Dancing with the Stars Season 29, Week 1 – LIVE BLOG

Well, here we are once again. Lots of things to be curious about tonight. What will it be like without an audience?? Will Judge Derek be very similar to the Judge Derek we see on World of Dance – hope so, that dude is entertaining and KIND. But truthful. Is Tyra going to be a total camera and microphone hog or just a moderate one?? Are there so many couples that it will be hard to focus?? And which pros will be able to survive without backing dancers and huge sets?? πŸ˜€

I, for one, am going to blog like I normally do for DWTS – stream of consciousness, and not a blow by blow of every moment and score. I do that on WoD, but that show is only an hour. Anyway, t-minus 20 minutes!!

So I just posted an interview with Derek on PureDerekHough and he says/implies that he will be back on World of Dance, provided it’s picked up for season 5. Which it probably will be because it had decent ratings, for a summer show. So, either his NBC contract allows him to be on other networks and DWTS is desperate, or he is between contracts (although most are five years) and DWTS used that as an excuse. Who knows?

Here we go…and first shot is Tyra, of course. But then we get all the pros. Love Sharna’s hair so much better.

OG Pro Cheryl the first into the ballroom. I have to say, I like this bit with all the pros dancing alone.

That is a great dress on Tyra and I love the look of the ballroom, honestly. All the celebs looking great. Nice costuming…except Carole Baskin. WTF?

Confession…I got a little teary during the theme song. It’s been a shit year.

Tyra teases the possible appearance of Len. πŸ™‚ Then the pairings.

AJ is up first. Couldn’t have a better pro in Cheryl Burke….if rumors are true. And they are. Jive is their dance.

Ouch. Hope he didn’t hurt himself with that jump. Bruno having trouble being so far from Derek already. πŸ™‚ AJ just go hit by Cheryl’s hair. I thought that was a good dance, but very short.

Derek thinks it was a great start to the show, but he wants a bit more bounce. Bruno thought it was powerful and strong. CAI says that was exactly the way to start the show. She thinks he could dance a little more out. Especially this season.

He gets three 6’s, which seems a bit low to me, but I’m always more lenient on the first viewing.

Chrishell is so cute – I even watched the first episode of Selling Sunset out of curiosity. I like the Million Dollar Beach House show better. Chrishell is with Gleb, sadly for her.

Tango, lordy. She’s handling it quite well. And the choreography doesn’t totally suck. She has a bit of the model stiffness thing going on. But I thought that was good for a tango in week one.

Bruno says she has a long way to go, she went wrong in a few places and her posture was off. They had canned booing!!! Or was that the other celebs doing that? CAI agrees but says she has a lot of potential. Derek talks about her feet and working from the ground up, which seems like really good advice.

FOUR?!?!? Are you kidding Me?? Derek gives her a five, at least. Why didn’t they whip out the fours on Bobby fucking Bones???

The lighting guys can’t get it together for Vernon Davis. :::sigh::: He’s dancing with Peta because….Peta. He’s doing Foxtrot. Very handsome dude. Great smile. Oooo…I like that stop right in the middle. Very pretty and slightly sexy. As with most athletes, his arms need a bit of work.

CAI comments on the tenderness…she’s docking a point for a lift. Derek says he was so smooth, he was surprised, his frame was good but watch out for the arm. Bruno says he was sizzling he needs an “ice package”. He attempted rise and fall, and congrats on that.

He gets a 17 which is quite good so far tonight.

Anne Heche is up next. She makes me realize how old I am now. πŸ™‚ She has Keo as a partner. And she starts stripping. πŸ˜€ She’s entertaining for sure. She’s doing Cha Cha and I dig the outfit.

She’s surprisingly good, perhaps because she doesn’t take herself too seriously. I really enjoyed that dance. She has some kind of spark!

Derek seems to agree with me, he likes her, says so clean and so neat. Tells her to complete every move, but great first dance. Bruno thinks she’s a sparkling cracker. He says a bit more hip action. CAI says she’s incredible, she’s so precise, likes the tension between her and Keo.

I agree, that was really good, IMO.

She gets an 18 which is currently the number one position.

Jeannie Mai is up next after the commercial. OMG…the commercial with the dog going around to all the closed restaurants and then they’re open and they give him treats?? Awwww…..

