PureDWTS DWTS Juniors, Season 1 – Week 3 Live(ish) Blog!!!
It’s night 1 of the “two night Disney event” on Juniors & regular DWTS 😛 I’m expecting there to be some fairly heavy-handed marketing ploys on both shows, but at the very least, on Juniors the kids’ excitement about dancing to Disney songs is a bit more sincere and fun to see. Also crossing fingers that our technical difficulties here at Pure last week are behind us, as it didn’t seem like I got much conversation on the live blog thread last Sunday. Womp womp womp. Song and dance list here, spoiler post here. If you want a recap/rundown of last week’s episode, week 2 live blog here and week 2 postmortem here.
Things to keep in mind headed into tonight’s show: this episode was taped on August 3rd, which was the first week where the kids had to learn (2) dances in basically three days (basic schedule this season was rehearse M-Tu-W, camera block Thur, tape Fri/Sat, mandatory law-required day off on Sun); we might start to see the signs of fatigue a bit more tonight. In light of last week’s semi-shocking elim, keep in mind that it may not necessarily be the lowest-scoring couple headed home…it may be more likely to be a decent scoring couple that maybe just didn’t “pop” so much. Oh, also – Kim Kardashian is apparently on tonight’s episode, to *snicker* give Sophia & Jake tips on their performance. Oh, that’s rich…coming from the woman who went home in week 3 of her season (after a very underwhelming performance) and was also once kicked offstage at a Prince concert for not dancing. Can’t wait to see what kind of wisdom she has to impart on the kids 😛
Kids look so darn cute in their costumes 🙂 Alana looks very pretty and mature in her Belle costume.
Jake picks up Sophia during intros and she just looks bewildered. Poor kid.
Sophia: “It’s going to be hard to be a villain because I’m so shy.” *cue villain music as Kim K. walks down the hallway*
Kim talks about Sophia having confidence.
Once again, Sophia gets the more technical aspects right, but it’s pretty poker face-y throughout. At the very least, she’s a villain this week, so it could be argued that she’s mean mugging. Cool underwater effect, too.
Mandy is back in the center judge’s seat and says it was an improvement. Adam agrees. Val actually gives a specific critique and urges her to finish her hand moves. She gets 7, 6, 6.
Sorry, I just find Pocahontas cringe-y. Wayyyyy too much appropriation.
Kenzie & Sage doing contemporary – which is one of the styles she’s trained in extensively. She’s handling it well – LIKE THE CONTEMPORARY DANCER SHE IS. Will anyone mention this?
Adam “has chills”. Val thinks it’s “extraordinary” but acknowledges that he’s “no contemporary expert”. Mandy gushes, and tells Gleb “amazing”. *eye roll*
Three 9’s, and not a peep about Kenzie’s dance training. I see you, producers.
Ariana & Artyon coming after the break…
Sharna cheering in the audience!
Brandon clearly has his hands full with these two 😛
That was so stinking cute 😛 Ariana has some nice hip action, but I think Artyon’s lack of ballroom training showed. Clever choreo with the limbo bar.
Val commends their samba bounce. Mandy praises Brandon specifically for the choreo. Adam praises their consistency.
9, 8, 8 – seems a tad low, given how glowing the judges’ critique was.
Ariana & Artyon challenge Jordan to a limbo contest…which he handles with ease. 🙂
Mandla & Brightyn doing a flamenco-esque jazz from Coco up next…
Lots of paso/flamenco-inspired stuff. I actually really enjoyed it – they sold it really well.
Mandy praises Mandla being “in the pocket” and using his legs. Adam says it was “good” and he’s a “big fan”; but Val was “underwhelmed” and “thinks Mandla can do better”. They get 7, 7, 7 – and that seems a tad low, too. Gotta shield Kenzie…?
Miles & Rylee up next. Wish they’d stop calling Alana “Honey Boo Boo”.
Lindsay knows Charleston. This is gonna be good.
They rocked it. Both of them nailed the Charleston technique, and sold the routine incredibly well.
Adam says Miles “looked the competition in the eye and said ‘don’t forget about me!'” Val praises the production. Mandy complements them for not getting “swallowed up in the routine”. It gets 9, 9, 9 – I probably would have thrown in a 10.
Alana & Tristan up next. Cue Artem trying to teach Alana how to be graceful.
It’s pleasant to watch. Alana actually extends nicely and does some nice turns. It’s not perfect, but it’s charming!
Val praises how Alana “dances from the heart”. Mandy says she “calmed down her nerves”. Adam says he’s “moved and impressed”. Scores after the break, and then we move onto Sky & JT.
*insert commercial for Mickey’s 90th Spectacular*
Alana gets 7, 7, 7. Prolly about right, but it means Sophia was underscored.
