skittl3862

It probably won't get you on the air, but I tweeted about the chairs in Derek's number last night and the DWTS All Access account asked me to tune into their coverage. I wasn't referring to literally props use, but treating her as a prop instead of a partner. The last traditional, straight-forward, minimal production routine he did was the Charleston...with Sadie. Even the Viennese Waltz this week had to have a backstory and plotline. Derek seems to come up with concepts and then tries to fit her and her abilities into his vision, instead of the other way around. Sure, the trio looked great conceptually, but she didn't dance great. His routines have become less about the dances and more about the production on an almost weekly basis. And even though the producers are pushing for it in general, to me, it's a lot more obvious with him than most other longtime pros, like Cheryl or Tony or Karina, who still manage to include plenty of traditional routines. Even Mark is starting to look restrained in comparison. The knee-jerk defense to literally any criticism or disappointment levied his way doesn't help and is a total turn-off. As I said, Derek used to be my favorite pro. I just don't think Bethany's cute personality is enough to outweigh her consistently B+ performances to deserve a win this season, and this week's dances only drove that home for me.

Why would being paired with Val equal producer favoritism? He's come in 6th the past 2 seasons. That's hardly a free pass to the finals. And he hasn't been around long enough to "deserve" the MBT like Maks or Tony's wins.

The dance was in my opinion, almost an exact replica, save for a few steps, of Derek and Shawn's trio Samba with Mark in the All-Stars season. Eh, Derek already ripped himself off last season with Nene's Afro-Jazz, and Mark used it the season before that with Aly Raisman. There's also about 2-3 "1950s couple on the sofa" routines person season. I see that yellow sofa and I cringe. Or the little patio table. Or the dozen cheerleader-themed routines over the years. Lots of similar routines have occured over the years, especially as the producers' push for production value. I'm glad they're "underscoring" Derek this season. I think he deserves it. IMO he's coasting this season. Betheny is fine. But she's not as strong a dancer as his past partners have been at this point. I feel like instead of working with her to improve, or working around her faults as he has always been so great at in the past, she's just a prop in his elaborate productions. It's the semifinals and she still pauses like a deer in the headlights when she's waiting for him to lead her. That should be in check by now. Maybe Derek needs a hit to the ego to rein him in next season. It's called Dancing With the Stars, not Stars Dancing to Win Derek Another Emmy. I want Season 10-15 Derek back. He was my favorite. As soon as they announced Tommy was safe, I knew Lea was gone. I was shocked when I heard the intro to Turn Down for What, but I actually loved it and thought it worked really well with the dance. Most of the time, the show picks creaky old songs from the 1950s, or modern songs that are completely wrong for the style, but this worked really well. Have we already forgotten Amy Purdy?

True, but it's a family show. It's kind of hard to work that into a critique of Lea's dance. That said, in one of the early weeks, Lea had joked about being a cougar in the package and Carrie Ann said she was one too. Artem's eyebrows almost hit the ceiling and Tom hurried the topic along. They all seemed pretty amused at her slip.

