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PureDWTS Season 27 – Preliminary Thoughts & Predictions

I feel like all I do is apologize for the lack of timeliness in my posts these days 😛 Sorry guys – life got busy for me real fast this season. I thought about doing a preliminary power rankings, but I realized I haven’t been keeping up with enough media about the couples to really do that justice.  So instead, welcome to my random and scattered thoughts about this season, in no particular order 🙂 I tried hit on some of the questions I was getting on Twitter, but if there’s anything else you want my thoughts on, go ahead and leave it in the comments and I’ll try to answer.

This is DeMarcus’ MBT to lose.  Now before anyone assumes I mean “I think DeMarcus will win!”, pump your brakes – what I mean by this is that I feel like DeMarcus has the easiest path to the MBT, from the jump: he’s a former NFL player from possibly the most universally popular team (the Dallas Cowboys – often referred to as “America’s team”, part of the reason why Emmitt was so popular), he’s well-spoken and well-liked, he’s in great shape physically, he’s got one helluva work ethic, and he has a great rapport with his partner, who is also widely well-liked and well-respected.  Basically, as long as he dances decently (not necessarily great – decent should do it) and puts on a good show and has a “journey”, I think the MBT is his – which means the other couples are going to have to work twice as hard to win, even though they might actually be better dancers. DeMarcus is easily the biggest fanbase ringer this season, from where I sit – and sometimes, that can help a decent dancer overtake a fantastic dancer for the MBT. Just ask Donny Osmond.

We could be dealing with season 24, redux.  I can’t help but draw some comparisons between this season and season 24, when there was a preponderance of ringers (particularly female ones) and the last two standing were guys with no previous dance experience (one of which was an NFL player) that were just really likeable and had great chemistry with their partners. I think each season of DWTS can realistically handle 1-2 high-level ability ringers, tops – any more than that and you start to run into some unexpected results, as we saw in season 24 (you could also argue that too many fanbase ringers of the same type yield unexpected results – look at season 22, when all three NFL players got shut out of the finale). And here’s the kicker: you’ve gotta have a pro that actually knows how to choreograph to an ability ringer’s strengths.  One way I think season 24 fell woefully short was handing the two biggest ringers (Normani & Heather) to two pros who couldn’t cut the mustard, choreographically-speaking. Maks’ choreo for Heather that season was absolutely pitiful, and while Val managed a few hits (the Mulan paso, the contemporary, maybe the Argentine tango), towards the end of the season, his choreo kinda petered out (the Viennese waltz and freestyle were both head-scratchers for me). Even Mark seemed to burn out towards the end of season 25 with Lindsey.  I think a big key to the big ability ringers’ (Tinashe, Alexis, Juan Pablo, Mary Lou, and to a lesser degree, Evanna & Milo) longevity this season is how well their partners are able to choreograph to their strengths – and if they’re able to keep up the momentum, all season long.

If any of the pros are going to step up the choreo to become the “new Mark/Derek”, now would be the time to do it. We’re kind of in an odd transition period in the show: with the exception of Cheryl popping in for fall seasons, the OG pros are all gone; even some of the second generation pros (Peta, Val, Sharna, Emma, Sasha) are starting to pursue other opportunities outside of DWTS, and they may move on from the show before long. TPTB continue to try retooling the show to keep up with the times (All-Athletes, Juniors), and the pressure is generally on to keep this show “fresh”. While most of the female pros are actually stellar choreographers, the male pro lineup has been woefully void of great choreography; if one of them wanted to try cementing himself as the new choreographic genius of the male lineup, now would be the time to do it – and I think Brandon may be the ticket.  I have heard tremendous praise for his skills as both a teacher and a choreographer on Juniors, and if you think about it, he’s the first male pro that has come from the same training background that gave us Lindsay, Witney, and Jenna. He’s impressively cross-trained (like the rest of the Utah Squad, and really, Ballas/Hough before them), and doesn’t seem to have any of the same “ballroom purity” hangups that we seem to see with Chmerkovskiy acolytes. I’m thinking Brandon could be the breakout star pro of this season, if he plays his cards right.

