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PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1 – Week 6 Live(ish) Blog!!!

It’s “Giving Thanks” week, and the junior celebs are paying tribute to those they’re thankful for – get ready for appearances from Stevie Wonder and Maddie Ziegler, as I believe they’re joining Mandla & Brightyn and Kenzie & Sage, respectively, for their performances tonight. Looks like a dark horse might emerge tonight, and we say goodbye to yet another beloved couple.  Although Jason’s relatively composed elimination last week gives me hope that maybe the remaining kids will be able to keep their composure from here on out…prolly not. Oh well…at least the rest of the show is pleasant to watch 🙂 Far more so than its adult counterpart these days…

Pretty cute opener, seeing the junior celebs, junior pros, and mentors all dancing together – reminds you of how young these kids are 😛 Once again, Kenzie & Sage look more like mentors than juniors.

Ariana’s dedicating her routine to her family and is doing a salsa.  Ariana’s abelo & abuela come to visit at rehearsal 🙂

It’s fun and energetic, and they both are selling it well – though I don’t know that it’s necessarily their strongest performance.  Tuck that tush under, Artyon!

Mandy is “thankful for that salsa!” and commends Artyon on the lift.  Adam wants to know if Artyon can lift him next.  Val says it was “spicy” and “authentic” and thinks Puerto Rico is proud of Ariana.

They get 9, 9, 9 – they seem happy.

As an aside: you start to notice some of the editing if you know where to look.  Case in point: the voiceover from Jordan talking about the DWTS finale tomorrow night. Clearly filmed later on, and you notice the only thing you actually saw Jordan saying was “Frankie!”

Mandla is giving thanks for his dad – and he’s dancing to “Isn’t She Lovely”, his favorite song his dad has written. Stevie seems touched 🙂

It’s a lovely foxtrot – no pun intended 😉 What I love about how Mandla moves is just how organic he is – he may lack the polish of some of the kids with previous experience, but there’s something so genuine about his dancing.

Adam thinks it was his best dance.  Val thanks Stevie for being there, and Stevie says the dance “looked good to him!” Hehe. Brightyn is crying, and saying how she’s so touched by Mandla’s relationship with his dad.  Mandy says it was beautiful.  They get 9, 9, 9 – looks like tonight’s episode of Sesame Street may be brought to you by the number “9”.

Akash & Kamri up next – and I’m told this Bollywood jazz is TOTES ADORBS.

Akash is thankful for his parents, and they love “Jai Ho”.  They’re visiting rehearsal and they’re every bit as darling as he is 🙂

I think that may have been his best dance – he was nailing all of the arm and leg movements.  And he looked so proud!!!

Val thought it was his best dance.  Mandy praises him for “cleaning up” his movements.  Adam agrees with both.

Akash’s favorite move was the “pump-up move” and he’s trying to teach Frankie 😛 He gets 8, 8, 7 – and they’re shrieking with joy.  Adam’s weird.

Miles & Rylee up next!

Like everyone thus far, Miles is thankful for his family.  He’s dancing to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”.  I remember his mom & Dad from when he was on AGT 🙂

Miles is like a mini-Jordan – he just moves so confidently.  I loved it.

Mandy name drops La-La Land and praises Miles “genuine sense of joy”.  Adam is mad he didn’t get any flowers from Miles 😛 Val thinks it was one of his best dances and praises the footwork and technique, and appreciates that he’s a short guy that “dances big”. His critiques have improved from week 1, I’ll give him that.

Miles says his family has both chicken & turkey for Thanksgiving.  They get 9, 9, 8 –  seriously, WTF, Adam.  You’re my least favorite judge.

Sky is thankful for her family, too.  Her brother looks like he could be her twin.

It’s a pretty foxtrot and Sky seems so chuffed to being doing it the whole dance.  I still feel like both Miles & Mandla were better, thought.

Adam is getting choked up.  Val says it was “so special” and had “emotional range”.  Mandy says it was excellent and praises Alan for Sky & JT looking “coached”.

Ocean (Sky’s brother) is waiting in the skybox and making me cry.  Sky & JT get 9, 10, 10 – ok, it was good, but I still feel like Mandla & Miles were just as good.  And dammit, these kids are making it dusty in my house…

Obvi, Kenzie is thankful for her sister, Maddie.  So clearly, we need to invoke Sia again.

It’s good, but Kenzie still seems to exaggerate her movements – contemporary dancer having trouble transitioning to ballroom?

Val praises the sisters’ relationship.  Mandy talks about “dancing big” and “full-out”.  Adam wants to be the 3rd Ziegler sister.

Frankie sarcastically saying that Maddie has “never danced before” is unintentionally hilarious, given the song-and-dance of this season. 😛

They get 9, 9, 9 – I’m getting a tad tired of the “9” paddle tonight.

