Sabrina Bryan | Pure Dancing with the Stars

DWTS 15 End-of-Season Awards: Which Dance Was the Worst?

And the fun continues…

Write-ins:

Gilles & Peta’s Bollywood – 3

Bristol & Mark’s cha-cha – 2

Shawn & Derek’s non-samba samba – 2

Kirstie & Maks’ paso doble trio – 1

Shawn & Derek’s bhangra – 1

Gilles & Peta’s cha-cha – 1

Melissa & Tony’s freestyle – 1

Sabrina & Louis’ paso doble – 1

Shawn & Derek’s rumba – 1

Kelly & Val’s contemporary – 1

Courtney: This is all I’ll say about the write-ins: it’s obvious when someone is writing in a certain dance simply out of spite, or just to try to get a reaction out of people. How very puerile of them 🙂 Was Pam & Tristan’s cha-cha a bizarre, fumbly train wreck? Yeah, but I almost think it’s unfair to even count first week dances…because they’re the ones with the highest potential to look like crap. I usually find myself more turned off by bad dances that occur later on in the season – because by that point, you can’t cite “first week jitters” as a reason to f*ck up. For that reason, I actually think I chose Gangnam Style – I hated that dance because it was a cop-out. They basically got a free pass to do ANYTHING they wanted – they could have put a completely unique spin on it, thrown in some cool tricks & lifts, and incorporated some ballroom steps to please Len. Instead, it was as if they said “Y’know what? Let’s just copy the video, add some additional raunch, and call it a day.” Was it fun? Sure. But I can think a dance is fun and also think it’s terrible. Case in point? Carson & Anna’s pirate Viennese waltz in season 13. Amusing in a trainwreck fashion, but I definitely wouldn’t say it was my favorite of that season…or even that week, and it was still a complete mess. I think my second choice was Bristol & Mark’s quickstep, because it just ended up being a complete mess, both in terms of choreography & execution. Not sure what to make of the surfer flamenco – I guess I would categorize that one as a “cop-out” as well, since it seemed like they said “Welp, we don’t know any flamenco, so let’s do paso in skimpy swimsuits and hope nobody notices!”

Heidi: Courtney!! How dare you say that people write in comments just out of spite!! That NEVER happens here!! Well, okay, only every other day. 😉 Totally agree with you that I wouldn’t look at first week dances and cry out “worst dance ever!!” So many of them DO look like crap in the first week. Anyway, when I looked at this category two dances immediately came to mind – Team Gangnam Style and Gilles’ Bollywood nightmare. Team Gangnam style just disgusted me because they didn’t even TRY. Any actual dancing that was included was sloppy and disjointed – I seem to recall thinking that Emmett was the only standout from that mess. Pretty sure that’s the one I voted for…although I could have written in Gilles. 🙂

Vogue: When I saw this poll, I almost voted for the Team Gangnam dance as the Worst dance. I remember thinking it was just awful comparted to Team Call Me Maybe’s dance which was so well executed, choreographed and full of creative content. In the end though, I voted for Val and Kelly’s Surfer Flamenco (what an awful combination) as that dance beat them all as worst dance ever in all of the seasons of Dancing With The Stars PUT TOGETHER! 😯

DWTS 15 End-of-Season Awards: Which Couple Was the Most Mismatched?

Ok, it’s official: I’m probably going to eliminate the write-in category the next time we do these, because it seems like it got misunderstood & misused quite a bit this time. HINT: if you wrote in several of “shawn n derrick!!!” dances for best dance, yet also wrote in “shawn n derrick!!!” for most mismatched couple, I’m going to assume you probably did not understand the question. Oy 😯

Write-ins:

Bristol & Mark – 11

Shawn & Derek – 11

Kirstie & Maks – 6

Kelly & Val – 1

Melissa & Tony – 1

None – 1

Courtney: First things first: if you wrote in any of the three finalists in this category, this is me rolling my eyes at you, because I daresay Melissa & Tony, Shawn & Derek, and Kelly & Val were probably 3 of the MOST compatible partnerships this season – and obviously they did something right, or else they likely wouldn’t have made the finale. Methinks there are likely some sour grapes over the outcome of this season coming from those writing any of those 3 couples in. And yeah, Bristol & Mark were mismatched in season 11, and they were mismatched again this season…but honestly, does anyone really think Bristol would have fared better with any other pro? I’m not even sure Derek could have shined that turd. As for non-written-in results – I’m not sure I agree that Pam & Tristan were the “most mismatched”, per se – I would argue that they seemed to get along well in their rehearsal package and in their pre & post-show press, but that Pam just wasn’t able to put in the necessary effort to hack it in the all-star season. In retrospect, I actually think that Drew & Anna were terribly mismatched – and as a result, I think they didn’t go nearly as far as they should have, given their combined skill set. From what I gathered from insider info about their rehearsals, Drew came into the all-star season with a “let’s have fun!” attitude, but Anna’s intensity and the pressure she was putting on him to get things perfect took its toll and by the end of his run, he was stressed out, anxious, and definitely not having fun anymore. Unfortunately, as much as I love Anna, I think her intensity is the one thing that may be standing between her and an MBT – unlike Karina, who seems to have figured out how to balance being intense with having fun, I don’t know that Anna has figured out how to relax and enjoy the experience…and I think that may take a toll on her partners. As for Gilles & Peta – yeah, in the end, I think they ended up being a mismatch…but I blame that more on Gilles being a complete d-bag, and Peta just letting him get away with it. 🙂 Apolo & Karina had some edgy moments, but overall I think they were well-matched; didn’t see enough of Helio & Chelsie to really make a judgement one way or another; and Sabrina & Louis were at about the same level of annoying perkiness, so I guess that means they were compatible 😛

Vogue: I voted for Peta and Gilles for “Most Mismatched”! When we first heard they were going to be teamed up, I thought, “Wow, this pairing is brilliant. We are really in for something special.” Both gave off a classy, ‘old Hollywood’ feel in all of their promos. I loved Gilles the first time he danced, so I was quite taken back with his ego from the get go. I felt sorry for Peta so much of the time. I got the feeling he didn’t trust her since she was more new to the scene and would have rathered had Cheryl as a partner. It was a disappoinment. I didn’t get a “mismatched” feeling from anyone else like I did with Peta and Gilles …and like Courtney, I blamed it on Gilles too.

Heidi: Again – don’t remember who I voted for. And I didn’t feel sorry for Peta at all – she fed his ego instead of reining it in. I have to say that I agree with the Drew/Anna mismatch – that was just no fun at all. I don’t get why people think Pam and Tristan were mismatched. Because they went out first?? That’s a bit of a cop out – just because they were first out doesn’t mean that they were mismatched, just that she was the least skilled dancer who also had the fewest voters. Saying that the most mismatched couple is the one that went out first is kinda like saying that the best dancer always wins. Ummm…no. 🙂 Also, Courtney – I’ve noticed on PDH that people tend to not read real closely on these sorts of things. 🙂

DWTS 15 End-of-Season Awards: Which Celeb Improved the Most?

Ok, now that I’ve finally worked up the motivation to start revealing the results, I’m gonna do this a bit out-of-order – mainly because I simply don’t have the patience right now to tally up some of the awards with HUNDREDS of write-in votes 😯 This season has definitely made me question whether to even include write-ins as an option in the future. But I digress – let’s start with an award where the results were pretty cut & dry:

Write-ins:

Bristol – 6

Helio – 2

Kirstie – 1

None – 1

Courtney: No arguments here – prior to the start of the season, Kelly was one of the celebs that I thought would REALLLLLY struggle, given that she was probably the weakest of the DWTS returning champions, based on her performance in season 1. Apparently Alec just didn’t know how to tap into her potential back then, because she was definitely one of the stronger dancers this season! Maybe Kelly just had time to mature between season 1 and season 15, maybe it helped to have a partner that she could really connect with (and wasn’t an “Iceman”) – whatever it was, she definitely impressed me this season, as did Val…makes me wonder if he could be the next great choreographer on the show in Derek’s absence. I also feel a bit vindicated now, since I’ve always said that Alec probably wasn’t that great of a teacher – if he was truly that great, he would have been able to pull performances out of Kelly 8 years ago that were as good as some of the ones we saw in season 16. I think Shawn & Apolo also improved, albeit not as drastically as Kelly; Melissa improved a little bit, as there didn’t seem to be quite as many cheerleader moves this time around; I think Sabrina stayed about the same; and Gilles got worse. I’m guessing the 6 votes for Bristol came from 2 well-known Bristol trolls on different computers – because she was even trainwreckier this time than she was before 😯

Vogue: I voted for Kelly as well in this category. From the beginning, she seemed intent on doing well and improving herself. She had something to prove and that she could dance with the best of them. Despite a busy ongoing schedule with General Hospital, she gave it her all and it showed with every week that passed. Both she and Val had a powerful passion. They couldn’t have been more suited for each other. He wanted to do well too and set a name for himself other than just being Mak’s little brother. She gave him the confidence to do that and they flew with it even with the odds stacked against them. I loved them and I too look forward to Val’s future on Dancing With The Stars.

