Cheryl Burke | Pure Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, THE FINALE – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

To think, last week I started this post with how it was going to be a “much nicer” week. Ah, I was so naive then. 🙂 I confess to being rather curious to see what the moronic judges are going to pull this week. And somewhat afraid. Here what the press release has to say:

For this last week of the competition, the opening number will consist of the remaining couples dancing to “Last Dance” by Donna Summer. There will be two rounds of dancing where each couple will do one repeat performance from earlier this season. And in the last element of competition, the couples will perform the most anticipated dance of the season—the fan-favorite freestyle routine.

Mega-superstar Cher will perform her classic “The Beat Goes On,” while Pitbull and Ne-Yo performs “3 to Tango” and “Me Quedaré Contigo.” In addition, the ballroom and viewing audiences will have a first look at the new season of “The Bachelor,” and the winner of the “American Idol” fan vote will be revealed live. Eliminated celebrities from this season will return to the ballroom for a final number.

Oh goodie, this show is packed with far more crap than your standard finale, include the American Idol fan vote winner – rub salt in the wound, ABC. Katy Perry takes DWTS budget with her ridiculously bloated salary and you pull AI into DWTS. Thanks a hell of a lot. Not only that, but Pitbull performs for the 500th time, in his annual reappearance. But wait! There’s more…

In addition, the professional dancers that will be participating in “Dancing with the Stars – Live Tour 2020” will dance to “How Do I Know” performed by Ray Chew Live. At the end of the night, there will be an announcement revealing which celebrities will be joining the professional dancers on the nationwide tour.

Vying for America’s vote, each couple will dance to a variety of songs including Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl,” Kriss Kross’ “Jump” and Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga,” among others.

Which celebrities will be joining the tour. Considering the shit they’ve given Hannah all season, I would be surprised if she were one. And I would think that Lauren has too much going on. Betcha we see Ally on tour. I hope Kel goes on tour so maybe he has a shot to win. :::shrug::: They don’t need the winner on the tour and I believe they’ve done more than one without the winner, so who knows?

The dances are interesting. I wonder if the couples picked them? I tend to doubt it – Hannah choose a week one dance? Why not her quickstep, which was arguably her best dance? Lauren chose a week 4 dance. Both could work – have a pretty dance combined with an explosive freestyle. It could be they both show nice range. That said, if the judges or producers picked, it’s possible they want both to fail. Ally gets Jive, which she first did in week 4. Depending on her freestyle, it could be a mistake. I think Kel has the best set of the night, but of course, the last time I said that the judges sent James home. So who the hell knows?

Kel and Witney – Jazz and Freestyle

Ally and Sasha – Jive and Freestyle

Hannah and Alan – Viennese Waltz and Freestyle

Lauren and Gleb – Foxtrot and Freestyle

DWTS Season 28, The Semi-Final: DANCING BY THE NUMBERS

I decided that this week would be a good one for a numbers post, mainly due to all the claims of “James was obviously a fan favorite” and other related, somewhat silly commentary. Well, that and I had just a tiny bit of spare time. ????

Look, I loved James and not just because he’s hot. Well, largely because he’s hot. He’s really grown into his own face. Dude is hot and is a pretty good dancer. Best dancer ever on DWTS? Of course not. But that’s not a requirement to win the competition, believe it or not. The only requirement to win the show is that you have the highest combined score. Period. Now, of course, for a show that really IS a dance competition, having someone like Bobby Bones win is just ridiculous. But it’s not *unfair*. Just ridiculous. Like Bobby himself. Ridiculous. And very off putting to the general audience. Read more..

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, The SEMI FINALS – LIVE BLOG

Well, tonight on DWTS, will we see how the judges REALLY feel about the various contestants?? Will Ally be in for a shock? Will James get all 30s?

I suspect that now that S___ is gone, the judges are going to get real with everyone…except Hannah, who they’ve been pretty real with all along. And James…I don’t feel like he’s been either over scored or underscored. Either way, it will be interesting.

T-minus ten minutes – and “get well soon” to Derek Hough after his emergency surgery this past weekend. At least it waited until he got back to the States.

LOL…nice infomercial. And with S___ gone, all the semi-finalists are passing for rockstars quite well.

Camerass cuts from Pasha and Daniella far too soon, but managed to catch Jenna and Val just fine.

Lauren up first! Wonder if Lauren being in the bottom is going to boost her votes? Might be more obvious sans S____. Lauren is dancing Paso to Kelly Clarkson’s Strong (and Lauren is a good singer! I knew that.) Gleb has NO REASON to be cocky so he should just shut right up.

Love the hair, but the outfit? Not so much. Opening after the stairs seemed a bit unsteady. My feeling is that he didn’t give her a lot to do and she’s just not sure about a lot of it.

Len: Lovely mix of expression and aggression. Saw more shaping. More cape, I would’ve liked. (Oooo…len clapback and Gleb

Bruno: (being suggestive) Handled it beautifully. Stronger. Lost one hand/arm over routine.

CAI: You’ve come so far, you command the dance floor. Locking knees just a bit. A bit too tight.

Okay, so we’re going to be super kind to everyone. Let’s see if the scores reflect that.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 – I think that was a tad overstored. It’s an improvement for her, but…

Can’t wait to see what goes down between Hannah and CAI. Perhaps a reality check for CAI?? I certainly don’t blame Hannah – how long are you supposed to hear the complements that someone like S___ gets and then hear nothing but nitpicking??

