Jess14

All jokes aside...I really want to know what Gina did. Even when Jenna screwed up, they just took point but still let her stay in the triangle. Gina must’ve really angered K&J or Charlotte to get banished to the back.

Hell, I wasn’t even a fan of Kashara at point her first year. I thought she regularly got outdanced by others (Robin, Jenna, sometimes Lacey), but looking back... I shouldn’t have complained. This is a massive downgrade (nothing personal against anyone)! Even I’m on the “come back Kashara” train now.

Gina is outdancing everyone from the 3rd row. K&J have lost their minds if they think this is the best triangle! Lexie looks the best of the 3 in the triangle, but I don’t understand this formation at all. Gina.....gurl! Finish out your year and then move on to somewhere else where your talents are appreciated!

It’s funny how our perceptions are shaped. I read the boards before I watched the episode, and based on the comments, I was expecting the worst. I thought I was going to be super annoyed by her, but I wasn’t. Now, I don’t think she should’ve made finals based on what was shown, but I find her kind of goofy. She doesn’t strike me as someone who takes herself too seriously, and I think she would be someone who I would go out with and laugh the whole time. I appreciate that. Who knows though, had I watched the show prior to reading the boards, maybe my expectations would’ve been different and I be on the “go away Kat” train lol.

Honestly, I think part of the issue is that the scenes were so choppy that it was hard to contemplate exactly what happened. If the issue was that Jenna broke the rules on her own, that’s fair, but that wasn’t said (we’ve heard from insiders that she fraternized the year before, but not that she’s was still engaging in that when the stuff with Holly went down). If the issue was that she was at clubs that are 21 and up with a team member who was 20, that could be fair to punish her for that, but depends on the circumstances. I don’t think a GL has an obligation to tell someone to go home from a bar or report them to management, but if she’s riding with her there or buying her drinks (which wasn’t stated), well I can see why that would bother them. If it’s just a, “as a GL, you had an obligation to coach and mentor Holly,” I think that’s bs. Not only is Holly an adult, but I think that’s a very difficult standard to hold and one that they’re clearly not consistent on. I would bet money that Holly is not the first DCC who has went to bars when she wasn’t 21, broken rules, or drank underage with GLs on the team having knowledge of it and not reporting it. Hell, Danielle (who was a 2GL) lived with Paige when she was dating a player and apparently didn’t report it. I don’t think she had any obligation to report it either, but again, that’s the issue with some of these arbitrary rules.

You definitely missed it lol. She called herself a nurse on the DCC page and then again on Instagram or something when she’s not one, and it really, really, really bothered a lot of people. It seemed like everyone on the board was a nurse when the Cersten stuff blew up. As someone who hates blood and could never be a nurse, I felt left out lol. Well that and her looks IMO. But that also leads to the questIon - why weren’t any of the other woc at finals taken to training camp? I was hoping that we would get some answers on the show but apparently, only Malena and Kat were only to get any airtime. For example, the Mavs girl - she’s beautiful, and I assume can dance. Do we know why she didn’t make finals? What about the girl who sang and then broke out into hip hop for her solo? Or the one with the natural curls? Is there any intel from the insiders on why these girls didn’t make it?

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes through the entire clip of Maddie’s hip hop routine. I don’t even care that it was the exact same routine from last year, just rearranged. Many of the girls do that, so that’s fine, but Melissa sitting there and acting like she was witnessing a performance for the ages was beyond ridiculous. Honey, pull out your phone and go to YouTube if you want to see great hip hop. Sheesh. It would’ve been nice to see some of the AA girls other than Kat and Malena get focused on. Beyond the 5 seconds of the one girl’s solo, I don’t remember seeing anyone other than those 2. Meredith is another one who seems overexposed at the moment. I liked Katy and would’ve liked to see her make training camp. I’ll miss Gabby. If she had weight issues all last year, i can see why they may not have been willing to give her more time, but I’m sick of the double standards. I don’t know how girls go into tryouts without knowing Jerry Jones. It’s not just that they have over a decade worth of seasons to see that the question will probably get asked, but Jerry Jones is the most famous NFL owner. There’s no excuse for not knowing that.

