Maks Chmerkovskiy Writes On First Dance, Melissa Gilbert, And What They Hope To Show For Week 2
Maks has written a new blog for TV Guide getting us current on he and Melissa. He discusses their first dance and how nerves played a big part. He’s hoping Melissa will get more confident. He wants America to see their passion and know how much they are enjoying it. Lots more below and at TV Guide.
I thought Melissa did a great job on Monday. I agree with the judges, but at the same time, I don’t think we deserved a 6. Melissa has a lot of potential and the only way we can show it is if we get to stay on. I think Melissa is one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life. She has the combo of everything I look for in a partner. She and Kirstie are very much alike in that sense. Melisa is an incredible person just to be around. I want to stay on the show not just because I think she has to a lot to offer, but because I want to spend time with her. I did notice that she was a little hard on herself and therefore she stiffened up a little bit. Her personality didn’t shine through on the show. Everyone got to see the hard work she put in, but not the light, fun part of it. She’s doing an incredible job, but now we have to perform so American can see our passion and know how much we’re enjoying it. Most importantly, I just need Melissa to believe in herself as a contender. I want her to have that confidence and to go out, perform and say proudly, “I put in so much hours, I killed it and this what I get for it and I’m happy.”
Being the first show, nerves definitely played a part. I would say it was all nerves for Melissa. If I think she did something wrong during the routine, I would look into it and work on it, but she didn’t. I’m just trying to do my best to give her the best possible chance to do great. I gave her steps that I knew she could do. I think she might’ve put a lot of expectations on herself. She does have an uphill climb. She has to work hard to get her to the level of “Wow!” Some people may come out, do bump-and-grind and get a crowd reaction. Gladys came out and destroyed it! I loved it! Her routine wasn’t crazy hard, but she was so amazing because it was effortless. It was the last thing I expected. I expected her to have rhythm and to move, but she was incredible. The dancing was good, but it was a package of how unexpected it was and how much fun she’s having. I definitely think we can make it to the finals, but we have a lot of work to do first.
Next we have the quickstep, which we already finished during the three weeks before the show. Right now, we’re just running through it over again. I told Melissa that Wednesdays and Thursdays are not enjoyable. It’s the beginning stages. You’re blind. You just finished learning something and poof! You start from scratch again. The fun stuff is when you finish the routine and you see the light at the end of the tunnel and you say, “Oh, snap! I can do it!” It’s very challenging. We have to come out with a good routine and build quality.
I’m really going to enjoy watching their progress this season. Plus, it’s so pleasant to see the sweet side of Maks. Especially when he said that he wants to go farther in the competition so he can spend more time with Melissa …sigh ..Their dance was perfectly fine for week one so I definitely think they can only improve from here. Frontrunners are boring, IMO. Here’s to these two underdogs
If anyone would have asked me a couple of weeks ago who would win I would have said Melissa. After the first dance, I think she is going to do well but she isn’t gonig to win that trophy unless she manages to lose the nervousness and show like she is having a good time while dancing. She looked like she was thinking too much during the dance.
A lotof people are already writing her off, but i think her and Maks are a great match.
This was a great read. It is such a 180 from last season. Not only is he focused on what his partner needs/wants/capabilities, but he is looking at the overall formula to win.
If you want a laugh, pull up Maks’ twitter page. He posted a pic of Melissa (ticked off) learning the quick step. He attempted a Q+A session between the fans and Melissa to lighten the mood at rehersal-priceless!
The thought comes to me that Maks’ behavior really depends on his partner, not the other way around. If he lands with someone who dominates him (older, wiser, more experience in entertainmet/media, someone who has lived a lot and brings gravity), his worst impulses are kept in check and he absorbs the partner’s advise/actions like a sponge. Just a thought.
Without a doubt his partner’s emotional maturity impacts on his behaviour, and I think his own enjoyment of the whole process. Just hope they get through Tuesday, so we can see more of their journey.
I’ve always thought that, Jay. I think it’s very obvious that Maks behavior swings with his partner. He seems to take on the larger aspects of his partners personalities. Some times that is very, very good. Other times…very, very bad. π
Even though Melissa did not have a great first dance, I think she’ll be around for a while. While she doesn’t have the personality of Kirstie Alley, she’s still been around forever and should have a sizable fanbase. But ya know? I thought people would vote for the trainwreck that is David Hasselhoff and they didn’t – sometimes I get it wrong. Tough call this season.
Heh…”Some people may come out, do bump-and-grind and get a crowd reaction.” Gee…wonder who he’s talking about?? π
@Jay, @Elsee and @Heidi:
After reading your comments, I think the three of you are onto something re: Maks’ behavior. The partners he has praised after the show has wrapped are usually the ones where they “meshed” and complimented each other.
Now in Melissa’s case, it could simply be the fact that he knows he’d have to answer to Kirstie and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy! π
@Heidi, yeah, I caught that subtle allusion as well. Guess that relationship hasn’t mended yet from last season and he’s willing to throw that particular pro under the bus (in a semi-stealthy way). π
Cidra – I think he was talking about CHERYL with the bumping and grinding comment. Derek and Maria didn’t actually do any of that. That’s pretty much ALL William did and he got a big crowd reaction. π
I assumed it was William and Cheryl’s routine he was referring to.
