DWTS10 Week 8 Power Rankings
Thank goodness – back to a week of normal scoring after weeks of inebriated scores from the judges! Thought that, for the first time since week 2, the scores were actually spot-on tonight. Definitely refreshing 😉
Suffering from a wicked sinus infection, so I’m gonna try and bang this out before my Benadryl kicks in…bear with me!
1.) Nicole & Derek – I can’t argue with 1 point away from a perfect score for the evening J Glad these two FINALLY got their much-deserved perfect 30 for that paso – I had my doubts, but Derek managed to make it feel like it was both from the 50’s and a legitimate paso doble. I don’t know if I smell any Emmy buzz, but it was a worthy performance nonetheless. Foxtrot was adorable – these two are great at telling a story. I was a little worried that Len was gonna scold them for too much open work, but he managed to actually relent and give props where they were due this week – for BOTH of Nicole’s dances. I’d also like to point out something very interesting Nicole said in her package – “Everyone assumes it’s so easy for me. But it’s really HARD!” People have been giving her crap for her perfectionist attitude for weeks, but honestly – it might actually be very hard for her, and she’s not just being a drama queen. Just sayin’. Well I think these two ought to be safe based on scores alone, and based on some Twitter recon I’ve done, it seems like quite a few Pam fans are now voting for Nicole. I know me & my mamacita are – except for one vote, when mom dialed the wrong number and accidentally voted for Niecy. She’s a little foggy after Mother’s Day festivities, forgive her 😉
2.) Erin & Maks – I will commend these two this week – they had two really good dances, and managed to get through them with a minimal amount of drama. I actually thought Erin’s tango was better than Evan’s last week – maybe not quite 30-worthy, due to the level of difficulty, but she still had crisp footwork and generated a good amount of heat with Maks. I’ll give them that – these two have the best romantic chemistry of the couples this season, when they can stop fighting (and Erin can shake off her insecurities) long enough to let it show. Her insecurity is really the only thing majorly hindering Erin at this point – it prevents her from really committing to the dance, and from really moving to her full extent. Their rumba was actually pretty cute – I do have a soft spot for that John Waite song – and while they didn’t really do any 80’s choreography, it was still apparent what decade they were channeling. The only problem is that Erin still seems a bit uncomfortable with her arms & legs due to their length, which resulted in her rumba indeed feeling a bit “jerky” and almost like more of a cha-cha. Girl, those arms & legs are an asset – don’t be ashamed of them! Anyway, fans will rally this week after their bottom 2 scare, and some remarks made by a certain boneheaded talkshow host…they’ll be fine.
3.) Evan & Anna – Now I could see these two in a surprise or faux bottom 2, not just for shock value, but also because they seemed a little…well, bland this week. The waltz, while “pretty” was also pretty unmemorable. Even the costumes felt a little ho-hum to me, and I caught Evan reverting back to his “deer in the headlights” face a few times as well. The futuristic cha-cha was pretty cool, but seemed to lack the a little bit of the drama that last season’s paso did. I’m honestly left with not a whole to say about these two tonight – they did good, but not great, and tended toward the unmemorable. I would say that Evan is 100% safe based on fanbase, but as we saw last week – we’re now headed into “shocker” bottom 2 territory, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were in it as a scare tactic to his voters to step up their game.
4.) Chad & Cheryl – Don’t ask me how, but Chad still managed to skate by this week by letting Cheryl do most of the work. He moved ever-so-slightly more in his tango this week than he did in his Argentine tango – but again, Cheryl doing most of the dramatic movements, and Chad just sort of “being there” for her. Not sure what Cheryl was talking about when she said Chad had great posture – I honestly think he’s slouching a bit to compensate for their height difference, and it’s limiting his range of motion. The jive was just as I predicted: Chad barely got his feet off the ground. Don’t know what Len saw, but that wasn’t high-energy to me – it was maybe one step above Niecy’s low-energy jive from a few weeks ago. And honestly – did anyone else notice that there wasn’t a whole lot of actual jive choreo in this one? Granted, they were running with a theme; but all the other couples seemed to still fit a good amount of basic steps into their routines, and this seemed more like…fluff. Definitely beginning to think Chad is in danger this week, for two reasons: 1, he stinks; 2, I don’t see Bengals fans outnumbering Olympics fans, Hasselbeck haters, and male fans voting for a hot body. He also danced in the crap spot. You’ve been warned, Chad…
5.) Niecy & Louis – No big surprise here. Niecy was the weakest dancer yet again…but this time, there just isn’t anyone else that she can outvote to get saved once more. I actually was pleasantly surprised by her Viennese waltz – she managed to be lighter on her feet than I’ve seen her so far, and kept up with Louis, even if her feet got a little shuffly. But will it be enough to save her after an atrocious paso? Doubt it. What can I say about that paso that wasn’t blatantly obvious? It was heavy. It was boring. It didn’t feel the slightest bit 90’s-y to me (but then again, I think whoever gets the 90’s as their era is screwed anyway). Niecy should (and likely will) go home. Sorry kid – your jiggly parts can only carry you so far.