I am totally fine with newbs like Brandon & Alan getting ringers. Val’s already been granted his 2 MBT’s, and seems to be transitioning to more of a judging role; Gleb & Keo just can’t seem to get their choreo right; Artem & Sasha are for the most part “hit”, but still sometimes “miss”.  Repeating it again for good measure: the male pro lineup needs a wake-up call.  So if that means handing Brandon & Alan some pretty ringy ability ringers, I’m all for it – let’s see what they’re made of. I actually thought Alan did respectably well with Mirai, and the only issue there had more to do with Mirai’s loose lips and general lack of self-awareness. Seems like these pros really have to hit the ground running in their initial season, anymore, if they want to continue as pros – and that can be kinda hard to do, if they’re always handing the newbs dud partners. Cheryl, Mark, Julianne, and Lacey all got ringers in their first season on the show – and it seemed to keep them in play for awhile. I used to be of the “newbs shouldn’t get ringers” camp – but anymore, I just keep going “Show me something new and different!!!” and “Everyone ends up getting a dud at some point, and everyone ends up getting a ringer at some point. No point getting too hung up on a single season.”

I wouldn’t count on Mary Lou being an early out.  I know some are hoping she’s gone by week 2 or 3, due to her comments about the Nassar case – I don’t blame you.  However, a bit of a reminder about the demographics of this show: the largest chunk of viewers are middle-aged, female, and conservative, and likely have very fond memories of Mary Lou as the Olympic darling who brought home gold back in her youth.  I would also venture a guess that many of them (like some of the conservatives currently trying to get a man of questionable morals elected to the Supreme Court) are “#MeToo skeptics” who are unfortunately more likely to give a pass to an Olympic darling defending her former trainer than to take the word of countless women who bravely came forward to speak about the trauma they endured at Nassar’s hand. It sucks, no doubt – but it’s an unfortunate pattern I’ve noticed, and it makes me think Mary Lou could last at least until the midpoint of the season – especially if she’s a decent dancer, which I think she will be.  I don’t see her winning or making the finals, though…at least not right now.

I think Nikki & Alexis need to turn on the charm, though.  Both come from professions that have yet to really do well on DWTS: comedians, models, and social media influencers. With the exception of conservative-leaning “country boy” comedian Bill Engvall, comedians generally haven’t done very well on this show – I think their biggest struggle is connecting with the audience, particularly if their brand of humor is a bit more high-brow or sarcastic. Or female 🙁 Conservative folk love the somewhat simple-minded humor of Jeff Foxworthy, Rodney Carrington, Larry the Cable Guy, and Bill Engvall – but they tend not to embrace the D.L. Hughley’s, Jeff Ross’, and Margaret Cho’s of the world quite so warmly. Unless Nikki ends up being an Alexis or Tinashe-level dancer (and I don’t think she will be), or ends up finding a way to endear herself to the audience…I see her as an early out. Alexis may be a very trained dancer, but she’s also a model (and they tend not to last long on this show) and a social media personality (the only precedent we have for that being Hayes Grier – who couldn’t manage to get his millions of followers to vote hard enough to get him past week 7). Additionally, Alexis seems more reserved on-camera – so I think she’s really going to have to come out of her shell to endear herself to the audience, if she wants to stick around.

Being an “inspiring backstory” ringer may not be as much of an advantage as it once was.  Not counting Heather McCartney (who despite being an amputee, was also the much-maligned ex-wife of Paul McCartney), Amy was a novelty, since we hadn’t really had anyone disabled on the show in awhile, and Derek managed to mold her into a pretty respectable dancer. Noah had the fanbase boon of being a disabled vet; Nyle was both deaf AND a very likeable guy who could actually dance really well.  I’m not sure anyone really considered Terra’s small stature as a disability, since she was actually a pretty good dancer; and things started to deteriorate once Bonner came along, as he actually was a creep, despite his “inspiring backstory”. Victoria gave it her best shot a year ago, but given that her disability wasn’t as visible as, say, Amy’s or Noah’s, I don’t know that it really carried her as far as it once might have (then again, Val also really phoned it in on the choreo towards the end, so that likely didn’t help either).  I guess the point I’m trying to get at is this: the “inspiring backstory” is becoming less and less of a novelty on this show with each passing season, particularly with contestants whose disabilities aren’t outwardly visible, so Danelle might not get as much support as she would have on an earlier season. Times change – the audience changes.  Things that were once new and novel become commonplace, and voting attitudes change.  I don’t think Danelle will be first, second, third, or even 4th out, but I’ll be interested to see just how far her story takes her, particularly if she’s really struggling with the dancing.

