PureDWTS Season 28, Week 8: Power Rankings
He’s still here, y’all. 🙁
We’re only three weeks away from the finale, and we’ve eliminated half of this season’s cast. Assuming they eliminate one couple next week and another the following week, we’re looking at a four-person finale – and given that the judges seem disinclined to really do anything to help the situation, I think we need to start coming terms with the fact that’s he’s more than likely going to end up in the finals, barring any sort of extreme interference from production. As I predicted last week, this week’s bottom two was just a recycling of previous bottom 2 survivors, which makes me think it’s going to continue being such (sorry Ally, and possibly sorry Kel) until he finally ends up pitted against contestants that have also been able to steer clear of it thus far (read: Hannah, James, Lauren). I’ve seen some folks worried that he might win – while I’m not ruling it out completely, I’m also thinking (hoping) that his continued presence is lighting a fire underneath some viewers to vote for all the other couples, and with each week that passes there’s fewer and fewer people to spread the votes around to…so those that haven’t fallen into the bottom 2 yet are likely amassing bigger and bigger shares of the voting pie, which creates more pressure for his voters to pick up the slack. I’ve given up on the judges actually scoring him fairly – he should be getting 4’s, and not the overly-kind 6’s and 7’s that the judges are still throwing out. Got blocked by Carrie Ann (again) for telling her that she has no room to be “irritated” with the fans, when she’s actively contributing to him sticking around by copping out with her little 7 paddle. So we clearly can’t rely on the judges to actually drop the hammer. But if it’s any consolation, we confirmed this week that you can vote ten times per couple, per account online, so if you aren’t doing so already – go through and add ten votes for each couple EXCEPT HIM, then submit your votes, log out, and repeat with your other accounts. If we ride this hard, it could result in him falling into the bottom 2, where he can finally be flushed out…
So with this continued clownery, the question on everyone’s lips seems to be “Is the show going to be cancelled?” If you’re just asking for my opinion, I say if this is the type of nonsense we can look forward to for seasons to come, the show SHOULD be cancelled; however, the actual answer is quite a bit more complicated than that. Ratings are at their lowest; however, if ABC is going to cancel DWTS, they’re going to have to come up with something else to put in its time slot that can hold its own against The Voice, which airs concurrently on NBC. I don’t know that it’s going to be very easy for ABC to track down a new show to replace DWTS, but I could see them swapping it out – and I think the most likely candidate is American Idol. It’s currently airing on Sundays (which is actually considered a more competitive time slot than Mondays) and is pulling in roughly the same ratings as The Voice on Monday nights. Why ABC has such confidence in an outdated reality competition format is beyond me, but I could see them giving DWTS’ Monday night slot to Idol and either putting DWTS on Sundays or scrapping it altogether. I mean, they’ve got all manner of fluffy stuff they can pad Sunday night out with – America’s Funniest Home Videos, Kids Say the Darndest Things, Shark Tank, etc. However, AI has been airing in the spring, and is already greenlit for a spring 2020 season; will ABC take the risk of doing two seasons of AI in a year and over-saturating viewers? Can they even AFFORD to do so, given Katy Perry’s bloated salary? There’s a lot of variables to consider when it comes to cancelling DWTS, and while I can’t in good conscience condone several continued seasons of the shenanigans currently happening, I can’t say confidently that this show will be toast after this one. Will be interesting to see what (if anything) gets said about another season on finale night…if they don’t say anything, up-fronts in May of next year will be a key time to watch…
So we lost Kate & Pasha, which, while not unexpected, was still disappointing. I actually thought her jive was her strongest Latin dance, and was impressed and how bouncy and clean the legwork was – which made it all the more annoying when the judges seemed to downplay how well she did, and she ended up with the same score as Lauren for a dance that I thought was actually better. But boy am I glad that they were on this season, and that Pasha was a pro – as Len mentioned last week (I think), Pasha has forced all the other pros to up their game in terms of content, and it’s benefited just about everyone. You could tell Len was sad to see them go when he did press line after Monday’s show, so I guess that’s something…
1.) Hannah & Alan – Ladies, gents, and nonbinary viewers – Hannah has finally joined the competition in week 8! This week she really had a breakthrough: she was bouncy, she was grinning and pulling faces, and she was moving big – all things I mentioned I wanted to see from her last week. I FINALLY got the impression that she really wants to be in this competition and do well, so I was able to overlook the boat show I was able to drive between her and Alan when they were in promenade during their quickstep 😛 I don’t know if it was the trip back home or her breakdown last week, but something changed for the better…and it’s making me think she’s a contender. It also humanized her for me, and rather than appearing as a pageant contestant, she seems to be adopting more of the folksiness that makes Lauren so appealing…which could spell trouble for Lauren, which we’ll get to in a minute…