Well that was pretty painless…easiest ranking I’ve done in awhile! Now I am gonna go let the Benadryl do its thing and pray that I don’t have viral pneumonia – everyone on Twitter has been telling me that’s what my chest pain could be. Yikes!
Oh, and one more shameless plug for tomorrow night’s college competition – as I mentioned in the comments of Heidi’s post earlier today, my old college team from Purdue is competing tomorrow night, and they’re a hard-working group of students who really deserve this opportunity. It’s because of my experiences with the team 7 years ago that I am involved with dance today, and it’s always nice to support the alma mater. So please…vote 😉
Yes, girl, the chest pain is pneumonia. Go to the doctor ASAP.
That said, it was a weird week when I agreed with the scores, if not the commentary. I thought they were quite kind with their remarks to Chad and Niecy, but the scores weren’t too sucktastic. You are correct, there was no Jive in Chad’s Jive. That was the only score that slightly annoyed me. He was worse than Niecy in that round.
I absolutely loved Erin and Maks’ AT – it was lovely. But what really shocked me (and you’re too nice about it IMO) is that their Rumba was totally lacking in passion and connection. Len was right – it was jerky. And frankly, after that brilliant AT I expected a much better rumba. But you could see Erin thinking about it, instead of feeling it.
I have a sudden urge to kiss Evan’s face off and I don’t know why. 🙂 I agreed with Len – I wasn’t sure how to feel about either of his dances. They both felt off somehow. But his personality is starting to seep through a bit in the packages. I felt sorry for Anna having to live up to Derek’s futuristic Paso from last year, but she didn’t do too bad.
Nicole – girlfriend is stressing herself out. Luckily, she’s a performer because as stressed as she might get because it is HARD for her (and I believe it is hard), she BRINGS Derek’s choreography every time. What I have to keep reminding myself of is that we only see 30 seconds of a whole week of performances and those two are putting in serious rehearsal time – you can tell by the way Derek is shrinking. 🙂 But then you look at the ET footage from behind the scenes and they look like they’re having fun. The producers have way too much power in the editing booth, for sure.
There is no justice if Niecy or Chad doesn’t go home tomorrow.
Princess i agree with you about Erin and Maks. The arg. tango was incredible….that and Nicole’s paso were by far the two best of the night for me! I thought Erin thought to much in the rumba to but it was still one of the better dances of the night. Evan came back with his second dance but his first one was so lifeless…i adore Evan so i want him to get it together. I was never one to really complain about Nicole but that “breakdown” or should i say cry face…alot of dances could cry and really have something to cry about….they should have just had an alert on the bottom of the screen WARNING SYMPATHY VOTES WARNING SYMPATHY VOTES. Other then that i actually loved tonight…even that weird yet strangely entertaining futuristic dance. Please Please Please let Chad and Niecy in the bottom two! I adore Niecy but she needs to go…and Chad needs to go next….they are not even close to the other three! Nicole is steady, Erin is climbing and Evan is dropping a a tad.
I don’t think an Erin fan has any business complaining about Nicole getting sympathy votes – not when Erin has a lock on the sympathy this week. You only have to watch Access Hollywood to see that most agree with me on that one. And Erin is only partially climbing. Her AT was amazing, but her Rumba? A step backwards. And I don’t get WHY it was like that. I expected a lot more from that dance.
Just stumbled upon your site- nice work! Your comments are spot on. Niecy needs to go tomorrow- she has the most shoddy dancing abilities. Funny and jiggly should carry her no more! How did Cheryl pull it off again without Chad really dancing??!!!- is it due to illusory costume designing that takes focus away from the “not so much dancing”? They do get their showmance right though…
The AT by Erin/Maks was really really good but the Rumba was disappointing.. could they not have used some of the showmance they are trying so hard to pull off? Guess they dont have it right yet and hence could not 🙁
IMHO Derek is a fantastic choreographer. I am new to the DWTS scene… but his work is pure entertainment! I reacted just like Carrie Ann did- brilliant choreography!!!
