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PureDWTS Season 27 – Sasha & Emma Choreograph For SYTYCD; Jensen Arnold Advances to Top 6

Time for the weekly DWTS/SYTYCD weekly cross-over update 🙂 This week, it was Sasha & Emma’s turn to choreograph, and they gave contemporary dancer Hannahlei and Latin ballroom dancer Cole a cha-cha:

This one…was a bit of a strange one for me.  I dug that they went an edgier, more unexpected route with the music & staging, but I don’t know that it really felt like a cha-cha to me – it felt more like a fusion of cha-cha and Argentine tango, and was a bit too heavy on the tricks and lifts. However, I will say that it was nice to see an actual ballroom dancer doing it, and I definitely preferred this edgy take on cha-cha to Val’s fluffier choreo from week 1. But I still think Sharna wins the prize for most authentic Latin ballroom choreo this season…

Unfortunately, both Cole and Magda (another ballroom dancer, and a friend of the Chmerkovskiys), the only two other Latin/ballroom dancers left in the competition, got eliminated last night. Which leaves Jensen as the sole ballroomer left in the top 6, with 3 contemporary dancers, a jazz dancer, and a hip-hopper – and I think she stands a decent shot of winning this whole thing. We got to see a jazz, a hip-hop, and a cha-cha solo from her last night:



So I’ve seen several of you mentioning that you’d “love to see Jensen as a pro/troupe on DWTS”…y’know how we’d make that happen quicker, right? By getting her as far as possible on this season of SYTYCD…and if she wins, you can bet that DWTS will probably be begging her to join the show after season 27 (she’s likely on contract with SYTYCD through the end of the year).  So I encourage everyone to vote for her, if you want to see more of her – you can text “JENSEN” to 21523, and you can do that up to 20 times (super easy, it only took me a minute), or you can vote using the FoxNow app or here at the Fox website. I encourage you all to take moment to do it – it could mean having the Arnold girls as the first set of three siblings to do DWTS 😉

August 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.

PureDWTS DWTS Junior Pro Profile – Kamri Peterson

Age: 10
Height: ~4’7″ (Court’s best guess, based on pictures)
Hometown: Orem, Utah
Home studio: Center Stage Performing Arts
Dance style: cross-trained in contemporary, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, ballroom, tap, & gymnastics
How you might know her: You probably haven’t yet, so read on and learn 😉
Other accolades: 2nd place in Juvenile II Latin at the 2017 BYU Amateur Dancesport Championships
Pro mentor: Witney Carson
Celeb partner: Akash Vukoti

Kamri doing a solo at the Radix Nationals about a month ago…does she even have bones???

Working that skirt #LikeABoss doing cha-cha at the Paris Worlds last year:

Doing an edgy contemporary trio (she’s the littlest one):

Doing this jazzy little combo:

LOVED taking class from @nikakljun

A post shared by Kamri Peterson ???????? (@kamri_dancer) on

And finally, crushing some hip-hop:

Court’s thoughts: Kamri is phenomenal – she seems to thrive in any style thrown her way (she’s only been doing ballroom a year and a half, and made it all the way to the world championships in Paris!), and has the energy to tackle every style with enthusiasm.  My only concern is the fact that she’s the youngest pro – she JUST turned 10 in May, and while she does strike me as being very mature for her age, I just hope she is able to handle the pressure of being on a show like this.  I think back to myself at 10 years old, and I was in tears nearly every day just trying to do well in school – Kamri is dealing with that, plus dance, plus being on a national television show.  But on the flipside, she’s also the tiniest pro, and is probably going to be super-easy for a potential partner to do lifts with – that girl seems so limber and fearless.  If she is THIS GOOD at ten, think of how phenomenal she’ll be by the time she’s old enough to be a regular pro!

Follow Kamri on social media:

Kamri’s Instagram
Kamri’s Facebook Fan Page
Kamri & Marcelo’s Facebook Fan Page

July 23, 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.

