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Dancing With The Stars Season 29 “End Of The Season” Questionnaire (Grade, Suggestions Wanted, And More)

So, now that we’ve all had some time to mull over Dancing With The Stars Season 29, how are you feeling about it? Answer the questions below and let us know how you feel in comments!!

1. From the celebrity contestants on Dancing With The Stars 29, who surprised you the most?

2. When you look back, who were your top three celebrities for this season?

3. What was your most favorite dance of the season by a couple?

4. If you were to give a “Choreograph Award” to ONE pro on Dancing With The Stars Season 29, who would it be?

5. From an “A” to an “F”, how would you grade Dancing With The Stars Season 29? Also, do you have suggestions for the producers and the show’s future to make it better?

See you in comments!

December 14, 2020 I Written By

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" ~ Martha Graham. That's what DWTS makes me think of every Monday night. To read more about me and my other interests, see Lisa Kay Photography. You can also follow me at Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud.

DWTS Season 29, Week 9 – Dancing by the Numbers

I don’t usually do these posts these days because it’s kinda moot with the same day voting/elimination thing. Since they dance, get judges scores, get votes and get eliminated all in one episode, there’s no good way to predict for the coming week. UNTIL you get weeks where the high scorer finds himself in the bottom two and the lowest person on the leader board has yet to see the bottom two…that deserves a bit of discussion. 🙂

In the olden days of DWTS when it was being watched by 20 million people every week and lots of people were voting…it was a much different story than today, when fewer people are watching and voting. There’s not a whole lot of room for error if only thousands of people are voting, compared to millions in the past. And if few people are voting, the outcome is much more likely to be swayed by a sudden surge of panicked voting when someone lands in the bottom. Which explains Skai and Johnny. The other problem is the ability to give ten votes for multiple people – STOP IT. If Johnny or Skai or anyone else is your absolute favorite, than that’s who you have to vote for. Let’s use me as an example. This past Monday I voted for BOTH Nelly and Johnny. By doing that I contributed to Johnny’s total votes, sure…but I also contributed to Nelly being able to over come the margins of the people ahead of him and be safe. Likely at Johnny’s expense. that’s how it works. Nelly needed about 5k more votes per million votes cast than AJ to be safe. Well, if I were giving ten votes to Nelly and ten votes to AJ, I may as well have not voted at all, see? The ten votes for AJ cancel out the ten votes for Nelly. Voting for two people cancels out the votes for the lower scored person – you’re not helping…unless you’re two favorites are both the high scorers AND high vote getters. And you have no way of knowing the latter, only for former. It’s dangerous. I get that it’s hard to wrap the brain around this for some. You’ll have to trust me when I say – only vote for your absolute favorite, or that person could easily go home.

Anyway, here’s all the numbers in one easy table. Hopefully.

Dancer Comparisons % Difference Votes needed
Nelly vs. AJ 0.52% 5,181
Nelly vs. Justina 1.04% 10,363
Nelly vs. Skai/Nev 2.59% 25,907
Nelly vs. Johnny/Kaitlyn 3.11% 31,088
AJ vs. Justina 0.52% 5,181
AJ vs. Skai/Nev 2.07% 20,725
Aj vs. Johnny/Kaitlyn 2.59% 25,907
Justina vs. Skai/Nev 1.55% 15,544
Justina vs. Johnny/Kaitlyn 2.07% 20,725
Skai/Nev vs. Johnny/Kaitlyn 0.52% 5,181

Now, from the above table, it’s very easy to see how Nelly beat AJ. That’s a fairly small number of votes that Nelly needed to beat him. But Johnny?? That’s a lot of votes. And Johnny was safe last week. I think the easiest explanation is that voters are very casual these days and are not doing a lot of same day viewing. As a result, the results can be kinda wild. Easy for that to happen when not many are voting. But I do think that Nelly is getting a good number of votes in addition to Johnny struggling…he’s been low man on the totem pole the past couple weeks and he’s always safe.

