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PureDWTS Season 24: Why Normani Didn’t Win

So, to say that the four days following the announcement of the winner of season 24 of DWTS have been “interesting”, would be an understatement šŸ˜› I’ve seen mainly rejoicing, but also some general rage from the Harmonizers, who simply can’t fathom how Normani came in 3rd place and insist that the show must be rigged/racist/sexist/capitalist/whatever-ist because she didn’t win. While this is unfortunately the type of behavior many of us have come to expect from that particular group of fans, there have been a few fans that have sincerely expressed a desire to know why I think Normani didn’t win.Ā  So here is my sincere response – if you are genuinely puzzled as to how it happened, this is my personal opinion, backed up with some numbers and some general observations about voting behavior. Very little of this actually has anything to do with Normani herself – most of these are factors that were out of her control, out of her fans’ control, and weren’t really things that anyone (other than maybe the executive producers) could have done anything to fix. I think Normani herself was just kind of a victim of circumstance this season – just not destined to win, for whatever reason. So the cries of “You’re just being mean to Normani!!!”? Keep ’em to yourself or GTFO.

So if you are genuinely interested, read on – and if you can remain civil and level-headed, feel free to comment or ask questions. But if you’re just here to complain about us or just generally be obnoxious, I will delete comments and permanently blacklist posters without a second thought – I’ve never witnessed the same level of vitriol from some fanbases as I saw this season.Ā  I have no time for it. Read more..

May 27, 2017 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 POLL: Best Male & Female Celeb Dancers in DWTS History?

So I was eating my lunch outside today (since it was the first day in quite some time that wasn’t rainy) with some coworkers, when the topic of my favorite DWTS contestant of all-time, Alfonso Ribeiro, came up.Ā  We had been talking about the celebrity golf tournament he was in this past weekend (Vogue reported on it here, if you haven’t seen it yet), and the fact that he did the Carlton, and I think I said “He’s probably the best male dancer they’ve ever had on the show!” To which another coworker replied “Nah, Corbin Bleu was the best dancer they’ve ever had on the show!” And of course, a debate commenced over who was the better technician, who was the better entertainer, who was more athletic, etc. etc. etc.Ā  We ended up agreeing to disagree, but it got me thinking: really & truly, out of the 20 seasons we’ve had – who is the best guy we’ve seen, and who’s the best girl?

I did a bit of a snap poll on Twitter, but I figured “Why not make it a bit more official?” and do an actual poll here? So below, I picked the most likely candidates for who would likely qualify for “best dancer” on DWTS – most would probably fall under the “ringer” category, but that’s kind of expected when we’re voting on dance skills alone.Ā  Keep in mind that it’s not about popularity, or how well-known they were when they did the show – just dance skills & presentation, period; and independent of any previous training they might have had – so no “Well so-and-so was better because they had no previous experience and were great and that’s what DWTS is all about!!!” Strictly voting on dance skills/showmanship alone, kids.

Obviously, I voted for Alfonso for the men – I think he was the most consistent of all the male ringers we’ve had, and also the best showman; I also think part of his appeal was that he was a really organic, natural mover that seemed to really get into the pocket of whatever dance was thrown his way, even if he had no previous experience with it. While I agreed with my coworker that Corbin was more athletic and likely had more refined technique than Alfonso, I think he wasn’t as much of a natural as Alfonso and had to work harder to appear at ease with the movement of some of the dances – which didn’t always work, and made him a lot less consistent throughout his season.

For the ladies, it wasn’t as cut-and-dry for me – my knee-jerk answer was Nicole, but then I remembered she had some ups-and-downs and some dances that she wasn’t naturally good at (her first rumba and her samba come to mind); then I thought of Meryl, but while her technique was usually flawless, I remember thinking she sometimes lacked in the showmanship department, and could be a timid mover at times. Then I thought of Kristi Yamaguchi, who was a strong dancer AND entertainer, but I remember thinking that she seemed to always have that skater’s “perma-smile” that made her look a tad cheesy at times.Ā  As surprising as this may be for some of you, I actually ended up picking Zendaya as the best female dancer we’ve seen on the show – for a lot of the same reasons I picked Alfonso: she was consistent, she was a showman, and she was a very NATURAL mover.Ā  Granted, I thought Val failed her in the choreography department on multiple occasions (which may have eventually prevented her from winning, I think), and I didn’t love every single dance; but I do think she probably had the best skill set to work with, and seemed the most comfortable out on the floor.

