PureDWTS Season 29, Week 8 – Power Rankings
Generally, it was a pretty “meh” week. I don’t feel like anyone had any huge breakthroughs or astounding performances, and everyone was more or less in a holding pattern from the previous week. Or all the days are running together due to the pandemic, and the sense of impending doom I’m getting from the election is just dulling my senses. Both are equally plausible at this point.
As it usually happens at least once per season, Carrie Ann appointed herself the “critical” judge this week, and seemed to nitpick just about everyone, and Kaitlyn doubly. I feel like she pulls this shit right after she gets called out for giving generally dumb or just unhelpful feedback – in this case, it was her “I wasn’t feeling it” comment in response to Kaitlyn’s paso doble last week, which prompted both Artem and Val to speak up in the media about her lack of helpful feedback. It’s like she gets defensive to the point of having to prove that she’s a serious, tough dance judge with credentials, and ends up just looking petty because of the way she just reeeeeaches for stuff to pick at. It’s a not a good look, but it’s not like we haven’t know for YEARS that Carrie Ann was the least legitimate of the judges. And it did seem like Derek was trying to soften the blow after Carrie Ann went on her rampages – more often than not, he gave reassuring compliments, and was scoring a point or two higher than both Bruno & Carrie Ann. Caught a weird moment immediately after the bottom 2 were called – Derek and Bruno seemed to be gesturing towards one another as if to say “Well what do you think?” before glancing over at Carrie Ann, who seemed engrossed in a bunch of papers she was writing on and ignored them completely. WTF was she doing, filing a tax return??? The scores had long since been logged, not sure what was so important that she felt she needed to write it down before the elim…
Now with Chrishell gone, I don’t think there’s any truly crummy dancers left – which leaves us in an interesting position. One could probably argue that Nelly’s the weakest, but he’s still improving and he also appears to be quite popular, as he has yet to fall into the bottom two despite some harsh scores. On the flip side, both Johnny and Skai have been trending upward with scores in recent weeks, but both have been in the bottom 2 at least once. Then you’ve got Kaitlyn and AJ, who are good but seem to vacillate in a bit in terms of quality; and there’s Justina & Nev, who are consistent but not always super memorable to watch. Add to the mix the fact that we still don’t know how many couples are headed to the finale (I think five is a good number, as it’s the top 1/3 of contestants this season, but who knows), and I can’t really state with confidence who will be there and who won’t. I’d say this made me excited, but anymore, I’m struggling to feel passionate about this show – I’m afraid a lot of the magic died for me with Tom’s departure. Add Tyrant trying to fake cry about Jeannie for attention and I’m damn near changing the channel…ugh.
So we obviously bid farewell to Jeannie – which sucks, because she really was one of the most fun contestants to watch this season, and I loved how she vibed with Brandon. But I’ve come to learn that one’s health is nothing to trifle with, so I’m glad she caught her ailment at such a crucial point and will likely make a full recovery. If I’m being honest, I had already predicted her as one half of the double elim in last week’s rankings, so I can’t say I’m terribly surprised…although the cause of her elimination is something I definitely wouldn’t have predicted. At the very least, Brandon made it further this season than he ever has before. Then we (finally) shook the dead weight of Chrishell & Gleb loose, which I felt was long overdue. The fact that Gleb had the audacity to pull out the damn bed as a prop FOR A VIENNESE WALTZ had my blood boiling, as did the fact that he once again managed to include the minimum possible number of steps needed to be considered a Viennese waltz and somehow got he and his partner another tongue bath for it. Then there was the suspicious convenience of Carrie Ann NOT calling them out for a lift (after specifically nitpicking Kaitlyn for something similar earlier in the night), and I was downright incredulous by the end of their critique and scoring. Seriously, I wanted to smack all three judges (Derek included) for their gushing. Why did Chrishell get diplomatic immunity for most of the season??? That’s the real question. And I think I finally figured out what it was about Chrishell that grated on my nerves: she’s a perpetual victim. I think the only week she didn’t play that card was 80s week, when her package dealt with her being an NKOTB fan. The rest of the time it was “I grew up poor!”, “I got divorced!”, “I had to freeze my eggs!”, “I’m sooooo busy as a real estate agent!” I think of all the other contestants this season, and while everyone had a week or two that was sad, for the most part, their packages all netted out to be generally pretty upbeat and positive. Chrishell’s seemed to be a laundry list of trauma and ways in which her life is hard. I don’t claim to know exactly how her divorce went down, or whose fault it was (as a kid of divorce, I’ve found its usually both spouses’ fault, to some degree), but after seeing her on this season of DWTS, I do think she’s a bit of a bullshit artist and is likely fibbing a bit when she gives the “I was completely blindsided!” line with regards to her divorce. And Gleb…well, y’all know how I feel about him. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly broken up about it when the judges opted to save Skai & Alan over Chrishell & Gleb 😉
