vivianspoetry

I waited to post this because I didn't want to post hastily and emotionally. I haven't been very critical of Kelli and Judy in the past, probably because they are usually edited to look better in the show. My eyes have finally been opened to what awful leaders they truly are. They had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation and ended up with a disjointed, unorganized, self-serving training camp for a season in which they couldn't even dance on the field. Their egotistical attitudes toward some of the veterans was disgusting. Judy is a wrinkly, old shell of a coach at this point. I've always wondered why she hardly talks, but after everything I've read here, I now understand it is because she isn't capable of faking any emotion to hide her spite. Perhaps naively, I do still think Kelli was a good coach earlier in her time as director, but time has eroded that leadership. I do believe the anguish she used to feel when cutting a veteran, but her tears are blatantly insincere on the show now. They should just stop showing them because they're not fooling anyone. Her ridiculous story about how much it hurt to see TK cut might have meant something to the viewer if they hadn't just shown her cold-hearted bloodbath moments earlier. People are always going to quibble with her choices for the squad. That's part of the allure and why CMT airs the show. This seasons goes way beyond a simple matter of keeping one dancer and cutting another. This was about exposing the charade of the DCC sisterhood and showing it for what it really is: a perpetuating cycle of toxic, Mean Girls culture. They are appalled when women like Kalyssa and Julia use DCC as a stepping stone to celebrity, yet that's exactly what the show promotes. They want the exposure, but don't want it for anyone else. I'm going to echo a sentiment that I never agreed with until now: it's time for Kelli and Judy to retire. Pat Riley, a HOF coach, used to say that a coach should never stay in one place for more than 10 years. For even the best coaches, eventually you become too comfortable and your message becomes stale. You're seeing a prime example of that in Kelli and Judy. Hopefully they're grooming KaShara to take over. She has the genuine personality that is required to be an effective leader. You can only fake empathy for so long until your lack of compassion is exposed. KaShara has the ability to turn around the culture that has taken hold of the organization. Maybe she's too young and inexperienced right now. Maybe she doesn't want that kind of responsibility and scrutiny this early in her career. It's a lot easier to be an assistant coach working in the background that it is to be front and center with the spotlight shining on you, but she handled the spotlight as point very well. Make Phil the coach and let KaShara run things from the shadows. Anything other than what they have now.

They do a good job of editing the show because if I hadn't come here, I would've assumed some Mean Girlness, but would've never imagined the extent to which is goes.

So, so many thoughts. Lily and Brennan really looked beautiful without all the DCC makeup on. Why was Kelli annoyed that Lily had texted her teammates that she had been cut? Do they really have to pack up and leave the hotel at night after being cut or is that just for the show? Alora-Rose isn't a bad dancer, but she's just so bland in every way. Charlotte's announcement was unremarkable Rachel seems to get more orange every year This was a strong rookie class, so I'm surprised they sent home some of the stronger ones Phil! The so-called bubble was such a joke I've never been too critical of Kelli and Judy, at least not compared to many others, but their leadership was terrible this year. They had no idea how to handle even the slightest bit of adversity.

You don’t like Holly or KaShara?!?! Meet me out back in 5 minutes. We’re gonna settle this the old-fashioned way. 😂

Whoa! This is the first I’ve heard of this. Has Judy ever looked at her daughter? If she felt the need to toss Lily’s gameday photos, she must’ve had to burn Cassie’s photos. I don’t care about being one of the mean people on the internet in this instance. I’m pretty neutral toward K&J, but that was way, way out of line.

Rich and powerful by birth and gracious rarely go together.

Spot on about Savannah. She's not a fan favorite because many feel she isn't one of the better dancers, which is perfectly fine, but at least she has appeared to be an asset to the team. It would be real easy to become a cancer given she hasn't been selected for some of the sought after positions on the team, but she seemingly has accepted it gracefully. I feel sorry for her in a way because of all the criticism she receives, even if the criticisms are valid.

I love Kat’s look and personality, but she was extremely lucky to make the team last year. She was completely lost for most of TC last year, at least the parts they showed. If it wasn’t for Meredith’s struggles, it would’ve been even more glaring. You know it’s bad when even I think the two best looking rookies should’ve been cut.

I’m jealous of your coworker. KaShara and Gronk are probably the two people I’d love to hang out with for a day.

No kidding. Oh, you no longer like the way I look? I guess I’ll just have to date one of the 300 million other people who would kill to date me.

Ah yes, the completely reasonable directive of demanding 18-28 year old women abstain from anything of a sexual nature in private because there are creeps out there who may illegally invade your privacy. Now excuse me, I'm late for my botox injections that I need to maintain my sex appeal.

OMG! Heather was punished for getting hacked!?!? That's just ridiculous, especially since she had the maturity to come to Kelli when it happened. I think it's antiquated when she confronts cheerleaders for having photos on social media that don't show any more skin than you'll find in the swimsuit calendar, but at least that is something the women are choosing to make public. Private photos obtained illegally are wholly different. Is a cheerleader going to be punished for a stalker standing outside their window filming them undressing? I was baffled as to why Heather wasn't point last year, but I guess it makes sense now. Unbelievable. Is swearing allowed here because I feel that my disgust isn't being properly expressed without a few f-bombs.

That Lacey and Kelsey, IMHO the most beautiful women to be DCCs, felt the need to get plastic surgery is unfathomable to me. If it makes them happier, then good for them, but I still can't wrap my head around the fact they felt it was necessary. There is so much pressure on these women to be perfect that even the perfect ones feel they aren't good enough.

I hadn't, but I will now! Kashara needs her own reality show. At the very least, she needs to be one of the Duke girls in a female reboot of the Dukes of Hazzard.

Alora-Rose is not cut out for DCC if she can't take the small bit of criticism she received in this episode without crying. Lots of generic blonde comments, but I think Jessica stands out among them. I was pulling for Sheridan, but I'm jumping off that sinking ship after calling Kelli "girl". Did CMT really need to show it 3 times, including teasing it twice going into commercial breaks? Meredith, Meredith, Meredith. I love you, but no. Hannah looked like 2 different people with her natural, paler skin contrasting those tan leggings. Blonde Claire could've been cut this episode. When they showed the board, I couldn't believe Jada was outside the top 36. I'm glad they got their obligatory country singer cameo out of the way. This show really suffers without the prelims/semis/finals/TC format. I will forever maintain they should've kept the veterans out of tryouts and just held auditions to fill the retirement vacancies, especially since they aren't even able to do normal routines at games. That said, this rookie class really does appear to be strong, which is much needed. The last 2 rookie classes have been mediocre at best, leaving a massive leadership void on the squad.