I personally think the judges should just score the dances without trying to keep Nelly in the bottom. They also need to stop low balling the first dancer. It’s inexplicable and it’s stupid. Do they realize that the first dancer being the low scorer is extremely consistent? What’s the point of it? How does Justina get a 24, only a point ahead of AJ and tied with Nelly – two far lesser dancers? Crazy. And it’s going to cost them a very good dancer if they keep doing it. Possibly two good dancers, this week.

I also saw a lot of people whining about the judges saving Johnny again. Well, not only is Johnny the better dancer, but what makes you people so sure that AJ wasn’t the lowest combined score? You think the judges don’t know? I bet they do. Yes, Nelly had to get 31k votes to get past Johnny, but AJ had to get 26k. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.

When you look at the above chart, the following is what I see:

  • Kaitlyn only needed one more vote per million votes cast to be safe over Johnny, and;
  • Skai and Nev only needed 5,190 more votes per million votes cast to be safe over Johnny.

That’s nearly half the cast that could easily be safe over Johnny with few votes. Now, I don’t think Nev or Kaitlyn are going anywhere, but Skai should be scared.  Five thousand votes is like a rounding error. 🙂  What else?

  • Justina needed 21k more votes per million votes cast than Johnny, and;
  • AJ needed 26k more votes per million votes cast than Johnny, and;
  • Nelly needed 31k more votes per million votes cast than Johnny.

Clearly Justina and Nelly are doing quite a bit better in the vote department than Johnny is because they weren’t in the bottom two.  So I would say they are relatively safe next week as long as they don’t totally crash relative to everyone else.  It’s possible that Nelly could, but if I were Johnny and Skai, I would be sweating it big time. For that matter, we can’t be positive about the rest of them, only fairly sure.

But based on the above, I’m guessing that Johnny and Skai go home in the double.  Nelly could finally run out of time and one of the two of Johnny and Skai could be safe. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s wild and wacky when half the audience could be watching the next day on their TiVo.

November 13, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Dancing with the Stars Season 29, Week 10 – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Aren’t you all just DYING to know who Tyrant is going to “walk out” to?? I know I am!! </end sarcasm>  Press release does say it’s a double elimination, which makes me fear for the finale with only four couples and two hours of time to kill with no group dances, etc.

Tyra Banks will walk out to “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee. For this week, there will be two rounds of competitive dance performances and the stakes are high to get into the finals. In the first round, celebrities will repeat a dance style they struggled with earlier in the season with a new song as their redemption dance. The judges will mentor each of the couples. For the second round, couples will perform another style of dance as they try to make it into the semi-finals.

How much do I love that Harry Styles song? Very, very much. Curious to see what Jenna does with it, choreographically. Nelly got a couple songs that are popular on DWTS…or maybe just popular with me. 🙂

Nelly & Daniella
Redemption dance: Paso Doble to “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid
New dance: Jive to “Jump Jive An’ Wail” by The Brian Setzer Orchestra

Justina & Sasha
Redemption dance: Tango to “El Tango de Roxanne” from “Moulin Rouge”
New dance: Contemporary to “Holding Out for a Hero” by Ella Mae Bowen and Bonnie Tyler

Skai & Alan
Redemption dance: Cha Cha to “Move Your Feet” by Junior Senior
New dance: Viennese Waltz to “Lonely” by Noah Cyrus

Johnny & Britt
Redemption dance: Salsa to “X” by Jonas Brothers featuring Karol G
New dance: Jazz to “I Lived” by One Republic

Nev & Jenna
Redemption dance: Foxtrot to “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles
New dance: Contemporary to “If the World Was Ending” by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels

Kaitlyn & Artem
Redemption dance: Paso Doble to “Hanuman” by Rodrigo Y Gabriela
New dance: Contemporary to “Cowboy Take Me Away” by The Chicks

Who danced it better? As soon as I saw “Run Boy Run” I knew it had been used a couple times. Sure enough, the first two that popped up were Witney/Frankie and Derek/Bethany. Glad Witney didn’t cave to producer manipulation, as that was a good dance. I know producer manipulation has been alot stronger in the past and it did cost someone the competition, IMO (see Shawn/Derek finale repeat dance). Bethany and Derek’s version is very good as well…noticed that Witney borrowed the drumming idea from Derek, although it would be hard not to, for that particular song.