Is Juan Pablo William Levy 2.0? Is Evanna going to be the next Katherine Jenkins? Those are the two former contestants that come to mind when I look at Juan Pablo & Evanna. On the plus side, I already find Juan Pablo quite a bit more likeable and relatable than William, who I always found to be a bit reserved and even borderline awkward in interviews; his dancing was decent, but not as fantastic as the judges would have had you think. Juan Pablo seems like he might have more polish and technique on his side. Evanna seems like she’s got roughly the same level of dance experience as Katherine – they’ve probably dabbled in it at some point, but are more well-known for other things.  I think Evanna will be at least as good as Katherine, ability-wise – question is, will Keo be as good as Mark? I’m gonna go with a big fat “NO” on that one, unless Keo has had some sort of choreographic breakthrough over the summer.  He seemed to hit a small groove with Jodie 2.5 years ago, but that season was a bloodbath and she probably could have gone further on a different, less competitive season. Will his choreo/teaching skills hold up this time? We’ll see.

Early prediction for the final 3: DeMarcus, Juan Pablo, & Tinashe. If they take 4 to the finale – Milo or Bobby join the other 3.

First out: My gut says Nikki.  Outside chance of John. Whichever one doesn’t go in week 1, is probably toast during the double elim in week 2. Having Val will likely keep Nancy around for a bit longer than expected, but I would be surprised if she lasted past the midpoint of the season.

“Shocking” elim potential: Alexis screams “good dancer that will probably get eliminated because she can’t successfully crossover fanbases” to me. I don’t think her millions of IG followers will vote as hard as some think they will, and I don’t know that the general DWTS audience is going to embrace her strongly.

Dark horse: I feel like Bobby is going to surprise a lot of people.  I’m hearing a lot of people say Joe, but Joe strikes me as kinda awkward…especially after I saw this.  What has been seen cannot be unseen. 😛

So there we have it – my thoughts headed into Monday’s premiere.  What do you guys think? Share in the comments, and if you don’t mind, please take 5 minutes to go watch my cousin’s son, Kingston, do his first LEGO unboxing video on YouTube and throw him a like or a comment.  He’s been battling leukemia since March, and he’s officially CANCER FREE now and starting to feel like a regular kid again. Bonus: appearance by his equally adorable brother Lincoln, and they both have the most adorable Tennessee accents 😛

See you all Monday for the live blog!!! 🙂

September 21, 2018 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.

Dancing With The Stars Season 24 End Of The Season Questionannaire

Time for a new “End of the season” Questionnaire for Dancing With The Stars Season 24. This is when you can tell your most honest thoughts and feelings for how you feel on the show (good and bad). Answer the questions below in comments to your best ability.

1. Who were your favorite 5 couples from Dancing With The Stars Season 24?

2. From all the celebrity contestants on Dancing With The Stars 24, who should win a Congeniality Award?

3. My 5 favorite pros on Dancing With The Stars Season 24 were __________________________.

4. From the couples dances, which were your most favorite THREE dances on Dancing With The Stars Season 24? You can name more if you can’t stop at three.

5. If you were to give a “Choreograph Award” to THREE pros on Dancing With The Stars Season 23, who would they be?

6. From an “A” to an “F”, how would you grade the season?

7. Are you satisfied with the direction of the show? If not, how can ‘the powers that be’ improve Dancing With The Stars in the future?

May 30, 2017 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 24, THE FINALE – LIVE BLOG (Spoilers)

Okay, REMEMBER THE RULES of show night. DO NOT constantly hit refresh. DO NOT post one line comments.  Save your comments until you have a few that you can put into one post. Please include context so people who the hell you’re talking about. Comment moderation is still turned on, so content refreshing won’t get you anywhere.

Also, according to George P. Emma and Rashad are doing Cha Cha/Tango for their fusion and the dance order is the same as it was last night.

Opening was kind of a non-event. Love the little “journey” package they did for David.  Looking forward to Rashad’s. Interesting they show a clip of Normani and it’s a high kick.  I wonder…. 😉

Damn, don’t like when they mess with the order like that and put Rashad’s package second. Makes me uneasy.

So, Rashad beat the other two contestants by 100 HOURS in rehearsal.  If he doesn’t win, I’ll be pissed.

So shocking that Heather can holder her own with the professional girls.  Heh.  Is this the dance choreod by Witney?? Better than what Mandy normally comes up with.  Hah. Thanks Tom.

Not impressed with Hailie Steinfeld – feel like I’m looking at Val’s next partner in her first ballroom getup.

Spare me, Val. Normani would absolutely make the cut as one of the best ever…if paired with Derek or Mark.

I see we’re back to featuring Maks. Ya know, this show survived quite well without him for a few weeks. Witney did better with the women than the men did. It was all right, but not fabulous.

Don’t like how they have this staged – starting to feel like a Normani edit. I will be so pissed and over this show. The press is resurrecting all their Normani articles – whether that’s at the request of DWTS PR or at their own thoughts on who’s going to win.