So what do YOU guys think? Vote in the polls below, and then tell us how you voted & why šŸ™‚

July 20, 2015 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.

Chelsie Hightower, Julianne Hough, DWTS Alumni Attend Grammy Parties, Carrie Ann Inaba Covers The Night

What a doll! As always, Chelsie Hightower is a breath of fresh air. If you visit Just Jared Jr., you can view some fantastic shots of her attending a Grammy pre-party at Lure Nightclub on Friday night.

Julianne Hough attended a Pre-Grammys Lorde Concert and then went clubbing at the Oak Nightclub in West Hollywood, CA Thursday night. Doesn’t she look classy?. Beautiful as ever….especially those heels. šŸ˜€

Thanks to Vin, you can also view Dancing With The Stars alumni Roshon Fegan, Zendaya, and Gavin McGraw here and here at some Grammy after parties.

Also, Dancing With The Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba did a great job covering Grammy night. You can read her coverage in full at Parade.com. What a show last night and a great improvement from recent past years. With a few exceptions, I can honestly say I loved all the performances….with P!nk, Daft Punk, and Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Madonna being my favorites. What did you think?

January 27, 2014 I Written By

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" ~ Martha Graham. That's what DWTS makes me think of every Monday night. To read more about me and my other interests, see Lisa Kay Photography. You can also follow me at Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud.

DWTS 16 Preliminary Power Rankings – Part II

So you read my predictions for who is going to be gone before the midpoint of the season.Ā  Now it’s time for my predictions for who’s going to be sticking around longer…and who’s gonna win šŸ™‚ Read on!

6.) Ingo & Kym ā€“ Not sure quite what to make of these two ā€“ theyā€™re very likeable and seem to have great chemistry, Ingo seems willing to work hard and eager to do well, and Kym, as always, is a very patient, nurturing teacher that brings out the best in her partners.Ā  But while everything seems pretty on the surface, I canā€™t shake the feeling that Ingo may be a bitā€¦awkward.Ā  The rehearsal video and the pix weā€™ve seen so far seem to reveal some ā€œRalph handsā€, and Ingo himself has admitted that heā€™s not exactly a graceful guy.Ā  Iā€™m also seeing shades of him taking things just a little too seriously ā€“ and weā€™ve seen how being a little too serious and a little too desperate to do well can torpedo a coupleā€™s chances of getting votes.Ā  Now donā€™t get me wrong ā€“ compared to some of the couples on the bottom half of the list (namely D.L. & Cheryl, and possibly Sean & Peta), Ingo & Kym have a great connection and ā€œtaking things a little too seriouslyā€ is less of a problem than, say, having zero chemistry with your partner or having a partner that just doesnā€™t seem to give a hoot šŸ˜› I just donā€™t know that Ingo & Kym are going to coast through this season like Hines & Kym did.Ā  Fanbase-wise? Iā€™m inclined to say that Ingo will benefit somewhat from the ā€œsoap voteā€, although likely not to the degree Kelly did ā€“ since Ingoā€™s character on GH seems to only be recurring at this point, I donā€™t know that heā€™ll have as many of the same impassioned fans that voted for Kelly, also voting for him.Ā  We already know Kym is pretty well-loved, so her fanbase should help out somewhatā€¦but I think overall, these two will probably be more on-par with the Cameron Mathison/Edyta partnership, rather than the Kelly/Val one.Ā  There are just too many more popular celebs (likely with better dance skills) this season for a soap star to really have a hope and a prayer of making it to the finale, methinks. Read more..

March 17, 2013 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.

DWTS “Who Wore it Better?” – The Pre-Season 15 All-Star Edition, Part I!

This season, we opted to do thingsĀ a bit differently – as we have with just about every other regular feature we do each season, since the format is a bit wacky, to say the least šŸ˜› First, we’ve divided WWIB into two parts – mainly to accomodate the fact that Kirstie & Maks’ and the 13th couple’s (who we now know to be Sabrina & Louis) promo photos have yet to be released, but also to buy us some time for the labor-intensive task of finding good pictures for some of these šŸ™‚ Secondly, we’ve included the couples’ promo photos from their original seasons for comparison as well.Ā Ā But as always, we’ve offered up ourĀ usualĀ snark commentary on each of the costumes, for your enjoyment šŸ˜Ž

