Kurt Warner | Pure Dancing with the Stars

DWTS Season 12 Casting Rumors – The Typecasting of Season 12, Part I

Whenever the time comes to start speculating about the next season’s cast, one useful “tool” we all seem to use is the patterns in typecasting over the seasons – we know there will likely be at least 1 athlete, perhaps a reality TV star, a singer or two, etc. But when you REALLY take a good look at the casting “types” over the seasons, it becomes clear that each season has been a carefully-crafted combination of celebs to appeal almost every demographic…and I think we’ve cracked that code 🙂

Prior to the cast announcements, I’ve done a typecasting analysis for both season 10 and season 11, and both casts have fulfilled almost every subtype (with some celebs fulfilling more than one “type”). So why not take a look at the casting rumors for season 12 and see which might fit into the casting equation, shall we? 🙂

The Olympian

Previous examples: Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, Apolo Ohno, Natalie Coughlin, Misty May-Treanor, Maurice Greene, Louie Vito, Evan Lysacek

Advantages: The winningest of the 12 types, their obvious advantage is their athleticism – you won’t see these guys struggling with strength or endurance moves. In addition, the same tireless work ethic that helped them medal in the Olympics will likely carry them through the toils of the competition. They also seem to be adored by the masses, as many are seen as “hero” figures – which translates into a formidable voting fanbase.

Disadvantages: For those specializing in sports that are less “artistic” (i.e. swimming, running, volleyball), it might be a bit hard to really get into the character of the dance and truly perform to the crowd. Previously incurred injuries (or the fear of incurring an injury that might hinder their participation in subsequent competitions in their sport, a la Misty May-Treanor) may also slow them down & limit their mobility.

Possible candidates this season: Since we didn’t get an Olympian last season, I can almost guarantee we’ll get one this season – and the most likely candidate seems to be Nastia Liukin, who has been a rumor for a few seasons now and has started following Mark on Twitter within the past few days. Other possibilities: Greg Louganis, who seems to have been trying for several seasons now to get onto the show; and while it may be a long-shot, Johnny Weir fans are still campaigning for a “Team Weirnoff” partnership.

The Athlete

Previous examples: Chuck Liddell, Warren Sapp, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Helio Castroneves, Laila Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Ty Murray, Evander Holyfield, Jerry Rice, Clyde Drexler, Monica Seles, Jason Taylor, Lawrence Taylor, Chad Ochocinco, Kurt Warner, Rick Fox

Advantages: As with the Olympians, their athleticism & work ethic make them well-suited to the competition. An edge they might have over their Olympic counterparts: sports like football, auto racing, & mixed martial arts tend to have a larger, more mainstream following than some of the Olympic sports.

Disadvantages: Again, a lack of “artistic” experience & previous injury (especially with the football players, who have really taken a beating over the years). Some of the more muscular athletes in hard-hitting sports may also have difficulty with the refined, precise moves of some of the dances.

Possible candidates this season: This category has been oddly devoid of really “solid” possibilities this season, aside from the Brett Favre debacle – doubtful, but stranger things have happened on the show! Chris Jericho was also kicked around as a possibility again this season, and it looks like WWE Diva Maria Kanellis is still gunning for a spot on the show.

The Model/Playmate/Beauty Queen

Previous examples: Kelly Monaco, Rachel Hunter, Tia Carrere, Shanna Moakler, Paulina Porizkova, Shandi Finnessey, Josie Maran, Albert Reed, Shannon Elizabeth, Brooke Burke, Holly Madison, Kathy Ireland, Joanna Krupa, Pam Anderson

Advantages: All the costumes seem to look fantastic on them (and they can get away with wearing the really skimpy ones) and so do their pro partners – easy to imagine a “showmance”, which always seems to grab votes. Also seems to have cornered the votes of the small population of male viewers, for obvious reasons

Disadvantages: Despite making a career out of looking great posing & strutting down the runway, many of them have proven to be rather awkward movers outside of that context, and some seem to have a hard time carrying around their taller than average stature. They also run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle among attractive male competitors, who seem to draw in more votes from the predominantly-female viewing population.

Possible candidates this season: A strong possibility seems to be Kendra Wilkinson, who would be following in the footsteps of her Girls Next Door co-star Holly Madison. Rumored contestant Lee Meriwether is also a former Miss America.

The Legend

Previous examples: Cloris Leachman, Wayne Newton, Donny Osmond, Tatum O’Neal, Marie Osmond, Jane Seymour, Marlee Matlin, Susan Lucci, Florence Henderson

Advantages: These individuals are extremely well-known & respected in the entertainment business, with many years of experience (and fans) under their belts, as well as an award or two. Also masters of the stage & screen – perhaps the best at emulating the emotions of the dances.

Disadvantages: With many years of experience comes an older age than many of their competitors – which comes with an increased risk of injury & fatigue that could limit the difficulty of their routines.

Possible candidates this season: We’ve got two ladies with quite a sterling reputation in show business – Faye Dunaway & Lee Meriwether. One was the original “Bonnie” of Bonnie & Clyde; the other was the original Catwoman. Who do you think we’ll get? 🙂

The Soap Star

Previous examples: Kelly Monaco, Cameron Mathison, Lisa Rinna, Susan Lucci, Aiden Turner

Advantages: The demographic of soap opera viewers overlaps heavily with the demographic of viewers of DWTS, and most soap opera viewers have been watching those shows for years (I started watching General Hospital when I was 6!), so they often have a fierce loyalty to their favorite characters (and the actors/actresses who portray them).

Disadvantages: This group likely has the most grueling schedule to contend with, as most soaps tape year-round, and some of them are taped in New York, forcing the stars (and sometimes their partners) to fly coast-to-coast several times a week to practice. Many also have absolutely no background in any kind of sport, making them a real “project” for the pros to take on.

Possible candidates this season: The lovely Lee Meriwether could do triple duty this season, by fulfilling this category by virtue of her role of Ruth Martin on All My Children. From the online voting for this season’s cast, it looks like Colleen Zenk & Crystal Chappell are also big favorites.

The Comedian

Previous examples: Penn Jillette, Jeff Ross, Adam Carolla, David Allen Grier, Ashley Hamilton, Niecy Nash, Margaret Cho

Advantages: Let’s face it, they’re fun to watch, and they definitely inject some much- needed hilarity into the show.

Disadvantages: They often come across like they don’t take the competition seriously, instead favoring their usual schtick over actual dancing. Some of their on-show humor (Jeff Ross’ in particular) can also be rather polarizing – hilarious to some, offensive to others. And again – often no background in any sort of sport, let alone dancing.

Possible candidates this season: None that we’ve heard of…but who would you like to see? I’m holding out for a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour to sign on – Ron White would be a hoot!

So do you guys think I’m onto something with this season’s rumors? Tune in for my next installment, where I dissect just who we might get this season from the teen idol, host, actor, reality star, singer, & wild card categories!

DWTS Season 11 – The Myth of Bristol

Okay, I threatened to do this a while ago and now I’m doing it. I’m putting my fingers to the key board to answer the question – how did Bristol last as long as she did? Was it really a Tea Party, or just dumb luck and silly judges?

This post isn’t really even about Bristol herself – it’s about the judges scores versus the voting. People always claim that the judges scores mean nothing. Well, bull, they’re worth 50% – it’s the judges who decide whether they mean very little or if they mean A LOT. The way the judges scored most of this season, they were irrelevant. When push came to shove, in the finale, they got their act together. I argue that it should happen sooner – like Week 7 or so.

