DWTS 15 All-Stars: The Great “Previous Dance Experience” Debate – Melissa Rycroft Edition
Let’s continue on with my analysis of this season’s contestants – today we move onto Melissa. Finally getting more into the ladies of this season! To check out any of my previous posts in the series, check out the Sabrina Bryan edition…there are links to the previous editions. 🙂
For Melissa’s best dance, I picked her samba – which I believe she performed about 3 times in a 2 week period:
For her worst dance, I picked her jive – which she never actually performed live, due to injury:
I think Melissa’s biggest asset could also be her biggest obstacle to overcome: her cheerleading background. It does give her a bit of an edge in terms of picking up choreography, having rhythm, and just having good movement quality – but I think it also tends to make her look a bit wishy-washy in terms of ballroom technique, judging from these videos. If my big complaint about Sabrina is that she hits everything too hard, my big complaint about Melissa is that she tends to hit everything a bit too softly and fluidly – perhaps even a bit generically. It’s the same problem I see with some of my friends who have gone on to dance for NBA & NFL teams: their movement takes on almost a robotic, inoffensive quality, which I guess does come in handy when dancing in sync with 30 other girls and no one is supposed to stand out. But blending into with everyone this season is definitely NOT something Melissa should be aiming for – so I think she’s going to need to sharpen up her steps and avoid any of the cheerleading “pitfalls”…are you listening too, Tony? Because I think the choreography is part of the problem, too. I can understand falling back on her high-kicking & piroutting skills the first week – poor thing only had a week to learn the waltz. But beyond that, I think Tony really should have avoided a ton of “cheerleader tricks” and really made Melissa focus on ballroom technique – and unfortunatley, I think the majority of their routines were less meat-and-potatoes ballroom and more “ok, you’re going to high-kick here, do a series of pirouttes there, and then do a split – and we’ll just shove some easy ballroom steps in between!”. I’m not saying he should totally abandon her obvious dance skills – I’m just saying he should probably figure out a better way to make them more “ballroom-y”. Some of the fundamental principles are the same – spotting turns, using your core to really elongate your limbs, etc. – and can be easily incorporated into a ballroom vocabulary. If she can do an underarm turn using the same principles she would use to do a piroutte – Melissa could have the best damn technique of any of the dancers on the show. But Tony MUST teach her how to apply it. Melissa IS a good jazz dancer – now she has got to become a good ballroom dancer.
Melissa’s injury also brings up an interesting point: how are injuries going to come into play this season? With the level of competition so high and all of the couples working harder than ever before to up their game, there’s bound to be injuries – the question is, who will be smart enough to avoid them, who will be able to work through them, and who will be sidelined by them? I’m inclined to think that those who got injured on their original season (Melissa, Gilles, & Pam all come to mind) may be at a greater risk to incur the same injuries – will they be able to work through them this time? Gilles’ performance in particular seemed to really suffer due to his shoulder injury. I think it will be interesting to see who is able to soldier through the pressure of this season, and whose injuries really affect their performance negatively.
Court’s verdict: Melissa’s a good dancer – but she needs to shake off the “cheerleader-yness” and focus on ballroom technique. Ditto for Tony – cut back on the high kicks & pirouttes and really drill that Latin technique into her.
So what do you guys think? Is Melissa a contender…or is she still stuck in cheerleader mode?
Ah yes, Melissa and Tony, I had forgotten all about them…. Totally not a good sign.
I would have loved to have seen Melissa with another pro, since she is relatively likable and has a ton of potential. As it stands, I think experienced or no, she is a goner in the early weeks unless Tony changes his ways but history has shown that he won’t challenge her or choreograph anything remotely memorable. Shame, I bet anyone else on the show could have made Melissa a significant factor this season.
I agree completely with Figmentation. I like Tony, but I’ve seen this before. I don’t think Melissa will stand out enough in this crowd with Tony as her pro. I hope I’m wrong. I, too, think with a different pro Melissa could have really been a serious contender this season. It makes me sad, because I do love her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLAvPCP_SaI
Her argentine tango was so good. If Tony can choregragh dances like that she could be a contender. That was by far the best dance he has ever choregraphed!
Can’t say I disagree with ya’ll. I think Melissa has huge potential, but Tony is not the one to really push her. I fear it will be same-old same-old Tony with nothing much memorable to talk about on Tuesday morning.
