Dancing with the Stars Season 29, Week 2 – LIVE BLOG

Okay, so tonight I’m going to attempt to do what I did last season and that is combine the live blog with Dancing by the Numbers. TRY. 🙂  It ain’t easy, that’s for sure,  and I’m rusty….but I think I can pull it off thanks to my handy spreadsheet.  It will be tough with 15 couples, but let’s give it  a shot!!

T-minus 30 minutes…

A note about the numbers…to calculate more accurate numbers, I started with everyone getting the same score this week as they got last week in order to get the total number of points closer to reality. As the show goes along, I will input the correct score which likely won’t change the overall points by overly much. Using this method, right now, only 3,800 votes per million votes cast separate Carole and Charles.  Only 7,700 votes separate Carole and Chrishell…prior to dancing.  Both numbers can and will change, but if it’s very similar then you can easily see how Carole could stay over someone like Chrishell who isn’t as well known. What would help is if Chrishell does a great dance 2nd or 3rd, while Carole sucks and goes last.  We’ll soon find out!

The celebs are funny…but who told Tyra she is?  🙂  I see we have another week of Tyra’s catwalk where she’s even more important than the judges.

Did Derek and Bruno talk before picking out their outfits??

Nev and Jenna are up first. SO glad he’s going first…plenty of people should vote for him. Love his story and his take on his show. Okay, Cha Cha!!

Damn, he’s good. nice hips, great feet, nice hand placement. This dude should go to the end. And he’s cute as hell on top of it. LOVED IT. I might have to vote for him.

Derek commenting on the chest hair out of jealousy. Says it’s a solid performance but keep the shoulders down. Bruno suggests a bit of manscaping but is very complimentary about the dance, notes the correct foot placement. CAI says she’s impressed yet again and comments on the hand placement like me. 🙂

Tyra makes his life all about her. :::rolls eyes:::

Scores: 7, 7, 7…for a total of 21. Personally, I think he deserved higher.

Skai up next in a very loud but oddly cute outfit.  She is such a cute girl and her mother is beautiful.  Anyway, she’s sambaing to Ne-Yo.

Calm that arm a bit, girl.  Ouch, flubbed a lift – that sucks. Get it back together girl. Took her a few bars but she got there.

Bruno comforting her about blowing the lift but he still believes in her, she’s precise, neat and clean. CAI says to work on the arms a bit (why is she channeling me?).  Derek says a set back sets you up for a comeback. Says Samba is about bounce, have Alan come down to her.

Scores: 5, 5, 5 for a total of 15. Not sure why all the judges always give the same score. Coincidence?? Derek is pretty genuine, unlike the rest of them.  I suppose its not out of the question.

Johnny and Brit are up next with a Tango and some CRAZY outfits…and Gaga. Johnny Gaga…LOL.

Nice start. I feel like he needs to be a bit sharper. Needs a straighter back. And tuck the butt. But all in all, I love him and think he’s hilarious.

CAI says he sighed and totally got into the dance, says his footwork is odd. Derek loves the Johnny drama, tells him to watch his frame, gives good advice on how to fix it. Bruno says he’s inspired, focused and on point, says he needs more staccato (sharpness, yes).

Tyra kisses up to Gaga.  Britt is doing right by Johnny so far…he’ll nail it eventually.

Scores: 6, 6, 6 for a total of 18.  Their total is 36.

Justina is up next with Sasha.  They’re doing a foxtrot. She’s definitely got it. Nice and smooth. I love the joy she shows on her face…but I think Sasha had her way off the floor unless I’m mistaken. That was a beautiful dance, although Nev’s foxtrot from last week is still the winner.

Derek just loves her, calls her natural, beautiful dancer. Bruno loves watching her, says she dances from the heart, but tells her to watch out on the turns. CAI talks about dance taking people to another place, says she’s emotionally connected.  Rave reviews!!

Scores: 7, 7, 7 for a total of 21

Nev and Justina are at the top of the leaderboard and there is less than 2k votes between them, with Nev having to make up that 2k per million votes cast.  Not much more I can do at this moment.

Monica and Val up next. She was apparently terrified last week…and doing a jive this week I’d be scared if I was her.  LEN!!  Good use of his time, IMO.

That’s a cute outfit. Of course Val finds a way to use a prop. I don’t think lifts are allowed in Jive…will CAI note it?? Her timing is a little off, but not bad. Just not terribly memorable either.

Bruno thinks the cheerleading helps, but the thing is that her timing was off.  But he loves the swinging 60s feel. CAI likes seeing her more relaxed. She calls out the lift but she seems to be ignoring it. Derek says fun, playful, bubbly, but needs more jive…but he really enjoyed it.

Scores: 5, 6, 5 for a total of 16…what did Bruno say?