Yeah, Cheryl is who I meant. I always got the impression that she and Maks have been good friends and that the friendship hit a rocky patch last season when Maks was roughin’ up Hope during the team dance rehearsals.
You could be right, Cidra. I just thought you were referring to Derek with the way you worded the comment.
That is an interesting theory re: Cheryl. I put it down to the BFF relationship that seemed to grow between Cheryl and Karina. Especially towards the end of the season.
The only other thing I can think of is that Maks is deliberately placing distance between he and Cheryl media wise. I doubt either of them want to relive the “friends w/benefits” rumors they had to battle last summer.
Cheryl was buddy buddy with Karina and they even went to do a show with Mark at one point last year. It wasn’t just the pairing with Hope that got to him; I think he didn’t particularly enjoy watching KS rise to the top π
Well judging from the pic Sherri has this moment tweeted of Maks and Cheryl, they look just fine!
I always noticed something about the frienships between the pros on the show. It seems to me that the two closest freindships on the show between pros has to be tony and maks and or val (he is related to maks so don’t think it would count) and mark and karina and derek. I always thought it looked like Lacey wasn’t that clsoe with the rest of the pros
As for the β¦βSome people may come out, do bump-and-grind and get a crowd reaction.β comment, I’m glad someone said it lol That’s the best way to describe cheryl and williams cha cha.
Something ironic just came to mind re: bump and grind. At one point in rehearsal, didn’t Melissa say to Maks “So you want me to grind it?”. I believe he was showing her how he wanted her to move her hips.
Then he goes ahead and calls someone out for it! LOL
Grant it his choreography had less grind, but still!
Ms Taz, I just re-watched the show on ABC on East Coast. Bruno says to Melissa, something to the effect, ” You sure know how to grind it.” HAHA!!! It’s a goos thing Melissa didn’t do a lot of grinding because she’s bad at it. Watching the show a second time helped a lot.
First, She was terrible IMHO. Second, William must have had all 3 judges hypnotized because that wasn’t full on dancing–although he had less practice time, so let’s see how he does Monday night.
I agree about Melissa, I think she will be around at least halfway point but I have a feeling she may be a shock elimination. Not sure if she will be able to connect well with viewers. Such strong presences on this season, and nothing about her stood out. Other than she was terrible.
I think Maks tries too hard and it shows. One thing that bugged me BIG time was his shirt hanging open already, I didn’t think it suited the dance at all, Maks wanted your eyes on HIM and not Melissa. I always get the impression that its always about Maks and not his partners.
Agree with everyone, Melissa was a huge disappointment. Not sure if primarily due to bad dancing or due to all the pre-premier hype. And Maks is so desperate to win (and he so desperately needs to take a break from this show). It’s obvious to everyone, really. Even Melissa said she wanted to win the this thing FOR HIM because he so deserves it ! (IMHO those that earn it are the most deserving of the MBT). And I get the feeling Melissa is desperate to match the performance levels of her BFFs Kirstie & Jennifer. All this desperation does not bode well for this pair. Fingers crossed they can take a chill pill – I really do like them as a team and think they have good chemistry.
Well, and there was walking and then running up the stairs too which always seems like such a time wasting move. I don’t like when anyone does it, but at least many of the pros make the trip up or down the stairs more than just a run. The ladies usually have the guys make a huge jump, for example. I guess it wouldn’t bother me as much if he didn’t do it a LOT.
To the Running up the Stage, Didn’t he do that with Kirstie?.
And last night I noticed it looked like Maks stumbled at one point, and it I just flashbacked to Kirstie and her fall. I thought Maks was going to try that one out again, it worked so well before. I hate to say it, but I always thought that fall was part of the game, oh, I meant to say routine. LOL
Well – hold on to your hats I’m going to defend Maks and Melissa (more Melissa, but they go hand in hand). It was week one and what Melissa did would have been just fine – even good – in any other season. Hell, Maria would have been near the top of the leaderboard any other season, with Melissa right behind her. But with the ringers and the naturally talented and the over the top personalities, Melissa suffers in comparison. Maria is lucky because she has Derek – who is a great asset in cases like these, and he’s been here before. Joanna and Lil’ Kim spring to mind – although I sense Maria is a better dancer than either of those two ladies, or she will be once she gets over the terror.
I just think that Maks and Melissa are going to have to calm down, assess the situation and figure a way around it. It’s hard to go from hyped to the bottom of the pack. What Maks should NOT do is pout about other people (I don’t think he’s done that yet this season), he should spend all this time talking up his partner and how hard she’s working and how she is older than a lot of her competition so it’s harder. And talking about how she’s not a dancer by trade. That’s not whining, that’s FACT. As for Melissa, she needs to calm the hell down and realize that there is naturally talented (Jennifer) and there is over the top personalities (Kirstie) in her camp of friends and that she is her own person, not to be compared to either – and just do the best she can. If she really does start acting desperate (and I don’t know if I’ve seen that yet), then it will turn people off. I think that was Brandy’s problem, actually.