Sky says “Moana lives on an island and has a big heart. Kind of like me.” Awwwwww.
Sky looks so pretty in her Moana costume. And she’s handling this contemporary routine really well – she’s flipping and extending and turning with JT with such ease.
Mandy praises it, but tells Sky to work on her “floppy biscuit feet”. Adam says he loves biscuits 😛 But he also praises the emotion and how mature it was. Val praised the pacing and said it was incredible. It gets 8, 8, 8 – I probably would have thrown in at least one 9. Sky has a message for all the girls out there: “Be brave, you can do anything you want, don’t let anybody stop you!” Aaaaaand I’m crying.
The world needs more Sky Brown’s. 🙂
Promo for Disney night on DWTS tomorrow night…
Jason & Elliana up next. Jason is geeking out and says it’s “a dream” and proceeds to slap himself. 😛
Jason really loves Woody and the fact that he’s a cowboy and likes to have fun. He also thinks Woody gets stressed easily. 😛
It’s an adorable foxtrot. I think he did better than Alana did with hers, just by virtue of doing more. Apparently Elliana is “scared of toys”. Ummm…ok.
Adam says he’s “so proud of Jason”. Mandy praised the “quick, quick, slow” movements in frame. It gets 8, 7, 7 – can’t believe I’m saying this, but Val’s scores tonight are making far more sense than Mandy or Adam’s.
Last up is Akash, and he’s his usual precocious self. He’s having trouble having the “strong arms” Witney wants him to have. Cue “Rocky”-esque montage.
It’s really adorable and clever, and Akash is improving. It’s still rough around the edges, but he’s growing. I can see how he’s so popular with viewers 🙂 Adam says he “wears his heart on his sleeve” and “brings so much joy to the audience.” Scores coming after the break, as well as the elimination.
Akash & Kamri get 7, 7, 7 – scoring is kind of all over the place tonight, so I don’t even know what to think.
Audience voting, kids shouting out their numbers…
…and it’s Sophia & Jake leaving us. Sophia crying. 🙁 Jake being really supportive and carrying her down to the floor and hugging her as they get hoisted.
See you tomorrow night for Heidi’s live blog for the adult version of Disney night! 😎
I feel sorry for Sophia on that one . . . how are you supposed to dance *anything* to the first half of that song, let alone a samba?
I like Sophia and Jake but at the same time I really wasn’t feeling that one as much as I wanted to. I would give that a 7. Also, Kim comparing new her confidence/shyness to Sophia made me laugh. Just no. Mackenzie and sage…..that was interesting. I loved it and would give that an 8. Just really unexpected.
Sam, I agree. That song would work with almost any other dance style than Samba, but I think that Sophia, Jake and Sasha did the best they could given the song.
I feel bad for Sophia, she’s just so shy. I love that song but its not right for a samba.
I had to snicker at Kim mentioning her shyness as her issue, but then again, she really didn’t put herself out there when she was on the show, so I guess it’s apt. I did think that Sophia did a lot better this week with the personality. Made me think, though, of how great Rumer was when she did that song when she was on the show.(and Val)
It does kind of bug me as well that nobody mentions that MacKenzie is a trained dancer. I mean seriously!
I just can’t get into Kenzie, and most of it has to do with her dancing background.
These kids look adorable in their Disney outfits!!!????
As much as I love Jake, I don’t know-I think I would’ve liked to see Sophia paired with someone closer in age-9 and 14 is too much of an age gap with kids-just my opinion. She did OK-she still seems shy and reserved and Kim K’s ‘help’ was a waste of time LOL
Kenzie was in her element with that contemporary dance-she’s PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED in that genre so I’m not surprised she did well in it.
@Kara – I feel the same way, and I feel like Sage is a mannequin. He’s maybe said 5 words.
I love Ariana and Artyon. And their ragging on Brandon. Also, Ariana had great hip action!
And love her challenging Jordan to limbo. Also, I love that Jordan cheers for the kids along with the coaches as the kids take the floor.
@Courtney, really with Kenzie, it’s the fact that the show just totally obliterates her dancing background-especially tonight. She’s a trained contemporary dancer! And I can live with ringers on the regular version, who can’t escape their dancing background. But here, it just seems crappy because it’s kids.
Speaking of the regular version, not looking forward to Disney night tomorrow. I’m over it on there, but these kids are putting on a good show here.
Loved Ariana and would have given her a 10. Mandela kinda happened so quickly that I really was surprised. I’d give that an 8
Val gave the proper score. Where the heck did those 8s come from?
Kenzie and Sage were great, but she’s trained in that style, so I would expect her to do well with it. I don’t want to say this about kids, but I prefer so many other couples to those two. Now, Ariana and Artyon are firecrackers and did well with their samba. They are wonderful.