2.) James & Emma – More excellence from James – which worries me a skosh, because it’s starting to feel less exciting from week to week. I know it’s not his fault, but part of me is starting to wish he’d have more highs and lows, just so his highs were more impactful from week to week. I will say this, though: James’ biggest strength (besides having some natural talent – still not a professional dancer, guys) seems to be his ability to emotionally dial into each dance, and play it just right. It also helps that he’s got some core strength and flexibility to really point those toes and stretch those arms, and throw in an acrobatic move or two 😛 Lovely dance, just wish we could see a bit more light and shade from him…
3.) Lauren & Gleb – This jive started out strong – Lauren was selling it, really getting those knees high, and her costume was cute. Then it all seemed to fall apart in the second half – Lauren lost time once, and it seemed to just open the door to her losing time again, and again…and also forgetting her choreo. Part of me blames Gleb for creating a routine that seemed a bit disjointed, but part of me thinks we may just finally be seeing the limitations of Lauren’s skill – up until now, I think she’s gotten off relatively easy with the judges, largely being overscored for routines that were good, but perhaps not the cleanest technically. She’s also injured, which tends not to bode well for anyone heading into the finale. I still think she’s getting heaps of votes, so I doubt she’s in danger, but I do think she’s beginning to hit a wall. The fact that she was so quiet after getting her critique makes me wonder if all those weeks of getting overscored have given her inflated expectations, and thus getting called out for mistakes (and scored accordingly for them) feels harsh. And now that our other southern girl has actually had a breakthrough and really joined the competition, I’m wondering if Lauren may suffer by comparison…
4.) Jenna (Lindsay, really) – New week, new partner – same lack of dancing. Vaguely looked like he was trying to direct traffic during his jazz routine. God bless Jenna, thoughts and condolences to Lindsay. He’s still gotta go, though…
5.) Kel & Witney – I’m on the fence about whether we’ll see Kel in the bottom 2 again – part of me thinks he’s had a bit of a breakthrough these past few weeks, and may have actually gained enough traction to stick around. Then there’s part of me that remembers that he fell into the bottom two way back in week 3 (when there were still a lot of other couples around that he could and should have probably surpassed in votes) and worries that he’s inevitably going to fall into again now that we’re getting down to the wire. His salsa this week impressed the hell out of me – he was blending in VERY convincingly with the male pros that guested in his dance, and the sequence at the end with the three couples dancing together was so sharply in-sync that I briefly lost track of who was who. Witney’s choreo also seems to have livened up as the season has worn on, and was a lot more entertaining and creative this week. One edge Kel seems to have over Ally is that I feel like he dances OUT to the audience more, while it sometimes feels like Ally dances to Sasha or herself – I noticed it in their dance-off, too. When it comes down to it, I feel like the judges may opt to keep Kel over Ally simply for optics – as the last male contestant of color left (and the show rather swiftly eliminating the other three men of color in the first half of the season), it may look a bit better to have a more diverse semi-final. He’s also been on a roll these past few weeks, and could potentially be a more entertaining prospect for the finals. I’m just not sure…and I’m lightweight hoping that Lindsay’s partner finally succumbs to the bottom 2 next week and eliminates the need for choices like these…
6.) Ally & Sasha – At this point, I just think Ally being in the bottom 2 is unavoidable. She’s been there twice already (more than anyone else still left), and I just don’t see her getting a sudden uptick in votes to keep her safe again. Anymore, I guess I’m of the opinion “If they aren’t getting votes now, they’re probably not gonna get them next week.” There’s just not enough other contestants left for her to realistically surpass, and even if she dances perfectly next week…I’m not sure the judges are going to keep saving her. I often find myself liking her performances, but not being terribly moved by them; I felt that way about her paso this week. Good dance, and she is improving…but it’s not really the first one that I recall when I think about all the week’s dances. At times, she hit it full force; but at others, such as getting in and out of hold, she seemed to lose momentum and focus. It was a really good paso; I’m not sure I agree that it was a perfect one, though. She’s a sweet girl and there’s definitely people that I’d rather see go before her, but I think her only hope is if you-know-who miraculously falls into the bottom 2 with her.