Brian Setzer Orchestra – love them. Joey and Kym danced to “Jump Jive and Wail” back in the day and Nelly will have a hard time living up to this dance. Anyone would, really.

And Frankie and Witney make their second appearance this week since they previously danced to “Sign of the Times”. No one else has, according to the Wiki pages since 2017 when the song came out. This was a pretty impressive first dance, and in week 10, I’m sure Nev can stand up to it.

Color me surprised when I found that Joe and Jenna did an AT to the Moulin Rouge song on Halloween night and it didn’t suck. Mainly because he was Frankenstein and not Dracula. Ha. I kid. I found a loyt of “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the same show, but no other “El Tango de Roxanne” – doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, just means I got tired of looking. 🙂

That’s really all I have time for this week, since I want to do a DWTS by the Numbers to show how AJ and Johnny landed in the bottom again. Anyone know off the top of their heads when any of these songs were previously used??

November 12, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

PureDWTS Season 29, Week 9 – Power Rankings

Soooo…I can’t be the only one who went “Whoomp…there it is!” when they heard about Gleb’s divorce over the weekend 😛 It would not shock me to see Chrishell & Gleb getting papped together at some point in the near future, and I’m wondering if that’s part of the reason the show kept them around so long this season – perhaps the fleeting hope that they might get the chance to go public with a showmance? Who knows. Gleb’s divorce clearly wasn’t the biggest news this weekend, but I got a chuckle nonetheless 😉

So the face-offs went about like they have every other season: each face-off seemed to have one couple that went for technique while the other went for performance. And like most other seasons, the judges seemed to reward their points to the couple that needed them more (with the exception of whichever couple they were trying to oust – in this case, Nelly & Daniella). Also found it interesting that they seemed to make the celeb’s face-off costumes to match their first dances – not sure if this was done as a cost-saving measure or a time-saving one (or both), but I don’t know that we’ve seen anything like that before. Just curious.

In a move I don’t think most of us saw coming quite this soon, we lost AJ and Cheryl – a couple that many of us had predicted would win this season in our preseason poll. I think they were unfortunately just a sacrificial lamb – Nelly seemed to be the intended target for elimination this week, but when it became clear that he wasn’t going anywhere (and dancers that belong in the finale were falling into the bottom 2), the judges had to pivot; AJ just happened to have a bad day at the office when his Viennese waltz went off the rails, so I think he was the only logical choice. I’ll admit that I found myself a skosh disappointed with AJ this season – maybe my expectations were too high, maybe he just didn’t get the right choreo, maybe he got screwed with song and dance assignments, who knows. But I guess I just thought he would be someone who easily bested Nick Carter’s often-erratic performances, and instead I think he ended up only slightly better than Nick when you netted out all of his dances. Read more..

November 11, 2020 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

DWTS 29 Week Nine- Interviews, Recaps, Scores, TV Ratings, And Extras

ETA: More added below…

What a night again on Dancing With The Stars. However, I never expected to find Johnny and AJ in the bottom two. 🙁 I am sad to see AJ go, but, what a class act. It was truly a joy seeing him do the show this season.

So, let’s get to the scores from last night in order…

Kaitlyn & Artem 30 (10, 10, 10)
Johnny & Britt 30 (10, 10, 10)
Skai & Alan 27 (9, 9, 9)
Nev & Jenna 27 (9, 9, 9)
Justina & Sasha 24 (8, 8, 8)
Nelly & Daniella 24 (8, 8, 8)
AJ & Cheryl 23 (7, 8, 8) Eliminated

Justina & Sasha Kaitlyn, Justina, Justina Cha-cha-cha Winner (2 pts)
Kaitlyn & Artem Loser
Skai & Alan Skai, Nelly, Skai Salsa Winner (2 pts)
Nelly & Daniella Loser
AJ & Cheryl Johnny, AJ, AJ Jive Winner (2 pts)
Johnny & Britt Loser

If you missed seeing the dances, see the official You Tube page. You can see photos from the show at Getty Images.

Now onto some interviews and recaps (and things released before the show). Lots of good stuff in the Extra section to make you go “awwww”…. Read more..

