PureDWTS Season 18, Week 7 – Power Rankings
Sooooo…anyone else have an unpleasant sense of deja vu from season 14 after last night’s show? Cause I sure am…it’s only the names that have changed: William Levy has been replaced with Meryl, and Donald Driver has been replaced with Charlie. William/Meryl can do no wrong in the eyes of the judges, is bathed in praise, and gets free passes for doing things that other couples get called out on in a heartbeat; while poor Donald/Charlie busts his ass and delivers not only some stellar dances, but manages to keep a smile on his face – yet week after week, he’s nitpicked to death by the judges and looks (along with his partner) beyond hurt as it’s happening. I hated the whole situation two years ago, and I hate it again now – the blatant pimping and obvious hosing of some couples vs. others is making me check out of this season just a little bit more with each passing week. There’s only one glimmer of hope on the horizon: William, despite all the pimping on his season, was only able to eke out 3rd place…while Donald, the weekly redheaded stepchild in the eyes of the judges, ended up winning the whole thing. Just some food for thought…
So Latin week was kind of a joke, which we already expected – The majority of the music did not fit either the dances they were meant for, nor the overall theme of the evening – and I saw some pretty INTERESTING costuming choices tonight (which is saying something, considering it was only 2 weeks ago that Mark was dressed as a crab and we had troupe members dressed as dinnerware). Most of the dances were also too overproduced, with extraneous props and dancers muddling up the stage. As for Ricky – he was better than Redfoo and not as good as Julianne. Probably on-par with Robin & Donny. I found myself thankful for his presence overall, especially when he wasn’t afraid to whip out a ten paddle for a couple that the other judges were really ripping apart without reason. He seemed like the equalizing force on the judging panel tonight, and he did seem to be genuinely enjoying the performances.
The surprise scene-stealers from tonight’s show? Danica’s fractured rib, which was pretty swiftly upstaged by Amy’s injured back – and both seemed to throw a wrench into things, to some degree. As for the elimination – it was NeNe’s time to go, whichever way you cut it. I think both her individual dance and team dance tonight really made that clear – she just wasn’t at the same level as her fellow competitors. But I did end up enjoying her on this season FAR more than I thought it would. 🙂 Not sure what to make of James & Charlie joining her in jeopardy – part of me thinks it was a bit of a gimmick (“OMG!!! All of Team Vida in jeopardy???”), while the other part thinks it was trying to spur more votes for the boys in order to keep them around – the girls outnumber the boys 2 to 1 now. Might make for a more interesting final few weeks if they can keep both guys and girls around…
1.) Meryl & Maks – Can we just talk about her costume really quickly? I’m not quite sure what type of look they were going for there – I saw all sorts of comparisons on Twitter: “She looks like Paula Abdul circa 1988!” “She looks like she’s 25 years late to try out as a Fly Girl on In Living Color!” “Was Maks trying to make her look like a chola???” Her hair was really bugging me – it was that over-teased, over-permed look that we saw in the late 80s-early 90s. I finally figured out who it reminded me of: Paula Jones, the gal that sued President Clinton for sexual harassment. I just did not get that look – what’s wrong with some of the more feminine Latin costumes we’ve seen for salsa in the past? They seem to enhance the hip action of the dance so much more, and they don’t make the ladies look like caricatures of themselves. But anywho – it was a great dance, yes, and Meryl handled it well; but was it really necessary to have the troupe there AT ALL, let alone present for the entire dance??? It was a distraction and only added to the overstuffed, overproduced feel of the dance. The routine was stuffed to the gills with choreography – almost too much choreography – and then you added a bunch of extra people to the stage? Visually, just wayyyy too much to process. If I were the judges, I probably would have deducted another point just for over-utilizing the troupe…it did detract from the performance, for me, since Meryl was obviously handling the dance masterfully. And the princess gets bathed in praise and gets by with only a minor scolding from Len – and another near-perfect score. Color me not surprised. I will reiterate: I’m sure Meryl is a lovely human being and is working hard and really learning to dance. But I feel like she’s already been pre-determined as the winner, and the whole narrative of the season is being set up in order to ensure she wins – at the expense of others who are working just as hard and dancing just as well.
2.) Charlie & Sharna – I definitely had one of those “I wanna shoot my t.v. with my .38 special!!!’ moments last night when I watched Charlie & Sharna’s hearts both break as they got hosed by the judges…YET AGAIN. I’m just at a complete loss at this point – why do the judges seem to have it out for them??? I watched this paso doble 5 times after the show wrapped last night, looking for errors – besides the VERY slight wobble on the knee spin, I could find nothing wrong with it. The choreography was spot-on, the technique was great (which was good to hear, since earlier in the week Deep Throat said Charlie was looking wayyyy too flowy), and I feel like they both really sold the performance. The way the judges were talking, you would have thought Charlie had gone center stage and bit the head off a bat, a la Ozzy Osbourne. Carrie Ann in particular just sounded like a high-and-mighty twit this week, incoherently babbling on and on about what Charlie needs to do to get a 10 (while Ricky looked totally disinterested in what she was saying…muahahaha!!!); Len wasn’t at all helpful, just saying “It wasn’t special. Sorry.” The only judge that gave halfway constructive feedback was Bruno, and all he cited was the wobbly knee spin. So not only did the judges hose them – they also didn’t really offer up any ways in which they could improve. So yeah…I can’t blame Sharna for being totally pissed on Twitter. They can’t please the judges, and the judges won’t tell them how it can be done. Is Charlie doing well that threatening to the narrative of Meryl & Maks winning this season that the judges simply cannot bear to praise them??? Thankfully, I’m seeing more rage than ever from the fans – lots of Charlie fans & non-Charlie fans alike going “Ok, WTF is going on?” and throwing votes this way – and who knows, maybe this is what TPTB intended all along: rile up the fans enough that they flood the lines with votes for Charlie and he ends up winning. Lord knows – but it’s a dangerous game they’re playing, and if they keep it up for much longer, they run the risk of both fans and some of the couples checking out – because who wants to fight a losing battle?
3.) Amy & Derek – Color me pleasantly surprised – I was afraid that Amy was going to REALLY struggle with hip action, but she actually handled it really well – very nice transfers of weight and even some nice swivel actions. Loved the simplicity of the routine – notice that there were no extraneous props or dancers, and still this dance was nice to watch? Less is more, people 🙂 Loved her dress, too, and I think the song actually worked. I rewatched this routine as well, trying to figure out where the back injury occurred – my only guess is that something got torqued when she went down into that back bend at the end, and then it got exacerbated when Derek carried her up the stairs to the Celebraquarium – because she didn’t seem to be in significant pain until she got up there. Who knows – I’m just hoping she is able to find some relief, because I really want to see their Argentine tango next week. Will likely be a challenge, but I think they’ve both proven they’re up for it. As for Carrie Ann? She’s a wimp and a twit who can’t stand behind anything she says without caving in to pressure. So she can take her lift policing and shove it up her…
4.) James & Peta – *sigh* I think I would have liked this dance sooooo much more if they hadn’t gone for the smut angle…and I’m not a prude. Yes, they got one of the sh*ttier songs last night, and that probably dictated what they were and weren’t able to do; but was it really necessary to have Peta in her underwear??? “Your costume might be too skimpy”… if they can’t find a place to put your mic 😛 I didn’t really see how that fit in with the mechanic theme – the stripping down to the underwear just seemed self-indulgent. Also didn’t really like James with the coveralls falling off his torso – reminded me too much of Cody’s stupid genie pants that looked like he had deuced in his diaper. It also obscured a lot of the hip action (or lack thereof), which was probably the idea. Cringed on the samba rolls – it was a nice try, but James was just too stiff to get a good, smooth rolling action. Saw some other samba “standards”, but was not seeing a lot of hip action from James – and I get the overall feeling that this was a dance he & Peta just kinda wanted to get out of the way, and they weren’t really enjoying themselves. Guess I can’t blame them, with a song that bad. Hopefully they handle their Viennese waltz next week better – and I get the feeling that the “Rushers” are voting harder than we might think. They seem very active online – seeing a lot of retweets from them, which I appreciate 🙂
5.) Candace & Mark – And finally the confident Candace we saw in week 1 returns with a vengeance! I think this ended up being my favorite routine of the night – just a very clean, interesting-to-watch Argentine tango. Maybe not the most complex routine we’ve seen, but I loved the mood of it and Candace seemed to really nail the footwork and the frame. My only complaint? She seemed to get a little squatty on some of the moves where she bent down in front of Mark. I’m just hoping she can hold onto this momentum heading into the next few weeks – because I would much rather see her last into the semifinals over Danica. I think she’s proven that she has fans – she’s gotten saved from elimination more than once already. Will be interesting to see how she and Mark handle the next few weeks.
6.) Danica & Val – I think Mama Spence (despite fighting a nasty case of periorbital cellulitis) finally was able to articulate for me the problem I have when Danica tries to be “sexy”: she ends up looking like Honey Boo-Boo. Not literally, but in that “look at me, I’m a kid pageant queen, watch me get all sassy and coy in my little cowgirl outfit – and then laugh it off because I’m just a kid and you know I’m just hamming it up!” kind of way. “Sexy” does not come naturally to her – so when she tries to do it, it looks a bit awkward and adolescent. I would say this was probably the weakest dance we’ve seen from Danica – we may never know how profound a role her injury may have played in her kinda flubbing this dance, but I was seeing a LOT of missed leads, forgotten choreography, and wayyyy too much of the troupe. I have to wonder if some missed rehearsal time resulted in some lack of clarity on the choreography, as well as limited mobility due to the injury. I also think Val unfortunately picked both a song and a theme that would have probably suited Zendaya better than Danica – I don’t see Danica as the type that is naturally more of a hip-hop-style mover. And WTF is up with wedge sneakers??? I know the idea was to make it look more “street”, but it just ended up looking kind of clunky. So that being said – I kinda get the feeling Danica could be in trouble next week. Pretty weak score tonight, and she doesn’t seem to be generating the same kind of sympathy that I’m seeing for Charlie. She could be the “forgotten woman” next week.
Thoughts on the Team Dances:
I went back and forth trying to decide whether it was an advantage or disadvantage for Team Loca to just get to use their dress rehearsal tape, while Team Vida had to perform live – in the end, I think Team Loca probably benefited from just using the rehearsal tape, as the no-pressure atmosphere likely helped Candace (probably the weak link of Team Loca) and her bad case of nerves. I feel like Team Vida gave it a valiant effort – every single one of the them seemed really committed to the dance, and I thought James & Charlie’s solos were both awesome. Especially loved Charlie’s, because he seemed to have a hunger in him that I hadn’t been able to see until now. Not sure why Carrie Ann (who was back to being a screechy, petty shrew last night) chose to direct her ire at Charlie & James – I thought they did a pretty damn good job of staying in synch, and that NeNe was the real problem, as she seemed to space quite a bit of her choreography. Overall, I think the main problem they had was a lack of cohesiveness in their choreography – seemed like they had a lot of “parts”, but weren’t quite sure how to fit them all together; the result was a lot of running from place to place. I think they probably would have fared better if they hadn’t tried to jam quite as much into the dance and had focused more on keeping everything clean. And that was the area in which Team Loca really had the edge over Team Vida: their choreography may not have been as complex or exciting, but it was much cleaner and in-synch. I actually think sticking to dancing on the stage helped to keep everything tighter and on-track. Kinda dug that they stuck to the club theme that Ricky had in the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” video. Not sure Team Loca had an MVP – I guess it would have to be either Meryl or Amy, as they seemed to have the most exciting solo portions.
So what did you guys think about Latin night? Did you hate the music (and the judging) as much as I did, or are you happy with how things are going? Who do you think is in trouble going into next week?
I am really on a campaign to fire the music selection committee this year. The only even remotely Latin music among the individual dances was Meryl’s. Yeah, I wish Peta hadn’t gone the smutty route, too. But to me, the real issue for James is footwork. Except for Week 3 (jive), he hasn’t gotten higher than an 8 from Len WHEN the footwork has rules. That means Peta has to drill technique big time this week in the Viennese waltz. At least, outfit-wise, James should be in tails and Peta in something longer and more elegant. As for the dance with Amy, who knows? I’m concerned about her back more than anything.
Excellent Court! I always love these posts!! Well done. Ok, here are my rankings and thoughts:
1. Sharna and Charlie – Oh man, I loved this Paso. I thought it was full of power, passion, and so much depth! The choreography was just stellar by Sharna and Charlie danced it with so much guts and determination. They took by breath away, so, I was shocked the judges were picking at them so much, but, I’m going to hold on to how they did the same to Donald Driver. I would have scored this with a 100% 10!! STUNNING and STEAMY! One of THE best dances of the season! And what gorgeous costumes too!