Kel is up next, getting coached by Bruno. Who’s idea is it for all the dancers to put the damn stairs in every damn routine?? It just makes the dance look awkward. Interesting (?) costume choice again.

Kel actually looks like he’s leading! He’s quite confident and into this dance. Great ending. Well done!!

Bruno: Real, proper tango – just one mistake. Well done.

CAI: You’ve become so refined, you’ve come the furthest. Fantastic.

Len: Intensity, I liked. Some missing heel leads. Came out with enthusiasm. Well done.

Score: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 for a dance that was a mile ahead of the other scorer of 27. Are we back to “everyone gets a 9” gambit??

Ally up next with their V. Waltz. She’s who I’m most curious about, since I feel like a large part of her scores were to keep her out of the bottom. Side note, this is the second week in a row that Ally’s lip liner is distracting me in the package.

She looks stunning, I must say. And again with the damn stairs. Love this song and this dance is quite lovely. That was beautiful, from start to finish, actually. Was that Tom Hanks??? Nope, her dad, I think.

Len: Much more rotation, better technique. Lost a bit of rotation in couple places.

Bruno: Joy to watch.

CAI: Phrasing in this dance was beyond the movement. Emotional performer.

Scores: 10, 9, 10 for a total of 29. Hmmm, don’t know that that was that much better than Kel’s.

Hannah up next with her rumba. She actually wanted Carrie Ann (kinda). This is actually making me a bit weepy. I think it was time for someone to call out a judge for their attacks which often ARE personal. I didn’t even like their commentary to S___ last week. They go too far sometimes – more Bruno that CAI.

Wow, another stunning woman. She started off a little shaky, but she seemed to get into it as it went along. Better hip action.

Hannah is a classy young woman.

CAI: I was never offended by that. We want to make you better. You improved a heck of a lot. More open to us. Really proud of you.

Len: The hips are the rhythm and the arms are the melody and I thought you married those two beautifully.

Bruno: Whatever she did, it worked. You learned to place your foot. Blah blah blah.

Scores: 9, 9, 9, for a total of 27 – everyone gets a NINE! Except Ally. 🙂

James up next with the easiest dance of the night…and it wasn’t his lowest score either. He had another dance with the same score.

Why do they keep throwing extra dancers in? At least he isn’t using the stairs. Is there going to be cha cha…oh, there it is. Emma came off the ground, but that’s not convenient. I love James – he’s hot. But I don’t think he’s that much better than Ally or Kel at this point. He is hot though.

Len: I said cut out the gimmicks. Because disco music – I would have liked to see more cha cha cha (me too). Too much messin’ about. (Agreed)

Bruno: Disco cha cha extravaganza. You’re a great showman and you can sell it. You were off timing quite a few times (agreed – but I thought his legs were too wide).

CAI: Really entertaining. Your posture is really broken (agreed) – you’re a fantastic dancer, I’d hate to see you lose it over details.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24 out of 30. I find it hard to disagree with that – Kel and Ally did better. I don’t know that Hannah was that much better, but she wasn’t worse. I’d have given him at least one 9 for being hot. I think that counts. 🙂

But, how are you handed the easiest dance of the night and spend it doing Disco for a judge who TOLD you to drop the gimmicks? Bad decision. It seems the low scorers have been in the bottom two. Hopefully that’s not the case here.

Lauren up with her never-performed style – V. Waltz. I love this girl, but I can’t stand her partner. Ugh.

This dress is gorgeous. Hair? Still gorgeous. There is not much to this dance, though. Seems very simple. Doesn’t stack up against Ally’s, IMO. Gleb’s suit is yuck.

Len: Smooth, elegant, graceful. Loved the elements of slow waltz. Lovely dance.

Bruno: So sophisticated. Loved the chemistry, sizzling. Joined together, like a dream couple.

CAI: Loved you dancing as one. Great.

She’s going to get 9s for that very simple dance. I guess simple is better from time to time, but…she’s not on the same level as Kel, Ally, James or even Hannah.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for another 27. Over all total is 54 out of 60.

Kel up next with a contemporary to Witney Houston “I will always love you”. Geez. This should be interesting.

Damn stairs again. tiny sync issue. Beautiful job, beautiful dance. There were one or two spots where I could see him thinking about it, but over all great job.

Bruno: what an achievement. Pure art. The fluidity of the lifts. Sincerity and honesty in performance. You’re a winner in my eye.

CAI: 28 season I’ve seen every type of dance – that dance makes a big impact. riveting, pure, I’m so grateful.

Len: (standing O)

This better get a damn 30, IMO.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for our first perfect score of the night.

Ally up next – that speech seemed a bit rehearsed. She said Sasha’s name so many times. Charleston!

Even MORE stairs!! Damn. She’s ‘moving too small, there at first. She goes in and out of too small movement. Kinda weird. Good dance over all though. WTF with the stairs. Besides that, a lot of this seems familiar. Was I just talking about Shawn and Derek?? Yes I was. 🙂

CAI: Showstopper! Proved you deserve to be in the final.

Len: Fun, fabulous. Fun and Joy. Just great.

Bruno: Sparkly, exuberant. Some lindy. Classic hollywood musical number.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30. I would have handed out a bunch of 9s on that one.