Loved the huge dance number and how it traveled all over. Peta is wearing more fabric than all her last season’s costumes put together. Girl, you look fab. Then I saw Hayley and her killer bod and I commiserated with her.

Good Lord, there’s still an hour and a half. I don’ think I’m going to make it.

Nancy is such a classy lady.  And a damn fine dancer too.  She could have won on another season.  She made me appreciate Artem too.

I love guys who can play up the whole bromance thing.  This is one of the reasons I loved Nick this season – he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Nice, dry sense of humor.  I should say that this is also why I prefer Maks over Val – Maks seems more genuine when screwing around like this.

Peta looks stunning in red with a red lip. Stunning. And Nick ain’t so bad either.

Was this Magic Mike number more OTT than it was last time? LOL.

I do love bloopers.  😀

Whoa, severe flashback to Derek and Chelsea – same song, similar outfits, similar dance moves.  Very similar. Wow.

Damn, they’re still doing the Normani wins edit. Shit.

Damn #2 – Derek was on the Voice tonight and I missed it cuz this crap.

Best thing about that dance was Len and Bruno doing their thang. 😀

My god, will this show ever end? This is ungodly painful. I could be reading. Or sleeping, since I’m still coughing.

Okay, that Mr. T bit was cheesy brilliance. 🙂 Love that Mr. T.

Nicole Scherzinger – legit one of the best women to dance on this show.

BTW, Dirty Dancing is getting seriously bad reviews and it’s in large part due to this dude who is NOT a good dancer. He even makes Nicole look a bit awkward.

David and Lindsay do a Foxtrot/Salsa fusion…finally…and it’s not too bad actually. Love David so much – their package was just great. Probably the hardest fusion we’re going to see tonight, I think.

AT/Foxtrot fusion for Normani and Val. Since Val isn’t any better at Fusion than he is freestyle, this should be interesting.

CAI telegraphing a Normani win with her comments.  Of course she can pick it up fast, Julianne, she’s trained. YOU can pick it up that quick too, right??

God, get the mic away from Val. So pompous and smug.

QUIT HITTING REFRESH!! Already having trouble with the site. And that makes me cranky.

Great fusion from Rashad and Emma – very fun like they are. Think Emma made her point to the producers clearly enough?? Straight at the camera – I don’t know if I will ever get this again. Yeah, no kidding.

CAI telegraphing now that Normani and Rashad may be a toss up. Shit, Len is not going with 10s. Unusual – either he’s lost by a lot or he’s won by enough that Len isn’t afraid of changing the outcome.

THIRD PLACE – Normani and Val.  So much for those 500k votes.  Thank you baby jesus. Now, I would really want Rashad to win, but damn, David – nothing would shout louder to the producers to keep their mitts off the damn show.

Winners – RASHAD and Emma!!!

 

Why are they going outside? Fucking stupid way to handle this. Let the have their camera time and celebrate. Hey, Val and Maks aren’t crying in a corner?? That’s a positive development!! Personal growth!!

May 23, 2017 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 24, Week 7 – Dancing by the Numbers!

Ya gotta look at that leader board and think they have it ranked how they would like it to go, right?  I don’t think they’re going to get their wish, and this coming week the judges scores could be quite illustrative as to what the current agenda is.

Anyway, my record isn’t great this season, but it’s been so stellar in previous seasons (pats self on back) that I keep plugging away. But it does beg the question: what is different this season?? As I’ve said in the comments, I think it’s that 2 or 3 contestants are getting such a lion’s share of the votes, that everyone else is vulnerable EVERY week. One bad score and you’re gone. Now, before you jump to the conclusion that Bonner must be getting a ton of votes, remember it’s not just who’s getting votes, but who ISN’T getting votes.  Bonner was not at the bottom last week so Nick had to cover the spead (and couldn’t) and Bonner only needed 7,500 more votes per million votes cast to beat Nancy – that is NOTHING. Chump change. David also needed very little to cover the spread between him and Nancy and he obviously did because he’s still there.

What does all this mean? Well, nothing, anymore. 🙂 It’s a new week now and they’ve kinda jury rigged the leader board to protect one person and make it hard for our dark horse – Bonner – to continue to stick around. There is no more low hanging fruit, I don’t think – he’s it.

They’ve given EVERYONE except Bonner and David nice fat cushions so they should be safe. SHOULD BE. These kinds of margins have been beaten before and this is a week that could make things interesting. I would put some money on them putting Bonner and Normani in jeopardy and then sending Bonner home – stimulates the Harmonizers for next week when she’s much more likely to need the votes and it creates lots of drama.  Anyway, I skip ahead. What are Bonner’s chances?

