Tristan MacManus | Pure Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars Season 16, Week 9 – Who’s Dancing What…and When?

Well, are we lacking a twitter vote this week? Praise the lord. But I’m sure a new gimmick will be announced in 5…4…3…

So it seems we are missing Jacoby’s first dance…could he be doing the same dance as Kellie for the third week in a row and be doing Argentine Tango?? And why are they the only ones mimicking each other in dances at this late stage?? Anyway, where’s Courtney? She’s the expert in who has what dances left. I *think* Jacoby has AT, Contemporary, Tango and Samba of the dances that have been danced this season. No one has done Waltz – fine by me. I think we only need Viennese Waltz. If they’re looking to get rid of him, he’s likely doing AT. If it’s Ingo headed out the door, he probably has Samba.

~~In no particular order….~~
ETA: Great. Kellie going first. That’s a great sign. Only not really.

Kellie and Derek
Dancing 1st
Dance 1: Argentine Tango
Dance 2: Flamenco
Voting # 1-800-868-3401

Jacoby and Karina
Dance 1: ??
Dance 2: Lindy Hop
Voting # 1-800-868-3412

Ingo and Kym
Dance 1: Samba
Dance 2: Charleston
Voting # 1-800-868-3403

Aly and Mark
Dance 1: Rumba
Dance 2: Afro Jazz
Voting # 1-800-868-3408

Zendaya and Val
Dance 1: Quickstep
Dance 2: Hip Hop
Voting # 1-800-868-3406

DWTS Season 16, Week 8 – Dancing by the Numbers

Well, I have to say, I’m about over this show. Sooo predictable. Zendaya not at the top for a couple weeks, so we better make sure she’s there tonight. Kellie was at the top for a couple weeks, we better make sure she has a fall. Derek starts talking creatively, prepare for the stupid from Len. Oh, and now Sean has to be the new Andy. Did he dance great? No. But neither did Ingo. Certainly not worthy of the points separating them.

It makes me sad, actually. I nearly forgot to turn the TV on tonight. I can’t work up too much indignation over Kellie’s Paso because I knew in advance that that was how it was going to go. It’s Zendaya’s turn to be at the top of the leaderboard. Did she have the best dances of the night? I don’t actually REMEMBER.

I’m bored. Heads up DWTS – you’re losing me.

Anyway, Sean is pretty much toast and I don’t see any way around it. Yes, Ingo has been in the bottom two before, but Sean is significantly below him in score and he’s been in the bottom two also. What would it take for Sean to be safe?? He needs ONE of the following:

- Sean needs 19,300 more votes per million votes cast than Ingo, OR;

- Sean needs 32,200 more votes per million votes cast than Jacoby, OR;

- Sean needs 41,800 more votes per million votes cast than Kellie, OR;

- Sean needs 45,100 more votes per million votes cast than Aly, OR;

- Sean needs 51,500 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya.

Yeah, I don’t see that happening either. Now, his one hope, I think, is Ingo. What does Ingo need to be safe tomorrow night? He needs ONE of the following things to happen:

- Ingo needs for Sean to NOT get the 19,300 more votes per million votes cast than him, OR;

- Ingo needs 12,900 more votes per million votes cast than Jacoby, OR;

- Ingo needs 22,600 more votes per million votes cast than Kellie, OR;

- Ingo needs 25,800 more votes per millon votes cast than Aly, OR;

- Ingo needs 32,200 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya.

I would go on, but I’m bored. If I turn out to be wrong, I’ll do a follow up post. In a nutshell, I predict Ingo and Sean in the bottom two with Sean going home. If not Sean, then Ingo. If Ingo avoids the bottom two, then Jacoby will be there, but I kind of doubt it. We’re about at that time in the season where they stop doing a “bottom 2” and start reverting to the “in no particular order” spiel. I would not be at all surprised to see a Jeopardy final two standing. For example, them saying Sean, you’re in jeopardy….then saying the same thing to Jacoby or Kellie and Ingo. No mention of bottom two, but putting Sean against someone other than Ingo….for the sake of Drama.

And then Sean goes home. Or Ingo, if Sean is lucky.

DWTS 16, Week 8 – Power Rankings

Well, this is probably going to be a pretty short ranking, because besides nursing a killer migraine…tonight just kind of sucked.