Thoughts on the dance-offs:
Kel & Witney vs. Ally & Sasha: A nice, evenly-matched dance-off – probably the most evenly-matched of the three, and also the one that I found the most enjoyable to watch. Thought both of them were giving it their all – Ally & Sasha seemed to lean harder into choreo, while Kel & Witney seemed to focus more on performance quality. In the end, I think Kel edged out Ally simply by appearing more comfortable on the floor – he genuinely looked like he was having a great time, while I caught a few glimpses of Ally looking a bit nervous and lost, and she seemed to get swallowed up by the choreo at a few points. Kel was more at ease and in-the-pocket of the dance. Loved that they had a bit at the beginning where Kel and Ally danced together – it gave the dance-off an air of “in the end, this is all in good fun!”
S*** & Jenna vs. Kate & Pasha: I couldn’t even tell you what he was doing – I’m guessing just standing and pointing while Jenna danced around him, as he usually does with Lindsay on a weekly basis. Kate & Pasha actually had a respectable choreographed cha-cha routine, which had a few borrowed steps from the cha-cha we saw them do in week 1 and was (as always) full of content. I’ve never thought Latin was Kate’s cup of tea (though her jive this week made me reconsider that), but I thought she did a very respectable job and earned her two points – especially given that her opponent did a whole lot of nothing. As with Kel and Ally’s dance-off, I loved that they had a break in the middle where they sort of acknowledged one another and all four of them did some steps together – or rather, Pasha, Kate, and Jenna did some steps together, while the other guy stood there staring awkwardly at them. This was fun to watch due to Kate and Pasha alone – and I give minor props to Jenna for trying to compensate for her temporary partner’s shortcomings.
Hannah & Alan vs. Lauren & Gleb: This one…was just a bit bizarre to watch, mainly owing to Lauren & Gleb making it weird. To Hannah & Alan’s credit, I felt like they were going 150% the whole dance-off, doing some heavy-duty choreo and doing their best to serve up real salsa content – showmanship was a bit lacking at times, but I’m willing to let that slide because she was doing legitimate steps. Lauren & Gleb…seemed completely disinterested for the first half of the dance-off, and then midway through, Lauren actually came alive…and started doing some weird twerk-like movement. Then Gleb doffed his shirt, they did some awkward gyrating, and the plot was lost completely on their side of the ballroom as Hannah & Alan continued with their salsa tour de force on the opposite side of the floor. Hannah easily won this one, though I wouldn’t have put it past the judges to give Lauren the two points just to get her out of the basement. But she ended up being safe anyway, so the points rightfully went to Hannah.
Who do you think has a spot in the finale? And who could be in trouble next week?
Great read! As off-putting as a lot of this season has been, I always look forward to coming here and reading your thoughts as you try to make sense of what’s doing on with DWtS.
*going on
Damn, I’m as bad as Bruno with his Sasha/Pasha problem. 🙂
This is actually the first dance by ally that I actually enjoyed. In their dance-off, Kel won that one for sure. His wasn’t as clean or sharp as Ally’s but he has great rhythm and like you said he knows how to perform to the audience
I think her and kel are probably going to be in the bottom two next week and judges will probably save her which sucks cause I find Kel more entertaining.
The final will probably be Lauren, James, Sean and Hannah. I think though Hannah will probably win it all. She’s a great dancer, has Bachelor Nation and is from Alabama. She has people like Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato sharing her dances, it was only once but that probably helped her get a few more fans. Plus, she also seems to be very popular on YouTube, constantly getting on the youtube trending list. That’s all got to point at her being very popular and hopefully win it all. Really I think her and maybe Lauren could take it from Sean. Sorry James.