He needs less than 4k votes per million votes cast to stay over David. I know I say this every week, but I just don’t see that happening. David is a freshly retired Cub. They play his dances with Lindsay during rain delays…he came within 8% of Rashad on the dance off, which is quite an accomplishment.

Side note: Speaking of the dance off, did you notice that the judges never did a split decision this past week? They almost always have at least one of those…and they should have had a least one of those because they were close in dance quality in most places. Makes you wonder if they were DETERMINED to make sure that America didn’t screw up their decision…perhaps they are afraid of what might happen this week? They gotta be gun shy after losing Heather and Nancy.

Anyway…there isn’t a lot more to say. Bonner only needs about 4k more votes per million votes cast to be safe over David, and if he can’t beat David then he needs nearly 32k more votes per million votes cast to beat either Simone or Rashad – it’s not that that’s a huge spread, it’s that is Simone and Rashad. I would literally be actually shocked if Bonner were to stay over either of those two. I just don’t see it happening.  If he were to beat Normani, it would mean he got more than 47k more votes per million votes cast in order to stay.  It has happened in the past, for sure – but Bonner isn’t on the same level as Mark Warner and Normani is a bit better off than Audrina (I think…). I find this to be highly unlikely…which means Normani is probably safe, along with Simone and Rashad.

That leaves us with Bonner and David, and I think David is still raking in the votes to the point that Bonner can’t cover the spread.

But let’s say I’m wrong and that Bonner is doing much better than I think he is in votes relative to the other remaining contestants.  For Normani to be eliminated, ALL of the following things would have to happen:

  • Bonner would have to get 47,300 more votes per million votes cast than Normani, AND;
  • David would have to get 43,400 more votes per million votes cast than Normani, AND;
  • Simone AND Rashad would each have to get 15,800 more votes per million votes cast than Normani.

Now, either Simone or Rashad might be getting those votes, but I don’t think both Bonner and David are…so Normani is likely safe. What about Simone and Rashad? Well, ALL of the following would have to happen for them to be eliminated:

  • Bonner would have to get 31,500 more votes per million votes cast, AND;
  • David would have to get 27,600 more votes per million votes cast, AND;
  • Simone or Rashad would have to get ONE more voter per million votes cast over the other to be safe, AND;
  • Simone or Rashad DON’T get 15,800 more votes per million votes cast than Normani.

Those numbers tell me that Simone, Rashad and Normani are surely safe. And I believe David is safe. So, what do you all think? It seems pretty apparent to me that Bonner’s time has finally come. But, I’ve been wrong before… 🙂

May 3, 2017 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. :-)

DWTS Season 24, Week 7 – LIVE BLOG (Spoilers)

Yay. :::sarcasm::::

🙂

Very pretty opening number, although I didn’t need to see Maks tongue. 🙂

Love Normani’s hair like that. Love Rashad and Nick. 🙂

I see Kenny Ortega, Bindi’s little bro and mom and Lea Thompson in the audience so far.

LOL to the Cowboy socks. 🙂

Taking quite a while to get started and not much content for quite some time. This is why I hate themes.

Bindiiiiii!

Bonner is very handsome. Problem is…I forgot that till just now.

Yeah Mandy probably gave notes to every dance tonight so I’m sure it’s totally fair she’s judging. :::rolls eyes::: Mandy is probably the one who did the production design on that whole set.

That 8 was pretty generous.

Good package for Nancy…and she looks AMAZING.

Dance was beautiful!! STFU Mandy. That dance was pretty flawless, IMO.

Artem was happy, but I feel like there should have been one 10 in there.

ERIN!! They need votes REGARDLESS!!

Okay, fantastic dance from Simone and Sasha – they never stopped, great tricks…everything you need in a good charleston!! Fantastic. If they find a way to not give her a perfect score, I cry fowl.

BS critiques. Saving their perfect score for Normani, clearly.

And another great dancer gets hosed so they can hold on to their 10s for someone else. Only one 10??

:::sigh::: Love Dove from Hairspray, but I could live without this number. Spend more time with the competing couples. Of course, pimping this movie is likely the only reason we’re having movie week to begin with, so…

Ah that’s why Kenny Ortega is in the audience.

I really like Maks when he’s in the show like this. And the package with Nick – I’m sorry, but I can’t help but like the guy. He’s got the self deprecating thing going on and the whole “man love”? Hilarious dead pan.

Peta is just stunning. And that dance was pretty damn good! Surprisingly good, actually.

CAI is full of shit. Amen, Len. He has gotten much better.