Hmmmm…If James gets a perfect score and Hannah gets another 27, there will be a three way tie for third place. So, this season, the low scorers have typically been in the bottom (except for Hannah, S___). So what if Ally and Hannah are in the bottom?? Ally is the better dancer, but she’s been in the bottom two several times. So, the judges might automatically call her safe – but the backlash could be…bad.

Awwww…James’ wife had a miscarriage. So sad. This ought to be a tear jerker. He’s doing a foxtrot.

I love a man in tails. Emma’s dance is gorgeous. My favorite part was when the song hits the chorus. That was lovely. I was a bit distracted by the red moon in the background because I’m obsessed with Legend of Zelda right now. And now, I’m crying.

Len: For you to come out and dance with so much feeling, I admire you so much.

Bruno: You put so much heart into that dance. Wonderful spatial flow. Job well done.

CAI: I don’t know how you got through that. I feel silly talking about your posture. It was great posture.

I don’t feel that dance was particularly great, but I understand why it might not have been. Tough time in his household right now. :::sob:::

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27. That poor little girl crying. Dressed so cute too.

Hannah is up next with her contemporary.

Ooo… a couple lovely lifts. At first I thought she was holding back, but it seemed like she got into the angry part. That lift spin towards the end was great. I think Hannah’s problem is that she tries really hard to not let the hurt show during the live show. I get that.

Bruno: You did pretty well. What I really liked – you got a wonderful dynamic in the lifts and drops. .

CAI: you move beautifully, the trust was impressive. It paid off.

Len: Normally not a fan of contemporary, but I must say I thought the emotion came out and it was a great dance together.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 out of 30.

I’m feeling deep. Hannah is trying really hard to be tough, she want to be a strong, independent woman – and on the Bachelorette she was the most real person that’s ever been on that show. But she was really disappointed in it, and I think she’s been working hard only to have this be more serious than she thought it would be. I watch her dance and I feel like she’s in a very uncertain time of her life. I think James’ heartbreak translated very strongly into his dancing in a not good way (not blaming him) and I think Hannah’s tumultuous past few months and desire to be the strong powerful woman has been impacting her off and on all season.

Anyway….

SAFE: Kel (yay!)

SAFE: Hannah!

SAFE: Lauren (oh shit)

This ain’t no kinda good. They gotta save James – no question. This is not hard.

CAI: Both are fantastic. WTF she saves Ally???

Bruno: WTF!!!! He picks Ally and Sasha?????

Len: Would have voted Ally.

What the actual fuck??? Did he want to quit?? Ally tried to give it to James. She’s still apologizing.

Okay..brief post mortem. I can’t believe they just did that. How on earth do you save Ally, who has been in the bottom SEVERAL times, over James who has never been in the bottom at ALL?? James is far from perfect, but he’s objectively a better dancer than Ally 95% of the time. WTF?? I also don’t believe he’d quit and not make it known to all. Ally was SOBBING because she was saved over him. What the actual fuck?

In my opinion, the top 2 dancers were James and Kel. I like Hannah very much. But if someone were going to go home, it should have been Lauren – no offense to her, she’s a good dancer. Put very simply, Ally is NOT the audience favorite – she was the high scorer of the night and still ended up in the bottom. James was clearly in the bottom because he was at the very bottom of the leader board. A few days after his wife miscarried. So, you have to conclude that the judges weigh their opinions far above the audience.

So, which do we take?? Judges who prevent the Bobby Bones/S___ S____s of the world yet think they are so much smarter than the audience that they save the person who the audience isn’t voting for? Or the S___ S____s making the finals??

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week TEN – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Ahhhhh…much nicer week in store for us on DWTS. 🙂 I like everyone left on the show, I would be good with any of the five taking this home (except maybe Gleb, although I like Lauren). I will still find the judges extremely aggravating and dumb, but you can’t have everything. 🙂 Here’s a take from the press release for the coming week.

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 style of dance they struggled with earlier in the season with a new song. The judges will mentor each of the couples. The second round will be the last time the couples will perform to a style of dance they haven’t performed before.

Vying for America’s vote, each couple will dance to a variety of songs including Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger,” The Temptations’ “Get Ready,” Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind,” Hozier’s “Take Me To Church,” Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last,” Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” among others.

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week NINE – LIVE BLOG

And you thought the scoring was bad!! Apparently, you-know-who no longer has to do the Samba, but is doing a foxtrot instead. About which CAI will swoon over how he managed to hold Jenna’s hand the whole time and give him an 8. Haven’t all the remaining celebs beside him done a Samba?? You know it’s bad when they start changing the dances. I suppose everyone else will get a shit song that doesn’t match the dance style.

T-minus 30 minutes…

Remember to include context when commenting!!

Oh yeah, Emma Bunton bailed. I suspect she was tied up with the Christmas thing she’s taping.

Jaysus, S___ can’t even clap in time. Of course Joey has to dance in his….culotte’s. I don’t even know how to spell those short pants.

Girl Groups up first…and James is going first with his Jive. James was in an a cappella group in college. LOL. WAIT a second. We’re calling the Pointer Sisters a “girl group” – that seems a bit degrading to me. They ain’t Spice Girls.

This doesn’t feel very jive-y for the first third of the song. Something’s weird about this dance, but he looks hot so I can forgive a lot. 🙂

Len: To learn two dances is a tough call. Jive is very difficult. Liked the speed of the underarm turns, kicks and flicks were sharp and aggressive.