And now its time to say goodbye…

…to Akash & Kamri.  🙁

Akash was such a bright spot this season – just so exuberant and happy to be  there.  My god, Akash is so mature and articulate.  I’mma miss this one…

November 18, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1 – Week 5 Live(ish) Blog!!!

After a hiatus last week (owing to some Disney anniversary nonsense), we’re back in business this week – and thank god, cause last week’s regular DWTS has left me in need of a palate cleanser…and Juniors is the perfect salve for disillusioned wounds 🙂

Tonight is “Juniors Choice” night – and the kids are dancing to songs picked by the Junior celebs. Missed the boat on a “Who’s Dancing What” post this week, but the press release is here. Oh look, all of the kids have picked fun and well-known songs – except Kenzie, who is dancing to her own song.  Sorry y’all, I just find her entire presence on Juniors to be a carefully-crafted PR op, while the other junior celebs seem to be having very organic journeys. Maddie’s due to make an appearance next week…

Spoiler alert! We’ll see the “10” paddle for the first time tonight 🙂 A few more spoilers here.

Costumes look fun.

Miles is doing the theme from “Space Jam”.  I’ve never actually seen Space Jam, but I know everyone seems to love  it. They’re trying to work some basketball moves into the dance. Miles is tied up filming Black-ish and trying to balance both shows.

Very high-energy and fun routine, with a TON of content. Might have been a section where Miles forgot choreo, but overall, IMPRESSIVE.

Adam making some basketball analogy. Val going on about how he loved Space Jam and thought it was incredible. 9’s across the board, which seems fair.

Kenzie’s crying in her package and I’m not really following why…

She’s keeping up and the song is ok, but she’s doing that same hard-hitting thing she did with her jive in Halloween week and it’s making everything feel jerky.

Adam praises her “giving herself” and says the song’s “really good”.  Val praises her for having “never done cha-cha before”. Mandy says she’s a performer and has star-quality, and encourages them to continue working on partnering.  Scores after the break…

Ok, I may have to watch that Prince-themed episode of Black-ish 🙂

Kenzie & Sage get 9, 9, 9 – I don’t think it was as good as Miles & Rylee’s dance, but go off, I guess.

Jason & Elliana up next.  My god, this kid is such a character – he’s got the Run DMC chains, glasses, tracksuit, and hat on 😛

It was a fun routine and Jason sold it well, even if he wasn’t always hitting the moves quite right. I feel like he’s going places.

Val says it had swag X 1000.  Elliana says Jason is “an 80-year-old trapped in an 11-year-old’s body”.  Mandy praises him for dancing “out” of  his body. Adam says he was “the leader of that dance crew”.

9, 8, 8 – probably fair.  Jason looks THRILLED.

Akash & Kamri up after the break!

Akash wants to spell a word for a his dance.  Ooo…kay. Let’s see how this works…

It’s a tad messy, but a very fun Charleston.

Mandy was impressed with how fast he switched gears from spelling to dancing, and says he’s the first one in DWTS history to do a “one-legged leapfrog over his partner”. Val says Akash “makes intelligence look charming”. Akash thanks the judges for their comments, and tells all the kids at home that “you’re never too young to do big things”. Awwww.

7, 7, 6 – Akash & Kamri seem a little disappointed.

Sky & JT doing samba after the break!

Idol, go away.

Sky riding Alan as he does push-ups. 😛 She likes this song because it pumps her up before skateboarding.

Sky handles samba hip action and rhythm better than many of the adults on the show. I loved it.

Adam says Sky’s still not pointing her toes at times, but she’s “out there kickin’ biscuits and taking names”. Val praises the content and Alan for “making the right choices”. Mandy loves “the slingshot move” and praises the execution. Sky thanks Maddie Ziegler (who was in the video for “The Greatest”) for inspiring her.

Sky & JT get 8, 8, 7 – I’m not sure what’s with Adam tonight, but that deserved at least straight 8’s.

Mandla & Brightyn up after the break, with Ariana & Artyon closing the show. Feels like a bajillion commercial breaks tonight…

I see they’re advertising a “final 4” for the finale on DWTS…guess this week is a double elim, Heidi.

Mandla wants to do “Perm” by Bruno Mars.  I really hope the judges go easier on him this week – he seems to get a raw deal with scores.

It was a fun, energetic cha-cha, but I bet the judges call out lack of content…

Val praises Mandla being his own man outside of his dad’s shadow. Mandy says she “can’t stop watching” when Mandla dances. Adam praises the creativity.

They get 8, 9, 8 – seems about right.

Frankie feels extra awkward tonight.

Why do I have to explain the difference between Frankie Muniz and Carlos Munoz to Mama Spence? 😛

Ariana & Artyon felt like they let Brandon down after Halloween week.  Brandon did a good job of coaching and encouraging them to keep trying.

