DWTS Season 11, Week 9 – ‘Let The Fun Begin’ Media Before Showtime

Ready for showtime everyone? It really is anyone’s ballgame…more so than any other Season at this point in my opinion!! Like Heidi yesterday, I want to really stress how important it is to vote for your “favorite(s)” tonight. They need you now more than ever!!!

In starting out your media updates for today, how about this for an “Awwww” moment? Derek tweeted this lastnight of himself making fun of his teeth. lol (Heidi: More like his *lack* of teeth. LOL)

Speaking of Derek, we’re got a couple of interviews to share. First from TV Fans Space, Derek discusses the stress, the judges, and more. Here are a couple of takes. (Heidi’s Note: I think this is originally from Watch With Kristen on E!, but I’m not sure – it reads very familiar.)

How stressed out is everyone RIGHT THIS SECOND???
Everyone is fairly stressed out. But to be honest with most of the cast you’d never be able to tell. Everyone is always so composed.

I loved when you told Jennifer last week, “It’s fine. It’s just a dance show” to put things in perspective. Do you ever have to stop and remind yourself of that, too, or do you have a pretty steady sense of perspective having done this for many seasons? Every season is something new and intense for me. It’s always a change as no two partners of mine have been alike. But at the end of the day, it’s a dance show and you win a mirror ball trophy. It can be competitive, but it always has to stay fun.

You may have made a critical error by not doing your two-seasons-running “crotch bob” move with your partner during the dance marathon. This year, you just did a milder, yet very heartfelt solo crotch grab. This was probably the best choice concerning Jen’s neck, but were you sad to break the streak of what is now your signature dance marathon move? This is a really long and ridiculous question!
What’s the saying – Traditions were meant to be broken? I think we should have lasted longer in the dance marathon. I had some tricks up my sleeve and just didn’t get the chance to use them. Maybe next season.

Carrie Ann said Jennifer was “out-of-control” during your Week 6 paso. Was anything about the performance “out of control” until the flub at the end?I think that Jennifer did a great job with that routine and there was nothing out-of-control about it. We had a slight bobble at the end. It’s a slight mistake that we paid dearly for in the scoring but Jennifer was far from “out-of-control.”

Were the judges probably being extra hard on you to “level the playing field,” so to speak?
I think that this season, the judges have been hard on everyone. We’re all just doing our best and the audience needs to remember that you’re talking about 12 celebrities without any dance experience and no matter how easy it looks on Monday night when we perform – it’s a long hard road getting there.

And here is a take from a wonderful interiew today from TV Guide with Derek. Be sure to read the link for more as well. Take special note how their rehearsals are NOT just about tears and Jennifer’s injuries. Also, he addresses what happened with Carrie Anne and Maks.

TVGuide.com: How are the waltz and cha-cha going?Derek Hough: She’s doing really well and picking them up. It helps that we did the cha-cha in our team dance. Someone made a YouTube video of us about our journey on the show and it’s almost like we’re making our own film. We’ve had our highs and we’ve had our lows because of injuries and physical issues — and tears. We’ve overcome that and now we can end the show on a good note. That’s what we’re going for.

TVGuide.com: Her injuries have taken over your packages the past few weeks.Hough: It’s kind of a shame because we have a lot of fun together. We laugh and joke around. I’m always being dumb and weird. But with her injuries, that’s what they’ve been showing. But I don’t want people to get the impression that that’s all that goes on. It’s a minute package out of a 30-hour week.

TVGuide.com: I take it you were happy DanceCenter showed funny clips of you guys then?Hough: Yes! Exactly! For me, the focus on her injuries has been overkill. Hopefully from now on we can show people the fun we have and the joy we have. One of the things that I love about Jennifer is that she did this not to further her career. She did it because she wanted to awaken something she had lost and also something she didn’t know she had. She loves to dance. What happened is they’ve seen her struggling, but they don’t see her love for it and how it’s one of the hardest things she’s ever done, but it’s also one of the most rewarding.

TVGuide.com: I’m sure people are tired of hearing about her injuries too, no matter how bad they are.Hough: Of course. There’s a point. A couple of seasons ago, everyone was injured and it was like injury-injury-injury. We all have our little issues, but we’re scared to talk about them because the camera is in our faces all the time. If you even go like, “Oh, my foot hurts,” it becomes, [bellows in announcer voice] “Derek’s foot hurts!” They make it into a huge ordeal when it’s usually nothing. We have to be careful now and just go, [whispers] “I’m kind of hurting. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.” [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: How serious are her injuries? Did you ever consider withdrawing?Hough: No. Once we found that she wasn’t going to do permanent damage, she was like, “OK, cool. That’s all I needed to know.” I don’t think that was made explicit on the show. But everything you’ve seen and heard is 110 percent legitimate. It has been quite serious, but she’s not going to give up. It did knock her confidence. When your body isn’t doing what your mind wants you to do, you kind of lose faith in yourself. It’s hard to see happen, but I think people will see a new confidence and a new excitement now.

TVGuide.com: What are you hoping to do this week to move into the final? It’s the first week since Week 2 without a theme or a gimmick.
Hough: Yeah, it’s pretty funny. It’s like, “Holy crap!” This season has felt like three seasons in one. It’s been pretty hard-core. We’re not doing anything drastic — just trying to get as good as we can and do good quality routines you look at and go, “She deserves to be in the final.”

TVGuide.com: Some fans are upset at Bristol outlasting Audrina, Rick and Kurt. What do you think?Hough: I think it all depends on what you want to see and what America wants to see. Obviously they want to see Bristol carry on. If you base it on dance ability or dance quality, Audrina should still be here. But it’s not just about that. It’s about story, about people. It’s a people show. The dancing element is the catalyst that creates these human moments. So the actual scores, they’re important, but it’s not the end-all, be-all.

TVGuide.com: What’s your take on Maks vs. Carrie Ann last week?Hough: I’ve lost my cool with the judges before, so I can completely understand. You get heated. You get passionate. For me, after that experience when I yelled at them with Shannon [Elizabeth], I just realized it was never worth it. What was the point? I completely understand how protective he got over his partner. Whenever a judge comments on your choreography, you’d feel bummed out.

Mark and Bristol talk about last weeks dances and the challenges they have with their upcoming dances in this interview with ET.

Here is Kyle and Lacey rehearsing on ET. Kyle is so funny as always talking about the upcoming Tango being his “Sexy Dance”. lol

Maks and Brandy were also interviewed by ET. Here they are discussing their Argentine Tango planned for tonight, Maks’ being a perfectionist, what their rehearsals are like, and more.

Lastly, “Dancing With The Stars” has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award along with American Idol, American’s Got Talent, Hell’s Kitchen, and So You Think You Can Dance. Be sure to get your votes in for our favorite show in the “Favorite Competition Show” catagory HERE. The winners for The People’s Choice Awards will be announced on CBS the night of Jan. 5th, 2011.

And we end on this note today;

We’re now down to Jennifer: The most technical, Kyle: The best performer, Brandy: The most consistant, and Bristol: The most improved. Its a good balance and a pretty level playing field. Heres to the semi-finals! ~ PureDWTS fan “Zach” in our comments section yesterday

You can say that again!! Let the fun begin!! 😉