2. Derek and Amy – Wow, these two were just exquisite! They were all over sexy, sultry, passionate, and just having fun. So graceful and such lovely moves. I agree with Bruno, “it was first class”. I loved their looks and smiles to one another too all through out. Loved the ending moves which were the cherry on top!! 9+
3. Meryl and Maks – Maks was point on with his choreographing again, but, why so many added dancers? It was a great production, but, I did think Meryl seemed a little lost at times. I can see why Len said it was “hectic”. My Dad called after the show and before I even said anything about them, he commented with the same. 9
4. James and Peta – This dance had me smiling through out. It was sly and sexy. I loved all the sharp moves to the beats, the samba rolls, all the leg work, sleek lines, and kicks by Peta. I loved his muscle and strength put into it all by James. Very entertaining. 9-
5. Mark and Candace – She is back. I loved her confidence and it came out in her dancing. I also loved all sleek lines of this dance, their clever lifts, and their expressions which were more convincing tonight. There were steps that could have been a little more powerful and sharper, but, for the most part, a much better night for them and some improvement. With that said, I’m still worried she could be in the greatest danger of leaving next. 8
6. Val and Danica – It was a fun Salsa and entertaining (especially with the troupe added), but, you could tell she was hurt this week. She wasn’t quite as into it all and her moves weren’t quite as sharp as the last few weeks. 8-
As for the Team dances: Team Loca took it. Imo. Team Vida was super too, but, Team Loca had better and more complicated choreography. The moment Derek exploded onto the scene from the back, I was hooked.
@Ken – I don’t know that the song James has for his Viennese waltz will really work with tails. It’s a little too earthy…so you might want to brace yourself for more of a contemporary Viennese waltz :-/
Regarding Charlie, I was ticked at Len for saying only that it wasn’t special and nothing more. And then an 8!!! At least Bruno and Carrie Ann explained where they thought he went wrong. But honestly, Meryl and Maks had the best dance of the night. To my mind, the 39 was deserved.
The only dance I would watch over again (and I did it three times) is the Team Loca. That was awesome esp the in-sync parts. The rest of the night was kind of meh. I agree with you though; what does poor Charlie have to do or do they not like Sharna?
Also, do you think that TPTB are telling the pros to use the extra dancers (namely the troupe) since they do not have the REsults show anymore and they want to use them.
Yes, rushers are a passionate bunch! Thanks for giving us a shout out!! I am definitely worried about James. I hate that he’s at the bottom of the leader board but hopefuly the rushers pull through for him!! I think it helps that the other boys were in the audience last night because the entire fandom was on full alert! He should be fine…fingers crossed!!
Some other thoughts, the obvious pimping of Meryl and tearing apart of Charlie remind me why I stopped watching this show last year (I came back for Maslow). I don’t understand what Charlie is doing wrong, it just makes no sense to me. I thought his paso was excellent last night. All Len said was it wasnt special then gave him an 8?! Come on man, at least tell the guy what you think he needs to work on!!
Anyway, if Charlie makes it further than James, he has my vote!!
Amy said she had an area on her shoulder that was giving her trouble. As they were getting the judges critiques she turned her head and something snapped and she was in pain. It didn’t happen during the dance.
I’m so conflicted about Charlie. It breaks my heart to see him working so so hard. You can tell that he wants it and the judges just aren’t giving him much to go on. That’s what bothers me the most. They won’t give him the good scores, but they also don’t give him much by way of constructive criticism.
On the other hand, I don’t love his dancing. I feel like he tries too hard, throws it too hard, and it looks awkward. His solo in the team dance last night just felt way to forced to me. I honestly think Meryl is picking this up better than he is. I just wish the judges would be for constructive with him instead of just heartlessly hosing him.
Thanks Courtney for another great post! 🙂
I don’t think Charlie or James were really in jeopardy. As soon as they announced Charlie in jeopardy, I knew it was fake. I did notice Meryl’s face sank as the camera panned wide right after they called him in jeopardy. These 2 thrive off each so they need each other to stay on in order for both of them to successfully get to the Finals.
Anyway, here are my thoughts:
Meryl/Maks: It was a great salsa. They did not need the extra dancers and I hated the costumes. Why not wear a mini skirt at least or regular shorts like Danica? Also, I didn’t think the lift was needed. That said, I’m ok with the scores they got. I also would have been ok with all 9s.
Charlie/Sharna: The package seemed forced because he and Meryl probably have already discussed this numerous times. It was a terrific paso but it wasn’t perfect. Still he did not deserve the 8 from Len or the comments he got. Also, I don’t think he needed to take off the jacket. It did not add any value to the dance.
Candace/Mark: As expected, she did a great AT and I’m happy for her. She had a slight wobble in the final lift which didn’t look much different from Charlie’s wobble. Yet the feedback was completely different.
James/Peta: The costumes detracted from the dance. They should have a gotten a deduction for bad costuming.
Amy/Derek: Loved Amy’s dress but would have preferred a darker color. Great rumba. My thoughts and prayers are with her–I hope she is ok.
Danica/Val: I don’t like the high top sneakers either. This was another dance where the extra dancers were not needed. I don’t think they used the extra dancers any less than Meryl/Maks did. This was definitely an off week for Danica.
I wish they would go back to not allowing extra dancers in regular routines. I want the focus to be on the stars.
I’m glad NeNe is gone. It was her time to go. And Tony’s too.
I think Danica and James will be in jeopardy next week with Danica leaving. The only exception would be if Amy has to pull out. I think Charlie will get all 10s with a Quickstep and people are giving him the sympathy vote this week.
I might get hated for this, but I’ll just throw it out there anyway. I wasn’t upset with Carrie Ann’s comments about Amy and the lifts. In the waltz, Derek was doing anything he could to make up for her struggle with the styling. In the Rumba, she was doing the technique and the steps absolutely beautifully, those moves weren’t weren’t a necessary thing. I think there is a balance to be had and Amy wants to be judged like everyone else. That being said- I think CAI is annoying and in the case of the waltz, should have kept her comments to herself about the lifts. No one would have cared, but she opened herself up for fire by feeling the need to justify.
Forgot to mention I enjoyed both team dances but Team Loca had the edge. I was curious about the audience in dress rehearsal as well. I thought the studio was empty for that.
Also, the camera didn’t show it but it looked like Charlie fell or at least was off balance after he jumped over Sharna. I’m glad it wasn’t mentioned though.
Overall, I think both teams were scored fairly,
I wouldn’t predetermine Meryl as the winner yet..I think it’ll be Charlie still, although I’d love to be wrong.
Besides, wasn’t Zendaya predetermined as the winner here a couple seasons back?
This was definitely my least favorite show of the season. I was pleasantly surprised by Ricky though. He mentioned in one of critiques that he’s been watching all season which made me happy that he did his homework. The rest of the judges (maybe not Bruno as much) all really sucked.
Charlie and Sharna- Loved their paso. Not sure why they’re getting screwed from the judges. I also blame the song as it’s not their fault they were handed something non-latin on latin night.
Amy and Derek- I was pleasantly surprised as well. I loved that it had a sexy feel but it wasn’t overly done. (which I can guess will not be the same for Meryl and Maks next week.) I think they said her injury was after scores before going up the stairs. I just hope she gets better as I really want to see that A. Tango!
Meryl and Maks- They were good, but I just can’t connect with them. The troupe was 100% unnecessary and I found my eyes going to them rather than watching her. The consecutive spins that she does where Maks holds her hands (not sure the name of that) kind of bug me as well. I don’t know the exact technique, but they looked exactly like she did them in week 1 without much improvement.
I don’t have too much to add for James, Candace or Danica this week. Not my favorite James dance, Candace definitely improved. Danicas worst dance I would say. I definitely think it’s Danica going home next week.
I haven’t power voted yet this season but if Amy and Derek don’t make the top 3 (I would assume that this season is going to work the same where someone is cut on night 1 of the finale?) I will certainly be voting my butt off for Charlie to win this thing. The way M&M are being pushed at me I actually just want to see anybody but them win at this point.
trite — but if you’re going to slick down Charlie’s curls, the way they did it last night is way, way better than the way they did it a few weeks ago.
I would have been ok with straight 9’s or a mix of a 10 and 9’s for the paso – it wasn’t as edgy as I think it could have been. For a figure skater, I think Evan’s showed a better demeanor. Not sure Charlie really has the “latin” in him — he’s more of a Gene Kelly/Donald O’Connor kind of dancer in my book.
Hated Meryl’s costume and hair — way to make a cute girl look thirty years out-of-date — but I thought the scores were well deserved.
It seemed that Amy was actually pivoting last night, but maybe it is an optical illusion. If so, a good one. I didn’t love the dance, but it was good. I hope she takes a day or two and finds that her back is a lot, lot better.
I’m trying not to focus on Peta (eye bleach, please) but James is clunky and Peta’s lack of clothing is not helping. I thought he was, if anything, overscored.
Really unfortunate that NeNe didn’t leave last week; I think the team scores might well have been closer. She was a lead weight on the routine. She didn’t improve her likability with me this season — I didn’t know of her before DWTS, and I’ve no interest in ever meeting her.
Court, Amy didn’t hurt her neck during the dance – she said she was fine during the dance and the judges critique but right after that she turned her head wrong and something cracked or some such thing. She did say that she’d been having some shoulder pain all week.
The thing that bothers me about Carrie Ann with regards to Amy is that she keeps switching her philosophy – at the beginning of the season, it was “we’re going to judge you like everyone else”, and then in week 5 it was “there was a lift, but I’m not going to count it because of your feet”, and now we’re back to “I have to judge you like everyone else”. Pick a damn stance and stick to it, woman – how do you expect Derek to know what to choreograph if every week, you change your mind about how you’re going to judge it?
Poor Charlie! It wasn’t my favorite paso, but for Len to say it wasn’t special, ouch. I love how Meryl and Maks were supporting them in the background though and frustrated for them as well. As for Meryl’s dance, she’s my favorite, but I would have been okay with 9s too. She did great and I loved her, but the costume and shoes really distracted me- and her hair. Looking forward to their dance next week, but I hope they are tasteful with it- similar to Amy and Derek, who I thought it was sensual and beautiful but not raunchy. Speaking of raunchy…James, gosh, I do like him, but Peta, that was so unnecessary. Seriously? Worried about the boys on the bottom of the leaderboard. Think I must throw some votes to Charlie. At this point if it is between James and Charlie, I’m going to pick charlie to stay.
after watching the team dances I was upset with Charlie for picking Nene. She brought the whole thing down. completely out of sync. Charlie, Derek, and Mark would have killed it. The teams were too lopsided, felt really bad for Charlie. Guy can’t seem a catch a break.
Question for your “deep throat” contact, Courtney. Has he/she said anything about whether or not the pros realize how this season is set up for Maks? I know we all talk about it but are there any rumblings within the cast about this and has it affected them in any way? I love your analysis of the dances each week and you are spot on imo. I am not sure if Danica is leaving next week though as her group dance gave her some much needed points in contrast to Charlie and James. Here’s hoping.
Does anyone else get the impression that Charlie and Sharna’s packages are always shorter than everyone elses? I feel like I see them rehearse for two seconds and suddenly their performing on the stage. I don’t get it.
And because I love saying it, props to Mark Ballas for being the only pro left to not have done any supersized dances with his partner (honorary mention to Derek who used it once only for justifiably adorable purposes)
This is just my 2 cents…take it for what it is worth:) Based off of FB James is getting a ton of votes…he is actually the only person coming close to Meryl at this point in the competition. He and Charlie were not the bottom 2- not even close. Although Charlie is not getting the amount of love that people think. He is not top 3 yet…So far that goes to Meryl, James, and Amy….Charlie is hovering in the 4 spot which is why i think he is getting hosed by the judeges (to start getting fans angry and vote for him, although be careful what you wish for- it worked against Shaun J in season 15). I think TPTB want Amy in the Semi’s but in the finals they want a Meryl vs Charlie…I think James will be in finals as well. These next 2 weeks we will see Danica and Candace go….I think Danica will go first but i haven’t seen the numbers yet for this week to say for sure. Again its all based on my facebook’ology…which hasn’t let me down in 4 seasons:)
@Judy – I wish I could share every single tidbit that Deep Throat feeds me each week – because some of them are quite telling. But I do have to keep some things under wraps, as they could reveal Deep Throat’s identity. That being said – I don’t know that anyone has specifically asked the other pros if they think this season “is set up for Maks”, but the pros do get asked kind of pointed, baited questions about some of the other pros, and it’s getting to the point where some of the pros are refusing to play along with it. Val & Sharna in particular are pretty vocal when it comes to not playing into baited questions – I think they’ve really been trying to play up the Chmerkovskiy vs. Chmerkovskiy storyline, and Val is getting really irritated with it, as he (understandably) doesn’t want to think of this season as solely about that. Sharna seems tired of everything being made out to be “Charlie vs. Meryl”. I don’t know that I really answered your question with that, Judy, but I can’t reveal a whole lot more – I can’t state with certainty that the other pros know that Maks is being set up to win, but I do think they see the writing is on the wall with some of the storyboarding and they’ve opted not to play into TPTB’s plans for the season. Does that make sense?
This was my least favorite episode of the season. The music was mostly terrible or distracting. Tired of the super-sized dances as well. Only a few have been used well.