LOVE Rashad’s little storyline. 🙂 Dance was pretty damn good although he had a couple weird little hop things but it could be interpreted as part of his zombie like thing he had going.

A qualifier from Len which means he’s getting a 9. Damn it. I predict a 38 or 39, leaving room for Normani.

BS comments from CAI again. Jaysus, retire that woman.

UNDERSCORED. Of course “someone” will get a higher score. MY ASS!

Oh David, I love ya. Just the personality and how he doesn’t take himself too seriously. And LOL, Lindsay.

David has the most unforgiving movie theme of the week and he pretty much kills it. Stiff at the beginning but man he really picked it up once they got going. Lindsay gave him some great choreo, actually.

STFU Mandy, you’re just annoying me. Never has a season annoyed me so much with the judging of the complete novices versus the total ringers.

So Normani gets the pity edit. I bet there are three other people hurt right now that we aren’t hearing about.

Great dance from Normani – but as expected from a trained dancer. But by giving her the injured edit, they can drool even harder over her.

Why the F@#K does Len give Val more of a platform? The man talks far too much already.

Spare me the raves – she’s a trained dancer. Quit pretending that she’s so far above everyone – she should be. The disparity this season is just ridiculous.

LOL, Nick. “I like Laurie Hernandez better.”

I see the usual plotting and planning between the couples has gone on. Good for them. Although I don’t think the other folks wanted Rumba…okay, maybe that’s true. Hard to say.

Did the say how many points Normani got for her immunity? Was it three? She should be safe next week with no problem. :::rolls eyes::: I sure would like Val is he could man up and dance with a complete novice and still be present and choreograph dances every week. He’s been so spoiled now though that I doubt that would happen.

So, in the online voting is shows Simone in the lead, but the TV shows Nancy and it had Nancy before they even started dancing. I think Simone is taking it – plus she started dancing quicker and did more varied steps. Online voting ended showing Simone with the edge.

Yeah, first time tonight I agreed with the judges. Not be a lot though.

That was clearly Rashad’s, no question. Rashad only wins the viewer vote by 54% which speaks to the cubs fanbase and is why I don’t think he’s going anywhere tonight…and maybe not next week either.

So…headed to NYC this weekend. Been there many times but does anyone have any suggestions?

Peta is giving Nick quite a bit more dancing to do, while Bonner nearly falls out of a spin. That should go to Nick, not that it probably matters.

Kissing both their asses means the judges think they’re both going home. Makes me a bit sad in Nick’s case. But the guys were totally screwed this season – the last four women in the competition are ringers of one level or another.

That’s a bullshit scoring, IMO. I thought Nick did far more and Bonner was falling out of that spin.

SAFE: Simone

SAFE: Rashad

Safe: Bonner

SAFE: David

Eliminated: Nancy and Nick

Sorry, I just don’t get the appeal of Bonner. At all. I would rather have Nancy and Nick both.

Well, this is a wack ass season, for sure. That’s my qualifier when I say that once upon a time, the order in which people were called safe reflected the combined totals. That speaks to Simone and Rashad in the top two spots, and who knows where Normani falls. Here’s hoping David knocks her out in Week 9. But will the judges just over score the crap out of her from here on out?

May 1, 2017 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 24 Week 7 Previews, Photos, And Videos

If you head to Entertainment Tonight, you can read a cool preview on tonight’s dances, goals from the contestants, and more details. There are some fun photos as well. Below is more from social media that we gathered up.

And these… Read more..

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 24, Week 6 – Dancing by the Numbers!

So, before we get started on this week’s numbers, let’s have a little retrospective on Heather and what led to her demise on the show.

I keep seeing a lot of commentary on the various posts about how the show can “get rid of” whoever they want in the double elimination etc. etc. That’s not really true. They can’t change the actual votes – do you really think they would let Heather and Maks go if that were the case? Any explanation for that move would require a lot of tin foil.

What they CAN do – and do often – is manipulate the audience’s feelings about the contestants and thereby affect how people decide to vote. They are masters at that. They don’t decide to toss David off the show, or Nick. What they can do is underscore them, talk negatively about their dances, and so on. And people are SHEEP. We call them sheeple. 🙂  They believe, often, what the judges and producers put out there.

But it doesn’t always work. Enter Heather (and Audrina, Brandy and others before her). Quite a few things had to happen for Heather to leave last Monday. Courtney and I both had a gut feel she would be eliminated long before her time…but I think both of us were very surprised that it happened last week. I was thinking this week, especially in a double elimination. But nope – this past week, all of the following things happened, which caused Heather to be eliminated: Read more..