Agreed. Certainly if the best dancers are 4 and 5 year girls, then by all means put them in front, but otherwise, nope. In many years, the senior girls have been among the best dancers. Last year, Kashara and Lacey were among the strongest dancers, so it made sense that they were upfront. When Jennifer was point, there were 3 five-year girls on the team (Jenna, Danielle, and Jessica). Jenna was the only one of that group who was a top 5 dancer on the team, so she was the only one of them in the triangle. Ally (who was actually a great dancer) never made point, presumably bc of her look. Same for Jinelle. This “put the most senior girls up front no matter what” plan seems new. They’ve certainly not had a problem hiding senior vets in the past.

Gina was really robbed if she’s not even in the triangle. One of the main arguments against her was that she doesn’t have the DCC look, yet Maddie and Amy get into the triangle over her? Then, to rub salt in the wound, Lexie, who has no more seniority than Gina, leaps in front of her in the formation? So three girls that Gina can dance circles around (IMO) are in front of her, and 2 of them don’t even have a ‘glam’ argument - I’m not a fan of Lexie’s look, but she’s definitely has the Barbie look. Sheesh. Did Gina accidentally kill someone’s goldfish?

I think some of this is just a matter of perspective. Personally, I don't dislike Maddie. I just don't see her as point material. I also don't see why social media followers should have anything to do with who is point. In fact, if K&J took that into account, I think that's rather pathetic. Now, if people think Maddie is the best dancer on the team, I disagree, but I can understand that. Different strokes! But the fact that the arguments for Maddie seem focus on things other than her dance ability (she's nice, she's different, she's a role model, she's relatable because she's not DCC glam, she has lots of fans), kind of supports the post from someone earlier that she seems to be graded on a curve. Now, I think all of those characteristics are great. The DCCs need nice, humble cheerleaders to even out some of the bigger egos, but I don't see what it has to do with her spot in the formation.

Maddie and Amy sharing point is such a head scratcher. It would make more sense if one of them got the position outright IMO. Having them share makes it seem like they really wanted one of them to be point, but then they thought that she didn’t have the total package, so they needed to throw in a second point. So then they said, “we can’t have Gina or Bridget be the second point - they have too much pop and will overshadow Maddie/Amy, but then we also can’t use Rachel W (I’m not a fan but K&J clearly are) or Heather bc while they aren’t showstopping dancers, they have the standard DCC look and will also overshadow Maddie/Amy looks wise. Hmmm, so let’s just go with the 2 most senior people because both are good but neither has the dance or looks to outshine the other!” I mean seriously, this sounds like the most boring formation ever. I have nothing against Maddie or Amy. I like them both and think that each is a good dancer. I just don’t think either is a center-of-the-formation, point girl and certainly not in tandem.

So, Dallas doesn't have a home preseason game until August 24. I really hope that they're not planning on dragging things out until then. Seriously...pick the team and let the girls who aren't gonna make it move on.

Interesting. I’m assuming the change will occur after they transition back into the triangle from the larger formation (where the new choreo is located in TS). Unless one of the 2 year vets is one of the points, I hate that it’s not Gina. She clearly outdances all of the vets that are senior to her and all of the other 3 years. It’s not even close IMO.

Does anyone know how Chandi, Kat, and Kristin are doing in training camp? They’re the 3 I’m rooting for.

If out of all the years where they had 2 to 3 excellent dancers, they decide to still split point this year, I think I'll just laugh. Amy and Maddie splitting point? With Tess, Heather, and Gina behind (not even one or two of the strong 2 year vets along with Gina? Really? They didn't split point with Brittany and Whitney, Ashton and Whitney, Mia and Jackie, Jacie and Holly, Jenna and Jenn A, or Kashara and Lacey, but they might split point this year with Maddie and Amy? Strange. I'm definitely interested to see the final formation now.

I’ll chime in as another Alanna fan. Did her old Lakers girl teammate try out again this year?

Not great from Amy, but I thought Tess looked good - more showmanship than I remembered in the past from her.

I'm not tall, but I almost always were pants (usually jeans) to fly for comfort. Planes are often ridiculously cold, and I rarely have enough room to put a blanket in my carry on. The only time I may wear a dress of skirt when traveling by air is when I'm traveling for business. If I didn't know they were DCCs, and I saw them at the airport, Tess is probably the only one I wouldn't look twice at with a "hmm..I wonder where she's going" thought lol. Props to the poster who mentioned the Easter dresses; that's definitely a spot-on comment lol. Each to his own though! I'm sure people have looked at me sideways when I've headed to the airport in a jacket, pants, and scarf when it was 95 degrees outside lol. I just hate to be cold, especially on a long flight.