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get back to business with a recap:

Week 1 – The Departure of The Hoff

I consider this the first, and one of the bigger, shocks of the season. But maybe German’s didn’t realize they can indeed vote on DWTS, if they are properly educated on how to do so. 🙂 Anyway, the bottom scorers this week were:

– The Hoff, 15
– The Sitch, 15
– Margaret, 15
– Michael, 16
– Florence, 18
– Bristol, 18

So, that one really shouldn’t have been a shock, as he was one of the low scorers. No surprise that Bristol stayed, much surprise that Margaret stayed. 🙂 Bristol had a whole lot of people with lower scores (and less infamy) than her.

Week 2 – Dog Houses are very, very bad.

Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower exit the competition after a thorough humiliation. One that was hard to watch indeed. The bottom scorers were:

– Michael, 12
– Margaret, 18
– The Situation, 18
– Florence, 19

See, the judges were already giving Bristol 22 at this point for dancing that wasn’t that good. You expect me to believe that Bristol was only 2 points behind Jennifer Grey, who did a seriously kick ass jive?? Sorry, but nope. In any case, Bristol was never in any danger thanks to overscoring AND people who were worse than her. Anyway, Michael was no great shock really, now that I think about it. A 12 is very hard to overcome when the next lowest was an 18. He had to get 27,000 more votes per million votes cast in order to stick around.

Week 3 – Rainbows are bad too??

Nah, not really. Louis was saying on Twitter that Margaret going the gay pride route was what did her in, but what I really think happened was that after that first dance no one took her seriously. She lasted as long as she did because The Hoff and The Bolton were so much worse. I don’t think gay pride had anything to do with it – but maybe I’m naïve. The bottom scorers were:

– Margaret, 18
– Bristol, 19
– Florence, 20
– The Sitch, 20

Now we see Bristol hit the bottom 2 in scores – but Margaret is the low scorer, here. No great stretch. Marge needed 4,500 votes to catch Bristol (chump change) and there is no way that was happening. No shocks here.

Week 4 – Here’s the Situation as I see it

Poor Situation, and by extension, poor Courtney. 🙂 He did well making it to the fourth week though, I have to say. The bottom scorers this week were:

– Situation, 28
– Bristol, 32
– Florence, 34
– Kurt, 35

Again, we see Bristol insulated by a 4 point cushion – not a huge number, but she’s not the low scorer and Sitch was a worse dancer. For the Situation to stay, he had to get 11,200 more votes than Bristol per 1 million votes cast. Say thank you to your judges, because they are charting the course of Season 11 history here. That 4 points isn’t huge – but it still counts. No great shock that Bristol stuck around when put up against a relative unknown (to DWTS audience) guy who is 4 points behind her. And him being the worse dancer helped. 🙂

Week 5 – Serious Monkey Business

This is the week where the wheels fell off, IMO. I dare say that Michael Bolton was more than a little irate to see Bristol wear a Monkey suit and still get an 18. I dare say that any pro who’s gotten scolded pretty harshly from Len for use of a prop (Maks, Derek, Dmitry…) was more than a little irate at the end of this night as well. Remember when Nicole and Derek did a FANTASTIC quickstep that broke a ton of rules? Len gave them a 6. Then Len turns around this season and gives Bristol a 6 after forgetting most of her steps and wearing a Monkey suit. And you still wanna know why Bristol is still around at this point? 🙂 Hint: it ain’t the Tea Party – unless of course Len whipped out his silver tea set on the commercial break. 🙂 Check out this weeks scores:

– Bristol, 18
– Kyle, 20
– Florence, 21
– Audrina, 23

Kyle the Popular is only TWO points ahead of a girl who danced in a monkey suit. TWO. And Audrina, who dances better on her worst day than Bristol does on her best, is only 5 points ahead of girl in monkey suit. Florence is only three points ahead of Bristol – and three points ain’t nothing particularly when 8 or 7 people are getting votes. The voting is spread out over more people than it is in later weeks. Florence ultimately goes home, which means that:

Kyle got 5,500 more votes per million votes cast than she did, AND;

Bristol got 16,500 more votes per million votes cast than she did.

That may seem like a lot for Bristol to achieve, but in reality it is only 1.65 percent – a tiny number. Here’s another way to look at it: this was the week where you got 8 votes per phone and 8 votes per email address. So say the average person uses one phone and one email – that means only about 1,000 more people needed to vote for Bristol than they did for Florence. Of course not everyone who watches votes…but everyone who votes doesn’t use ONLY two accounts. We’re dealing in what could be very small numbers, here.

Week 6 – The Real Shocker

Okay, THIS was a shocking elimination – but after you really think about it for a bit, you realize maybe not. Audrina is in the top two for judge’s scores and goes home. Because of Bristol? Hardly. There was a lot more at play here. These were the scores for the week:

– Kurt, 22
– Bristol, 28
– Jennifer, 29
– Rick and Kyle, 30
– Audrina, 32
– Brandy, 36

There are FIVE people with lower scores than Audrina going into the audience vote. Five. The spread between the low scorer and Audrina is TEN points. Now that is a nice big number. But is it shocking that Bristol stayed and Audrina when home? No – there is only 4 points between them, while Kurt is 10 points behind her. When the second highest scorer goes home when there are 7 dancers?? It means that person wasn’t getting votes, period, not that Kurt and Bristol had huge fanbases. It wasn’t just Bristol that beat her, after all. Kurt had to get nearly 5% more of the vote than her, or 48,500 more votes per million votes cast. Bristol only needed 1.93% – her highest margin of the season up until the finale. And of course, Jennifer, Rick and Kyle all had to make up a difference as well.

Audrina suffered from the model curse, IMO. Very beautiful but relatively unknown to the DWTS voters. Combine that with being paired with Tony and having a high score that week and you can kiss her goodbye. People continue to assume that if a dancer has a high score they are safe. Several of us on this blog had expressed concern about her longevity for these reasons. Put Audrina up against the movie icon, the fun Disney kid, the daughter of an infamous political figure, and two well liked (and well known) athletes? Then pair her with Tony instead of Derek and her odds get worse. Nothing against Tony, but, like it or not, Derek can make a model stick around longer – Joanna Krupa was far more unpopular than Audrina was popular. With all these conditions, Audrina was never destined to go higher.

Week 7 – The Athletes Split the Votes

That’s one of my theories anyway. People who are inclined to go the athlete route had two to choose from. Still think it’s Bristol’s fault? Nah. This is only the second time that Bristol has been the low scorer and it isn’t by that much:

– Bristol, 57
– Kyle, 59
– Rick/Kurt, 61
– Jennifer/Brandy, 64

There is a significant problem here. First, when you hand out that many points in a week (366) and still keep the margin at 7 points between the top and bottom you actually decrease the percentage the low scorer needs to stick around. If they did the typical 30 point possible and had a spread between the top scorer and the bottom scorer of 7 points, the bottom scorer would need more than 5% to beat the top scorer. In this week, with a total points awarded of 366, there was ONLY a spread of 1.91% between Bristol and Brandy/Jennifer. When you are talking less than a percent between the bottom FOUR scorers, of course it’s going to be anyone’s game. Did Rick’s fans assume he was safe because of that four point cushion? Who knows? Were Kyle and Bristol fans really, really worried?? Probably. If those two sets of fans are worried, how hard do they really have to work? Kyle’s fans had to get 0.55% more and Bristol’s fans had to get 1.01% more. Piece. Of. Cake. Odds are always good that the low scorers fans are going to vote like maniacs and it doesn’t take many maniacs to make up 1.01%.

Week 8 – Well, I think it was Close.

