PureDWTS Season 30, Week 5 – Power Rankings

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest author for the Pure Dancing with the Stars Power Rankings.  As Court shared, she’s taking a “hopefully temporary” break from the power rankings and reader Tei offered to step in while she’s enjoying a well deserved break.  Let us know what you think of Tei’s Power Rankings and if we should have her continue doing them.  Plus, we know you’ll share where you agree and disagree in the comments.  Welcome Tei!

My name is Tei and I have been a fan of DWTS since late on season 2. I have watched every season since. Sometime around all those years I found Pure (thanks to a series called who wore it better? that I loved) and have been a reader (all the way from Puerto Rico) since. Growing up I was trained in jazz and hip hop and danced professionally until my mid 20s when I decided to quit and go to college. As a result of being a fan of DWTS a couple of years ago I started taking latin and ballroom classes, but just for fun. By no means am I a pro, but I am familiar with the dance styles.

I love to have a space where I can share my passion for dance and this show specially since the content is always full of insight, actual dance knowledge and passion. Since Court is taking a more than deserved break, I suggested the mods that some of the readers do a substitute post. Although I don’t claim to have all of Court’s knowledge as to how all the aspects of the show (dance, scores, votes, dance order, popularity, publicity, demographics, etc) work to possibly “predict” how the couples are doing, after many years I think I feel comfortable giving it a try. Also, I think it would be fun reading how other people see the rankings and compare the different ways that the show/couples impact each viewer. So here I leave you with my try:

General thoughts on Grease night. Well, I though this could go terrible and must admit that most of the numbers were better than I expected. I thought the night went very well. I was not surprised to see Mel C go. Last week I though she was “forgettable” and that is very bad in DWTS. Is it her fault? Not really, she is a great performer and really was doing great with the dances. But at the end of the night, I had to go back and search what dance she did because it was not memorable. I thought maybe the Spice Girls fan would keep her in a while longer, but not surprised to see her in the bottom two either. I was much more surprised to see Olivia there, but more on that later. In the end, I agree with the choice of keeping Olivia over Mel C.

Jojo and Jenna: Definitely Jenna was a great choice to be the pro of the first same sex couple since her choreo and creativity are one of the best of the current pros. I really did not know what to expect and the result has been that I keep getting surprised each week. This Foxtrot was the best dance of the night and the season so far. Granted, Jojo is a trained dancer and the song and style lent itself for a more interpretative dance that is right up her wheelhouse (Contemporary). But I don’t mind this “ringer” status when we get dances like this one. Midway though the dance I wrote on my notes “definitely a 10”. Jojo obviously has great dancing, but this is the first time when I saw 100% the character of the dance, the control, and the passion. I love to see her tone down her personality for these dances. In a weird way the striping down of her “over the top” persona has allowed the viewers to relate and appreciate what she is doing more each week. I believe she must be connecting with the audience. We are seeing a personal transformation on her, and audiences love that. Also, she has probably the biggest fan base of the celebrities. At this point, regardless of what dances they do, I think they are definitely on their way to the finals.

The Miz and Whitney: As we all know, DWTS is not primarily a dance competition and personality matters just as much (if not more) than the actual dance. And that is why The Miz is this high in my rankings. I believe he is the perfect mix of personality and dance ability. Also, the fact that the judges have stated lowballing him (together with some of the other male celebrities) tells me that he might be killing it in the votes department. Regardless of what Cheryl believes to be the most popular song in Grease, I would argue that Grease Lightning takes that title. And that was great for the Miz since this dance was destined to be remembered (good or bad). Thankfully, this jive was more good than bad. It was fun, and I liked that there was almost no crap at the beginning and went straight to the dance. As always, the technique can be improved (feet need work) but he was on time and did not miss a beat. Even more important IMO is his compromise to the performance. There is something impressive about seeing male celebrities go all out with the performance and enjoy the experience. The audience loves that. If they manage to keep doing memorable performances, I see this couple getting far.

Jimmie and Emma: I have Jimmy this high in the rankings for similar reasons to The Miz. They have a perfect mixture of dance ability with personality. In Jimmy’s case (opposite to the Miz) I think that the dance ability helps him more than the personality. Also, Emma has proven herself as a coach that creates great partnerships and when she has a celebrity with good personality or talent (or both), she gets them far. Unfortunately, this was not Jimmie’s best dance. I believe the slippery floor might have something to do with it. It started beautifully but once they got on hold his shoulders were up and I felt the dance was “choppy” (that’s the word I have in my notes) specially by the end. He did perform all though the dance, regardless of the floor issues and finished that performance giving it 100%. You can see he is working hard and taking this seriously. Also, the Country music fans usually are a huge group, so I believe he is safe.

Suni & Sasha: This week we saw a new Suni. And I love it. She is coming out of the shell and that is great for the competition. She can obviously dance and when the performance matches that, I believe she will continue to move up the leaderboard. Charleston is one of those dances that in DWTS is almost a freestyle but she did great with it. I was worried that they made her Cha Cha since that character has tons of personality in the film. But I really think being Cha Cha brought the best out of Suni. I did not have her this high at the beginning of the competition, but they are definitely moving in the right direction. Also, her sweet and honest personality, her coming right of the Olympics with a gold medal and the fact that the judges seem to be desperately trying to help the ladies with the score department makes me think she is safe for now.