1.) Johnny & Britt – At this point, Johnny’s trajectory is reminding me a lot of Kel’s last season: started off okay, fell into the bottom 2 early on, then had a steady growth arc up to and during the finale. Will he win? I have no idea, but I do think the judges want him in the finale, so he’ll likely be there (barring a relapse in lackadaisical voting from fans). I can’t say I found the song ideal for a foxtrot, but I think he and Britt made it work as best they could – he’s still extending beautifully, and generally moving well across the floor. I actually loved the highwater pants and sleeveless vest, but the fact that Derek seemed to chide them for it (despite knowing full well that the couples don’t even have control over the costuming now) irked me. Sometimes, I think giving the couples almost no control over anything relating to their dances serves as built-in fodder for the judges to critique…
2.) Nev & Jenna – Yes, Nev did well again – and I’m just kind of bored of him at this point. Maybe it’s the fact that everything in his packages is all easy-peasy, no struggles; maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t really have ups and downs with his dances, who knows. But I’m just not terribly excited with his dancing anymore. I honestly don’t have much more written in my notes about his dance except “it was nice” and “what crawled up Carrie Ann’s ass???” so I guess she probably had some petty complaint about his dance, too. But from what I hear, the Boomers just seem to be eating Nev, his dancing, and his denial of his dance experience right up, so he’s probably on-track to make it to the finale.
3.) Kaitlyn & Artem – An improvement over last week, for sure – a lot more energy, and Kaitlyn seemed to understand the jive rhythm better than paso rhythm and had more fun with it. I think the big struggle she had last week was that the song wasn’t ideal for paso, and I don’t know that she was really enjoying herself – that being said, I think Carrie Ann could have verbalized a better critique than “I wasn’t feeling it.” I don’t disagree with her (I wasn’t really feeling it either), but that critique isn’t really helpful because it puts the onus on Kaitlyn & Artem to try and figure out where Carrie Ann’s head is at (which isn’t their responsibility) instead of Carrie Ann verbalizing what about the dance made her not feel it and what they can do improve. All that being said – I worry that these two may have poked the bear when they complained about her shit critique last week, because I felt like Carrie Ann was out for blood on their jive critique. She honed in on that assisted backflip real quick, and seemed to bait Kaitlyn with the whole “Can you do a back tuck on your own?” question. Granted, she has called out basically the same lift in the past (JR & Karina’s first jive comes to mind), so I think Artem should have probably known a bit better than to include it; still, the whole critique seemed bizarrely (and unnecessarily) confrontational, and Carrie Ann’s a Capricorn – and they can hold a grudge better than anyone else. I’m still not convinced that Carrie Ann doesn’t harbor a bit of bad blood towards Artem over their failed engagement all those years ago…so while I agree with Kaitlyn & Artem that Carrie Ann’s critiques suck and are petty, I kind wish they’d just let it go, because I don’t think Carrie Ann’s capable of doing so and is likely to just keep penalizing them…
4.) Justina & Sasha – Finally, SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS SAMBA RHYTHM!!! Justina was really in the pocket on this one, and was committing to the weight transfers that give samba its characteristic timing and hip action. Also loved that Sasha seemed to stick to probably 85% hardcore samba content, with minimal salsa cheating. She probably could have closed her thighs a bit more, but honestly – probably the strongest technical samba we’ve seen this season.
5.) AJ & Cheryl – Not really an ideal song for a rumba, and with a theme better suited to contemporary. I applaud AJ for talking about his struggles with addiction and path to sobriety, but the end result was more contumba than rumba, and I didn’t see a whole lot in the way of hip action. Good performance quality, not really there on the technique. Not his best, not his worst – and once again, Carrie Ann must’ve made some petty comment, because my notes say “Carrie Ann showing her ass again”.
