Janel Parrish Is Hopeful She And Valentin Chmerkovskiy Will Win Dancing With The Stars
Janel Parrish tells People that her goal now is to win Dancing With The Stars. What’s more, she is “hopeful” that she and Val Chmerkovskiy will win….
I’m very happy with the dance the judges picked for us. It’s one of my favorite dances that we’ve done, and one that stayed a little bit under-the-radar just because we didn’t get great marks for it. I’m excited to bring it back and hopefully do it better than I did the first time.
For our freestyle, we’re going to go with what we think our strengths are, which is our chemistry and what we bring to dancing when we’re dancing together. We’re going to keep it intimate, we’re going to keep it beautiful, we’re going to dance the hell out of it and go out with a bang.
I’ve always thought and I still think Alfonso Ribeiro is probably the one to beat, but I do think that everybody that is left in the competition is a very strong competitor. Everybody has worked so hard, and everybody wants it just as bad as the next person, so it could really be anybody’s game. I’m just really grateful to still be a part of it.
I actually feel less pressure going into this week because it is the finale and I’m so proud of all the work I’ve done to make it this far. Now at this point I think any of us can win. I just want to enjoy my last dance on that stage with Val, and enjoy that last moment. I know that I did everything I could possibly do, and no matter what, I got what I wanted. I wanted to enjoy the journey all the way to the end and that’s what I’ve done, so I’m going to be happy with the outcome whatever it is, but obviously I am hopeful that we will win!
To read her full blog, visit People.
Man, this girl is hard to take.
This is why I have a hard time connecting to her and just overall liking her; I think she’s TOO focused on winning. Whether it be for her or for Val I think she wants this a little bit too much. I mean, I don’t blame her, who doesn’t want to win. However, when you have someone as humble as Bethany and Sadie who barely even mention the word “winning”…
I just think she needs to LOOK like she’s enjoying the show a little bit more because, personally, I’ve never really gotten that from her. It’s always been about putting on the Janel show and being all fierce and sexy with Val. There’s never really been a fun side to her. A more calm, soft side. A little more innocence! That’s what I would like! I know she’s 26 years old and everything but that doesn’t mean it has to be all about the sexy-factor.
Vogue – Well said +1
Playing to their strengths of pushing a showmance. Seeing the vine yesterday, not only is it like last yr’s, but copying from Ssn 15 as well. No original thoughts here! Len called him out for using the Dirty Dancing choreo, will he say he’s “seen this before”. CAI in her TV Guide blog said that Witney is bringing new choreo so will she call Val out for reusing past performances. At least Derek said he didn’t want to repeat himself.
Out of all the finalists, Bethany is the only one not begging for votes. She lets her fans decide for themselves if they want to vote. She is amazingly mature for her age. Bethany has already won in life.
Vomit. Please let there be a miracle and let her go home tonight. If not, I hope power voters are out in full force for ANYONE but her.
I wish the judges were this strung out on their crack during allstar season. Maybe then Shawn & Derek could have gotten away with as much as Vajanel does.
+1 to all three of you!!!!
I did not vote for Janel all season and won`t vote for her tonight. I just was not able to enjoy her or any of the dances she did. If I did watch one of her dancea a second time, it was because of Val`s fierce performance, not hers. Also she never came across as genuine to me in the post-show interviews.
I forgot to comment on what she said about the Freestyle too… “Playing to our strengths which is our chemistry”.
Okay. So basically they’re gonna do the same thing Maks and Meryl did last season. Well why would I even want to see their Freestyle when I can just YouTube Maksyl’s?
Sorry, but I’ve grown tired of “Contemporary routines for Freestyles” after Kellie and Derek. Everything else just feels like a repeat now (and not a good one) and it isn’t any sort of fun. Maybe Val proves me wrong and he added something different to their Freestyle but I won’t hold my breath.
While I am not a fan of either member of this team, I do have some compassion for Janel. First, she comes from a family with a dad who thinks that you’ve got to be blond-and-blue to make it. Val, by focusing early on on the showmance, played right into all of her insecurities. And she has probably been listening to Val yammer about winning every day for the last two months. She has been taught that her role is as a vehicle for him to win. Whatever corner of this she has managed to keep about herself has probably not been easy, because with Val it’s always about Val.
If you listen to all of Maks’ and Val’s partners over the past few years, it’s quite startling how they all preach the same scripture – gotta win for my partner. It’s very sad, actually – while everyone else is having fun on the show, not focused on “winning”, Maks and Val’s partners are focused on JUST THAT. And often it results in an early elimination. Elizabeth, Danica…the list is long and they all say the same thing.