Seriously, Kurt versus Bristol with Bristol being the low scorer – but only by a point. We know what a point really means at this point, don’t we? Nothing. In this case, it was obviously going to be one of the two of them and I wager it was very close. Of course, I base that on what happened in the finale, so of course hind sight is 20-20. Here were the scores for Week 8:

– Bristol, 47
– Kurt, 48
– Kyle, 57
– Brandy/Jennifer, 58

Much better point spread this week between the top and the bottom – but still that 10 points only means that Bristol is 3.77 percent behind Brandy/Jennifer. That’s a small number and it’s again the result of a higher number of points awarded. So, if there is only 3.77 % between the top and bottom, it’s not hard to believe that there is only 0.38% between Bristol and Kurt – that’s no spread at all. I will say it again – Bristol didn’t need a miracle to stay over Kurt. Not at all. She only needed a couple dozen more fans than Kurt who were passionate about her staying. Maybe not even that many if they were power voting.

Week 9 – Tragedy

Well, I think it was a tragedy, anyway. Even though my favorite won, I would have liked to see a real competition. Brandy/Kyle/Jennifer would have been great. But the question is – did Bristol play spoiler? Hmmm…Maybe for the first time. But how much of it was Bristol and how much of it was Brandy herself? How much of it was the judges?? Again, the judges had a great deal of influence – look at the scores:

– Bristol, 53
– Brandy, 57
– Kyle, 58
– Jennifer, 60

Bristol only 4 points behind Brandy? Seriously?? People keep saying the judges scores mean nothing, but I think they’ve got it backwards – the judges scores mean everything, just not in a good way. By scoring Bristol relative only to herself, THEY give her more potential to stick around longer. Now, I understand doing that early on – but this was the 9^th week and it was time to turn into a hard ass and they all FAILED. Sometimes I think the judges think they are being tough, like above, giving Bristol a 53. Problem is, they don’t really get how the scoring and the audience vote works out either – or it doesn’t appear so, anyway. Because that 4 points equals 1.75%. How many time have I said how little 4 points amounts to? It’s a pittance. When you have Kyle being a likeable teddy bear, Jennifer Grey being JENNIFER GREY and Bristol getting all the buzz (plus the Vote for the Worst crew), Brandy is going to need more than that 4 points – she wasn’t getting any attention that week. No attention = kiss of death.

Week 10 – The Finale Tells the Tale.

And Bristol takes 3^rd. And in doing so we learn the limits of her voting fanbase. The final scores were:

– Bristol, 104
– Kyle, 110
– Jennifer, 118

Again, because so many points were awarded, the spread between them goes down even though the points difference seems greater. That six points between Kyle and Bristol only equates to 2.75%, which is not that much greater than the spread between her and Brandy. But it is clearly enough to knock Bristol out of the game. I think there were a few things at work here – the judges finally started scoring them relative to each other, or seriously ranking them. When they do that, it makes an impact. But that wasn’t all – people finally figured out that if they didn’t want Bristol to win, they had to vote like hell for someone else. The highest number of votes in the history of the show isn’t going to benefit Bristol, as much as the Tea Party would like to think otherwise – hey, DWTS mirrors real life!! 😉

At the end of the day, Bristol was eliminated because she couldn’t get past the 2.75% between her and Kyle. That was the largest spread she ever had to overcome over the entire 10 weeks of the competition. Here’s a summation of where Bristol was each week – if she was the low scorer, I put the margin she had to overcome.

– Week 1 – Not in the bottom 4

– Week 2 – Not in the bottom 5

– Week 3 – Margaret was low scorer, Margaret went home

– Week 4 – Sitch was low scorer, Sitch went home

– Week 5 – 1.65%

– Week 6 – Kurt was low score by 6 points, Audrina went home

– Week 7 – 1.01%

– Week 8 – 0.38%

– Week 9 – 1.75%

– Week 10 – 2.75% – Bristol is eliminated first.

Now, do you still think that it’s surprising that Bristol lasted as long as she did?? I would hope not. I would also hope that people realize they have to vote for their favorite because the judges don’t put in enough of a spread between the dancers to amount to anything.

The moral of the story is – the judges scores mean everything, when they actually rank the contestants. 😉 But if they don’t?? You best vote.

DWTS 11 Finale – The Cheesecake Awards!!

Ahhh…the last cheesecake of the year. It’s all good – we need a vacay. Some would say desperately. 🙂

Biggest Disappointment: The returning stars’ dances

Courtney: It was actually painful to watch some of these 🙁 The Hoff belting the theme song to Baywatch while Kym, Peta, and another pro frolic about in red swimsuits? Margaret & Florence prancing around in the world’s tackiest costumes while the resident pocket-sized pros (Louis & Corky) gyrate around them? Rick & Kurt doing the requisite “Athlete vs. Athlete” paso doble in costumes in their old teams’ colors? Don’t even get me started on The Situation’s dance…if you can even call it that. It was more like an exercise in self-love and machismo. As for Brandy & Maks…*sigh* Yes, it was and still is a very cute quickstep, but seeing it for a 3rd time was a bit of a yawn for me. I know, I know, they allegedly “didn’t have any time” to choreograph something new – but from what I’ve seen of finale-hopefuls on the show in the past, some of them actually start working on their freestyle as soon as the show starts…they literally start brainstorming and choreographing from week 1. I was kinda hoping Brandy & Maks had maybe done the same thing and had at least a portion of their freestyle that they could have performed for us, especially since Bruno requested it. Oh well. I guess I should have expected to be let down by the returning celebs’ dances, since they’ve been on a pretty steady decline the past few seasons. I still shudder at that reprise of Kate’s paso last season 🙁

Heidi: Well, at least the opening dance wasn’t the massive trainwreck that it was last season. I mean, that’s really all you can expect me to remember, right? 🙂 Seriously, I watched them again and I thought Anna’s dress was really cute and did you notice she had Kurt’s number inked in small numbers on her back?? Digging deep for something positive to say and I’m coming up pretty empty. 🙂 The Sitch’s was so bad that it wasn’t even cheesy – it was just bad.

The “Zip it!!!” Award: Bristol’s comment about giving the middle finger to all her “haters”

Courtney: Oy vey. If a good portion of viewers were like me, they probably let out a collective “D’oh!” and slapped their foreheads a la Homer Simpson when this gem slipped past Bristol’s lips in the confessional. Even Mark seemed to let out a little warning yip as she said it, as if saying “DUDE! DON’T TAKE IT THERE!” If there’s anything that I don’t think ANY competitor should do in the finals, it’s being anything less than gracious and polite – and this comment kinda stomped all over that. It just came across as a bit vindictive and actually kinda crass to me – and I don’t think it helped that she brought up her mom’s name. And even if she did win – I don’t think it would have been much of a proverbial “middle finger” to her “haters” (and while we’re at it, I’m totally sick of hearing that word – it just sounds dumb…can we agree on a suitable synonym? Naysayers? Detractors? Skeptics?), considering that it seemed a pretty widely-held opinion that Bristol did not deserve to win…at least based on merit. And I can just hear the Bristol defenders now, calling me a “hater” just because I don’t worship the ground she walks on. I’m only gonna say this once: Bristol seems like a decently nice girl, but I don’t think she’s a good dancer and I don’t think it was appropriate for her to make that comment. That is not “hating”; that is having a rational opinion of someone that doesn’t involve any sort of personal vendetta. I’d say the same thing about anyone else on the show who said the same thing and was not a good dancer. And spare me the crap about how “Bristol is just a kid!” and “How would you feel if you were in her shoes and getting all this hate?” I don’t think anyone that signs up for the show should get preferential treatment just because of their age – there have been several contestants younger than Bristol that have dealt with the pressure just fine. And signing up for a reality show of ANY kind basically guarantees a target on your back for ridicule…anyone that thinks otherwise is living in a dream world.

