Pinknblue

@ShellyB, you mentioned having a watch party. What were your favourite moments of the episode? And those of other staffers/DCC? It must be interesting to see things packaged up for TV and shown a certain way, particularly if you remember things a little differently. Or totally forgot certain things! Is it painful to watch hopefuls who were later cut?

Thanks dalgal. 'Snapped' doesn't sound like the basis of an extensive report tho. Like other posters have said, it's a wonder that there's not more #HangrySnappin going on. And that would be a normal-ish kind of thing. I'm in a sports team and there's the odd resentments and boil overs, we're just working hard and closely and getting on nerves... it's normal & fine, and it gets resolved, because at the end of the day we have to perform together and get the best from each other. And then not speak to each other for a while in the off season lol

@dalgal214 oooooh please tell us what you can! Gosh I can barely imagine a rookie being anything but beautifully behaved after working so hard for months in TC. It's a long time (under pressure no less) to cover up poor character...

I would've been happy to hear only one sentence about Tasha's (cute) daughter and spend the rest of the time on Tasha's actual dancing/talent, or that of others. Especially these days when it's becoming so passé and insulting to refer to factors that are irrelevant to a woman's achievements (marital status etc). And I certainly don't care to hear about elements of someone's backstory when it is presented with a veneer of stigma being alluded to! Like there's anything to be ashamed of in doing the best you can of motherhood whilst continuing to pursue a sense of self and career beyond 'mum life'. (Yes, cheerleading is not a well-paid career but it seems like Tasha is doing pretty well in monetising her appearance, and good for her!)

Which Jenna? Jenna Lene who is a 5th year vet yes. DCC Alum from 2011, no.

Yeah. I was surprised by Jenna; for a former DCC, her hair & makeup were definitely not on point. I'd be surprised if she makes it back. ETA: maybe nothing was shown as Kelli and Judy didn't have anything nice to say about her either apart from "body looks great"...

I loved the more polished look and feel of this season's first ep. Throughout training camp I didn't have any strong feelings on the girls either way, but now... Tasha was a nice surprise. I thought she seemed very likeable and sweet natured. Madeleine is more photogenic than she is video genic. I was so impressed by her new photos and how much it seemed she'd changed up her look, but on screen she doesn't seem to have changed as much. Maybe it's because the curls appear to streamline her face in photos. Still, LOVE HER and I'm very Team Maddy. And those are some cute curls, why fight them!?! Yuko - cute. But I'm not seeing a compelling reason for her to make it far? Auto Amy. Love her. And her hair is great like that. Candace Romo seems relatable and lovely. Charlotte J - I totally get what people say when they aren't a fan of hers; but I think she's fine. I like that she seems much more involved this year and the input she's shown as giving seems more specific and meaningful than previous seasons. SCRAP the fan vote and bring on a FAN JUDGE!!! I can think of a few lovely people here that I'd nominate to represent! Can't wait for finals and checking in with the vets who're on the bubble... can't wait to see how it goes down (and seriously a 2 hour ep on finals would be so awesome...)

I could never be bothered with false lashes, as I could never get them to look right, but I had a lash extension addiction for over a year. They're truly amazing. They can last ages, but I would get mine done weekly as I couldn't stand them not looking perfect. With the amount of eye makeup DCC are wearing (and therefore touching them to remove their makeup) I'd be surprised if they didn't need refills every week too. Nowadays I've discovered Latisse ?

I was JUST about to post that! Downloading now!!

? Not surprised! I'm still feeling terribly embarrassed for Brandi. It was so naive of her to act like that on RH.

Yep me too. I watch on iTunes - I have a US iTunes account and it can take them a couple of days to upload it... so it can be Saturday or even Sunday here before I can see it. ? Refresh, refresh, refresh... interestingly, they have recently put up seasons 3-6 on the Australian iTunes Store. Weird that they haven't got any of seasons 7-10! Maybe they'll be up to date by next season.

Thanks for your generosity in answering so many questions @ShellyB. It's so interesting! And fun to see that the organisation is reaching out to some of its most passionate fans here. Please pass on our appreciation to your other team members - you mentioned earlier that your presence here was a 'considered' group response to this forum ?

Colby is a beautiful woman, elegant and gorgeous but was never DCC material. I still cringe for her, the way it all went down. Kelli seemed so full of contempt for her and I kind of get why (poor fit for the team and 'how-long-do-we-really-need-to-keep-her-around-she's-the-fan-vote-and-actually-no-way') but it was train wreck viewing ?