Battle of the turquoise & black lace corset dress/Kelly & Alec vs. Kelly & Val:Ā  Kelly & Alec’s season 1 promo pic vs. Kelly & Val’s season 15 promo pic vs. Edyta in the season 9 pro tango demo

Courtney: The Iceman cometh! Wow, even Alec’s promo pic screams “I have no emotions” to me.Ā  And while Kelly is a bit better, I still wish she’d actually smile in her promo pics – the whole “smoldery non-smile” sheĀ does just seems like she’s trying too hard to me.Ā  And I’m probably the only one that feels this way, judging from some ofĀ everyone’s initial comments on the promo photos, but I’m not really all that wild about Kelly & Val’s pic…you’ll see I’m not much of a fan of the couples that went the “smoldery” route with their promo pix.Ā  As for the costume itself – gotta go with Edyta on this one.Ā  Granted, it’s hard to hold a candle to Edyta in pretty much ANY costume, but I think I like it better with a lace skirt, as opposed to a fringed one.Ā  And while I was cursing under my breath while putting this edition together about how BAD some of the costumes have gotten since Randall left, I thank my lucky stars we’re not still stuck with Designs to Shine, who costumed the first season. Can we say “tacky”? šŸ˜Æ

Heidi:Ā Val sez, “You…are sooo sexy.” To which Kelly sez, “You are sexy, but I am sleeping with my cousin’s best friend’s husband’s brother and am simply toying with you as a cover to hide our true looove….” That is my long winded way of saying, Kelly is a soap actress…they only doĀ smolder. Ā Sometimes well, sometimes not – and Val is a huge step up from Alec in terms of emotion and Kelly has evolved to smoldering with her mouth *closed*. šŸ™‚ The dress you ask? I go with Edyta sans fishnets. Ā Although I think it’s cuter in the shorter length.

The verdict: Just say no to soap opera smolder.Ā  Read more..

August 28, 2012 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.

DWTS 15 All-Stars: The Great “Previous Dance Experience” Debate – Drew Lachey Edition

So far, we’ve taken a look at both Kelly Monaco & Emmitt Smith’s original seasons on DWTS.Ā  Today, we backtrack a bit to take a look at Drew’s original season šŸ™‚

For Drew’s best dance, I waffled back & forth between he &Ā Cheryl’s tango & paso doble…but I ultimately pickedĀ their famous “Thriller” paso doble, as I think it best shows off how Drew was the total package of skill & showmanship:

And while I noticed that Drew & Cheryl didn’t really have any trulyĀ terrible dances in their original season, per se, I ended up picking their week 1 cha-cha as their worst dance, because Drew looks a bit awkward and unsure of what to do with his hands:

Ohhh, how I DON’T miss the days before the show began broadcasting in HD šŸ˜› Once again, I’m struck by the same thing I see when watching Emmitt &Ā Kelly’s dances: the quality of dancing on the show has improved drastically since the first few seasons.Ā Even though I think Drew was much better than Kelly & Emmitt from a technical perspective, I still think he’s going to be hard-pressed to match up with the skill of Joey or Gilles (two guys who didn’t even win their respective seasons), right out of the gate.Ā  I also think the choreography back then wasn’t as good as it is now – and that could prove problematic for all 3 of the early winners (Kelly, Drew, & Emmitt), as the pros have all stepped their game up quite a bit since those seasons.Ā  It could be a bit jarring for them to go from easily handling the choreography on their own seasons, to having to fight tooth and nail to just get a decent score each week of the all-star season, with the bar being raised so much.Ā  On the plus side, Drew seems to have a good deal of “attack” to his dancing – he isn’t hesitant or wishy-washy, and goes for everything 100%.Ā  Seems very confident out on the floor, and doesn’t seem to have any glaring timing issues.Ā  But man – I had forgotten how short DrewĀ is.Ā  He moves “big” for his size, and does seem to extend his limbs impressively far, given his stature – but I’m picturing him next to the very willowy Gilles, who had quite possibly the most fantastic extension in his arms & legs of any guy I’ve ever seen on the show (except maybe Roshon, but I swear that boy was made of rubber!)…and I’m just imagining that poor Drew is just not going to measure up, no matter how far he stretches.Ā  Not his fault – but it’s unfortunately the hand he was dealt by nature.Ā Ā Part of me thinks he may have been physically better matched with Chelsie, since she would have given him an extra 2″ of leeway, but I do think he may actually have an advantage with Anna – these two seem to have really hit the ground running with “getting themselves out there” since the announcement of theĀ cast.Ā  They are tweeting up a storm, have set up an official Facebook page which they are updating frequently with videos and pictures, and just seem to have forged a really great partnership – I seriously can’t stop smiling when I see these two!