April 28, 2017 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 24 Court Rants: The Real Problem With The Girl Group Team Dance

And no, it’s not solely just “sexism” from the judges/audience/viewers – stay with me.

Over the past 48 hours, I have rolled my eyes so hard over some of the complaints about the group dances that it’s a wonder they haven’t gotten stuck.  The majority of the ridiculous comments seem to be coming from the disgruntled #TeamGirlGroup crowd, who seem eager to complain about “sexism” on the show. Yes, sexism is a problem on DWTS – a big one, and one that Heidi & I will attempt to tackle in a future post. But why the Team Girl Group fans are complaining, I’m not sure, because the girls got one point more than the guys did – last I checked, the “winner” of the team dance was determined by who got more points. So congrats – you won. Why are you so upset?

My guess is that they’re mad about Team Boy Band generally getting more positive feedback from both the judges and the viewers – to which I say “well, tough luck” because people disagreeing with you is kind of a fact of life. You’re never going to agree with everyone, all the time. But in the interest of turning this into a teaching moment, I’m going to indulge some of you and explain just what many of us found wrong with the girl’s dance, and what the boys team did right. Whether you choose to actually consider it is up to you – but I can tell you now that empty accusations of “sexism!!!” undermine the real instances of sexism we encounter on a daily basis; and within the context of DWTS, believe me – women in general (particularly the female pros) tend to get screwed on a regular basis.

First, let me lead with this: I do not blame the female celebs for any of the failures of their team dance, so if you’re trying to twist this into “You’re being mean to Normani!” or “You’re being really unfair to Heather!”, you’re putting up straw men, you’re gonna get called out, and you’re gonna look dumb. The onus is on the pros to create and choreograph a suitable routine to make their partners look good – and I feel like the male pros failed their partners. EPICALLY. I also don’t blame the judges, because for once, I think they were pretty on-the-money with their critiques and scores (I’ve written off the extra point as a sympathy point, given as a bit of an “oh boy, your pros really screwed you – here, have an extra point!” consolation prize) – I don’t think they were completely off-base in what they were saying. And actually, I don’t blame the powers that be, either – I actually think the girls got a much better set of songs to work with (including one sung by one of the girls on the team – ahem) that gave them a lot more creative potential than the songs that were given to the boys’ team. Really and truly, the stars were aligned for the girls to really slay the team dance – and then the male pros kinda shat all over the opportunity. Read more..

April 27, 2017 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.

Dancing with the Stars Season 24, Week SEVEN – Who’s Dancing What…and When?

I can’t even tell you how much I dislike the whole immunity BS. This whole week is a not-so-cleverly designed way to make sure the men start leaving and the women are all safe. Actually, I doubt they are worried about anyone other than Normani – probably couldn’t care less about Nancy or Simone. But most disposable, in the eyes of the judges, are likely all the men sans Rashad. :::sigh:::

See the gallery below to get the rules of “Movie Night” – did I know it was going to be Movie night? I don’t remember. 😉 Also, according to one of our “MOVEers”, Cathy, Julianne will not be judging this coming Monday, due to the tour location.

ETA: I added a couple guesses (??) based on DWTS Instastory.

ETA2: Did someone say Double Elimination? Whoever you were, you guessed right. Press release just came out. And when I said yesterday that Julianne wouldn’t be judging Monday, it appears I (or my source) was right also. Mandy Moore is sitting in as guest judge. So, it’s Movie Night, high score gets immunity, every one else dances off, and then we send two people home. What a nice, relaxing (craptastic) night. Oooooo….Nancy has to do a Tango to Pretty Woman. Guess who did that and very, very well – Derek and Nicole. And David/Lindsay got hosed with a Sci Fi Salsa – nearly as bad as a futuristic paso. But if anyone can handle it, it’s Lindsay.

ETA3: Want to know who Derek and Julianne like on DWTS?? A Derek fan who was at a Meet and Greet last night asked them…and kept a close eye on Julianne the whole time. 😉  Also some interesting commentary on Heather…nothing we haven’t said here, but interesting to hear her express it.