Joey: (Discussion of Joey’s pants split) I’ve been watching, you’re effortless, you make it look easy and it’s not.

Bruno: Blah Blah Blah…what a quarter final this is going to be. What you did you did very well. Could have had more pump into the leg (agreed). Brilliant.

CAI: Achieved excellence. What I love is there a smoothness and a finesse. Ahead of the music at first but got it on the chorus.

Scores: 9, 9, 9, 9 for a total of 36 out of 40

S___ is up next. I’m going to be pissed all night, especially since Ally IS doing a Samba.

Plodding. That’s all I got. Off time. (I lied) No dancing required.

Joey: Not easy being green. I’ve watched, and you give it 110% Frame was good, but the feet…fluidity is stompy. You can go farther, if you can get that.

Bruno: Don’t cry for S__. You tried very hard. At this stage ….more of a Argentine struggle. (Trumpers don’t like the truth, Bruno)

CAI: I appreciate the effort. I know you want to prove you should be here. The artistry is missing, how you go between the pictures.

Len: The best thing about it is that it wasn’t very long. Just moving about. Just walking about.

Totally agree with Len’s comments, but if he gives a 6 or higher he needs to just STFU.

Scores: 7, 6, 7, 6 for a 26 out of 40

SERIOUSLY?? 6’s and 7’s for that utter crap?? Every other contestant better get 9s or higher.

Hannah up next, dancing Salsa to “No Scrubs”.

So far, so good, she seem to be having fun and is doing a pretty darn good job. Nice lifts!! No fear! And that dress! Wow.

Bruno: So good to see your confidence growing. You shine brighter with every dance. Lost a bit of timing. Just lost it a couple of times.

CAI: Fierce, love the attitude. Lifts were a bit out of sorts.

Len: thought the lifts were good, got a bit ahead of the music. Full of Rhythm.

Joey: A little sloppy on the lifts.

This is more fucking critique than S__ Has EVER gotten.

Scores: 8, 8, 8, 8 for a total of 32 out of 40

Jesus Christ. She get’s 8s and a serious critique of nitpicking and S___ gets four “great job”. This show deserves to be cancelled. On top of that, S___ isn’t even doing the originally assigned dance – Samba. Which Ally and Hannah and others have had to do.

Ally up next to dance her SAMBA to the Spice Girls.

Love this song, but it ain’t much of a Samba. Love her outfit. She’s going a very nice job – did this dance seem short to anyone else?

CAI: That was amazing. You’re so in sync. So good in your technique, flawless.

Len: Recognizable Samba. Great technique. Fantastic dance.

Joey: No Samba roll. Amazing job.

Bruno: I want more of that! Proper, absolutely right samba.

Scores: 10, 10, 10, 10 for a total of 40

I liked the dance a lot but I don’t think it was four points better than James, nor what is 8 points better than Hannah – but neither of those two have been to the bottom two twice. So, there you go.

Lauren up next with a quickstep to the Supremes. Again, I object to the term girl group being applied to them.

I like Lauren. I wish Gleb was a better choreographer. Love her outfit. Off time right at the beginning. She does better down on the floor. Pretty darn good job!! I liked it once she came down the steps.

Len: Love the spin turn etc. Once you do stuff like that I’m a sucker for it. There were a few moments that weren’t dead on point. I liked it.

Joey: Couple little foot issues, but over all I thought it was good. Energy was good, frame was off.

Bruno: Captured the feel of a timeless classic. Very complex routine and the precision has to be spot on, but there were a couple of times it wasn’t there.

Again, all kinds of detailed critique and S___ gets nothing.

CAI: I thought it was great. I loved it.

Scores: 9, 9, 8, 8 for a total of 34 our of 40.

Hmmmmm….Hannah and Lauren get more serious critique and neither goes to talk to Erin, getting their scores on the floor with Tom. I guess we know who they want in the bottom two. Or who they feel confident won’t end up there. One or the other.

Kel is up next, talking about being a youth pastor. He’s dancing a Paso.

I love him. He’s really getting the hang of this show and these dances. Love the section with the male pros. He’s seems so natural at this. Love it.

Joey: Great job, knees could have come up, but awesome job.

Bruno: Powerful performance. Be careful not to close in the lines, keep extending the lines.

CAI: Free your arms, really small – you have to dance big. Not little hands.

Len: too many gimmicks and not enough Paso Doble in my world.

What the actual fucking hell?? Again, CAI and Len (and Joey and Bruno) give all kinds of critique like they should in the quarter finals but they DON’T do that to S___ and on top of that….grrrr…

Scores: 8, 8, 9, 9 for a total of 34 out of 40. Ridiculous. I thought that was as good as Ally’s dance.

James is dancing to N’sync Bye Bye Bye – Jazz

This is pretty awesome, although I think he’s a bit ahead of the music. He’s probably a better dancer than N’Sync. 🙂 Well that was too short. I wanted it to go on longer. James is looking goooooood.

Len: That was too much of a boy band. I would like more together dancing. Too much aggression.

Dude, it’s JAZZ

Joey: If I could give 100 I would. It’s all about the attitude, that was amazing. Awesome.

Bruno: blah, blah…could have been a little more together. More content.