So what, if anything, has Drew done since season 2 to keep his dance skills sharp? Well, he has been practicing for the 98 Degrees reunion tour, and they actually performed on the Today show yesterday:

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Ok – admittedly, 98 Degrees was the boy band of the 1990’s that did the least amount of dancing…and the little they did do was pretty basic “work the mic, jazz square here, hand gesture there”-type stuff.Ā  But Drew actually seems to be taking this choreography, no matter how cheesy it looks, pretty seriously – he’s snapping his head nicely, making good eye contact, and staying on time.Ā  And as crazy as that sounds – I think that may actually be an unexpected advantage he has this season.Ā  I know everyone seems eager to point out that Joey being onstage in the Vegas show isĀ huge advantage this season, and it is – but I would argue that really ANY contestant that has been onstage in some song & dance capactity within the last year or so has probably got an advantage.Ā  Gotta keep those performing skills sharp!

Court’s verdict: Drew is obviously going to have to step up his game quite a bit in order to compete with more recent contestants like Gilles – but he could be a bit of a dark horse this season, given his work ethic and the chemistry he has forged with Anna.Ā  He is probably theĀ most skilled of the “early” champions, and if he’s willing to put in the effort (and Anna can give him some good choreography), he could give some of the favorites this season (Gilles, Joey, Shawn, etc.) a good run for their money.Ā  One to watch, for sure!

So what do you guys think of Drew? Possible dark horse…or a possible dud?

UPDATE: Thanks to @BeerBabeSuzi (an NKOTB friend of mine who also runs a fantastic 98 Degrees fan site that’s been around for 10 years!), here’s some video of 98 Degrees performing at the Mixtape Festival in Hershey, Pennsylvania over the weekend – and it looks like Drew has been practicing his Latin hips šŸ˜‰ The song is “Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)” and it starts at about the 2:50 mark.Ā  Check out Drew on the right, getting pretty into his dance moves šŸ˜‰

August 18, 2012 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.

DWTS 14 End-of-Season Awards – Which Celebrity Improved the Most?

Other responses:

William Levy – 9 (Not sure how you can improve your ass-shaking & shirt-removing technique a whole lot…)
Roshon Fegan – 7
Gladys Knight – 3
Jaleel White – 2 (Maybe if you consider witholding his crocodile tears an improvement…)
Sherri Shepherd – 1
Everyone – 1 (If only that were true :-))

Courtney: I don’t think this season’s “most improved” award was quite as clear for meĀ as it’s been in previous seasonsĀ – I know when I voted in season 12, it was like “Duh, ROMEO!” and in season 13, “Of course it’s Rob!!!” This season, I found myself wavering a bit, as it seems like a lot of people started out being good and then stayed prettyĀ good the entire season – and then there were others who were a bit up-and-down.Ā  In the end, though, I think the improvement was most apparent with Maria.Ā  I remember muttering “Yikes!” after her cha-cha in week one, as she looked downright terrified and pretty unsteady on her legs.Ā  Then she looked a bit more relaxed and in the zone in week 2, and a little more in week 3, etc. By the time classical week rolled around and she managed to get the first perfect 30 of the season, I was pretty impressed.Ā  As for Donald – I do think he improved, but it wasn’t quite as marked as Maria – plus he really never seemed to get the love he deserved from the judges, so I guess it kinda distorted things for me.Ā  It became a matter of “Is he really improving drastically, or are the judges just finally warming up to him?” I will credit Melissa with improving in her stage presence, but overall, I think her dancing only improved slightly during her stint on the show.Ā  I think Gavin could have improved quite a bit, had he stuck around a little longer – but his transformation in the short time he was on was enjoyable nonetheless.Ā  šŸ™‚Ā  I feel the same about Roshon as I do about Donald – I don’t know that he was truly improving (I thought he was pretty good the whole season), but the judges just seemed to vacillate between lavishing praise upon him and absolutely ripping him to shreds from week to week, so I think it gave a false impression of him having all of these dramatic ups and downs.Ā  I thought Gladys gave it a good try, but only had a slight net improvement throughout the season; I thought Jaleel was down more than he was up; and I still don’t think I even saw enough real dancing from William to even determine if he improved greatly.Ā  I think his finale cha-cha looked better than his week 1 cha-cha, but that’s the only benchmark I have to compare to.