PureDWTS DWTS Junior Pro Profile: Artyon Celestine

Age: 11
Height: 4’5″ (confirmed by Artyon in an Instagram live)
Hometown: Murrieta, California
Home studio: Murrieta Dance Project
Dance styles: tap, jazz/modern, hip-hop, gymnastics
How you might know him: Season 12 of America’s Got Talent, where he made it to the quarterfinals with his partner Paige; season 1 of Little Big Shots; ensemble dancer from last year’s A Christmas Story Live!; contestant on Lip Sync Battle: Shorties
Other accolades: 2016 Mini Male Best Dancer at The Dance Awards; performed at the BET Awards this year
Pro mentor: Brandon Armstrong
Celeb partner: Ariana Greenblatt

The AGT performance where I just fell in love with this adorable smol bean:

Artyon’s big break on The Ellen Show:

Serving us “B.O.S.S.” realness on Lip Sync Battle Shorties:

Doing a little #JujuOnThatBeat with Immabeast:

Showing off his tap skills, and throwing in some krumping & twerking:

Court’s thoughts: He’s got personality for DAYS – and that smile of his is just contagious 🙂 He seems to have a good grasp of stage presence, he’s very athletic, and his tap/jazz/modern technique seems pretty well-honed; my only concern is that he is one of a few junior pros that is not cross-trained in ballroom. Since we don’t really know yet just how ballroom-centric this show is going to end up being, his lack of ballroom training may not even be an issue…or it might be.  Who knows. Source assures me that “what he lacks in ballroom training, he more than makes up for in personality!” I hope he has a strong pro that excels at teaching kids and can help him pick up on any ballroom quickly.  But I’m excited that we have him in the cast – he’s just such a bright spot 🙂

Follow Artyon on social media:

Artyon’s Instagram
Artyon’s Twitter
Artyon’s Facebook
Artyon’s Facebook Fan Page
Artyon’s YouTube

July 18, 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.

PureDWTS DWTS Junior Pro Profile: Rylee Arnold

Age: 13
Height: 4’11”
Hometown: Provo, Utah
Home studio: VIBE
Dance style: cross-trained in ballroom, hip-hop, jazz, tap, contemporary, and gymnastics
How you might know her: She’s Lindsay’s youngest sister, and tried out for SYTYCD: The Next Generation (but didn’t make it to the live shows).
Other accolades: Placed 3rd in Under-10 Latin at the WDC World Championship in Paris in 2014. 
Pro mentor: Lindsay Arnold
Celeb partner: Miles Brown

Rylee (and Brightyn!) talk SYTYCD: The Next Generation

Dancing some cha-cha with her competition partner, Daniel:

Doing hip-hop (with appearances by Brightyn & Hailey):

Doing some contemporary…

And the lovely Arnold ladies 🙂

Court’s thoughts: Rylee on her own is going to be staunch competition – like Lindsay, she’s cross-trained in just about every style, and she seems to excel in ALL of them. God bless VIBE and the cross-training they give their kids – all of their dancers are so well-rounded 🙂 But when you add Lindsay’s guidance and her choreography to the mix? Calling it now – barring any shenanigans (and there had better not be any, with these adorable smol pros that I already feel very protective of), we will see Rylee in the finals of DWTSJ. Like Lindsay, she has IT.

Follow Rylee on social media:

Rylee’s Instagram
Rylee’s YouTube

July 17, 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.

PureDWTS Season 19, Week 5 – Power Rankings

And this is the week that the hammer drops and suddenly the judges are “over” some of the dance crushes they have had so far this season – particularly Julianne and her crush on Tommy.  Hate to say it, but you only have yourselves to blame, guys – when you gush over the same people doing the same rudimentary stuff week after week, you can’t expect them to improve…and then it’s kinda lame to suddenly say “I’m bored, I want more.” But in the same token, you also don’t have to be over-the-top mean – and I think they got that way with a few of the couples tonight.  They seemed to lose sight of the fact that these were NOT the regular pairings, which is a tough enough row to hoe, and on top of that, they were all doing these bizarre dance styles that none of them are extensively trained in.  Was this REALLY the best week to drop that hammer, stooges?

So I guess the asshattery from Julianne, Carrie Ann, and Bruno made me thankful for Jessie J, who at least seemed to try and find the positive in everyone’s routines while still giving a useful critique – she is a judge on The Voice UK, after all, so I think she felt obligated to be constructive.  Also quite impressed with her ability to not only sing live (!!!), but also do some dancing at the same time.  As I said on Twitter – it’s so rare to find singers that actually sing live and don’t just lip sync, let along singers that sing live and dance as well.  The only other singer I can think of off the the top of my head that also does both is Usher…so she’s in good company.

So I guess all this talk about the judges tonight brings me to pose this question to everyone: do we really need Len? Next week will be the 4th week out of 6 that Len hasn’t been at the judges’ table – and I’m not really noticing his absence.  I’m almost wondering, what with his sorta-kinda farewell speech on the finale last season, if he originally was not gonna come back at all this season – and TPTB somehow guilted him into doing a few shows just to maintain some consistency.

