Rumba | Pure Dancing with the Stars

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 4 – Power Rankings

*looks around* Wow, Alfonso hosted DWTS and the world didn’t end. Right on! Seriously, though, I though the guy did a pretty damn good job – his pacing was good, he didn’t talk too much, and he kept things moving. I’m sure there are some that would disagree, but as for me? I’m just thankful that he stepped in for Tom and seemed to minimize any potential disruption that Tom’s absence caused. But the joke about joining the band? Played out, dude. Pun intended 😛

One rather strange observation about last night’s show? The running order – it struck me as kinda odd, and I wasn’t the only one. Seemed like they actually front-loaded the show with good dances, and relegated some head-scratchers to the end of the show. Seemed…backwards. I would have moved Andy, Paula, and Carlos to the first hour; and probably moved Hayes, Tamar, and Alek to the back. Not much else to add, just that it all seemed kinda out-of-order to me, given the quality of the dances.

Other noteworthy moments? Allison announcing her pregnancy – my god, that child is going to be gorgeous and talented. And it leaves the door open for Lindsay to remain a pro next season, which makes me happy 😀 And who doesn’t love Sasha channeling Bruno circa 1983, in one of his “I’m Still Standing” getups? Guess I’m just thankful that it wasn’t the bizarre black man-leotard thingie… 😎

Did @DancingABC accidentally tip their hand with regards to the switch-up? They tweeted out this eyebrow-raiser right before Alek performed – and it has since been deleted. Someone told me that the phone votes were saying “Thanks for voting for Alek & Sharna!” as well, but it didn’t do it for me. Just a senior moment, or someone inadvertently tweeting about next week’s pairings? You be the judge.

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 3 – Power Rankings

Last night, for the first time ever, I got to say the following sentence and mean it literally: “There are Muppets in the control room.” 😛 Not sure they had a terribly strong presence on last night’s show, but it was still a cute touch here and there to see Kermit & Miss Piggy bopping around. Another nice touch? A guest judge that actually gave intelligent critiques. I’ve seen about 50/50 when it comes to everyone’s thoughts on Alfonso – half seemed to like him as a judge, half seemed to hate him. I fall in the former camp – call me crazy (or “biased” – just make sure you own your own biases, too 😉 ) but since Len left, it has felt like a 3-ring circus on that judging panel, and the last thing I wanted was a another pointless guest judge mucking it up even further – I felt like Alfonso did his best to give relevant, helpful critiques, and was nicer about it than both Carrie Ann and Julianne. And dammit, he was able to get away with saying what we all (likely including the other judges) have been thinking: the husband & wife act between Alexa & Carlos is TIRED. They need to start looking out for themselves, or they’ll both lose.

As for the other judges – Carrie Ann still seemed cranky with just about everyone except Tamar, Julianne seemed to vacillate between semi-coherence and obvious scripting, and once again – Bruno seemed to be on the most even keel, although that’s even debatable. God I miss Len something fierce. And something else I miss: rehearsal packages that aren’t completely scripted, tacky, and forced. The three that come to mind as the most cringeworthy are Tamar & Val’s, Alexa & Mark’s, and Alek & Lindsay’s…particularly the latter, as I’m now getting inundated with tweets asking if Alek is dating Brittany/Jenna/Karina/etc. You do all realize that was scripted nonsense, right? Right down to Hayes humorously c*ckblocking Alek’s attempt to “get Brittany’s number” with his Ninja Turtle costume? I thought we taught you guys better than that – to see through the bullsh*t. The only nugget of truth from that whole nonsensical segment was Emma saying “I would love to get you in the switch, Alek!” She confirmed that on Twitter last week – so by all means, feel free to tweet #DWTSAlekEmma till your heart’s content 🙂 Just don’t hold out for pap pix of Jenna & Alek getting coffee, or Brittany & Alek getting into an Uber together, etc.

Sucks that Kim had to withdraw, but I can’t say none of us saw it coming – a stroke is a bit more serious than a sprained ankle or an aching back, and it’s good that she’s taking time out to take care of herself. Can’t say I agree with the campaign I’m seeing to bring her back later in the competition, though – basically giving her a free pass straight to a later week without having to survive her way through the elims like other contestants? I don’t think so, kids. Let her come back and dance at the finale, but that’s it. As for who ended up “in jeopardy” – I’m not entirely sure that those two couples were the actual bottom two, and since TPTB knew from the get-go that they weren’t actually going to eliminate anyone…I think they very well could have just picked two random couples to be in jeopardy. That being said – I do find it curious that they picked who they did, especially since we’ve only seen Gary in jeopardy with the eliminated couples the past two elims. I think Andy & Allison are in real danger of fading into the woodwork, and Paula might be losing steam. Guess we’ll see come next Monday… Read more..