November 10, 2020 I Written By

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" ~ Martha Graham. That's what DWTS makes me think of every Monday night. To read more about me and my other interests, see Lisa Kay Photography. You can also follow me at Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud.

Dancing with the Stars Season 29, Week 9 – LIVE BLOG

Hi all! Sorry for the lack of a “Who’s Dancing What?” post this week, but I am absolutely swamped at work, to the point I’ve worked the last several weekends. Big deadline coming soon and then hopefully all will be back to relative normal.

So, I have no clue who’s dancing to what tonight!! Should be interesting to go in with no advance knowledge. I will also warn you that I am exhausted, so it is unlikely that I will jump through the hoops to give you actual numbers tonight…not that it will matter, possibly. Nelly’s never been in the bottom two and he was low scorer by alot last week….so that’s very interesting. Could be anybody’s game!!

T-minus 48 minutes. 🙂

This Icon skit is fun. Bizarrely, this cast can act better than any cast in recent memory.

Tyrant for the second week in a row is wearing something it at is reasonably flattering.

Justina is up first with her icon, Madonna. She was obsessed with Madonna, apparently. She’s dancing a rumba to Crazy for You.

She starts out a bit slow, but she’s doing very well. Spins were nice. Kept those feet on the ground. Man, she’s doing great and she looks like she’s having fun.

Derek is David Bowie, I think, based on the guy liner. I got distracted, he says it needs more…something. Says it’s wonderful. Bruno says it’s the gentle side of Madonna. She did everything exactly. He agrees with Derek and says you have to really engage the hips, don’t hold back. Push it a bit further. CAI says she looks amazing. Some of her moves need to be extended out father.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a 24 out of 30.

Nelly is up next! His icon is tupac – who was much more handsome than I remember. Nelly is going to cover the song and dance to that – a Jazz to California Love.

Whoa, backflip. He’s having a bit of trouble with this, but it is jazz, so there are no rules. About midway through he seems to find his groove. That was kind of a weird routine, although I love him.

Bruno says jazz nelly style makes him smile. He had an ease about him. Says he missed a couple steps, and Nelly agrees. CAI says great job. Says it was fun and entertaining, she likes watching his journey. Derek loved the backflip, the charleston and everything. The joy, the fun was great.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24. Hm. That wasn’t nearly as good as Justina’s yet gets the same score. What’s going on here?

AJ and Cheryl up next, dancing to Queen…V. Waltz. Somebody to Love…love that song.

Dig the outfit. Freddie would approve. He’s doing great…oops missed a step and he’s still moving a bit small. The ending was very, very strange. Can’t figure out that move at all

CAI says that was a tough one, started out strong and then lost something in the turns (yep, saw it). Watch the arms. Derek says his heart bleeds for him, but it happens, says his frame was better. Then talks a lot about his face and tension. Bruno says the first image was amazing. So pumped up you got yourself into a jumble. Needs to soften the arms a bit.

Scores: 7, 8, 8 for a total of 23. So a dance with noticeable mistakes gets the same scores from Derek and Bruno as Justina with no mistakes and Nelly’s jazz which seems off at times?

Ha! This Bruno bit is hilarious.

Kaitlyn is up next dancing to Brittany Spears – Toxic. Argentine Tango…Hmmm…I think this has been done before. Team Tango or some such?

Nice start. Love the outfit. Nice lift down the stairs. She’s doing really well, mostly sharper than normal. Softened up a bit in the middle. Great job, although she lost some of the attack halfway through.

Derek loved it, he’s clapping. Lacked impact before, but she got it tonight. It met all his criteria. Bruno says hit me one more time. Great lines. Focus and intensity better than before. CAI gives her a standing O as well. Making excuses from previous bitchiness. Everything was in that routine.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30. I would probably have given her two 10’s and a 9 just because she got a bit soft toward the end. She didn’t miss a step though.

Johnny is up next with Amy Winehouse. I love Johnny, he’s so full of joy. And I knew who his icon was as soon as I saw him 🙂 Quickstep!!

