ATLGirl

I just wanted to say that I meant to post Allie's picture during the pledge as a separate post but it somehow snuck into one I had just posted. I wasn't implying Allie was "big" like Mr. Critical Fan Man commented about Megan. I was just happy to see one of the new DCC in a game photo. She looks great to me. I did giggle to see she was right next to a football player when the rules are so stringent about cheerleaders staying away from players. I guess for the pledge it was okay, eh? ;-)

Regardless of whether she looked "big" or not, I'm willing to bet the man behind you had a beer gut and was chowing down on a big plate of nachos with extra cheese. I find that the more obese the male, the more critical and vocal they are about their views of a woman's appearance. Just my two cents. Here's a picture from today's game off the Dallas NBC affiliate. I can't remember the name of this cheerleader, is it Allie?

Reflections... 1. Liking what I see from Cersten, who was my favorite fan vote girl. Love her energy and how she attacks the dances. 2. Poor tall girl whose name I cannot remember. Was Rachel Buckmaster that tall? Did they not notice how tall she was before? Reminds me of when they kept poor Mindy Correa until the very end and "suddenly" realized how short she was. Gimme a break. 3. Melissa R. Oh please send her back home. The whole interchange with Jackie about her being captain of the pom squad was laughable. BEEP! Bring back Candace Romo! 4. I've been on the fence about Kelsey all this time but I became a fan tonight. Kelli's remarks were totally tacky and uncalled for, as if she was trying to make Kelsey grovel for her spot in training camp. Kelsey was very gracious, she has new respect from me. 5. Kelli's Peter Maxx-style dress (anybody besides me old enough to remember him?) needs to be burned. 6. My thought about Tasha is that she reminds me of the Minshew sister that was accused of being fake or mannequin-like. I want her to "break a nail or something." 7. Still in love with Madeline, at her new poise and confidence. Even her voice sounds more mature. Go Mads! 8. To counter that, Oklahoma Heather sounded very young and like she was reading off a paper. But she can clearly dance. 9. New catch phrase: tight as a tick. ?

I couldn't either. My only thought was maybe she thought all her powerful dancing could make them overlook it. But as we all know, kicks are a deal breaker that they don't let slide. Especially in recent years.

The sharp decrease in applicants this year got me thinking. In years past, they had tons of people trying out that clearly were too old/too fat/too clueless/too dance challenged. This year, not nearly so many to point out for twerking! Just a lot of floor tumbleweeds, ha ha. I'm surprised Kitty did not nail Milan about her hair for finals practice. The way it looked pulled up off her face did not look good and the judges noticed the dull color. But she looked much better on the field with it down and more natural. Someone mentioned not seeing much of Selena and I had hoped to see more of her as well. She looked more confident and mature. Glad she made it to camp! Getting to see more back stories on girls like Mandy, Heather O, Maggie and Milan was great. Now I have even more TCCs to root for! After the Taylor Low Kicks debacle last year, I think they have gotten uber strict on letting anyone with even mediocre kicks so that's why Royesha got nixed faster than she might have been in past years. BEEP! More style! ???

So many spot on observations already made! May I add a few? 1. Did anyone notice Charlotte say Dallas COWBOY Cheerleaders at one point? I gasped. Wasn't she the one that asked Jordan Baum one year if it was singular or plural and pointed out it was plural? 2. Very cool to see the vets practicing the routine! Kudos to whomever put that in. Nice to see Kashara's reflections on her rookie year. 3. Marshall (aka Man Bun) finally got some words in about Milan's lackluster hair. But the editors seem to like repeating his crazy eyes stare shots. 4. I agree with MyFavShows on the wood paneling practice nooks. What is up with that? But it's got to be better than dancing in a parking space like they made poor Kylee do during her spot last week. 5. Candace Romo totaly cracked me up. Please keep her around the rest of the show! Let Melissa R. stay on maternity leave. 6. After what I'd heard earlier about Kat's dress, I was expecting it to be streetwalker material. When you consider how tiny the actual uniform is, a few cutouts in a dress seem tame to me. It was her dancing, though, that sealed her fate. Didn't someone else say she was late to her interview? 7. Was Hunter the one who hadn't read a book or knew any classic authors? OUCH! 8. Is a deodorant company a big show sponsor this year? All the "Break a Sweat" stuff makes me think so! ?

IKR! When she's sitting next to someone who has had foundation/blush applied with a paint sprayer and spackle, Maddie hardly looks like she's wearing any of it. I did giggle a bit when Charlotte suggested Emily "soften her makeup" a bit because of her stare effect. I wanted to say if Emily didn't soften it after watching herself from Season 9, she never will. Not happening. She did seem more polished, however, in dancing and maturity.

Last year, I got the sense that it was truly the first time Madeline was away from her family and was getting a taste of life as an adult. That probably had a big impact on her. I can't imagine being under the pressure of being expected to do really well in training camp AND be out on her own in a big city. It looked like she was pretty sheltered in her mom's studio before that. She still looks young, yes. But she definitely seems more relaxed and at peace with herself and who she is. That's bound to translate into better dancing and being less freaked out/nervous.

This was exactly my situation when I graduated with a BA in journalism but I stayed on to get a master's in English literature in hopes it would make me more marketable. Nope, it didn't. I could has joined you with that sign easily! ?