Numbers Update: If Carole, Chrishell and Charles all get similar scores to last week, then Monica is ahead of them by at least 18k votes per million votes cast.  Sounds pretty good but you never know!

AJ and Cheryl looking great. This week they are foxtrotting to a great song.  Talking about his wife.

Love the opening. Close your mouth, dude. Cheryl knows how to handle a celeb, second only to Derek, I imagine.  He needs to work on the smoothness and a bit on the timing I think. But Cheryl kills the choreography.

CAI loved it. Derek calls him a showman, says it was fantastic, but says he had a moment right in front of the desk. Bruno blathers, loves the energy and notes that it shouldn’t be choppy.  Rather Bruno channels me than CAI. 🙂

Scores: 7, 6, 6 for a total of 19.

Anne up next with a Foxtrot…hanging on to Keo. 🙂

She looks lovely. A few interesting choices at the beginning but she’s to handle it well once they get going. That sweeping turn looks a bit out of control.  All in all, I liked that dance.

Derek loves their relationship, but comments on too much energy on the upper half and the legs are along for the ride, which is backward from what it should be. Bruno likes the content, notes a few things to sort out. CAI also likes the trusting relationship, notes growth since last week. Agrees with Derek on his comments.

Scores: 6, 6, 6 for a total of 18.  Lots of couples getting the same scores from week to week.

Numbers Update:  Anne is tied with Skai and Johnny, a point behind AJ and a point ahead of Monica.  Assuming Carole gets a similar score to last week, everyone above is at LEAST 25k votes per million votes cast ahead of her.

Nelly and Daniella up next! They’re dancing cha cha which should fit him well. His arms switch between being odd to being perfect. Daniella got a lot of disco in here and it kinda works for him.  Nelly putting all kinds of swag in there.

Bruno says his timing is good tonight and he has musicality but he has to articulate more through the foot. CAI can tell he’s a hard worker, but he has to work on his turns and drop his shoulders…he’s easy to watch. Derek says the timing was impeccable, and loved the content. Good job!

Scores: 6, 6, 6 for a total of 18.  I agree with that one. Slight improvement from last week!

Oooo…they gave Chrishell the top of the hour, which is a good position to get votes. She’s killing me with the story of her childhood.  Oh, nice job…and then a little boo boo.  Got a little out of control there for a minute. Gleb is not a choreographer. At all. But she did a pretty good job. Still a little out of control, but better.

CAI says she’s improved a lot…and says there was a lift but she doesn’t care. Derek says she had more passion, and gives her some notes that I missed about keeping it tight. Bruno says he sees the bombshell, with beautiful shapes (agreed) but she needs to link them.

Scores: 6, 6, 6 for a total of 18…well, that will do interesting things to the leaderboard. 🙂

Can’t wait until a couple people are gone so the judges don’t have to rush so much. OR, Tyra could just shut up.

Numbers Update: If Carole gets the same score as last week, Chrishell’s better score this week widened the gap between them to roughly 17k votes per million votes cast. That could be very important for Chrishell against the better known Carole.

Charles is up next with a cha cha to Luther Vandross. He’s certainly enjoying it, and he seems looser this week, but Emma is doing more of the dancing. His feet still need a ton of work. He’s counting a lot. He did great at that bit in the middle which allowed more personality.  Still rough, but improving.

Derek says the foot work still needs work but a huge improvement from last week. CAI says to watch the focus. I missed what Bruno said.

Tyra manages to talk MUCH more than the judges. Not right.

Scores: 5, 5, 5 for a total of 15.  Nice improvement.  I love Emma’s attitude…so positive.

Jesse and Sharna up next with a foxtrot.  Love the opening turns, very smooth. He didn’t extent the arms…copped them off. His feet are moving very small as well, which is weird.  Sharna always choreographing shomantically. Yes, I made up a word.

Bruno calls him mr. dreamy and then gets out of control.  Says to watch his bum, his posture and his footwork. CAI says she thinks it was smooth, but agrees on the posture. Derek is completely cut off because of the blathering of everyone else and he has the best critiques.

Quit whining Jesse.

Scores: 7, 7, 6 for a total of 20.

Numbers update: Based on what scores Charles got, and what Carole is likely to get, I would say that Justina, Nev, Jesse and AJ are safe, due to a combination of name recognition and/or scores.  The rest? Well, I think Charles and Chrishell are most at risk – good scores, probably a good distance from Carole, but less name recognition.

Jeannie is up next with a Cha Cha. Love the opening, it works for her. Looks a bit stiff at some points but she’s got personality. Brandon put a lot of interesting stuff in that dance. It seems to fit Jeannie.

CAI says momma Mai needs to go easy. Big improvement this week but still needs a bit of taming. Derek says her weight was a little far back which makes it look wild, but he likes her energy and charisma. Bruno loves the partnership, needs a bit of polish but well done.