Vogue: Court, I’m with you again. When I first read this Poll, I was baffled for who to vote for “most improved”? With every season we’ve done this, I usually know straight away for who to answer with, but, not this time. After thinking on it, I voted for Maria. Looking back to her first interviews and first dances, she was weak and a little uncoordinated. She so nervous and unconfident. She was worried she wouldn’t be as good as Derek’s other partners which she voiced several times in interviews which, in turn, made me nervous for her too. Well, just like Derek said, he worked on her “walk” first. After that, he totally molded her into a confident dancer. Soon, we saw her relaxing and them playing off of each other’s humor and creativity. His Fox totem was hard at work and in tune again. He can “blend” into anyone to make a union work. It amazes me how he can do that season after season. It’s too bad Jack Wagner was sent home so early. I think he could have improved more with every show too.

Heidi: Yeah, I’d go with Maria. The problem with this category is that you pretty much have to totally tune out the judges nonsense and the crowd reaction to get to the heart of what is real – that’s very hard to do. Roshon started out good and stayed good – but it’s easy to think there is actual improvement when one week the judges are saying how poorly you did and the next week they are raving. It’s very easy to hear all that “noise” from them and have it start to sink in. As for Donald? The judges never liked him, IMO, and never “wanted” him to win (I think in the end their rank comes out in the scoring regardless), so when they finally started giving him credit it was like an epiphany. “Oh, he’s improving!!” Well, maybe – but not as much as Maria. The judges own bias turns into noise, which turns into false impressions for a lot of the dancers. But I think Maria truly went from “Bambi on ice” (per Derek) to a decent dancer. She’s not the best of his partners in terms of dance quality, but I think she did go the farthest in terms of growth.

*photo courtesy ABC/Adam TaylorĀ 

June 27, 2012 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.

DWTS 14 End-of-Season Awards – Which Couple’s Elimination Was the Most Disappointing?

Other responses:

William & Cheryl – 4
Jaleel & Kym – 2
Katherine & Mark – 1
Gavin & Karina – 1
All of them really they were all so much fun – 1 (Vogue, did you write this one in? šŸ˜‰ )
None.Ā  Even if it was a shocker, I wasn’t disappointed because I wasn’t rooting for them. – 1 (And I thought I had a hard time this season!)

Courtney: This is always an interesting category, because I think certain people interpret it in different ways – some people seem to vote for the most shocking elimination, some people vote for their favorite couple (because it would stand to reason that their elimination probably would be the most disappointing in their mind!), some people vote for someone in the finaleĀ that they felt they didn’t place high enough.Ā  *shrug* To each his own.Ā  I guess I tend to vote for the couple whose elimination seemed to illicit the greatest emotional response in me – and I think that often gets colored by how that couple fares throughout the season.Ā  My knee jerk reaction with this one was Roshon & Chelsie, but then I realized by the time they got sent home that they had been beaten up so badly by the judges week to week that I was almost relieved that they weren’t going to have to endure it any longer, and I wasn’t going to continue yelling at the tv in frustration.Ā  I was kinda sad to see Gladys go, for the simple reason that I thought they really kinda screwed her in the end; I was disappointed to see Maria & Derek go, because I thought they could have delivered a much more entertaining performance in the finale than William & Cheryl.Ā  But in the end, as surprising as this may sound, I think I was actually most disappointed to see Jack go – because at that point in the season, I wasn’t totally jaded by all the fishy stuff the judges were doing, and I thought Jack was one of the stronger male dancers in the competition and I wanted to see more from him.Ā  I guess by the time Roshon & Maria’s eliminations rolled around, I was kind of “whatever” about this season as a whole, so it didn’t bother me quite so much – but I was definitely upset by Jack’s earlier ouster.

