RemoteControl88

Yep 2 hour filler fest. There was maybe 15 min. total of "new" material/pro dances/elimination results. I am kicking myself for being so outraged back in the day that the Tue. show was being eliminated....it's not needed. The current format of 1 night a week is just fine. Quick observations for the night... 1. Did Gleb grab Jana's ass backstage? I could have sworn I saw that...and I was watching online so I couldn't rewind. 2. From the backstage snippets it sounded like Jake & Jena planned on a kiss at the end of their jive but didn't hit his mark. Jena said something like "we'll do a kiss in later weeks." So that confirms for me they were moving full steam ahead with showmance. Partly glad he's eliminated so I didn't have to endure their struggle bus showmance.

I keep waiting for these to two to "happen"....but no luck. Maybe she'll be better in Latin??? It's like she checks her personality at the door when she steps on the dance floor. Oh hey that rhymed :) Anyway...why the hell is she so timid? She's not a bad dancer but she is not even dynamic which surprises me.

So basically Julianne's critique for Jake and Jenna....was that they might want to try looking at each other throughout the dance. Similar to last weeks dance...Jenna made herself the focus of the routine. Given his danceability...I think a more experienced pro would either: -dance down to his level...a little bit (Both weeks he looks like he on the struggle bus next to her) -make the routine about the partnership...and how much fun you are having...even if the dancing isn't great (there is an element of "forced" with these two that they can't shake) I've enjoyed plenty of "bad" dances just because they were fun. IMO to be a good pro/teacher you really have to figure out your partner's needs and how to present them. I don't think Jenna has figured that out yet. I'd like to see Jake at least attempt ballroom before throwing in the towel on these two...but if they are eliminated before that happens I would not be heartbroken.

Overall thoughts on the night: Finally got around to seeing all the dances. Some did not do as well as I thought they would (Amber, Marilu, Jake for example). Probably just week 1 jitters...but week 2 always goes downhill for me because each team now has fewer days to get the dances down. Amber's actual foxtrot (minus the silhouette dancing) was kind of dull and not just because it was a foxtrot. Marilu upper body was stiff and I couldn't see her feet for parts of the dance. Jake just had sloppy footwork throughout the entire dance. Also, comparing the energy level between Jake (non-existent) and Jenna (100 mph) it was a jarring comparison and not in a good way. I was pleasantly surprised by Tarra and Ryan. Both were not nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be. Maureen did much better than the judges gave her credit for. I will note that if she gets the fragile/emotional edit all season then it will quickly wear on my nerves. I thought the celeb that I would least be interested in would be Rick Perry. He came across as a sweet. The celeb I have no interest in at all is Jake. I can't pin point what it is about him. My gut tells me that unless he gets a personality transplant he and Jenna are not going to make it very far in the competition.

No such luck. I attempted to watch....this panel is useless. I think a causal general fan knows more about the show than all 3 of them combined. It was so rife with incorrect info or gossip/opinion stated as fact that I could take it for about 5 min. Afterbuzz was cool while it lasted but this group............is sub par.

I just finished watching the "soundbite" dwts interviews. She and Artem have such a sweet dynamic with each other. She was not really on my radar at first but I'm now looking forward to this partnership.

I'm a swimming fan also. I always loved watching him race. He's an amazing athlete and very generous to kids. Outside of the pool he was hit or miss with me personality wise. I figure alot of dwts fans have already made up their minds about him but I'm willing to give him a chance. Glad he got Cheryl... she's the perfect pro for him. And since she's coming back I hope the love for Cheryl will at least carry them for a few weeks. If Lochte doesn't make a good impression to America by then...he's toast. I don't think he's this lazy/surfer/slacker type. His work ethic (from how he trained for the Olympics) is strong. I just question his dance ability. Also the double jointed-ness (is that a word???) in his knees which is great for his dolphin kicks...could be problematic for dancing....also he's somewhat injury prone...

I thought he might be the Bill Egvall/Michael Waltrip type partner for Emma...but if he can't really move...let alone dance.... I was excited to have Emma back.

Just watched Week 9 Afterbuzz because Karina was the guest. I swear I wanted to bang my head against the table. There were a few times when of of the hosts were confused about a step or why it looked weird. I was sooo confused as to why they didn't ask Karina's opinion....she's probably the most decorated female pro on the show? Toward the end of the episode they weren't even asking her what she thought of the performances...she had to speak up with her 2 cents. Why the hell ask her to be there? Also this Mathew guy could save more time talking about the actual dances instead of his play-by-play of the packages. He did work on the show, right? He of all people should know not to take the packages too seriously. And he also takes whatever quote from the judges as truth. Note to Mathew...CAI says something is the best thing ever...every.....single....season.

