Dancing with the Stars Season 28, The SEMI FINALS – LIVE BLOG

Well, tonight on DWTS, will we see how the judges REALLY feel about the various contestants?? Will Ally be in for a shock? Will James get all 30s?

I suspect that now that S___ is gone, the judges are going to get real with everyone…except Hannah, who they’ve been pretty real with all along. And James…I don’t feel like he’s been either over scored or underscored. Either way, it will be interesting.

T-minus ten minutes – and “get well soon” to Derek Hough after his emergency surgery this past weekend. At least it waited until he got back to the States.

LOL…nice infomercial. And with S___ gone, all the semi-finalists are passing for rockstars quite well.

Camerass cuts from Pasha and Daniella far too soon, but managed to catch Jenna and Val just fine.

Lauren up first! Wonder if Lauren being in the bottom is going to boost her votes? Might be more obvious sans S____. Lauren is dancing Paso to Kelly Clarkson’s Strong (and Lauren is a good singer! I knew that.) Gleb has NO REASON to be cocky so he should just shut right up.

Love the hair, but the outfit? Not so much. Opening after the stairs seemed a bit unsteady. My feeling is that he didn’t give her a lot to do and she’s just not sure about a lot of it.

Len: Lovely mix of expression and aggression. Saw more shaping. More cape, I would’ve liked. (Oooo…len clapback and Gleb

Bruno: (being suggestive) Handled it beautifully. Stronger. Lost one hand/arm over routine.

CAI: You’ve come so far, you command the dance floor. Locking knees just a bit. A bit too tight.

Okay, so we’re going to be super kind to everyone. Let’s see if the scores reflect that.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 – I think that was a tad overstored. It’s an improvement for her, but…

Can’t wait to see what goes down between Hannah and CAI. Perhaps a reality check for CAI?? I certainly don’t blame Hannah – how long are you supposed to hear the complements that someone like S___ gets and then hear nothing but nitpicking??

Kel is up next, getting coached by Bruno. Who’s idea is it for all the dancers to put the damn stairs in every damn routine?? It just makes the dance look awkward. Interesting (?) costume choice again.

Kel actually looks like he’s leading! He’s quite confident and into this dance. Great ending. Well done!!

Bruno: Real, proper tango – just one mistake. Well done.

CAI: You’ve become so refined, you’ve come the furthest. Fantastic.

Len: Intensity, I liked. Some missing heel leads. Came out with enthusiasm. Well done.

Score: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 for a dance that was a mile ahead of the other scorer of 27. Are we back to “everyone gets a 9” gambit??

Ally up next with their V. Waltz. She’s who I’m most curious about, since I feel like a large part of her scores were to keep her out of the bottom. Side note, this is the second week in a row that Ally’s lip liner is distracting me in the package.

She looks stunning, I must say. And again with the damn stairs. Love this song and this dance is quite lovely. That was beautiful, from start to finish, actually. Was that Tom Hanks??? Nope, her dad, I think.

Len: Much more rotation, better technique. Lost a bit of rotation in couple places.

Bruno: Joy to watch.

CAI: Phrasing in this dance was beyond the movement. Emotional performer.

Scores: 10, 9, 10 for a total of 29. Hmmm, don’t know that that was that much better than Kel’s.

Hannah up next with her rumba. She actually wanted Carrie Ann (kinda). This is actually making me a bit weepy. I think it was time for someone to call out a judge for their attacks which often ARE personal. I didn’t even like their commentary to S___ last week. They go too far sometimes – more Bruno that CAI.

Wow, another stunning woman. She started off a little shaky, but she seemed to get into it as it went along. Better hip action.

Hannah is a classy young woman.

CAI: I was never offended by that. We want to make you better. You improved a heck of a lot. More open to us. Really proud of you.

Len: The hips are the rhythm and the arms are the melody and I thought you married those two beautifully.

Bruno: Whatever she did, it worked. You learned to place your foot. Blah blah blah.

Scores: 9, 9, 9, for a total of 27 – everyone gets a NINE! Except Ally. 🙂

James up next with the easiest dance of the night…and it wasn’t his lowest score either. He had another dance with the same score.

Why do they keep throwing extra dancers in? At least he isn’t using the stairs. Is there going to be cha cha…oh, there it is. Emma came off the ground, but that’s not convenient. I love James – he’s hot. But I don’t think he’s that much better than Ally or Kel at this point. He is hot though.

Len: I said cut out the gimmicks. Because disco music – I would have liked to see more cha cha cha (me too). Too much messin’ about. (Agreed)

Bruno: Disco cha cha extravaganza. You’re a great showman and you can sell it. You were off timing quite a few times (agreed – but I thought his legs were too wide).

CAI: Really entertaining. Your posture is really broken (agreed) – you’re a fantastic dancer, I’d hate to see you lose it over details.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24 out of 30. I find it hard to disagree with that – Kel and Ally did better. I don’t know that Hannah was that much better, but she wasn’t worse. I’d have given him at least one 9 for being hot. I think that counts. 🙂

But, how are you handed the easiest dance of the night and spend it doing Disco for a judge who TOLD you to drop the gimmicks? Bad decision. It seems the low scorers have been in the bottom two. Hopefully that’s not the case here.

Lauren up with her never-performed style – V. Waltz. I love this girl, but I can’t stand her partner. Ugh.

