tessaforever

I totally agree with this analysis! I think there was dancer potential there (his energy and musicality), and for some reason it didn't seem to go anywhere. Whether it was because of his exhaustion (seriously, he looked so TIRED when he won!) or because of the "poor me the non-dancer" narrative or what, I don't know.

Yes, exact,y! Bobby did two silly dances! Now if he had repeated his Foxtrot, for example, and then had that freestyle, it would have quelled some of the hate. Does anyone know how they choose the repeated dances these days? I thought it used to be one of their worst that needed improvement but that doesn't seem to be the case now. As a few others have said, Milo has posted about his dad on Instagram. His dad is part of his life.

I feel like Sharna did him a disservice with that freestyle. Obviously Bobby's not a great dancer, but we've actually seen him, you know, do some *dance moves* in other dances. But for some reason Sharna didn't have him do any dancing. It was really weird. I think she must have not thought they would win, because she could have dimmed some of the hate by actually having him dance a little bit in the freestyle. I missed the fusion dance rehearsals, where they walk into the studio and see the big posters of their best moves throughout the season. It's always really emotional and very nice.

Oh, I don't like switch-up week at all. For the few great dances it's given us, the dances are often sub-par and the stress on the celebs and pros is uncomfortable - like pros will cry if they think they let a celeb down that week. I would love a week that wasn't a theme week! Also no contemporaries, so the freestyles will be exciting! (At least put the contemporaries earlier in the season instead of having some in the semi-finals like they did last week). I miss the results shows and the opportunities it gave to do something creative (Derek used to do some great, creative dances on the results shows). I don't think they have the ratings to bring those back though. These are just dreams, but: retire Gleb, use the troupe a lot less, improve the music. But I'm really glad they have not had any guest judges this season! Maybe they've finally learned how awful that is...

Honestly, I don't think JP could have won this show. Not only was he not well-known enough, he didn't have that "arc" that viewers look for - if not an improvement arc, at least an emotional journey, an injury, etc. There was nothing. He just came out and danced well each week but that's not memorable enough. And I'm not a huge fan of Cheryl, so maybe that affected my perception, but some of their dances (like the Gaston one) just did not click for me and even seemed a little weird and "off" even though they were a high difficulty level. I am really disappointed in Bobby. I read his book (fail, repeat, etc) this past summer and while some of the humor was childish, I liked his strong work ethic and rags-to-riches story. I have no idea why he keeps bashing other dancers on social media. He does not need to do that in order to succeed on this show - he has a ginormous fan base because of his radio show that would have voted him through no matter what.

It's so weird that Alexis has 12.8 million followers on Instagram but hasn't posted anything DWTS-related since trio night. And she's a social influencer??? Damn, Bridget, your whole post is like WORD. You've completely nailed what I've always found weird about Keo and sadly, it really hinders his ability to go far on this show. I super disliked how he made their poor scores for the Tangled dance all about Evanna's caring too much what others think. Instead of about his lackluster choreo, overdancing, etc. Ugh. He really can't view himself objectively. Oh - and I only brought up Janel & Val as an example of showmancing. I understand that it was completely different from what they're trying to do with Alexis and Alan. Aka Janel thought it was real and Val encouraged her to think that way.

Sadly, I remember talking heads where Janel shared her feelings about Val (Val, like Alan, kept things murky) and Maks and Meryl was played up to high heaven. It just hasn't happened in a long time, with so many troupe members getting married lately. I agree that Alan looks totally out of it. I can't stand that Tom, Erin, and the judges keep bringing it up! I agree! Several story lines seemed very odd in this era of awareness about mental illness and domestic violence. As s one person said here, Lindsay's dance was way too close to that recent limo accident to be comfortable.

The troupe ruined several dances tonight...not because they aren't good, but because it detracted so much from the pro/celeb. For example, Evanna (bless her heart) looked good with Keo (he's still over-dancing) but she was out of sync with the female pros. I wouldn't have noticed if she had been dancing by herself. They completely detracted from DeMarcus' dance as well. I was surprised to see Allison - she seemed to have some sour grapes after leaving DWTS under criticism for her choreography and lack of ballroom training. Weird offering from her and Twitch, whom I normally like to see together. DeMarcus' daughter is adorable. But sadly I think he and his wife have split.

Her make-up...to do that to a woman who already looks older than she is was just mean. I had to go watch Foxing Awesome as a palate cleanser after tonight's show! Missed the group dances :( Bobby looked decent dancing and somehow his stubble made him look hot?? What is going on?