The kids requested a Rolex and a camel.  Oh boy. lol

As predicted, it brought the house down. Both of them hit it hard and sold the hell out of it.

Mandy praises the jazz content which they “swagged out”. Adam says they were tough in their last critique, but she came out and showed them what makes a champion. Val hands them his “rolly-rolly-rolly”.

Ariana says she was channeling Cardi B.  Artyon yells “Beyonce!!!”

9, 9, 10 – Ariana & Artyon both in tears. Awww.  Time to watch another cry for a not-so-happy reason 🙁

Leaving us tonight: Jason/Elliana/Emma.  This was tough, cause I think that kid’s got character in spades.

Jason’s not crying! He says he’s really sad, but “thank you for the opportunity”. He’s actually handling this really, really maturely.  I’m impressed as hell…this kid’s got a bright future 🙂

November 11, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1 – Week 4 Live(ish) Blog!!!

It’s the second week in a row where the Juniors theme has matched the theme on the adult version – tonight they’re doing Halloween, and like Disney last week, I have a feeling the kids are gonna outdo the adults again. High score spoilers here, songs and dances here. Tonight’s episode was taped on August 10.

Gonna try to type as fast as I can, but I’m also trying to eat a bánh mì and sorta-kinda read my accounting textbook.  It’s been a busy weekend, to say the least 😛

Cute opener with monster/zombie choreography.  Sage & Kenzie still look like the kids that got held back a grade or two and tower over the rest of the class.

Akash & Kamri going with a mad scientist theme. Kind of perfect for Akash 😛

It’s pretty stinking cute.  Akash has his hair gelled up and does the entire dance with goggles on.  He seems to be getting bolder on the floor and also more articulate and less nervous when he talks.

Mandy thinks its some of his best dancing so far. Adam praises him for working through the goggle issues.  Val starts down some track about chemistry, but kind of abandons it and instead tells them it was great.  They get 7, 7, 7.

Mandla & Brightyn up next.  Apparently there’s a cauldron in their dance.

Mandla seems rather shy & soft-spoken in interviews, but seems to come alive on the floor.

It’s cute and very fast, but seemed to lose a bit of steam in the middle.

Milo was in the audience that week! They must have booked him early.

Val says he’s usually hard on Mandla for content (even though Mandla has NO SAY in it) but it was great this week, and makes some reference to South Carolina.  Mandy says this was as good as his week 1 performance. Scores after the commercial. Then Kenzie & Sage dance. Aren’t they just wearing their costumes from week 2, just…zombiefied?

Mandla & Brightyn get 8, 8, 7 – not sure why Adam was the lone dissenter.

Yes, Kenzie & Sage are wearing the same costumes from week 2 – Kenzie even says they’re “monsterfied”.

I can’t be the only one that has a compulsive desire to karate chop Gleb in the throat like Miss Piggy whenever he speaks…

It was a good jive, but I’m not sure how to describe Kenzie’s technique…almost TOO sharp? It was almost too aggressive & sharp, as opposed to bouncy.

Mandy says there’s something missing, and mentions Kenzie losing focus when doing tricks. Val enjoyed it. Adam says it’s excellent and says “You look terrible, but I love it!” They get 8, 8, 9.

Troupe in fox costumes dancing to “What Does the Fox Say?” We can leave that song back in 2013, thanks.

Jason & Elliana up next doing Argentine tango.  Jason is playing a vampire and Elliana says she’s playing “an innocent girl named Patti.” Jason: “Like a secretary?” Dying.

Ok, that may have been my favorite dance so far.  Jason sold the hell out of it, and there were a bunch of subtle little movements that have become so characteristic of Emma’s choreo.  She knocked it out of the park AGAIN, despite having a weaker couple and a less-than-ideal song.

All three judges blown away and very positive about the performance. Jason does an old-school vampire impression.

8, 9, 8 – I agree.  Jason says he’s still in a dream and he cannot wake up.

Alana & Tristan up after the break…

Correction, Ariana & Artyon up next, doing paso.

Ariana can’t say paso doble, so she calls it a “Picasso”.  Artyon doesn’t know what a Picasso is. 😛

Brandon laying down the law in rehearsal!

It’s a pretty good paso. They both sell it well. Kenny Ortega in the house!

Adam says the dancing is very good, but wants to see “a greater range of emotion”.  Val agrees with Adam.  Just how are they expecting a 10 & 11-year-old to emote? Mandy makes sense of it, saying that there was a lot of “hard-hitting moves” and they want to see more than that.

They get 7, 8, 7 – boys, you’re being stingy. Cut it out.  Should have had at least another 8.

