Supersonic

These are very valid points and It makes me wonder who is driving the song choice. I know people say that the pros submit their lists about what songs they want to choreograph too but I also know that Val has a history of deferring to his partner a lot on song choice (remember Elizabeth and Cher week?). Furthermore, with this being disney week, I wonder what songs they got clearance for and there have been too many changes (they were originally slated to do a tango but switched to the samba) while other times the song choices are producer driven (remember Val and Janel during Broadway week wherein there was a possibility they couldn't use the song unless he changed the choreography?). Just as I typed this, Afterbuzz's Kristyn Burtt's voice popped up in my head shouting, "This is a highly produced show." Maybe because it is true.

Hey all... My first time commenting this season... I have to say that last night's Disney night was hit and miss for me... Some of the song choices made me scratch my head but I don't fault the pros for that. I also had to scratch my head at some of the rehearsal packages being shown. Is the writing on the wall for some of these contestants? Rumer & Val - I detected a lot of samba steps. Sure, it was missing the traditional samba bounce/feel but couldn't that be attributable to song choice and execution on Rumer's part . And I think people are misconstruing the Val comment saying that the tango would be too limiting... Think back to the critiques people were giving Val and Rumer. Before, the critique for them was most of their dances were dark, intense and in some aspects, one-note. Even Anna on After-Buzz said that their waltz was similar to their foxtrot from Week 1. If they did the tango then wouldn't the critique been the same? I think people would have questioned how come they couldn't do something light and and fun. In the beginning it was reported that they would do the tango and then it got changed to the samba. In that rehearsal package it looked that Rumer was driving the song choice and character choice, if that is the case, would it be safe to assume that Rumer was driving the dance choice as well? In spite of all that, I thought Val did a great job choreography-wise. I think the fault lies with Rumer in how she executes these steps. She is really stiff/strong in her upper body which does not allow for that loose swaying and bounce that the samba dictates. Also the staging was quite unfortunate because the cauldron, smoke and camera work hid the samba footwork so if you weren't paying close attention, people would have missed some of the steps. Not understanding Emma's comment that there was hardly any samba content because I detected the following: 0:10-0:14 It is hard to see behind the cauldron but carioca runs as Rumer picks up the two beakers... 0:23-0:25 Rolling of the Arm (she only does 1/2 of the movement and doesn't complete the roll back out) 0:28-0:30 Samba Locks 0:30-0:32 Rock Step 0:40-0:43 Carioca Runs 0:43:0:45 Maypole 0:45-0:47 Samba Locks 0:47-0:48 Stationary Samba Walk 0:51-0:55 Promenade to a Counter Promenade run 1:07-1:11 Reverse Samba Roll in Shadow position 1:19-1:21 Batucada So note to Emma, there was quite a lot of Samba in there. Oh well...it was a valiant effort if a tad overscored. Ms. Patti & Artem - That yellow looked gorgeous on her... I admire her pushing through despite her injury. She really does fill the ballroom with her presence and it is captured on screen as well. LIke Bruno said, the routine was simple but executed well. Chris & Witney - That rehearsal package rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't get bringing Alfonso back. Way to let your current partner know that he falls short in so many ways. I think it just showed a lack of awareness on Witney's part. She needs to simplify her routines and get back to the whole having fun bit. In their rehearsals, I've noticed that she's teaching them the routine/choreography and not necessarily how to dance. Like Julianne said, take some time to practice counting to the music... I feel like we may be seeing the back of Chris soon and very soon if he doesn't improve his dancing and his attitude. Noah & Sharna - I really enjoyed it though I would have loved to see Noah danced this with a prosthetic arm. However, if he isn't comfortable then there's nothing we can do about that. I did notice that Sharna did a lot of dancing around him so I would love for the next routine to have more dancing on his end. And special kudos to the band for butchering one of my favorite Disney songs. Willow & Mark - I want them to go back to a stripped down dance with no big production now. I really didn't like this routine. Like not at all. It made me uncomfortable to see Willow dressed so young and if you knew the background of Alice in Wonderland and its author, then you would think wow... Why did they make a Disney movie out of that. I was reminded of Willow's age (I'm reminded every week even though people on the show would like to convince me otherwise) but I agree with Len, I thought she got lost again. Mark gets points for being creative but I just want him to scale it back from here on out... Just focus on Willow's dancing and not make a production out of it. Nastia & Derek - Another routine that I didn't like but to be fair, I literally thought that they were going to go into hold and do a ballroom dance after seeing their costumes... It wasn't until halfway I asked myself if this was a jazz routine.. I don't know... it was confusing. And here is another song that the band butchered so I was distracted by that. I see Nastia begin to show her 'fun, happy side.' Maybe the switch in practice partners (From Henry to Sasha) had something to do with it. I am waiting for Nastia & Derek to wow me. Robert & Kym - Poor Robert... He doesn't do well with fast-paced dances. That quickstep was just too quick for him. And it wasn't just starting on the wrong foot, he was off-beat for most of the dance. Had it not been for Kym grabbing him in hold, I think it would have been even worse. He also needs to work on not bunching his shoulders when he's in hold. Hopefully, his fans will come out and keep him in because it was rather unfortunate and you can tell that he really wants to be there. Riker & Allison - More and more I see of Riker, the more pity I feel for him because the fault does not lie with him this week (nor for any of the past weeks). It is become readily apparent that Allison is not cut out to be a pro on this season... Not a teaching pro. She throws everything but the kitchen sink in all of her routines that it is hard for me to focus on one move. As a result, their routines always turns out to be somewhat jerky and just too chaotic. As others have said, his pigeon toes drove me notes but more importantly, the paso is about intensity and sometimes intensity requires everything to be slowed down a bit so you can see the fluidity of the arm movements and really appreciate the flamenco aspects of the dance. Suzanne & Tony - So there was an article released earlier that hinted that Suzanne was ready to quit or was ready to leave. Once I saw that, I was like oh no... what is going on? I was kind of meh on her based on last week's revisionist foxtrot but this week's rehearsal package had me scratching my head. In her defense, I thought her fanbase big enough to overcome Chris but I guess not.

And per Val's After Buzz interview, she will be doing another sexy number with a Samba (insert rolls eyes emoji)... I want this girl to do another ballroom number so we can see another side of her. But at least with the samba being so technical, I can focus on her hand and foot placement. I am curious to see how she copes with the complicated footwork, hip action and bounce. I find Janel to be very gangly in her legs and arms so it will be interesting to see how she does with a dance that requires that she be more grounded and more in tune with her body's natural rhythm. I think that has been my problem all along with her (other than the faux romance/showmance)... I really don't feel like she is following Val's lead and really focusing on improving the technical aspects of her dance. Val is being very clever in masking some of her shortcomings but I think she/they have been relying too much on the performance aspect and even that has been hit-and-miss.

Okay... this is my first comment but I felt compelled to comment after reading the previous comments. I think people seem to forget this is a highly produced reality show... Emphasis on highly produced. Whatever you may think about Derek or Val (or anyone else), do note that nothing happens on that show that the tptb don't want to happen. So, let's not start in the blame game (if anything, blame them). Yes, the public's votes do matter but only when it is conducive to the show's ratings and beneficial to their bottom line. Plus, there is so much that they don't show us... I think even with the all-access cameras we don't really see everything... Now if they have us all access camera footage to their rehearsals and production meetings, that might be a different story... Makes me miss the confessionals even more. We don't get to see much outside the highly edited rehearsal packages.