Iman & Daniella: Us fans know that some seasons have a celebrity that does not dance all that well but manages to get into the top 5 or even the finale thanks to their personality and great job of their pro choreographing to their strengths (Nellie, David Ross, Bill, to name a few). Well, if Daniella keeps doing what she is doing with Iman, this is that couple for this season. There is something mesmerizing when you see this huge dude dance as big and committed as he does. The VW was a though dance for them. Regardless of the technique (which was not very good) just the height difference was going to make this dance a huge challenge. (the Quickstep might be a similar challenge for them). However, Daniella did a great job dealing with that situation. But regardless of how technically well (or bad) the dances are, this guy must be killing in votes. Monday night my husband (who tries to find every excuse not to watch DWTS with me) watched and Iman was one of only two dances where he was vocally surprised and said something to the effect of “wow that guy looks great doing that dance” (the other was The Miz). And for most of the audience that knows nothing of ballroom, that is their impression. And that is why they were save after being the lowest scoring couple (for a significant amount). He is clearly getting the votes. I hope the judges stop lowballing the males (specially Iman) with the scores and just appreciate his effort and the fact that they are doing memorable performances. I don’t expect 10s, but he—with absolutely no dance training—is not that behind some of the others.

Melora & Artem: This dance was performed great, and I thought it was one of Artem’s better choreography. Unlike last week, I don’t think she was over scored. She really shines in the ballroom. I really can’t find anything specific to critique other than she is not one of the most memorable in the competition. Since there are still many couples, I think her fans can still carry her. However, when more couples leave, I believe the competition is going to depend on each performance and (similar to Amanda) Melora while great, has to start doing more memorable dances.

Amanda & Alan: Amanda is a great dancer. And these slow dances really suit her. I wonder, did that beginning count to their time? Not a fan of live singers since I think it’s an unfair advantage. That being said, this dance was beautiful. There was nothing wrong with this dance to point out. Also, there was nothing that made it stick out or memorable. There are too many good/ok dancers this season. The pros have to start choreographing more memorable dances to stand out (take a page out of Derek’s book) because anyone can go home any week. I keep putting Amanda quite low in the rankings because I have doubts as to her fan base (specially when apparently the guys are stealing so many votes). But I hope we get a couple of more dances from her.

Olivia & Val: Disclaimer: The last 3 couples were tough to rank since I believe the votes can go in any direction and will depend a lot on what they do next Monday. I was/am one of those who was not happy with the announcement of Olivia as a celebrity and feel that she was rewarded for her privilege. However, I have tried to see her objectively when in DWTS. That being said, she is the biggest surprise of this season IMO. I personally have this belief that young, Caucasian women who have no performance background usually don’t do that well with the dances, especially Latin. Well Olivia definitely shatters that theory. She has done great dances (I was specially surprised by her Samba which is one of the toughest latin dances). This Foxtrot was very very good. I especially liked the end when she did the section with the other girls. It was obvious they have been working in technique, and she was committed to the performance. Her frame and arms during turns sometimes look a bit robotic. But in general, great performance. I only have Olivia this low because of her visit to the bottom two. Last week I would have put much higher up. But apparently, she is not getting the votes. Why? Could the college admission scandal be hurting her still? Possibly. Probably the visit to the bottom two will help her a little next week. But how much longer than that is a bid question mark.

Kenya & Brandon: So, hello Kenya! That performance was impressive (apparently impressive enough to keep her out of the bottom 2). I really though she embodied Rizzo to perfection. She even included little details in the steps that just reminded you of Rizzo. Really impressed. Her performance was so captivating that I never looked at Brandon through the whole dance (had to rewatch to actually watch him). Also, great choreo from Brandon. As I said with Melora and Amanda, the pros need to start choreographing memorable dances if they want to stay in this competition. This is an example of that. I still have her this low because we know that her vote getting ability is not consistent. However, if they manage to do a performance like this again, I would not be surprised to see her stay another week in the competition.

Cody & Cheryl: I am very conflicted as to where to put this couple since they haven’t been in the bottom two. However, I have tons of doubts as to their vote-getting ability. Cody is supposed to be a ringer with dance training, but I don’t think this has come through in the dances. I guess that since he is a ringer I expect more and are harder on him than the others. But I thought this quickstep was lacking in technique. His frame was inconsistent and at times I felt we was even scrunched froward. Footwork was not very good and the fact that Cheryl was not wearing a skirt highlighted this. I guess that his alleged “ringer” status has hurt him more than it has helped since the expectations were so high. Also, I have my doubts as to his fan base. Now that they are though with Covid (which might have gotten them some pity votes) I am unsure as to their ability to get votes. Finally, Cody can be the most affected by the overscoring of the females (if that continues) as I believe the remaining male celebrities have the fan bases to carry them through.

So, what do you think? Would love to see if you think I’m crazy or agree with my rankings.