Ballroom round? Too short, and pretty ho-hum. Trio round? Only one real standout, a couple that were so-so, and the rest were fails. And of course, Len continues to be a horrible human being. I miss Andy more than I thought Let’s get this over with…

1.) Zendaya & Val – First off, I probably would have picked a different song for their foxtrot – the fact that it’s a capella made it feel a bit thin & boring. On top of that, it seemed like it took a little too long to get into the dance, and what I saw, while pleasant to watch, didn’t really excite me. As for their salsa trio – where was the salsa? I saw a lot of vaguely hip-hoppy stuff and a lot of side-by-side actions, but very little interaction between Zendaya herself and the two guys she was supposed to be dancing with. And I generally just found some of the choreography to be a bit odd – once again, rather stop-and-go. It wasn’t a bad dance, per se, but I would dispute the fact that it was a salsa and call attention to the fact that the bulk of it was done individually, as opposed to in couples. Hell, salsa’s even one of the easier dances to do with 3 people…would it really have been that hard to do a bit more work in-hold? Oh well…they’ve got a 58, so they don’t even have to worry about it…

2.) Kellie & Derek – I feel like they were the only couple tonight that really put a ton of thought into both of their performances, and even figured out a clever way to link the two together. The Viennese waltz was very pretty, though I would have liked a little bit more of it to be in-hold, because Kellie can handle it; the paso trio was the only dance that really stuck out in my mind tonight, because it was so exciting to watch and it was the only one that actually seemed to work WITH the props they chose, as opposed to just having them there (like several other couples). Len’s score AND his comment to Bruno about having “something up his ass”? Uncalled for, inappropriate, and I’m just done with that SOB. If Fox can issue an apology for Steve Tyler’s behavior on Idol, then they can certainly issue one for Len’s behavior on DWTS. Dude is seriously crossing the line.

3.) Aly & Mark – Man, they’re REALLY trying to make Aly “happen”, aren’t they? Yes, she has grown – somewhat – in her time on DWTS, but I still find her a bit underwhelming to watch. I actually agreed with (ack) Carrie Ann about her Argentine tango – for as acrobatic & flexible as Aly is, her leg lines seemed a little…weak. I don’t think it was 29-worthy – maybe 27-worthy. As for the jive trio – it wasn’t bad, but it was just so BLAND. Part of it was Aly, but I really just found the choreography to be a bit blah as well – Mark seemed to be erring on the side of safe again. I have to wonder if she’s not getting the votes – because they seem to be scoring her awfully kindly these days.

4.) Jacoby & Karina – The Viennese waltz was better than I expected, though not his best dance. Liked the drama of it, but I thought it could be a bit neater. Actually enjoyed their paso trio with Cheryl, but I feel like the only real problem seemed to be that there was just so much choreography jam-packed into that routine that Jacoby got a little distracted…which could explain why he just kind of flung Cheryl off to the side. I think they just got so caught up trying to show everything that Jacoby was capable of doing that they may have overwhelmed him. But overall, I thought he did pretty well with both of his dances tonight…let’s hope that translates into safety. Not sure what to think after he ended up in jeopardy last week…

5.) Ingo & Kym – Eee gad…this partnership really kind of imploded this week, didn’t it? Kym seems like she’s at her wits end, and Ingo got really, really whiny this time around – that package did not do them any favors. For all the fussing that they were doing, I think their foxtrot turned out halfway-ok…it was definitely better than Sean’s tango, despite a few little stutters. The jive trio was basically a dud – you could tell the ladies did everything they could to ensure that Ingo was moving as minimally as possible during that dance, as they did most of the heavy-duty dancing; there was also a rather prolonged entry & exit, perhaps to cut back on the time that Ingo was actually dancing. I think they’re definitely bottom 2 fodder tomorrow night, and might even end up going home. They’re just getting hard to watch…

6.) Sean & Peta – Well, I think Sean is probably the weakest dancer left, and I think the judges made clear that it’s Sean they want gone tomorrow night. The tango felt stompy & awkward, and I could tell that Peta was doing a good deal of backleading in that one. Jazz trio? Despite having Sharna there to at least offer up some good advice, I think Sean’s trio was probably the biggest fail of the evening. Like Ingo’s trio, it seemed like they tried to put the ladies front & center whenever they could, and had them doing most of the real moving…although I feel like there was even less actual dancing in this dance than Ingo’s, and Sean was even more awkward attempting some of the jazz steps than Ingo was with the jive steps. I was pretty much done with Shawn a few weeks ago, and I’m definitely ready to see him go now…the question is: will it be him, or Ingo?