Thought Ricky was a decent judge, very pleasant and at least he balanced out the wacky regular judges tonight.
Dances:
I hope Amy can continue. I thought they did a great job in the rumba and team dance and I can’t wait to see the Argentine Tango.
James & Peta’s outfits were so distracting and the song so annoying that I couldn’t concentrate on what they did. And that never happens to me. Peta’s costume was inappropriate to me and not even really relevant to the theme…….and I am not generally bothered by revealing costumes.
Yes she has an injury, but even with that considered, I really did not enjoy Danica’s dance still this week. Maybe Val was thinking too much about Zendaya this week (with the strange reference in his blog too) because that was a dance that would fit her not Danica IMO. Just too many little mistakes and too timid and not at all memorable, especially when Meryl & Maks did a similar type of performance but better.
Nene’s dance was terrible. Nothing more to be said, it was definitely her time to go, made so obvious tonight with her against the people left. Tony seemed to know too. Really kind of annoying how she just keeps singling out the ‘Olympians she was up against’ the whole time.
I thought Charlie & Sharna were wonderful with the song they were given. I feel for them. It is obvious story-boarding and I feel like that much producer-driven drama for the show is too much considering how much work these pros and celebs put in each week. The judges comments were so ridiculous (esp Len’s rude non constructive comment) that you knew it was written out for them to hose him somehow. Are they trying to rile fans up to vote for him to ensure the Meryl/Charlie finale showdown?? Nice to see the Meryl & Maks support of Charlie & Sharna too in the ridiculous scoring.
Candace was much improved this week. I found the music good but the lyrics a bit distracting honestly but I loved the costumes and thought she really did a great job.
Meryl & Maks were good but not special to me this week. Not worthy of a 39 to me. I could have used less troupe throughout the number. They had some great tricks but I just didn’t enjoy the number as a whole as much as some of their others. But she does great with whatever she is given.
I thought Team Vida has some really good choreo, they just had a lot of it and it was hard to sync, especially with Nene. I would have rather seen just Charlie and James and partners haha. Team Loca had a great concept and strategy, wish they would have all done it live with Amy. It wasn’t the most exciting winning Team Dance ever but it was good and deserved the win. Surprised they scored that much higher though than Vida, expected it to be closer.
Ooh good question Judy #19, I would be interested to know that too…..
So they are doing the side-by-side challenge next week but with celeb couples instead of pros? Could be interesting. And of course Charlie will be against Meryl. Looking forward to the variety of dances next week with no overlying theme.
Really not sure who is going to go, but I an going to guess either Candace or Danica. Depends which one has a more passionate fan base. I think James actually has a pretty passionate one, expect him to stay.
@Charlotte – I did notice a bit of a disparity in the length of some of the packages – I haven’t had time to actually go back and time it, but I always feel like Meryl & Maks’ packages are longer than everyone else’s. Charlie’s do seem short – or maybe like they just don’t show a whole lot of stuff of any consequence, so it just feels empty & short.
Well for those who wondered who the other mystery injured celeb I was referring to the other day was – go watch GMA.
When Meryl came out in that costume I immediately had a flashback to Hope and Maks Samba. He had her dressed in black lace thigh highs with a black hoochie mama dress.
Is this very trashy look his idea of sexy Latina wear? If I was a Latina I’d strangle him with the black fishnet stockings he so cherishes.
Quick question- what is Deep Throat?
Sorry if I’m a bit behind.
One other thing I have noticed Judy is that I am seeing alot of “this is Maks season, he deserves it after all this time, he has never won”…which is what alot of people said season 15 when Melissa won. Same thing- people thought Tony paid his dues and it was time for him to win instead of Derek. People get picky and change week to week but as of now that is what a TON of comments from the viewers feel.
So this week had four dances that I loved and the rest I just liked.
1)Meryl and Maks: What is really left to say? She was front and center and not only handled it well but looked like a fellow pro. I have to give Maks credit too. That choreography was killer in my opinion. Costume was interesting. It definitely screamed “fly girl” like you said but she worked it well. Never expected her to just nail that the way she did. Sidenote, out of the additional dancers, Artem seemed to really enjoy that dance the most.
2)James and Peta: So this dance….was something else. A well calculated risk on their part. I love when the pros take risks and given the video of “we are trying to keep it platonic….for now” was just hysterical. Clearly, they have crossed that bridge and do not want to admit it (I’m not a shipper but clearly people on tumblr are and they are loving that). The costume was a bit much but it looked great on her. My favorite part of the entire night was Erin interviewing them 🙂 This is why I love Erin.
3)Amy and Derek: Well, this was good but I really felt like it wasn’t the best dance we have seen from her but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. Oddly enough, my mother said Amy looked like she was in pain when they were getting interviewed by Brooke but for the life of me I cannot see where it happened. I hope she is ok and nails the next dance :).
4)Charlie and Sharna: This is not going to make me happy to say but I didn’t really love the song and the wobble was pretty unnoticeable but I think this was a case of the judges being pretty annoying with them yet again as well.
5) Candance and Mark: Well, now this was something. While I didn’t love it and feel like Mark could have added some more to that dance because she clearly can handle it, this was her breakout moment. I hope she keeps the momentum going. Sidenote, the sports psychologist…..nice move Mark. It definitely helped.
6)Danica and Val: It was cute. It was fun. It was overpacked. And for that I blame Val. She is such a fighter and did the choreography well but it seemed like she wasn’t uncomfortable with it but lets be honest here, she doesn’t exactly scream hip hop salsa….neither does Val for that matter. If it didn’t have the extra dancers, I might have enjoyed it better. And yet another dance where a extra dancer seemed to love it. This time Henry.
So I know she got eliminated but I also have to add this: Nene quite possibly had the best argentine tango Tony has ever choreographed. Figures he would get eliminated on the same week where he was at 100% chorography-wise.
But the team dances. I’ll start with team Meryl. It was fun, fast, and underscored (I’m looking at you Len!). The MVP in my opinion was Meryl but can we talk about the lift that Candance and Mark did. Wowza! Loved that! This week really showed she has become fearless. Also, while we all knew that Mark had the tattoos on his arm, my friend watched for the first time last night and he thought they were fake like Howard had in the Big Bang Theory (for all the BBT fans on this site, you know the episode lol). He is a tattoo artist nonetheless but now he wants to do the same thing. In short, the show just got another viewer not due to dancing but because he loved it so much. Had to share that one with you and even told him about this site (with his permission of course). Ok so the team Charlie. Obviously not the strongest dance of the two but definitely better than the team dance that Tony was part of last season. Nene was a hoot and James was great but Charlie stole that dance. Also the jump over the heads of Sharna, Nene, and Peta was pretty awesome. I know its a trick that is used pretty often but Tony jumping over Nene was pretty impressive.
Anyways, I think that the bottom three next week will be Charlie, Danica, and Candance. As for who goes home, let’s just say I won’t be shocked if Danica goes home but something tells me that James’ dance won’t be too well received so wouldn’t exactly be shocked if he was in the bottom three or went home too.
@Susan2 – I think that was actually Hope’s cha-cha to that trashy-ass Enrique Iglesias song, but I totally agree with you 😛 My coworker (who is actually half-Puerto Rican & half-Jamaican, so she had some interesting thoughts on both of the C-bros performances last night) actually thinks Val & Maks do these very “urban” outfits with their ladies in order to appear like they have “screet cred”. She also went on to say that she has never once worn wedge sneakers to do salsa, and that her abuela (grandmother) would have “thrown her in a convent” if she had caught her wearing short leather shorts like Meryl’s when she was younger. She cracks me up 😛
@Joanna – Deep Throat = our source behind-the-scenes at the show
Kristin (#28) that is one other reason Charlie NEEDS to make the finals. It gives us another pro that has never won. I really really feel like if Charlie & Sharna aren’t there, it is in the bag for Meryl & Maks a la All-Star season outcome. And Meryl is better than Melissa was which only makes this even more likely.
If Danica & Val make it, that honestly also could help, divide the C votes between the brothers who have never won.
Not trying to say I don’t think M&M deserve to win under any circumstances. I just don’t want them to win due to producer story-boarding or just because Maks has never won. I want them to really really earn it over the others. I know it doesn’t turn out that way all the time, but it still is my wish.
Firstly, I hope Amy is doing ok and will be back next week. My second thought with her is Carrie Ann’s comments. Either judge her like everyone else, or give her “special treatment.” I don’t care either way, but the back and forth is confusing.
Charlie I think is just a great spirit. I think Len not commenting on what he did not like was just annoying. As viewers we might not always agree with judging, but give constructive criticism. I do think that he was off a little. He just almost seems to be trying too hard. I like to see what other pros think, and it seems like Chelsie, Anna, etc think he is not quite there yet, but close. I would like liked all 9s with Ricky’s 10.
I know Meryl is always a hot topic. I agree they could have done with out the troupe. Maybe in just the first part of it would have been nice. However I still think she just makes it look easier than the others and that is why people tend to connect. Is it always 100% technically right, no, but she seems to do it with ease.
Overall the music was awful, I wish everyone was healthy, and the judges need to give better comments to help the dancers grow. I also wish we could have seen Team Loco do theirs live, I a sure it would have been fabulous. Those 4 guys together, it does not get much better than that.
Also Heidi do we know if trios will be back?
Here’s my two cents on each dance, and also a few predictions for next week.
Meryl/Maks – I liked their dance, but I think that, in this case, the troupe was a little too much. I agree that they are trying to use the troupe more, but there is good use, and then too much. Danica and Val’s Be Our Guest was good use. This was just too much. And Meryl’s costume was weird. I still think they are overscored a bit, but I would have been fine with one 10 or two. Next week is going to be really interesting with the rumba. The chemistry will certainly be there!
Charlie/Sharna – He just keeps getting underscored and it sucks. He has been doing so much better and I wish that he would finally get a perfect score. He really didn’t need to take his shirt off, but I totally didn’t object. *swoon*. I think next week could be a killer dance for him, as he is doing quickstep! Court, I was wrong about that. He has a lot of experience in terms of the quickstep, so it might be easier for him to pick up choreography. I just want to see him get a perfect score, and I hope he does!
I think that these two will be dancing together in the pair-up this week. I know that it is generally bad etiquette to say that they will dance together, and I know that it is not guaranteed that they will, but I mean, come on! This works best for everyone because of their schedules, their chemistry, their story… And by the way, since the first show I was thinking that they would do something like this and have two celebrities dance together so that M and C could dance together, and I was right! Yay! I really want to see this pairing happen. Very badly.
Danica and Val – She certainly seemed to not be able to do the dance as full out as possible. And I think that this showed in her team dance – her solo was a bit weak. At least we could see the X-ray so we know exactly what kind of break it was, and that could be very serious according to my mother. I didn’t really like her dance that much – cute and urban, but not her best.
Candace and Mark – This was a very strong dance for them. I loved her costume and hair, and she just seemed so much more confident, maybe because she already knew she was safe. I also think that it helped her that she had a commercial break between her package and her dance – the emotion was not as overwhelming. She is on an upswing!
Any and Derek – Oh, do I feel bad for her. That is such a bad injury! I hope she gets better. This dance was where Carrie Ann really annoyed me – you can’t be this inconsistent with her judging! Ugh! Also, I know some people had called her scores lowballed, but look at how lowballed Drew and Candace got when they went first – straight 7’s. At least she got 9’s.
James/Peta – This was a bit too sexy for me. They tried, but I just didn’t understand the costumes! Not their best. I had listened to the song beforehand, so I knew it would just be weird.
With these four, I’m not as sure who will dance with whom. I think it would be best for Amy to dance with Candace, as both Derek and Mark are familiar with Amy, but she could also dance with Danica, because she was on a team with her and Val. So I really don’t know.
I also wonder if James and Charlie will each dance with 2 females… It probably won’t happen, but it’s a thought.
In terms of the team dances, I think Team Loca did such a good job with their dance and working around each other. Team Vida definitely had more of a challenge. I really liked the package beforehand – it was funny and well-done, but a lot shorter than in prior years. I liked Team Loca’s dance a lot, and they made the small stage work!
I think it’s coincidental that we had been talking about Melissa and her injury here on Pure with regard to Danica, and then they talked about her on the show with regard to Amy.
@Courtney – Ah, OK. Thanks!
I was pretty okay with all of the scores last night except Charlie’s – he definitely deserved at least a 38 if not 39!! And maybe Candance should have been a solid 36 – booooo Carrie Ann! However, I really did love Meryl and Maks dance the best – I have already re-watched at least 10 times and I still don’t even notice the troupe so for me I thought their scores were very well-deserved. The other thing is I agree that Val and Sharna are definitely not playing into the producers storyline. I love how pointed Val’s tweet to Charlie and sharna was about how amazing their paso was- way to go Val! Finally, I think my favorite part of the night might have actually been when Maks was calling out all the pros for making it this far in the season and dealing with injuries and time constraints and all that and all the pros and celebs stood and clapped for each other- it just seemed in that moment as if this cast was really a family trying to stand against TPTB and their freaking agenda!