I didn’t particularly care for the chor of the rumba, that would be Maks’ part. It was still cute and good overall but there wasn’t much to ooh and ahh about ya know? I’m not complaining per say i just think that Nicole knows what the general public might think of her and is trying to stop the bleeding….she isn’t going anywhere but if she is going to win and we all know fans are key…you know where i’m going and it was rather obvious. I’m not saying Erin doesn’t have sympathy votes but she didn’t make Hasslebeck say what she did. Nicole breaking down? Oh lord if Erin had done that she would have been the drama queen of the decade…”Whiny Erin looking for more sympathy”…its my opinion…just like you Derek/Nicole loving booty too. And i have every right to state my opinion on anything i please thank you…once again Erin never made anyone stalk her…Nic is crying for literally nothing. I draw the line at balling while you know you have a camera in your face. She doesn’t need it now but she might in the finals…who knows but she thought she needed to do it. Her dances were great as usual she is a trained dancer…don’t like me saying that either right? Luckily i don’t post for your humor 🙂
I loved Erin’s tango as well, even better than Evan’s because it had more passion, but that rhumba was sad. Loved Nicole’s dances, and I might be the only one, but I really liked Evan’s cha-cha, although I think it was more of a freestyle. Some of those moves were so cool! And I adored his WALL-E imitations. I felt like I’d finally had a glimpse of Evan behind the hardworking, very earnest side we see on DWTS and in skating interviews.
As for Chad, I noticed that there wasn’t very much jive in that jive! I was surprised Len didn’t get more annoyed about that. And his posture didn’t look very good in the first dance.
Derek topped himself tonight with that 50s paso and I agree totally emmy nomination worthy but not sure when the deadline is for the dances to be sumitted for consideration. Anyways, I love the fact that Nicole said that it was hard, Derek challenges her, but the moment that she steps on to that stage the performer takes over. Also I loved that fox trot and I love the song.
I actually like to futuristic Cha Cha. I felt like Anna didnt need to live up to Derek futuristic paso at mainly because they are two completely different dances and Derek had to live up to Derek. Overall I have to agree that it will be either Chad or Niecy will go but I prefer Chad to go first.
The problem with your comments, Cassie, is that they are not allowed to practice with the cameras are NOT in their face. It’s not allowed. Plus, they practice for a full week and the producers edit it down to 30 seconds. Anyone watching the entertainment shows knows that for *Nicole* that is not the typical behavior. To say she gets weepy just for votes is just bull. She didn’t ask for that edit any more than Erin asked to be stalked. Erin hasn’t been a drama queen, but she has consistently thrown other competitors under the bus, which is MUCH worse. Nicole is not much more a trained dancer as Erin is – you might not like it, but it’s true.
No one is stopping you from stating your opinion – that is hyperbole designed to make you look sympathetic, like someone is trying to shut you up, when if we wanted to do that we would simply delete you. As for where you are going – no, actually, I don’t know half the time.
Yeah, beth, I’m coming around to Evan’s Cha Cha. I just like Evan, even though I can agree with a site I read earlier that called him too bland. He’s just….cute. Sweet. But he risks being too bland.
I loved Nicole’s foxtrot so much! The song helps, yes, but the cuteness of the dance! <3 I wanted 30 for that one, more than the paso, as awesome as the paso is. But yeah there wasn't much in hold. I really really dislike Chad. How he keeps not dancing is really annoying. I agree with Heidi that Niecy's paso was better than Chad's jive.
I liked Evan's cha cha cha too!! It wasn't all robotic but that's good! The hip action is made to be more funky and I loved that! And Evan's body wave too! Didn't know he was that smooth and flexible! Erin's tango's wow! Too bad the rhumba wasn't very seamless.
I’m not sure if the Paso was done in time for the next Emmy’s – I think the deadline was in March, but I could be wrong. The Futuristic Paso from last season, however, was totally in time. If he doesn’t have someone submit that for him, I might have to hunt him down. 🙂
I am so bored and tired of Chad. People send him home already!
