Dancing with the Stars Season 29, Week 8 – Who’s Dancing What…and When??
Double elimination and Relay dances…and of course, I know you were all holding your breath to hear what Tyrant is “walking out” to (FFS, I can’t even believe I have to type crap like that about this show):
The show’s cold open will be a sketch aimed at encouraging people to vote as part of a nonpartisan initiative. Later, Tyra Banks will walk out to “Treasure” by Bruno Mars. In addition, for the first time this season, Relay Dances will find our couples split into three groups, dancing either a Cha Cha, Samba or Viennese Waltz relay. Each group will dance to a different song and the couples will take turns, one couple dancing at a time. One judge will rank the couples within each relay group and give bonus points depending on those rankings. These points will be combined with the individual scores and live voting to determine who is up for elimination.
So, if I’m understanding this overly complicated relay structure, each group of three gets a style of dance and one judge, who ranks them. And of course, they stick samba in there just to handicap three couples. Hmmmm…who will they choose? Will they level the playing field, or give Samba to whoever they want to go home….or better still, group the couples with an obvious winner in each grouping, keeping them safe? You would think that Justina would not have Samba, since that’s her regular dance. You’d also think that Nev and Chrishell wouldn’t get V. waltz for the same reason. But we will see.
And I have to ask, who the HELL is picking these song/dance combinations?? For every one they get right, there is one that appears, on paper, to be a disaster. Only with Derek as choreographer would I look forward to something other than a train wreck when I saw “Viennese Walts to Hound Dog By Elvis” – are they TRYING to kill me?? Here’s who’s dancing what:
Nelly & Daniella – Rumba (Song: “Nobody Knows” by The Tony Rich Project)
Justina & Sasha – Samba (Song: “Magalenha” by Sergio Mendes)
Jeannie & Brandon – Charleston (Song: “Shout” by The Isley Brothers)
AJ & Cheryl – Rumba (Song: “Way Down We Go” by KALEO)
Skai & Alan – Salsa (Song: “Work It” by Missy Elliott)
Johnny & Britt – Foxtrot (Song: “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes)
Nev & Jenna – Viennese Waltz (Song: “Stuck with U” by Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber)
Chrishell & Gleb – Viennese Waltz (Song: “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley)
Kaitlyn & Artem – Jive (Song: “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen)
Who danced it better? I went straight to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen because I was fairly certain it had been used in the recent past…and sure enough, Emma and Drew (and Jonathan) danced Jive to it a few seasons ago. And did a pretty good job at it, too.
There was a pro dance to it a long time ago and when I watch this, I recognize what Mandy Moore was saying about the ballroom pros NEVER dancing in sync. It’s quite glaring in this dance and I think it does kind of ruin it. Don’t choreography synchronized moves if you can’t dance in sync. But then all Mandy ever seemed to accomplish on this show was synchronized bump and grind, so there you go.
As for Magalenha, it’s been used so many times on this show that I know all the words and all the beats. 🙂 Cameron/Edyta, Kirstie/Maks, William/Cheryl, Laurie/Val….and I’m sure many more, including a past DWTS tour. Here are two ends of the Samba spectrum…
Shout by the Isley Brothers has been used as a Jive, by none other than Derek and Amy (and Melissa and Tony)…and it was super campy, because what else can you do with this song? But a Charleston just feels…wrong. This is a wedding or frat party song, to me, and a Charleston is so identified in a different time period. Honestly, I love this song, but I hate in on DWTS.
::sigh:: There is something to what CAI says about the “feel” of a dance…I think she’s on crack, but when it comes to Shout as a Charleston and Hound Dog as a V. Waltz, well, I feel she’s got a point. Hound Dog does not scream V. Waltz…however it wasn’t a horrendous Jive.
Maks and Meryl also used it as a Jive, while Carlos and Witney used a remixed version as a cha cha.
Hi. Chrishell’s song on the release is a big error. She’s dancing to Love on the Brain by Rhianna. Gleb is pulling out the sexy card again. 🙄
As for the relays no one is doing a style they haven’t already done. So Chrishell is doing cha cha and I’m assuming Nev is the same since he’s in the same boat as her. Also per the dwts insta, CAI is judging Cha Cha, Derek -VW and Bruno -Samba
Nelly & Daniella – Rumba (Song: “Nobody Knows” by The Tony Rich Project): This could work. Doesn’t fit the dance 100% for me but it can work. I’m gonna guess straight 8s.
Justina & Sasha – Samba (Song: “Magalenha” by Sergio Mendes): This could work as well despite the fact that I really hate this song. Perfect score godwilling.
Jeannie & Brandon – Charleston (Song: “Shout” by The Isley Brothers): Yeah….jive would be better for this song BUT charleston is a close second. 8s?
AJ & Cheryl – Rumba (Song: “Way Down We Go” by KALEO): I can’t stand this song but it fits well. 9s?
Skai & Alan – Salsa (Song: “Work It” by Missy Elliott): THIS is everything. godwilling 10s.
Johnny & Britt – Foxtrot (Song: “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes): I hear this song at least twice an hour on the radio. So there’s that. 10s?
Nev & Jenna – Viennese Waltz (Song: “Stuck with U” by Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber): Best of the bounch matching wise besides K&A. 10s godwilling.
Chrishell & Gleb – Viennese Waltz (Song: “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley): UM what now. 7s?
Kaitlyn & Artem – Jive (Song: “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen): This is her 10 week isn’t it?
It seems they’ve had a lot of errors with press releases this season, compared to other seasons. And I fail to see why they have to mention what Tyrant is walking out to every week. Who cares besides her?