I guess this is a type – the show is very good at pairing celebs and pros and the C-bros get the women who defer to their man all the time. Let’s win it for Val!! I have to ask each of those women: what about YOU??
I think you all are probably viewing her comments based on the way you have felt about Janel all season.
Don’t you all think they are hopeful that they could win? And at this point, it could be any of them. She was gracious to the other competitors saying its probably Alfonso for the win, but she is going to dance her heart out. I hope all of them dance their heart out and we have an awesome final!
Just offering a different perspective… Thanks for posting the article! Appreciate you hunting out all these new stories for us, Vogue!
Princess Heidi- I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that for some reason the C-bros eventually make their partners feel like they have to win the MBT for them. That’s actually amazing and I hadn’t realized it until you said it. That’s all kinds of messed up.
As for Janel, I think the thing that has made me most dissatisfied with her and her pairing with Val is that they have been very vocal to an excess about what they think are their strengths or how awesome they are and then I go and watch it and I don’t see it. At the top of the season, Val spends all this time hinting how he has the best partner and I watch their first dance and I’m underwhelmed. Each week and dance they say something else lifts never before seen or sexiest dance and I watch and I don’t see why all the superlatives are necessary because it’s only just ok- maybe good sometimes but certainly never great.
I think the biggest thing for me is that she talked in an interview about how this experience has made her push past fears inside of herself and she’s overcome things she never thought she could. Well that’s all fine and good but I never saw any of it- not in their packages, not in their dances, not even in her blog posts. She doesn’t talk about what she worked on that week or if she struggled over a move. She only talks about Val and then reflects on how positive she thought their last outing was and how she’s looking forward to next week. Which is fine but I didn’t learn anything about her. People talk about Bethany having a wall up but I would say that Janel is the one who puts up a wall it’s just the wall is couched with looking cute, sexy, and flirty.
While I didn’t find this article to be particularly offensive in any way, I do agree PH that there’s definitely an element of personalities with whom they pair up. I actually started writing a whole post about it the other day and my browser ate it up, but the gist of it was that they not only pair up based on height and age, but personalities – could you EVER imagine someone like Bethany with Val – or Janel with Derek? They know who will work well together and almost always get it right.
Lstevens, I agree with everything you said about Janel! I always thought her rehearsal videos and blogs seemed kind of, well, bland, and I couldn’t figure out why. But it’s exactly what you said. It’s like she’s always wearing this actress mask and I can’t see the person behind… I see the happy, flirty, sexy, cutesy girl, but is there anything else? After 11 weeks I don’t feel like I know who she is.She never mentioned any personal fears/challenges/insecurities. She’s always so confident, but then she talks about overcoming fears in the gma interview… What fears are those? I’d like to know. Maybe that’s why I can’t connect with her, and why some people couldn’t connect to Beth in the beginning. But Bethany opened up…
I watch her interviews and she just doesn’t seem real enough to me… I’m sure she’s a nice person though. But I’m hoping and praying that the final order is :
1-Alfonso or Sadie
2-Sadie or Alfonso
3-Bethany
4-Janel
In my opinion that’s the most fair result.
Lstevens – in my personal opinion, that wall of Bethany’s is her more reserved, careful self. In Janel it’s rooted in insecurity and a lack of earnestness – just what I feel, although my boyfriend thinks Janel is very hot but can’t stand her either – and that’s without my prompting whatsoever. He just gets an “off” vibe from her as well, whereas with Bethany he thinks she’s a wonderful performer, although he attributes some of that to Derek because he always seems to get the “performance” aspect nailed down with all of his partners, regardless of their background.
Anyway, I’ve probably beat a dead horse around here with my anti-Janel talk. I’m not even that much anti-Val – I just don’t like her. But I do think she’s a good dancer and already was one when she started – which is why we don’t hear about her growth or arc or anything.
It’s true, imo, that she hasn’t really shown much growth. She was good week 1 and still pretty much the same at week 11. The only journey is that she wants to win for Val, or herself, or both. I still can’t believe she made it so far because even the people commenting on her blog are more against her than for her. Val’s fans are very mixed about her with many voting for Alfonso. If she does take the MB, this show is rigged. There is no way she can be getting the votes to warrant her winning. So we shall see how it all plays out but I am nervous that she might actually win. It is weird though how polarizing she has been to so many people this season.