Alana & Tristan up next, doing jazz to Ghostbusters. Cameo by apparition of Len in their rehearsal package 😛

I am beyond tired of “Ghostbusters” used in Halloween week, but Alana & Tristan made the most of it.  Very simple, but Alana kept up and sold it well. And they get slimed at the end 😛

Val commends the body roll.  Mandy says she did everything necessary for a jazz.  Adam continues his mall analogy from the past two weeks – in week 2, it “looked like she was walking at a mall”; last week, “the mall was closed”; this week, “if there were any ghosts at the mall, I’d definitely call you.” They get their scores after the commercial.

Artem trying like hell not to get slimed by getting hugs from Alanna & Tristan.  They get 7, 7, 7 – probably a bit kind, given the other scores they’ve given out tonight.

Sky & JT doing jive to “Little Shop of Horrors”.  God these two are beyond cute. Sky struggling a bit with the choreo.

Alan so proud of his kids.  Daaaaaawwww.

It’s actually super cute, and they sell it 110%.  Take note, Gleb – that weak ass “jizz” you choreographed for Jana just got bested by two minors. Loved the back bend walk.

Judges all very complimentary. Sky thanking Alan & JT for “being so patient with me.  I just love these people.” They get 9, 9, 8  and are squealing for joy.

Miles & Rylee closing the show after the break…

They’re in a candy haze prepping for their samba.  Miles has an orange tootsie roll up his nose. 😛

WOW.  Miles actually really nailed the samba technique – perhaps better than Artyon, a junior pro, did last week.  TONS of content. He & really out of breath.

Judges all very positive.  Mandy says we’re witnessing a transformation.

No Juniors next Sunday, y’all.

They get 9, 9, 9 – high score of the night.  I think it’s fair.  His & Jason’s dances were my faves this week.

Heading home: Alana & Tristan

Poor thing is in tears and seems shocked. This never gets easier 🙁 Interesting to note that the only kid so far that HASN’T cried when they were eliminated was Tripp.

October 28, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1, Week 4 – Who’s Dancing What?

We’ve got another DWTS double-header this week: it’s Halloween week on both shows. Like Disney week, I think I’m more excited to see the kids’ dances than the adults’. Go here for spoilers on who the high scorers were – also has a couple cute pix of the junior pros in costume 🙂

 

Akash & Kamri (mentored by Witney) – tango (song: “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo)

Ariana & Artyon (mentored by Brandon) – paso doble (song: “Ways to Be Wicked” from Descendents)

Alana & Tristan (mentored by Artem) – jazz (song: “Theme from Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.)

Jason & Elliana (mentored by Emma) – Argentine tango (song: “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer)

Kenzie & Sage (mentored by Gleb) – jive (song: “Monster Mash” by Atwater Men’s Club)

Mandla & Brightyn (mentored by Cheryl) – Charleston (song: “Witch Doctor” by Cartoons)

Miles & Rylee (mentored by Lindsay) – samba (song: “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow)

Sky & JT (mentored by Alan) – jive (song: “Little Shop of Horrors” by KIDZ BOP Kids)

 

 

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Clearly I’d do anything for these kids. ???????? See what they did to me this Sunday during #HalloweenNight on @dwtsjuniors.

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October 25, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS Season 27, Week 5 – Power Rankings

Weird things happen when Disney comes to town. Wonky scoring, a fake-out jeopardy and almost-elimination…I guess we should unpack what all went down and see what can be inferred from it. Generally, I think the judges were out to give out as many points as they could reasonably get away with last night, to everyone except Joe; this accomplishes two things: it makes the voting margins very small (due to the larger number of total points), and also makes it harder for Joe to try and make up ground and potentially oust a better dancer. Given that we’re now on the hook for (2) double elims (and one of them is on night 1 of finale week), and we didn’t eliminate anyone this week, I’m thinking next week we cut (2) couples, when we’ve got the best odds of Joe at the very least falling into the bottom two.  He doesn’t have to be the lowest on the totem pole; if they can just get him second-lowest, they can flush him out.  As for the psych-out almost-elim – my little bird told me the couples were told by producers (after the fact, of course) that the two couples in jeopardy “were only picked for shock value, it wasn’t a ‘real’ jeopardy”. Be that as it may, I think that faux jeopardy will only have the effect of boosting votes for DeMarcus and Alexis – I think the former is doing fine, vote-wise, but I think the latter probably could use whatever boost they can give her.  I think it’s interesting that they went more for “shock value”, when they could have actually utilized this jeopardy to boost someone that maybe needed help – Mary Lou comes to mind, as I have yet to find any super-passionate Mary Lou voters (except maybe Bill – I know you’re reading this, bruh) and there seems to be a lot of viewers that tend to forget about her by the end of the night. Then again, with 5 weeks down and 4 to go, they’ve gotta start lining things up for their ideal finale…