So was anyone else let down by this week’s dances? Go ahead and sound off, I need to lie down…

Dancing with the Stars Season 16, Week 8 – Who’s Dancing What…and When?

Well, the stupid Twitter vote of the week…is just that. Another stupid twitter vote. Seriously – old men obsessed with Twitter a couple years AFTER the fact = DWTS Producers. So, this week, you get to vote for a dance style for your favorite couple. You get to choose one of these six dances: Afro-Jazz, Disco, Flamenco, Hip-hop, Lindyhop and Charleston. Once again, the producers have made it totally unfair and lopsided by including one dance that most of the pros likely know nothing about….and one dance that one of the contestants does for a living. Yeah, that’s fair. So, sure, let’s take a show that already has a lot of built in unfairness and make it even worse. Afro Jazz in this seasons Bhangra – but somehow I don’t think it will work out nearly as well unless people decide that Derek and Kellie get Afro-Jazz. How about we give the crazy style to someone who already has a lot of advantages – Zendaya. Why do I suspect she’ll end up with the Lindy? Or the hip hop? Not that that will necessarily benefit her this time around.

Anyway, this week’s dances include trios, which actually worked out pretty well last season. I think, this week, Aly and Mark pretty much hit the jackpot. I think Aly will have no trouble with Jive and will likely be fine with AT. I expect Kellie will also do well with both her dances, although Derek is totally bummed that the V Waltz is only a minute and 6 seconds – how does one “connect” in that amount of time. Expect more crap from Carrie Ann “I hate all women with great bodies” Inaba. Of course, it does sound like Derek has a whole theme going that he “hopes” these judges will get. Good luck on that one, buddy. Probably get crap from Len this week too. I think Jacoby will do great with the Paso, but the V. Waltz?? Trouble. Zendaya? Fine and dandy on Salsa but the Foxtrot?? Probably good on that as well, but I don’t think she was quite as lucky as Aly this week. Not that it will matter.

Well, Derek and Kellie went third last week and Zendaya went last, so with my dance order I’m going to guess that they actually play fair and move Zendaya back to the middle. Which means I’ll be wrong, but it will be worth a shot.

Zendaya and Val
Dancing 1st
Foxtrot
Salsa Trio with Gleb
Voting # 1-800-868-3406

Sean and Peta
Dancing 2nd
Tango
Jazz Trio with Sharna
Voting # 1-800-868-3407

Jacoby and Karina
Dancing 3rd
Viennese Waltz
Paso Doble Trio with Cheryl
Voting # 1-800-868-3412

Ingo and Kym
Dancing 4th
Foxtrot
Jive Trio with Lindsay
Voting # 1-800-868-3403

Kellie and Derek
Viennese Waltz
Paso Doble Trio with Tristan
Voting # 1-800-868-3401

Aly and Mark
Dancing 6th
Argentine Tango
Jive Trio with Henry
Voting # 1-800-868-3408

A few pics from @dancingabc on Instagram…

DWTS Season 16, Week 7 – Dancing by the Numbers

I think this is probably the stupidest thing that DWTS has EVER done. Seriously – these dancers had to learn FOUR dances this week?? Some can barely do ONE dance. So, as a result, we see a bunch of weak dancing and some horrendous dancing. The top 3 – Kellie, Zendaya and Aly – were not nearly as good as they could have been. I saw a whole bunch of Derek Hough choreography from half the pros NOT named Derek Hough (but who were named Mark, Karina and Val) – can’t say I blame them, given the lack of time. Dear lord – I think about what Kellie, Zendaya and Aly (and Jacoby) could have done with just ONE dance it just pisses me off. All could have been brilliant instead of just….good. In a couple cases, quite good.