CAI: That was really good. Amazing ability to give 300%. Be a little careful of your elbows. Everything matters at this point (say that to SS, idiot).

Scores: 9, 8, 10, 9 for a total of 36 out of 40. Seriously Len?? You gave a 6 to S___.

Numbers Update: Did a bit of guessing on the rest of the second round scores and this is what I got.

Sean vs. Hannah	3.85%	38,462
Sean vs. Lauren/Kel	4.33%	43,269
Sean vs. James	4.81%	48,077
Sean vs. Ally	6.73%	67,308

Hannah dancing tango to BTS – that will get her some votes, probably. Showing some stress in the rehearsal – maybe that will help with the Tango.

Go girl. Gorgeous dress. Sharp, quick. Pretty intense for a normally smiley girl. Wow. I thought that was excellent!!

Joey: Well, I have nothing to say – fantastic. Best dance of the night for me. Awesome.

Bruno: Purring like a kitten. Pure pleasure. What you did so well, elegance and passion. You were killing it. Old School hollywood glamour.

CAI: There is a lot of pressure, but if you want to win you have to bring A game every time. Thank you for bringing back your A Game.

Len: Good posture, Well done. Got a little loose on occasion.

Scores: 10, 9, 10, 10 for a 39 out of 40 That’s more like it!

S___ up next. :::sigh:::

Bruno: No surprises there. Consistent. Technique always goes in one direction – reverse. Presented it well. Wasn’t fluid. A bit clumpy.

CAI: Unfortunately you lost your step in the middle.

CAI if you really had standards you would never give this guy a 7. Spare me.

I can’t even type Len’s critique – too bizarre.

Joey: Again with the 110%. More about the feeling and the journey. You need to step up, but again, great job!

Scores: 6, 6, 6, 6, for a total of 24 our of 40. Still too high, but an improvement.

Numbers Update: Still have guesses in for Kel and Lauren, but here are the numbers with the scores so far (and those guesses):

Sean vs. Lauren/Kel	4.84%	48,426
Sean vs. Hannah	5.08%	50,847
Sean vs. James	5.33%	53,269
Sean vs. Ally	7.26%	72,639

Lauren and Gleb up next with a rumba – what the hell is Sasha doing in the background??

She looks gorgeous! She looks surprisingly comfortable with this dance. She’s holding up very well. Doing better than I expected, although Gleb didn’t give her that much to do, I don’t think.

CAI: I can’t believe how far you’ve come. Beautiful confidence and sensuality. Be careful – sometimes you hold your breath.

Len: I liked it very much, lovely fluid movement, well done.

Joey: the dancing you did was amazing. Really, really, really good.

Bruno: Smoky sultry. Lauren delivers (hot).

Scores: 9, 9, 9, 9 for a total of 36 out of 40.

Kel doing a V. Waltz…and he’s doing it very well!! He had one weird arm, but he seems to be leading and coping very, very well!

Len: I thought it was terrific, nice turns, put in the fleckle, really polished performance.

Joey: Really great job.

Bruno: You danced like a perfect gentleman, leading with a soft touch. Musical phrasing was great. Sensational.

CAI: Agree with all the judges, but what impressed me most was you took direction about the arms. Well done. That was beautiful.

Scores: 10, 10, 10, 10 for a perfect score of 40

Numbers UPDATE: If Ally gets another perfect score – which they might do to try to save her – this is how it will end up. This would be a big get if S__ survives.

Sean vs. Lauren	4.80%	47,962
Sean vs. Hannah	5.04%	50,360
Sean vs. James	5.28%	52,758
Sean vs. Kel	5.76%	57,554
Sean vs. Ally	7.19%	71,942

And doing a jazz to NKOTB means Ally should be able to land another 40. Girl, it’s not you that’s the problem and why you might get eliminated. She’s pretty much killing it although I thought I saw something weird at the beginning. I was only half watching. I really loved this dance – great job!!

Joey: Well done! I love the story telling, so much fun. Amazing – a great way to end the show.

Bruno: MTV awards, reminded me of Paula Abdul.

CAI: Just flawless, that felt like the finals and it was your freestyle. So much fun.

Len: Such a bubbly personality and it was reflected in the dance. The whole package.

Scores: 10, 10, 10, 10 for another perfect score. And my previous numbers remain accurate. Could be a record if Ally lands in the bottom again. I hope you all voted.

Here we goooo…Len blowing nose on camera. Great.

SAFE: Ally and Sasha

SAFE: Kel and Witney

SAFE: James and Emma

SAFE: Hannah and Alan

FINALLY, praise jesus.

CAI: (STFU) Lauren

Bruno: Lauren (thanks Sean because he’s been entertaining)

And S___ is eliminated. And it’s about time.

You guys saw the numbers – not really surprised because those were huge numbers to overcome. I don’t think it’s ever happened before. Lauren was likely only vulnerable because she had the lowest score after S___.

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week NINE – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Well, I just realized that I didn’t do this post this past week. I was in New Orleans working and having fun also and not thinking about blogs. 🙂 Better late than never I suppose. So, here’s what we’re going to see tonight on DWTS:

“Boy Band & Girl Group Night” – Six celebrity and pro-dancer couples return to the ballroom to compete on the ninth week of the 2019 season of “Dancing with the Stars,” live, MONDAY, NOV. 11 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. (TV-PG, L) Episodes can also be viewed the next day on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu.