I suspect this team will be one of the first 3 to leave us. I hope I’m wrong because I do like Melissa, but this season is going to be a tough nut and everyone will need to bring their A-game each and every Monday night. Not sure Tony is up to the challenge, even with a very skilled partner. I think she’s got it in her, not sure though that Tony can tickle it out. And Melissa doesn’t appear to be the type to try and push Tony out of his comfort zone. And so we have a stalemate, which isn’t going to get them anywhere close to the MBT.
I’ve said this before …. I think Tony is in desperate need of a break from DWTS. Maybe when he goes home early again, he’ll rethink his strategy and take some time off.
I think that if she has a strong showing in the first couple of weeks (1-3), she will be in a good position to go farther. She has tons of personality which will help her. Its up to tony to choreograph exciting routines that will stand out (I know he can do it but he tends to play it safe a lot and sometimes that works (ex. melissa’s cha cha) but sometimes not so much (ex. Audrina’s rumba and cha cha).
On a side note, I had forgotten about her jive. I wonder if he recycle some of that routine this time around if she gets to jive.
Totally agree regarding Melissa’s movement. It’s very pretty and usually well-placed, but I found myself thinking that it was TOO pretty at times and too placed and fluid, pretty much the opposite of Sabrina. It was very apparent in her Paso and I remember that it bothered me in a few other dances as well. She’s got fantastic potential, but I think Tony needs to teach her to be hit her steps with more conviction and worry less about making things “pretty.”
I also think a little bit more showmanship would help her too, but I think if Tony gives her some stronger choreography, that’ll happen naturally. I hope Melissa does well because I really like her, but I do fear for her.
Nice Court!!! Thanks! I’m with so many before me that Melissa needs to make a really strong showing and then keep at it. I think if she gets serious and they work out all the cheerleader kinks, she could be a contender, but, will Tony make her do that? This season is important to him too. He needs to really turn it on or I bet producers won’t want him back next season. This is ‘make or break’ for both of them.
Melissa didn’t even have a week to learn the Waltz, she only had 2 days! She started practice the Saturday before the live show, I believe she’s said she got a total of 8 hours practice.
I think because she got thrown into it last time with no time to prepare and admits she didn’t really watch the show before that or understand quite how big the show even was and the level of competitiveness, I don’t know if she fully understood what it took to win. I think she does now. It took her weeks to wipe the cheerleader grin off her face the last go around, but I doubt she’ll have problems like that this time. Based on her and Tony’s tweets it really seems like they are working hard. So my biggest worry isn’t that she or Tony won’t push her enough, it’s that his choreo won’t be memorable enough. But I have to believe that Tony understands the stakes, and that him getting a partner with her skills doesn’t come around for him very often, so he’d better take advantage!
I agree @Toni about her Argentine Tango, that was my favorite dance of theirs!
Wow, Disagree Jen – Tony has had SEVERAL talented partners, he just can’t carry them all the way. Chynna and Audrina to name two. I think they all had the same problem that Melissa may have this season – good dancers that fade into the background. Melissa is probably a better dancer than those two (but not by a lot) but she won’t have the passionate “women scorned” power behind her this time like she had last time.
I think Melissa has much more talent than Audrina and Chynna did. Audrina had a lot of potential but zero personality to go with it, and no chemistry (that I saw anyway) with Tony. He did let her down with non-memorable routines though. Chynna completely blanked on a chunk of her routine the week she was eliminated, that can’t really be blamed on Tony. I guess that made it memorable, but not in a good way. lol
I agree about Melissa not having the “women scorned” power behind her this time. She does have to really stand out week one, and I think she can gain momentum and stay longer than expected if she and Tony knock it out of the park early. I am keeping the faith that they can do it, because I think all the skills are there to be able to.
I think Melissa is much, much better than Audrina and Chynna, in both dancing and personality. She oozes personality, IMO, and neither of the other two did. Chynna tried. Audrina had zero facial expression. It was so frustrating to watch, because she was pretty good and I remember thinking Tony was excited to have her as a partner.
In a normal season, like season 8, Melissa’s personality made her stand out. In this season…I don’t know if it will be enough to compete with the many big players she will be dancing against.