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 2, Tuesday – Power Rankings

And judging by the overall demeanor of the couples and judges last night, kids – DOING TWO DANCES IN WEEK 2 IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Just felt like everyone was stressed-out and feeling the strain – I dug hearing about everybody’s hometown, but I don’t know that it was worth it to see everyone so on-edge. Glad we’re back to just ONE dance per week next week.

Something else I’m glad about next week? Alfonso at the judges table to hopefully give some positive, relevant critiques – because tonight, the judges table on the whole just seemed like a bunch of petty, bickering toddlers in need of a nap. Carrie Ann was the worst offender – wayyyy too hard on the couples last night, and prone to honing in on stupid sh*t (i.e. the ignominious “lift policing” – give it up, CA; it’s not relevant or cute). At times, I felt like grabbing all three judges, shaking them hard, and saying “You DO realize they had to do TWO dances this week, right? And it’s ONLY WEEK 2???”

Sad to see Victor go 🙁 But if I’m being honest, I’m not exactly surprised. As an athlete from a more obscure sport with a less mainstream following, I knew Victor was likely going to struggle with votes. And while a lot of the Karina fans seemed eager to argue with me on Twitter that this season “was different” and that she “wouldn’t go out early like she did with Sean & Randy” – hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. If a more mainstream name like Randy couldn’t get the votes – Victor unfortunately didn’t stand a chance. Karina fans, you’re good power voters – but I don’t think you’ve reached the point where you can compensate for a celeb that has little to no voting fanbase. It is what it is – and fingers crossed that we get an epic dance from Victor & Karina at the finale 🙂

Monday’s power rankings are here if anyone needs to catch up. Read more..

Dancing with the Stars Season 21, Week 2 – Tuesday Night LIVE BLOG

And onto night 2 of the “Hometown Glory” extravaganza – and tonight it’s the pros’ turn 🙂 If you want a refresher of what went down last night, here’s Monday’s live blog post, and my power rankings and Heidi’s numbers headed into tonight’s show. Sorry kids – had to unsticky ’em, or else we’d just have an endless parade of stickies on the front page, and ain’t nobody got time to scroll through that 😉

Thoughts going into tonight’s show? I’m just happy to not be watching on a crappy internet feed, and that my asthma is in check thanks to a new inhaler (thanks to all who checked in on me today :-)). Actually kinda excited to see the pros’ talking about their hometowns – haven’t really gotten to see a ton of that. Slightly disappointed we won’t get to see Keo’s – Deep Throat indicated his hometown package was REALLY neat. Still think Kim is on the chopping block, with *cringe* Victor possibly on the bubble. Read more..

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 2, Monday – Power Rankings

I apologize for not getting this up last night – asthma kicked in and I just needed to lie down. God bless allergy season! I think this may be the first time since season 15’s two-night performance debacle during the Presidential debates that I’ve had to do (2) rankings in one week 😛 I wouldn’t mind so much, except that there’s still a LOT of couples left…and when I want to weight in on each one, that’s a lot of writing!

Aside from the Colts playing like sh*t and my live stream freezing up at key moments, I also had the added irritation of the bulk of the dances having way too much “messing about” at the beginning. With the dances already being so shortened, it just seems like that much more of an excuse to d*ck around in order to conceal weaknesses. Dislike. Also seemed like a night where nobody 100% knocked their dances out of the park – maybe it was the strain of having to learn two dances this week, but while there was quite a bit of improvement from (most) everyone, I don’t feel like anyone completely mastered their dances. A few came close…but still room for improvement all around.

I’m pretty shocked that it was Chaka that got sent packing tonight – I actually think she did noticeably better than last week, and thought that an R&B legend would have more folks voting for her than a reality TV wife. Also an eye-opener? The fact that Keo somehow looks better (and seems to teach better) when it’s a ballroom dance instead of a Latin one…go fig. Isn’t Latin his specialty? I just don’t know what to make of Keo anymore…but 3rd season in a row where he hasn’t been able to make it past week 3? Yikes – that’s a pretty dismal track record, and something has gotta change…and it ain’t the type of partner he’s getting. Read more..