Jeannie Mai is paired with Brandon. She’s talking about tricks already…we could be in trouble. πŸ™‚ They’re doing Salsa and I dig the outfits.

Not enough hip action, by a mile but not too bad for night one. Great lift in the middle but it went on for too long.

Bruno says it was so energizing, so radiant. A bunch more stuff I don’t understand. She lost balance a bit. CAI says that was amazing, but her energy with her arms was uneven. Derek says the lift is great in week 1. Derek says to work on the turns as she tends to fall out of them a bit. Thank goodness for Derek because he was keeping it a bit more real, compared to Bruno and CAI who seemed over the top to me. I didn’t think it was that great.

She earns three 6s. Which is a bit mind boggling compared to hte earlier dances who I thought were better.

Jesse Metcalfe is up next with Sharna. He’s also making me realize how old I am. πŸ™‚

Love the outfits for their quickstep. He’s puling off so far. Quickstep is no joke and he seems to have the bulk of it. There are a few messy moments, but all in all, respectable. Better than expected!!

CAI welcomes back Sharna. She says that was a passionate quickstep, but they need to tame the beast. Needs more posture. Derek says it was great, he’s a leading man, but shoulders down. Bruno says Jesse got him into gardening. πŸ™‚ Says he did well.

And they also get an 18. I think Chrishell got hosed.

Skai up next…she’s so cute. And my MacBook is pissing me off with the auto correct.

Love her outfit! So classy. She has Alan as a partner which will probably be good.

Another Tango in week 1! OMG, she’s going to be good. Excellent split. So sharp, clean. Great job by Alan. She threw her arm away there towards the end, but damn. This is a contender right here!

Derek loved the split, clean, strong, great posture. He would like more travel across the dance floor. Bruno says such a young girl gave such a mature performance, agrees with Derek. CAI agrees with Derek and Bruno, says it was beautiful and exciting.

Scores: 7,7,7 for a total of 21 which I agree with. This girl was on fire. I don’t know if she was that far ahead of the 18s, but I can’t complain too much.

I do wonder how the judges are so in sync with Derek…or how he’s in sync with them. It makes me wonder. Of if they just discuss a general strategy going in.

Kaitlyn at the top of the hour, not surprised. I figured first or top of the hour. I also think her bf is hot. πŸ™‚ And she scores Artem. First choice was Derek, but Artem will work. πŸ™‚ Cha Cha!!

She’s quite good, I think. No obvious mistakes except a throwaway arm early on. A little too “fake smile” except right in the middle when she seemed to cut loose.

Bruno says the foot placement was great, going on the toe on week one. Sharper finish would be good at times. CAI says a great first dance, needs a bit more pointing. Derek says a beautiful cha cha, the arms were beautiful, but a little safe, asks for more bite and attack.

She gets a 20 out of 30. Derek had to give her a 7 after she was all over social wanting to dance with him. πŸ™‚ I seem to recall he met her years ago on GMA when they were both on GMA at the same time…didn’t they dance for a few seconds?? Derek fans??

Nev is up next….he’s cute. I always go for that type. Slightly nerdy but cute. He’s dancing with Jenna. Dancing foxtrot.

Love Jenna’s dress. God, I love this music. He’s handling it quite well. Needs to work on the arm. And as soon as I say that he nails it. I remember! Derek danced to this song with Laura Benanti on Broadway. LOVE it. He did great…Nev AND Derek.

CAI says that was uplifting and it took us back. She forgot what they could work on. Work on the rise and fall. Derek says he’s a great dancer, says he needs to pull in the butt and Derek likes the elbow down a bit so it doesn’t pull the shoulder up. Bruno seems to agree with Derek.

He gets a 20, with Bruno handing him a 6. I think Chrishell is the only score I disagree with so far.

LEN!!! I love him when he’s not being cranky judge.

Johnny is paired with Britt. I wonder how that worked out. He seems like a good get and she’s brand spanken’ new.

Cha Cha time and he’s predictably dramatic. A tiny bit off time. Britt is an amazing dancer – nice to see her as a pro. I do hate how some of these songs just don’t go with the music. He did very well.

Derek welcomes Britt. He says great first dance, when they’re in his zone he’s great, but as soon as he gets to cha cha he starts thinking. Bruno says great opening, wonderful lyrical quality, but needs to be sharper in Cha Cha. CAI feels like he should have been on the show years ago. Says they got a bit lost in the middle, they need to stay connected the whole way through.