Well, they all blend together for me and it might actually be because of Tony. I don’t remember a single thing about Melissa other than leg kicks and teeth. Brooke Burke also blanked on a routine an still managed to win and she was far less well known than any of Tony’s partners at that time. One bad dance will only knock you out if you’ve got few fans behind you – see Sabrina.
You guys are thinking the same thing as me, at the end of the day – Melissa will be hard pressed to stick regardless of dance quality because the competition is fierce. I don’t think they will overscore her to keep her around either – not at the expense of all those other big name couples. She’s ancient history at this point. I like her well enough, I just don’t think that she’s seriously going to stand out in this crowd. Even Kelly, who’s not as good a dancer, likely has a larger audience than her.
I think you pretty much called it, Courtney. I don’t expect her to get far.
Their Argentine Tango is one of my favorite dances ever. Melissa’s slender legs made those quick flicks look stunning, and their lifts were jaw dropping.
But, their AT is not my #1 favorite Melissa and Tony dance — that would be their Lindy Hop. One trick after another, and Melissa handled them all with grace and a big smile. Very impressive. I wish they had done a freestyle dance that was Broadway style, with tricks similar to their LH; I think they would have had a good chance to win with such a routine.
I really hope that conventional wisdom about M/T is wrong, and that they last for a long time in the competition. I think Tony will pull out all the stops with Melissa, and I’m looking forward to it.
I’ll admit, I did want to see her partnered with someone else. Heck, I think all should have had different partners.
She’s a good dancer but I did not see the chemistry much at all between them on the dance floor. IMO, she rarely got the character of the dance correct. It could have been because she came in at the last minute. Tony will have to work with her on that as well.
I really think she has potential and agree if they knock it out of the park the first 3 weeks, she could go far in the competition. Tony will have to step it up on the choreography, or she will get an early exit.-JMO
I love Melissa. It’s probably because I didn’t know who she was. Didn’t expect her to be good. And then… WOW!! I was so sad she only got third place. Being the positive person that I am, I really want her to go far. Her Samba is one of my favorite Sambas. But I did want her with someone else.. I was hoping Tony got Bristol lol.
I checked Melissa’s book since she’s back this season. Few things she mentioned about her practices with Tony that I found interesting.
She said that during practice they never really went full out. I imagine something like the jive rehearsal. On performance night, however, Tony would throw her higher or push her harder. It took her few weeks to get this. She also said that it wasn’t until the Rumba week that they started practice into the character of the dance. I wonder how much different this experience will be for her.
I still think Shawn and Melissa will be last 2 female standing.
Question is, will Melissa and Shawn be the last two women standing in Week 5…or week 9. I’m leaning toward week 5. I’m not even sure that Shawn will make it past week 6. She may have a fanbase, but she’s surrounded by men who want to WIN.
I think Kirstie will be one of the women left standing by week 5. She’s not one of my top 6 but I wouldn’t be surprised if she bumps one of my favorites out of the top half and makes it to week 7 or more. Even if the judges score everyone with the same criteria, I think she’ll do OK dance wise, after having spent so much time after her season working on it. I’m not saying I think she’ll be one of the best dancers but I think she might be OK and I think she’ll get lots of general audience votes and will have more than her share of power voters too between her own and Maks’.
I think Melissa is way more vulnerable to early elimination.
It’s hard for me to accept that Derek and Shawn won’t be able to stick around until very late in the season. In my opinion, no other pro can consistently make a dance memorable the way Derek can. And I think there will be a lot of vote splitting for the men.
OK so after saying that, I think there will be many many memorable dances this season and I agree with what PH has been saying all along that it’s going to be extremely unpredictable. (Fun to try and to hope though.)
I’m sure TPTB are expecting very high ratings for this season,so ,
I wonder how much the judges will overscore and underscore to make sure the more popular contestants stick around . We saw a lot of that in season 14. It was very frustrating! Also: I try to read all the posts( I love this site) I became a big Derek fan when he danced with Jen Grey. I was wondering if you ever addressed the fact that none of Derek’s partners ore competing. Do you think none were invited back or, that none wanted to do it?
Sorry I meant are not ore!!!
We have discussed that, Guest. Most or all of Derek’s partners are already well employed and probably can’t do it. And I doubt they asked Maria because she was too recent or Shannon because she’s not “all stary” enough.
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