Heidi: I know right? Bristol, that poor “kid” with all the “haters” is laughing all the way to the bank after making about 350k on DWTS and charging 35k a pop at her speaking engagements. That’s very…motivational speakerish…of her. I would be very eager to help teens for that wage too. 🙂 My point, in talking about the cash, is that it just rings very false when she complains about haters. I’m sure there are actual haters out there (and no I don’t mean it in the bulls*^t way the immature tend to throw it around on this site and others when you don’t kiss someone’s butt), but they ALL have them – even the pros have “haters”. DEAL with it – you chose the public eye. I agree that she seems like a nice girl, but I didn’t like her behavior that last week (or recently) – SHE made it as much about politics and her mom as anyone did. My gripe was that she was NOT a good dancer, compared to several people who didn’t make it to the final. But it sure is convenient to cry politics for her fans, and quite hard to argue that she’s a great dancer. 🙂 And yes, I hate that word “haters” and how it’s used as well – very immature.

The “Gag me with a SPOON!!!” Award: Mark Ballas and his pre-cage dance pep talk to Bristol

Heidi: :::hurl, puke, gack::: Mark saying, “Be a bad bitch. A bad bitch. Gimme some SEX…” This, I’m sorry to say, took me to a place in Mark’s private life that I REALLY didn’t want to go. I mean, ick. I never thought I was the sensitive type, but hearing those words come out of his mouth really really…..disturbed me. And the tone of voice!! What the hell kind of pep talk is this? I’ve never been a prude (far from it, actually) but this was just…ick. They didn’t even put in the captioning with the first part – would the network get them for the written word and not the spoken one? Everytime I watch this little segment (the things I do for you people) I cringe all over again.

Courtney: *shudder* Glad I wasn’t the only one that thought that exchange was icky. I found it funny that he told her to “give him some sex” – isn’t that kinda counterproductive to her activisting? (Did you all catch the made up word? ;-)) And isn’t that what got her into trouble in the first place? Oh, the irony. And if any guy is gonna call me a bad bitch and ask for sex…I’m gonna need at least an expensive dinner and a good bottle of wine before I’m even gonna think about obliging, hehe. I would expect a bit more out of Mark…I mean, he is Mr. Romance…couldn’t he have sprinkled some rose petals in the cage and popped open some bubbly before making that request? Or perhaps recited some Shakespeare? 😛

Heidi: Activisting…hmmm, let me call Oxford, maybe you can get it added. 🙂 I hadn’t even thought of the irony – thank you, oh wise one, for taking my train of thought into the station at the end of the line. 😉

The “SHOW MUST GO ON!!” Award: Jennifer Grey

Heidi: Girlfriend has cojones people – and Broadway in her blood, apparently. A ruptured disk, a day at the hospital, and still she dances. For all the people whining about her crying too much and some claims of her faking it, the woman is hurt enough to require surgery last week and still sucked it up and performed, and did NOT utter a word any of the 500 times that Brooke asked her if her body was holding up. To the point that Brooke gets her own award again. GET WELL SOON, JENNIFER!!!

Courtney: My heart jumped up into my throat when they brought her out at the beginning of the show to talk about her injury…I was like “Noooo! Don’t tell me she’s bowing out at the 11th hour!!! Soldier through, Jennifer, soldier though! You’re almost there!” And thankfully, she did. And I completely echo Heidi’s sentiments about all the naysayers who were accusing Jennifer of malingering and faking her injuries – doctors don’t perform surgeries on minor bumps & bruises, and a ruptured disk is not something you can easily fake, like a stomach ache.

The “OH, STFU, Already” Award: Brooke Burke, asking Jennifer how her body was holding up no less than 500 times in a 2 hour period.

Heidi: Brooke, if she didn’t confess that she was going to fall apart the first three times you asked her, I doubt you were going to trick her into giving it all away the last 15 times you asked. The only time I really got that she was hurt was the look on her husband’s face after her first dance – dude was less than happy. Even my mother – the sage – mentioned it: “Her poor husband was soo worried.” I was like, “Mom, I have a really bad cold (to the point of not leaving my couch in four days) and you’re in paroxysms of guilt because you didn’t call me yesterday to see how I was – of course he was worried about her dancing with a ruptured disk.” But seriously, every time Brooke spoke to her, that was all she had – “Jennifer, how’s your body holding up??” She did manage to try Derek one of those times – “Derek, how scared were you?” I bet she about popped a blood vessel when Derek turned it into a “oh, everyone’s scared but I’m just glad we’re all here…yadda yadda PC Derek PC verbiage….” LOL. Poor Brooke – that had to be a frustrating night with no one cooperating and giving her the dirt/scoop she so desperately wanted. 🙂

Courtney: She’s like a discount parakeet at the pet store – y’know, the one that can only repeat a few useless phrases, and is incapable of learning new ones? I think I’ll just refer to her as Brooke the parakeet from now on. For the love of all things sacred Brooke, please – either improve or quit. You drive me bananas with your inane questions and subpar improvisational interviewing skills.

Heidi: LOL – but it did lead to a pretty good funny from Tom B. After the last scores and Derek’s PC response, Brooke says, “Oh, it just got very serious in here.” To which Tom replied, “That’s them SERIOUS??” I LOL’ed – dude kinda poked Brooke with a “don’t listen to the voices in your head” stick with that one. Maybe he’s trying to train her in improv? We can hope. 🙂

The “Pardon me, I was just hit by a truck” Award – Christina Aguilera

Heidi: I love Xtina, but the saying “rode hard and put away wet” kept running through my mind when watching her perform her first song. What’s going on here? The woman can undoubtedly sing, no question. She was just lookin’ a bit rough on this evening. “Beautiful” was beautifully done though – great song.

Courtney: I think the phrase that came to mind when I saw her had something to do with a train (those with dirtier minds can probably figure that one out ;-)). I mean, eee gad…did she even brush her hair before hitting the stage? And while I still think she’s a great singer, she seems to be developing a case of Mariah & Whitney-itis – her voice is sounding a little worn live, compared to what it used to be. Maybe she was having an off-night – who knows. But I have heard rumors floating around about her possibly being pregnant – and at first I brushed them off as nonsense, but I did go and see Burlesque last week and it is a bit peculiar how different her body looks in it. She’s definitely curvier now. Who knows. It was nice to see some familar faces performing with her on the results show though – anyone catch Chelsea Traille from SYTYCD season 4? Or Paula Van Oppen, the chick who turned down a spot in the top 20 of SYTYCD season 6 in order to do this movie? Or Tyne Stecklein of This is It fame who performed on DWTS last season with Teddy Forance? If only Julianne had been there. *sigh*

The WTF??? Award for Costuming, Female: Lacey Schwimmer (Insta-Cha Cha)

Heidi: What the hell is that thing?? It’s not lace, exactly, but it’s some kind of sparkly see-though body stocking with fringe attached over a bra and panties. Can I just vote her off the show for that outfit?? Girlfriend’s taste in costuming just seems to get worse and worse as the weeks go by. I’m pretty sure it’s possible to be edgy without being…..THAT. Whatever that is.

Courtney: Now while I don’t want to sway the voting of the end-of-season awards in any way, I have to say – I will be very surprised if Lacey does not win the worst dressed award. I mean, that black thing she was wearing…I mean, I don’t even quite know what to call it. Lady Gaga meets Elvira meets potential S&M costume reject pile? Ai ai ai. But I guess it’s what we’ve come to expect from Lacey!