I don't think you are a hater. I think she dances just fine. She's stronger in the contemporary dances IMO. She's good in Latin & Ballroom as well...I just think there are other female pros that are stronger. Some of her super fans are very sensitive and if you offer any critique of Jenna you are deemed a hater. But she legit does some weird stuff with her face. The most recent example of this was during the pro opening number for week 8. I guess she was trying to be sexy but it veered off into comical porno face. It is actually distracting from her dancing. Back in the day Mark had a similar issue with pulling some crazy over the top faces. He toned it down...I wish she would do the same. The dance starts at 2:44.

Nyle - Hectic & frantic choreo from Peta. The song choice did not help either. Whatever issue he had with frame/footwork has still not been corrected. The silent moment in the dance was cool in theory but in practice... I didn't love it. I was taken out of the moment seeing all the extra dancers...and all the guys were not in sync. It was sloppy/rushed in parts and just not his best dance IMO. I still think his VW with Sharna was his best dance. Antonio - Sharna was dancing the hell out of that VW. This was the best his footwork and frame have looked all season. His best dance so far. I have no read on who he is as a person from his packages....dancing was good tonight but I could care less if he left or not. Paige - Unpopular opinion but I didn't love it. I prefer a flowy/smooth VW. This was obviously stiff/staccato (by design) in certain spots. I'm kind of "themed" out so I didn't really think Mark needed to inject a theme where one wasn't required. If he wanted a concept piece that's cool but it just seemed a bit heavy handed with the make-up/costumes/smoke etc. Maybe toned it down a little bit. The VW had a contemporary feel to it also. 10's and 9's seem about right for this dance. Ginger - Loved her outfit. The routine was sharp and clean...but she still has this stiffness in her upper body when doing certain moves. The multi-changing lift was cool. The facial expression was much improved for the character of this dance...but it could be more sultry. She needs to continue to work on that. I liked Val's choreo and the content. Would have given it one 10 and some 9's though. Wanya - The jive content was really good. He was light on his feet and selling the routine. I wish they had nixed the props. It wasn't even a really effective prop IMO. Also didn't understand the country theme for the dance? Seemed random. Judges Challenge Team Len - Was a fun number. Wanya sparkle chest was hilarious. Team CAI - Having Antonio and Paige "dance together part" being a lift was smart. It was a difficult lift. Team Bruno - Too many extra dancers in the beginning. Not needed. Jodie and Peta dancing together was good as was Jodie and Nyle. The actual choreo for Nyle and Keo was meh. The spinning lift was not that great. Actual dance steps would have been more effective.

The main points I remember her saying.....hugely paraphrasing of course.... (Time stamped so you can go back and hear for yourself what was said) -Antonio/Sharna (11:57)- Didn't think he had any real interest in learning the dances until about a week ago. As for the tango she saw sync/timing issues, foot work issues. Not nearly as good as Sharna & Julzs opinion of it. -Keo/Jodie (13:27)- She didn't call Keo out by name, but it was clear she was talking about him: too much spacing in their QS/not enough body contact. The fundamentals were not correct i.e. head position and frame hold. She agreed with CAI that it was Keo who made a mistake with the footwork in the Charleston section of the dance. To me it sounded like she was calling him out on the basic elements of the dance. She suggested all the pro's continue to learn and get training in ballroom,latin, and other styles. -Wanya/Lindsey (30:56) - Thought Lindsey was doing excellent as a teacher/choreographer this season...very impressed with her. As for the Foxtrot he had slight frame issues (?) or other minor things but overall a very good dance. Von/Witney (39:10) - Least favorite dance of the night. Implied Witney could use more training in Latin & Ballroom. Thought she excels in lyrical, freestyle and jazz choreography though. Generally she likes her routines but was not a fan of the salsa. Nyle/Peta(24:10) - She thought his frame was good...she thought his butt was sticking out a little bit but it was not a huge deal to her. Agreed that the Val comment was misunderstood as Nyle doesn't have a mean bone in his body. Ginger/Val (34:10) - She praised Val on his teaching ability, attention to detail and quality of movement. Said he was one of the nicest person she's come across. Said that Val, Mark, Derek, Julianne all grew up dancing together. And basically knows what he is talking about when it comes to teaching on the show and in the competitive world. As for the VW with Ginger she thought the perfect scores were deserved. She thought Ginger was a sweetheart and didn't complain with her schedule and when Val is being difficult....thought the dance suited her. Paige/Mark (42:07)- Was the best jive she's seen on the show in 22 seasons...not saying that because Mark is her son but because Paige was just that good. Noted that it was pure dance...no props etc. Noted that in once section they got slightly out of sync but Paige got back on time. Praised Mark for including a spinning move "tallgate??" Very tricky move and she nailed it. Thought Paige was gaining confidence as people do like her and she's also gaining fans because she's doing a great job on the show. It was great to hear from Shirley she 100% made the entire episode.

