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DWTS Season 27, Week TWO – Dancing by the Numbers!

Well, here we are again! I feel like I’m finally back in the swing of things. 🙂 Last night’s show wasn’t bad at all, except for the music that some of the couples had that totally didn’t match the style. That always takes something away from the dance for me, particularly when it’s an argentine tango. Other than that, I think everyone did quite well. Not only that, we have a nice spread on the scores which seems more realistic. I wasn’t terribly upset by anyone’s score, for a change, although there are one or two couples who are a bit too high relative to their competitors.

My current favorites? DeMarcus, Alexis, Evanna, Tinashe and Milo. I feel for Danelle and I like all the rest just fine, but that’s my top 5. 🙂 How did they all do? Read more..

October 2, 2018 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 27, Week 2, Night 1 – Power Rankings

Two hours down – two more to go this week! While I still love DWTS, I gotta admit: these (2) two-hour show weeks are a bit much to watch/write about sometimes – so I can only imagine how hard it’s been on the contestants.  It was likely frustrating enough having to learn two routines last week, only to be told “Hey, only half of you are actually going to have to perform the second routine!” Now this week, it’s two different styles, and everyone’s gotta dance again tonight.  Adding to the tension is the fact that tonight is allegedly a double elim, so the stakes are getting pretty high, pretty quick – everyone dancing this season has my respect for dealing with some pretty tough stuff, so early on in the competition.

Last night was also our first theme night, which means there was the usual shoehorning to get certain dances to fit certain New York-themed songs that aren’t necessarily ideal for the dances they’re being played to. It’s something I try to keep in mind anymore when I feel like something doesn’t necessarily fit – sometimes it’s not really the pro/choreographer’s fault, so much as it is the music editor’s fault. Keeps things in perspective.

One variable that I’m not quite sure how it will play out in this week’s results? Last week’s revelation of the bottom 6. We might see the voters rally for those particular six, as a result of their being in danger last week; we could see some of the couples that were safe last week suddenly in jeopardy, as the lack of exposure on night 2 last week could have made them fade in viewers minds.  Or maybe some of the folks who just weren’t getting the votes last week, still ain’t getting ’em this week – and so they’re still in danger.  Who knows. We haven’t really had a situation like this before, so there’s no precedent to help us predict how it’s going to shake out – and I’m 100% cool with that.  Remember, after 9 years of blogging this show – I just want to see something unexpected 🙂

Other observations? I would have been just fine without the bumpers from Kelly & Ryan and the GMA crew – particularly the latter, which included the omnipresent Ginger, once again using it as an opportunity that she, too, did DWTS (2.5 years ago, mind you – time to get a new schtick, gal). Also feeling a bit optimistic about seeing Jesse Tyler Ferguson in the audience – sure, he was just there promoting Modern Family, but given that it’s now in its final season, dare I hope that his schedule clears up enough that we might see him on a future season…? 😉 Read more..

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 27, Week TWO – LIVE BLOG!

Well. Sore throat? Check. Tiredness? Check.  :::sigh:::  It’s as if I’m being punished for taking a vacation.  This show better be good tonight, if I’m going to stay out of bed. 🙂

T-minus ten minutes….

New York City Night  :::rolls eyes:::

The need to open with Val I will never understand. Of course, they’re also sucking up to the shippers who are just too easy, fawning over both Val/Jenna and Emma/Sasha…

Hey, who are these tappers….and why is Val there too?? Give it a rest. Ain’t nothing there I want to see. Tiler Peck, I believe is the ballerina?? Didn’t I see where she was going to be on the show?

Here we go with DeMarcus!! Love that smile! “Chocolate piece of steel…” LOL Read more..