I don't think they can do any part of the dance ahead of time. What I think happened, and I felt the same for a second, was that we saw the other side of the ballroom and it had the same kind of stage, but with no jail cell. Then the camera angle turned back around and the jail cell was still there where it was in the beginning. On another note, I didn't mind Tom coming out of the jail, but he should have done something other than stand there in a stupor afterwards. Their costumes were horrible for the quickstep! My daughter suggested, what if Milo had been in black pants and black blazer, with a t-shirt with the Incredibles logo on it, and Witney in a red bodysuit with a long black skirt over it. But I guess everyone has to BE their characters. Wrong choice of dance for the song.

It definitely makes or breaks it, but do the celebs/pros choose their trio partner, or do the producers tell them who they're going to dance with? There were definite similarities, but enough differences that I wouldn't call it a copy. Lindsay's was even better, though! Wasn't it always troupe members or pros who had been eliminated thus far in the season? Also, I felt like it was always an opposite-gender third person (Artem with Val & Rumer, Lindsay with Witney and Alfonso, etc). It worked so much better that way! Right...only Joe's score from the judges counted on Monday. It's this Monday that the votes will matter. Agree completely on the trios - Milo just happens to be charismatic enough to pull attention, but the other celebs dancing with the same gender trio partner didn't fare all that well.

Lol, I paused the show and made my daughter watch Derek and Amber's freestyle after Witney & Milo danced! There were some similar elements but not enough that I can say she copied...and Witney's a really good choregrapher (generally) so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that the song lends itself to a certain style. A good point that's been made before - when a male celeb wins, a female pro wins. So I honestly don't mind either way. Just want the best dancer to win! I think that Tinashe is actually doing better than Normani in perception - she comes across as more genuine. I think the bottom two was producer manipulation and Tinashe will be in the final 3 at least.

Honestly, I always found Camryn Manheim a little annoying on The Practice. But, she seems to have raised a really great kid - and very likable given his showbiz childhood. It's funny how many actors say they hope their kids do not go into the business! But maybe he wanted to, and she figured she could guide him because of her own showbiz experience.

So...this past summer, I actually read Bobby Bones' book Fight, Grind Repeat. I don't listen to his show, but I thought the book might be inspirational to my son who was going off to college, and I read it too. It's easy to tell he's ADHD and needs constant attention and validation. But he's definitely had a hard life (his dad wasn't present at all even though he lived one town over, and his mom was a drug addict who died of an overdose. He was beyond poor.) And while I wouldn't justify everything he does just because of this background, it does help to explain some of his behavior (my own mom grew up in similar circumstances, and while she lives a mostly functional life, this kind of childhood messes you up permanently - the coping skills you use to survive end up being harmful to adult relationships). That said, while I was expecting Bobby to be over-enthusiastic and immature, I've been taken aback by his behavior, especially the "flossing". There has definitely been douche-y behavior on DWTS before - just as one example, Jacoby Jones would leave Karina on the floor at the end of a dance (or drop her) to prance around the dance floor in victory while she picked herself up and dusted herself off. No mutual congratulatory hugs for Jacoby! Ugh. (However Jacoby was a much better dancer!) What does surprise me about Bobby is that in his book, he talks about how he's learned to be professional and respectful to colleagues, country music stars, etc - to the point of praising his whole team on a regular basis for how hard they work. Why wouldn't he respect Sharna the same way? So confusing. The trouble with Swan Lake is that it's only been done once before - Val and Rumer. And they did it fantastically, timing the perfectly done lift with the crescendo in the music, etc. They had a lot of advantages: Val is a more seasoned pro than Alan, Rumer was a better dancer than Alexis, and they had wacky-but-brilliant Bruno engineering it behind the scenes. With all that, I felt like A & A's version was way too similar, but a watered-down, pale imitation. Even if the lift and costume change had gone well, it was just ok. (Regarding the costume change: no one should ever forget Tony and Betsey Johnson's boa slip-up! Don't let it be you.) Sadly, during rehearsals but before the show started, they seemed to get along great. Watch her on his radio show, or Instagram posts/stories. I think they really hit it off at first, and his immature behavior during the dances has caught her off-guard.

Interesting theory. I thought they maybe just didn't have time because it was only an hour finale. (I think the most propped contestant who ever got third is Ginger Zee! But those others are pretty good too). I think TPTB loved being part of Tonya's redemption arc, but I don't think they wanted or expected her to win.