Buggin

I know Dial Idol is so 2005 but for shits and giggles I went there just to see what they were saying and they had Candace and Mark having like 3x as many votes as the other couples. I would seriously be so freaking amused if Candace actually won. I don't see it happening but I'm pretty sure everyone on stage would be in shock.

Tristan, in his own very diplomatic way, pretty much confirmed he was blindsided about not being back this season. I would have loved to see Amy with Tristan, or with just about any other pro except Maks. She may not have made the finals without Derek, but I think she would have been given more. Tristan, I think above any other pro, cares first and foremost about his partner's journey on the show. He just loves to teach and I have no doubts he would have taught Amy the dances well, not just used "creative choreography" to hide limitations or not allow her to dance full out. I think I will actually feel really bad for Maks if he doesn't win, as turned off by his utter desperation as I am. I'm hoping he'll get the MBT and have some closure so that he can leave the show. I don't even dislike him, I just don't love him as a pro teacher and I think Meryl was probably the best he will ever get because she's so good AND can handle him. I think he'll forever compare any future partners to her and get frustrated much more easily, which is a shame because he's a great dancer. But I think of the two brothers, Val is the superior teacher.

Melissa and Tony used aerialists in their contemporary freestyle. I know not the same as if Melissa had done it herself but the concept was kind of similar so that might be why I wasn't very blown away by it. Still would have liked to see a Charlie/Sharna freestyle. Contemporaries kind of depress me and I missed Smiley Charlie dancing tonight.

All these weeks later and this still makes my blood boil as much as it did the week of the cast announcement. I missed Tristan so much this season.

The finale is split into 2 nights next week (Monday and Tuesday). Monday night will be the final performances for the remaining couples that can be voted on (and I think one couple will be eliminated at the end of that episode). All the ousted couples return for Tuesday night's show and most dance again - usually a dance they've done previously but sometimes some of the couples do new routines.

Three 10s for another dance where half of it was spent sitting, this time on a table? Come on. Sad about Charlie. I just adored his personality. Don't think James, Candace, or even Amy deserve to be in the finals any more than he did but oh, well. I voted for him, not much else to do. Sigh.

Really? I still think there's a very good chance they won't pull it off. I'm thinking Amy and Derek might actually win the whole thing. I think the producers desperately want Maks and Derek in until the very end to maximize the drama.

The Voldesite is gleeful that Meryl was dropped. I hope she's not hurt. When I'm in my 50s, if I'm still spending all of my time obsessing over someone young enough to be my son and snarking on people who dare to have an opinion contrary to mine about a reality show, just take me out back and put me out of my misery please...

I agree that Tristan's absence did seem to be noted more than some other pros this season. Not just by his own fans but just by fans of the show in general. I'm not sure if he'll be back but I think between him and maybe Henry there is a good chance that Tony might start being passed over. I like Tony but I just don't think he's a big enough draw at this point for TPTB to feel they need to keep him on.

I have to wonder if Tony senses his tenure on the show might be in jeopardy and he's feeling pressure to show he is still relevant by stripping down and creating drama (not that I think he's been that dramatic but maybe he wants producers to think he can be if they want it for TV).

Conrad Green is leaving his post as executive producer at DWTS.

Agreed on Derek. I thought the dance was pretty awkward. He did what he had to do to get through but I would have liked to have seen him teach her a quickstep or something. I think his fans still voted for Amy, though, since they want her to continue on with Derek so NeNe might not be safe. Val and Meryl looked so great together. I wish they were partners instead of Maks and Meryl now. I also liked Witney better with Drew, Cheryl better with James, and Mark better with Amy.

I was confused when Kristyn was tweeting that the pairs would be surprising. Not a single one was surprising to me. I didn't bother to follow much about the voting because TPTB always do what they want, but I made guesses on how things would shake up and almost all were correct (the only ones I switched were Peta and Cheryl but that was probably more wishful thinking on my part). A lot of the "inside scoop" that shows on Twitter is stuff that can easily be deduced from process of elimination or just plain paying attention since after 18 seasons of this show it's pretty predictable.

LOL, I was going to say, I don't think Derek has yet had a partner that qualifies for Medicare. ;)

Thank you for sharing this info. Some other sites were complaining about Maks not getting called out for his "not a foxtrot" so I'm glad to see it was, in fact, a foxtrot.

Not surprised to see BDW drop out. Would have liked to see Diana get one more week since she was so joyful about the whole experience. Loved Meryl and Maks' dance. I also really enjoy Val's contemporary choreography and even though I haven't been crazy about him and Danica so far, I liked their dance a lot. Charlie makes me smile. I thought his dance was so great! I hope he is in the finals. I really like Emma and hope she doesn't get the Tristan treatment as a pro...first time out going a little further than expected with the middle-aged celeb, then stuck on Grandma/Grandpa duty the rest of the seasons.

I miss Tristan terribly! There were a number of potentially great partners for him this season. If TPTB decide to scale back the nonsense next season and return to the ballroom dancing show this once was, I do hope they ask him back. He's such a great teacher and a class act all around.

I'm already convinced the producers have the partners chosen and everyone spending their days tweeting these hash tags is wasting their time and clogging up other people's timelines. I hate the Twitter votes. I use Twitter to follow news about the show but I'm not going to spend all day tweeting. If they had a poll set up where you could vote once a day or something I would do that but otherwise, not worth it. The only gimmick that would make incessant tweeting worth it for me was if they included former pros and let them come back for a week. Hmm, they should do that anyway. Give all the current pros a week off and bring back old pros to dance with the celebs once a season.