Thadeeeyus

Hope he sticks to it, unlike others who have made the same promise.

I haven't looked forward to finale night since the early days of the show because I'm not a fan of the theatrics/tricks/production numbers that make up the freestyles. And since this is now common in the regular season dances, it's even worse. That's probably why Rumer's freestyle appealed to me. It was just dancing. Especially following what I thought was a very messy freestyle by Riker, it was calming to see just the two of them. For me, Rumer's foxtrot was the dance of the night. Just gorgeous. So I guess I'm hoping for a Rumer win. I was liking Riker's freestyle for about 10 seconds, then all the extras just got in the way. The music seemed off, the props got in the way, the extra dancers got in the way, his footwork seemed way off at times. It just looked a mess. Not a Noah fan, but his freestyle may have been my favorite dance of his all season. Something about it just worked better for me. I liked him being in the dark colors so that at times I forgot he had missing limbs. I'm hoping it would be a compliment for him to be seen as one of the dancers, just another contestant. And I saw that at times with that freestyle. His jumps were pretty good and timed well.

I don't watch AGT so I'm just finding out about this family. Interesting first episode that was very well done by TLC standards. They certainly all appear very likable and talented - almost too perfect. I'm familiar with the Irish dance world and when digging for Willis Family information, I was surprised to see how far they had progressed in competitive ID. There's a lot of work involved in reaching that level. I'm intrigued and will continue to watch.

I would love this so much. How does it work on Strictly? Have they added in non-ballroom dances?

Chelsie's debut on the show followed that of Lacey who was a much less accomplished ballroom dancer. I was soundly against Lacey joining the show but I didn't have a problem with Chelsie because she did have the credentials.

I do feel like Anna is truthful in her comments. That's why I appreciate her view and miss her when she's not there. She has the ballroom expertise and knows how the show works, and her comments reflect that. If I were a super fan of a particular pro, her snark might bother me. But since my favorite pro changes from season to season, or even week to week, I can handle the negative comments. And most of the time I agree with her.

Has Chelsie been on since her famous, "They speak Spanish in South America?" line with Helio in the all-star season? Just kidding. I love Chelsie and would like to see her again.

My takeaways from last night. Loved everything about Rumer's "rumba"! Wonderful dancing in a ballroom style. If TPTB didn't manipulate, that's how I would see all the numbers. Good music and ballroom. White was NOT the best color for Noah. Robert is beginning to annoy. Surprisingly, Chris didn't annoy. Erin IS SO annoying! I feel asleep after the first two trios so I can't comment on them.

I was a fan of Allison's work on SYTYCD and followed her career somewhat after her season on that show. Though I wasn't thrilled about her coming to DWTS since she didn't have the ballroom background, I was willing to give her more of a shot because I liked her in general. But she just leaves me cold on this show. I don't like her at all. Contrast this with Lacey who I did not want on the show at all due to her background and the fact that this marked the beginning of the SYTYCD crossovers. Even though she lacked the strong ballroom background and seemed a hot mess at times, she kind of grew on me. This isn't happening with Allison.

I believe Derek came up with something for Shannon Elizabeth... ;)

Yes! Julianne's presence as a judge still bugs me. I'm assuming that bringing her back as a pro would be an admittance of failure on her part in her efforts to follow her "real" passions of singing and acting, so that wasn't an option. But yes, she should have been a regular pro dancer. I also would not want any Ballas to be on the judging panel, or Maks. It's all too incestual. That's just it. Everyone is closely intertwined. Is it possible to have an unbiased judge with experience in ballroom? Aren't they all part of the same cliques? Hasn't Len worked with some of the pros in the past? But hey, would it really matter who the judges are? I completely believe the judges are told who to pimp, what scores to give, etc, so does it really matter who the mouthpiece is?

How was the flip show? Does it look like they are doing any of the actual work?

A couple more comments. I was disappointed when they all agreed that big production numbers are a good thing and implied that having just the couples onstage doing the same dance was boring. I loved when the show was that way, and I'd think that the technicians would prefer it as well, so that they could more easily compare techniques. Didn't care for Shirley's comments about Henry. Whatever happened was not part of the show and it sounded like it's something he had talked to her about personally. I don't follow any of these people and know nothing about any behind-the-scenes gossip, but this seemed very much out of place, especially considering Mark's very pointed positive mentions of Henry a few weeks ago. I agreed with their comments on the lack of consistency on things like rules on the lifts changing depending on the couple, like Derek not being criticized for use of the troupe when others are, etc. That has to be the hardest things for the competitors to try and deal with, but it's one of the most expected things with this show. Has there ever been any consistency? Don't understand their praise of Riker and Alison. Shirley mentioned Riker's dance experience, but blew it off by saying "So, what? A lot of people do". Not ballroom, Shirley. And I don't agree that Alison has gotten a lot better this season.