I agree with the paralel to seasons 14, but to me Meryl is Katherine, marching on top of the leaderboard, everyone having high expectations, dancing beautifully and having a very pleasant personality. Everyone expects her to win but I somehow expect her to fail at the last hurdle, expecially because many are complacent she will win.
To me this seasons William is James, the cute guy, from whoom people didnt expext much, yet he heas a nice personality and is a good dancer. But not that good. And I feel that with the exceptions of this week he was pushed just a bit more than his worth and does definitely have places to improve his dancing.
To me this seasons Donald is Charlie, the one with the sunny personality, who is not riding the high wave but does solid work, builds up fan base gradually and can very well surprise in the final…
The only upset I can see to this line up is Amy…. At the moment I can find very few reasons for her not to win. (except maybe if the injury will cause her problems). Not only her character is very pleasent but she has musicality, dances nicely, has a brilliant coreographer in Derek who knows how to play at each of his partners best, and on top of all this she has the standout touching story that will make everyone vote.
With Courtney’s tidbits ^ above, it sounds like TBTB have given Maks the best chance to win with all of the *good luck* he gets with song choices, dance styles, packages, etc. But so did Val and Zen & Kellie’s freestyle messed all that up… LOL! Charlie and/or Amy still have a great chance to win (they just need that turning point) and I still think that the audience is with Charlie. I’ve said before that if Amy leaves, Charlies gets all my votes.. and I have A LOT of votes to give Charlie. 😉 Always love your rankings Courtney, Thank you!
Forgot to add this before: What is exactly the deal with next week? Abbie Lee “I like to make children cry” is going to be there going to be one dancer per couple or two?
Amy & Derek: Such a lovely dance. Every week I just fall more and more in love with her movements. Her hip action was delicious (I sound like Bruno now..) I was hoping Ricky would at least throw one 10 in there because she deserved it. Not even going to say anything on Carrie Ann just that she needs to make up her damn mind. I also hope Amy is ok to dance next week. Can’t imagine how terrible she must have felt to miss the team dance. Her Argentine Tango should be FIRE. Can’t wait!
James & Peta: As I said last night, I wish I could say I liked this dance but it wasn’t my favorite of his. I just hope he gets the votes because he needs them. Very worried for him next week. Fingers crossed he is safe. Excited to see his Viennese Waltz.. think it could be a comeback dance for him.
Danica & Val: Well that was… bad. I am not sure why Val took the whole street dance approach because it certainly did not work. I am guessing her injury prevented her from getting loose and, well, dancing better. I have a feeling she will be the one going home next week but I am not entirely sure of that. We shall see..
Charlie & Sharna: Not much to say about it other than this dance was amazing and the judges are all full of ish.
Candace & Mark: Apart from the SUPER LONG and boring package, this dance was amazing. She really did an awesome job and I sae her confidence from week 1 yet again. I am guessing she will do very well in her Foxtrot next week. Hope she continues to be confident. All 9’s in my book.
Meryl & Maks: Yeah it was awesome but the backup dancers were too distracting. Did not like it because of that but surprise surprise, she did great.
Looking forward to everything next week EXCEPT Abby Lee Miller. Barf.
The thing is (and according to Val’s piece he wrote for Today) he thought he was the front runner- and he was according to the judges. They got all the scores and were #1, however on fb the fans really loved kellie. They related to her, liked her personality, and she kinda represented what most of the women who watch dwts like. Kellie kinda always represented the people and after her free style dance it really wasn’t even close- they all voted for her. The difference this go around is people do like Meryl and she is the best dancer and she has a pro that has never won….but the free style is key- that will be what seals it for her or not. For me personally Sharna is a much better choreographer than Maks…but only time will tell how everything will play out.
“the blatant pimping and obvious hosing of some couples vs. others is making me check out of this season just a little bit more with each passing week.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m out for Week 8
I think Meryl has completely bought into the Maks has never won and deserves it storyline. And I think with the out of control shipping on Twitter and Instagram, plus a little nudging from Maks, she’s now a willing participant in playing up the showmance to help him get there. Since Karina, Maks has kept his personal life a lot more private unless it’s for publicity (see Kate Upton). Or in this case, a shiny trophy.
I’ve heard from people who have met him that Maks is charming and a really nice guy. And as someone said in another thread, he totally immerses himself in his partners each season with a few rare exceptions. I’m sure it’s not difficult for someone like Meryl, who’s lived inside her little ice dancing bubble with Charlie for so long, to be taken in by the hot doting Ukrainian.
Thanks Court for the review. I always wait for these…
I wasn’t thrilled about the latin night, but for me the music choices ruined most of it. I liked Amy, Charlie, Danica and Meryl. The latter two I only liked because of the contrast between who I see them as being and the character they played in the dance.
On Meryl’s costume, I think they tried to stay close to the video of the song. If you search it on YT, Meryl’s costume is very similar to J. Lo’s. Plus, being a reggaeton kind of music, they couldn’t really go with a cutsie kind of summery outfit. I hated the music, so just accepted everything that came with it.
I have a question. Someone said in a previous post that the song for Charlie’s paso was Sharna’s choice. I can definitely see Sharna picking such edgy song, but I was just curious if there is any way of knowing his. Court, could you say anything about it? Thanks.
#44- Sharna made it sound on twitter like it wasn’t her choice…she said something to the effect that it is picked for them too. Not sure if it applied this week or not…check her Twitter though to confirm:)
I have heard this alluded to by Louis and other past celebs that some of the “pros” have help choreographing their dances. Any thoughts on who those “pros” are?
Also thoughts on the celeb duo for next week. Who do you think everyone will be paired with?
This is what irritates me about the “he’s never won before so he deserves to win now!” philosophy: it has NOTHING to do with merit. There’s no mention of being a good teacher or choreographer, and it should be based on how the celeb does – not the pro. So if you ascribe that same “let someone win that hasn’t won yet” philosophy to other parts of life…
*Then the Buffalo Bills should win Superbowl 2015.
*My 47-year-old neighbor should be Miss America 2015.
*Mitt Romney should be president.
*The kid who gets straight F’s should be valedictorian.
*I should win the lottery.
*The Indiana Pacers should win the NBA national championship. (I’m a Pacers fan and even I can’t get behind this one, the way they’ve been playing)
*Mama Spence should win this season of American Idol.
Feel free to come up with your own…but I think you get the idea.
Hated the music. There are so many Latin songs out there and that’s the best they could have come up with? Boring! oh well I’ve kind of given up on the music selection anyway. The dances were just okay. Maks and Meryl dance was just too much going on. I think the extra dancers at times overshadowed them. WTH with Peta. Somebody please tell Peta DWTS is not a VS show. What’s up with this over sexualization of her dances. Please go back to dancing like you did back in the season with Donald. Poor Charlie…sigh! The judges need someone to pick on and guess he’s it. I’m actually looking forward to Abby being a judge next week. Being a dance teacher she’ll be looking for both technique and performance and may be able to offer up some good points for the celebs.
@Cassie – They have had help before – sometimes they’ll bring in outside choreographers for dances they aren’t very familiar with (i.e. Derek with bhangra in season 15, Maks with contemporary in season 10), or they just need an assist with regular choreography (Cheryl has been known to utilize Wendy Johnson). And I’ll wait till my next post to talk about the celeb duo…still gathering intel 😉
Courtney- I am glad you posted that. Louis Van Amstel wrote on his FB page at the start of the season something to the effect of “wonder if they will ever show the pros who need help choreographing or who choreographs their own routines and who doesn’t”. After some further digging I was told that 2 or 3 of the pros this season alone almost never choreograph their routines- or they get ALOT of help to be kind. Curious as to who they were……things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm.
To whoever was asking about dress rehearsal – no there is not an audience in dress rehearsal, but there are definitely a good number of crew members watching. I haven’t seen the broadcast, but if they showed a full audience watching and clapping, then they were actually cutting to the audience from the live show.
Speaking of which, I got to see the show live last night – and the performance Team Loca gave us was just great and got HUGE applause. It was really cool to see Derek dancing with an invisible Amy exactly as he would if she was actually there, including every face he made. It was pretty awesome to see.
I’m pretty sure maks had Meryl watch the adrenalina music video over and over. Not only did her outfit kinda resemble JLO’s. But so did some of the moves. As a Latina myself, I wasn’t too crazy about her outfit. Although It looks better on jlo lol. I giggled at the chola comment tho lol. They’re still my pick to win either way. And I feel bad for Charlie. They’re really sh*tting on him this season. Latin night was kinda meh. Couldve been better.
Thanks Courtney!! I was just wondering if some pros used outside choreographers all the time. Totally makes sense for certain styles that they do not know.
Can’t wait to see the info you get on the duel 🙂
If “supersizing” is an option for every dance, that should be stated. I think it’s ridiculous, I don’t like it at all, and it pisses me off that it hasn’t been mentioned one way or the other. When supersizing was first announced, I specifically remember Tom saying other dancers could be included. That was part of what “supersizing” meant. When did that change? I understand using people to set a scene for something, but they should remain part of the scenery, not become an ensemble cast. I shudder to think what those currently using these ensembles will do if they get the opportunity to supersize a freestyle.
It was interesting watching the teams being chosen. I will never understand Charlie picking NeNe, but as with James, maybe he had some kind of connection for whatever reason. Team Vida has a really good spirit about it, but it was awfully sloppy. Team Loca was as excellent as it should have been. Maybe the first time ever I liked something that Val said, translating the male pros into a roster of basketball stars. For Val, that’s Magnanimity (with a capital “M”). They did a move in the latter part, all lined up, took one step over and then one step down which for some reason made my eyes pop. I absolutely loved it. Excellent, excellent dance.
And Charlie. Poor Charlie, really. The thing is, it’s so blatant. Here he comes off a certainly creditable Paso, and the judges (not Ricky) are sort of hanging their heads, Len basically says “No soup for you!” and CarrieAnn delivers some made up blather. It’s like a caricature. I would love for Derek to have a talk with Charlie. He’s got to let the scores thing go because this is not like skating. There is not a list of elements, which if done well enough, will result in a particular score. This is not that, and Charlie needs to take a different approach. If he hasn’t already seen them, he should watch Derek’s trio with Shawn, and also the one with Kellie. It’s got to help to see this guy you so admire getting scorched by the judges, yet still smiling, and still sure of the performance he gave. He’s got to give up the idea of trying to give the judges what they want, and focus on giving a performance he’ll want to go back and look at on You Tube years and years from now.
I really hope that they post online somewhere the Team Loca dance that was done before the live audience. Annie Barrett also commented (she was in the audience too) that is was great.
Also, kind of off point, but she mentioned that Juan Pablo (from Bachelor fame) was in the audience. Please tell me he is not in the running for next season….
Agreed Courtney (47). Celebs shouldn’t be dismissed just because their pros have won before. Each celeb has never won before and they are all working hard for it.
Buttercup (51). Awesome….I wish the show would post a video…..would love to see what the audience saw of team Loca live!
They way they’re treating Sharna and Charlie reminds me a lot of how they often treat Karina and her partners.
I do appreciate what I learn about DWTS at this site, but I have sort of a different take on what TPTB had originally planned for an outcome. I think that rather than planning for a Maks win, it seemed to me that they were setting him up for a near miss (and hoping for fireworks to ensue.) As a long time fan of Meryl and Charlie, I was pretty sure Meryl would be a good dancer, but I did not think she had the personality for this program. I thought outgoing Charlie would do better; I underestimated her.
It seems to me that by underscoring Charlie now, they are drawing skating fans’ votes to him, at her expense. I do worry that this will hinder her chances for victory. Also I think the judges will suddenly change favorites soon.
Even if she does not win, it does make me happy to see her having fun as she learns new skills. I thought she showed real joy while dancing the salsa yesterday.
Well, what can I say? The competition is certainly heating up (especially now that almost all of the noticeably weaker dancers are now gone with Nene’s elimination)!
I was surprised at (no particular order):
-Amy’s fantastic rumba. I was concerned about hip action and technique but she did so well! I hope her injury doesn’t jeopardize the rest of the competition for her!
-Charlie taking off the shirt. err jacket. lol – I thought this would never happen because it’s not in his style at all (he posed shirt open once for a magazine and it looked very uncomfortable)!
-Candace’s AT was pretty darn good! To me, she is one of the celebrities with the best growth dancing wise.
-James. He seems to have hit a high with his “let it go” contemporary, and now he’s kind of meh now. (btw, what the hell was Peta wearing?!?!)
-Meryl’s salsa. I think salsa and latin isn’t her forte, but I was thoroughly entertained by this dance and she did well. Her costume was not so good, but it fits with the music and the theme (especially if you look at the music video, the dance looked straight out of there)
-The number of injuries! Danica, Amy, Charlie (knee?), and apparently now Meryl (but she isn’t talking about it?)? Please stay healthy and injury free!