Speaking of James, I didn’t really enjoy his dance this week. It just seemed very lift heavy.
Also, to everybody else if you wanna vote but can’t cause you’re not in the US. Download the tunnelbear app set your location to the US and you’ll be able to vote!
This is actually the first dance by ally that I actually enjoyed. In their dance-off, Kel won that one for sure. His wasn’t as clean or sharp as Ally’s but he has great rhythm and like you said he knows how to perform to the audience
I think her and kel are probably going to be in the bottom two next week and judges will probably save her which sucks cause I find Kel more entertaining.
The final will probably be Lauren, James, Sean and Hannah. I think though Hannah will probably win it all. She’s a great dancer, has Bachelor Nation and is from Alabama. She has people like Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato sharing her dances, it was only once but that probably helped her get a few more fans. Plus, she also seems to be very popular on YouTube, constantly getting on the youtube trending list. That’s all got to point at her being very popular and hopefully win it all. Really I think her and maybe Lauren could take it from Sean. Sorry James.
Speaking of James, I didn’t really enjoy his dance this week. It just seemed very lift heavy.
This is actually the first dance by ally that I actually enjoyed. In their dance-off, Kel won that one for sure. His wasn’t as clean or sharp as Ally’s but he has great rhythm and like you said he knows how to perform to the audience
I think her and kel are probably going to be in the bottom two next week and judges will probably save her which sucks cause I find Kel more entertaining.
The final will probably be Lauren, James, Sean and Hannah. I think though Hannah will probably win it all. She’s a great dancer, has Bachelor Nation and is from Alabama. She has people like Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato sharing her dances, it was only once but that probably helped her get a few more fans. Plus, she also seems to be very popular on YouTube, constantly getting on the youtube trending list. That’s all got to point at her being very popular and hopefully win it all. Really I think her and maybe Lauren could take it from Sean. Sorry James.
Speaking of James, I didn’t really enjoy his dance this week. It just seemed very lift heavy.
Also, to everybody else if you wanna vote but can’t cause you’re not in the US. Download the tunnelbear app set your location to the US and you’ll be able to vote!
I think the finale is going to be James and Hannah (100%), Sean (though I think there’s maybe a chance he gets axed right before), and Lauren. I really don’t think Sean will win. Making the finals, there’s a good chance.
But I think the show will do anything and everything necessary to prevent him winning. I’d love for Kel to make it. Since he was last in the bottom 2, I feel that lit some spark under him. The biggest issue for me regarding Kel, is I feel like there’s been some lack of chemistry between him and Witney. I don’t know why, but I’ve felt disconnected from them as a couple. However, I loved them together this past week.
Ally I think could possibly get a boost and not be in the bottom 2 next week, but that’s iffy. I honestly don’t know who else, besides Sean and Kel. Maybe Lauren. She was just in the bottom 2 two weeks ago, so I agree she may not be able to rally the votes. Unless she’s against Sean (who anybody would be safe against), she’s likely going home. Against Kel might give her a chance, but I can see that going either way. I agree with your thoughts about her paso. It was good, but not memorable. I feel that way about most of her dances this season.
I also agree about Lauren. I realized this is the first week she’s faced any real criticism. It wasn’t unearned, and in the dance off…I don’t know what Gleb was thinking. That solo move Lauren did was bizarre.
If not Lindsay in the bottom 2, it’ll probably be some combo of Ally, Kel, and Lauren. I would be shocked if it were Hannah or James. Right now I still think it’s James’s to lose, but Hannah could be the one to take the win away from him. I also don’t know that ABC would cancel the show after this season. Maybe they’ll do shorter seasons, or move it’s time slot, but I’d be surprised to see it go away completely. Aside from fixing who they cast in the first place, I don’t know what else they can do that might attract viewers. A lot of people say if they had a more diverse line up that might help, but I’m not sure if that would even help at this point. I do like some of the changes they’ve made this season, but there’s other things I’d like to see changed as well.
Do you think it possible they do a double elimination and don’t pick 3 couples? Tom just says the judges don’t have to vote because both couples are gone? Strange twist but probable legal.