Unfortunately I think because of her win with Alfonso she'll be a pro for a good long while. I wasn't crazy about the choreo she gave Von either...however for the last few weeks Von has been traveling a lot per his snapchat. Witney often went with him. But I have to think part of the reason he stagnated was because he had less time for Witney to really clean up his technique. So all in all the choreo was never mindblowing..and he was never going to be as good as Wanya but he had the potential to be better than he was...which was never realized. I'm not sold on making Jenna a pro. I've never been all that excited about her dancing. She has amazing extension/flexibility but I'm always distracted by the faces she pulls. It never seems authentic and just seems so over the top. In any case I think she will be a pro in the near future so I'm sure her fans will be thrilled. The little bit of her personality I have seen...makes me wonder if she'll connect with the general audience of this show. Maybe I need to give her a chance but I can't help be disappointed if she is made pro over someone like Emma.

The running theme of everyone's packages this week were "we're tense...stressed out....and disappointed in our scores." I think that brought the energy down for the show overall. Anywho....the dancing: Jodie & Keo - I am not enjoying Keo's choreo. Jodie dances well but I can't pin point what is missing and why I feel so "meh" about this partnership. Nyle & Peta - His bum was sticking out but I thought his upper half/frame was much better. I was not a fan of all that pink on him though. Peta looked gorgeous. He looked like a stick of cotton candy. Please know that I'm going straight to hell....but I cackled when Peta said..."Nyle is being super quiet this week..." Antonio & Sharna - I have no idea how they danced. I couldn't see past the clouds of smoke....the flashlights shining directly into the camera...dark costumes with dark lighting. Too distracted by everything else to even notice the dance. Wanya & Lindsey - It was charming. He's just SOOOO much better in the Latin dances that when he does ballroom It's not the same. Still a great dance though. Ginger & Val - Her best dance of the season. Glad he pushed her...she needed it. I would watch that again (and I haven't been inspired to do so for any of her other dances until this point). Paige & Mark - I haven't been that excited about a jive since Zendaya and Val. It was that GOOD. They were out of sync during one side by side section but it wasn't too obvious. I think I really loved this dance because there was no crazy staging...or costumes...it was straight up jive and she killed it from start to finish. I'm glad they closed the show. Team James Brown was super fun. They also had better music. Team Beyonce....the super slow section in the medley took the energy out of the routine for me. I appreciate the harder choreo for the ladies...but Team JB was fun to watch (and listen to). Kim looked pissed off to be eliminated. Sasha should have warned her. IMO the only people who have a ticket to the finals is Wanya & Nyle. Nobody else should be shocked if they get the boot. I was thinking that the football fans votes were cancelling each other out...but now that Antonio is on only footballer left.....he might go far.

I am soooo ready for there to be a non-theme week. Can we just get back to dancing? I generally agreed with the judges scores. Glad the judges called out Nyle for his frame. I didn't think it was good in his tango earlier either. He had a hunched over look about him. Glad the judges called out Ginger in her performance. She needs to dig deep and portray an emotion other than happy. Paige was the best of the night for me. Clean/sharp nothing to complain about. I think she's a more well rounded dancer than Wanya. Don't get me wrong Wanya can dance his butt off, however, when he has to dance in hold I am usually far less impressed with him. I think Paige nails the latin & ballroom fairly well. Wanya for me excels with the Latin dances or freestyle routines. For what Nyle lacks in technique he really knows how to perform the hell out of dance which I love to see also. Everyone else (Von, Antonio, Ginger, Kim, Jodie) I had been waiting for a breakthrough performance. Jodie had hers last week and has continued with the momentum....but Von, Antonio, Ginger & Kim...I'm not sure they have it in them?

Thank you for the diagnosis Dr. Kitcloudkicker....are there any other symptoms? lol. Seriously tho - I think you are right. I met Mark at the DWTS live tour meet and greet a couple of seasons ago. I chatted with him and the other pros before we took a pic and he was very nice...super sweet...HOWEVER when I got my photo he wasn't smiling and looked like he didn't want to be there. He was very friendly but you could NOT tell from the photo. lol.

I'm all for pros expanding their dance vocab...but to be fair to Val...for the last several seasons he's done the DWTS live tour right after DWTS ended. When the tour ended the new season would be just beginning. Not likely he would have had time to fit in serious classes in contemporary dance. Whether he's taken a weekend workshop or contemporary crash course...who knows. The smart thing to do is to get help if you don't have time to take such classes. Which he did. I think he was being proactive....the result was a hot mess though. I 1000% agree with you that he should get a refund on the dance that was produced because it was not impressive....rather boring actually. Both Witney & Lindsey have gotten help in dances (both have used Alan Salazar). Both of them were trained in contemporary dance as well as ballroom. Being trained in the contemporary dance form still meant they needed help so they got it. If all 3 pros felt they needed help in the choreo department by all means get the help you need. That is being proactive IMO. Also --- Agree - Mark dropped the hammer in case anyone forgot why he should not be replaced by Alan.