Dancing with the Stars Season 21, Week 2 – Monday Night LIVE BLOG

As Heidi is still on vacay, you guys get me (Court) manning the live blog tonight – and let’s just say tonight has the makings of a perfect storm of things that could go wrong 😯 The Colts are playing Monday Night Football, so my ABC is currently showing that game and I’m winging it with a live feed of DWTS on my laptop; and my internet connection has been pretty shoddy lately (thanks, AT&T) so it’s entirely possible that I may miss entire dances – so please, bear with me if I’m not posting 100% in realtime. Doing the best I can, given the circumstances 🙂

Random though while trying to find a feed to watch: I had no idea that Jeopardy! doesn’t air on the same network everywhere. Apparently in NY, it’s on ABC; where I live, it’s on NBC; and someone else tweeted that it airs on FOX where she lives. How did I not know this???

Thoughts going into tonight: two dances in week 2 is kind of overkill. Hoping Alek can deliver two performances as strong as his foxtrot last week. Praying that Victor isn’t the first (or second) one out; will be shocked if Kim isn’t sent packing by the end of the night.

Looks like some people are using their birthplaces and some aren’t – interesting. Announcer guy stepped on Tom’s line – aaaaand my feed just froze for the first time.

Hmmm…Nick’s not quite as adept at jive as he is cha-cha. Not convinced anymore that he’s gonna coast all the way to the finale…

Ok, Paula actually did kind of awesome – and I gotta commend Louis for sticking to solid basics. I think she redeemed herself.

Soooo many commercials…

Hayes’ mom is gorgeous. And that foxtrot wasn’t too shabby – he’s doing something weird with his arms, but it was pretty nice.

Heidi Here, stepping in because my cruise ship TV is doing a bit better than Court’s stream. 🙂 I gotta say, Hayes might be a contenda!

Er…did Chaka move her feet? I did look away for a moment. Just sayin’ – she didn’t when I was watching. 15 actually sounds a bit right.

PIMP SPOT goes to Bindi!! From our source. 🙂

Shhhiiiiii….Andy just busted out a really good dance. I think Bruno might be slightly on crack. Yeah, I saw him go off time a bit, but I think calling it a “mess” for week 2 is kinda silly.

Big improvement from Kim, although you could drive a truck between them. Maybe be too little too late.

Sorry…got distracted. Yeah, Mark called it. Alexa improved a good bit, but I’m still not really impressed. Why the OTT costume? Maybe I’m not paying close enough attention?

I love Victor so much…but that was a bit of a mess.

Maybe you should have left it at Salsa, Tamar. Not terribly impressed with the Cha cha. She’s throwing her arms away, for one thing, Man, “a class of her own?” That’s some hyperbole right there.

Lead in to commercial making me a bit…grrrr. Just saw Tamar dance. The rest was Nick and Alek…yet Bindi and Derek had the most watched dance on youtube last week and were no where to be seen.

Gary = Goofy Goodness

Carlos is definitely a contender. I thought that dance was a bit…tiny bit dull, but good. I’m not sure I *like* him as much as I like some of the lesser dancers.

The thing that disappointed me about Derek and Bindi was that the dance was TOO SHORT. I feel like they got hosed. I might have to time it compared to some of the other dancers.

Yeah, not buying that Kim wasn’t in the bottom. I figured Kim would be gone, but Chaka was my second choice. I’ll try to do the numbers tonight, but have a hard time believing that her name wasn’t even mentioned. Gary the Red herring??

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 8 – Power Rankings

Not a whole lot to lead-in with – apologize that these didn’t come last night (I try to have the power rankings up before going to bed on Mondays with a results show the following day), but I had a cake to make and my icing gun broke and I kinda lost all my will to live…momentarily 🙂 Then I slept and I was ok. Definite judges’ agenda last night, and it seemed to be “make sure Rumer makes it to week 9 AT ALL COSTS, and kinda try to shield Nastia & Riker while you’re at it – the rest are expendable”. Len has completely lost all credibility for me at this point – just seems like he’s following the directions being fed to him by TPTB each week, even if it means contradicting himself. Random epiphany I had while watching Robert’s samba trio: how cool would it be to have a pro samba to George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” with the pros playing female & male models? 😉

Also, a point of clarification on Nastia’s “meltdown” in their package: per Deep Throat, that occurred at the end of an 8-hour rehearsal, and Nastia was already planning on heading home – so yeah, she didn’t “walk out of rehearsal in anger”, as some are trying to spin it. Also interesting to note: sometimes the staff filming the rehearsals are encouraged to ask kinda inflammatory questions in order to amp up the drama when the pros and celebs are feeling tired, anxious, stressed, etc – so the frustration you saw from Nastia was more than likely her getting irritated by a needling cameraman, rather than with Derek. Felt that this required clarification, since some of Derek’s detractors seem to be having a field day on Twitter over Nastia’s “outburst”. Hehe – I’ll show you a REAL outburst. Just goes to show that the narrative of the show has gotten so out-of-control that you can’t trust the rehearsal packages anymore. Read more..

