And just like that, it’s premiere night of a new season again 🙂 Heidi’s still on vacay (I think she’ll be back for week 2), so you’ve got me for both the live blog and power rankings this week – I’m going to try not to be too repetitive, but given the current frazzled state of my brain, I make no guarantees 😉
Running order, dances, songs, and voting numbers are here – right off the bat, I think Mary Lou, Juan Pablo, and DeMarcus are probably going to be good, by virtue of their running order position. My preliminary thoughts about this season are here – any thoughts from you guys headed into tonight’s show?
And here we go…
Kind of cute opener, though nothing really new. Lotta randos in that number, though – did I see Robert Roldan from SYTYCD???
I notice Erin made a point of saying it’s a “full season”. Trying to shake off the stink of the poorly-rated All-Athletes season, maybe?
Respectable first outing by Mary Lou – she’s definitely better than most women her age, but she has a bit of a punchy, hoppy quality to her movement. Good energy, though – great way to start the show.
Mary Lou gets 6, 7, 6, for 19/30. Seems about right, but I could change my mind once I see how they’re scoring everyone else.
KIMMIE GIBBLER IS IN THE AUDIENCE!!! Standing next to her is Jana.
Milo just seems like such a good kid. Wish they didn’t have this nonsense line of zombie questions with Witney.
UM, WOW. Milo can MOVE – I had a feeling he’d be pretty good, but his movement quality is pretty damn good, y’all. And it’s made even more impressive by the fact that he’s tall, and doesn’t move small like so many other tall guys we have. One to watch, for sure.
Milo gets 7, 6, 7 for 20/30. Hmmm…I feel like he was better than Mary Lou by more than 1 point. I’d give him at least three 7’s. Makes me wonder if they’re being stingy with the points because they know Tinashe, Alexis, Juan Pablo, and DeMarcus are even better…
I didn’t realize Evanna had actually applied to three different colleges for dance. She may be ringier than we initially thought.
Pretty damn good foxtrot from Evanna – she seems confident, on-time, and had great energy. Keo’s choreo has improved, for sure – just wish he wasn’t quite so punchy, since it looked like he almost toppled her a few times. I think the height difference is going to be a continuing issue.
I’m a bit puzzled as to why the judges seem so nitpicky with Evanna – did we watch the same dance? I thought it was actually pretty nice.
7, 5, 6 for Evanna – a pretty mixed bag, for 18/20. Wish Len hadn’t tossed in the bit about foxtrot “not being a good dance for the first week”. She’s gotta do it again tomorrow night, bruh – great job probably giving her a complex.
Anyone else flashing back to season 10 when typing “Evanna”? 🙂 Just me?
Erin still can’t say Artem’s name right. 😛
God that dog is adorbs 😛 I’m honestly really interested to see how Artem adapts his teaching to accomodate Danelle – that’s a challenge, for sure.
I’m kind of over this song, but wow – valiant first effort by both Danelle & Artem. He kept the choreo simple, and stayed with her every step of the way. This may be his defining season as a pro.
6, 6, 6 for Danelle – I think that’s fair, but I think by comparison, Evanna deserved a point or two more.
So far, everyone has been very good – there have been no Kattan’s or Hughley’s. Maybe that’s why the judges are being so critical – is this cast just pretty good, on the whole?
Not sure I’m loving the blunt bob on Sharna. Looks a bit too wig-like. I like her with a bit more texture.
Ok, it was a bit wacky at times, but that was pretty impressive for a jive, in week 1, by a guy with ZERO dance experience. Definite room for improvement, but Bobby could be the underdog everyone roots for this season.
Bobby has serious “Willard from Footloose” vibes 😛 He gets 7, 6, 7 for a total of 20 – probably about right, if you throw in a handicap for having to do a tough dance like jive in week 1.
Here comes Juan Pablo – if what I’ve been hearing is true, get ready for the judges to whip out the “8” paddle…
I love that Andrea Barber is just going apesh*t for Juan Pablo 😛
Does Juan Pablo remind anyone else of Tony? Can’t say I adored the choreo of that salsa, but Juan Pablo danced the hell out of what he was given – he’s SMOOTH. That routine took me back to everything that William & Cheryl’s cha cha in season 14 should have been.