Great start, great run. Be careful dude and don’t get ahead of the music. He seems to rein it in a bit, as he was on the verge of getting out of control. But man, he’s killing it. Oh, broke hold. Not supposed to do that in the middle, but it might have been worth the risk. That was fast!! Loved it.

Bruno says Amy would have loved it. Did it very, very well. Actual quickstep was excellent, light of touch, precise, well done. CAI says they’ve never seen a quickstep like that, great performer. Passion power and precision. Used the whole floor. Derek says he’s a perfect representation. Being who you are is great. Footwork was clean, great job.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30. I would agree with that one! I didn’t see anything other that greatness.

Skai looks very beautiful, although I think either the hair color or makeup is aging her a bit. She’s gorgeous though. And she seems wise for someone so young. She’s dancing Paso Doble to Janet Jackson.

Was there supposed to be a commercial there?? And now Tyra has gone from classy to…ridiculous.

Skai…Great start. She had the same minor issue as Kaitlyn, that is losing the attack at times. Then she gets it back. Doing great, but looks a bit nervous in the middle right before the floor spin. And she threw that leg away. All in all great job though.

CAI thanks her for sharing her story, but more proud of the fierce Paso. Amazing. Derek says she’s strong, powerful, confident. Still a few moments where she’s tight. Too much tension in the arms at times. Overall great routine. Bruno says respect. Most grown up dance she’s had. Purpose, strength and beauty. Agrees with Derek on the arms.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27. I would agree with that one as well, but considering who’s below her on the leaderboard, she might be in trouble. Nelly stayed out of the bottom two with a far lower score than others, AJ is a boy bander (too tired and too old to remember which one)

Nev is up next with his Elton John jive.

Starts off great. He’s a great dancer, but he’s not my favorite anymore. He seems to be fading into the woodwork for me. Not allowed to do a lift in a jive and I think that was one. Once again, I hate all the running up and down the stairs. It seems like cheating for time.

Derek says he’s seen growth through out the season. Lots of content, would like a bit more pump in the motion. Bruno loved the theatricality. Says the kicks and flicks retraction needs to be sharper (I think). CAI says it’s a pleasure to watch someone having fun. Feet need to be a bit more pointed.

Jenna looks amazing tonight. Scores after the break. Tyra is not even good at that “after the break” thing.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27

Nev is exempt from the dance off due to his high cumulative score.

Dance off is for two bonus points. Kaitlyn versus Justina is up first. They’re doing cha cha to Lady Gaga/Beyonce?? Talk about opposites in terms of style.

From the start kaitlyn has ore technique while Justina has more flavor. Justina catches up on content. Kaitlyn is so precise and the cha cha seems more loose like Justina is. Close call for me on this one.

Derek says he loves this. Really important to stand out and he feels like one of them was. Bruno plenty of latin fire from one couple, the other one was precision and elegance. CAI says it’s like sugar and spice. It is a tough call, but I think I would give it to Justina. She needs it more for sure.

CAI: Kaitlyn
Derek: Justina
Bruno: Justina

Justina gets two points that she needs in a big way. I hope the judges don’t approach all the dances as an equalizer no matter how well they do.

Skai and Nelly are doing Salsa to Ricki Martin. This is a similar matchup to Kaitlyn/Justina – swag versus precision, although Justina is a better dancer than Nelly and Kaitlyn is more consistent than Skai.

Damn, that one is a tough call. I think I would give it to Nelly. Both had great content and fun.

Bruno was distracted by Nelly’s shiftlessness. Says skai kept up with the rhythm. Both styles were effective. CAI both were non-stop action. New school versus old school, both did great. Derek says it was like a boxing match – both were on fire. Could go either way.

CAI: Skai
Derek: Nelly
Bruno: Skai

Don’t think I agree with that one too much, although I think Skai needs it more than Nelly does.

Gee, I wonder if we’ll magically end up with Nelly at the bottom of the leader board again. I’m sure it’s totally coincidental. Not. Watch this next dance off very carefully and see what you think. But if AJ wins over the better dancer in Johnny, I will once again wonder just how rigged this thing is.

Johnny and AJ getting ready to jive to Wham, Wake me up Before you Go Go.