…which brings  me to my next point: given that last night was the midpoint of the season, it’s time to take inventory of who I think is headed to the finale and who is probably not.  I’ve been told by several people that Carrie Ann apparently said in her Instagram live that (5) couples go to night 1 of the finale (meaning we get five freestyles) and then there’s a double elim at the end of the night, and only the final (3) dance on night 2 of the finale. So somewhere in weeks 6, 7, and 8, we’ve gotta shed (4) more couples…meaning there’s a double elim at some point BEFORE the finale, and my guess is that it’s next week.  My gut says they don’t let Joe anywhere near the finale, if they can help it – and Bobby’s probably not far behind him. Mary Lou just seems to be fading into the background, so I doubt she’s long for this show, either; I think the last cut is probably a toss-up between John and Juan Pablo – I think John’s actually connecting better with the audience, but I get the feeling TPTB are going to do whatever they can to ensure that the better dancer (Juan Pablo) makes it over the decent-dancing everyman. So that leaves us with Milo, DeMarcus, Alexis, Evanna, and either Juan Pablo or John headed to night 1 of the finale; of those, I think the final three SHOULD be DeMarcus, Milo, and Evanna. But given the sudden showmance angle with Alexis & Alan, and the fact that they seem to think Juan Pablo is the greatest thing since sliced bread, who knows what will happen.

Things I enjoyed from last night? Loved that they found ways to work in the junior pros and contestants, and that opener was the most unique one we’ve had in awhile – loved how may Disney Easter eggs they managed to throw in the background (loved Hayley trying to jam Cinderella’s slipper on Britt’s foot in the hallway 😛 ).  As far as I’m concerned, Jason Maybaum can cohost with Berge anytime – that kid is a riot 🙂 Read more..

October 23, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1 – Week 3 Live(ish) Blog!!!

It’s night 1 of the “two night Disney event” on Juniors & regular DWTS 😛 I’m expecting there to be some fairly heavy-handed marketing ploys on both shows, but at the very least, on Juniors the kids’ excitement about dancing to Disney songs is a bit more sincere and fun to see. Also crossing fingers that our technical difficulties here at Pure last week are behind us, as it didn’t seem like I got much conversation on the live blog thread last Sunday. Womp womp womp. Song and dance list here, spoiler post here. If you want a recap/rundown of last week’s episode, week 2 live blog here and week 2 postmortem here.

Things to keep in mind headed into tonight’s show: this episode was taped on August 3rd, which was the first week where the kids had to learn (2) dances in basically three days (basic schedule this season was rehearse M-Tu-W, camera block Thur, tape Fri/Sat, mandatory law-required day off on Sun); we might start to see the signs of fatigue a bit more tonight. In light of last week’s semi-shocking elim, keep in mind that it may not necessarily be the lowest-scoring couple headed home…it may be more likely to be a decent scoring couple that maybe just didn’t “pop” so much. Oh, also – Kim Kardashian is apparently on tonight’s episode, to *snicker* give Sophia & Jake tips on their performance.  Oh, that’s rich…coming from the woman who went home in week 3 of her season (after a very underwhelming performance) and was also once kicked offstage at a Prince concert for not dancing. Can’t wait to see what kind of wisdom she has to impart on the kids 😛

Kids look so darn cute in their costumes 🙂 Alana looks very pretty and mature in her Belle costume. Read more..

October 21, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1, Week 3 – Who’s Dancing What?

It’s Disney week on both Juniors & regular DWTS! Judging from pix I’ve seen from Juniors, looks like they might start utilizing the junior troupe in the dances a bit more this week. As always, go here for spoilers on who the high scorers were for Disney night.

 

Akash & Kamri (mentored by Witney) – jive (song: “Zero to Hero” from Hercules)

Ariana & Artyon (mentored by Brandon) – samba (song: “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from Lilo & Stitch)

Alana & Tristan (mentored by Artem) – foxtrot (song: “Something There” from Beauty and The Beast)

Jason & Elliana (mentored by Emma) – foxtrot (song: “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” from Toy Story)

Kenzie & Sage (mentored by Gleb) – contemporary (song: “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas)

Mandla & Brightyn (mentored by Cheryl) – jazz (song: “Un Poco Loco” from Coco)

Miles & Rylee (mentored by Lindsay) – Charleston (song: “One Jump Ahead” from Aladdin)

Sky & JT (mentored by Alan) – contemporary (song: “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana)

Sophia & Jake (mentored by Sasha) – samba (song: “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid)

 

Thoughts: kinda pleased to see some new songs thrown into the mix – they don’t seem to be going with old standbys like “Friend Like Me” or “I Wanna Be Like You”.  I’m sure there’s going to be cries of “cultural appropriation!!!” for some of these, but given that these are kids and Disney kind of has a history of cultural appropriation, I’m willing to cut some slack…although I think using anything from Pocahontas is just cringe-y, regardless of how old the person dancing is. Miles & Rylee’s Charleston is probably going to SLAY, given that nobody choreographs a Charleston like Lindsay (bonus: I’m about 95% sure she & DeMarcus have a Charleston to “A Star is Born” from Hercules next week – so double-dose of #Linsanity Charlestons!).