Choreographed by Brooke Wendle and Rodrigo Basurto, the show will open with a medley of songs from some of the most popular boy bands and girl groups in history. For this week, there will be two rounds of competitive dance performances. In the first round, couples will dance to music from girl groups like TLC, Spice Girls, En Vogue and The Pointer Sisters, among others; the second round will be music from boy bands like Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men and *NSYNC. For the first time ever and joining Len, Bruno and Carrie Ann, two guest judges in the ballroom will be Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) of the Spice Girls and Joey Fatone of *NSYNC and “Dancing” alum. Emma will judge the girl group dances, while Joey will judge the boy band dances.

Vying for America’s vote, each couple will dance to a variety of songs including The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love,” Spice Girls’ “Wannabe,” En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind,” The Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited,” Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” New Kids on the Block’s “Step by Step,” and Jonas Brothers’ “Only Human,” among others.

I personally think this theme is kinda dumb, but we’ll see how it plays on TV. And I wonder if Mel B wasn’t available – is she on another network? She was on America’s Got Talent, but I don’t think she is anymore. Anyway…I think Lauren may struggle this week cuz Rumba. S___ should be a trainwreck of major proportions – will it matter? Not until the judges give out appropriate scores for him relative to every other couple still on the show. If Lauren does struggle and gets 8s on her rumba, this is STILL no way in HELL that S___ should get anything higher than a 5. But apparently the judges lack courage. Hopefully, the Hannah of last week is still present – if she is she won’t have too much trouble. If she’s not, she might. I think Kel, James and Ally are probably fine. We will see!!

Kel and Witney – Paso and V. Waltz

James and Emma – Jive and Jazz

Ally and Sasha – Samba and Jazz

Hannah and Alan – Salsa and Tango

Lauren and Gleb – Quickstep and Rumba

S___ and Lindsay – Argentine Tango and Samba

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week Eight – LIVE BLOG

So, I never did get around to my numbers post this week, dang it. The upshot is, besides S___, Hannah appears to be the only one who can be low on the leaderboard and not be in the bottom two. It’s quite likely that James is the same but he’s not been tested yet. Last week it was Kate’s turn to be in the bottom with Karamo and they were the two low scorers besides S___.

For S___ to be safe, he needed the following things to happen:

He needed 14.9k more votes per million votes cast than Kate, AND;
He needed 17.4k more votes per million votes cast than Karamo.

In the olden days of DWTS, those were pretty small numbers. Probably not any longer. And he obviously did that – but who knows who else he managed to beat. Here are the remaining numbers:

He would have needed22.3k more votes per million votes cast to beat Kel
He would have needed 24.8k more votes per million votes cast to beat Hannah
He would have needed 29.8 more votes per million votes cast to beat either James, Lauren or Ally

So, vote for your favorites and vote HARD. We’ll see who the low scorers are tonight and if the same thing happens. As of right now, everyone except James, Lauren, Hannah and S___ have seen the bottom two. Hopefully, that is NOT your final four, if you know what I mean.

T-minus 30 minutes… Read more..

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week Eight – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Happy Halloween!!

Well, I doubt the set up for week 8 will truly benefit anyone at all, but I guess we’ll see. Here’s what the press release has to say:

After a first-round dance to a style they have not performed before, the second round is the Dance-Off challenge. Two at a time, couples face off against one other on the ballroom floor as they dance head-to-head in the same style at the same time (Cha Cha, Jive or Salsa). The winners of each of the three dance-offs will be selected by the judges, and the winning couple from each dance-off will receive two bonus points added to their judges’ totals for the night. One couple will be granted dance-off immunity based on the leaderboard from the previous week and will not have to participate, receiving two bonus points as part of their immunity.

Vying for America’s vote, each couple will dance to a variety of songs including Elle King’s “American Girl,” Linda Ronstadt’s “Heat Wave,” Styx’s “Come Sail Away,” John Legend’s “All of Me” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” among others. In addition, the dance-off songs include Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine’s “Rhythm is Going to Get You,” C+C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” and Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

I saw where some on twitter were confused by this, but it seems obvious to me – but who the hell knows anymore? Anyway, “dance off immunity” certainly seems to imply that the high scorer doesn’t have to dance off, not that they’re immune from elimination. As I’ve said in the past, that person better also get two points, otherwise they’re more vulnerable than those dancing off. Also seems clear that WHO gets immunity will be difficult, since there was a tie for the top spot. My money is on whichever of those folks is most vulnerable to elimination.

Kel and Witney – Salsa

James and Emma – Contemporary

Ally and Sasha – Jazz Charleston (WTF?)

Hannah and Alan – Quickstep

Lauren and Gleb – Jive

S___ and Lindsay – Jazz

Kate and Pasha – Jive

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week SEVEN – LIVE BLOG

Who’s the scariest of the all and will that person be eliminated tonight?? Only if we’re real freakin’ lucky.

T-minus 30 minutes…

Remember to include context when commenting!! Here we gooooo….

So this means that Len is going to bury someone tonight? This is the best opening we’ve had in a very, very long time. (Bar low) Really good. There was a point where I didn’t know who anyone was. 🙂 Great job.

Michael Rooney did the choreography – props man. Erin’s dress is gorgeous. Wow, Jenna and Karamo look amazing! CAI is Maleficent – apropos.