But anyway – no elim tonight, but there is one next week, based on last week’s votes, this week’s scores and votes, and next week’s scores.  As our longtime readers know, the more total points given out = the smaller the margins = the greater the likelihood of a “shocking” elimination.  It really becomes a battle of the fanbases – who’s getting the votes vs. who isn’t.  I don’t care if you’re at the bottom of the leaderboard – in a massive-points-dump-to-calculate-elimination scenario like this one, the playing field becomes a lot more level.  To give you an idea of what crazy sh*t could happen – Sabrina was voted off the all-star season in a week where she was only 1/2 point away from a perfect score…but the elim was based on multiple weeks of scores and votes.  Vote, vote, vote, kids – even if your favorite is in the lead.

1.) Alfonso & Cheryl (Witney) – Aaaaand we’re back to nitpicking Alfonso to death, I see – can’t let him get too confident now, can we PTB? Once again, he dances FLAWLESSLY – and in a style that’s totally different than anything we’ve seen from him so far. He nails the technique (those heel things he was doing at the beginning are insanely difficult – the bf actually got a hairline fracture attempting it during a showcase routine), he nails the drama (loved the dust – just that added drama every time he clapped his hands), and he nails the partnering…and all Carrie Ann and Bruno wanna talk about is the distance between his neck and his shoulder??? Seriously, you stooges – what’s the complaint gonna be next week? He’s moving his ears in a strange way when he’s dancing? His pupils are too dilated? He’s flaring his nostrils too much? Because this is getting ri-goddamn-diculous. I guess I see what they’re trying to do – trying to level the playing field, make it seem like Alfonso isn’t running away with this season (even though he really is), but there’s gonna reach a point when even the most dim viewers are gonna say “Ok, that’s just being petty.” And sorry, but 8’s for a dance that good are just ASSININE…especially when they specifically say Sadie missed a few steps in the beginning of her routine, and give her 9’s across the board. She earned her 9’s – but so did Alfonso. Oh well – at least he still gets THUNDEROUS applause after every dance he does. 😀 Read more..

October 14, 2014 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.

Vote for Your Favorites in the PureDWTS Season 16 End-of-Season Awards!!!

 Ok gang, now that the hype has had some time to die down…it’s time to vote for your favorites & least favorites in this season’s end-of-season awards 🙂 Pretty self-explanatory – just select what you think is the best option for each category and submit it.  “But Courtney, you don’t have my favorite listed!!!” Yes, there is an option for write-ins…HOWEVER…

…after the absolute chaos that was the HUNDREDS of write-in votes last season, I’m going to really crack down on the write-in votes.  If you absolutely MUST write-in a response other than the ones we have listed (and I took great pains to include the responses that I thought would be the most likely choices for each category), you MUST do so with a certain format in mind…for example, if you were trying to write in “Zendaya & Val’s Argentine tango” for the best dance, you MUST do it just like I typed it – captalize the first names of the celeb first, then the pro; throw an “&” in the middle, and then put the type of dance after that.  Examples of what not to do: “zendaya val tango” or “Zendaya tango” or “any dance Zendaya did!!!!” Yeah, especially that last one – you get to choose ONE DANCE, not 13.  Any responses that don’t fit the scheme I just laid out are getting thrown out – sorry guys, but I just don’t have the energy (or desire) to weed through 300+ nonsensical, misspelled, & obnoxious responses.  Got it? Good.  Now vote away 🙂 We’ll share the results in the coming weeks.  Read more..

June 4, 2013 I Written By

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

DWTS 16, Week 9 – Power Rankings

Things I learned from tonight’s episode of DWTS:

1.) Don’t feel like wearing heels? No problem…as long as your name is Zendaya or Aly.

2.) Even wearing a played-out hipster fedora, Peanut is still the coolest person in the ballroom.

3.) You can apparently praise a couple that was blatantly OUT of sync for being IN sync…and not mean it ironically.

4.) You get a 30! And YOU get a 30! And you get a 30, too! Whoops…not you, Ingo.

5.) Even an exhausted Jacoby is ten times more fun to watch then an Aly operating at peak efficiency.