Angela and Jinelle both come from an English-speaking country. Yuko does not. To compare them to Yuko is apples and oranges. Just not the same thing. Emily, as Judy said, "can't even pop her head" when she danced. She had no confidence and no curves. Yuko seems very confident and a solid dancer. I think if she were unhealthily thin, Jay would have said it as he openly did in Colby's case. In fact, he was one of Yuko's biggest fans. Had she looked bad in the uniform, Kelli and Judy would have nixed her in a heartbeat. They've done it many times before. She said she "gets a little lonely sometimes" and yeah, she cried a little. I think if I was being interviewed and someone asked me if I missed home, I'd probably tear up a bit. She didn't sob uncontrollably. Her comment about "It's so hard" clearly was done later in the show, not in the first episode. And it is hard to come from Japan to Texas and learn the language, where the Southern accent can make learning English even harder. It sounded more like a statement of fact than a complaint to me. In the preview, we see Yuko in the office one time and it looks like a Kitty night where anybody is fair game. Can't imagine being under that spotlight. She's not pictured in any of the "this is your last night" office scenes. I don't recall anyone saying she was in the office several times for her dancing. If they did, I missed it. I can, however, see if they called her in to discuss her visa issues often since that has been mentioned as a problem. I can admit I'm probably quite biased. I always root for the underdog. And future episodes may prove me wrong about her. I do see why some people think she's annoying. But I like her a lot.

I want to like Tasha as well and I'm willing to give that a some time, too. The romance novel cover photo shoot pics left me with a very bad taste in my mouth but I need to let that go, I guess. She looked less staged on MTT but I still think her makeup made her look 33 instead of 25. Maybe they will soften/freshen her up? Poor Fabio. It didn't help that they edited the shots of him to look...er...a bit crazed. Especially during the pee on the floor moment and you saw him looking crazy eyed with a blast of piano string/horror film music for effect. Oh, and upon watching the episode the second time, I counted them showing the AT&T Stadium sign about 21 times total. I bet Charlotte was pleased. ?

Hi! I think I've only posted twice since I joined and that was a year or two ago. Clearly, I've been in lurk mode. I've got the first MTT special burned on DVD (hubby did it for me) and all the other seasons except for two. So I am a huge fan and have followed the show for quite a while. Mind if I share a few thoughts? 1. I think CMT must have agreed with JJ/Charlotte for the camera to pan over to show the "AT&T STADIUM" sign every five minutes. Definitely more than in past shows. Glad to see Phil is still around! 2. Ramos made me cringe. Totally unnecessary. 3. I was expecting Candace Romo to be awful but was pleasantly surprised. Her empathy with the blessedly unidentified Pee Girl was nice. 4. Loved Yuko, what little we got to see of her. She has been living with a former DCC that I know on Facebook and the few posts I've seen of Yuko have been charming and cute. Eager to see more of her. 5. Man Bun/Weird Eyes hair salon guy freaked me out. Reiner was always deadpan in his expressions (unless he and Kelli were butting heads in the salon) but fairly normal. This guy was just bizarre. 6. Jury is still out on Tasha. Her romance cover photo shoot with her husband where they are lying on the bed (she's all made up and he's shirtless but wearing belted dress pants?) had me predisposed to dislike her. Her overdone makeup ages her unfortunately. I think the CMT spin on her is misleading since she IS married now. I'm more open, though, to seeing what she's like in camp. 7. Love that Madeline made it back. Yeah, she cried a little but wasn't sobbing about having to "pick a date" like Auto Amy did last year. 8. This is not first episode related but I am a Team Holly P girl all the way. I wish I had been as confident and talented at such a young age. Kashara is my second favorite for her ability to be goofy/funny. 9. One more thing. Favorite MTT moment ever: When Kelli told Brandi Kilby that she looked like a stripper. PRICELESS! Especially since Brandi returned the next year and kicked butt.

Lurker and first-time poster here. I've watched every season from start to finish. I am going to take a risk and go against the tide. I'm with Dopeydwarf. I like Vivan. Mind if I sit with you, Dopey? If you had the cameras on you all the time (as she clearly did this year), it might make you act a little different, too. Is she a little overdramatic? Probably. But I don't think it means she's a bad person. A lot of eyes are on her right now because of last year. Just like Carissa was. It's bound to have an impact on how you act. She came so close to making it last year so yes, it's going to be a very big deal to her. As for the finger pointing thing when her name was called, I saw it as an excited, happy gesture. She was the last one called both times (at semis and finals) so I'd probably have been doing crazy things, too. As for choosing a lyric routine for her solo, yes, that was a mistake. Maybe she thought it would make her stand out from the others, who were doing a lot of hip hop. But in the end she still made it to TC. She's quite humble and kind on her Facebook page (imho) so I enjoy keeping up with what's she's doing. She also responds to every tweet on Twitter. So while I can see why some find her annoying, I'm not a hater. I found Cassie Trammel WAY more annoying over the years. Her most groan-worthy moment (to me) was when she was re-auditioning one year and she said, "Gee, if I didn't make it...that would suck." I'm looking forward to seeing how Melissa develops since she's blowing everyone else away so far. That whole "foot touching her head" move in her solo was amazing. Clearly she won't have flexibility issues, eh? :-)