He scores an 18 which ain’t too shabby. I agree with that.

Justina is up next…wasn’t she on Six Feet Under?? Highly recommend that show, if you haven’t seen it. Twisted but funny. πŸ™‚ Yes!! She was on Six Feet Under.

Anyway, she’s dancing with Sasha. Two tiny people. πŸ™‚ She’s going to be funny. Love her opening. Dang, she’s starting with a bang. Doing great. And she’s clearly loving it which makes me love it. I really enjoyed that!!

Bruno says she’s got the respect. Loved her confidence. CAI says it was to and starts gyrating. She was on fire. Derek says she oozes charisma, energy and power. He says to watch the turned in feet, but great dance.

And she scores a 21 out of 30. Well deserved.

Still thinking about Nev and Jenna’s foxtrot. I love a beautiful foxtrot – they were always my favorites of Derek’s and Jenna did a great job on that dance. And that music!!

Charles Oakley up next. He’s a silver fox an he’s dancing with Emma. Dancing Salsa.

I like his opening. Emma always opens with something that feels good to her partners. He’s not a great dancer, he needs a lot of work. Partly it’s that he’s so big and basketball players don’t do as well as footballers.

CAI seems to agree with me. He was ahead of the music a bit and fill the space. Derek says he’s a legend, but he was flatfooted but he (Derek) felt joy from watching it. Bruno says to get the timing right and a bunch more stuff.

Emma screams for fours. πŸ™‚ That’s the way to approach it. Charles gets a 12. And that’s probably accurate, although I love him for some reason.

Monica is up next, partnered with Val, dancing foxtrot.

Love her dress! And her feet were WAY off the floor. This seems like a pretty standard foxtrot and she’s performing it quite well. I like he wife’s choreography much better, but this wasn’t bad. Just his usual thing.

Derek says it was beautiful and graceful, with a beautiful frame. Says her turns were a little stiff. Bruno says it was elegant and stylish. Be careful on the underarm turns. CAI was impressed – she loved that she went for it. Slow start, but went for it the second half. And she called out the lift.

Val needs to not try to be funny.

She gets a 19 out of 30, thanks to a 7 from Derek. Betcha a C-bro judge would never do that for Derek.

What was Tyra yammering about? Her mic was drowned out by fake audience applause. The sound guys aren’t much better than the camera guys. πŸ˜‰

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss a little bit of fluff – not the massive amounts they used to have, but just a bit. This many dancers in two hours is kinda exhausting. Or maybe my blogging skills are rusty when it comes to two hours of a live show.

Nelly and Daniella up next. Can I repeat right now that Daniella is the best female dancer I’ve ever seen. I hope she does well. They’re dancing salsa.

He’s doing better than I expected. Daniella got him to do a great lift and she kept in all his swag. And a backflip. Len would have hated it, but I liked it!!

Bruno says it was a wonderful ride, there was a good connection and interplay. Says it was very grounded but be careful to not tighten up the shoulders. CAI liked the backflip, but he needs to be careful with the groove and he needs to open up. Derek is a big fan – comments on the footwear as it will help him with the footwork.

He scores a 16 out of 30 thanks to Bruno and his 6. I think he was a bit underscored, but I may be biased. (Note: “biased”…not “bias” which is how I constantly see it mis-used on twitter to the point it makes me crazy.) πŸ™‚

Carole already annoys me. But I should give her the benefit of the doubt, eh? She’s dancing with Pasha. His head is too small for that crown. πŸ™‚

Derek was wrong in his feeling that she might come out and kill it. She killed it, but not in a good way. I appreciate her passion for the cats. But she was on the struggle bus for sure.

CAI says all her dreams are coming true. She loved their connections. Says she didn’t hold back, said it was fantastic. Derek says she smashed it (CAI was handing out wacky tabacky) – he did have a few criticisms. Bruno says she didn’t kill the Paso, it was kind of sedate.

She scores an 11 thanks to Bruno’s 3 (?!?!?!). Okay, it was bad but a three is kind of uncalled for.

And that’s it. Tyra goes over time per my Tivo. That’s not going to be allowed every week. So, who’s your favorite? I’m having a hard time. I loved at least half the cast, maybe more. Right now – Anne, Nev, Justina…and many more. I’m sure it will change over the coming weeks. πŸ™‚