Tom Bergeron Line ‘O the Night: “We don’t give them food, water…The Ballroom is like a veal pen”

Heidi: Smart is sexy, fer sure. 🙂 So, raise your hand if you didn’t get the veal joke. I got it, but I always wonder if I’m alone in getting some of his obscure comments. That’s a slight paraphrase by the way. Court accidentally deleted the full thing and I’m too lazy to go back for an exact quote. 🙂

Courtney: *shudder* I don’t really want to think about veal in graphic detail, but I do give Tom props for yet another apt, cerebral reference.

The OTT Production Tick of Finale Night: The scores, all about the scores and nothing but the scores.

Heidi: Between them explaining the scoring, showing us the scores and Brooke asking about Jennifer’s body ad nauseum, we could have had one hell of a drinking game on Tuesday night. The hangover would have been murder. 🙂 I mean, has DWTS ever seemed MORE defensive than it was this season?? Between “boo gate”, “maks gate”, etc. and the scoring issues, they are just bizarrely defensive. Suck it up, Conrad. Quit buying into your own hype and just enjoy the buzz. Who cares if they were booing Palin or not? Most who watch the show regularly know that wasn’t the case. The scoring is very clearly explained on the website and the press are too stupid to get it, then screw ’em. Being so defensive on both issues makes it seem like you WERE playing politics, and not in a good way.

Courtney: Why didn’t they just have Conrad walk center stage holding a sign that had in bold caps “WE ARE NOT RIGGING THE VOTING!” Because methinks the show doth protest too much – the more energy you put into explaining the voting & scoring process, the more we wonder if you really are hiding something nefarious. Let it be, powers that be!

DWTS – Wednesday Media, Videos, Interviews, and More

Just a few things to share with you today! How is everyone??

First up, did you see Derek and Cheryl on “Live with Regis and Kelly” yesterday? If not, you can see their fun interview and dance in the videos below. Thanks to Heidi and Pure Derek Hough for these.

Do you love watching Derek’s faces when he dances like I do? 🙂

Corky posted this fun interview on his Twitter last night of he and Florence getting interviewed after the Finale show. She is so cute!

In some more serious news, Access Hollywood is reporting that Jennifer’s “next move” is surgery. Jennifer told them that she would take care of the injury she sustained last Monday night before Tuesday’s finale show. She plans to have the surgery this week or sometime next week. Check her out. She’s so brave and says it won’t be a big deal.

Kyle Massey reveals his future plans too to Access Hollywood. I have a feeling this isn’t the last we will see of this funny guy.

Karina revealed more of her marriage plans to fiancé Brad Penny on Access Hollywood this week. She is as giddy as ever.

Lastly, Julianne Hough was interview by YDR while attending the Red carpet for “Burlesque”. She answered some questions about her career, family, DWTS, and love life “. Here is a take. Be sure to read the link for more.

Where are you coming from? I was in Nashville for a day, which was great because I was home. I missed my sister’s birthday, so I got to take her out and do a whole girly spa day.

You have a pretty big family. Yes. In my immediate (family) it’s not too bad. There (are) five kids. My parents split up and remarried, so there (are) 14 kids, which means there are probably 23 nieces and nephews. (Laughs) It’s kind of confusing.

You spent a lot of time in Europe studying dance as a kid. What was that like? Going over there as a 10-year-old, you think they are still going to be wearing big dresses and using horse-drawn carriages. I was so disappointed when everybody drove cars and was on trains. But it was a great experience. I really think I’m where I’m at today because of it.

What was it like to land “DWTS?” When (producers) asked me to do the show, I first said, “no,” because I wanted to act and sing. It was such a great opportunity. In my first two seasons, I got to be with two great athletes (who) really listened to me. (Laughs)

Your brother Derek Hough recently won “DWTS” with Jennifer Grey. Did you watch? It was exciting, but it’s kind of depressing. We were both tied for two (wins). Now he’s got three. It’s not fair. (Laughs) I was shooting “Footloose” this season, so I couldn’t watch every day. I tried to YouTube him.

What did you think of Bristol Palin? There seemed to be a lot of controversy about her this season. Apparently, I’ve said a lot of it. My foot gets in my mouth every time I say anything. I can understand why she (was) in the competition so long because people vote for who they want to vote for. But I definitely think there were (other) people who probably should have been in the final.

Ok, that is it for now in media out there. If you haven’t done so yet, please VOTE in our “Pure DWTS End Of Season Awards” >>>> HERE !! It’s too fun. Let your voice be heard on everything DWTS this Season. 😉

DWTS Season 11 – Post Media After The Finale

The DWTS fun continues. First up, Erin Andrews was interviewed about the finale this week by Movie Line. She discusses the judges’ weird scoring, Jennifer Grey’s pain tolerance, and the best moments of the season. Here is a take.

Did you think Bristol stood a shot of winning throughout the episode?I didn’t know because of the way it had gone all season. It was so unpredictable. The only thing I thought that was very telling was just how far apart the scores were. Jennifer had really separated herself and I was just thinking to myself, I remember sitting in the audience after I got the boot last year — I remember Evan was probably five points away from Nicole, and I was sitting next to Cheryl [Burke] and she was like, “It’s too much. He’s not going to be able to make it up; Nicole’s going to win.” I remember looking at Kyle and Bristol’s scores and thinking, “It’s too much of a lead. I don’t think Kyle’s going to win and I don’t think Bristol’s popularity votes will matter.” But then I kept saying to myself, “It can’t be this predictable, right? It can’t be this predictable. Something’s going to happen.” So I wasn’t surprised Bristol got there. In all honesty, of all the dancers left, I think third was the best spot for her. I don’t think she danced better than Kyle or Jennifer, but I congratulate her and think third place was a huge accomplishment for her.

Watching Kyle’s freestyle, I thought, “This is something Erin will love.”I loved it. I just really love his personality and was cheering for him. The one thing I will say about Kyle in the finale — I don’t agree with his scores. I don’t think he was scored correctly at all. I thought a lot of the stuff he did in the finale was right up there with Jennifer. I do agree with Jennifer’s scores though; I thought hers were perfect. But I don’t think he was scored high enough. That bothered me.

I thought the scoring was downright mysterious. Bristol was scoring straight 9s again? What?Oh, her freestyle? She got better scores on her freestyle than I did. I said, “Wow. That’s amazing.” It’s very interesting. I would love to know from the judges where they were coming from with the scoring. Even last night, the dances they did — Kyle got an 8 from Len, and Bristol got a 9 from Len. I was just curious where he was coming from. But that’s part of the whole thing; the [producers] don’t hold the judges accountable. They don’t need to explain their scores. I just don’t think Kyle was scored high enough.

There was plenty of ridiculousness in the finale. Any particularly cuckoo moments you liked most?I thought the finalists didn’t have any ridiculous moments, but I thought the skits were hysterical. I thought the David Hasselhoff thing was great. Nothing else struck me as, “Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous.” I did love the part — once I figured it out — the watermelon thing with Jennifer Grey. I thought it was perfect. “I carried a watermelon.” That came up again and again in my mind. I loved that Kyle and Lacey did the Tootsie Roll. It was phenomenal. He’s so stinkin’ cute. I think if anything, I’m bummed out. I mean, I’m happy with Jennifer winning, and I thought she was phenomenal — particularly for someone who ruptured her disc? That must’ve been some major drugs she was on. My dad has two herniated discs in his back, and he said, “Ruptured discs? How do you even walk right now?” I give her kudos for everything she put her body through. I just don’t think the scoring difference between her and Kyle should’ve been as great as it was. But I don’t mean to take the mirror ball trophy away from her — she was phenomenal.

Mark updated his blog on USA Today. Here are his thoughts on the finale. He also speaks of his future plans which you can read more on at the link.