Yeah.  I feel enlightened 😛 But not really, because I vacillate between thinking the judges’ agenda is blantantly clear and thinking “WTF was that?” So let’s get to it…

1.) Zendaya & Val – Color me NOT surprised that she got hip-hop, and color me even LESS surprised that she got a perfect 30 – she SHOULD have gotten a perfect 30, given that the girl has been dancing hip hop “since she was 8”.  And then there’s that whole being employed on a show where she is dancer…but noooo, Zendaya doesn’t have an advantage! But anywho – she was great in the hip-hop, but I expected her to be great in the hip-hop; I actually think I saw Val getting a bit out-of-sync with her, which I imagine is the result of him being completely green in the hip-hop arena.  I actually found the song choice a bit odd – really? Chris Brown? It worked, but it just felt…strange.  And I just HATE those pants that look like they’re made from trash bags and are intentionally saggy in the crotch…looks like a diaper.  As for the quickstep – I agree that it was definitely not perfect and there were clearly some issues…but I don’t know that I would have dropped the hammer like the judges did.  Almost felt like they were being intentionally over-the-top, perhaps to whip those darling youngin’s that spend more time on Twitter & Instagram than they do on schoolwork into voting even harder (for those of you wondering what I’m talking about, just check out the comments section of the pic of Ingo & Kym posted on the DancingABC instagram yesterday…it’s a sh*tshow).  I thought the intro with the cars took up too much time, and there were a couple instances where there were synchonization issues with feet.  And again, with the wide-leg pants….WTF? Once again, I have to chalk this one up to choreographic issues – Val seemed to go more for speed than for technique, likely hoping to wow everyone with just how FAST they were going, but as a result, their frame kinda fell apart.  I see no reason these two shouldn’t make the finale – and with the judges already plugging Zendaya’s upcoming album in her critique, I think the agenda as far as she’s concerned is pretty damn clear.

2.) Kellie & Derek – Glad to see that the red screen from Ricki’s Psycho tango got to make a reappearance 😛 Really liked the Argentine tango – it was refreshing, for once, to see the celeb dancing circles around the pro, rather than vice-versa…Kellie seemed to be doing a lot of the intricate footwork, and I think Derek was probably smart to utilize Kellie’s long legs and her ability to extend them.  Lots of pretty leg lines.  Thought the pose for a pseudo-kiss in the middle was a bit odd & awkward, and I wasn’t wild about the wig they put on Kellie, but overall, I enjoyed it.  I actually really enjoyed their flamenco – as a side note, those stomping movements that Derek was doing are deceptively hard to do and require a lot of technique…otherwise, doing them wrong, repeatedly, can actually cause hairline fractures in the feet.  Kellie seemed like she might have been a bit tired after their tango, because I got the impression that she was having to really soldier through the flamenco – but it was fun to watch, nonetheless, and was nice to see PROPER flamenco choreography 🙂 Loved the trick at the end, too.  Again, I see no reason why they shouldn’t make the finale…and I’m already curious as to what Derek pulls out for these “supersized” freestyles.  Did they really need to be “supersized” again, though?

3.) Aly & Mark – I just don’t get it.  The judges turn the biggest blind eye, by far, to Aly’s mistakes – and I’m sorry, but even though she seems like a sweet girl, it’s week 9 and she’s still about as interesting to me as watching paint dry.  I think the only week I was really on the Aly bandwagon was Stevie Wonder week, when she seemed to hit a stride, but I feel like both of her dances this week were just lukewarm.  I can’t be the only one who thought her rumba felt more like a contemporary routine than a rumba – and the few rumba steps that were in it got kind of repetitive, and were pretty simple.  I guess I didn’t HATE it, and it wasn’t BAD…but I just find myself going “Meh.” The chemistry was tepid, and the rumba content really wasn’t there for me.  As for the Afro jazz – brave routine, but c’mon judges…BLATANT synchronization issues here.  And you guys went so far as to PRAISE it??? Is the Ministry of Truth editing your commentary? (If you’re a tween and you didn’t get that literary reference, get off the damn interwebs and go check 1984 out of the library – like right meow.) I go back & forth between liking & disliking Mark’s Afro jazz choreography – yes, it definitely had Afro jazz steps and an overall Afro jazz feel, but like their contemporary routine earlier this season, it felt a little like “Afro jazz by numbers”: ok, now we’re going to stomp our feet! Then we’re going to swing our arms! Then we’re going to jump! Then we’re going to swing our arms again! Once again, I found myself thinking “What would a SYTYCD choreographer think of this?”And I think the answer would probably be something like “Well…that was cute.” I think with their scores, they should have no issues making it to the finale – but I think they may fade into the background next to Kellie, Zendaya, & Jacoby.