Yea Princess like the editing dept aint gonna air Nicole balling like a four year old?!! Nicole knows the game, shes been around the block Princess she aint little miss muffit, she knows exactly what image she wants portrayed like every other celebrity.
To the other posters i’m in agreement about Chad and his lack of dancing…yet he seems to get such high scores! His posture in the first dance was HORRIBLE and he should go home for that alone! At this stage that is unacceptable ! Atleast Niecy is likeable enough to stay around ONE more week…lord help me if Evan/Nicole or Erin leave before one of them! I will never watch the show again. I adore Niecy and getting into the top 5 is great for her…maybe she can get into the top 4 but i doubt it. Chads fans are horrid creatures 😉
# Princess Heidi commented on May 10th, 2010: I don’t think an Erin fan has any business complaining about Nicole getting sympathy votes
No one is stopping you from stating your opinion – that is hyperbole designed to make you look sympathetic, like someone is trying to shut you up….
Your a trip Princess but you act like i’m not allowed to call bullsh8t at times…you yourself do it ALL the time. Can’t take the heat honey don’t throw the fire. BTW i don’t have to defend my comments that Nicole is and has been a trained dancer for a long time, any viewer can make that determination for themselves. I think that one is pretty obvious and i’m sure i’m not alone in my disgust for supposed “celebrities” who are practical pro dancers in their own right! Lovely to watch but should they be in the novice ballroom dancer category? I think Carrie Ann said it best last week…Insert crying and worry wort fits from Nicole but all that seems to go away when its show time right? I don’t dislike anyone, i blame the system 🙂
QUICK QUESTION: Would anyone watch the show if all the celebs had ZERO dance experience? I know I wouldnt. Celebs like Nicole are some of the only reason I still watch the show. Not to mention the SYTYCD alum that are now pros on the show.
@Cassie: Maybe you should be one of those people that go to a rehearsal with her and see just how hard it is. I actually believe her, so she can cry if she wants to, its stressful to have to learn two complicated dances.
I wouldn’t watch the show if everyone danced like Chad. I want to see good dancing.
I believe that Nicole really is working her ass off all the time. She is a Pussycat Doll, but PCD’s moves are nowhere as difficult as competitive ballroom. But being a doll, she is physically strong for rehearsals, has talent to dance, is flexible, has great musicality and showmanship. Also, Derek is good. Joanna who wasn’t that good technically still wow-ed because Derek gave good material and she practiced hard. So does Nicole. I don’t agree think she’s as good as a pro. The pros have years of training, and Nicole while unbelievably good is not at the same level. Also, what Derek gives her is no easy stuff. She works real hard to perform that well
Winwin, I couldn’t have put it better myself 🙂 The show would be a real snooze if all the celebs were like Chad – or worse, Kate, Kenny Mayne, Jeff Ross, & Tucker Carlson. I challenge anyone who thinks that any celeb with dance experience “shouldn’t be allowed to do the show” to say with a straight face that they would watch it if all the celebs were as crummy as the ones I mentioned above. I personally would rather watch grass grow…or water boil…or paint dry…
…as for Nicole – she’s a good dancer, but she’s no ballroom pro. The fact that anyone would imply that she’s as good as any of the pros is kind of insulting – the pros on the show were selected based on years of rigorous training, and experience in both competition & choreography. Many of them have been dancing since they could walk! To blanketly imply that Nicole is as every bit as good as they are after a few months is just ignorant. If this were a real ballroom competition, she wouldn’t make it past a quarter final.
Nicole and Derek earned their spot in the semifinals last night, although Nicole was super hard on herself for messing up in the paso doble and I hope that didn’t turn off fans. This girl is my pick to win and I gave her 100 times. That better as heck get her to the semifinals! Go Nicole & Derek for the win!
Woops! Meant to say “I gave her 100 VOTES not times” LOL.
Great point Courtney. None of us know how hard those dances are to learn unless we have attempted to do them ourselves.
Well to answer Amanda’s question: Yes, I absolutely would still watch the show if all of the celebrities had 0 dance experience. Some of my favorite contestants to watch throughout the 10 seasons have been the ones with NO experience who went on to do pretty damn well (Jennie Garth, Emmitt Smith, Warren Sapp, etc).
It’s been said a million times – the show isn’t just about technique, it’s about performance as well. I’d much rather watch someone who is learning as they go along and has a few struggles along the way than someone who seems to be “perfect” (note the quotation marks) right out of the gate. But that’s just me.