To top it off – come on. That scoring was SO pre-determined and, in terms of Kellie, Aly and Zendaya, totally irrelevant. When you give Andy a 17, you have made your agenda clear. He was NOT that much worse than either Sean or Ingo, but you have your goals, don’t you judges. The added benefit was, of course, Zendaya’s fans are pissed and highly motivated. As I’ve come to call it, “Scenario #2” – the one that we discussed where they give Zendaya a 27 or 28 so when she kills the challenge she ends up with a 30 or higher – was likely part of the plan. Sooo freakin’ safe it isn’t even funny. Same for Aly. Oh, and speaking of the challenge – congrats Val, you earned the Chmerkovskiy name by being a total dick (sorry Andy) by saying you’re going to “pick on someone your own size”. By the way – you are NOT a good Paso choreographer. That point has been made pretty strongly. Too much empty space…and, although not your fault, Zendaya’s age showed in her softer limbs. You should not talk them up ahead of time – it will always come back to bite you.

Karina? Foolish for letting Jacoby pick Jive – a Rumba would have been awesome. Awesomely squicky which would have added a bit of ….something….to tonight. But something tells me that TPTB weren’t going to let that happen. Someone pre-determined that – either the pros or the producers.

Okay, I’m almost done ranting. I do wonder how they will work the cumulative score after this. Are they counting the three points? Because that would hose Kellie and Derek. But since half the cast got hosed last night, may as well include them.

Okay, now the questions: Derek apologized to his grandparents for taking off his shirt and said he didn’t want to – so….that begs the question: Why did he? Are the producers that into it that they asked him to? Also, how badly did they explain this immunity thing to the pros?? Derek looked shocked after the first challenge dance when he heard Tom say that they couldn’t be eliminated. Maybe he was just overly tired (Um, see the video from The W, in addition to his touring with Kellie – LOL), but Mark also looked like he didn’t know what the hell was going on, prior to doing their challenge dance. I sense….weirdness. To say the least.

:::sigh::: Anyway, the leader board looks like this. I left in Kellie and Derek’s score because I think they are likely included in the total since they were points awarded by the judges. I just won’t talk about them in the contest of possible eliminations. If I don’t get too tired, I will look and see what difference those 29 points make in the spread.

So, as you can see, the immunity is likely not the least bit necessary when you have people in the 30’s and Andy with a 17. Kinda ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post about this whole Immunity thing, it’s unlikely that it has any real impact on the top three ladies – the spread is too huge. It’s always possible that Zendaya’s fans aren’t voting in huge numbers, or Kellie/Derek’s fans have said “fuck it” after last season…or that Aly just got started too late…but with a 13 point spread (at minimum), it is unlikely that Andy is a threat to either Zendaya or Aly.

So why do it?? ADHD?? Andy getting too many votes? As I said way back when, I tend to think it has more to do with who’s getting too many votes, not who isn’t getting enough. But I guess you never know.

Anyway, what has to happen for Andy to be safe? He needs ONE of the following things:

- Andy needs 38,100 more votes per million votes cast than Sean, OR;

- Andy needs 43,500 more votes per million votes cast than Ingo, OR;

- Andy needs 54,400 more votes per million votes cast than Jacoby, OR;

- Andy needs 70,700 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya, OR;

- Andy needs 82,000 more votes per million votes cast than Aly.

NOW do you see why the immunity is unnecessary?? Those are HUGE numbers. Seriously, even to get past Sean will be a stretch for Andy. And I think this is what they wanted all along. Sean and Ingo are both family, Jacoby is popular and the ladies can all dance really well. Andy has served his purpose. Next week is week 8 and he’ll be back in week 10. People will barely have time to miss him. Or so they think.

But what if all the Kellie fans who were voting for Andy had an impact? How much danger is Sean in? For Sean to be safe, he needs ONE of the following to happen:

- Sean needs for Andy to NOT get the 38,100 more votes per million votes cast than him, OR;

- Sean needs 5,500 more votes per million votes cast than Ingo, OR;

- Sean needs 16,400 more votes per million votes cast than Jacoby, OR;

- Sean needs 32,700 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya, OR;

- Sean needs 44,500 more votes per million votes cast than Aly.

Sean and Andy have both been in the bottom two. Sean was in the bottom two with Victor even though Andy had lower score…but Andy only needed 8k votes to get past Sean. This week the spread between Andy and Sean is as large as it was between first and last place last week – that’s huge. We have no idea if Andy has that kind of juice. He did get an assist from Kellie, who asked her fans to vote for him. We’ll see.