Johnny started off much stronger with immediate content. they are perfectly in sync while AJ is sloppier. Johnny is doing amazing at this – should beat AJ by a mile but we’ll see.

CAI: Johnny
Derek: AJ
Bruno: AJ

Sorry, that is utter bullshit and I’m so disappointed in Derek in being involved in this bullshit.

I would love to see AJ and…someone in the bottom two. I suspect it might finally be Nelly, but I would love to see him called safe again early. If it is AJ and someone it may well be Skai, would make me sad.

Here we go!
SAFE: Kaitlyn and Artem
SAFE: Skai and Alan
SAFE: Nev and Jenna
SAFE: Justina and Sasha
SAFE: Nelly and Daniella (whoa)

If they don’t save Johnny Imma….

Bruno: Johnny
Derek: AJ
CAI: Johnny

Derek is dead to me…for at least a week. Playing the corporate game. There is no way on god’s green earth that DEREK would truly pick AJ over Johnny. No way.

November 9, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

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 😉 Read more..

November 4, 2020 I Written By

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, baker, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble.

DWTS 29 Week Eight- Interviews, Recaps, Scores, TV Ratings, And Extras

ETA: Lots of updates below….

I’m starting to really think Nev & Jenna are going to win this competition, but, huge props to Johnny & Britt and Justina & Sasha as well!! I love Kaitlyn & Artem too. I hope they make a huge comeback soon and statement to the judges.

So, let’s get right to the scores from last night in order (and then I have to get out there and VOTE as soon as I can. Woo hoo to the elections in the US today!)…


Nev & Jenna 27 (9, 9, 9)
Justina & Sasha 27 (9, 9, 9)
Johnny & Britt 27 (9, 9, 9)
Kaitlyn & Artem 25 (8, 9, 8)
Skai & Alan 25 (8, 9, 8)
AJ & Cheryl 24 (8, 8, 8)
Chrishell & Gleb 24 (8, 8, 8) Eliminated
Nelly & Daniella 21 (7, 7, 7)

Nev & Jenna. Chrishell & Gleb, Nelly & Daniella 3, 2, 2
Justina & Sasha,Johnny & Britt 2, 3
AJ & Cheryl, Kaitlyn & Artem, Skai & Alan 3, 3, 2

If you missed seeing the dances, see the official You Tube page. You can see photos from the show at Getty Images.

Now onto some interviews and recaps (and things released before the show). Thanks always for reading…. Read more..

November 3, 2020 I Written By

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" ~ Martha Graham. That's what DWTS makes me think of every Monday night. To read more about me and my other interests, see Lisa Kay Photography. You can also follow me at Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud.

Dancing with the Stars Season 29, Week 8 – LIVE BLOG

Poor Jeannie – best wishes to her for a quick recovery. 🙁

In much better news, Lindsay had her baby!! All is reportedly well. I believe she said on instagram that she was at 39 weeks.

T-Minus 30 minutes…

Chrishell actually made me laugh in the cold open. 🙂

Good thing Tyra didn’t walk out while the pyro was going off – all that tulle would go up in an instant. That dress is ridiculous.

Jeannie had surgery last night for her Epiglotitis – a life-threatening condition, actually.

Kaitlyn going first – almost guaranteeing that she gets another low score. I wonder if they’re going to try to get rid of her (except Derek, who didn’t get the memo) because Hannah won last season? Jive should be a good dance for her, I think.

She looks great. She’s on time, I think, plenty of content, and she seems to be having a good time. You will NEVER see Chrishell doing this much dancing. Her kicks and flicks are good and they’re well in sync. CAI will go ape shit over the lifts, of course.

Derek seems happy, says she has so much content, jam packed. Amazing choreography. Says her arms and legs are beautiful but so long the asset may become a liability. Bruno says she has what it takes. Wants more passion, more attack and clearer finish. CAI says she’s come back with grace and energy. And of course bags on the lifts (which Derek and Bruno disagree with), says this is one of her best dances.

Scores: 8, 9, 8 for a total of 25 which seems underscored to me. Chrishell has scored better with far less content and don’t even get me started on Monica.

Nev up next with his V. Waltz. Cute kids!