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 4 – Power Rankings

Well, after shedding more tears than I intended to last night, I’m left feeling a tad uncertain about how things are shaking out these season. Though Michael left on a high note with his best dance yet, he still seemed to get underscored relative to some of the other couples, and it just kinda makes me resent the fact that the judges nitpicked him to death week after week. Though he seemed like he was at peace with getting eliminated, I still can think of at least 3 other celebs that should have gotten sent him before he did. But moving right along…

…Len seemed unusually disgruntled last night, and the only people he seemed to really gush about were Robert & Willow. He’s still not too fond of Riker or Nastia, but he seems like he turned on Rumer a bit this week, too. Julianne seemed to love just about everyone, but did kinda surprise me when she told Robert he had the best technique of the men this season – perhaps trying to draw attention away from #RikerNotADancer and his suspiciously good technique? Tuned out when Carrie Ann & Bruno spoke, so I can’t really say anything about them. The big announcement that the cast is touring again this summer? Meh. If they think Melissa’s gonna be as big a draw as Alfonso, god love them. Oh, and if you didn’t hear already – the switch-up is cancelled, and we don’t know why. *shrug* No skin off my back. Is it Disney week yet??? 😀 Read more..

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 5 – Disney Week Song Predictions 2.0

And Disney week is upon us once again 🙂 Since so many of us (myself included) are chomping at the bit to start speculating about what we might hear, I thought we’d resurrect the season 18 Disney week song prediction post to start the discussion!

First, a little bit of intel: allegedly, there have been some issues with song clearance, AGAIN – which is no surprise, considering there were clearance issues with some of the season 18 Disney week songs (“Be Our Guest” got approved in the nick of time; “Hakuna Matata”, however, did not) and Disney is notorious for closely guarding their copyrights. Knowing that – I would not be at all surprised if some of the season 18 Disney week songs got reused. Disappointing? Maybe. Avoidable? Doubt it. Also, knowing this show’s penchant for reusing songs, I would not be surprised to see if some other Disney songs used before on other seasons of the show crop up again. So to start the predicting off, here’s a recap of the songs we saw during the last Disney week, and songs we’ve seen on the show before – then I’ll share my Disney week wishlist, and you guys can share yours 🙂 Read more..

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 3 – Power Rankings

Well, the warm fuzzies and pleasant surprises I had from the judging last week have left the building – and now we’ve moved on to the “completely inappropriate and actually rather offensive” stage of the competition, where every other thing out of the judges’ mouths seems to be insulting, irrelevant, or just plain mean. Even after last week’s spiel about bullying, Charlotte got told she was stupid, and it was implied that Riker danced like a girl and Allison danced like a dude. Oh, and Mike got nitpicked to death for the third week in a row. “Do as I say, not as I do”, huh judges?

Bittersweet seeing Charlotte go. I was glad she got to stick around for another week, and aside from the fact that her rumba didn’t have a whole lot of rumba, I still enjoyed it and thought it was her best dance yet; but I think Charlotte may have mentally checked out a bit after the nasty critiques she got in week 1, so it was probably time for her to go, anyway. If nothing else, she looked FANTASTIC tonight – loved that color on her, and love big, tousled Brigette Bardot-inspired hair 🙂

1.) Riker & Allison – Well, I already thought Riker was a contender after week 1 – but I think this week his real debut, because that salsa screamed “Yep, I’m here, and I’m hungry – take heed, Nastia & Rumer!” And despite Len hemming and hawing and trying to claim that Riker “isn’t the best dancer this season”, I daresay he’s certainly the best male contestant, and bested at least Nastia in terms of technique this week – so he’s quickly inching his way up to the top. He never missed a beat in this salsa, which was actually the first piece of choreography I’ve seen from Allison on this show that made me sit up and go “Ok, that was cool.” And good lord, that girl can spin fast! He sold it well, he made it his, and he kept time – if I had one complaint, it might be that he seemed a bit stiff in his hips and didn’t “flow” through the movements as fluidly as he could have, but I also partially blame Allison for that, simply because her choreography was a bit more staccato. Overall, he nailed it, though. Read more..

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PureDWTS Season 21, Week 4 – Power Rankings

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 3 – Power Rankings

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 2, Tuesday – Power Rankings

Dancing with the Stars Season 21, Week 2 – Tuesday Night LIVE BLOG

PureDWTS Season 21, Week 2, Monday – Power Rankings

Dancing with the Stars Season 21, Week 2 – Monday Night LIVE BLOG

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 8 – Power Rankings

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 4 – Power Rankings

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 5 – Disney Week Song Predictions 2.0

PureDWTS Season 20, Week 3 – Power Rankings

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