@Sandy: Funny you should say that re: the fall. I caught a few comments here and there about Maks doing it deliberately. I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. Is it because people thought he wanted the att: Kirstie was getting or was there something more behind it?
Seriously, some thought Maks fall with Kirstie was a fake? The man is not that good of an actor and as a professional dancer he would not stoop to something like dropping a partner for attention. IMO
Agree with Rebecca. Am I the only one who thinks Maks has actually been more laid back than usual so far this season? He does seem to be emphasizing that the most important thing is for her to enjoy the experience. I don’t feel we’ve really seen enough of Melissa yet (compared to some others) to determine how ‘desperate’ her behaviour is.
@Rebecca:
Yes-seriously. I saw several comments on other sites and tweets where people were saying he did it on purpose. I personally don’t believe that he did because it was obvious of how much pain he was in.
But with so many saying the same thing, I didn’t know if there was something more behind it that I wasn’t aware of. Sort of like the saying goes “where there is smoke, there is fire”.
Yeah, I’m not a Maks fan by any stretch, but I think he’s way too proud to do something like fake a fall.
@Elsee:
No, you’re not the only one noticing the change in Maks. I’m optimistically viewing it that he is putting forward a decent effort to change tactics this season and be more positive.
On another thread here, others have noted that his behavior changes according to whom he is paired with. For example, an emotionally mature person produces Sweet Maks. The opposite and well……he unleashes his flying monkeys so to speak! π
You know I’m sure that in the interview he and Val did in Canada last month, when asked about his ‘difficulties’ with Hope, he said something along the lines of how much he likes and respects her and looking back he feels maybe they’re too much alike…
I honestly don’t believe Maks would stoop that low, but I never thought one of the C brothers would ever think of cheating to get ahead… Alledgedly!! But you never know. π
I am sure the fall with Kirstie was legit., and the shoe falling off… and….
Honestly, that would be one way to play the game of the show – but I’ve never thought that Maks really grasped how the show works and played it that well.
I also don’t think that any of the pros would ever want to get ahead that way.
Agree, don’t think Maks is subtle enough to pull off that level of game playing! Anyway, all that stuff can just as easily get you voted off as keep you in.
Very true ladies. I agree with everything you have said. Plus, if it were ever proven that it was deliberate, his professional reputation would permanently be screwed. You can say and show that Maks has done a lot of things, but after what he has gone through to get where he is, he’d have to be in a complete mental collapse to throw it all away like that.
@Ms. Taz – Kind of like Tanya Harding did. She let the game get ahead of her, and she threw it all away.
@Sandy: Yes! The perfect analogy. She threw it away and then some. Some more that come to mind: Chris Bowman-had natural talent in abundance for figure skating but didn’t dedicate himself to the sport and ended up dying due to a drug overdose. Oksana Baiul-she never fully recovered from alcohol abuse and her skating career has pretty much fizzled. Alexi Yagudin-same as Oksana, only he had the additional issues of a chronic injury and a baby born due to a one night stand. It is so sad.
Interesting observations on my mad Russian, but I think that Maks is the same with every one of his partners. It’s the way they react to him that determines if it works or not. It’s his way or the highway. His best partners have known how to listen and learn. Don’t talk…how many times have we heard that?
And yes, I think the problem with Hope was her dominant personality. He has one, too, obviously, so it was probably doomed from the start, no matter if he did request her, or her him ,as a partner. The ones who do well , let him do what he’s hired to do. Teach. His way. Makes you wonder if there’s any consideration of personality matchups in the selection of pros and celebs.
And as for the Kirstie fall being fake. Good lord, the man is dancing on a surgically repaired femur, lifting a less than svelte partner. Probably not a wise decision on his part, but he is human, and is that not why we put erasers on pencils?
@auntie bellum:
I don’t think it was necessarily Hope having a strong, dominant personality that was the problem; Kirstie, Mel B, Laila, Erin also did, he seems to like them a bit feisty! It seemed more, as you said, to do with the way she reacted to him; so back to emotional maturity again. In many ways Hope seemed younger than her 30 years.
@Auntie Bellum + @Elsee:
“Makes you wonder if thereβs any consideration of personality matchups in the selection of pros and celebs.”
I’m sure there is, but you are basically throwing all that out the window and testing fate when you have a situation where the Pro asks for/gets the celeb of their choice, or the Celeb asks/gets the Pro of theirs.
How many times have we all said “So and so would have done much better paired with so and so”. It is like the attraction of polar opposites. Sometimes the pairing can be great and other times it can be a complete nightmare.
nice post, Heidi # 26 – keen observations and good advice for Melissa, IMO
I find it a bit hypocritical for one who capitalizes on sex appeal at every opportunity to criticize someone else for it in an applicable dance! And I think the guy is far better at manipulation than some give him credit for. He knows well how to work THAT part of the show.
As to his partnerships, he does take his partners with him more than any other pro on the show. He seems to click best with high maintenance, moxie, humorous that challenge him in a certain way (without questioning his danc Not sure Melissa quite fits that mold, though she’s a far improvement over Hope.