It’s going to be either Sean, Andy or Ingo – no question to me. I think it will be Sean and Andy in the bottom two with Andy going home. Ingo could take Sean’s place in the bottom two, if Sean gets the relatively small 5,500 votes he needs to get past Ingo.

But I don’t think Andy makes it past either Sean or Ingo, so he’s headed home. And that makes me sad. This is one of those weeks where I pray I’m wrong.

Tristan MacManus Chat’s About Dancing With Witney Carson On Dancing With The Stars And More

Wasn’t it fun seeing pro Tristan MacManus last week on Dancing With The Stars? I loved his dances with Witney Carsen!!! MacManiacs.org interviewed him all about it and how they put the dance together. He also talks of the side by side challenge with Victor and Lindsay and Peta and Sean. Here is more….

It was great seeing you back on Dancing With the Stars during Week 5, and we especially loved your performance with Witney Carson during the results show. Tell us about that – it looked incredibly intricate and difficult, yet you and Witney seemed to embrace the dance and let the story develop.

I loved dancing with Witney – she is so good and fun to be around, and Teddy Forance is unreal. I was a bit in two minds about doing the number. I really wanted to work with those two but at the same time I wasn’t too sure about doing the contemporary as it’s not really my style but Teddy made it work for me which I was happy about. He is very much a ‘guy’ dancer and let me do things I felt comfortable doing. I really enjoyed working with them for sure.

Len’s side by side challenges were great fun from the fans’ point of view. Would you share a little about working with Emma, Victor, and Lindsay for the Viennese Waltz and again with Chelsie, Peta, and Sean for the Quickstep? There must be some good stories to tell.

I always love working with Emma, and Vic and I hang out so rehearsals were fun. I love Emma’s dancing so it was great to dance with her but also it is good to work with the guy celebrities as well – if nothing else just for a new perspective for them and to freshen things up even for a week. We had great laughs there. I always love hanging out with Peta as well. She is one funny girl, and I was interested to get to know Sean. He is cool, real down to earth, and a bit of a dry sense of humor which kept me entertained while working.

Every time you and Sean are on our tv screen at the same time, we can’t help but laugh. You guys seemed to have a great time working together, and if nothing else, we were hugely entertained. How did all the silliness begin?

Yeah, like I said Sean is a good guy- the show really pushed the bromance thing which gets a bit old, but we do genuinely get on with each other so most of the interaction was just us really making fun of the situation and at how bizarre the intent of the packages was. Someone would start a ridiculous conversation, and we would just roll with it. I wasn’t expecting the rose thing so we tried to make that as ridiculous as possible. My language I guess was cut out of a lot of the footage. Haha!

Lots more at MacManiacs.org including some fun pictures. Great interview!!

DWTS Season 16, Week 6 – Dancing by the Numbers

Such a weird night. First, they yank out the tens for one of Zendaya’s worst dances….it’s almost like they knew that Team Paso was gonna suck kinda hard. Then, Carrie Ann refuses to give up a 10 to Kellie and Derek, claiming that there was space between them, yet totally failing to note Zendaya’s again bad legs. They then totally hose Andy (and Len continues to be excessively mean to him), while being kind to Victor, who had a worse dance than Andy’s.

Weirdest of all – on paper, Team Paso should have had that dance in the bag. So, did they get over confident? Think they could skate by on bare chests (didn’t the same pros fail at that last season as well?)?? What?? I guess this just goes to show that if you are the weaker team and you have to be MORE creative in order to get past your weak dancers, you just DO.

It will be really funny when the team dance that sucked eggs (and looked like the poor man’s version of Derek/Brooke’s team paso at the end) wins the encore. LOL. Yeeeaaah.

Anyway, how did our dancers do??

So…Victor is in deep doo doo. It will take a bit of a miracle to save him at this point. What does he need to get to be safe? Victor needs ONE of the following things to happen:

- Victor needs 8,000 more votes per million votes cast than Andy, OR;

- Victor needs 13,300 more votes per million votes cast than Jacoby, OR;

- Victor needs 16,000 more votes per million votes cast than EITHER Ingo or Sean, OR;

- Victor needs 29,200 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya, OR;

- Victor needs 32,000 more votes per million votes cast than Aly, OR;

- Victor needs 37,200 more votes per million votes cast than Kellie.