Vogue: My feelings in this category stumped me too. I thought this award would go to Roshon all season, but, he actually stuck around until the right time despite how harsh the judges were on him all season. In the end, it was a toss up between Martina, Jack, and Sherri. Who did I pick? Sherri!! Yes, Sherri. At first I had my misgivings with all the cheating stuff and then she started wrapping me around her finger with how funny and compassionate she was about learning how to dance. She was so into it all. When she cried during her elimination, I cried too. She was so thankful to her fans and the experience. I also loved it when she said to take on the things you are most scared of and how that can make you the happiest in this life ā€œon the other sideā€. Remember that? I melted. I was sad to see Jack go as well because there was potential there and he was just an all around nice guy. I would have liked to have seen his message about adoption and finding his daughter played out more. Then there was Martina. I was really hoping to see a retired tennis champ and one of my tennis mentors really take over the dance floor “mentally” somehow like she did tennis and her competitors somehow, but, I was more disappointed in Tony than in Martina. I will always wonder if she had another partner, would she have done better? Maybe not?

Heidi: Well, believe it or not, I don’t think I voted and I don’t think I was really disappointed to see any of them go – I’m a glass half full kind of woman when it comes to Derek and partners like Maria. Maria was not a natural dancer, but she worked so freakin’ hard and wouldn’t give up and had so much fun and made Derek have so much fun that it’s probably one of my favorite partnerships. But really, with someone like Maria and Derek I end up just being grateful that they made it as long as they did. Sure, I much preferred them to William and Cheryl and they would almost certainly have brought more to a free style – but Maria had a great run. And it was a more successful season for Derek than it was for Cheryl, that’s for sure. Despite all the pimping, Cheryl couldn’t get past third place. Derek, on the other hand, took someone that he thought would be eliminated in week three or four and found a way to make sure she stuck around in a season where she could have easily been forgotten in the William/Katherine mass pimpage. Ā Katherine being the only one worthy of such pimpage. šŸ™‚ Ā Well, yes, I was probably sad to see Jack go…and Gladys…but disappointed?? I dunno. Ā  Hellooo? Katherine and Mark were not actually “eliminated” – they just didn’t WIN. Geez, greedy much? šŸ™‚

June 21, 2012 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.

DWTS 14 End-of-Season Award Winners – Which Dance Was the Best?

Lesson Court learned from putting together these awards: perhaps the “other” option should be eliminated, starting with next season’s end-of-season awards šŸ˜› I got an insane number of write-in responses for the “best dance” and “celeb you most want to see on the all-star season” categories, and let’s just say it was no easy task weeding through all of the write-ins šŸ˜Æ I also learned that some people are too lazy (or inattentive) to click “read more” and vote in the other categories, and as a result we got almost double the number of votes for the “best dance” category than we did everything else.Ā  I love our readers, but sometimes they drive me a little bit bonkers šŸ˜›

Other responses:

Donald & Peta’s freestyle – 23
Melissa, Maks, & Val’s samba trio – 10
Katherine & Mark’s Argentine tango – 8
Maria, Derek, & Henry’s samba trio – 4
Katherine & Mark’s jive – 4
Maria & Derek’s rumba – 3
Roshon & Chelsie’s freestyle – 3
Katherine & Mark’s freestyle – 3
Maria & Derek’s Viennese waltz – 3
Katherine, Mark, & Tristan’s cha-cha trio – 3
Sherri & Val’s foxtrot – 2
Team Paso Doble – 2
Maria & Derek’s Argentine tango – 2
Katherine & Mark’s 2nd paso doble – 2
William & Cheryl’s samba – 2
Gladys & Tristan’s cha-cha – 2
Tristan & Karina’s waltz demo – 1
Tristan & Chelsie’s DaD samba – 1
Melissa & Maks’ paso doble – 1
Katherine & Mark’s samba – 1
Roshon, Chelsie, & Sasha’s paso doble trio – 1

Courtney: Can’t say I’m too surprised at the results – the two that I predicted would do well ended up on top, and the rest got a small share of votes, likely from diehardĀ fans of that particular couple.Ā  I do think the jive trio was the dance of the season – the fact that they took a dance that was hard to do with only 2 people and managed to create something fun, energetic, and proper with 3 people was beyond impressive to me.Ā  And the fact that they DIDN’T get a perfect 30 for it??? APPALLING.Ā  I seriously think people don’t realize how HARD it is to lead 2 women – and Donald’s the only one that took on that challenge in his trio dance, and he KILLED IT.Ā  I didn’t see Roshon or William trying to lead two ladies.Ā  MariaĀ & Derek’s paso was good – for this season.Ā  I just can’t seem to get too excited about it, though, because it just wasn’t up-to-snuff with the paso choreography I’m used to seeing from Derek.Ā  As for all the other responses – I think they all were those couples’ best dances, but probably not the best dance of the season.Ā  Write-ins? It’s the usual smorgesbord of random dances, and I usually find myself shaking my head reading some of them, and saying “Really? You REALLY think that was the best dance?” But alas, different strokes for different folks.Ā  šŸ™‚ The only one I’m gonna comment on is Donald & Peta’s freestyle…and I guess Katherine & Mark’s, too.Ā  I always shy away from including those as options in the “best dance of the season” category, because it seems that, unless a couple REALLY picks a dud, it’s a dance that most couples do well with, and the scoring is pretty inflated – it almost seems like too much of a gimme.Ā  That said, I did really enjoy Donald’s freestyle – but I didn’t think the level of difficulty was as high as his jive trio was.Ā  And I thought Katherine showed better endurance in her jive than in ther freestyle.