Finally got around to watching all the dances. I’m trying to understand why people praise Maks as a dancer, to me he doesn’t seem as sharp as other pros, Val is so much better. Back on point, I hate it with a passion when the women were sneakers, the transitions never look good and that’s what happened with Meryl’s salsa, also the spins looked difficult as well and she had her legs bent.
Candice was awesome, her best dance. Mark always choreographs great AT.
What theiy are doing to Charlie is damn right infuriating and frustrating especially bc Sharna’s choreo is so much stronger than what Maks produces. I don t believe for one minute he was in jeopardy.
I loved the beginning of Danica’s dance, the music was difficult for a salsa, Val pun in some sexy touches here and there that were so fun, unfortunately she lost herself somewhere bc the dance seemed so slow by the end.
It is hard to comment on James bc I couldn’t get past the hideous outfits. I’m no prude and I think if your body is as perfect as Peta’s, hell yeah, you should show it off but tonight they were uncomfortable to watch.
Amy and Derek were lovely.
Team dances:
Aww, look at Maks and Val finally wining something on DWTS. I know that was mean, I just couldn’t help it.
Team Vida was actually better than I expected but
Team Loca was better. I must say how many times is Mark gonna use the same move (both of them on their knees shaking their shoulders)??? We get it, you like it Mark but get over it already.
Courtney #47 you never fail to bring a smile to my face. How true! This is about the celeb, people not the pro!!
I loved Amy & Derek’s rhumba. Sensual, sexy not over the top. I hope she is okay and able to do the AT next week.
I agree with the comments regarding Charlie – what is with the 3 stooges? If they are going to lowball at least give them some constructive criticism.
I’m still hoping for a Meryl, Charlie, Amy, James final.
Buttercup 51 can i ask you something how did the guys ended ip shirtless because in what we saw they kept their jackets on
I personnaly dont like the fact that some pros bring outside choregrapher i dont find it fair except if its for a style who is not ballroom its okay and i prefer they would show us they brought the choregrapher like derek karina peta for season 15 or maks season 10
Amazing job courtney as always
This season im torn between amy and charlie so i dont vote im actually okay with everyone except meryl she annoys me
I misread @Courtney’s comment #49 as ‘Cheryl has been known to utilize Wendy Williams’. I was honestly quite scared. 😀
An interesting point here: on the show’s website:
* The cover picture for the episode is James & Peta’s samba, so obviously TPTB are HORRIFIED by it. 🙂
* Thumb on the scale much? This week, the ONLY individual dance added so far is Meryl’s salsa. They might add more, but it doesn’t seem likely.
@ #50, Kristin – I heard either Karina or Peta say that Karina choreographed Peta’s and Donald’s freestyle. Can’t remember which one of them said it, but I definitely remember hearing it said.
Thanks Courtney. Appreciate you can’t give too much up so that your source is protected. It was more if the other pros find Maks self-satisfied in the knowledge he feels he is going to win and how that must feel when you are plugging along doing your best for your celeb. However, perhaps the pros don’t talk about each other to other sources. They probably just live in hope the voters can actually decide the outcome. If Charlie, Amy or James win this thing it will feel much less a set up.
After finally getting to watch Charlie’s full rehearsal package I’m thinking the judges went into his performance with their noses bent out of joint. To blatantly be talking about getting 10’s in the entire package? It’s so opposite of the way Charlie started the season (and how he & Meryl spent their skating career) by simply going out and giving the performance absolutely everything in you and being satisfied that you’d done all you could do, to the best of your ability and then letting the scores fall where they may.
Len just looked like a sourpuss with his none criticism criticism, Bruno was actually the bluntest I’ve ever seen him in pointing out mistakes and Carrie Ann said exactly what I expected her too about his fluid lines and softening the edges (because she’s mentioned something similar in a blog) but I, for one, could actually SEE him being more deliberate in his movements.
The only one who WASN’T on that same page, judge-wise, was Ricky Martin, who frankly looked a bit dumbfounded after listening to the critiques from the others. You could tell (or at least it seemed so to me), that he really thought that routine was powerful and intense and he left himself be carried away by it.
It’s ironic that even when this couple can squeeze a 10 out of someone the STILL ended up with a 36. It’s almost comical.
I know I said previously that I thought James would go this week and not be able to outlast NeNe but I guess those Big Time Rush fans proved me wrong. I’m not entirely sure if he was actually in jeopardy or not but I still stand by my original statement that he won’t be anywhere near the finale.
He has ballroom again next week, and he has been weak in ballroom all season. Plus, one of the mods commented here that it might be more of a contemporary routine considering the song so I don’t expect the judges to score high. Len will probably be the most picky about it if it isn’t a legit VWaltz. Then he has the dance with Amy & Derek which looks nice on paper but who knows what condition Amy will be in physically come Monday and it isn’t like the judges have been as enamored with her as they have with others who I shall not name at the moment.
But that’s all next week’s dances. The question is- can James even survive the night? He is towards the bottom of the scoring and he would need to surpass at the very least, Candace and/or Danica to survive. I just don’t see it happening.
I still say you could pretty much bet on a Meryl/Charlie/Amy/Danica finale.
Just a question of pure curiosity, Dave: why do you only ever talk about James?
Courtney – I missed GMA – who was the previously injured celeb? If you can share it now.
I was also wondering the same thing about our resident James “fan”, Courtney.
This season, in my opinion, has had the best six celeb. dancers make it to the top six – that doesn’t always happen by a long shot.
I feel for Amy as one who has back problems, and I envy those my age who don’t and those who are young and haven’t experienced any yet. I once reached for a shirt on a hanger in a closet and wound up losing a week of work. It’s impossible to tell when something like that can happen or what will set it off. Let’s hope Amy can come back strong.
As for CAI in her self-appointed role as “Lift police” – her inconsistency is grating! Yes, in a twirl Amy’s foot came off the floor. Yet in James and Peta’s dance right afterward Peta’s foot also came up in the last twirl right at the end of the dance, right in front of the judges, and no mention whatsoever.
@Angie, I agree. I mean Charlie’s attitude this week is like the opposite of the relaxed, happy one he’s had for the past weeks. I feel like saying in the package that they’re going for 10s, the judges were kind of hyper aware of mistakes and out nitpicking for errors perhaps even more than usual. Charlie’s paso wasn’t perfect, but I feel like he could have gotten a higher score if the judges weren’t almost more critical than usual (if that’s possible…).
I think Charlie this week was a little bit caught up in getting those 10s. He seemed to be thinking a little too much during the performance to me. Hope quickstep is better for him!!
I share most of the sentiments about Charlie. However, as a mere viewer, I do see that some of his performances are not quite there. I wonder if what I’m noticing at this point is a growing lack of confidence. While Sharna’s choreo is great and difficult, I question that it is showcasing his strengths. He has a beautiful combination of artistry and athleticism which prompted the Baryshnikov comparison week 1. I feel like he’s desperate for someone to give him helpful feedback! I also can’t help but wonder if Derek or maybe Karina were able to teach him for a few days, he might have a breakthrough. I’m voting for him because I also secretly hope that this might be a Nicole Scherzinger phenomenon. The judges, especially Len, did not give her a break until toward the end.
I also share in the admiration for Amy’s awesome rumba! And while I get CAI trying to be fair, Derek is doing an unbelievable job and should not listen to her. 🙂
I’m a bit confused on the whole celeb duo thing–so is it going to be like a side by side?
Some quick thoughts on last night’s show….
One thing, it’s always entertaining. Last night as a whole, wasn’t as entertaining in a good way as it has been before.
About Charlie and Sharna…. I think it’s about time to get a good twitter hashtag trending… #befairtocharlieorweriot TPTB and the judges have a LOT of VERY angry people on their hands thanks to their shenanigans. Unfortunately, I don’t see any of the 3 easing up on Charlie and Sharna at all. Wish I could be optimistic that things will be better, but I can’t. Charlie and Sharna just happen to be the Victims of Season 18.
Glad to see Old Maks pop in for a bit last night, he was P-I-S-S-E-D! at the judges on Charlie and Sharna’s behalf.
Wish Sharna was caught on camera during her little rant last night… I know she said to JC from AfterBuzz that it was off camera, but maybe one did catch it?
And yes, their packages are always shorter, OTRC mentions it, he seems apparently to time all of the packages, and I’m pretty sure he said that Charlie and Sharna always get a shorter package.
From what I heard from post show interviews, next week’s new thing sounds interesting…. Just wish they could FULLY THINK THINGS OUT before announcing it. And if you are going to make the cast talk about this “wonderful new thing we’re trying,” could you at least tell them how it’s going to work, and make sure they understand it? Or, is PREPLANNING ANYTHING too much like work?
I did not watch last night’s show yet, but I really feel bad for Meryl, she is such a sweetheart, and works very hard, producers manipulation is no reflection on her work, talent and dancing.
I know your issue is with TPTB, Courtney, not Meryl, I am just venting a little out of frustration. I am no fan of Maks, but I love Meryl, she seems like a truly wonderful person.
One other thought, maybe producers are doing everything for Maks/Meryl secretly hoping (or knowing how much they can really do) that they would not win anyway, but Maks will never be able to accuse them of favoring anybody else in any way, shape or form. Maybe they are trying to prove a point to Maks in their own way. Just a thought.
@Danna_luliana #60:
I personally don’t mind it when Mark uses this one move over and over again. Some other choreographers have signature moves – Maks has periods of complete stillness, Sonya Tayeh has this really weird walking thing she does in a deep plié in second, etc. it’s kind of like a signature move. So this is Mark’s signature.
@Vic, if you go to the post-show media post, there’s a link to the OTRC videos from last night. It seems that no one really knows how it’ll work, but they all know who they will be with, and only James and Peta spilled the beans, and they weren’t supposed to say anything.
From those, I THINK each couple is going to be teamed with another couple, and the 4 will dance for ONE score. And sometime during the dance, it sounds like the pros will leave the floor and the 2 celebrities will dance together.
Based on what they said in those videos, and Meryl and Charlie’s travel needs, I THINK I can make an educated guess to the three teams, but will wait and see what PH and C post later in the week.
I wonder how the determined the pairings. Will definitely be interesting. One note, Charlie and Meryl on have shows Saturday and Sunday this week so I assume they will be in LA most of this week.
Ah, okay–thanks Lori! Your guess is as good as mine haha! Wow, that seems interesting though, especially the bit about the two celebrities dancing together…Hmm. I better go watch those videos! 🙂
Having never watched dwts prior to this season, I don’t have any past history to put into perspective what I am observing. Because of this I have taken to perusing sites such as yours (which I must compliment you on) on the recommendation of a friend, to ascertain how much of this show is scripted. The numerous remarks in reference to previous seasons that bear uncanny resemblance to the here & now tells me the primary aspect of this show is ratings with entertainment next in line and dance being the prodigal child….Initially I found the program very entertaining and enjoyable and the surprising unusually high skill level of the participants a joy to watch. They possessed presence and charm, wit and enthusiasm. However, it has now degenerated (in my humble opinion) to a soap opera with all its pseudo emoting and acting out; the dance portion has become a mere sidebar & the spotlighting of the dance totally overwhelmed with extraneous distractions detracting from the focus on the couple dancing. Derek’s choreography embracing Amy’s unique requirements is astonishing & their execution commendable but the total waving of rules of dance certainly is not fair to the other constituents (perhaps having them as a unique inspiring production rather than a contestant would have been better), the ice dancers have elevated the bar to a challenging level (visually they are stunning) performance wise (Meryl’s technique superb) Charlie ( with enough time & training would be a pro no question and even now at times could pass for one – undoubtedly he is an entertainer with more than adequate credentials even now – his programs have been in most instances extremely challenging & with the time constraint his execution superb) and yes I do believe he is working through a disadvantage – his knee is a problem – care needs to be taken or he will find himself on crutches and/or arthroscopic surgery. The stance necessary for all these years to be the foundation for his partner on ice is totally contrary to that needed in dance & is a definite jolt to the skeletal joints. James an entertainer of a different sort, his dance quality improving adequately, Candace and Danika have all the traits of already being dancers & they should improve incrementally each week –
The choice of music which I was told was either assigned or chosen from a list made available has been abominable (a few have benefitted from proper music genre most have had to deal with totally inappropriate choices & I congratulate the choreographers in their creativeness in dealing with this. I have nothing vested in this other than loving anything that promotes the art of choreography (whether it be on stage, ice, tv, or public streets. It would be sad to lose a venue that promotes my self indulgent obsession but the antipathy and negativity and the harsh presumptuous disrespect displayed scripted or otherwise is totally ruining it for me and I’m afraid for many other first timers who tuned in only to see what started out as a promising enjoyable production go south. As they say they may have “jumped the shark” with this programming; perhaps there is time in salvaging it and putting it back on track. NOTE: aesthetic blond cherubian good natured young men can be just as dynamically sensuous as brooding Rudolph Valentino types – the story is told through the dance, that should be the focus, the posture, the holds, the footwork, the movement that interpret the musicality of the score….but perhaps I am a throwback to different times and values
The comments being made about outside cheographers helping out Could Maks and Meryl be getting Help from her ice dancing Cheographer lately? I know some are saying he copied a music video of JLo’s too He will never be as good as Derek and he knows it so who knows?? I think Sharna is doing a great job and I don’t blame her and Charlie for being upset I just hope they keep on trying I am hoping and praying for a miracle but I do see the writing on the wall I hope Amy will be able to dance she has been so inspiring but also underscored at times
I think and hope Charles and Meryl and Danica make the finals because then the fam’s votes would be split and Charlie would have a chance to win Am I dreaming again? Lol!