Heidi: I actually don’t remember who I voted for in this category, but if I was voting now it would be for either Kelly or Shawn. Kelly for all the reasons already stated – as much as the showmance made me nauseous by the end, she still ended up much better than her original season. I also have high hopes for Val in terms of choreo – that he’s inspired by Derek and not, say, Tony. He is a musician, so he starts out ahead. He did a lot with Kelly and made her seem warmer than I suspect she might actually be. 🙂 If he continues to look at what Derek did as cool and creative as opposed to “rule breaking”, he can be the next great choreographer on the show. Take notes, Tony and Louis. As for Shawn, she was like a different dancer with Derek. She inspired him to up his game and she was fearless – talk about two people who complimented each other. Derek just pushed and pushed and pushed and got her to not only up her dancing, but her emotional connection to the dance. Awesome.

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..

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

It’s that time of the season again – time to wrap up the season by voting in our end-of-season awards 🙂

First, some guidelines: I picked what I thought to be the most likely nominees for each category, just based on the vibes I’ve been getting from your comments all season. I know some of you are going to disagree. For that reason, I have allowed write-in votes…probably against my better judgement. HOWEVER, I’m asking you guys to PLEASE USE THE WRITE-INS SPARINGLY. Make sure the nominee you’re writing in isn’t already listed as one of the options, make sure it’s spelled correctly, and fits the scheme of the other nominees (i.e. if the category is “best dance”, you would write in something like “Kelly & Val’s paso doble”, and not just “Kelly”). If I cannot understand what you’ve written in, your vote is getting thrown out. If your write-in doesn’t make sense given the context, your vote is getting thrown out. There was an absolutely ridiculous (and unneccessary) number of write-ins in last season’s awards, and I almost said “f*ck it” and threw them all out, because some of you guys clearly didn’t know how to follow directions. Don’t bring me to the point of “f*ck it” again this season.

I will give you guys a week or two to get your votes in, and then we will reveal the results category by category in a series of posts. I’ve included a brief explanation of each award above each poll, since there seemed to be some confusion in last season’s polls. Now vote away!!! Read more..

Has Dancing with the Stars Jumped the Shark?

After almost every elimination, I get someone sending a message on the Pure DWTS contact form about how they’re never going to watch DWTS again. Many think that we’re the producers of DWTS, which I can assure you were are not! Most of these messages are easily ignored since it’s natural that fans of certain stars and pros are angry that they’ve been sent home. In most cases, those people end up coming back and watching DWTS again.

This season those messages have come at a much bigger rate than ever before. Most of the messages have revolved around Bristol Palin on the show (and sticking around) and the departure of Sabrina (which many thought was too early). The sheer volume has me wondering about the impact these events have had on DWTS. However, more disturbing has been the content of the messages. Usually you can just see the underlying anger about a specific incident. The messages this season have focused more on the show in general.

Certainly the ratings are down this season, but that could be caused by a ton of different X factors and Voices. However, I’ll be interested to see if this is a trend that continues in future seasons (yes, the ratings are still far from the show being cancelled).

With all of this in mind, I ask the question, has Dancing with the Stars “Jumped the Shark”? You can vote in the widget below (Click on Yes or No to vote):

For those not familiar with the term Jump the Shark, here’s the wikipedia description:

Jumping the shark is an idiom created by Jon Hein that is used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery. The phrase is also used to refer to a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of “gimmick” in a desperate attempt to keep viewers’ interest.

In its initial usage, it referred to the point in a television program’s history when the program had outlived its freshness and viewers had begun to feel that the show’s writers were out of new ideas, often after great effort was made to revive interest in the show by the writers, producers, or network.

I’m looking forward to seeing the results of the poll and your thoughts in the comments.

Dancing With The Stars Make-Up Releases Behind The Scenes Photos For Season 15 Week 6

What a mean team of cow hands we have here, hmm? 😀 Dancing With The Stars Make-up has released some ‘behind the scenes’ shots of the cast from this past week. Above is Henry Byalikov, Sonny Peterson, Maksim and Val Chmerkovskiy, Emmitt Smith, and Tony Dovolani. You can see loads of more pics here of the rest of the cast. You can also read how they did some of the make-up on the girls which is always fascinating if you love make-up and the art of it. My only complaint, why don’t they ever have pictures of DEREK HOUGH ? 😕

DWTS Season 15, Week 6 – A Dancing by the Numbers Retrospective on Sabrina Bryan

So, what happened to Sabrina is pretty easy to explain. Everyone covered the spread. Period. She was at the top of the leaderboard and didn’t need to get MORE votes than anyone else, she just needed to get enough votes to prevent them from catching up to her.