Vogue: Court, you took the words out of my head this time. My favorite dance of the season (and the dance I thought was the best) was Donald and Peta’s Jive trio. Donald’s fast leg and footwork amazed me at the time. So much so, I screamed to my husband in the other room to come watch (and we had to replay it after the show several times …which I don’t ever remember doing with him as long as I’ve been watching this show). Our mouths literally dropped to the floor especially when Donald jumped over the top of both girls. šŸ˜Æ A blow away for me as well was their Freestyle. I also loved their Paso Doble and Argentine Tango with the amusement ride twirl. Other stand out dances for me that I thought were the best were Derek and Maria’s Bollywood Trio dance and Paso Doble. Looking back now, I will remember Derek and Maria’s Bollywood Trio dance the most of their dances even though it probably wasn’t her best dance technically, but, it was different, so creative, theatrical, and entertaining. Another dance I have to give props too is also William and Cheryl’s Argentine Tango. I loved all the passion in that dance. William was so into his character and I loved his tails which is when he looked the sexiest in my opinion. šŸ™‚ Anyway, great poll and results!!

Heidi: Yeah, I agree with the top two – by a MILE. Say what you want about the “talent” this season, but Donald and Maria were the two most memorable. As for Derek’s choreography – Ā I think that Maria was one of his least naturally talented partners EVER (she’s in a club with Joanna and Shannon and wouldn’t have gone as far with ANYONE else), yet his dances with her were just as memorable as anything anyone else did. That’s quite an accomplishment for both of them. He has a way of doing that. He was really challenged with her – she wasn’t naturally talented and she was pretty injured the whole time. Ā Poor Derek though – he’s set his own bar too high. šŸ™‚ Ā But the Bollywood Samba I also loved, and their rumba just because they were so into it. Ā As for the write ins? Ā Sad to say I don’t actually REMEMBER a lot of those dances. Most of Katherine’s dances have left my brain. Oddly, several of Willy’s I remember out of sheer disgust. Ā Someone wrote in DaD?? All I remember is Chelsie almost getting blown off a table. šŸ™‚

Ā 

Ā *photo courtesy ABC/Adam Taylor

June 11, 2012 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.

Vote for Your Favorites in the PureDWTS Season 14 End-of-Season Awards!!!

Ā Ok kids, it’s time once again to vote of our biannual “end-of-season” awards…our sort of “wrap up” for season 14, where we see what you guys think were the highs and lows of this season šŸ™‚ If you want to get a feel for how these awards work, you can check out previous seasons’ award recipients here.

First, the rules: I’ve picked what I deem to be the most likely candidates (with the strongest chance of winning) for each category – of course, some of you are going to disagree, and that’s fine.Ā  If you don’t see your pick listed as an option, you can write-in your own nomination in the “other” box.Ā  ButĀ here’s my biannual disclaimer about the dreaded “other” box: if I can’t read what you wrote because it’s badly misspelled/grammatically nonsensical/generally incoherent, YOUR VOTE WILL NOT COUNT.Ā  If your response to the question does not make sense (i.e. you simply vote “Donald” for best dance), YOUR VOTE WILL NOT COUNT.Ā  If you simply repeat one of the already listed responses because you can’t be bothered to actually pay attention, YOUR VOTE WILL NOT COUNT.Ā  If you’re just generally being a nudnik and giving harassing responses, YOUR VOTE WILL NOT COUNT.Ā  *shakes head* I still can’t believe that I have to give this spiel twice a year…

…anywho, we’ll give you guys a week to get your votes in, and then we’ll reveal the results in a series of posts starting next week.Ā  Now ready…set…VOTE!!! šŸ˜€

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May 24, 2012 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.