Scores: 6, 6, 6 for a total of 18.

Numbers Update: Here’s where we are if Carole scores similar to last week – it should be down to her and Charles, but you just never know. We’re also waiting to see Vernon and Kaitlyn after Carole.

Carole vs. Charles 0.95% 9,524
Carole vs. Chrishell 1.71% 17,143
Carole vs.
Carole vs. Nelly 2.29% 22,857
Carole vs. Monica 2.48% 24,762
Carole vs. Skai/Johnny/Anne/Jeanie 2.67% 26,667
Carole vs. AJ 2.86% 28,571

Carole’s up next. She says she always starts out at the bottom. She talks about the negative attention from Tiger King and it’s affect on her daughter.  She hopes that DWTS will make it better.  It usually has that affect.

She’s dancing V. Waltz. This is quite an elaborate set. Kinda crazy. She actually starts out pretty well. She’s managing quite well, but I see her feet go wrong at one point.  Well, that was actually pretty good.  Uh oh.

Derek says that was a big improvement from last week, was impressed with the turns. Bruno says her performance was shining, there is hope.  CAI says it was simple but she was impressed.  Overall, well done.

Tyra talks to Carole for a LONNNG time.

Scores: 6, 5, 5 for a total of 16 which is a good improvement.

Numbers Update: Charles and Carole are now tied, which is not good for him at all.  That had a rather devastating effect on all the numbers, bringing everyone a bit closer to Carole, putting more people in danger. Mostly Charles

Carole/Charles vs. Chrishell 0.75% 7,547
Carole vs.
Carole vs. Nelly 1.32% 13,208
Carole vs. Monica 1.51% 15,094
Carole vs. Skai/Johnny/Anne/Jeanie 1.70% 16,981
Carole vs. AJ 1.89% 18,868

Vernon is up next with a Paso Doble. He is sooo handsome. I’m shallow, yes.

He has a bedazzled football! He’s surprisingly good at this dance. He needs to finish some of the moves, but he’s doing really well. Never count out the football players. Wow, great height on that jump!

Bruno loves the power, determination and strength. Says he needs to work on the shaping. Derek talks about tucking the butt, but he started out good.  Wants more intensity rather than stoic, but all over, good job. CAI started out off the music, but he found it in there and you could tell.

Scores: 6, 6, 6, for a total of 18 out of 30.

Numbers Update: There is less than 8k votes per million votes cast between Carole/Charles and Chrishell – that is really not good news for her. She could be in serious trouble.  I think those three in the most trouble, but the folks in the middle could also be in trouble.  I do think it will come down to Charles and Chrishell, though, and that’s a bummer.

Kaitlyn going last I assume because they were hyping her injury. Which should in turn bring out Bachelor Nation in force. She’s a beautiful dancer and Artem is a good partner for her. I”m enjoying this dance quite a bit. Good job!!

CAI says that was a beautiful dance, the lines were gorgeous. Derek says he loves seeing her reclaim the dancer within, graceful, effortless. Bruno exclaims on the beauty of the movement. Well done.

I love that dress by the way.

Scores: 7, 8, 7 for a total of 22 out of 30.  That sends her to the top of the leaderboard.

Final numbers: Justina, Kaitlyn, Nev and AJ should be fine. Although I think it is likely to be Charles or Chrishell leaving us, with Carole at the outside…Monica shouldn’t feel too comfortable.  She was early enough in the show and is relatively unknown compared to others around her.  Be concerned.  I wish I had more time to go into more detail, but one commercial break isn’t enough time to do the full deal. 🙂

And here we go….the judges will save one of the bottom two couples, so that’s helpful. Or not.

SAFE: Kaitlyn and Artem

Safe: Vernon and Peta

SAFE: AJ and Cheryl

SAFE: Justina and Sasha

SAFE: Jesse and Sharna

SAFE: Johnny and Britt

SAFE: Monica and Val

SAFE: Nelly and Daniella

SAFE: Jeannie and Brandon

SAFE: Nev and Jenna

SAFE: Anne and Keo

SAFE: Skai and Alan

SAFE: Chrishell and Gleb…thank god.

Bottom Two are Charles and Carole.

CAI: Carole (are you KIDDING ME)

Bruno: Charles.

And Derek is the deciding vote:  Carole (my boy has been infected by sitting next to CAI 🙂 )

Seriously, tired of Tyra rushing Derek so she can blather on and fuck it up to boot. Let the man talk!!

Anyway, I guess I can see saving Carole – she did vastly improve this week, kind of amazingly.  It’s actually heartening that the bottom two consisted of people who really should be in the bottom two.  The new voting works, I think. There just isn’t enough time to seriously spam for one couple.