Frankly, I don’t believe Victor gets any of those margins. His best bet is Andy and Andy was low scorer last week but was NOT in the bottom two. Victor, on the other hand, had two people below him in terms of score, but was still in the bottom two. Not looking good for Victor. At all.

But let’s say that Victor manages to pass someone. Andy is next in line in terms of judges score. What does Andy need to have happen in order to be safe? He needs ONE of the following:

- Andy needs for Victor to NOT get 8,000 more votes per million votes cast than him, OR;

- Andy needs 5,350 more votes per million votes cast than Jacoby, OR;

- Andy needs 8,000 more votes per million votes cast than EITHER Ingo or Sean, OR;

- Andy needs 21,300 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya, OR;

- Andy needs 24,000 more votes per million votes cast than Aly, OR;

- Andy needs 29,200 more votes per million votes cast than Kellie.

Now, I don’t think Victor is getting the 8k he needs…and I would be willing to bet that Andy is getting 8k more than Ingo. I just think that Ingo has worn out his welcome. But he was put in jeopardy last week and sometimes a guy gets a bounce after that happens. Will Ingo?? I dunno. My gut is saying no. I think, based largely on his bromance with Tristan and how funny he was about that, Sean is likely safe this week. I think it will come down to Victor, Ingo and Andy.

What does Ingo (or Sean) need to have happen in order to be safe?? Ingo (or Sean) needs ONE of the following things to happen:

- Ingo needs for Victor to not get the 16,000 more votes per million votes cast than him, OR;

- Ingo needs for Andy to not get the 8,000 more votes per million votes cast than him, OR;

- Ingo needs for Jacoby to NOT get the 2,700 more votes per million votes cast than him, OR;

- Ingo needs to get ONE more vote per million votes cast than Sean, OR;

- Ingo needs 13,300 more votes per million votes cast than Zendaya, OR;

- Ingo needs 16,000 more votes per million votes cast than Aly, OR;

- Ingo needs 21,300 more votes per million votes cast than Kellie.

Okay, so based on all of the above, I think the following happens:

- Ingo and Sean aren’t touching Jacoby and he’s safe, easily getting 2,700 more votes per million votes cast than each of them;

- Andy gets 8k more than Ingo and Victor can’t catch him and is, therefore, safe;

- Ingo is getting beat by Sean, Jacoby and Andy, but there is no way that Victor is getting 16k more votes per million votes cast….

- Therefore, Victor goes home.

Seems like a simple math problem this week, but I could be wrong. I was starting to wonder if perhaps Zendaya wasn’t getting the votes, as badly as they overscored her Cha Cha, but I’m also wondering if they put her just far enough down to be safe while rallying her fans to vote like the little maniacs they are.

Doesn’t matter, IMO. I think it will either be Victor and Ingo or Victor and Andy in the bottom two and Victor will go home.

I’m saying it will be Victor and Ingo in the bottom two and Victor goes home.

Dancing with the Stars’ Tristan MacManus…Engaged?

It certainly appears that way! Engaged to Tahyna Tozzi as of a few hours ago. Talk about a personal life on the DL! Well done, Tristan, and congratulations to the happy couple!! Thanks to Sally for the heads up for this:

Ohhhhh my god !!!my big baby sister just got Engaged wooooo I am so excited #love http://t.co/fjDWF5vi0W

April 19, 2013 6:57 pm via Instagram ReplyRetweetFavorite

@CheyCheyTozzi

cheyenne tozzi

DWTS Season 16, Week 5 – Dancing by the Numbers

Okay, that turned out somewhat better than expected. For all the pimping of Maks, he ended up being a non-event – for me, anyway. It’s rather odd, actually. I guess when you have nothing better to pimp, pimp one of the pro dancers who’s known for being a “bad boy” who’s not on this season. Ummmm…okay. I guess TPTB are just pandering to one group or another all the damn time. For those extremist Maks fans who read this site just so they can complain about us (yeah, it makes no sense to me either), the ratings were up LAST week, so if they are up again this week? Get over yourselves…it’s a trend, not an aberration. Reminds me of the Twihards who claimed they were tanking the MTV Awards this year by not watching…and they were actually UP significantly. Don’t jack with numbers, man.