I think I’m ready to sleep. For a week!

After the exhaustive 14 weeks of the show, which included not one day off, I didn’t know what to do with myself on Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I was able to sleep in and spend the day with family and friends. After a nice meal, I went to see a movie with my mom and Derek (Hough). It’s great to have the time again to spend with family!

The whirlwind of Tuesday night’s finale lasted for 24 hours. Immediately following the end of the show, we did press in the ballroom. Then we hopped a plane for a red-eye flight to New York. As you can imagine, we really didn’t sleep much on the plane because of the excitement. With bloodshot eyes, we arrived and went directly to Good Morning America for our live segment. That was followed up by a visit on The View, then straight back to the airport to fly back home. I was only gone for 21 hours. That’s crazy!

When I was headed to the airport in NYC, I said goodbye to Bristol. It played out like a sad movie scene: The door closed to the car and she placed her hand on the window after we waved goodbye, and the car sped away with me looking back, Bristol getting smaller and disappearing in the horizon.

Sure that’s a little dramatic, but I’m really going to miss my time with Bristol. It’s not possible to live and experience what we went through and not remain close or miss each other afterward. This really was the most memorable season for me and I’m sad that it’s over.

Mark also posted this fun picture of himself and Derek for their “annual Christmas card noting how many championships their extended family has to its name”. He also posted a picture of his Mom, Shirley (who has helped 9 of the current DWTS pros). Be sure to see it too at the link.

Speaking of pictures, here’s one Brandy posted on her twitter of her and Maks where she said, “You will forever be my champion!! Love you so much:) ” (a little “awww” moment there 🙂 )

Zap2it has a fun Photo Gallery up of all the best and worst moments on the show this year. Be sure to see it HERE !!!

Jennifer was also interview by Zap2it. Here is take of her talking about her injuries this week before showtime.

“I think it might have been one of those flips or kicks or splits,” Grey says, with a blue icepack slid behind her tasseled pants. “When you dance with a 25-year-old, it’s a risk you take.”

But now that show is over, so is any anxiety over the toll on her body. Thanking Derek, her family and the fans, Grey is quick to point out the small group who really kept her in the game. “My doctors kept putting me together,” she says.

Looking back on the experience, Grey says that, win or lose, she got what she wanted from the series. “The destination for me was the journey,” she says, “and in the truest since of the word, this journey was the gift… It’s so much fun, glamour and sillyniess. It’s a great gift to be part of a show that gives people so much joy.”

Lastly, don’t miss seeing this funny skif of Tom Bergeron on the Jimmy Kimmel Show this week if you missed it. “The Burden of being Tom Bergeron”. lol ;

Ok, that is all for now! Dance the day or night away whichever is best!! 😉 xxx

DWTS, Season 11, Week 10 – Media Before Showtime

Hi, did you get your texting and phone votes in last night? How was your experience? I had about a 15 minute delay on the phone and then I got through. However, voting on-line was a different story. It was midnight before I could finally get my votes in. If you’ve had the same issues voting on-lne or haven’t done so yet, we want to keep encouraging everyone this morning to vote at ABC.com. It’s really important to get as many votes in as you can for this competition to turn out right.

Speaking of….Tom Bergeron makes a good point about “voting” in a new interview with TV Guide. He also discussses the unpredictable season it’s been, his thoughts on the remaining couples, and more. Here is a take.

“The complaining amuses me to no end,” Bergeron says. “Whenever someone says that Bristol shouldn’t be there to me, I almost inevitably say, ‘Of course, you’re voting for…?’ And they go, ‘Yeah, I didn’t vote.’ I have no sympathy for people who are kvetching about — and this is from a gentile — who’s still there and who’s gone.

“If you want a technical dancer, watch PBS,” he continues. “It’s part dance show, part popularity contest. It always has been and always will be. If you don’t get that by Season 11, I don’t know what I have to say to you.”

Palin and her partner, Mark Ballas, will face off against front-runners Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough, and show-stoppers Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer, who twice were one point shy of perfection last week. (Grey and Hough have nabbed three perfect 30s.) While Palin doesn’t have the dubious distinction of earning the lowest score of the season (that goes to Michael Bolton and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, who each got a 12), she’s only averaged, well, an average 21 points.

Still, Bergeron can make the winning case for Sarah Palin’s daughter.

“She’s not the strongest dancer, obviously,” he says. “But she … represents what I think is the best of our show, somebody who comes Day 1 and is completely out of their element and has shown a clear growth as a dancer. And she clearly has a massive or sufficient amount of viewer support to keep her in despite low scores.”

“Is it political? I don’t know,” he says. “But that just speaks to the importance of voting.”

Palin’s run recalls that of Marie Osmond’s in Season 5. Another mediocre, average-scoring dancer, she made it to the final on the strength of votes. She finished third after her bizarre rag-doll freestyle turned more viewers off than anything else. “The freestyle isn’t always the decider, but a lot of times, momentum can stall that close to the finish,” Bergeron says. “You see couples like Drew [Lachey] and Cheryl [Burke], who set the gold standard for what a freestyle can be and, on the other end, you have Marie’s rag-doll! It was like, ‘Oh my God!’ You can make it or break it with that last image that’s burned into your retinas.”

Palin and Ballas have more to worry about than the freestyle. Grey and Hough are arguably the heavy favorites who, Bergeron says, have “rallied back” after a midseason slump. “[Grey] dealt with physical injuries, some emotional uncertainty, but she’s looking as strong as ever the past few weeks.” Massey and Schwimmer, meanwhile, are Mr. and Ms. Consistency, and they seem to be peaking at the right time.

“They haven’t hit the top or the bottom. They have been relentlessly entertaining,” Bergeron says. “My favorite moment … was watching [their] Instant Dance. They blew the roof off the place. I immediately thought, ‘Gee, I’d hate to be any of the other couples back there getting ready!’ It put the spotlight on why they’re so good as a couple. Kyle’s just a fun, charming kid with a great self-aware sense of humor.”

The Instant Dance was one of the new elements, along with new theme weeks, that Bergeron says he loved and made for a strong and, yes, unpredictable season.

But how will it all end? After kicking off the season with a surprise result, will Season 11 wrap with one too?

“I think it’s going to be very dramatic. It’s been a season where you really can’t be sure how it’s going to play out, which I thought was lacking last season. I’ve really enjoyed this season and [the producers] have done a remarkable job of keeping it fresh coming off Season 10,” Bergeron says. “I guess all I can say now is just vote.”

Mark has finally come out. He updated his blog Sunday. Here’s a take from USA Today. He writes about Bristol and what he’s thankful for. He also talks about the hatred surrounding them. (Heidi’s Note – yes, Vogue’s first sentence in this section gave me quite a start as well, if you’re asking. 🙂 Dude, careful of the word selection. 🙂 )

We have four dances this week, and you know one of them is the freestyle, which we will dance on Monday night. Another dance is the “Redemption Dance”, which is a dance chosen by the judges that they thought we could have done better at earlier in the season. I’m looking forward to that dance as well, as Bristol has come a long way since the beginning.

Aside from the show finals on Monday and Tuesday, I’m looking forward to an exciting week.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I am looking forward to the time I can spend with my family, as I am sure you all are. My mind seems to be rooted in reflection the past few days and this will be a particularly thankful Thanksgiving for me. I’ve always known and treasured the impact my mom has had on my life and during this season of DWTS, she has been my rock. With my move into my new home and the pressures that the season brings, she’s always there to lean on. Thank you, Mom!

I am so thankful to be on a show that millions of people are able to release the pressures of their everyday life while allowing us to entertain them. That really is a performer’s dream and goal, to whisk the audience away on a journey where they lose themselves and their troubles for a moment. Thanks to you all. You are the treasure in our success!