Odd opening.But that was a choreographic choice. Seems like his butt is out too far. He and Derek have the same stylist, it seems. All in all, a pretty dance and he danced it very well, but it’s not that special.

Bruno says he was oozing charm and charism, and it shows that he led with control. Light on his feet. Don’t dig on the fall part of the rise and fall. CAI says bravo – very elegant, noting some weird spots and a loss of balance. Derek says the opening was odd (not his word) – lots of intention and clarity. Beautiful dance.

Scores: after the break….Tyrant is getting better at that transition. Only took 8 weeks.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27…and I fail to see the difference between what Nev did and what Kaitlyn did, but Derek was the only one to score them the same.

Justina next with her Samba, which is likely right in her wheelhouse.

Opening move was stiff, but she cuts loose when she gets to the bottom of the stairs. Her arms are all wrong after the samba rolls – looked weird. But other than those little things, she did a great job.

CAI says it was so good, loves how she makes them all feel. Says there was a stumble in there…which I missed. Great energy, well done. Derek says she looks beautiful, says that song is sacred in the latin community, needs to articulate the feet a bit more. Fun to watch. Bruno loves watching her because of her joyful presence. All the content was there.

Score: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27

Nelly up next with his rumba. I have my fingers crossed for him. This story about his sister is heartbreaking.

So smooth and graceful, needs a bit more hips. His posture is improving. His arms are a bit extra. Daniella was doing more of the dancing, but the rumba does showcase the woman.

Derek asks how he’s feeling. Loves the show because of how it transcends scoring and all that. Derek thanks him. Bruno says the man is a frame in the rumba and he did that. He stepped it though more than dancing it. CAI is proud of how far he’s come. Level isn’t quite high enough, most of the shapes were from the arms instead of the hips.

Scores: 7, 7, 7 for a total of 21 – that feels a bit too low for me, but not by a huge amount.

Bit worried about Nelly – he’s about 20k votes behind Kaitlyn and I’ll legit be disappointed if he’s eliminated.

Chrishell is up next with her V. Waltz.

Of course it starts out on a bed with Gleb doing all the work. Then there’s rolling around on the floor.And they go back to bed. Lots of angsty acting. And the site is acting up so much that I can’t focus.

CAI says it was graceful, elegant and sexy. Her arm out of hold is odd and her neck is cricking. Derek is a funny mess, can see her improving each week, tells her to watch her transitions, need more fluidity. Bruno is being Bruno. Says she has some very good moments, but she has to be able to sustain it.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24

Skai is up next with a Salsa which starts off a tiny bit sloppy. but then she transitions into killing it. 🙂 She still has some weird awkward spots, bt a vast improvement from early on. Great lifts too.

CAI says she didn’t quite nail the landings on the lifts. Derek says she seems more grounded and more balanced. Derek loves lifts and tricks but there were one or two too many (agreed), wants more dancing. Bruno agrees with CAI, looked a bit wobbly in places.

Scores: 8, 9, 8 for a total of 25

Numbers Update: There’s a good bit of space between a lot of the couples, so far. But that second dance will change a lot

Nelly vs. Chrishell 1.49% 14851.49
Nelly vs. Kaitlyn/Skai 1.98% 19801.98
Nelly vs. Nev/Justina 2.97% 29702.97
Chrishell vs. Kaitlyn/Skai 0.50% 4950.50
Chrishell vs. Nev/Justina 1.49% 14851.49

Nelly appears to be in real trouble, which makes me a bit sad.

Johnny up next with his foxtrot. I agree about Shawn Mendes. Hot.

I like Johnny’s look tonight ad I love how this dance starts off. There’s a weird spot towards the beginning, not sure what happened there. He’s doing a lovely job, IMO.

Derek says Shawn would be proud. Beautiful arms, great frame, needs to be a bit more gradual rise and fall. Bruno agrees with Derek. Says he has a wonderful sweeping movement. CAI loves the fashion choice, loves the artistry, also liked the jerky rise and fall, that it was an interesting choice.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27

They’re doing a nice package on Jeannie – scary situation. Aannndd Tyrant ruins it with her faux tears.