This dress is gorgeous. Hair? Still gorgeous. There is not much to this dance, though. Seems very simple. Doesn’t stack up against Ally’s, IMO. Gleb’s suit is yuck.

Len: Smooth, elegant, graceful. Loved the elements of slow waltz. Lovely dance.

Bruno: So sophisticated. Loved the chemistry, sizzling. Joined together, like a dream couple.

CAI: Loved you dancing as one. Great.

She’s going to get 9s for that very simple dance. I guess simple is better from time to time, but…she’s not on the same level as Kel, Ally, James or even Hannah.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for another 27. Over all total is 54 out of 60.

Kel up next with a contemporary to Witney Houston “I will always love you”. Geez. This should be interesting.

Damn stairs again. tiny sync issue. Beautiful job, beautiful dance. There were one or two spots where I could see him thinking about it, but over all great job.

Bruno: what an achievement. Pure art. The fluidity of the lifts. Sincerity and honesty in performance. You’re a winner in my eye.

CAI: 28 season I’ve seen every type of dance – that dance makes a big impact. riveting, pure, I’m so grateful.

Len: (standing O)

This better get a damn 30, IMO.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for our first perfect score of the night.

Ally up next – that speech seemed a bit rehearsed. She said Sasha’s name so many times. Charleston!

Even MORE stairs!! Damn. She’s ‘moving too small, there at first. She goes in and out of too small movement. Kinda weird. Good dance over all though. WTF with the stairs. Besides that, a lot of this seems familiar. Was I just talking about Shawn and Derek?? Yes I was. 🙂

CAI: Showstopper! Proved you deserve to be in the final.

Len: Fun, fabulous. Fun and Joy. Just great.

Bruno: Sparkly, exuberant. Some lindy. Classic hollywood musical number.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30. I would have handed out a bunch of 9s on that one.

Hmmmm…If James gets a perfect score and Hannah gets another 27, there will be a three way tie for third place. So, this season, the low scorers have typically been in the bottom (except for Hannah, S___). So what if Ally and Hannah are in the bottom?? Ally is the better dancer, but she’s been in the bottom two several times. So, the judges might automatically call her safe – but the backlash could be…bad.

Awwww…James’ wife had a miscarriage. So sad. This ought to be a tear jerker. He’s doing a foxtrot.

I love a man in tails. Emma’s dance is gorgeous. My favorite part was when the song hits the chorus. That was lovely. I was a bit distracted by the red moon in the background because I’m obsessed with Legend of Zelda right now. And now, I’m crying.

Len: For you to come out and dance with so much feeling, I admire you so much.

Bruno: You put so much heart into that dance. Wonderful spatial flow. Job well done.

CAI: I don’t know how you got through that. I feel silly talking about your posture. It was great posture.

I don’t feel that dance was particularly great, but I understand why it might not have been. Tough time in his household right now. :::sob:::

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27. That poor little girl crying. Dressed so cute too.

Hannah is up next with her contemporary.

Ooo… a couple lovely lifts. At first I thought she was holding back, but it seemed like she got into the angry part. That lift spin towards the end was great. I think Hannah’s problem is that she tries really hard to not let the hurt show during the live show. I get that.

Bruno: You did pretty well. What I really liked – you got a wonderful dynamic in the lifts and drops. .

CAI: you move beautifully, the trust was impressive. It paid off.

Len: Normally not a fan of contemporary, but I must say I thought the emotion came out and it was a great dance together.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 out of 30.

I’m feeling deep. Hannah is trying really hard to be tough, she want to be a strong, independent woman – and on the Bachelorette she was the most real person that’s ever been on that show. But she was really disappointed in it, and I think she’s been working hard only to have this be more serious than she thought it would be. I watch her dance and I feel like she’s in a very uncertain time of her life. I think James’ heartbreak translated very strongly into his dancing in a not good way (not blaming him) and I think Hannah’s tumultuous past few months and desire to be the strong powerful woman has been impacting her off and on all season.

Anyway….

SAFE: Kel (yay!)

SAFE: Hannah!

SAFE: Lauren (oh shit)

This ain’t no kinda good. They gotta save James – no question. This is not hard.

CAI: Both are fantastic. WTF she saves Ally???

Bruno: WTF!!!! He picks Ally and Sasha?????

Len: Would have voted Ally.

What the actual fuck??? Did he want to quit?? Ally tried to give it to James. She’s still apologizing.

Okay..brief post mortem. I can’t believe they just did that. How on earth do you save Ally, who has been in the bottom SEVERAL times, over James who has never been in the bottom at ALL?? James is far from perfect, but he’s objectively a better dancer than Ally 95% of the time. WTF?? I also don’t believe he’d quit and not make it known to all. Ally was SOBBING because she was saved over him. What the actual fuck?

In my opinion, the top 2 dancers were James and Kel. I like Hannah very much. But if someone were going to go home, it should have been Lauren – no offense to her, she’s a good dancer. Put very simply, Ally is NOT the audience favorite – she was the high scorer of the night and still ended up in the bottom. James was clearly in the bottom because he was at the very bottom of the leader board. A few days after his wife miscarried. So, you have to conclude that the judges weigh their opinions far above the audience.

So, which do we take?? Judges who prevent the Bobby Bones/S___ S____s of the world yet think they are so much smarter than the audience that they save the person who the audience isn’t voting for? Or the S___ S____s making the finals??