoring captain the choice of first pick of music or first pick of teammates – and if Derek has dropped any hints or made any suggestions to Bindi, she’ll opt to pick music first. So I’m guessing Nick gets first pick of teammates.

Who will pick who?

This is where it gets really murky to me, because neither captain seems to have a strong sense of loyalty to any particular couples – Bindi loves everybody, and Nick…strikes me as a bit of a lone wolf. After listening to Nick talk last week about Witney & Carlos, I wonder if he maybe feels his position as the “alpha male” in the competition is threatened by Carlos doing well…so the only thing I feel somewhat certain about is that he will not pick Carlos if he can help it. So maybe he picks Alexa first? And then maybe Bindi picks Carlos, just to keep their team strong. Nick seems like he might have a bro-like appreciation of Alek, so maybe he grabs him. Can’t decide if Bindi is more likely to pick Andy or Hayes – but whichever one she doesn’t, I think Nick snaps up, and Tamar ends up on Bindi’s team.  Since I don’t see Paula surviving tonight’s elim, I didn’t even factor her into the equation. The interesting thing  about this season is (assuming that Paula goes home tonight) that there really isn’t an obvious “weak link” or “toxic asset” that is the last to be picked for the team dance – everyone left is either of average or above average competency in terms of dance skills. So whoever is picked last may not necessarily be the “weak link” – they just might be the one that nobody dislikes, but they just might like someone else more. And in this instance, I think that’s Tamar – like Nick, she strikes me as a bit of a lone wolf; also wonder if her being sick might be a bit of a deal-breaker. So to recap, my official prediction is this: Team Bindi – Bindi, Carlos, Andy or Hayes, Tamar; Team Nick – Nick, Alexa, Alek, Andy or Hayes

What songs will they get?

Since next week is Halloween week, I’m assuming some vaguely spooky-sounding songs – or ones that just sound edgy.  Past examples? “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence, “Disturbia” by Rihanna, “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show, and “Black Widow” by Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora. My guess? One song will likely be more current, while the other will probably be older but more familiar. Kinda wonder if they might whip out some Ozzy Osbourne.

What style will it be?

Seems like they’ve stuck with the freestyle format for a few seasons now – I don’t see that changing.

So do you have any  predictions about how the team dance will shake out??? Let’s hear ’em. 😎