Brandon choreographed an ingenious samba routine using the pole as a prop for Ariana and Artyon! And that hip action, especially from her, blows me away!!
Gotta give it up to Cheryl too for choreographing such a fun, cool Paso double for Mandla and Brightyn! I’m kinda confused as to what all 3 judges saw in that routine to give them 3-7’s and especially for Val to make the comments he made?????
Is it just me or did Cheryl look annoyed over Val’s vague critique of Mandla. Right after he said Mandla could do better, Cheryl looked a bit annoyed with it and told Mandla he did great. It may just be me, but I feel like Cheryl isn’t the biggest Val fan, at least not a fan of him as a judge. I agree with her though, cause Cheryl has put in so much more work and to have Val critique me or my students would annoy me as well. Just my observation and opinion…
I wish this show wasn’t an hour-feels like it’s flying by too fast. Also, scoring is all over the place. I don’t get it.
Anyone else feel like they’r really under-utilizing Frankie?
Also, love Miles and Rylee used one of the most underappreciated songs from Aladdin. Always loved song! And so well performed!
It still makes me laugh that the voice of Aladdin is Steve from Full(er) House.
Alana’s costume was perfect. And again, one of the most under-appreciated songs from the movie.
I do feel like they’re completely removing Tristan from the narrative – he wasn’t even in her pre-dance package.
Alana makes me laugh, but she never really dances.
Luv Lindsay’s relationship with her baby sister-sooo cute!! I loved Riley’s routine with Miles from when I saw it on Twitter today-fun Charleston content! I just don’t get how they were scored all 9’s and Mandla was scored all 7’s? NOT FAIR….
Alana looked like such a princess tonight-I agree with Mandy’s comments-she shows improvement little by little, each week
Loved miles and would have given that a 10. Alana was the biggest surprise so far for me. I was expecting the worst and that was all sorts of adorable. I’d give that a 8
I’d be fine if Alana went home. She really doesn’t do much other than have Tristian twirl around her.
Sky was amazing. That was a 10 in my book
Sky deserved a higher score. I’m not a fan of some of the scores given out tonight.
Kenzie did great at her dance but I’m still surprised that the producers think they can get away with not mentioning her dance background? The whole justification of her being on the show is that she wasn’t trained in ballroom…
And I’m loving skys personality such a sweethart
Go JT with that lift!!???????????????? And Sky is just a powerhouse of little girl on the dance floor! Only Mandy would notice those feet????
That little Jason makes the perfect Woody!???? I agree with Adam’s comments as well-good partnership with this team.
Since Emma’s my favorite pro I’m totally biased towards her team as it is, but Jason/Elliana are all kind of adorable. I love them and would love to see them in the end!
And honestly, I don’t even like that song, but I did love the routine!
Love most of these kids, for real. Totally annoyed by Kenzie’s treatment on this show – there aren’t many bigger ringers in the history of DWTS than someone who was on an actual dance show and who’s trained in contemporary. Mya springs to mind, and few others.
Love JT. Love Miles. Hell, Sky is a doll. Ariana is so stinking cute. I like Alanna too, surprisingly. Well there’s no one I don’t like but I’ll be mad if/when Kenzie wins.
Jason and akash I would both give 7s to but I loved those dances at the same time. Like I want their confidence. Also is it bad I want a segment of all the adult pros doing a spelling bee and akash as the moderator. Make it happen abc!
Awwwww…..poor little Sophia. So gorgeous and sweet.
I love that little Akash, especially with Kamri-I do think this dance, at least from my TV screen’s perspective, wasn’t as clean or as sharp as his other dances so far. Just my opinion.
And just like that, an hour flew by! Sooo fast!! And Sophia and Jake go home….Jeez I can’t stand watching these kids cry!! Makes me sooo sad:(((
That was a sad elimination. Sophia was so shy but I think she really did want to be there. I loved her partnership with Jake and Sasha as their mentor. She got hosed tonight in the song/style department.
Unpopular opinion here but I enjoyed Kenzie and Sage’s performance. Their chemistry is spot on. But nevertheless I hold high standards for her due to her dance background. Just dislike how much backlash she’s getting on Instagram when people should really be shifting their blame to the DWTS producers LOL. Anyways, Mandla and Brightyn deserved way higher than a 21. Brightyn is such a natural performer and a great partner to Mandla, who is stepping out of his shell. All of the kids are phenomenal! My heart breaks every time I see a couple go.
I honestly love DWTS juniors and seeing them dance disney. I feel like Disney week has gotten a bit stretched on the regular show but I absolutely loved the juniors doing Disney week because it reminded me how much I LOVED Disney as a kid and the joy of it.
I really enjoyed Sky (I love how she is empowering young girls) and Ariana (and Akash because I just find him adorable).