I tried to post during the show, but kept getting errors. The weather down here was not very stable to say the least.
I wanted to say I didn’t like the big clunky shoes Meryl was wearing. IMO it made her legs look wonky. Didn’t like Danica’s pink sneakers either.
Loved Amy & Candace. Really liking Mark this season.
Poor Charlie. Len was a *******.
New here, hi everyone. Last night I thought immediately that what we saw with Charlie was manipulated (even more than the usual). I didn’t believe for a minute he would go to Meryl – on camera, no less – to ask “how do I get a 10?” nor do I believe that he wants them as badly as the package made it seem. It reeked of being scripted and the more I think about it the more I feel badly for everyone involved. It’s more than just being thrown under the bus, it’s priming him beforehand! Sad, and a bit disrespectful, too, IMO. If it were me, my spirits would be down because of that, more than the actual scores themselves.
I’ve been thinking about Charlie and Meryl and what the differences are in their dance styles.
Meryl is more a cat dancer and Charlie is more of a dog dancer.
Cats are fastidious, dignified, sometimes aloof animals. Dogs are gregarious, ebullient and generally sunny animals.
Translating that to dancers I’ll use the example of former partners Karina and Slavik. Karina is a dog dancer and Slavik is a cat dancer.
With Meryl what you see in her dancing is a very professional and correct way of moving. Everything is perfectly placed and executed. A cat. Because cats are perfect, so says Misha, the tortie currently doing my keyboard a huge favor by deigning to lay across it.
Charlie has so much energy and momentum in his movements that it sometimes throws him off a bit, but it really makes it thrilling and fun to watch him. He’s like that Labrador that accidentally knocks you off your balance just because he’s so darn happy and excited to see you. This isn’t to say that Charlie lacks technique, he has great technique, it’s just that his very likability makes it easy to overlook it.
One is not necessarily better than the other, they’re just different.
For myself, I would like to see Meryl just let go and get crazy. Everything seems so orchestrated and choreographed from her, even the throw away or seemingly spontaneous movements.
Charlie could reign in his exuberance just a tad in order to make his movements a bit cleaner. But not too much, otherwise he wouldn’t be Charlie.
Full disclosure. We have 5 cats. The last three are strays we took in because we’re the biggest suckas in the neighborhood. I grew up with tons of family dogs though.
Did not like the opening number. In my opinion, they haven’t been as good as they were in the beginning of the season.
Amy/Derek – Another beautiful dance. They are just wonderful together.
James/Peta – They are more likable together than I thought they would have been when I heard they were a pair. BUT, Peta, please put on some clothes. You have a great body, we all get that, but I don’t need to watch you dancing in your underwear.
Danica/Val – Didn’t like it. At all. I can’t imagine being able to move like that with a broken rib. I’m sorry if that’s cynical, but I think they were going for the sympathy vote. And Danica really needs to stop crying. She’s cried in her package every single week.
Charlie/Sharna – I liked the dance. I don’t understand what the judges have against him. Oh yeah, they have to ensure a win for Maks.
Candace/Mark – So nice to see her confidence come back a bit. I like watching them dance.
Meryl/Maks – I don’t think it deserved at 39 but TPTB want to make sure she stays on top of the leaderboard. It’s getting so blatantly obvious what they’re doing. I have nothing against Meryl, but at this point, I don’t want to see her win. She’s being shoved front and center all the time, and it’s old. And it’s always at the expense of at least one (Charlie) other celeb.
Team Vida – A good dance, but I didn’t like the way NeNe was front and center so much.
Team Loca – All I can is WOW!
I’m thinking the bottom three next week will be Danica, James and probably Candace. Unfortunately, I think Candace will be in jeopardy every week until she leaves. If it is those three, I’m hoping Danica is the one to go.
Did not like the opening number. In my opinion, they haven’t been as good as they were in the beginning of the season.
Amy/Derek – Another beautiful dance. They are just wonderful together.
James/Peta – They are more likable together than I thought they would have been when I heard they were a pair. BUT, Peta, please put on some clothes. You have a great body, we all get that, but I don’t need to watch you dancing in your underwear.
Danica/Val – Didn’t like it. At all. I can’t imagine being able to move like that with a broken rib. I’m sorry if that’s cynical, but I think they were going for the sympathy vote. And Danica really needs to stop crying. She’s cried in her package every single week.
Charlie/Sharna – I liked the dance. I don’t understand what the judges have against him. Oh yeah, they have to ensure a win for Maks.
Candace/Mark – So nice to see her confidence come back a bit. I like watching them dance.
Meryl/Maks – I don’t think it deserved at 39 but TPTB want to make sure she stays on top of the leaderboard. It’s getting so blatantly obvious what they’re doing. I have nothing against Meryl, but at this point, I don’t want to see her win. She’s being shoved front and center all the time, and it’s old. And it’s always at the expense of at least one (Charlie) other celeb.
Team Vida – It was ok. I didn’t like the way NeNe was front and center so much. And she always seemed to be slower than everyone else. It was very obvious from that dance that she is not at the level the rest of them are.
Team Loca – All I can is WOW!
I’m glad NeNe, and Tony, are gone. She should have left last week.
I’m thinking the bottom three next week will be Danica, James and probably Candace. Unfortunately, I think Candace will be in jeopardy every week until she leaves. If it is those three, I’m hoping Danica is the one to go.
Sorry for the double post! I don’t know what’s going on with my computer.
Maybe Sharna should not make the choreo so challenging and trying to pack in with so much content. It doesn’t seem to be working to their advantage. Focus on making the choreo more emotional with feeling. Charlie can learn the routine then spend more time on the emotional connection like they did in their first two weeks. Plus charlie has less time to practice these days.
For instance, Sharna didn’t really need to put in so much cane/umbrella choreo in the Disney routine. It was just too much. It was awesome without that second portion where he dropped the cane. It’s the same advice that I would’ve given Charlie’s team dance. They tried to put so much content (more than Meryl’s team) but didn’t focus on the finesse and emotion.
I also don’t understand why TPTB is doing everything to discourage his spirit and burn his ass in the competition. Len acted like he was mad and annoyed at them. What was that about? The producers gave him crappy non Latin music this week and the rehearsal packages are shortened and don’t have any emotional connection to the viewing audience.
Any word on how Amy is? Or how Charlie’s knee is doing?? I don’t really care about Danica’s rib.
I am so glad I decided to mute all judging last night. I would have killed a b**** if I heard Len acting like that.
My order
1) Charlie and Sharna – I tend to like Sytycd more even though they still like to pimp out certain dancers too and Mary Murphy would have lost her crap over that paso. She screams a lot but Mary does a better job with judging based off facts and nott whatever Carrie Ann uses….
2) Maks and Meryl – with all respect to the troupe but they were awesome….: but I agree, unnecessary and not any better then Charlie and sharna.
3) Amy and Derek – that was my favorite dance of hers! And that’s all I’ve got
4) Candace and Mark – all of last nights garbage was worth it in order to see Candace do her best! She does have a disadvantage to nene because she hasn’t ever had to perform like this!
5) Val and Danica – i don’t really understand why y’all think she was milking the injury. That was her story of the week and she told it. They asked her questions…. I mean obviously it’s going to be less then Amy’s but I don’t think that means she’s trying to pimp herself out. If anyone else got hurt, and it ended up being a part of their week…. They’d mention that too. Whatever
6) James and PETA – ok, this dance was trashy. I’m not a prude but seriously. I realize their song didn’t help them out but still – I couldn’t even watch the dance, I kept expecting someone’s outfit to slip – James and petas!
I love nene but it was her time. And I was surprised nay nay didn’t come out sooner
Haha, Susan2 #85. I am Team Dog!
Charlie’s knee, Amy’s back, Danica’s rib, Candace’s stage fright anxiety attacks and I just read that Tony said on GMA that Meryl broke her toe when she was with Val?? Geez! Please, no more injuries!!
Anyone else feel that this season is wearing on everyone?! Even the Meryl/Maks chemistry is getting old. The scoring is so uneven, the music was not right last night and I don’t like those chunky wedge sneakers either!
Candace has improved, but is still not comfortable with the whole premise of the show. Danica is in pain, Amy got hurt and even Charlie tweaked his knee! James took the rumba too far. At least Nene is out of her (our) misery.
I hope the fun is back next week. It’s my favorite show and I look forward all week.
Yes indeed, Team Dog as well. 😉
That is how I feel when I watch them ice dance. Meryl looks and skates like a delicate thing and her emotions are very welll marked and dramatic. Charlie skates wuth abandon and raw grace that is truly a delight to watch. He zooms in and out of the ice and you can just feel the energy from him.
I think his exuberance is much more limited on the floor and that is where Meryl shines with her precise movements.
Meryl is a very good dancer and is probably better than Charlie which he freely admits but I find that I’d rather watch him dance.
I just love your posts on this each week Courtney. You always say what I am thinking. Other than that I think I commented enough last night and will be quiet today. I will say this though. I know lots of people who just watch and vote. Their perspective is interesting because most of them are very frustrated with the pimping going on and are in the Charlie and Amy camp. I really think this is going to slap TPTB in their face. I think a lot of viewers have not forgotten the Melissa vs. Shawn win. Many say they didn’t expect that and vote now to insure it doesn’t happen again. Just saying….
I still subscribe to the demographic concept and that the bulk of the viewers are over age 45. They will vote for Danica and Candace because they watched them with their kids, just as I did. James Maslow though he is a good dancer will go next as even though he has a lot of fans, the bulk of them are between 10-14 or are their parents, 30-40. Just my thoughts.
@#85 Susan2 I appreciate and totally understand the cat/dog analogy. You are absolutely on point!
@#Tracy Believe me, the idea that all of James’ fans are 10 – 40 is very very wrong! You would be amazed at the huge age range of ‘Rushers’ have you never heard of ‘Cougar Rushers’? And on his Parade Blog he says that production wanted them to push their performance til it was ‘almost indecent’ I do think he is in danger for next week, but it does seem like they are pushing for Meryl and Maks to win and lots of those 45’s and overs are voting purely for the pro to win and not the celeb.
Whoops! I meant 10 – 14!!!
Team Vida might not be as cohesive as Team Loca but I thought they were all having so much fun together and it is fun as a whole. The weak part is Nene – she is very slow and can not keep up with the rest. If Tony had a better partner it would have been really good. I thought they were scored really low. James and Charlie were good especially Charlie and Sharna. Boo to the judges.
I agree with Courtney #47 We should be voting on the celeb & not the pro. I’m glad you mentioned that because it really bothers me when people say that Derek has won 5 times & it’s time for someone else to win. He may have won 5 times, but they were with different celebs.
It’s all about how the Celeb does.
Glad James and Peta spilled the beans–why not only team without something going on this week (besides her outfit of course) so I guess giving up the pairs dance was their thing. Yes, the bib thing on his pants was annoying me but had no issue with waist level of his pants 🙂
Although not voting for Charlie currently I am frustrated by what I am seeing and I will be sure to be throwing him all my votes once James is gone. This hosing of Charlie may end up backfiring on them or maybe that is the intent in the first place?
Glad to see folks are starting to give some relevance to James fanbase in that they are doing ALOT more than Cody’s. I said it from the beginning his fanbase is not the same as Cody’s –BTR has a very different type of fandom. Having his band there last night hopefully only increased the power of them voting.
You know I am part of that demographic that grew up with Full House and Wonders years which folks on here keep saying would be voting for Danica and Candance–but I’m not–yes loved full house but never enjoyed Candance found her quite annoying and Danica was kind of irrelevant…My growing up on those shows is not drawing me to vote for them. Guess I’m the odd one of that demographic.
Well with as odd and overloaded with nonsense as this week was hopefully next week can only get better.
Well wishes to Amy!!
Finally got to watch the show and I have to say it wasn’t one of my favorites.
This weeks show should have been monitored by parents first before allowing children to watch. James and Peta were vulgar and gross, and I was waiting for one of the men on the show to have a wardrobe (or lack of) malfunction in the lower end. Jeez, put some clothes on!
And I, like Courtney, seem to be checking out more and more each week.
Poor Charlie my heart breaks for him and Sharna. I hope they can stay strong and make it to the finals.
I swear if Maks wins this season…
This is weird, but the latin night episode record Dancing with the STars Season 1’s highest ratings so far this season, with 15.88 million viewers, which is 0.44 million higher than the premiere. Take that how you will, but it’s pretty impressive.