 

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Sneak peek into #TeamCheryl’s Disney-fied dance. Can you guess what their theme is? ???? #DWTSJuniors

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October 17, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS Season 27, Week 4 – Power Rankings

Oof. For the first time in a looooong time, I am speechless at the results. We lost an extremely talented dancer paired with probably the most promising male pro we’ve had in quite awhile, and for what? To keep some slouch that doesn’t even appear to be trying anymore, just because a niche fanbase has a hard-on for this guy??? There’s more to unpack here than just the fact that folks (inexplicably) seem to love Joe, but that’s probably the most outwardly frustrating part. I think back to Bill Engvall’s season, when so many seemed to complain about him sticking around while better dancers got sent packing.  But at the very least with Bill, I always got the impression that he wanted to be there, he was doing his best, and Emma was putting in 110% each and every week to help him improve.  Wish I could say the same for Joe, but judging from the appallingly bad trio he gave us this week (which he just seemed to laugh about and shrug off), I don’t really think he cares whether he stays or goes.  I think Jenna was praying they got sent packing this week, judging from how mortified she appeared to be when they got called safe. Bachelor Nation, if you’re reading this (and you probably are) – put them out of their misery.  STOP VOTING FOR THEM. This show is already struggling, without your nonsense.

As for other extenuating circumstances that may have lead to Tinashe’s elimination – once again, the “DWTS viewers hate female ringers” argument has popped up again. I still have a hard time believing that one 100%, given that female ringers have gone on to win this show (and make the finals); I absolutely believe that some viewers think that way, but I don’t know that it’s necessarily the majority of voters. However, Heidi did point out that with viewership down, voting might also be down – which gives more power to those that do vote, since the totals are much smaller, and makes the prospect of a “shocking” elim much more likely. I can’t help but draw parallels between voting on DWTS vs. voting in the midterm elections next month – currently, it’s a relatively small but determined demographic dominating the polls (white Baby Boomers); however, if the disenfranchised demographic that isn’t getting to the polls (Millennials & minorities) would make a big push to actually get out and vote, we could upend norms that have persisted for decades. I cannot emphasize the importance of voting – whether its on DWTS or in the midterm elections. I’m hearing a lot of “Tinashe got Sabrina’d!”, but I would actually go with “Tinashe got Hillary’d” – some voters fixated on a fabricated, non-existent problem as justification for not voting for her.  Tinashe’s “emails” were the imaginary “attitude problem” some seemed to have with her – I never saw it, as she always struck me as very calm and just enjoying the ride. But was that same chill demeanor ultimately the problem…? I know I mentioned in my week 2 power rankings that I thought Nancy may be in trouble because she was simply so laid-back that at the end of the night, it was hard to remember her dances.  Did Tinashe suffer the same fate? When you’ve got Bones bouncing around like a lawn dart, Joe being memorably terrible, John being unexpectedly genuine and down-to-earth, Milo dancing surprisingly well and being sheepishly charming, DeMarcus just being an incredibly hard worker, and Alexis showing vulnerability about her past…do you really forget about an otherwise-great dancer that maybe just wasn’t as dramatic as the other celebs? Part of me also wonders if her “Most Memorable Year” dance may have also just not struck as much of a chord with viewers as Alexis’, Bobby’s, DeMarcus’, & John’s did – we’ve often said that if you don’t go the weepy route during MMY week, you run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle, regardless of how well you actually dance. Is it more of a memorability problem than anything else? Or can a season only sustain x number of ringers? We had said over and over that this season probably couldn’t handle both Alexis AND Tinashe for long – I guess I just always assumed that Alexis would be more likely to go first; but who knows, maybe the dance about her mom earned her some votes. I could go on and on about potential contributing factors – but at the end of the day, it comes down to votes: she wasn’t getting them. So if you don’t want to see that happen again, you’ve gotta phone it in and interweb it in – the votes matter.

One factor I don’t blame in any of this: Brandon. He was the one male pro that I was really betting it all on to lead the guys out of this post-Ballas/Hough talent drought.  That tango had serious shades of Derek in it – and Brandon probably got dealt the toughest hand this week: a dance that’s already tough to do as a trio (tango) with a celeb that has some limitations to consider (Amy).  And I think he knocked it out of the park – which is pretty admirable for his first outing as a pro, considering it seems to take the male pros in particular a season or two before they hit a stride (and even then, some of them still don’t quite get it – looking at YOU, Gleb). Producers, he better have a spot for the foreseeable future – ’cause I think he’s gonna pay the dividends in a big way.