Paige - was awesome last night. I wished Mark would have limited the fake fighting to just the beginning. Whenever they would break from the paso to do the fake fighting it took me out of the dance. But I still forgive it because Paige was the best of the night for me. Her technique was excellent and the theme was super creative. Nyle- Did good but that tango seemed rushed at times. Footwork and frame got kind of sloppy at the end for me. He seemed hunched over for most of the dance and that was distracting. Not the best of the night but top 3. Wanya- Dance wise he did awesome. Minor issues he needs to correct for his ballroom dances i.e frame etc. The dance was great...but I didn't love it for really shallow reasons....1. all red matching outfits was too much for my eyes and 2. I'm not into dancing to the national anthem. I think Alex or Noah did it in the past and I remember thinking it was weird then too. Jodie - I loved her dance. Too much hairography/hair whips at the end of the dance but I still loved it. It had a contemporary feel to it...but there was a lot of content in it. Doug, Von, Kim, Antonio, Marla and Ginger all had "nice" dances....all slightly boring or just missing something to get me really excited about the performance. They are all middle of the pack dancers to me. Ginger has the potential to break out of middle of the pack but she would need to put in way more hours to get the fluidity or grace of Jodie or Paige. With her schedule I don't think that is happening. She's really stiff in the upper body too. Her dance was standard fare...but so not exciting. Marla will probably continue to really shine in the ballroom dances only. I think she'll struggle with most of the Latin dances. That jive needed to be tighter. Antonio - dances really stiff. He's just not as fluid with his arms as Nyle & Wanya. Von - there is some potential there like Ginger I"m left bored with his dances.

Haha can we take cover together? I think I know too many new moms to be off put by her constant gushing. Her baby is adorable HOWEVER (now I am ducking) I am not voting for her baby...I get invested in the partnership the celeb has with the pro so I'd rather focus on that and the dancing vs. her baby. Given the theme of most memorable year I can forgive the baby parade. This would be THE week to do it. But I"m going to need them to focus on something else for the rest of the season. Personality wise I like everyone else left too. All the remaining pairs seems to REALLY get along with their celeb. It's refrereshing. Well except for Antonio. I really just don't know what to make of his partnership with Sharna. I can't get a read on Antonio the person. He's a head scratcher.

I hear you....but it looks like most stories are at least upbeat instead of the usual cry/sad fest.

Most Memorable Year........

I like her...and I'm loving her partnership with Val. What's unique for me this season is I feel equally the same about Paige, Wanya, Nyle and Jodie. I haven't been this conflicted in a really long time. I like this season a lot.

I'm not ready to write her off just yet. But I'm not sure it even matters. I can't see anyone else being eliminated tonight but her. I just hope she at least goes out on a high note.

Alan does seem to have the personality of an overstimulated eager puppy....so I do take that into consideration.... but his choice of words during the post dance interview with Paige & Mark had me laughing so hard. Keo hit the nail on the head when he was talking to Jodie....that if you try too damn hard you look desperate. I'll be fine if Alan gets a shot at being a pro. I agree with the majority of posters that I still don't know if he's a good teacher. Thirsty as hell is how both Jenna & Alan come off to me. It's not cute and it gives me 0 desire to see them paired with a celeb. At least when Sharna, Peta, Sasha etc. were in troupe I was interested in seeing what they could do as pros. Not so much with Jenna & Alan. I felt the same way about Henry. Back when he was in troupe he rivaled Jenna in the camera hogging/mugging. It was unbearable. He eventually got his shot at being a pro and eliminated first with Diana Nyad. Of the current selection of troupe I'm just not invested...and quite honestly don't understand the hype? Given all that....I think the hype for Alan (based on that 1 dance) was for a few reasons: -Paige & Alan had fun/sexy chemistry for their salsa. She could very well have had that same chemistry with Mark but we've only seen 1 dance from them (foxtrot). I think it's too early to say that she has "better" chemistry with Alan over Mark. -They went from their package (which was all about how Mark wasn't strong enough to lift her) to Alan literally swinging her all across the dance floor has got people thinking Mark should be replaced stat. Alan could be a great pro/teacher/choreographer...who knows. I just don't think he proved anything by that 1 dance. I would still take Mark (even though he drives me INSANE when he takes his choreo too far or gets lost in a concept piece...or his general style of dress and hair). He's proven himself time and time again as a pro who can put out some great choreo is a good teacher and understands the DWTW "game."

She HAS to be Mark's dream partner for contemporary. I saw video of her dancing and I know that it will be amazing. I can't wait to see her do that dance style.