@ Charlotte I would take into account that Ricky Martin and BTR was there. Fan girls love them some BTR.
Kristen, you have to remember that the judges scores count For half and viewer votes, as possibly represented by Facebook, count for the other half. So while James might be in the first place on the Facebook votes he could easily be in fourth place when you add the two parts together.
Yeah, remember the whole context of when this happened last time. Poor Tony, poor tony, poor tony …Then Derek wins the next two seasons 🙂
I love how James is deflecting attention to the producers for their choice of dress or lack thereof. Everyone makes their own choices in life. Criticism or praise , own it. You chose to do it.
I really hope Amy will be alright with the dislocated rib. I really want to see her in the finals along with Meryl and Charlie and Danica over James. I really like Candace and wouldn’t be upset if she got to the finals but I don’t think her dancing warrants it over Danica but things can change.
@ Ashley which interview was that? The ones I just watched he owned it that he and Peta came up with the idea.
@Kim
It’s from Parade that posted a few hours ago. I don’t think we’re allowed to include links but if I think if you google James’ name it comes up. Here’s a quote from part of the interview where he says the producers wanted them to be so sexy as to be controversial.
“some people said it might have been a little too sexy last night, but producers wanted us to take it to a place where it was so sexy it was almost controversial. Ultimately, it worked well with the night’s theme.”
James also said that he had to take his shirt off because if he didn’t he would’ve been the only guy last night that didn’t. Gasp!
I don’t dislike James. Just over him.
@ Ashley thanks! will have to go check it out. On his live red carpet or access interview after the show he said it was Peta and his idea. Hmmmm very interesting.
Well everyone did seem to not wear a shirt at some point last night. LOL
Odd odd night.
@Kim
Well, they could’ve said no thanks to the producers so in the end they did choose it. It may be that James’ -the producers made us do it- type of reply came after the interview your talking about when they saw all the negative feedback.
But onto next week. They have Derek to choreograph for the couples dance so they should do great.
Thank you Court for a wonderful, interesting post!
Amy &Derek: A sensuous, beautifully executed dance; I loved it!
James& Peta: I guess it was an OK dance but it just looked like soft porn to me with her red underwear and it really wasn’t necessary. And James’ pants looked like they were going to fall down any second. What happened to beautiful, tasteful costuming, anyway?
Danica & Val: OK I guess, but left me cold.
Charlie& Sharna: I just love Charlie’s enthusiasm and exuberance, and I really enjoy watching him dance. He seemed like he was working a tad too hard last night or maybe he’s just tired from all the SOI performances. He has a lot of talent but I was appalled at the scores he got, especially from dour Len. WTF? Its a travesty.
Candace & Mark: Loved their dance and she really stepped it up. Good for her!
Meryl &Maks: What the heck was that? Her costume was unattractive, there were too many distracting pros in the dance so it was hard to watch her, and her hair was a mess. She danced great but I thought it was in spite of everything else. Sickening how she gets all the top scores and poor Charlie gets hosed.
Team Vida: OK dance but not in sync. Glad Nene left.
Team Loca: Phenomenal!!
And, I can’t believe I am actually saying this, because I found her a little boring, but I pine for Brooke who provided beauty and class that is currently sorely lacking, imo.
@Ashley: Given how things appear to work, I think that if they had “stood up for themselves” and said no, the judges would have hammered them.
In any case, I predicted we’d hear something along those lines, as I posted in the recap thread:
(For all we know, they [the producers] were outright encouraging it; James may have inadvertently planted the idea in their heads back in Week 2).
And, BTW, they now have exactly TWO of the seven individual dances posted: Meryl’s, and James’s.
James’ samba dance is posted on the Facebook page too.
Courtney, Elvis Presley did that once…got so mad when Robert Goulet (someone who used to come to Graceland but then backstabbed Elvis & took advantage of Elvis’ generosity) came on his TV that he shot it up with his handgun! lol That’s what came to mind when I read your first lines of this post. My husband is a die-hard Elvis fanatic, what can I say?
Anyway, yeah, I’m tired of the constant shoving of Meryl down our throats. It’s painfully obvious that TPTB want her to win! She could win on her own without needing to be pimped by the show! Makes me more certain that Maks WAS promised the MBT if he came back this season and given Meryl as his partner. The dance was ok but it seemed more hip-hoppy than salsa to me! Definitely didn’t need all the back-up dancers. Had Derek done that, they ALL would’ve docked them a point or 3. Len would’ve given it a 7 for ”frippery”.
Feel bad for Charlie getting hosed. Have a feeling it’s gonna backfire on them though…same as it did with Donald Driver in Season 14! They pimped Levy soooo hard, like they’re doing with Meryl right now and blammo…they lost.
I loved Amy and Derek’s Rumba…I didn’t see her lift her foot off the ground and I agree..Carrie-Ann needs to make up her mind…either judge her right or don’t…pick one and STICK WITH IT!!!
Danica’s dance was forgettable. Candace was much improved. I wish Peta and James would’ve kept their clothes on…c’mon, really? This isn’t the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!!
Team Loca was MUCH better than Team Vida…it was a bit of a hot mess. I do hope they put the Live performace of Team Loca on YouTube…Shirtless Derek!! HUBBA HUBBA!!!!
I can’t believe how trashy some of the costumes were last night. I’m sure that many latinos would find such offensive.
interesting about the charlie/sharna hosing by the judges… val tweeted high praise and he definitely knows what’s good: charlie & sharna “just did one of maybe top3 best pasos I ever seen done on the show” #incredible
Courtney, I did hate the song choices and the outfits.
Except by Gasolina and Adrenalina, hated the other songs. Can’t remember to forget you could be good choice to standard tango not for the argentine one, IMO.
Latin week is my favourite themed week because even when it’s over and full of stereotypes, it still good. Missed some Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Carlos Gardel, more latin classics… (and non recycled. there is a lot of songs from them that wasn’t used). And of course, beautifil and sexy dresses…
Not sure if you guys notices. Bing predicted the eliminations correctly for past few weeks, including Cody.
And your point, Guy?
Court, chances are the only point is the one on his head.
Guy
Hmmm this whole Bing things is quite interesting. It is predicting James to be gone on 5/5.
For those of you who haven’t tried it, you type in the contestant’s name and it comes up with the prediction with info on whether they are trending up or down. Amy is going to be in the top 2 and Meryl is predicted as the winner.
Guy – Bing might be predicting for James to be eliminated next week YET it doesn’t even list Candace in the lineup. So something is amiss.
Jackie- It does. It says she is going to be safe. You have to scroll down.
My grandmother has correctly predicted who was going to get eliminated all season and the facebook page for the show is saying James and Peta went a little too far………maybe that risk they took with that dance wasn’t so well recieved by the voters….yikes.
Perhaps Cheryl is running BING….she predicted Amy & Meryl as top 2 also. LOL 🙂
Hey PH, newsflash: You can save your energy and your precious time crunching the data for your wonderfully informative weekly numbers post because apparently there are tons of *obviously* more reliable sources out there 🙄 Hang on, let me go grab a cup of tea, and I’ll be right back to share what the tea leaves are predicting.
I knew nothng of this Bing thing until 5 posts ago so I read about it. It seems as if the data used to make predicitions is all about social media and internet hits, etc. However, that is contrary to what I have learned here. So am I correct is thinking that it may not really be all that accurate? I’m hoping so because this will certainly take the fun out of all these types of shows
LOL Cidra
How about all the “reliable” sources be averaged into one mega unreliable prediction? Bing seems quite cocky in advertising its ability to predict these outcomes for all these reality shows.
I have no idea how accurate Bing is, but I’m guessing as a search engine they factor in social media or maybe how often contestants are searched to make predictions? I mean, it’s all still just speculation, so I take them with a grain of salt, but I guess it can provide some indication just like # of twitter followers or Facebook popularity can provide SOME insight at times.
I wouldn’t count James out personally. From his blog, it sounds like the producers pushed him and Peta to do the “so provocative it’s pretty much indecent” dance, and I mean he’s been featured on the Facebook page and on the website as the couple that “brought the latin sexy”…if he obliged the producers and gave them their “controversial” dance, the producers might just look favorably upon him imo… lol. Anyway, he has a pretty substantial following too that can be a force if they are mobilized to vote.
Anyone see Carrie Ann’s blog yet? It had some interesting comments on this past week’s dances.
Kate, Sounds like a great idea – let’s get on board with the supersizing that seems to be all the rage with DWTS this season!
My hubby’s career involves a lot of predictive modeling, and while I make no attempt to seriously understand what it’s all about, I have learned that it’s super easy to pull together a lot of data in what appears to be a scientific way, and churn out all manner of results. Seems to me you have to be particularly careful about using social media for predictive modeling because you’ve got all kinds of self-selection bias going on. Then there’s the whole correlation vs. causation issue to consider. So while I’m sure there could be some decent models out there that would come up with a scientifically defensible prediction using a variety of different types of data sets, I just have a hard time imagining any for-profit outlet would really invest the time and money to develop one to predict who’s gonna get eliminated from DWTS.
Apologies for over-reacting and getting all Mama Bear, here, but I appreciate the amount of work PH puts into her numbers, and I don’t appreciate someone walking in here with a town crier attitude. 👿 If I’ve spoken out of turn, I’ll take my reprimand from the Mods.
Ummmm….what, Cidra? 😀 Totally not following you. I just read a shit ton of comments and I have no clue. I’m sure there are more than a few idiots out there who think they are soo much better than me. I let them live happily in their delusions.
Sorry, PH, when I get pissed off as I have been pretty much since Monday, I don’t make a lot of sense, especially when I’m trying not to call people out by name b/c that’s not how we roll here. However, I’ll just come out and say I thought what Guy (#121) said was disrespectful of the work you do putting together the numbers post for us every week. To come waltzing in here saying Bing has predicted the eliminees for the last several weeks just struck me as rude. I know I was being hypersensitive because it’s probably a one-time drive-by from someone who has no idea you even do by the numbers to give us some idea of who might go home.
Ahhhh….I did love the pointed head comment you threw out though, Cidra. Spewed a bit of beer on that one. 🙂
Heh-heh, glad to hear it. Every now and then something like that just slips out.
Not to keep discussing the Bing elimination prediction (which I didn’t even know about until reading this thread) but if they are really pulling social media data I can’t understand why they would predict James is being eliminated. On the FB page his dance has the second most likes and his twitter mentions far outnumber Danica and Charlie (who they have in the bottom three). I personally think the FB group is a better representation of who might be eliminated — it’s not 100% by any means but as others mentioned it just gives you a broad idea of how the audience might be voting.
I am starting to worry about Charlie though, I just don’t know how much fan support he has coming in. I think people will rally behind him after the judges’ comments this week but is it enough to get past people that are above him on the score board? On the flip side I have to think the judges wouldn’t have given him 8s and 9s if he was in trouble with votes…unless they want to use him for a shock elimination…AHHHH, I can’t make up my mind.
Looking forward to the “by the numbers” post this weekend.
They threw Apolo under the bus for All-Stars – Charlie is getting the exact same treatment this year, and I find myself getting just as pissed about it… *scowlly face*
At this point, I’m thinking Charlie might be getting the Ralph Macchio treatment…which is even worse.
What is the Ralph Macchio treatment?
@AC – Being treated like complete dogsh*t by the judges for no apparent reason, other than needing you gone in order for their favorite to make the finale. It’s what happened in season 12, when the judges went out of their way to make sure Ralph went home in the semifinal and did everything in their power to make sure Chelsea Kane made it through to the finale.
I would agree Courtney.:( How much more abuse are they going to dish out to him? A genuinely nice guy like him shouldn’t have to put up with this kind of BS week after week. He is a thorn in the side of Meryl and Maks and it sure seems like they’d like to remove him ASAP so it is smooth sailing for them.
To add insult to injury, Carrie Ann is propagating more nonsense to sway the sheep away from him.
Just the thought of Charlie getting Macchio-ed makes me sick to my stomach.
What we’ve already seen is bad enough, but if Charlie delivers an amazing Quickstep on Monday and the judges don’t do one of their 180 turnarounds and say “that was brilliant, now you’re delivering”, then I know Charlie will be a gonner in the semi-finals.
@Court, I can’t remember, did we have The Troupe in Season 12, and if so was Sharna in it? I wonder if she saw what happened to Ralph and Karina.
Cidra – I’m beginning to worry he might be a goner come Monday night…
I might be off here, but don’t TPTB want Charlie in the finale? They want Meryl to win, obviously, but don’t they want to play up that rivalry?
Based on my own personal experience, I have a hunch about this season’s winner, but I don’t want to say what in case I jinx it.
I am trying to turn a deaf ear, to a certain extent, to all of this Meryl/Charlie mess. I love this site and all, and I love the insider info, but I am trying to avoid becoming cynical. What will be, will be.
Charlie is in a 3-way tie for second in judges points, with Amy and Danica. The odd judges comments [which actually were harsher than the scores, with the exception of Len] likely have fueled the public voting support.