Kel up first with Rocky Horror. Jive to Time Warp. Doesn’t seem like a good fit but okay.

I don’t get the staging at all but he’s holding up well so far. Got a bit off time for just a moment but recovered well. All in all, good dance!! Don’t get the outfits either, for that matter. Maybe there is copyright issues?

Len: Terrific way to start off the evening.

Bruno: I love a cult classic. Taken it and reimagined it. Surprising treat.

CAI: (OMG) That was incredible. Off the hook. Tight and clean.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27. New camera people please. Jesus.

Heh. Promo suggests that Len split them into teams. Which means the producers split them into teams. We’ll see.

James and Emma up next with the V. Waltz. He does have a nice booty.

Emma looks amazing. Beautiful dance so far, love the concept. Excellent job. Particularly liked the ending. 🙂

Bruno: Prince of Darkness. Totally in command. Such a powerful performance. Perfect until he went wrong. James says he slipped on the fog.

CAI: Perfection until the mishap.

Len: Honestly you put a spell on me. Dance was terrific. Lovely movement. Was gonna be a 10 until the incident(s). Lovely mix of tricks and treats.

He should win this season…I’m just not confident he will.

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

Ally up next with Tango. Dancing to Sweeter than Psycho. The singer is not doing well. the Tango on the other hand is pretty good, but her head looks weird…like it’s too far back in the wrong way? Can’t explain it.

CAI: On point. Ridiculously good. What I loved most is you push yourself right up to the edge. Lost focus at one point.

Len: Last week nearly dead, so glad you came back to life with a terrific tango. Lots of proper dancing. Len noticed the head thing too. It wasn’t just me.

Bruno: Premiere league tango. Full of content done correctly.

She was good, but I suspect she’ll get 9s that I’m not sure I agree with. That said, maybe the judges have wised up.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27. I sense a theme.

I worry for Hannah as she could barely walk on her feet as of yesterday. Eek. Let’s hope for the best.

One of the pros messed up. Not sure how this is Halloween. But she’s doing quite well for someone who couldn’t walk the other day. Over all, kind of a weird theme with weird music. Think she got hosed on that. Her dancing was good, but dang.

Len: Bad girl is a terrific dancer.

Bruno: Nothing scary about that. Most beautiful, friendliest zombie ever. Things she needs to punch it more.

CAI: Crisp and clear, but agree with Bruno. Something lacking in her performance. You close off to the dance.

Good lord she is talking so much and so fast!!

Scores: 8, 9, 8 for a 25 out of 30.

NUMBERS UPDATE: So far, there are only about 10k votes between the top 3 and Hannah. Everything is going to hinge on how badly they over score Lindsay’s partner.

Karamo is up next with his Paso to Destiny’s Child.

He’s handling this dance very well, still a tiny bit awkward in places but he’s vastly improved. And he just gets better the farther he gets into the dance. The make up is AMAZING.

Bruno: The bringer of the apocalypse. Went wrong on the one foot once. Don’t lose the shaping due to the power. Well done.

CAI: Like a sonic boom. You opened up and let it out.

Len: firstly may I congratulate hair, makeup and wardrobe. Shaping has to be exaggerated, having said that is the attack and he did very well.

Ugh. Boy Bands and Girls Groups next week. Two dances each.

Scores: 9, 8, 8 for a total of 25 out of 30 – tied with Hannah.

Lauren up next with an AT. Doesn’t seem sharp enough but I keep getting distracted by other stuff. Sorry. Mid-show fade out. Seemed like it was pretty good though.

CAI: Love Halloween. You slipped right there but you went with it and made it a moment.

Len: Not sure what lola wants but saw plenty of what Lennie wants. AT characterization. Sparked off each other. Well done.

Bruno: Can I have a bite please. Your performance was great.

So Lauren gets the pity party two weeks in a row…

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27 out of 30.

S___ and Lindsay next. Monster mash and Frankenstein – pretty slow Jive, of course.

Can’t go wrong with your partner laying down. Oh, I was wrong. 🙂 He’s not moving at all for half the dance. I mean, literally, feet glued to the floor. He’s pigeon toed when he does move.

Len: This wasn’t super and it wasn’t really natural either. Lacked content, but I must say what I like that you always come out and try the hardest.

Bruno: Monster part was perfect. But the jive was 6 feet behind (I think he means under). Timing is not your strong suit.

CAI: A dance only your mummies could love. Backsliding this week.

If Len gives him a fucking 7 just for showing up I may throw something at my TV.

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

NUMBERS UPDATE: Made some guesses on the team dances with James’ team doing 26 and Kate’s team doing 24, and Kate getting a 27 in her solo dance. With those numbers, S___ needs 17.5k to get past Karamo, 22.4k to get past Kel/Hannah/Kate and 27.2k to get past the leaders. Scary.

Kate up next with the rumba.

She seemed like she was rushing it there at the beginning, and she’s so somber. I suspect I just saw a mistake but they were only showing her from chest up. A couple lifts in there, one really obvious at the end of the dance. Not bad, but not fantastic.

Bruno: That was a beautiful and haunting rumba. Capture our attention. Lost a bit of fluidity. Better shoulders.

CAI: There was a tiny mishap, but what I love most is seeing a woman so confident. Lost connection at one point.