Oh hay Shad!!! Glad to see he’s going to be on the show in a more permanent capacity – he’s hosting the online behind-the-scenes series. 🙂
Well I was partially right – Bruno whipped out the 8, while Carrie Ann & Len settled for 7’s. Probably about right.
Poor Nikki has to follow that salsa with one of her own – and she’s apparently injured. Hope she can pull something out.
On any other season, that would have probably been a decent-to-good salsa – unfortunately, on tonight’s show, it’s probably the weakest dance we’ve had so far. But it was a good effort from Nikki – she stayed on time, and she sold it, even if it wasn’t technically strong. Is she taller than Gleb…? Why the hell didn’t they give her to Keo, who is currently towering over his partner???
Nikki gets 6, 5, 6, and has the lowest score of the night so far – 17. I think that may be the kiss of death for Nikki, unfortunately – even though she seems like a cool gal I’d love to hang out with 🙁
Len trying to make it rain and failing. Story of his life 😛
Loving Alexis & Alan’s costumes. WTF happened with the camera??? Nipple shot???
Alexis is really good – if not a bit too “soft” in her movement. Would have liked something a bit more hard-hitting for the jive.
Alexis gets 7, 7, 7 – for 21/30. I could have sworn I heard Len scream “8” when he threw up his paddle. I think that deserved at least a 23 – she was doing more than Juan Pablo.
Just putting this out there: I think Artur’s my favorite troupe member. He just always looks so excited to be there, it’s darling 🙂
Nice Southern accent, Emma 😛
Actually quite a nice little quickstep from John – it wasn’t spectacular, but it was cute and he stayed on-time. And he looked like he was having fun! 🙂
John gets 7, 5, 6 and contrary to what many believed, is not the lowest score of the night at 18. He’s in a 3-way tie for the 2nd lowest score with Evanna & Danelle. I think he’s probably safe this week.
Here comes Tinashe – get ready for 8’s. Wow, she is stunning.
Ok, Tinashe gave me the impact I didn’t get from Alexis, but she did seem to get a bit off-balance at times. Wasn’t wild about the song – wonder if that impacted the dance. She ought to knock everyone’s socks off tomorrow night, since tomorrow they’ve got the better song.
Next week: New York night on Monday, Las Vegas night on Tuesday. Guest performers include Boyz II Men, Blue Man Group, and…?
Tinashe gets 8, 7, 8 and is now the high score of the night at 23. I think the only couple remaining that might give them a run for their money is DeMarcus & Lindsay.
Here’s Nancy, and my god – her skin is enviable. And she’s got great hair, too.
Nancy actually looked really good in rehearsal, but I think nerves got to her a bit when she actually hit the stage. Still – another unusually strong dance for week 1! The raw materials are there.
I don’t necessarily see Nancy as a finalist this season, but she seems cool – she could stick around for awhile.
Nancy gets three 6’s and is now in a 4-way tie second from the bottom. This could get a bit dangerous, the way they’re bunching together scores.
Joe gives me Fred Savage vibes. Something about him is just easy to like. Thought by his accent, I would have said New York, not Chicago…hmm.
Poor Joe – that got kinda rough there in the middle, but the parts he did stay on-time on were actually pretty good. He’s got work to do, but that was yet another admirable effort for the first week.
BE NICE, LEN – Joe is a complete non-dancer.
Oof – 5, 4, 5. So he’s now pretty comfortably in the bottom with 14. I still think he’s safe, though – Joe seems pretty popular and will probably get the votes to save him from elimination.
Now here comes DeMarcus, who I’m told OOZES charisma and is “a natural”. Let’s see if he can make it happen.
VERY nice cha-cha from DeMarcus – he seems like a slightly more rough-around-the-edges Rashad, but he seems to have more of Donald’s enthusiasm. He’s got a great foundation, and I think he might have a good journey this season and peak at the right time.
DeMarcus gets 8, 7, 8 and ties Tinashe for the high score of the night. Told y’all he was one to watch 😉 I just love his smile.
Look for the power rankings at some point tomorrow. I *might* try to crank out a numbers post, but no guarantees – running Pure by myself while trying to close out the quarter at work AND stay on top of school work is proving to be a challenging balancing act 😛 But thanks for hanging in there with me!!!