James and Candance are at the bottom of the pile in judges points. Depending on their fan base, I suspect one of them are more likely to go.
That breaks my heart that the producers are manipulating Charlie like that when he is the other half of America’s Olympian sweethearts!!
And to try and break Charlie’s spirit is even worse. I hated the way they treated Apolo and Ralph back then. But I feel that Charlie has a lot more fans than they did and more fans than James, Candace and Danica.
His fans need to VOTE like crazy to put a wrench in their plans so Charlie makes it to the finals!!!!!
#Cidra I think this Monday will be telling too.
It feels like the writing’s on the wall. Last Monday’s show was absolutely terrible. They’ve reduced Charlie and Sharna’s intros to barely over a minute, from the first episode, while the others get more time. George Pennacchio pointed this out to them in the OTRC interview. The DWTS official ABC page has no Charlie/Sharna on any of the recaps. Same for their Facebook page. It has James all over for this week. Then Carrie Ann comes out with a blog title which puts Charlie in a negative light and she tweets it to everyone and their brother. Meryl and Maks, James and Peta are fueling their fauxmance by attending awards etc. I think they want James more than Charlie at this point.
I’m not sure if this has been announced anywhere yet, but is the finale 3 or 4 couples? (I’m thinking 3, since the Monday 5/19 show is only 1.5 hours-and they usually have 3 dances on the first night of the finale? Or they have in recent seasons?) If it is indeed 4, I can possibly see Charlie making the finale but finishing in 4th (not coincidentally, same placement as Ralph and Apolo…) Like others in this thread have said, Monday night will indeed be very telling.
What I don’t get is that Charlie is such a great ambassador for the show and was so excited to do it and he and Meryl are such popular Olympians, it surprises me that they don’t realize what a gold mine they have in Charlie. Instead, they are souring on the whole experience and rather than talking it up as an amazing expeeriece when this season is over, he may just not say anything and that is a loss for DWTS.
sorry for the typos
And TPTB wonder why it gets harder to cast this show each season…
Charlie’s mistake was not providing the powers that be with a storyline –
no fauxmance, no quarrels with his partner, no weaknesses like Candace –
he just shows up and does his job to his best. No drama so nothing to titillate the audience.
Sad that integrity and talent do not count for anything these days.
Ria, that’s a good point. Charlie is a no drama, no fuss person who just works hard every week – which doesn’t exactly make for good over-the-top reality tv “drama” that the producers seem to love (Nene and Tony’s fight, etc.).
On the plus side though, apparently Charlie is doing contemporary as his second dance (revealed during an interview with Sharna, I believe) – that’s the best he could hope for since that is his absolute forte.
Thanks for filling me in on the Macchio treatment, Courtney. I see the resemblance. Whether the judges genuinely think Charlie isn’t performing up to his potential or they simply want to clear the way for someone else, there is no need to humiliate him this way. Of course he’s hurt and bewildered – he’s exactly the same guy, but in the space of a few weeks the show has gone from praising him as someone who makes everyone happy with his dancing to scolding him like a whiny child. It’s sadistic.
My fear is that they’ll turn the knife one last time on Monday by finally giving him those 10s and the praise he deserves, and then just when he’s feeling good they’ll announce he’s getting the boot.
So I just had the chance to watch the episode on demand again and I am seeing the Honey Boo Boo thing now in regards to Danica.
Aviva (#146), you go girl. Please continue to carry the torch of positivity for those of us who can’t quite manage it. A young person, such as yourself, should *not* be cynical. Hope you never get that way, but if you do, put it off as long as possible. 🙂
As for TPTB wanting a Meryl/Charlie finale, that was my initial thought too. There’s still a part of me that thinks they’re trying to make that happen (in a really stupid way), but another part of me thinks they either got sidetracked into believing the “Meryl/Maks showmance and the Maks deserves to finally win the MBT storyline” is what’s giving them stronger ratings or they decided the “longtime partners are now rivals” storyline wasn’t selling the way they wanted because Charlie/Meryl wouldn’t play along by being super competitive with each other.
I’m convinced they want Charlie out so the Meryl/Charlie vote won’t be split, and Maks will then be assured his mirror ball trophy. Sick because I truly believe Charlie is the better dancer, or at least is given better choreography. I feel like we haven’t seen what Meryl can do because Maks is giving her old school, boring stuff.
Cidra
I am just perplexed with where this is going. The judging of Charlie’s routines is truly psychotic.
Hope is a good thing. 🙂 I guess I’d rather have lower expectations than have higher ones and then be disappointed after what’s been going down week after week. Charlie being drama free may be his undoing. In the end, he may lose at DWTS but he totally wins at life.
Cidra #158/Carlie #159, I almost wonder if this will backfire on TPTB. At the beginning, I was splitting my votes, but then I stopped voting. Now, I’m making sure to vote for Charlie! I really hope that my hunch proves correct, but I don’t want to say it until either C gets eliminated or someone wins, because I’m very scared of jinxing it. I’m very superstitions in that regard.
I love the comment “being Ralphed” which I knew about this site back then. Thought I was the only one feeling crazy about how he was being treated.
Yes, Aviva! I was doing the exact same thing! Splitting votes, then discouragingly didn’t. It’s, then only voting for Charlie using multiple sources. Except I started voting only for Charlie starting Disney week.
All you Charlie fans have to hard core VOTE for Charlie so he can win like Donald!!
Hey Guy, not sure if you noticed but Bing has now switched it’s prediction from James being eliminated to Danica next week.
Aviva (#161), I think most of us have one or two little superstitions, and I totally get not wanting to jinx something. In many ways I think that’s a very basic human reaction. When you want something enough, speaking about it seems like letting it out and the risk of it getting away or being taken away from you is scary. So say no more about it, but keep up your positive thinking.
This season is rough – I’ve been almost too disheartened by everything to even comment.
The way Charlie is being treated is so frustrating. I’m just hoping it has a Donald Driver ending vs. a Ralph Macchio ending.
I’m *so* tired of all the hype about Meryl, and I would (at this point) like pretty much anyone else to win (possibly even Danica – not that that is remotely likely to happen…) And all the swooning over Maks and Meryl’s chemistry makes me feel a little ill.
So glad Amy is doing better and will be dancing.
Heart (#163), I see you’ve made your choice. You said way back when that at some point along the road you figured you would have to. I think it’s unfortunate that TPTB made it necessary and unpleasant. It would have been so much more fun for all of us to go through the season enjoying excellent dancing by a strong cast and being happy to see any of the finalists win. Oh well, it is, what it is.
Jackie (#164), you’re right! BING now has James listed as more safe than Charlie, with Danica at the bottom for predicted elimination. Who knows the true accuracy of the algorithm; however, it did correctly predict the outcomes of DWTS, American Idol & the Voice this week…
BING Rankings (for Week 7):
Meryl
Amy
Candace
James
Charlie
Danica
Though I don’t imagine Candace making it to the Final 4 ahead of Charlie or James…that’d be a travesty.
Forgot to add… The BING prediction has everyone listed in the same order as the total judges’ scores from Monday, except for James & Charlie. That suggests that James has (one of) the strongest fan bases and is really getting the votes. I’m predicting that after his dance with Amy, his waltz (which is said to look really good) and a more clothed Peta on Monday, he could come out of it as the one that could keep Meryl/Maks from the MBT. Fingers crossed that James & Charlie BOTH make it through safely to Week 9!
Maybe this Bing model is the predictive equivalent of “The Second Coming”, but I confess I’m as tired of hearing about it as I was when everyone was stopping by to tell everyone what DialIdol said or whenever people keep bringing up the site whose name we don’t speak here as if they were the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Yeah…I’m getting kinda tired of hearing about Bing…
Great minds think alike, Cidra 😉 And I notice that nobody pays any attention to DialIdol anymore – maybe all the years of Heidi & I explaining why it doesn’t work till we were blue in the face finally payed off! And as for Wet Taint…*snickers* I’m just gonna leave it at that…
The bing thing is likely more accurate than dial idol (much bigger sample), but that bar is set pretty freakin’ low. Fact is, there are tons of examples of how twitter followers, YouTube views, etc DON’T correspond to votes. Another thing…being tweeted about a lot or discussed on Facebook a lot doesn’t mean it’s GOOD. Pretty sure Osama bin laden trended on twitter a few years back, if you know what I mean. Finally….bing doesn’t consider judges scores, does it?? Ppl seem to forget those still count for half.
I’m new to this fan page. I’m a fan of ice skaters Meryl & Charlie. They’re the only reason why I watched DWTS aside from K. Yamaguchi season. Reading the comments here make me feel that perhaps the two of them should not have joined DWTS and instead just bask on their Gold Medal triumph for USA. I agree w/ Courtney that this show should be about the celebrities and not about the pros. Celebrities should not be misjudged just because their pros are not very likeable. Let’s appreciate Meryl and Charlie for their own talents. They did not join to be competitors against each other. They joined as a team. I think their participation in this season has actually brought up the ratings for this show.
@Princess Heidi – Just as an FYI, it takes into account the sentiment of social media posts, judges scores, regional preferences, existing fan bases, etc… Not saying that it’s the end-all, but it is an interesting tool to aggregate the data that we are all searching through to make more accurate summations on voting trends (i.e. looking at Facebook likes as many have suggested). It will be interesting to see how it plays out through the rest of the season…and could provide good evidence to deduce that something seems a bit ‘contrived’ by TPTB.
EBR-
But the fact is that they did join. They ARE competing against each other on this show. If they were paired as Meryl as the pro and Charlie as the celeb or the other way around, I’d say that they joined as a team.
ButterflyWhirl #166, I’m right there with you with regards to the show at the moment.
The season started out as a bright shiny balloon aloft in a clear blue sky and has since become a deflated dirty balloon laying in the road with tire treads on it.
As others have mentioned, I think this season is the twin sister to the All-Star season in that it started out with great promise until TPTB sucked all the life out of it.
The only highlights of the season are Amy and Derek’s incredible accomplishments, and Charlie and Sharna’s no bullshit, easy breezy beautiful dancing and personalities.
But that’s part of the problem, Vin – if the scoring makes the elimination relatively logical, then you can’t use it as a predictive tool. Unless they are right EVERY time for several seasons, INCLUDING the shocking eliminations, then their tool is no better than anything else – good guessing.
It is so sad that I started watching this show with so much anticipation and joy and ended up disillusioned and frustrated.
And DWTS is wondering why they are losing viewers steadily thru the years. Maybe if they go back to what they were when they started, they can regain some of their credibility instead of going for tacky showmances and dramas.
Ria, my string of hope is that a new producer will improve the show.
I don’t know if it’s because of the new one night a week format or just the attitude of “do and try anything to get viewers” but the last two seasons have made TPTB manipulation even more obvious than before. Obviously I’ve always known it was there but at least try and cover it up better so I can live in a DWTS fantasy world where everything is fair.
Again, I’m very interested to see the “Dancing by the Numbers” post this weekend to get a better idea of how things are stacking up BUT I am still worried that Charlie’s in trouble on Monday. If he can survive though I think he should have a great night as he has the Quickstep AND Contemporary…that’s to assume the judges aren’t out to get him again of course. In my mind the elimination is between Charlie and Danica.
There are two vins now……kinda cool.
Vin #2, please add a digit or something else to your name so we aren’t having to constantly guess which vin is which…
Wow totally agree #177 Susan#2, loved the way you put it, started out as a shiny balloon…..became a deflated dirty balloon.
My bright spot has been Amy & Derek and despite scores Charlie & Sharna. Amy has been incredible and amazing, her spirit soars above all this rubbish. Love Charlie’s smile and spirit.
It’s really unfortunate that all this bull has overshadowed the wonderful dances we have seen.
I, too, am worried about the “guest” judge – low blow to TPTB
Hope Amy’s well enough to dance and all the teams do well Monday and get judged accordingly. (well I can dream!)
DLT (#181) I agree with you on knowing for years the manipulation was there, but it was neither as obvious nor as excessive as it’s become since the all-stars season.
Like you I’m anxiously awaiting PH’s numbers post because I’m scared to death for Charlie. I know PH isn’t the all-seeing oracle, but even if it’s “bad news”, I always feel calmer after I’ve read her take on things.
Susan2 (#177), Thank you. You said that so well — love your balloon analogy. It’s a shame that the excellent dances we’ve seen have been overshadowed by the ugliness of TPTB’s manipulation. My hope is that a year from now, I’ll be able to go back and revisit a number of the dances and be able to fully enjoy them just as performance art: All of Amy/Derek and Charlie/Sharna, as well as Candace’s Week 1 contemporary and Meryl’s AT with Val, and even some of Meryl/Maks performances.
#Cidra
I’m hoping this won’t be Charlie’s last week.
So the ABC main DWTS front page leads to the article promoting this Monday’s show. On the surface it seems like it would be about the duels. Voila, there are 3 clips to portray the judges berating Charlie- for the tango, rumba and the team dance. This is taking it to new wtf levels. I just lost at Minesweeper with that click.