I loved their snark on the show. Can anyone who has been associated with this show for 10 years really NOT snark on it? It's so ridiculous now. I doubt they said anything that any long-time viewer isn't already aware of. I'm glad they were frank about Chris and appreciated the explanation of how hard it is for Noah to just stand, his core, etc. I sided with Shirley about Rumer being underscored, and sided with Corky about Derek being indulgent. I like they they praised a lot of the pros and it wasn't just a Mark praise fest. Entertaining show.

When Mark was on Afterbuzz a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that Willow had to take off an additional day every week, like Shawn did. He didn't mention the number of hours, though.

I feel the same way. I was annoyed by Mark for several seasons, but he's been drawing me in the past couple of years with his partnerships. He seems to be their go-to male pro for certain types of contestants, those who they maybe want to protect from the harsher aspects of the show or something. Maybe he has a more gentle teaching style. So sorry to see Willow go. I didn't think she was a great dancer but she was loving the experience and her enthusiasm was contagious. I'm also wondering who's voting for Chris. I didn't think he was well-liked as a bachelor. I enjoyed Rumer's jive quite a bit and thought her foxtrot was the best dance of the night! The scoring on the jive just makes me laugh. No, you can't take this show seriously.

The judges have no control of how they place the contestants. They are told what the placement needs to be and it's up to them to make that happen with their scores and comments. The more entertaining and crazy they appear, the more likely it is their clips will be replayed on entertainment shows and GMA the next day. They are clowns who are just following the script.

Corky and Shirley TOGETHER on the same show? Oh, I'm definitely watching this one.

This episode was pretty blah. They really need to have someone good in studio. Anna calling in is better than nothing, but it's not enough.

"Alice's Theme", by Danny Elfman, from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

I'm fine with Darvina on the show but I found myself disagreeing with a couple of the things she said tonight. I doubt Chris was bothered dancing the Rumba with Whitney in the audience, and I agree with Anna that Suzanne is already showing some good technique in her dances and doesn't necessarily need to step it up with the technique. Maybe drop some of the shtick and focus on the dance. I thought Anna's comments about Riker interesting. CA had said that Riker and Alison seemed to be fighting each other and Anna thought Riker's previous ballroom experience with leading may be the cause of this. She said they are both used to being strong and independent, and this journey of working with a partner is something they are sharing. They are both learning. I need to watch Nastia's dance again to check out the foot sickling. Anna was sure her foot was sickled a couple of times and Suri was adamant that Nastia never sickles her feet. lol. I did enjoy Anna's comments about Willow and what a work horse she is and her fierceness. That she never complains and definitely does not act like a 14-year-old. Poor Chris. Those comments were pretty negative. Keo: "not great". Anna: "unfortunate". Pretty please.

So glad I watched this week's show. You were right about Mark. He really was a good guest and did a great job talking about the different topics. So funny about his accent coming and going. Loved his story about Willow's dad forcing her to take a break when she didn't want to. The only breaks they take are for snacks. It was also good to have a reminder that Willow has to take a day off from rehearsal due to being underage, like with Shawn. And he mentioned he hears from Sadie almost every day, and she encourages him. He also hears from her family. When talking about Charlotte and and phone and how a contestant has to put everything into the rehearsal time because it's everyone's time, not just theirs, Mark mentions that Willow has no phone. Mark really wants Henry to come back as a pro. I enjoyed Anna's description of how Michael was dressed on Monday and how wearing white is not a good idea and that it actually made people look at him and not Peta, And Nastia's "cricket legs"? Curious way to describe them but then she went on to explain about the flexibility and how she should keep some of it in reserve and not go as far as she can. Good job, Mark. Thoroughly enjoyable. I found Suri less annoying as the host than she usually is as a commentator.

That's the impression I've always had, that the pros are told to go in a certain direction. Which is why you get some of the eye rolls from them in the face of judges' comments about the music, style, etc. I feel that Suzanne is capable of doing more actual dancing than she has been given. She seems to be moving well in the heels. I hope we get a chance to see if she can. From last night's show, I enjoyed Rumer and Val the most. The choreo was interesting, well done, and it was danced very well. After that, Sharna's choreo made the biggest impression. I can't say that I'm enjoying Noah's dancing, but I'm always curious what Sharna will come up with. I think Charlotte's departure is a week overdue. Her first-week dance was one of the worst I've ever seen and I wasn't going to be able to get over that, and last night's dance was pretty shaky. But I'm curious about the treatment she got last night. They knew she was going home so they could have been kinder like they were with Redfoo.

Thanks for the update. When I saw that Anna wasn't on last night, I decided not to watch. I like this show because there are usually former pros or someone with ballroom dance experience giving their perspective. Without Anna I feel like I'm just listening to more fan comments. They should get Louis on the show. ;)

Louis said, Oh I love it when the pros spill the beans. Thanks for bringing that over. Here's hoping that any pro who has won an award actually did the choreo himself.