The table below shows Sabrina versus each of the other dancers, the percentage between them and then the number of votes per million votes cast that that individual needs to bypass Sabrina and stay safe.

Ultimately, every single dancer got at least one more than that number of votes per million votes cast than Sabrina and Sabrina was, therefore, eliminated. Looking at the numbers, above, you can see that it wouldn’t be really hard for anyone other than Kelly to get the votes. Those are small damn numbers. And if Sabrina isn’t getting many votes, just how hard is it for Kelly? Spare me the “Power of the soap fan” spiel. That’s nuts – if ya’ll were that powerful Soap’s audiences wouldn’t be shrinking and they wouldn’t be getting cancelled left and right. And Kelly wasn’t the only person who beat Sabrina – EVERYONE did. Which means she just wasn’t getting the votes. This says nothing, really, about Kelly and everything about Sabrina. Read more..

Dancing with the Stars Season 15 Stats Class: Week 6′s Elimination – Sabrina Bryan

Ok… I am not happy… I mean Sabrina was actually growing and doing better and better. She was actually opening up and she has such an engaging personality it is like, “what the hell?” But then again TPTB probably have so much invested in Gilles and Kelly that Sabrina got the short end of the stick…

Ah well… what can you do? I know it has been a while since I did one of these… but in all honesty it is getting towards that point in the season where the comparison statistics may actually look decent. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the chart where it compares the predicted scores with the actuals between Sabrina’s original Season 5 and the current Season 15:

Confused? Yeah I was too… but before I break the above down even further… let’s look at the data between Season 5 and Season 15:

There… now that you have the data let’s go back to the charts:
Read more..

Dancing With The Stars Season 15 Week 6 Post Elimination Interviews

Let’s get right to the post elimination interviews. Some of the couples opted not to get interviewed as you will soon see, but, here is what we have from On The Red Carpet….

Kelly and Val are so relieved they aren’t going home. They were nervous, but, they hope to keep justifying and supporting their fans since they are getting them through every week. They are excited to do the dance fusion and mix it up. They talk of how important the song selection is which they’d rather decide on versus the dance style.

Karina and Apolo talk of the scary elimination last night. They get harder and harder each week, but, they are happy and are on the “night train”. They got over their hurdle last week. They say song selection is important and they’d rather choose the song than deciding on the dance style. They goof around and tease each other at the end (if this isn’t a connection, I don’t know what is? They look very close! VERY CLOSE! 😀 ).

Gilles praises Sabrina and says she’s the best dancer to ever dance on Dancing With The Stars. Peta says the same and says Sabrina could be on the Troupe she is so good. They are a little nervous to dance and fuse together an Argentine Tango and Samba next week, but, they are excited. They are mixed on deciding on a dance style or a song. Peta stresses how important the song selection is and then Gilles agrees.

Kirstie and Maks are so happy and relieved to be coming back. She talks of how difficult the elimination is. They are all like “gladiators” waiting to get eaten by a lion (so true). As for next week, Kirstie is confused by the fusion and thinks it’s crazy. If it was a perfect world, Maks would pick a Rumba every week for a dance style. If everyone votes, they get to make out with Maks. They talk smack on Gilles. The interviewer has to get them back on topic. Crazy interview and hilarious as always. ADDING: Note how Kirstie mentions doing they are doing a Marathon dance too.

And below are the Access Hollywood interviews. Read more..

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

DWTS 15 End-of-Season Awards: Which Dance Was the Worst?

DWTS 15 End-of-Season Awards: Which Couple Was the Most Mismatched?

DWTS 15 End-of-Season Awards: Which Celeb Improved the Most?

DWTS 15: Why I Hated the All-Star Season

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

Has Dancing with the Stars Jumped the Shark?

Dancing With The Stars Make-Up Releases Behind The Scenes Photos For Season 15 Week 6

DWTS Season 15, Week 6 – A Dancing by the Numbers Retrospective on Sabrina Bryan

Dancing with the Stars Season 15 Stats Class: Week 6′s Elimination – Sabrina Bryan

Dancing With The Stars Season 15 Week 6 Post Elimination Interviews

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