6/7.) TIE: Nelly & Daniella and Skai & Alan – And it’s here that my heart breaks a bit, because my gut’s telling me that both of them don’t make it through to week 10. The judges proved this week that they aren’t afraid to drop the hammer on Nelly, and the fans proved that they may not be voting as hard for Skai as some initially thought (I wondered in the first few weeks of the season if she was struggling with votes, given that she was one of the last called safe more than one week in a row). Nelly had a bit of a regression this week, as he got saddled with a dance that didn’t allow him to do his signature grooving, although I do credit him for showing a bit more vulnerability on the floor and sharing the story about his sister’s death. As a side note and a PSA, African Americans often have a harder time finding bone marrow donors than other ethnic groups, so the demand for potential donors is high – I highly recommend checking out BeTheMatch.org and requesting a swab kit to join the bone marrow registry. It’s free, painless, and could save a life! Back to Nelly’s rumba – it seems like Nelly had the general idea of what hip action should look like, but never really committed fully to the transfer of weight that gives it the authentic look. And I would say Daniella did most of the heavy lifting in this dance, though rumba is traditionally the “woman’s dance”, so I don’t know that I can fault Nelly too much there. As for Skai, I feel like this dance was another trend in the right direction for her – she looked a lot more confident this week, and seemed to be having more fun. Not sure I loved the song as a salsa, but generally the routine was fun. The fact that at least two of the judges mentioned the rough exits from lifts has me a little worried, though, as that seemed like a rather minute thing to harp on – so I’m a bit concerned that they go in hard on Skai next week and she tumbles into the bottom again. And when it comes to Nelly or Skai going home, I think it’s going to largely come down to how dirty the judges want to get. Do they resort to 5’s and 6’s for Nelly, in an effort to flush him out? Because I think that’s what it would take in order to get past the votes he’s getting, which appear to be pretty substantial. Or do they nitpick Skai just enough that she slides into the bottom 2 again, likely with a more consistent dancer? Will be interesting to see how the judges play this one next week.
Thoughts on the relay dances:
If memory serves, it’s been a hot minute since they’ve done the relay dances – the last one I remember clearly was season 16’s, when Kellie, Zendaya, Jacoby, and Aly did a cha-cha one to “Treasure” and Jacoby did his signature schtick of jumping over Kellie & Derek to start his portion of the relay and then slid under Aly & Mark to finish it. And do I vaguely remember a season 17 samba relay to “No Scrubs”? 🙂 Ahhh, simpler times. Seems like they ditched the relay dance for the face-off dances not long after that, as it seems like the face-offs allowed them to build in an immunity function that seemed to strategically help some contestants (Normani comes to mind). But I digress. Part of what I loved about earlier relay dances were the fun transitions between couples, which seemed to get largely ignored this time around – likely due to COVID precautions, but it still lead to some pretty awkward shifts between couples that were potentially distracting. Just didn’t feel as magical or fun this time around.
Cha-Cha relay (Nev, Chrishell, & Nelly): This one was the least exciting for me to watch, likely because 1) I don’t really like cha-cha, and 2) only one of the three actually seemed proficient at it. Nev was clearly the strongest, but like most of his other performances these days, it seemed hollow – painted on smile, dead-behind-the-eyes gaze, no real indication that he was having fun. Nelly, on the other hand, seemed to me to be having the most fun out on the floor – he gets a very specific grin on his face when he’s in a groove, and I saw it in his cha-cha relay. Also loved that he and Daniella started apart, then met up in the middle of the floor – don’t know that anyone else did that. But he’s still doing more of a leisurely groove through his steps, rather than a more intentional placement, soooo…meh. Chrishell was a dumpster fire that didn’t do much of anything (except look awkward), so I probably would have only given her a 1. Maybe a 2 for Nelly, 3 for Nev.
Viennese waltz relay (Justina & Johnny): Probably the most evenly-matched and fun to watch of the three relays, though this was really more of a duet, owing to Jeannie’s withdrawal. Both handled their steps well; however, I found Justina to be cleaner and Johnny a bit messier. On the other hand, I found Justina to be a tad timid and small in her steps, while Johnny seemed to move bigger and more dramatically. Enjoyed watching both, but I found Johnny to be a bit more compelling. I agree with the 2 for Justina and the 3 for Johnny.