Lindsay has a samba this week and if the judges don’t roast it I’m going to be pretty mad hahaha
Every season I vote for whoever is partnered with Lindsay because I love her so much and have been following her ever since SYTYCD. However, I stopped voting for her partner 2 weeks ago because it is ridiculous that her partner is still here. Unfortunately, he will definitely make the finals. Bristol, who is similar to Lindsay’s partner, got 3rd place in her season and I actually think Sean is a slightly better dancer. Also, the president of the United States tweets for people to vote which is huge. I would honestly put him in the #1 spot for power rankings. He isn’t going anywhere anytime soon :/
I’m giving 10 votes to all the non-S___ couples on each account. Lauren would be my 5th choice to win, but at this point, I wouldn’t mind it if Lauren were to win, as long as Lindsay doesn’t.
It’s already the quarterfinals and I’m disappointed that this season didn’t have an Charlestons. I’d rather they replace Jazz with Charleston.
The dance-offs were pointless if they only awarded 2 points, which apparently makes almost no difference in the standings considering that Ally can be 10 points ahead of someone and still wind up in the bottom two.
Can’t see that James is less exciting because he is constantly great. If that were true what’s the point in being great? Lauren and Sean’s voting power seems unbeatable. Lauren’s vote is backed up by he dancing skills but Sean’s is not. At this point the dancing and judges votes seem less relevant which is a shame for the show
When the dancing and judging is less relaxant and arguably the best dancer is deemed less exciting because he is constantly good it seems there is no hope for my favorite James
Whoa, Jamie – this is literally just one person’s opinion. Relax.
It’s been a while since I had not delved into your funny, brilliant, perceptive commentary on DWTS. Kudos. I used to write a blog on DWTS but was turned off from writing by the corrupt production shenanigans that pissed us all (Bad dancer Bobby Bones, Joe Detestabile pretty-boy dysfunction, etc.). Especially repulsed by S***, the disgusting political reptile Mr. Andrew Llinares brought in that continued to vitiate the dancing competition and ruined the show (again!). I so enjoy your sharp, witty, well-written, truthful, and particularly, your sometimes catty-wicked comments.
Guys, I just realized we still don’t have Most Memorable Year week yet and with 3 weeks left, I’m getting a bad feeling. Actually I just looked on the show’s wiki page (I know, I know, not very reliable but that’s where I saw it) and there’s no mention of memorable year week that I saw! 🙁
Why?? They shouldn’t have removed it! We’ve had that every single season (except on All-Stars and All-Athletes) since Season 13! 🙁
@Liz, they aren’t doing it this year. From what I’ve read it sounds like the whole season has sort of been a most memorable year, with the stars sometimes having weeks where they were talking about something in their lives that otherwise would have been reserved for most memorable year week.
Love your reviews and usually agree with everything you say. I also dumped on Carrie Ann about scoring. Suggestion: put two couples with lowest judges scores on chopping block, no fan voting till finals. This would prevent Sean staying and last year’s winner fiasco. Sean staying is ruining the show. It’s not fair to pros and other celebs who work so hard and this is the pros livelihood, it matters to them on a whole different level.
So much for “tougher scoring” this season. Supposedly, Sean’s “Jazz” was good as Hannah’s Cha-Cha from Week 1. I get that it’s different weeks, but come on. A 4 is a 4 no matter what week it is. Oh well.
My rankings:
1)James & Emma: Was torn between him and Ally for my top spot but he has something that I can’t pinpoint that makes me root for him more.
2)Hannah & Alan: The wall is down and she is here to play (not that that she wasn’t good before but she had a fire in her this week that I hope doesn’t go away).
3)Ally and Sasha: I love these two but I can’t really figure out why viewers aren’t voting her to be honest since she came from the same fanbase as Normani and they loved her enough to get her to the finale and Ally is equally as good….maybe better than her dance wise in my opinion. Just a strange one.
4)Kel & Witney: I honestly feel like he is just the dark horse this season. He has improved that much.
5)Lauren & Gleb: I genuinely like her now but not this dance. Gleb seemed to enjoy it though.
6)Jenna and Sean: I mean……wasn’t as bad as last week BUT still very bad. That’s all i got other than Jenna looked great.
Not DWTS related but something I thought you guys might be interested in: “Last Christmas” is actually really good. Highly recommend it.
Thanks Vin – been planning on seeing it.