As for Bristol, she knows how thankful I am to call her my partner and friend. What Bris doesn’t know is how thankful I am for what she has taught me this season. It can be summed up in two words: determination and respect. Everyone goes through his or her own version of pain and endurance issues on the show — both the celebs and the dancers. Some pain is physical, for others it’s the pain of stress, and for some it’s the pain of having your life taken away from you as you prepare each week.

Bristol deals with a special pain of having people wanting and hoping for her to fail and dealing with hate issues no one should ever have to encounter. But probably her greatest source of pain is hearing what is said about her son. Fortunately, she has this miraculous way of dealing with it and focusing on getting better each week and proving to herself, that despite all that noise, she is a woman to be respected.

Our country was built on people taking advantage of the basic freedom to do everything in our power to excel with the God-given talents with which we have been blessed. During this season, I’ve seen firsthand how those rights shouldn’t be taken for granted, much less allowing others to take that basic human right away from you. Thank you, Bristol, for helping me understand how important that freedom is.

This season we’ve been challenged physically, most certainly verbally by the haters, questioned whether we are good enough, tough enough, and worthy of staying in the competition. Heading into the finals, I’m proud to say we answered them all. Amongst all the controversy, people have let us know how much they appreciate and respect us for simply doing that and how it has inspired them in their own lives. Thank you to all who have supported us on our journey. I hope you have been as rewarded for it as I have been.

There is a nice interview with Julianne Hough at Teen Television (that she must have given last week before the Final 4 show). She’s going to be starring in the new movie “Burlesque” along with Christina Aguilera and Cher which opens up in theatres this week. She talks about the movie as well as Dancing With The Stars, some thoughts on Bristol, and who she’d like to see win (and of course, that is her brother Derek and Jen). Here is a take.

TeenTelevision: Was doing Burlesque as much work as “Dancing With the Stars”?
Julianne Hough: Yes! The difference is with “Dancing With the Stars”, we choreographed, we danced, we taught it to the partner and then we were like their therapists. Then we were doing dances that, for the star, were hard but not that challenging for me. So coming to do this was like getting back to the grind and really pushing myself to my limit to do as much as I could do keeping up with the other professional girl dancers. It was really fun for me.

TeenTelevision: What did “Dancing With the Stars” exactly do for you?
Julianne:It opened every door imaginable. I moved out to L.A. when I was eighteen to sing and act. But, the dancing was an avenue to get to where I want to be. It was a wonderful opportunity and I just went for it. I never realized the success it was going to have and especially the opportunities it was going to bring for me.

ABC TeenTelevision: When did you first get really noticed and kicked up a notch on the show?
Julianne:It was my first season with Apollo [Anton Ohno, Olympic Gold medalist] and it was our Samba. I came out and was wearing that tiger outfit. That was like the coming out party for Julianne! After that number I felt a little more on the radar. I got calls. For Maxim magazine, I remember, I was like ‘Dad won’t approve of that too much.’ That was the first thing I did after I came out in that outfit.

TeenTelevision: Have you kept up with the show? Who do you think will win?
Julianne:Yeah. I was shooting Footloose so it was very hard to watch each week. But, I would catch it here and there. Now that it’s the last four, I can’t believe it.

TeenTelevision: I can’t believe Bristol Palin is still in it.
Julianne:That’s the thing I was a little confused about. That definitely goes to show what that show is about. It’s not necessarily about the dancing. It’s about the fan base and the people watching. I can definitely testify to that. I would not be where I’m today without the fans of the show. They’ve followed me since day one. I hope my brother (Derek Hough) and Jennifer (Grey) win. I think she’s fantastic. But, Brandy’s pretty good too. I hope my brother wins because I’m biased but, at the same time, I kinda hope he doesn’t because right now we are tied. We both have two. So, maybe he’ll have three. Nah. I’m kidding.

Kym Johnson has something very special planned for The Hoff tonight. Here is a take from Access Hollywood.

“I’ve been working with him all week. We have something very special planned,” Kym told AccessHollywood.com. “We may have been the first ones out, but this routine is gonna blow everyone away.”

While the Hoff’s clunky ballroom moves got him the boot during Week 1 of “DWTS,” all the way back in September, Kym said that during his time away, David’s learned some new moves and that the superstar isn’t afraid to use them.

“Right now, with the routine that we’ve got, he’s coming along really well and I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people,” she said. “He’s having a lot of fun with it. He has me laughing the whole rehearsal.”

Re-teaming with David in preparation for the finale, has brought back thoughts for Kim of what could have been with the former “America’s Got Talent “judge.

“I just had so many fun things I wanted to do [on Season 11 with David] because he’s such a big personality and he’s not afraid to sort of have a laugh and just put himself out there,” she said.

Sunday night, several of our Pros (Maks, Cheryl, Tony, Mark, and Karina) showed up at the American Music Awards. Be sure to see Haveyouheard.net and Getty Images for more pics. Special thanks to PureDWTS fan Sally for the Getty link. 😉

There was a little spread on Good Morning America Monday with Robin Roberts turing 50. In honor of her birthday, she’s decided to take some dance lessons from Maks and his brother Val. Maks and her Cha Cah in this video. There is also a snippet with Jennifer and Derek. More to come for that dance lesson today on GMA.

Speaking of Derek and Jennifer, here they are on E-Online rehearsing for their final dances, “savoring the last moments”, and Derek as humble as ever.

Here is more rehearsal sneak peaks from Good Morning America. Special thanks to PureDWTSfan Maddy for this heads up.

Ok All! That’s it for the media before the show. Backstage interviews from after the show coming up next! 😉

A Day on the Set of Dancing with the Stars!

Abby, one of our readers here at PureDWTS, was the winner of the Design a Dance Concept design and got a trip to LA and a day on set as a reward. 🙂 She sent me the following blog about her experience:

A Day on the Set of Dancing With the Stars
By Abby

A quick bit of background: I have been a dancer for practically my entire life and spent several years performing and choreographing professionally. So of course I’ve been a huge DWTS fan since Season 1! I am constantly choreographing dances in my head so when I heard about the Design a Dance concept contest I sat down and came up with an idea and penned out my entry in about ten minutes. About a week later I got a call that I was a top five finalist! The voting was up online the following week which ended on a Thursday, and I got the call that Friday that my concept won. They immediately booked my flight for me and a friend to fly to LA on the very next Monday…definitely a whirlwind!

We arrived at the DTWS studio (on the CBS lot) on Tuesday morning at 9am. We were immediately met by a producer and I was given a trailer for the day. That’s right, I had my own trailer! 🙂

Then we went backstage and I was mic’d up and met my camera man for the day. Derek and Cheryl (as you all know) were chosen to do my dance, which I was beside myself about. Besides having a horrible crush on Derek, he is my inspiration as a choreographer… amazing. Derek and Cheryl were already on stage rehearsing when I arrived, and the car was on stage as well. They were working on putting their steps together as well as camera blocking and lighting, music timing, etc.

They rehearsed for about two hours and I sat and watched (with a camera on me). They filmed me walking around the stage, checking out the car, walking down hallways, scoping out the stage, and also talking with Derek and Cheryl.

Derek and Cheryl were very sweet! Everyone I met and worked with on the set that day was SO, SO very nice. From producers to costumes to camera men, they truly have an awesome behind the scenes cast on DWTS! It was very thrilling to watch Derek and Cheryl rehearse the dance all morning and see the geniuses at work. 🙂 Oh, and of course I loved getting to hug Derek! Here we chatted at the food table:

My other crush on DWTS is Tom Bergeron! Love this guy! He is truly just as sweet, adorable, and funny in person as he is on camera. We met during rehearsals in the morning but he would come over and chat with me all day, even during the “live” taping later that night. What a doll!