Samba relay (AJ, Kaitlyn, & Skai): I will say that all three did improve over their first samba attempts, but I still don’t think anyone nailed it. I think Skai came the closest to actually hitting the rhythm – she seemed to be planting her feet and more firmly transferring her weight this time around, and was definitely looking more confident than she did in her disastrous week 2 attempt. I think AJ gave the best performance, though I thought it was 90% salsa cheating and had very little in terms of hardcore samba steps. Kaitlyn did marginally better than before, but was still looking a bit too soft and timid for my taste. I probably would have given all three of them 2’s, and thought the 3 for Kaitlyn was a bit generous.
Thoughts?
I’m with you in terms of a five person finale being a good outcome. Remember, no group dances this year due to Covid, so they need space to fill a two hour show. Five couples dancing twice (redemption and freestyle) would leave time for maybe one big dance with all the celebs back again (if they are doing that again this season) and then the winners announcement.
Watched Chrishell’s dance back on YT yesterday and lord Gleb’s choreography… That crab move might be one of worst moves I’ve ever seen on the show. Someone needs to tap him on the shoulder and tell him that it doesn’t look sexy.
This is Hollywood so you just know this whole Kaitlyn/Artem CAI beef is going to end with CAI casting the deciding judges vote to knock her out of the competition either next week or in the semi finals. It feels written in the stars.
OMG, LOL at all your CAI notes! She was deep in that pile of papers, wasn’t she? I’m pretty sure I also saw a waterlogged, then dried out, journal next to the loose papers. Fun new game: what’s Carrie Ann writing in her DWTS journal?
These were my rankings Monday night:
1. Justina 2. Johnny 3. Kaitlyn 4. Skai 5. AJ 6. Nev 7. Nelly. But today I think: 1. Justina 2. Johnny 3. Kaitlyn 4. Nev 5. Nelly 6. Skai 7. AJ. I’m really coming around on Nelly’s Dad Dancing, and AJ’s rumba (lol @ contumba) wasn’t even a rumba. I think I was just feeling Cheryl that night because we’re all sensing it’s maybe her last year, so I unnecessarily upvoted AJ. I was out of my seat and yelling at Justina like it was touchdown time, she got me so invested in that samba, and her success.
Excited Lindsay and her new baby are doing well! On her podcast where she reviewed DWTS at home, I forget which episode, she mentioned being on the phone or facetime often with Brandon when he was in the dance studio. Do you think she was coaching or ghost choreographing Brandon & Jeannie?
I feel like I see her thematic magic in the Material Girl bathtub bit, and maybe in general just for choreographing an outgoing personality that maybe isn’t the best dancer, but making them look like they are anyways. Brandon did amazing with Jeannie and I will miss seeing him carry her offstage when called Safe.
I agree about CA. She talked after the show this week about how she’s been getting bullied by Kaitlyn’s fans, but that is only makes her stronger in regards to judging. Which, as you pointed out, makes her more unbearable in trying to be the “tough judge”. And before Kaitlyn, many of Skai’s fans were/are complaining about the judges (namely CA) being too hard on Skai, not fair with the scores, and that CA has an issue with the female contestants on this show. I do think her criticism of Kaitlyn hasn’t always made sense, and like she’s reaching.
I didn’t like the relay dance that much, and the cha cha dance they might as well have just awarded Nev the points ahead of time and skipped the dance. I thought Nelly did better than Chrishell, but that’s not a hard obstacle. I thought the Johnny/Justina VW and the Kaitlyn/AJ/Skai samba were better.
Count me in as someone whose underwhelmed by this season. The cast is great, I don’t miss the troupe or all the other extras that have been added to dances through the years, and it is somewhat suspenseful in that no one seems to be way out in front. But the lack of Tom and Len, along with the dances seeming more underwhelming than normal (which I don’t blame on the couples, as they have more limited time to practice), the scoring just seeming stagnant every week, and no one really improving to a huge extent…I feel like, with the exception of Nelly, everyone is where they were week 1. Skai seems way more comfortable, but I don’t know that her dancing has improved.