So some of you seemed rather perplexed about some of the trios we ended up with – admittedly, I did too. I saw speculation that there was an agenda at play – while I don’t really have any solid tea here, I don’t really think that there was much of an agenda…except maybe for including Maddie, which when taken into account with the fact that her sister is a contestant on Juniors, seems to indicate an attempt to insinuate one or both of the Ziegler girls into DWTS in some capacity. To what end? I’m not sure – part of me wonders if they’re trying to angle to get Maddie employed by DWTS in some capacity (pro? troupe? JUDGE?!) in the future; part of me thinks this could have been part of a quid pro quo for Kenzie doing Juniors (“If you make Kenzie a contestant and give her exposure for her music, I’ll avail myself to you guys in some capacity!”) Kenzie on Juniors just seems very, very strategic – more beneficial for her than for the show itself, I think. But I digress – the rest of the trios just seem like a hodgepodge of former contestants that they managed to convince to come back, with gaps filled in by other randos where appropriate. Shad, Joey, and Melissa seem to avail themselves to the show whenever they’re needed (all-stars, tours, guest judging, hosting, celebrity space filler in the audience, etc.); Nastia, Riker, and Lindsey seem like fan faves they were just fortunate enough to convince to help out for a week.  As for Scarlett and Jordan – the latter just seems like catnip for the Bachelor nation; as for Scarlett, a little bird insinuated to me that she may have been a backup for a former DWTS celeb that had to back out for whatever reason (my knee jerk guess was Jodie – probably the only one of Keo’s former partners worth inviting back, but also a potential conflict of interest, given that her costar is currently a contestant on DWTS). Honestly, I think the decision-making process for who got who in trios probably went something like this: “Ok, who can we convince to come back? Remember, we’ve got Maddie – Maddie needs to fit in one of these trios. So Shad, Melissa, Joey, Riker, Nastia, Lindsey, and Amy all said yes? Ok, now who can we plausibly pair them up with? And what should we do about the remaining two couples that need trio members? Bah, just tell them to invite a friend. What’s the worst that could happen???” Well, I think only one trio truly benefited from having their third person (Milo/Witney/Riker), while the rest were either neutral (Juan Pablo/Cheryl/Melissa, Bobby/Sharna/Lindsey) or were somewhat disadvantaged (pretty much everyone else). Honestly, I think the trios were just the result of the usual flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-planning we’ve come to expect from DWTS 😛 Read more..

October 16, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS Season 27, Week 2, Night 2 – Power Rankings

As usual, I apologize for the tardiness 😛 This has been a rather rough season for my asthma, as the constantly vacillating temperatures here in the Midwest have created the perfect storm of mold, pollen, and other allergens – I’ve been medicating pretty heavily and not always super sharp and able to write.  Let us all pray that it gets cool and stays cool soon, for the sake of my lungs AND brain!

Seems like many of you have some strong feelings and a lot of questions about Tuesday night’s show. One question that seems to be on everyone’s lips: what the hell happened with the phone votes??? For those that missed it, Tom mentioned (rather in passing, as the show was ending) that the phone votes from Monday night “were not available” and thus only the online votes and scores from Monday night were counted towards Tuesday’s elimination. I was too busy on Monday evening to even carve out time to vote, so I can’t personally vouch for anything hinky happening with the phone voting; but I vaguely remember maybe one person tweeting me to say they were getting a weird message on the online voting number…? Anyway, for whatever reason, phone votes either weren’t available (or weren’t counted), so only online votes and scores determined Tuesday night’s eliminee – which happened to be Danelle.  I’ve said this on Twitter, but I’ll repeat it again here: I tend to think Danelle was headed home regardless, and I really doubt the phone votes could have saved her. I’ve heard all manner of outrage on Twitter and IG about how “unfair” the vote was to Danelle, and how people think she was screwed over by the phone votes getting thrown out, how she would still be here if they had included the phone votes, etc. – but those same people also seem to be the ones answering “Well, no, but” when I ask if they actually voted for her. Danelle was in the bottom 5 last week in votes and scores, and was consistently one of the lowest scorers in her two dances last week and the two she did this week.  Is it really that much of a stretch to assume she was probably a goner no matter what??? Both Heidi & I called it, and this was before we even heard about the voting issues.  “But Court, her story is so inspirational – surely she was getting a ton of votes!” Was she, though? Again, bottom 5 last week, and then I go back to my inspirational story fatigue theory from the pre-season.  Additionally, the one difference I noticed between Danelle’s journey on the show and other “inspirational” celebs? Amy, Noah, Nyle, and Victoria all seemed to have these triumphant moments after their dances where they felt like they really persevered – I never really got that vibe from Danelle, and she always seemed to have a certain air of uncertainty and fear about her after she was done dancing.  She was more “Well, I got through it, but it was scary” than “I killed that dance and I feel so proud of myself!” And who can blame her? She really had to be completely reliant on other people to maintain her safety, and probably felt pretty lost and alone at times when she was out on the floor.  It had to be incredibly frightening to her, and I don’t feel like her experience on DWTS was always fun or rewarding for her.  And I feel like the viewers can sense that – I’ll admit, it was hard to watch her sometimes, because it seemed like she was trying so hard but was really frustrated and anxious. Sometimes, seeing those celebs having a hard time get sent home is almost a relief – unless it’s one of the Bachelors (or Nick Lachey), who can act completely miserable, and yet seem to linger week after week 😛