October 1, 2018 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 27, Week ONE – Dancing by the Numbers Retrospective

Okay, so I’ve been in Italy. And before that I was tied up with World of Dance and a heavy work load. But now I’m ready for DWTS. 🙂

Of course, before I can talk about the numbers, I have to actually watch the show.  Here are a few of my thoughts as I watched Night ONE:

  1. Who are all these people in the opening number? Don’t get me wrong – it was a good opening number, but I didn’t recognize ANYONE mainly because there were TOO MANY people.
  2. Brandon and Tinashe make a very gorgeous couple.
  3. Why do they have both lapel mics and desk mics on the judges?? Is it really necessary that we hear them that well when so much of what they say is utter BS?
  4. Milo is cuuuuute. But dang, Disney?? We have to have Disney every season?  Good dancer though!!
  5. Hold the fucking phone: Mary Lou gets a *7* from Len and Milo gets a 6?? Are we going to start the bullshit so soon??  And don’t get me started on Evanna. Len has always been the designated field leveler, but I don’t recall it being this obvious this soon.  Gotta keep the Disney kid and the Potter kid down and make this thing a competition.  There was NOTHING in Evanna’s dance that said 5. That is just unbelievable.
  6. Robert Roldan….::::SWOOOOONNNN::::  I luf him.
  7. Some of these contestants opening sound more scripted than usual.
  8. Sharna is the first pro to pull in the troupe this season…and possibly the first pro to NEED the troupe. Love the Nashville background though.
  9. Cheryl Burke looks amazing and it’s good to have her back in the ballroom.
  10. Nikki is pretty funny….but so completely unknown.
  11. Alexis dances better than most models….but we won’t find out until week 2 or 3 if she’s more Brooke Burke or Joanna Krupa.
  12. Very good first outing for Brandon.
  13. Demarcus Ware is HOT. And he may well win this season.

Read more..

September 30, 2018 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 27, Week 2: Who’s Dancing What, And When?

I’m baaaaaack!!  🙂  And I have no idea what’s going on with this season.  🙂 I do, however, highly recommend an Italian vacation. What a beautiful country!

I will be doing a retroactive review of week one, giving you my take on what happened and why the bottom 6 was what it was. But first, who’s dancing what??

Also, Keep in mind that Tuesday is a double elimination based on Monday’s votes and scores and Tuesdays scores. The press releases also say we’re going to have Vegas Night (Tuesday) and New York City night (Monday).

Monday night – New York City Night:

From the press release:

Opening Number Features New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Tiler Peck
Dancing With the Show’s Pros to the Iconic ‘On Broadway’

‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ Star Sarah Bockel
Performs Live Alongside Mary Lou and Sasha

ETA:  Updated with the dance order per George Pennachio. Hmmm….me thinks Bobby was well liked last week, since he’s getting the pimp spot tonight!

DeMarcus & Lindsay – foxtrot (song: “The Boy from New York City” by Manhattan Transfer)
Dancing 1st
1-800-868-3404

Danelle & Artem – cha-cha (song: “Welcome to New York” by Taylor Swift)
Dancing 2nd
1-800-868-3403 Read more..

September 27, 2018 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 27, Week 1, Night 2 – LIVE BLOG!!!

So if you missed last night and are just tuning in, you can catch up with what went down last night here.  As for what’s going down tonight, an audible just got called in the last few hours that only the bottom 6 couples (in combined scores and votes after last night) will actually be dancing tonight, and the top 7 are safe and will not have to do their second dance. Songs and dance styles are here – if I had to guess, I’d say Nikki, Joe, John, Nancy, Danelle, and Evanna will probably be dancing tonight; outside chance of Milo, and long-shot shocker chance of Alexis. Which kinda sucks, because I was really looking forward to seeing Tinashe’s second jive 🙁 I don’t have all the details of how this is going to work, but I would guess the elimination will be based on last night’s scores + votes, plus tonight’s scores (for those who actually dance); either the scores for those that dance tonight get tossed out after the elim, or everyone that doesn’t dance gets a set number of points added to their total so they aren’t at a disadvantage next week (like the winner of the immunity challenges we’ve seen in the past).

Additionally, we’ve got the whole DWTS Juniors cast in the house tonight, for the formal announcement of the junior celebs – if you can’t wait, our spoiler post is here.  I think the cast announcement, six dances, Kenzie singing, and doing an actual elim is enough to fill 2 hours – plus there’s the usual filler (recaps of last night’s dances, Tom plugging whatever’s going on next week, interviews with the couples, etc.). Plenty to blog about 🙂

So who do I think is in danger heading into tonight’s elim? If you didn’t read my power rankings for night 1, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version: I think Nikki is unfortunately a goner, with Joe on the bubble and John as the longshot. If Nikki & Joe get called safe pretty early on, all bets are off. I honestly don’t think these 2nd dances are going to do much in the way of changing the outcome of the elimination – if I have time tomorrow (or realistically, later this week), I may run the numbers and do a what-if analysis to see what, if any, impact they would have had.