Mah goodness, my favorites of the night were Jacoby and Kellie – fantastic. Loved it. Zendaya is being soured for me by the pimping…and seriously? The bent legs, the instability coming out of the turns…if this girl were dancing with Derek she’d be getting hosed for being a ringer. And we’d be getting trolls out the wazoo. But since she’s dancing with Val she essentially has rainbows shooting out her ass. The girl is a good dancer, yes. And I like her as a person. But I have to tell you, I’m seeing a LOT of people in the comments here and on twitter who are getting REALLY good at predicting exactly what will happen. Up for 2 weeks, down for two weeks…to come roaring back to get two tens. Hello – we’ve seen this storyboarding before. I expect someone else will get a perfect 30 next week – either Aly or Kellie, most likely. Because we have to keep it a horse race at all costs, so it can’t be Zendaya. And, as predicted, Zendaya and Val get the encore.

In the “credit where credit is due” department – Kick ass opening dance, Lacey Schwimmer!! Excellent. Loved it. Girlfriend has been honing her group choreo skills over there in Vegas and it’s paid off. MUCH better job than Sharna did last week on the women’s number, although Lacey has the benefit of time and no celeb partner. And Sharna is doing great with Andy.

Anyway….how did our dancers do?? Read more..

DWTS 16, Week 5 – Power Rankings

Well, side-by-side challenge night went about as well as can be expected when you put complete amateurs (well, and a ringer or two…) next to seasoned pros with years of experience under their belts. If nothing else, it let us see some sorely missed pros doing what they do best :-) The judges have made it pretty clear at this point who their favorites are (ZENDAYA, Kellie, Jacoby, & Aly), who they are lukewarm about (Sean & Ingo), and who is disposable (Victor, D.L., and unfortunately, now Andy), and seem to be scoring accordingly. And dare I say that many of the pros came out dancing at full throttle…but noticeably slowed down and calmed down when the celebs joined them on the floor? No bueno. And god bless Tom for soldiering through what had to be a tough night for Bostonians :-( Let’s get on with it…

1.) Zendaya & Val – It was a good dance, and I was actually impressed with Val’s first venture into Argentine tango choreography – and thankfully, he seemed to eschew the multitude of lifts big bro seems so fond of, and put in some good basic steps. Zendaya handled pretty well, and I liked the jewel thief storyline – I was worried they were going to go more the smut route, which would have felt…icky. But this was appropriate :-) So that was the good – now here’s the bad: I don’t think it was 10-worthy. Sorry kids. Once again, I find myself just fixated on how BENT Zendaya’s legs are – yes, I am aware she is tall, and yes, Argentine tango is usually done with a flexed knee. But girl was damn near SQUATTING – and consequently, it made her upper body look that much more flimsy when they were in hold. I hate when tall people (male or female) try to compensate for a shorter dance partner – it almost always looks awkward, and you don’t get the full impact of their lines. I say stand up straight and forget about who’s taller – the bf has 2 female students that have a good 3” on him in heels, and when they’re dancing to the full extent, it’s MAGICAL…their legs just go on forever. You don’t even worry about who’s taller, because the lines are so gorgeous. So with that said – these two are obviously safe (and thankfully, there were no Twitter machinations this week to tip things in their favor), but I do think Zendaya’s legs will continue to be an issue in the coming weeks.

2.) Kellie & Derek – I’ve always loved Derek’s foxtrots, and the Broadway quality & character they have to them. This was no exception – great side-by-side, playful choreography, and Kellie seemed to handle the sweeping motions of the foxtrot well. She seemed to get a bit stiff in her neck and shoulders at a few times, which looked a bit awkward, but other than that, she handled this routine well and I liked watching her do it. I think she probably came the closest to mirroring her pro counterpart tonight – and I think she has Derek to thank for not dumbing down the choreography, because in most of the routines, the pros went from dancing full-on, difficult steps to dancing simple, kindergarten steps without much energy. It gave me whiplash, at times. But the transition in this one felt seamless – the way Kellie was keeping up, it felt more like another pro couple joining Henry & Anna on the floor, rather than “Oh sh*t, here comes the celeb, better slow it down…NOW!” So even if Kellie “doesn’t like Derek’s ways” – I think it was those “ways” that probably helped her look so good tonight. Read more..