Before the live show Derek and Cheryl rehearsed again with the band and I watched the private rehearsal again (with a camera in my face). They had interviewed me and filmed me all day because I was told they were going to do a 45 second package about the dance, but sadly it never aired. It was still fun to film though!

The audience arrived at 4pm and we pre-taped the Design a Dance at 5pm (pst). After that they let everybody on the ballroom floor for a dance party! What fun that was! Tony and Kyle came out and led everyone through fun dances like YMCA (except it was DWTS) and the Cha-Cha slide. I got to watch the entire show from the front row which was such a thrill! One producer told me that everyone says this, but the ballroom floor truly looks much smaller in person than it does on TV! It’s still a magical place in that ballroom, and I think (actually I KNOW) I would be happy to go back every week!

I had a backstage pass that allowed me to go wherever I wanted on the set all day. I also got to watch the press line after the show, meet the cast…It was truly an amazing day to be “behind the scenes” all day on DWTS! I can’t thank the producers enough for giving me a wonderful experience. And I have to say Derek and Cheryl’s dance was hot hot HOT!!

DWTS Season 11, Week 10 – Las Vegas Odds For The Finals

Could Gambling Skews be playing with the Dancing With The Stars Results as well as all of the other things we’ve discussed? According to On-line Casinos, this could be a real possibility. Here are some takes from them.

Online gambling, when it comes to some niche wagering has some major advantages over other traditional forms of betting. The biggest advantage is the speed at which one can access information that can lead to an informed and possibly better bet.

When, for example, it comes to sports betting the fact that you can watch the play and place bets on the outcome at some online sports books makes for a more exciting experience because of the immediate results.
Today’s world is all about the now and with mobile online wagering the now can be accessed anywhere in the world at any time.

There is some controversy over the use of online web sites for betting purposes one such example is entertainment betting and the Dancing with the Stars issue in the USA that has come to light recently. People who follow the show are able to speed dial their votes for the winner which can skew the winning results even by a small percentage the idea of manipulating results becomes apparent.. It looks like the show is more about popularity than talent. American Idol has cleaned up their show with actual talent this year, making for a less biased competition. Dancing with the Stars voting is allowed up to five votes by phone or text for up to 30 minutes after the show. Online voting through ABC.com allows voting until 11 a.m. ABC’s site requires people to register their email address, speculation is that people are using fake ones.

Here is what Gambling 911 is writing about it.

Though Jennifer Grey remains the -200 favorite to win Season 11 of Dancing With The Stars, Bristol Palin’s odds of winning the final have been slashed to even, meaning that a $10 bet would pay out $10 profit. Kyle Massey would pay $40 for every $10 bet with a victory.

There has been much talk about Bristol, the daughter of 2008 Vice Presidential GOP running mate Sarah Palin, making it this deep into the competition when she routinely placed among the bottom three by judges. Viewer phone call voting accounts for 50 percent of the results. Theories include everything from young teen girls voting for Bristol en mass to a Tea Party uprising.

Some have gone as far as to say that, if Bristol Palin wins this installment of Dancing With The Stars, the show will be ruined.

“It’s not as if she is a bad dancer,” says Payton O’Brien, Senior Editor of the Gambling911.com website, which has watched the odds for Bristol shorten from around 45/1 to even. “She has dramatically improved week after week. But is she in the same league as Jennifer Grey? No. But she has not beaten Grey yet either.”

Patrik Jonnson of the Christian Science Monitor perhaps offered the best observation yet:

Bristol Palin and and her mother, Sarah Palin, both have weaknesses as candidates. On “Dancing With the Stars,” Bristol has repeatedly received the lowest scores from the judges. In public-opinion polls, about two-thirds of Americans say Sarah is unqualified to be president.

Yet here they are, Bristol and her warm, slightly baffled grin now in the final of “DWTS” – a feat so incomprehensible to some that they see foul play at work. And Sarah is drawing record audiences to “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” to watch her shoot skeet with a smile, even as she sends tremors through the blogosphere by simply asserting that she could beat President Obama in 2012.

And here are the odds from On-line Betting Guide:

Jennifer Grey 1.44

Bristol Palin 4

Kyle Massey 7.5

So, what do you think? Could Gamblings Skews be an issue as well for how this show is turning out this year? How far will the odds be off or on this week? We are about to find out. 😀

DWTS Season 11, Week 9 Begins – Who are the Las Vegas Favorites?

The betting odds favorites received a total shake-up for the last two weeks in a row. The questions is: What will happen this week?

Here are the odds from On-line Betting Guide;

Jennifer Grey 1.57

Brandy 3

Bristol Palin 10

Kyle Massey 17

Here are the numbers for what Viscosimedia’s is reporting;

The final four remaining celebrity dancers will battle for the mirror ball trophy starting on the Dancing with the Stars Finale for Season 11 on Monday, November 15th. Early DWTS betting favorites Brandy 2/1 and Jennifer Grey 4/7 are still predicted to walk away with the title. The other two finalist feature somewhat of a surprise with Disney star from “That’s So Raven” fame Kyle Massey 10/1 and political star Bristol Palin 15/2 from “Almost Vice-Presidential Daughter” fame as longshots in Dancing with the Stars odds for the season 11 finale.

In what some people are calling the most important contribution of the “Tea Party” this year, Bristol Palin fans have somehow overwhelmed the voting booths of DWTS and have recharged their faith by landing Palin and partner Mark Ballas in the finale despite having only 47-points. Can “Palin Nation” help daughter reach the plateau of celebrity dancing? Will the favored musician and movie star win as favorites? Or will the teenage work horse upset them all? Bet on DWTS season 11 odds with a 10% deposit for Brandy 2/1 and Jennifer Grey 4/7 as favorites or Massey 10/1 and Bristol Palin 15/2 as longshots.

DWTS 11, Week 7 – Stuff Off My TiVo

I got too busy for this last week, but I did manage to scrounge some stuff off my Tivo this week. Some of it may resemble video Vogue has uploaded but it is the broadcast version as opposed to the net version.

Access Hollywood from Monday – I do think it’s cute that Maks is trying to hook Brandy up and give her dating advice

Remember me talking about the split screen with the clock?? Here you go. This actually made me go back and watch all the dances – Kyle is the only other one who didn’t start right away.

Jen and Derek on ET – “how the old broads do it”. LOL. Also Kyle and Lacey.

More “Ballroom Feud” from ET. :::rolls eyes::: Mark – lookin’ worse than Maks ever did in my opinion. People’s Choice Awards

I worry for Brandy if she doesn’t win, actually. Extra!

I really like Brandy – I wish she had more control over Maks. 🙂 And a big HA HA to Chelsie, who manages to irritate Mark with her insistence that it’s the Tea Party keeping Bristol around. 🙂

The Insider with Kurt and Anna

DWTS Season 12 Casting Rumors – The Typecasting of Season 12, Part I

DWTS Season 11 – The Myth of Bristol

DWTS 11 Finale – The Cheesecake Awards!!

DWTS – Wednesday Media, Videos, Interviews, and More

DWTS Season 11 – Post Media After The Finale

DWTS, Season 11, Week 10 – Media Before Showtime

A Day on the Set of Dancing with the Stars!

DWTS Season 11, Week 10 – Las Vegas Odds For The Finals

DWTS Season 11, Week 9 Begins – Who are the Las Vegas Favorites?

DWTS 11, Week 7 – Stuff Off My TiVo

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