Here we go, night #2!!!

Kind of a cool, edgy opener – no props, just the pros doing doing tango/paso with lasers. I dig it. Read more..

September 25, 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 27, Week 1, Night 1 – Power Rankings

I can’t remember the last time we had a premiere night where nobody really and truly sucked – so last night was rather refreshing.  Even Joe, who bungled up the middle of his dance pretty badly, was still pretty impressive during the sections he did do right.  I find it interesting that as the seasons roll on, we end up with even better dancing, and more ringers; part of me wonders if this is the “new normal” on DWTS: more ringers, better overall quality of dancing, and more effort from the pros.  As skeptical as I may have been about the cast at first, last night was actually kind of awesome 🙂

As for the dance styles – I keep finding myself thinking that they should stick to (2) dances styles on night #1: cha-cha or foxtrot.  Both are fairly easy for newbs to do, and aren’t unnecessarily taxing on the celebs. Quickstep and jive are too vigorous for complete non-dancers.  I’m also really believing now that the song can make or break your performance – even a skilled dancer (in this case, Tinashe) can get thrown off their game by an less-than-ideal song choice.

So as for this wack-a-doo “hey, let’s make them dance the same dance style TWICE in one week!” nonsense – I’m having a love-hate relationship with it.  For those that maybe only slightly missed the mark with their dances last night (i.e. Tinashe, Alexis, Juan Pablo, Evanna), it’s an opportunity to give it another shot, often with a better (or at least different) song; for those that didn’t do so hot, though (I’m thinking Nikki & Joe), it’s probably a bit dreadful, as you have to give another shot to a dance you didn’t particularly excel in the first time around. And for everyone else, I think it’s a bit of a crapshoot – they might do better, they might do worse, or they might do just about the same, just to different music. I could just slap Len for throwing in the “well foxtrot ain’t a great dance to get in week 1” line he threw at Evanna, because guess what, bud: she’s gotta do it again tonight. At times, it seemed like the judges had even forgotten that these celebs have got to dance again tonight, doing the same dance – just a testament to how silly it all is. But let’s get on with it, shall we? T minus 9 hours till we do it all again… 😛 Read more..

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 27, Week 1, Night 1 – LIVE BLOG!!!

And just like that, it’s premiere night of a new season again 🙂 Heidi’s still on vacay (I think she’ll be back for week 2), so you’ve got me for both the live blog and power rankings this week – I’m going to try not to be too repetitive, but given the current frazzled state of my brain, I make no guarantees 😉

Running order, dances, songs, and voting numbers are here – right off the bat, I think Mary Lou, Juan Pablo, and DeMarcus are probably going to be good, by virtue of their running order position. My preliminary thoughts about this season are here – any thoughts from you guys headed into tonight’s show?

And here we go…

Kind of cute opener, though nothing really new. Lotta randos in that number, though – did I see Robert Roldan from SYTYCD???

I notice Erin made a point of saying it’s a “full season”.  Trying to shake off the stink of the poorly-rated All-Athletes season, maybe?

Respectable first outing by Mary Lou – she’s definitely better than most women her age, but she has a bit of a punchy, hoppy quality to her movement.  Good energy, though – great way to start the show.

Mary Lou gets 6, 7, 6, for 19/30.  Seems about right, but I could change my mind once I see how they’re scoring everyone else.

KIMMIE GIBBLER IS IN THE AUDIENCE!!! Standing next to her is Jana.

Milo just seems like such a good kid. Wish they didn’t have this nonsense line of zombie questions with Witney.

UM, WOW. Milo can MOVE – I had a feeling he’d be pretty good, but his movement quality is pretty damn good, y’all.  And it’s made even more impressive by the fact that he’s tall, and doesn’t move small like so many other tall guys we have. One to watch, for sure.

Milo gets 7, 6, 7 for 20/30.  Hmmm…I feel like he was better than Mary Lou by more than 1 point.  I’d give him at least three 7’s. Makes me wonder if they’re being stingy with the points because they know Tinashe, Alexis, Juan Pablo, and DeMarcus are even better…

I didn’t realize Evanna had actually applied to three different colleges for dance.  She may be ringier than we initially thought.