You make a good point, ck410 – it is interesting to watch celebs with no experience grow & improve. However, I find that a good number of the ones with no experience either a) don’t improve at all, b) get worse, or c) improve only a tiny bit in their tenure on their show. I feel like Chad has only improved slightly since the first performance show – yes, there has been growth, but I feel like it hasn’t been significant for the amount of time he’s been on the show. Definitely been slow-going. Same with Kate – a little improvement, but it was too little too late. Buzz really didn’t improve at all; Aiden & Pam actually seemed to get worse. I’m not sure I could tolerate an entire cast of individuals like that. No perfect 30’s; no show-stopping, game-changing performances; no real “revelations”. And unfortunately, it seems like the “dead in the water” types seem to outnumber those that actually did improve, like Jennie, Warren, Emmitt, etc. I almost feel like it’s necessary to have a ringer in every cast – gives the other, less-experienced celebs something to strive for & try to beat.
Yeah, I agree that it’s good to have at least one ringer or semi-ringer to sort of motivate the others to “up” their game, so to speak.
One thing I wish for next season (and this is NOT a knock against Derek, at all) is that they give Derek someone who is less… able-bodied. Not really sure if that’s the best way to phrase it, but I think it would be interesting to see what he could do with a Jane Seymour/Susan Lucci-type contestant. I know they usually give the “older” ladies to Tony or Maks or Corky but I think it would be fun to see what Derek could do in that situation.
I didn’t watch most of the routines but my sister did make me pay attention to Evan and Anna’s chacha, for which I was glad.
The moment I saw Anna’s costume, I thought, “Fifth Element!” It took a little bit longer to remember if Bruce Willis’s character wore something like Evan had during the movie, but my sister assured me that he did. While I didn’t actually see any tribute to the movie itself, the aha moment was fun. 🙂
Wait, scratch that: There was a moment where Anna dropped that reminded me of the taxi scene at the beginning of the movie. Right.
I enjoy the ones without much or any dance experience. However i think the Buzz/Kate types should not be allowed. I like people with energy and the ability to move….thats all i ask. As much as i dislike Chad as a dancer, i don’t think Cheryl is tall enough for him….i think it does hinder his posture etc. Although that doesn’t account for his feet….I don’t like the Nicoles on the show because she has been a dancer for a LONG time…its not fair IMO. You can see the difference thats why when someone like Erin or Pam comes in and does just as good or IMO better (Erins Arg. Tango) it blows me away. I root for the underdog that gets better….that is why i watch! Not to watch a trained dancer/entertainer blow away the field! Why people like Niecy actually shine, that makes me smile! Of course i love beautiful dancing…i appreciate it even more when a novice does it!
Not that i don’t adore the pros….i do but you see them dance every Tuesday so i get my fill 🙂 What Cheryl, Chelsie, Tony, Maks, Derek, Edyta do …its amazing.
Except for the little fact that Erin has almost as much relevant experience as Nicole, Cassie. You keep making her sound like a novice and I don’t think anyone other than you and Joanie actually buys that. Just because someone is GOOD, doesn’t mean they have more relevant experience. That would mean that Brooke had more experience than Lance. As if. PAM is the one who had no experience – not Erin. I suppose if you keep repeating these lines, someone might actually start to believe you.
Fair?? What, are you 12? There is no “fair” on this show. It’s reality.
The idea of the show is to put celebrities in a situation they aren’t used to to…Erin is a sports journalist! Erin was a supposed dancer over ten years ago and guess what it was with pom poms cuz she was to tall to make the cheer squad. At nearly 6ft you can understand the issue there. I just did a little research on Nicole. She has been a trained dancer since she was a little kid and it shows. She went to a school for the performing arts (dancing/singing/acting) since that time! She has since not only kept up with it but it is her job for a living! She even recently toured for several events right before the show. Dancing/acting/singing this is her entire life…Erin goes to sports events and interviews sports figures, she is a tomboy. I saw the tape of ol Erins “dancing” at UF, she was next to the basketball team…with her pom poms in the freakin air! I’m sure she had interest in dance, she was obviously an incredible athlete but not a trained dancer and certainly not a someone who kept up with it or does it for a living! As a Derek fan you knew who you were gonna root for way before the show aired. I just figured out who i wanted to win in the last freakin month, don’t make me out to be the bad guy…you’ve got that in the bag 😉 Heaven forbid i root for Erin Andrews! I’m such trash!