However, I will say that I think that the double elim we had heard about was originally supposed to be Tuesday night – but given the phone vote debacle, I think they opted to just do a single…especially if the other individual in the bottom 2 with Danelle was an aberration.  TPTB can see who the votes were going to last week – if someone that was quite safe and was getting oodles of votes last week suddenly landed in the bottom 2, owing to the absence of phone votes, I’d say that would be a good case for opting out of eliminating them this week. If this is indeed a case of TPTB trying to prevent an otherwise-popular contestant from going home, my guess is that it’s someone that appeals to the older demographic of the show, as they’re more likely to be voting via phone, rather than online – my guess is Mary Lou, although I’ve heard a few others thinking it’s Nancy (simply because TPTB “want to keep Val around longer”). By the same logic, it could also be John, although I get the feeling he may actually be getting more mainstream votes than we probably think; I doubt it’s DeMarcus, as he seems to have enough broad-spectrum appeal that he’s likely getting plenty of both online AND phone votes.  Tinashe, Milo, Evanna, & Alexis seem like they’re more likely to be getting online votes than phone ones; no idea what to think about Juan Pablo & Joe. I’ve heard some asking “Why eliminate anyone at all, if the votes were messed up?” And my one guess is this: we’re already dealing with a shortened season (9 weeks instead of 10 or 11), and with as much bitching and moaning as I hear from fans about how much they HATE double elims, I’m guessing TPTB were trying to avoid having to do another one.  Right now, we’ve got 11 couples left, and 6 weeks to whittle them down to at least 4 – which means we’re already going to have to have at least one double elim somewhere in the mix (if they’re aiming for a 3-couple final, we’ve gotta have TWO double elims).  Had they not eliminated anyone Tuesday night, we’d be on the hook for TWO double elims, possibly three. Additionally, the “extras” we see from week to week on the shows (guest performances, special segments, the length of dances, the length of rehearsal packages, etc.) vastly depend on having x number of couples to fit in the show.  If they’ve suddenly got to fit (12) couples into Monday night’s show again, we may be dealing with another week of shortened dances, or maybe a musical guest that was originally booked to perform gets bumped. It’s a bit of a logistical nightmare, I think – so I can understand why they opted to do at least a single elim this week. Read more..

October 5, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

PureDWTS Season 27, Week 2, Night 1 – Power Rankings

Two hours down – two more to go this week! While I still love DWTS, I gotta admit: these (2) two-hour show weeks are a bit much to watch/write about sometimes – so I can only imagine how hard it’s been on the contestants.  It was likely frustrating enough having to learn two routines last week, only to be told “Hey, only half of you are actually going to have to perform the second routine!” Now this week, it’s two different styles, and everyone’s gotta dance again tonight.  Adding to the tension is the fact that tonight is allegedly a double elim, so the stakes are getting pretty high, pretty quick – everyone dancing this season has my respect for dealing with some pretty tough stuff, so early on in the competition.

Last night was also our first theme night, which means there was the usual shoehorning to get certain dances to fit certain New York-themed songs that aren’t necessarily ideal for the dances they’re being played to. It’s something I try to keep in mind anymore when I feel like something doesn’t necessarily fit – sometimes it’s not really the pro/choreographer’s fault, so much as it is the music editor’s fault. Keeps things in perspective.

One variable that I’m not quite sure how it will play out in this week’s results? Last week’s revelation of the bottom 6. We might see the voters rally for those particular six, as a result of their being in danger last week; we could see some of the couples that were safe last week suddenly in jeopardy, as the lack of exposure on night 2 last week could have made them fade in viewers minds.  Or maybe some of the folks who just weren’t getting the votes last week, still ain’t getting ’em this week – and so they’re still in danger.  Who knows. We haven’t really had a situation like this before, so there’s no precedent to help us predict how it’s going to shake out – and I’m 100% cool with that.  Remember, after 9 years of blogging this show – I just want to see something unexpected 🙂

Other observations? I would have been just fine without the bumpers from Kelly & Ryan and the GMA crew – particularly the latter, which included the omnipresent Ginger, once again using it as an opportunity that she, too, did DWTS (2.5 years ago, mind you – time to get a new schtick, gal). Also feeling a bit optimistic about seeing Jesse Tyler Ferguson in the audience – sure, he was just there promoting Modern Family, but given that it’s now in its final season, dare I hope that his schedule clears up enough that we might see him on a future season…? 😉 Read more..

October 2, 2018 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.