Pretty damn good foxtrot from Evanna – she seems confident, on-time, and had great energy.  Keo’s choreo has improved, for sure – just wish he wasn’t quite so punchy, since it looked like he almost toppled her a few times.  I think the height difference is going to be a continuing issue.

I’m a bit puzzled as to why the judges seem so nitpicky with Evanna – did we watch the same dance? I thought it was actually pretty nice.

7, 5, 6 for Evanna – a pretty mixed bag, for 18/20.  Wish Len hadn’t tossed in the bit about foxtrot “not being a good dance for the first week”.  She’s gotta do it again tomorrow night, bruh – great job probably giving her a complex.

Anyone else flashing back to season 10 when typing “Evanna”? 🙂 Just me?

Erin still can’t say Artem’s name right. 😛

God that dog is adorbs 😛 I’m honestly really interested to see how Artem adapts his teaching to accomodate Danelle – that’s a challenge, for sure.

I’m kind of over this song, but wow – valiant first effort by both Danelle & Artem.  He kept the choreo simple, and stayed with her every step of the way.  This may be his defining season as a pro.

6, 6, 6 for Danelle – I think that’s fair, but I think by comparison, Evanna deserved a point or two more.

So far, everyone has been very good – there have been no Kattan’s or Hughley’s. Maybe that’s why the judges are being so critical – is this cast just pretty good, on the whole?

Not sure I’m loving the blunt bob on Sharna.  Looks a bit too wig-like.  I like her with a bit more texture.

Ok, it was a bit wacky at times, but that was pretty impressive for a jive, in week 1, by a guy with ZERO dance experience.  Definite room for improvement, but Bobby could be the underdog everyone roots for this season.

Bobby has serious “Willard from Footloose” vibes 😛 He gets 7, 6, 7 for a total of 20 – probably about right, if you throw in a handicap for having to do a tough dance like jive in week 1.

Here comes Juan Pablo – if what I’ve been hearing is true, get ready for the judges to whip out the “8” paddle…

I love that Andrea Barber is just going apesh*t for Juan Pablo 😛

Does Juan Pablo remind anyone else of Tony? Can’t say I adored the choreo of that salsa, but Juan Pablo danced the hell out of what he was given – he’s SMOOTH.  That routine took me back to everything that William & Cheryl’s cha cha in season 14 should have been.

Oh hay Shad!!! Glad to see he’s going to be on the show in a more permanent capacity – he’s hosting the online behind-the-scenes series.  🙂

Well I was partially right – Bruno whipped out the 8, while Carrie Ann & Len settled for 7’s.  Probably about right.

Poor Nikki has to follow that salsa with one of her own – and she’s apparently injured.  Hope she can pull something out.

On any other season, that would have probably been a decent-to-good salsa – unfortunately, on tonight’s show, it’s probably the weakest dance we’ve had so far.  But it was a good effort from Nikki – she stayed on time, and she sold it, even if it wasn’t technically strong. Is she taller than Gleb…? Why the hell didn’t they give her to Keo, who is currently towering over his partner???

Nikki gets 6, 5, 6, and has the lowest score of the night so far – 17.  I think that may be the kiss of death for Nikki, unfortunately – even though she seems like a cool gal I’d love to hang out with 🙁

Len trying to make it rain and failing.  Story of his life 😛

Loving Alexis & Alan’s costumes.  WTF happened with the camera??? Nipple shot???

Alexis is really good – if not a bit too “soft” in her movement.  Would have liked something a bit more hard-hitting for the jive.

Alexis gets 7, 7, 7 – for 21/30.  I could have sworn I heard Len scream “8” when he threw up his paddle.  I think that deserved at least a 23 – she was doing more than Juan Pablo.

Just putting this out there: I think Artur’s my favorite troupe member.  He just always looks so excited to be there, it’s darling 🙂

Nice Southern accent, Emma 😛

Actually quite a nice little quickstep from John – it wasn’t spectacular, but it was cute and he stayed on-time.  And he looked like he was having fun! 🙂

John gets 7, 5, 6 and contrary to what many believed, is not the lowest score of the night at 18.  He’s in a 3-way tie for the 2nd lowest score with Evanna & Danelle. I think he’s probably safe this week.

Here comes Tinashe – get ready for 8’s. Wow, she is stunning.