Len: Compliments to Pasha. (agreed) What you’ve done, is you’ve inspired other professionals to give proper authentic routines. Not normal amount of confidence, Kate. Stretch legs a bit more. Knockout performance.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24 out of 30. I wouldn’t have gone that low, although I didn’t care too much for the dance.

NUMBERS UPDATE: Of course, everything hinges on the team dances, but as I said I guessed James team getting a 26 and Kate’s team getting a 24. If that happens, this will be the leader board.

Sean vs. Kate	1.50%	15,000
Sean vs. Karamo	1.75%	17,500
Sean vs. Kel/Hannah	2.25%	22,500
Sean vs. James/Ally/Lauren	2.75%	27,500

This could get spooky. Who knows what will happens. I don’t think Kate is in danger, I think it’s more likely to be Karamo and…someone. But we’ll know.

You mean these lopsided teams were by random draw??? How on earth…

Team Trick is up first. Great costumes. Emma counting. LOL. Celebs doing great on their own. Well, I thought that was really good! Seemed like they were mostly in sync, lots of good dancing. Harkened back to what Derek and Mark might have done.

Len: lovely mix of tango, VW all together with fantastic, interesting choreography. Admiration for the celebs. Well done.

Bruno: I loved it as well. Dramatic and elegant. Bringing out the personality.

CAI: I loved it. Matching lines, really powerful. Kudos to Hannah.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27. Awww…Hannah getting emotional.

Team Treat is up with Sweet Dreams by Beyonce.

Love the costumes. Love the start. Very clever way to keep the men from dancing for a long period of time. Very simple choreography. Pretty in sync but not even close to the first team. It just seems kinda slow and low impact. Much stomping by S___.

Bruno: yelling the counts. Nightmarishly entertaining. Not everyone was always on time, but I really love the effort.

CAI: Love the concept, MVP to Kate for dancing with the women. S___ almost kept up.

Len: Liked the fun of it. You enjoyed. Wonderful entertainment and congratulations.

Scores: 8, 8, 8 for a total of 24 for team treat. Called that one right on target.

Here we goooooo…..

SAFE: Ally and Sasha

SAFE: Hannah and Alan

SAFE: Kel and Witney

SAFE: James and Emma

SAFE: Lauren and Gleb

SAFE: S___ and Lindsay (fuck)

CAI – Karamo

Bruno – Kate

Len – Kate

Karamo is one hell of a class act. Going out in classy style. It gives me a sad, though. Stay tuned for a numbers post this week. My preliminary theory is that so few people are voting that S___ is probably out in front, possibly with Hannah and James. The low number of votes is why the bottom two changes every damn week. Kate was at the bottom of the leader board, with S___ and Karamo, so they’re in the bottom. Hannah was near the bottom last week, yet wasn’t in the bottom two. Hence, I think she’s up there with S___ and likely James. More later.

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week SEVEN – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

So, have the judges learned their lesson and score what it destined to be a truly horrible jive appropriately?? I doubt it, but we can hope. Here’s what the press release has to say:

The show starts with a spooky Halloween opening number set to “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish and “Come Along” by Cosmo Sheldrake. Choreographed by Michael Rooney, the celebrities and pro dancers will take the audience on a journey from the graveyard to the ballroom, ending with an epic zombie dance number. Later, after a round of individual competitive performances, there will be an additional round of two Halloween team dances. Each team (Team Trick with James, Ally, Lauren & Hannah and Team Treat with Karamo, Kel, Sean & Kate) of four celebrities and their pro partners will compete for more judges’ points, which will be added in as part of the final scores of the evening.

Vying for America’s vote, each couple will dance to a variety of songs including Halloween classics “Time Warp” and “Monster Mash” as well as Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls,” Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game,” Annie Lennox’s “I Put a Spell on You,” and Ava Max’s “Sweet but Psycho,” among others.

I would LOVE to know how the teams were picked, and if they truly just ended up the way they did through a school yard pick. I don’t think they could have, since James and Hannah are tied for the highest cumulative score but they’re on the same team. And if they went with the two lowest cumulative scores, well, that’s S___ and Karamo, who are also both on the same time. This is questionable, for sure. As for who’s dancing what? Looks like everyone has a dance they should do okay with, except that one guy dancing with Lindsay.

Kel and Witney – Jive
Dancing 1st

James and Emma – V. Waltz
Dancing 2nd

Ally and Sasha – Tango
Dancing 3rd

Hannah and Alan – Jazz
Dancing 4th

Karamo and Jenna – Paso Doble
Dancing 5th

Lauren and Gleb – Argentine Tango
Dancing 6th

S___ and Lindsay – Jive
Dancing 7th

Kate and Pasha – Rumba
Dancing 8th

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, THE FINALE – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

DWTS Season 28, The Semi-Final: DANCING BY THE NUMBERS

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, The SEMI FINALS – LIVE BLOG

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week TEN – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week NINE – LIVE BLOG

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week NINE – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week Eight – LIVE BLOG

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week Eight – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week SEVEN – LIVE BLOG

Dancing with the Stars Season 28, Week SEVEN – Who’s Dancing What…and When??

Top Posts & Pages

Calendar

Recent Posts

Pure Dancing with the Stars

Recent Comments

Categories

TV Links

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Top Posts & Pages

Calendar

Recent Posts

Pure Dancing with the Stars

Recent Comments

Categories

TV Links