Chrishell gets a pass once again with a VW. I’m sure she’ll bomb her relay dance style but CA is judging that one so she’ll love it. I think Jeannie and Skai will go home this week, outside chance Nelly, Chrishell, or Justina, although I do think Jeannie is going to be one of the ones gone. At least she can go out having some a fun dance. I think Nelly will do good with the rumba. Skai may struggle with the salsa, as Latin dances haven’t really been her strong suit. I wonder if CA and Kaitlyn will make nice, or if CA will say she gave up again.
Gleb must have bitched and moaned about Hound Dog and I sure wouldn’t blame him. He doesn’t have the talent to pull off a V. Waltz to that song. Few do.
kara, I think the press release was probably correct when it was written, but something happened to change the song. Either there was a problem with the style or something else.
Chrishell talked about their dance and the song in this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_XmxA0Qr4
Artem and Nikki had Love on the Brain V. WALTZ. I saw in Gleb’s IG video a bed so he is recycling his past dances. He had a bed with Jana. The bed I liked in a routine was with Mark and Lindsey. I’m hoping Chrishell is in the double elimination but the way this show works i wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t Johnny and Jeannie since they have both been in the bottom before.
Who picked what person is dancing in the team dance I think it sucks !! Team Cha Cha has CAI judging Johnny scored 18 first time danced, Nev scored 21 & Chrishell scored 19 Team Samba Bruno judging has Nelly scored 24, AJ scored 27 & Skai scored 15 Team VW has Derek judging Kaitlyn scored 25, Justina scored 27 & Jeannie scored 22
Carol – those are not the groups.
The cha cha group is Nev, Chrishell and Nelly
The VW group is Jeannie, Justina and Johnny
The samba group is Skai, AJ and Kaitlyn
It’s all on the dancingabc Instagram
A salsa to “Work It” would work great for Skai & Alan, especially if they play off lyrics like “flip it and reverse it.”
Well, it’s obvious who will win in the cha cha group. I think the other two groups might be more interesting, although I’ll say either Justina or Johnny for VW. I think Kaitlyn will take the samba group. But who knows.
I also saw that the semi final round is November 16th, so I guess we are getting the finale on schedule this season, with five couples. No more double eliminations scheduled that I’ve seen.
# ZOE Well there is only 3 different I got my info from Dancing with the Stars (American season 29) – Wikipediam Sorry if I was wrong Skai is the one who gets screwed
The funny thing about Skai’s dance for this week is that Work It was the song that Allison Holker threw a temper tantrum with for Riker during spring break week. She demanded that the producers change it because she thought it was too explicit for Riker’s image. Flash forward to now and Skai is doing it at a much younger age and more attached to her Disney image LOL. I think the relay matchups are a little strange but I’ve always liked the dance-offs so I have hope.
I hope that Chrishell gets eliminated this week, but with CAI as her judge for relays, who knows. I think that bottom 3 will be Jeannie, Chrishell (because literally no one could pull off a VIennese waltz to Hound Dog I don’t care how much CAI overscores her on relays), and Johnny or Skai, depending on their dance. Nelly or AJ could end up down there as well. Nev should win Cha Cha, Justina or Johnny for VW, and Kaitlyn for Samba, but the scores have been so off for some contestants this season who really knows. I’m interested to see how the CAI/Kaitlyn drama works out. This week will definitely be interesting…
Poor Jeannie 🙁 i can’t believe it that sucks so much..
@R2M, I forgot all about that “Work It” issue with Allison & Riker not wanting the song! I wonder if Skai is trying to look more grown-up tonight (needs to bring some womanly fire IMO), and Riker was trying to protect his Osmonds-esque family band.
Also “Work It” is very much from the point of view of a young lady getting ready to paint the town red with gentleman friends. Like “WAP” lite. Riker couldn’t have pulled that one off.
i can’t believe Jeannie has to leave the show My heart goes out to her, Guess we just have 1 elimination
I am so heartbroken that Jeannie has to leave the show, I guess now we only have 1 elimination
So, how will they fill the extra time this week? I would imagine that in any other season that other dancers would simply fill in for Jeannie. Lacey Schwimmer filled in for Melissa Rycroft during a team mambo during season 8, and Chelsie Hightower filled in for Pamela Anderson during a team cha-cha encore during season 10. Rashad Jennings filled in for Ray Lewis last year in his week 3 dance, but that was due to Lewis pulling out last minute with the routine pretty much finished. With this news just coming out, and no time to quarantine a replacement, will they just stretch everything else out to fill the gap? Modify the VW song to fit two couples? Have Tyra teach us how to smize and walk?
But how does this effect Mama Mai’s betting pool?!
Wishing a damn good recovery to Jeannie. I bet it will be like torture for an outgoing person like her to not be able to speak (it’s a throat surgery thing, isn’t it?)
@Paul, I think they will just go ahead as normal. This might mean that Tyrant gets to hear herself talk even more (I can only imagine how over dramatic she’ll sound in announcing Jeannie’s exit). I think with so little time, and COVID restrictions playing a big part in how this season has had to go, it will probably be Justina and Johnny. But they could get two of the eliminated pros to dance during it or something, since they are in attendance every week and get tested. But I’ll stick with Tyrant using the extra time to make it about herself.
I wish Jeannie well. She was a lot of fun to watch every week, and seemed genuinely excited and happy to be there, and not taking it too seriously. I was also glad that Brandon finally got a partner that could dance and had name recognition. Honestly, though, I think she was in danger of being voted off tonight anyway, but it still sucks she couldn’t go out like normal.