Ok, Tinashe gave me the impact I didn’t get from Alexis, but she did seem to get a bit off-balance at times.  Wasn’t wild about the song – wonder if that impacted the dance.  She ought to knock everyone’s socks off tomorrow night, since tomorrow they’ve got the better song.

Next week: New York night on Monday, Las Vegas night on Tuesday.  Guest performers include Boyz II Men, Blue Man Group, and…?

Tinashe gets 8, 7, 8 and is now the high score of the night at 23.  I think the only couple remaining that might give them a run for their money is DeMarcus & Lindsay.

Here’s Nancy, and my god – her skin is enviable.  And she’s got great hair, too.

Nancy actually looked really good in rehearsal, but I think nerves got to her a bit when she actually hit the stage.  Still – another unusually strong dance for week 1! The raw materials are there.

I don’t necessarily see Nancy as a finalist this season, but she seems cool – she could stick around for awhile.

Nancy gets three 6’s and is now in a 4-way tie second from the bottom.  This could get a bit dangerous, the way they’re bunching together scores.

Joe gives me Fred Savage vibes.  Something about him is just easy to like.  Thought by his accent, I would have said New York, not Chicago…hmm.

Poor Joe – that got kinda rough there in the middle, but the parts he did stay on-time on were actually pretty good.  He’s got work to do, but that was yet another admirable effort for the first week.

BE NICE, LEN – Joe is a complete non-dancer.

Oof – 5, 4, 5.  So he’s now pretty comfortably in the bottom with 14.  I still think he’s safe, though – Joe seems pretty popular and will probably get the votes to save him from elimination.

Now here comes DeMarcus, who I’m told OOZES charisma and is “a natural”.  Let’s see if he can make it happen.

VERY nice cha-cha from DeMarcus – he seems like a slightly more rough-around-the-edges Rashad, but he seems to have more of Donald’s enthusiasm.  He’s got a great foundation, and I think he might have a good journey this season and peak at the right time.

DeMarcus gets 8, 7, 8 and ties Tinashe for the high score of the night.  Told y’all he was one to watch 😉 I just love his smile.

Look for the power rankings at some point tomorrow.  I *might* try to crank out a numbers post, but no guarantees – running Pure by myself while trying to close out the quarter at work AND stay on top of school work is proving to be a challenging balancing act 😛 But thanks for hanging in there with me!!!

September 24, 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 27 – Las Vegas Odds Headed Into the Premiere

The Vegas odds…usually make me chuckle.  Bovada has posted their odds headed into week 1, and as I usually do, I find myself wondering just who they put in charge of making these odds…and how much (or how little) they know about how this show works. I tend to think they go more off of how well they think the contestants will dance, and don’t pay as much attention to the voting demographics of the show, or even the popularity of the pros the celebs are dancing with.  So here are the odds at the moment, with the “most likely to win” at the top and the “least likely to win” at the bottom:

1.) Tinashe – 11/4
2.) Mary Lou Retton – 10/3
3.) Evanna Lynch – 7/1
4.) Juan Pablo Di Pace – 8/1
5.) Alexis Ren – 8/1
6.) Milo Manheim – 9/1
7.) Nancy McKeon – 10/1
8.) DeMarcus Ware – 12/1
9.) Joe Amabile – 12/1
10.) Nikki Glaser – 12/1
11.) Danelle Umstead – 14/1
12.) Bobby Bones – 25/1
13.) John Schneider – 26/1

So right off the bat, I think they have VASTLY underestimated DeMarcus.  They really think Nancy, a middle-aged actress who’s been out of the limelight for awhile, has got a better chance of winning this than a recently retired Superbowl champ that spent most of his career with “America’s team”??? 😯 Oof…do you, Bovada. If I were the betting kind, I’d go put some money on DeMarcus right now, while his odds are low. I think they’re vastly OVERESTIMATING Mary Lou – sure, she’s a former Olympic gymnast, but she’s no spring chicken anymore, and likely can’t do the same stuff she was doing at 16; she’s also kind of splitting the nostalgia fanbase with John and Nancy.  I don’t think she even makes it to the finale. I think Bobby has a better shot at winning that John, Nikki, Danelle, and Joe, since he fits in well with the main voting demographic; I would probably drop Alexis a bit, as I’m not convinced her Instagram followers are really going to come through for her.

Thoughts?

September 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 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.