Nelly may be the weakest dancer left, but I like him, so I’d love to see him make it to the finals. I think he has improved slightly, and his dance was heart breaking this week. I’m so glad that Chrishell went home this week. It was long overdue, and I still can’t understand the fascination with her, or the fact that Gleb never got called out. Her VW was just standing, posing, and laying on the floor/bed. I loved Justina’s dance this week; I’d love if she could pull an upset and win. With the numbers dwindling, I am wondering where she stands from a fan vote perspective. I think it could be her, Skai, or Nelly gone in the next couple of weeks, just missing the finals. I hate the thought, but I still worry Johnny could be a surprise SF elimination. I absolutely love him, and with Jeannie and her infectious energy gone, I’m glad he’s still around. I think Kaitlyn, Nev, and maybe AJ are safe locks for the finale.
The semi final round is in two weeks, so unless there’s a surprise double elimination, I’m guessing there will be 5 couples in the finale.
Has anyone else noticed that the standard for scores was raised drastically for the last 2 seasons. Going from 10 showers as of week 5/6 to having 10s on 3 occasions this whole season (Skai, Johnny, Nev) and we’re done with week 8. I mean I get that a mediocre dance shouldn’t get undeserved 10s but the change was a bit abrupt. And Len isn’t here this season. Am I the only one who feels that way?
As for the remainig couples, I agree that all of them (but Nelly) are great. Yes he’s improved but to me the others are still better. I was annoyed by Nev getting overscored for a dance with several issues. If we have a four-person finale I would like Justina, Kaitlyn, Johnny and Nev (in that order of priority) to be there; a potential 5th being Skai. I just think AJ and Nelly have peaked and aren’t as good as the others.
My rankings are: 1)Justina 2)nev 3)Aj 4)Johnny 5)skai 6) nelly
Kaitlyn would be last for me this week though. She annoyed me
My Rankings would be pretty much the same as you have them, except put Justina in front of Nev and Kaitlyn. I also think that (even though I love Nelly) Skai was ahead of him this week. Nev felt kind of hollow this week, but his technique and actual dancing was good. I ranked Justina ahead of him because while she wasn’t as good, she was more fun to watch. I looked at what everyone is dancing next week, and with Skai and Nelly in a face off dance I think that unless Skai messes up like we saw with the Cha Cha and the week 2 samba, then Nelly is gone. My prediction is that AJ or Johnny joins him in the bottom this week just based off of dance styles and face off dances. Then again, Skai has a Paso and her Latin dances aren’t as strong.. so we will see. Everyone left is not terrible, and they all seem nice and I will probably be sad no matter who goes home next week. For the finale they probably will have 5 people at least I hope so… and I think that Justina and Nev have solid spots. With Kaitlyn and Johnny who really knows. Johnny has had a votes issue in the past, and Kaitlyn has a Carrie Ann issue, so honestly IDK on them. If there’s a fifth finalist it will probably be AJ even though Skai is better because he is more consistent. Nelly clearly has votes though….maybe he’ll make it…I’d love to see that. AnYwAyS…..I guess we’ll see. This past week definitely wasn’t the best, though.
I’m shocked that gleb ripped off the beginning of his routine from artem when he and Nikki had that song a few years ago.
Can’t help but agree, Courtney – the magic is gone !
I’m most intrigued by Nelly – hope he sticks around a while longer – most improved week after week. Probably won’t make the finals, but i look forward to his dance (and Johnny’s) every single week
I’m most over AJ – color me unimpressed
I’m most surely still in Johnny’s corner – he has not disappointed – most artistic. Should be in the finals, IMO
I’m most bored with Nev – while a good dancer, he’s been on the same plateau since pretty much day one – least improved week to week
MY low hanging fruit at this point: Skai & AJ, although it would be shocker for AJ to get eliminated this early. I’m just hoping it’s not Nelly
OMG Justina’s dance was probably the best this entire season and deserved all 10s. Johnny combines technique and performance so well. I am getting so tiered of Nev and Kaitlyn (plus Kaitlyn so annoying and Nev sexually assaulted a girl like a year ago). They both started out pretty good and stayed pretty good, they are just both so boring and they are not improving. Skai is good although she has her ups and downs, I personally would like to see her get third. Nelly has been steadily improving every week but he still has by far the worst technique, he has a lot of improving to do if he can get anywhere close to the skill of everyone else. My ranking is: 1st Justina, 2nd Johnny, 3rd Skai, 4th Nelly, 5th Nev, 6th Kaitlyn