4.) Jacoby & Karina – I think pigs must be flying, because it actually looked like Jacoby cleaned up his footwork this week! I was very pleasantly surprised by his Argentine tango – if there was one dance that was really going to put those bad feet on display, it was this one.  But he seemed to handle the intricate footwork really, really well, and had no problems with the lifts.  And this goes without saying – but he carried off the tango “swagger” well, too.  One of the best dances he’s done this season.  Not gonna lie – the Lindy Hop was totally fun to watch, but it did feel a bit thrown together to me…like maybe Karina spent most of the week working on the Argentine tango (smart idea) and then lost track of time and had to scramble to put the Lindy together.  Nonetheless, it was extremely entertaining, and Jacoby looked like he was having the time of his life…boy seems to like dances where he can kick his legs 🙂 I think these two deserve to be in the finale, and I’m hoping they’ll be there…but the fact that Jacoby has been in jeopardy the past two weeks has got me a little bit worried.  I like to think he’s handily beating Ingo in votes…but have the GH fans rallied? I doubt we’ll see a real bottom 2 tomorrow, but if we did…I have to wonder if Jacoby would be part of it.  I hope I’m wrong!

5.) Ingo & Kym – Anyone else notice that Kym’s costumes have gotten progressively skimpier as the season has worn on? Not that I’m complaining – everyone knows I respect the Awesome Boobage.  🙂 But I have to wonder if it’s an attempt to distract from how truly awkward Ingo is on the floor – I say it every week, but man, poor guy still seems just as awkward to me now as he did in week 1.  Their samba was almost comically bad – Ingo seemed like he was really focusing hard, but was always about 1 beat too fast…and the hip shaking just was stiff & weird.  I think their Charleston had the potential to be cute – but unfortunately, there were timing issues in this one as well, and it also seemed like they didn’t do a whole lot of the Charleston basic…seemed like a lot of running around and lifts, and just a couple basics.  Then again, I have had the feeling for a few weeks now that Kym is just burnt out and ready to be done with this season, and maybe just doesn’t have the energy to try and conceal Ingo’s many dancing eccentricities with very clever choreography.  Nothing against Kym – I just think the poor woman is exhausted and running on fumes.  If it wasn’t obvious by the scoring, I think Ingo’s toast tomorrow – we don’t know for sure if he was in the bottom 2 last week, but I’d venture a guess that he probably was; he’s been there before.  There’s still a part of me that’s a bit uneasy about the GH fans somehow rallying and keeping him around, and I think Jacoby is the most likely target if Ingo somehow manages to get the votes…but I hope he doesn’t, because he’d look woefully underqualified next to Kellie, Zendaya, Jacoby, & Aly.

So what are your thoughts on tonight’s show? And who do you think is headed to the finale? 🙂

May 13, 2013 I Written By

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

DWTS 15: Why I Hated the All-Star Season

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated…much to the chagrin of my detractors 😉

Yes, I am back, after a rather prolonged post-season 15 hiatus. Part of it was due to a hectic year-end at work, part of it was due to other stuff, and part of it had to do with what I’m about to elaborate on in this post. Thanks to everyone who checked in on me on Twitter, and I can assure you I’m back full-time now 🙂

Many of you have noticed that I tend to take a bit of a break from Pure after the end of each season – mainly due to the level of burnout we all seem to reach after being in full-on DWTS mode for 3 months straight while we’re covering each season. Generally, I just need a break – some time to appreciate other things in my life besides DWTS – and I’m back after a week or two. This time, though, I had a harder time getting back into the swing of being excited and inspired to write about DWTS – and for awhile, I couldn’t figure out why. Then I had a revelation…

…I HATED THE ALL-STAR SEASON.

There, I said it. I hated the all-star season, and I think it has now surpassed season 9 as my least favorite season of DWTS EVER. Reflecting on this past season, aside from a few standout performances (and all the great interactions I had with Pure readers :-)), I was hard-pressed to really feel nostalgic and pleased about it. In fact, what I tended to remember the most was all the frustration, chaos, and general feelings of “WTF is going on???” that I had while watching and blogging from week to week – and when I really got to thinking about it, I found that there were 5 key problems that left me feeling totally turned-off the all-star season. Without further ado, I give you those reasons… Read more..