Can someone explain the logic of the scoring to me? Val and Janel got a perfect score. Alfonso and Whitney got a 38, but got 3 from the challenge. So even though Val and Janel got a perfect score, Alfonso and Whitney are a point ahead of them going into next week because they got to compete for bonus points and Val and Janel didn't. How is that fair? The team who won immunity is almost punished for the privilege. I'm being nitpicky because we're getting to the end and I'm annoyed the judges aren't calling them out on this. Lea- For some reason, her dances just feel slow to me. Sometimes it's the choreography, but tonight, they were dancing side by side during both their routines tonight, and she was definitely slower than Artem. It was weird to see such a flowy jive. I can't see them going to the finals unless Sadie/Janel/Betheny trainwrecks next week. I like Artem. I hope he'll be back next season and can grow into the DWTS-style choreography. From what I've seen of SCD, they're still more traditional ballroom. His dances kind of stick out compared to Derek Hough's annual Emmy reel and the American production values. Janel- I guess giving the pair contemporary made it easier but them having contemporary doesn't make others miss steps. Less of an issue this week, but I find her facial expressions are distracting. It reminds me of a cheerleader- just way over the top to match what is going on with the rest of her body. She doesn't need to play to the back of the house when the camera is zoomed in on her. Betheny- Derek is an amazing choreographer and partner. She would not have gotten this far without him. She keeps doing this thing during a routine where for a beat and a half, she's standing there, not moving, hands out and waiting for Derek to lead her. At this point in the competition, it stands out. Sadie- In all honesty, she hasn't made much of an impression on me. Her dances are cute. She's cute. I don't have any real issue with her, but I don't think I've ever been blown away by her either. That said, my father, who is a super conservative Christian said he's annoyed by her name-dropping Jesus ever week. This is the man who made us say grace aloud at restaurants growing up. If he finds it off-putting, I can't imagine how normal people feel. Alfonso- He's defintiely the best dancer on the show. I wish they would give him a more serious ballroom dance next week, like Argentine Tango or Viennese Waltz or even foxtrot, to get him out of his silly/gimmicky/fun comfort zone. He's had nearly all Latin dances or non-ballroom dances. Get that man in a hold. Tommy- If he's not gone next week, I will be shocked. I can't see them doing a "Surprise elimination" for one of the serious contenders when they have a 76-year-old with a bum leg who can't remember choreography coasting along on the stoner vote. He's sweet and fun, but now that Michael's gone, he needs to go. To echo others' complaints, I really want the contemporary to be used a lot more sparingly next season. It used to be once a season on special weeks with hip-hop and the Charleston, and suddenly it's a weekly option. It does a disservice to most of the ballroom-trained pros, and the judges who don't seem to know how to score it objectively. Prediction for Finals: Alfonso is the best by far. Derek will be in the finals no matter what. I think next week's show will be the game changer for Janel and Sadie. I'm leaning towards Sadie for the viewers, but Janel has scored higher consistently. I think next week, Janel will get a middle-of-the-pack score and Sadie will be top of the leader board so the judges can transition to fawning over her.

When Val and/or Mark win 5 seasons, or make the finals all but once in the past 8 seasons, then maybe they'll need the challenge. Val hasn't won once and won't win with Janel. Mark won 2 times with "ringer" partners, but has finished 9th, 10th, and 11th. He might get into the finals with Sadie, but after this week showing how weak Sadie is with the structured ballroom dances, unless there is some serious producer intervention where Sadie magically doesn't get any Argentine Tango or foxtrot dances, I don't see Mark/Sadie winning. All the judges called her out on the weak hold. It will be interesting to see if that was a character choice for the zombie routine or her actual hold. Betheny's routine was fine. I'm not knocking it. I just think it was more evident how overscored she is when she got a 9 from Len for doing just as much "messing about" with the production as everyone else, and he gave everyone else 7s and 8s in protest. And no, "plus size woman" actor on Glee who does song and dance routines for a living, or a Paralympic medal-winning athlete is not the same as getting Cloris Leachman or Billy Dee Williams. I won't dignify your "ghetto ex-con rapper" comment with a response.

I suspect next week, if Michael isn't voted off legitimately, we'll get an announcement that Michael has injured himself and is withdrawing from the competition. I feel bad that his fans are only making him look worse for keeping him around when he's clearly out of his league now. Even Bristol Palin was better than this. I'm not anti-Derek. He's a great choreographer and does a good job of adapting to his partner's strengths and weaknesses. I just wish the producers and judges and whoever else is involved in these decisions would stop letting him coast. Give him an actual challenge. Give Derek the partner they would usually stick Tony with- the 70 year old or the reality stars with the bad attitude. I think scores like last night actually minimize Derek's talent when he gets a near-perfect score for a flawed performance and no one calls him out on it. Betheny's dance was not worthy of perfect 10s and no criticism. Maybe if they hadn't started Betheny out at 8s week 1 and a perfect score week 3, they wouldn't have to constantly bring out the 10s to appreciate her improvement. 10s used to mean something on this show. I agree with Len's opinion in general, but his production rants should have been saved for next week instead of the Halloween episode. This is the one week where I want to see it.