Agreed on the white. I’m assuming that they each order nothing but water on the flight. Lord knows that trying to get a coffee or coke is an accident waiting to happen. All it takes is for a bit of turbulence to hit right when the flight attendant is handing you your drink. I’m not a fan of heels in the airport either. They obviously have a role to play as DCCs, so I get it for them, but I’ve had to run or power walk one too many times in the airport to catch a flight. It’s much easier in flats than 3.5 inch heels lol.

I just wish they would keep VK in the background this year. I get why people are sick of the conversation about her and wish people would get over the fact that VK will likely make the team, and I also get why she is such a topic of discussion among people who disliked what we saw last year. Kelli always has her favorites, where she overlooks some shortcomings (see Malena, where her dance issues were given a pass for too long), but with VK, it was a matter of overlooking multiple shortcomings (weight, dance, behavior, maturity). It truly was above and beyond what we’ve seen in 13 seasons. The rational option would be to focus on other rookies this year. People who dislike her are not going to suddenly believe that she turned it around when we all know that this show is selectively edited, and people who like her will believe the best regardless. So, as someone who doesn’t care about her making the team one way or the other, I hope she’s just a footnote this year. That would probably be the best thing for her and everyone else.

Haven’t they been friends for like 30 years? I would think (hope) that how a friend dresses or how their hair looks would be pretty low on the list of factors that determines if the friendship is viable. I mean, its not like Kelli is winning any best dressed awards either. I imagine that they have a lot of memories together, have been there for each other through some tough times, and that they probably just have a lot of fun. Tina has probably been on the show for a total of ten minutes over thirteen seasons. I don’t think that gives a real picture of how she treats her friends.

Amen to all of this. Whether Malena or Vivian should’ve reacted differently or whether some of these girls shouldn’t have tried out in the first place is a completely different issue, IMO. I’m sure Malena knows that her reaction when she got cut was not her finest hour. I’m sure it’s bad enough to know that lots of fans think that she came off terribly, but for her to see a video where the choreographer and director are replaying the scene a year later and cringing at her probably stings about 100x more. Ultimately, to me, this is about the director and choreographer pulling out clips (some years after the fact) and laughing at/mocking/criticizing contestants, many of whom are not affiliated with the Cowboys, in a promo video. This would be considered blatantly unprofessional in any other setting. Now I get that it’s a reality tv show, but they’re selective about when they use the “reality tv” excuse, and they’re the ones who talk about being classy and empowering. They put the label on themselves.

Right! It's been my least favorite part of the prelims episode for years. Plenty of us have said something. Also, the fact that its years later actually makes it worse for me, not better like he seems to imply. When something is funny, it's funny. I get that. I'm not blaming them for laughing in the moment. While I would never try to embarrass someone, lord knows that I've laughed at (not with) people before. It happens. But to go back and pull clips from years and years ago.....seriously, they need to grow up and get out of the high school mentality! I say this especially because the joke is never on them, always someone else. On another note, any training camp news?

I agree that there probably was not a hardline guarantee, and I think some of the rumors stretch reality. However, there didn't need to be a hidden contract between VK and Kelli for there to be clear favoritism. Other girls don't have to be really bad to be cut. Gaining as much weight as she did, while also being one of the weaker dancers in the room, would have gotten anyone else cut early in the summer. Spurning the help from a DCC employee would have gotten anyone else cut. Imagine if Courtney had of blown off My Fit Foods when she was a tcc. She would've been gone. Complaining that you had a bad night because you wanted to make show group when you're not even on the team yet would have resulted in anyone else being dressed down. Look at how Angela was treated when she had a bad night after not making show group, and she was a 5th year! And yet, VK didn't actually get cut for those things. They still kept her til the bitter end even with all of this occurring and were perfectly nice while cutting her. Ultimately, I don't think there is a need for all of the conspiracy theories. I don't buy that Tina and VK are secretly running the show, but it's clear that VK, whether she ultimately made it or not, was held to a completely different standard than anyone else. That's a problem in its own right.

During her time as a DCC, Kelsey worked in marketing or sales, right? Did she keep that job until she became a realtor, or did she do something else in between?