February 13, 2013 I Written By

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

DWTS 15, Week 4 – Power Rankings

Well, this blasted non-ballroom (save for the mambo, and sorta-kinda the bolero) night played out just about like I thought it would: the hapless judges (aided and abbetted by the perpetually out-to-lunch Paula) kind of copped out on giving any seriously harsh scores, likely for the simple reason that they just didn’t know enough about the dances themselves to actually score properly.  The end result was some pretty general overscoring, and perhaps a tiny bit of relative underscoring.  But what worries me is that even though the spread may seem pretty big this week, more total points = smaller margins between points…meaning that it’s going to require fewer votes for those at the bottom to catch up with the rest of the pack.  And it makes me nervous for another “shock” elimination…but this time, I think it has the potential to be truly shocking.  😯 Let’s get on with it, shall we?

1.) Shawn & Derek – Best routine of the night, without a doubt – great, PROPER mambo choreography, and flawless execution.  I think these two may have had the toughest dance to contend with, for the simple reason that mambo has been done on the show before as a regular dance – and it has been done far more than any of the other dances on the list.  Add to that the constant pressure of the all-star season? If they had a bit of an off-week, I wouldn’t have blamed them.  But luckily, they absolutely KILLED this mambo – great tricks, a good amount of meat & potatoes choreography, and best of all – Shawn pulled off the “sassy” and sexy without a hitch, and looked great doing it.  🙂 Very impressed with how she’s matured since her original season.  If I REALLY had to nitpick, I would say that it seemed like Shawn was sliding a little bit when coming out of her turns – very slight bobble, but it made me wonder if the floors tonight were a little slick – and could also be the cause of other snafus tonight.  Anyway, I think if they gave that hot mess of a Bollywood number that Gilles crapped out a 39.5, then this should have been a 42.  But Len, ever the fuddy-duddy, withheld that last half a point that would have put them at the top of the leaderboard.  Oh well – luckily it matters even less this week 😛

2.) Kelly & Val – Like almost all of their other dances this season, this came out far better than I would have anticipated – even if these two were kinda giving me the creeps with all of their brooding in the background all night.  😛 Was it truly “contemporary”? Meh…it had elements of contemporary, and it came far closer to contemporary than Emmitt did to bolero or Bristol did to rock ‘n’ roll.  But it was a pretty dance, and I do feel like they injected some emotion into it – which is really how contemporary came to be in the first place: ballet with emotion.  Kelly had some nice extensions and seemed to really connect to the dance…and really, Val did too, as much as he may have hated the style they got.  And he did get a few brownie points from me for calling Cheryl the b-word on national television, for all to hear 😛 I think they may have gotten a little out-of-synch on the side-by-side sections, and I must confess that I didn’t really understand the purpose of the platform they climbed onto.  But overall, a very nice effort for a dance that neither party was particularly jazzed to have…and I’m sure we’ll be hearing buzz about this one for the rest of the week.  😉 Read more..

October 15, 2012 I Written By

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

DWTS 15: Karina Smirnoff Talks Fitness, Supplements, & JR Martinez with SELF Magazine

There’s a little something for both the guys (jimmbboe) and the ladies (Heidi, myself, and anyone else who salivates over Apolo’s physique) in this one 😉

Karina sat down with SELF magazine to talk about the success of her first fitness DVD (Shape Up with Karina Smirnoff), her own energy supplement, and her philosophy on fitness & health.  She also had some sweet things to say about JR (“We developed a friendship that will stand the test of time and became a true team in every sense of a word, supporting each other and pushing each other to be the best that we could be.”), and talked a bit about AIM, the charity she has been working with:

AIM stands for Alternative Intervention Models. It’s an organization that was set up by Leila Steinberg, and it has divisions for charities in the foundation like art, singing, sports and dancing. It’s an organization that allows me to teach underprivileged kids how to express themselves through the arts. Kids who can’t afford it, who come from low socio-economic families, or schools at risk, can become a part of AIM and express themselves in any way that they want to, whether it’s coming up with a song or learning how to cha-cha. I love being a part of it! You can check it out at my website, www.karinasmirnoff.com, or AIM’s website for more information.

Very cool to see what Karina’s been up to outside of the ballroom 🙂 But the highlight for me was the behind-the-scenes rehearsal pix of she & Apolo this week…

 Nice biceps you got there, Apolo.  😉

 Again, with the biceps…meeeeooooowwww.

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.