AJ is up last – and this week it is good to go last, since it’s not truly last due to the relay. His story about addiction is heartbreaking. Cute kids too!

Not sure how I feel about this dance. Seems like a story that doesn’t really fit the style. And that spin at the end seemed rough.

Bruno was so captivated by the intensity, the intent, the purpose. But he lost a lot of the rumba action (agreed), there wasn’t a lot of rumba in it. CAI agrees with Bruno, he was passionate, but there wasn’t enough content or hip action. She wants him to bust through, sloppy on the edges. Derek says a hero heals his own wounds and shows others how to as well. Sometimes you have to do your routine for you – agrees on the lack of content.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24

Numbers Update: I don’t know what happened to make all the numbers round. Fate?? Here’s the standings before the second round of dancing. I’ll be surprised if it’s not Nelly and Chrishell in the bottom, I guess

Nelly vs. Chrishell/AJ 1.50% 15000.00
Nelly vs. Kaitlyn/Skai 2.00% 20000.00
Nelly vs. Nev/Justina/Johnny 3.00% 30000.00
Chrishell/AJ vs. Kaitlyn/Skai 0.50% 5000.00
Chrishell/AJ vs. Nev/Justina/Johnny 1.50% 15000.00

 

Carrie Ann’s group is up first with a cha cha – Nev, Chrishell, and Nelly, in that order. This is set up for Nev to win. Nelly is likely toast after this.

Nev starts strong, with great form, but his years of experience should help that.

Chrishell is doing fine, but Nev really set a high bar. I thought they were getting different songs. chrishell got off time there at the end. Nelly is just having a ball, but also gets off time. His section seemed a lot shorter than Nev’s. I would rank them Nev, Nelly, Chrishell.

CAI says it was so fun, Nev started off weaker than she hoped for, nailed it once the pyro went off. Chrishell had more content, Nelly gets most improved, but he needs to keep his head up.

Nev’s chest looks like it’s been gardened.

Nev gets a 3, Chrishell gets a 2 and Nelly also gets a 2.

Derek is overseeing V. Walt trio with Justina and Johnny (and Jeannie). This one could be a tough call.

Justina stars of with wonky arms, but she gets them back in line quickly….and that was short. Johnny just has so much more style in this style of dance. His arms and hands are great.

Derek sends his love to Jeannie. Loves Justina but would have liked more energy. Derek says Johny was fantastic.

Derek gives Justina 2 extra points and Johnny 3 extra points. I don’t think that changes anything for Nelly.

Numbers Update: Yeah, I can’t do these numbers fast enough to make a difference. It reorders the couples enough that I can’t redo the whole chart. Bottom line is, Nelly is still way at the bottom and needs lots of votes (15k) per million votes cast to get past Chrishell.

This relay is likely the most well matched. AJ first, then Kaitlyn and then Skai. Samba is the hardest dance of the three, however. My guess is that Kaitlyn will be on the bottom since latin isn’t her strong point.

AJ starts off and it’s okay. Kaitlyn is better than I expected, a bit sassy. She gets cheerleadery toward the end. Skai is killing it and then has an odd spot in the middle.

Sounds like Bruno liked Kaitlyn the best, then AJ and then Skai but it’s a tough call.

Bruno gives 3 to AJ, and 3 to Kaitlyn and 2 points to Skai. Yep…still Nelly…or maybe Chrishell… going home. If it’s someone else, I’ll try to do a numbers post this week. Can’t promise. Work is hell. 🙂

Seems like they could be running a bit short…plenty of time left in the show, so expect a lot of blathering.

Here we go:

SAFE: Nelly and Daniella – YAY
SAFE: Justina and Sasha
SAFE: AJ and Cheryl
SAFE: Kaitlyn and Artem
SAFE: Johnny and Britt – Yay!!
SAFE: Nev and Jenna

Okay, Skai is a little bit surprising. Derek is looking to the other judges. 🙂

CAI saves Skai
Bruno saves Skai

Chrishell hits the road. Derek says he would save Tyra. LOL. He says he would have saved Skai as well.

Thank you America – that was the right choice. I’m convinced that my votes for Nelly did the trick. 🙂

November 2, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

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: Read more..

October 31, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)