Simone and Sasha – Theme: Silent Films
Charleston (Song: “Charleston” by Bob Wilson & His Varsity Rhythm Boys)
Phone 1-800-868-3412

Bonner and Sharna – Theme: Western
Paso Doble (Song: “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes” by Aaron Copland)
Phone 1-800-868-3401

Nancy and Artem – Theme: Romance
Tango (Song: “Oh Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison)
Phone 1-800-868-3408

Nick and Peta – Theme: Action
Argentine Tango (Song: “Dangerous” by David Guetta featuring Sam Martin)
Phone 1-800-868-3409

Normani and Val – Theme: Foreign
Argentine Tango (Song: “Quizas Quizas Quizas” by Jennifer Lopez)
Phone 1-800-868-3410

David and Lindsay – Theme: Sci Fi
Salsa (Song: “Universal Mind Control” by Common)
Phone 1-800-868-3404

Rashad and Emma – Theme: Horror
Paso Doble (Song: “Oh Fortuna” by Carl Orff)
Phone 1-800-868-3411

April 26, 2017 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 24, Week 6 – Power Rankings

Anyone else missing Derek & Mark (and their choreography) something fierce right about now??? Because my god – if last night wasn’t an exercise in choreographic futility for some of our pros, then I don’t know what the hell it was. On top of that, the judges seemed eerily kind to just about everyone (except Nick, which we’ll get into later), which left me with this unpleasant sense of foreboding for most of the show – like I was waiting for something bad to happen, but I wasn’t sure what.  Basically, the same feeling I had while watching the first 20 minutes of last season’s Game of Thrones finale – but thankfully, when it all played out, I felt less like Margaery & more like Cersei, because something that Heidi & I had be predicting would happen eventually, happened: Heather got outsted in a “shocking” (but not really, if you actually think about it) elimination. We had been saying she was the most likely candidate for the token “shock” elim this season, but I don’t think we were anticipating it happening this early on – I myself had her making it to at least week 7, I think. But when you take into account the turd of a routine her pro foist upon her last week, and the fact that most of the general viewing audience couldn’t really get past her basically being a professional dancer herself, she followed the basic formula for getting “Sabrina’d”: the minute a skilled dancer dips below a certain score threshold, they get sent home because they Just. Aren’t. Getting. The. Votes. If you want to see a breakdown of just how few votes Heather was getting (or rather, just how much better than Heather everyone else was doing), go reread Heidi’s Dancing By the Numbers. I wish I could say I was disappointed by a good dancer getting sent home before some less-skilled ones, but I made no secret of it that I never really found myself enjoying Heather’s performances – and it was a combination of lack of connection to the audience on her part, and just plain subpar choreography from Maks on the other. Add in the fact that Maks managed to find TWO ways to proverbially spit in Alan’s face last night, and I’m left saying “Toodles, Heather & Maks – don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!” Not gonna lie, though: part of me would love to see Alan as a pro next season, and have Maks left out in the cold – karma could be such a perfect bitch 😎

Which brings me to a few notes on demographics.  I think I warned everyone a month ago that Chris, Erika, Heather, & Normani were the four most likely to struggle with fanbase issues this season – three of them are now gone. You Harmonizers still feeling so confident about Normani’s voting fanbase? I saw quite a few folks wringing hands after it was announced that everyone on the girls’ team was in jeopardy, and many of them seemed convinced that Nancy was the one headed home.  You guys do realize that she aligns almost perfectly with the main viewing demographic of the show, right? A middle-aged Olympian with an inspiring backstory? Please help me understand why you thought a C-list-at-best, 30-something professional dancer from a 2-years-defunct teen tv show that was being given highly mediocre choreo by her partner was somehow going to outlast that Olympian, who so far has thrived and been given solid routines by her partner? It’s important to remember that sometimes, this show is about everything EXCEPT the dancing – in this case, the fact that Heather was already a great dancer didn’t matter to a lot of folks. If anything, it seemed to turn them off. They seemed to prefer Nancy’s journey to Heather’s already-professional polish. I also think Nancy has come off far more relatable and down-to-earth than Heather ever did on the show – and trust me when I say that can make a bigger difference than a few points, sometimes.

As for the rest of the show – Nick was an ok guest judge; seemed excited to be there and tried to give insightful critiques, but I think he came across a tad disingenuous at times. He also seemed like a bit of a yes-man, and had been fed a list of instructions on what to say and to whom (“Make sure you mention that Normani could win this whole thing! And don’t go easy on Nick V.!”) But I was pleased to see he gave Rashad a “10” when the other judges were whipping out 9’s – seemed to make up for Carrie Ann’s uncalled-for “7” last week. Opener seemed bland, like it was an afterthought – “Crap, what are we gonna do for the opener this week??? IDK, just…line everyone up or something…” Can’t say I missed Julianne too much – guess the Move Beyond tour didn’t leave any time for the “Ballroom is soooo different than what Heather does!” apology tour this week…and now Heather’s gone. Wuh wuh wuhhhhh. Read more..

April 25, 2017 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.