PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1 – Week 2 Live(ish) Blog!!!
Well we had a pretty good time with the premiere last week, and the general sentiment (at least around here) is that Juniors is turning out far better than many of us thought it would, which makes me happy 🙂
Tonight’s episode was taped on August 2nd, and was the only episode of Juniors to be taped on a Thursday (instead of the Fri/Sat taping schedule of the rest of the season). Why? Because Kenzie had to perform at another engagement on Saturday the 4th, so they rearranged the taping schedule to accommodate her. Interesting. *sips tea* Theme tonight is “songs from the year the junior celeb was born” – if you want to feel old now, rather than later, go check out the song/dance list here. And if you’re in a spoiler-y mood, you can see who the high scorers tonight will be here.
If you haven’t checked out my premiere post mortem, I recommend doing so…I’m interested to see what, if any, changes we see tonight. Will Val give more lucid critiques? Will the “Kenzie definitely is not a dancer, pay no attention to the fact that she seems to dance really well right off the bat!” song and dance continue? Will the kids keep doing Fortnite dances? 😛
Kenzie & Sage up first. It’s a quickstep. Will Gleb actually do a quickstep, or just say “screw it” and do whatever he feels like, choreo-wise?
It’s definitely more quickstep-y than the foxtrot last week was foxtrot-y, but it seemed to take awhile to get started. I’ll give the “messin’ about” a bit more of a pass this time around, since it’s kids. Val’s standing and clapping, claiming that “he was tough on her last week because he wanted to see what she could do this week”. They get three 8’s, and the judges are pretty complimentary.
God we’re moving fast this week…
…it’a Sky & JT doing cha-cha next.
And turns out Sky can do a little tumbling! Plus she seems to actually understand the timing of the dance. She’s got a real diamond-in-the-rough quality to her dancing. One to watch, for sure.
Adam praises the cleanliness. Val appreciates the clarity of the steps. Mandy points out the fun faces. It gets 7, 7, 8 – which seems a bit incongruous with the critiques. Mama Spence is livid that Sky didn’t score as high as Kenzie and wants to know how to vote for Sky. Oh crap…
Forgot tonight’s show is only an hour…hence the breakneck pace…
Sophia & Jake are doing a foxtrot to Taylor Swift. Hope she comes out of her shell more this week.
It’s an adorable and age-appropriate foxtrot, and Sophia handles it VERY nicely – girl can move. And she looks so pretty 🙂 She’s smiling a bit more too, but still seems reserved.
Adam basically echoes my sentiment and warns her that there are “a lot of big personalities this season” and wants to see her come out of her shell more. They get 7, 6, 7, which I think is low.
Jason just CRACKS ME UP. Says he’s never heard of the song he’s dancing to tonight 😛
It’s a fun alien-themed jive and they sell it well, even if it was probably technically the weakest so far tonight.
Mandy brings up “poise” and asks Jason if he knows what it is. Jason says “-ish. Do you know what it means? I want to make sure you do!” THIS KID IS SLAAAAYING WITH THAT PERSONALITY.
It gets 7, 7, 7 – if that got three 7’s, I feel like Sophia should have gotten at least one 8. I thought she had a lot more content and only failed slightly on the showmanship.
Fun fact: junior troupe member Reese’s older sister is Taylor Hatala, who was on World of Dance this past season.
Mandla & Brightyn doing a salsa next…
It’s super fast, but Mandla handles it well. Not sure how much salsa I saw, though.
Adam, Val, and Mandy all comment on lack of salsa content. Not sure I like the judges coming down on the kids for the shortcomings of the pros.
They get 7, 7, 8. Mama Spence slightly horrified at Mandy’s critique, which could have been interpreted as racist. *facepalm*
Hudson & Kami doing a superhero themed paso.
It’s cute and Hudson is doing so well with the cape solo. Kami says her superhero is “Lovegirl” because “Love always wins.” Adam is fangirling.
Judges give it 7, 8, 7 – all three say “a strong” before saying their score. Kinda weird – if it was so strong, why not give it a higher score?
This show is FLYING by…
Two of the Black-ish cast members in the audience to support Miles…
Argentine tango to Gavin DeGraw…this I gotta see…
It’s got a ton of content and Miles is handling it very cleanly and moving big.
All three judges praising it heavily. Val points out the fact that Rylee is taller than Miles 😛
Three 8’s. I probably would have thrown in at least one “9” just based on the difficulty.
Artem trying to say “Pussycat Dolls” with his accent is unintentionally hilarious.
Alanna’s cha cha is full of attitude, but the technique just wasn’t there. Might’ve been off-time at a few moments, too. I do respect for her selling the hell out of it, though.
Mandy points out the timing issue, which Alanna admits because “dancing makes me so excited!” Awww.
It gets 6, 6, 7. Forgot to mention: the judges have rotated seating arrangements this week. Now it’s Val in Carrie Ann’s spot, and Mandy in the middle. Adam’s still in Bruno’s spot. Curious…
Milo is apparently guesting on American Housewife this week…
Akash and Kamri (squeeee) doing cha-cha next…
Akash thinks the dance is “about partying and being cool”. Witney says she’s never said that 😛
He’s having some timing issues and is hitting some moves hard and others…not so much. But I’ll be damned if he isn’t having a blast and selling the hell out of it. He even has some stank face going on 😛
Akash is winning over just about everyone – says he “loves this show” and is having so much fun. Val is cracking up when Akash said he taught the girls tutting by watching a YouTube video 😛
Three 7’s and Akash is thrilled. He may not be the strongest dancer this season, but he is the very definition of connecting to the crowd.
Ariana & Artyon up last…
It’s a rock-themed jive and they of course deliver. Ariana might have actually nailed the technique a bit better than Artyon, I think.
Adam’s standing for the them, saying “if Val is going to stand for the FIRST dance of the night…” Mild shade?
Oh hai Mama Arnold in the audience! 🙂
They get their scores after the commercial break – 8, 8, 8. Now it’s time for the elim…
Hudson/Kami/Hayley leaving us tonight. Both kids crying. Some of the other kids crying. I hate this.
Ok so Jordan just said something about a “two-night Disney event” next week. Da fuq???