@ShellyB Please tell us about Yuko's journey to become a DCC! In the past, it has been clearly stated that no TCC may miss a single rehearsal. Yuko's inclusion on the squad has inspired heated debate here because we've been led to believe she was granted leave to sort out visa issues. We're all curious about why the exception was made! My view is that it's the organisation's prerogative; but still, there must be a compelling reason given the prior emphasis made on the total commitment to the squad. Or, has this sentiment been overplayed in the past by CMT?

HI @ShellyB! There are lots of interesting things that seem to have happened throughout this season... so many questions that may or may not be answered on the show. CMT can't show everything - will you stick around for the 'Ask me anything' after episodes? Until then, Yuko has been the hottest of topics on here, and inside info on her path to making the team this year would be totally awesome!

The last few years, you could purchase the iTunes season pass a week or more in advance. The hardest thing was then waiting for the episode to be uploaded after it had aired on CMT... sometimes up to 2 days later last year. The year before, it was up to 3 days. Killed me.

Every photo I've seen of Yuko just doesn't look right; the lack of knee bend in that one so the girl behind her had to full-on spoon her, and another group three pic on Jenna's Insta (I'm pretty sure) where everyone else's legs were on point and Yuko's all pigeon toed and awkward, again. She doesn't look at all "DCC polished" to me. Posture and posing is something these girls usually do in their sleep! I don't have an opinion one way or another on Yuko's inclusion on the team but now more than ever I bet that she's not there on the same pathway as everyone else; she's on the team because there's some Japanese businesspeople that the DC are trying to impress (and fair enough, too, the DCC are there after all to bring in fans, money and interest). Perhaps they should've just made her an all-star straight away rather than sticking her in the main team where (to me) so far she sticks out like someone's kid sister playing dress ups.... or maybe Lennon lol

How awkward does Yuko look in the group 3 pic? I wonder if we'll ever get the true reason she made the squad, it doesn't seem like she's in tune with her group. (From just one pic but yeah)

I said it before, but more and more I suspect it plays a part - the DC may be courting, or have, a huge Japanese sponsor or a company with a Japanese CEO. To have a cheerleader who speaks Japanese and understands the subtleties of culture & customs might bring in more money for the organisation than the rest of the DCC combined. I doubt they would be willing to televise such a motivation though.

I think Amy's post is extremely gracious and humble. I can't see passive aggression there at all; it speaks of the positives and also has her taking responsibility for herself. Maybe she had memory mistakes at crucial times. It could have been the dreaded kicks that just weren't quite there yet despite improvement, as she'd be on the end of the line. I'm so glad she got to take so many good things from her experience in TC, I'd love to see her as a DCC one day and hope she comes back.

"World class" ? "There is a reason why we're the best"

I'm a huge fan of Holly's surfboard pic too! It projects so much confidence, and is so far away from the 'passive coy temptress' look that seems to be the DCC swim go-to look.

I don't understand why it's an issue that Yuko is receiving "preferential treatment" - the entire squad is at the discretion of Kelli, Judy and Charlotte - if they see something special in her & think she's worth fighting for, then so be it. Maybe they have Japanese sponsors that they're desperate to impress, who knows? Hopefully she's featured on the show so we can see what the deal is.

Both Jinelle & Angela came from Australia specifically to try out for DCC, so their visas were probably organised properly ahead of time. I know Jinelle had issues extending her visa for her second year and Anglea might have too, as it would have to convert to a different visa and this isn't always easy. There's limits to how much you can visit and stay on certain visas and all sorts of rules depending on which visa you get and which country you're coming from, and periods of time that have to be spent in whichever country. Yuko might have gone straight for a resident visa which might have only been declined or something while she was there. Who knows? All we can say is that if Kelli & Judy are still sticking by her, it's unlikely that Yuko has done anything wrong or neglectful. Kelli doesn't have much tolerance for girls that aren't smart.

Maybe Yuko was in Dallas primarily for something else, not just DCC auditions - and then it snowballed from there? Maybe she wasn't really expecting it to happen, or there for a holiday. Visa rules are unbelievably complicated and although it might seem easy at first, the smallest hiccup can turn into a really big deal, and often it seems quite arbitrary. With the state of the world right now I wouldn't be surprised if there's some ridiculous rubber stamp issue, or if a change in rules happened effective immediately that threw it all into chaos when otherwise Yuko had no reason to think that there was going to be any drama.