LadyMustang65

Maddie had a child-like view of her world at that moment. She now knows that is not true. Her mother is in daily contact with her; her father is there every day; Deacon is in frequent, if not daily, contact with her as well. So she knows that no one “left” her. She has had 2 instances where she made bad decisions, and there has been no dialog to suggest there have been other instances, so I think it’s a stretch to say that Maddie is acting out because Rayna is gone rather than Maddie is being a teenager testing her boundaries and making bad decisions. It’s part of the territory with teenagers, and she did it at least once that we saw when Rayna was still there every day. As for Rayna’s business decisions, I think the problem is that we’re talking about two different things. If H65 were a vanity label for Rayna while still under the auspices of Edgehill, what you suggest would work just fine. It does not work fine for building name and label recognition for H65 as a serious studio ready to compete with the big guys. I have no sense that Rayna wants a vanity label for herself and a couple of small artists. My sense is that she wants H65 to be able to compete with the Edgehills of Nashville, and she’s doing what is necessary to make that happen. Lastly, I disagree quite strongly about Maddie and Deacon. It is water under the bridge. It’s history; it cannot be changed. Rayna made the best decision she could under the circumstances, and given that Deacon’s first action after hearing news that upset him was to go on a bender after years of sobriety, it was clearly the right call. Rayna has explained why she did what she did. She does not need to apologize to anyone for that. She was a mother trying to do what was best for her child. She has owned that decision and taken responsibility for it. Their approval or forgiveness is not required. She has asked for their understanding, which seems to have been given. It’s time to move on. The only thing she maybe needs to apologize for is leaving the test results in her closet and not in a bank safety deposit box. But then we would not have had all the ‘drama.’

I don't think a small venue tour is a step down. But small venue tours don't get big publicity. They don't make headlines; they don't generally get those artists nominated for awards, etc. H65 is NOT going to take off if Rayna steps back from those things. It is not yet an established label. She needs to prove that H65 artists, even if right now it's just herself, can sell out big venues, can get its artists nominated for awards, can get its artists the necessary publicity to get them where they want to go. Rayna can do the small venue tour later, she can do those other things later. In fact, imho she should do them later because right now she needs to get H65 well established, and the path you map out does not do that. It keeps H65 a small, relatively unknown label with no clout. The artists who are going to sign with her may want someone to let them be creative but they are also going to want to be successful. And I guess I just don't see where she has made some "incredibly hurtful and questionable" choices. The most hurtful choice she made was one made years ago to not tell Deacon about Maddie. That's water under the bridge. I disagree that her family is "crumbling." It seems relatively stable and healthier than a lot of families I can name. Daphne is well-adjusted. Maddie is going through teenage angst where she wants what she wants and pouts when she doesn't get it. Rayna being closer won't change that; she's not going to let Maddie quit school and become a musician right now any more than Teddy will or Deacon would, so she's still going to be pouty. Maddie has certainly made some poor choices, but again, she's a teen. That comes with the territory and doesn't mean anything more than that unless we are told specifically that she's acting out because Rayna is touring. Until that is established, then I happen to believe Maddie would make the same bad choices with Rayna around. In fact, she already has in the past when she went to Juliette's impromptu concert. I agree that showing her running H65 could be fascinating and make for a great show, and I hope that's where we're going, but it has to get there first. It would be ridiculously unrealistic if H65 becomes this big deal just because Rayna is the head of it, and she never has to really work to establish the label. I don't think spending a season or two showing us the process is too much. I think they're doing a decent job of showing us the realities of life in the public domain. The writing could be better at times, but what else is new? Go to any show forum and people will have that complaint. It's not always easy to tell a story properly in the time you are allotted.

Don't feel bad. I didn't make the connection until last night either. Neither did the DH. There's probably a lot of us in that same boat. :)

That year-long tour is already about half over. It's not a year *after* they got married. The entire tour was going to be a year, and she's been on tour since before Juliette got pregnant, so it's probably been 6 months already since Juliette is taking Lamaze classes now. You don't do that early in your pregnancy. So Rayna's tour will be coming to an end soon, and the family will have time to adjust to their new lives and find the right balance together. And yes, I do think it is implied that Rayna should be for all intents and purposes at her kids' beck and call 24/7. People are saying she should stay in her offices, do the occasional small venue concert, focus on finding new artists and basically not do the things she needs to be doing right now to make her company successful. The music business is changing and has changed drastically since Rayna started out. She acknowledges that and is trying to adapt to keep up and stay relevant. That should not be a bad thing. Even doing interviews now is different because she's doing them in a different capacity and more is expected of her than she's used to. It's a different world for her. She's not naïve but she's not entirely savvy either. Until lately she's been able to call the shots, and she had a label to back her up. Now she is the label, and there's no one who has her back. It's her out there front and center, and she has to re-learn how to interact with the world. I think she's doing a pretty decent job so far and will get better as she goes along. As I said, I'm enjoying watching her learn to navigate the music business in this new capacity. Others don't, and that's fine. I only got into the conversation because I felt the need to defend Rayna. I just don't see this awful person and terrible mother that so many seem to see.

I've never gotten any sense that this was to be an ongoing thing. She's got this big tour that she's on now. It will end in a few more months. After that she'll be home for a while coming up with new material for her next album, doing a few appearances as usual, and working more on H65 now that the label will be known as an up-and-coming new label. That will also give her plenty of time to spend with her kids. It's not like she'll be missing out on their growing up, and she's not "not involved" in their lives right now. I just really dislike the idea that Rayna cannot be allowed her dream but must give up everything she wants to be at her kids' beck and call 24/7.

Sutton - as you said, Rayna is already the Queen of Country Music. She doesn't need to aspire to that. But what she does aspire to is to be the owner of a successful record label that nurtures and encourages young artists. She is doing what she needs to do to make that happen. Why is she allowed only one dream per lifetime? I don't think Rayna needs to give up on that dream just because she has kids. Situations change all the time - that's normal. Families grow and adjust and find ways to make things work. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not "the kids will get used to it." It's the families adjust - everyone. Rayna will figure out how to balance her family and her passion. The kids will learn to be a bit more responsible and a little less needy. These are not kids who are being ignored and abandoned while mom is out seeking fame. They are kids who see and talk with their mom every single day and who know (or should know) that they are well loved and will also have parents who will be there for them. They will adjust as will Rayna and Teddy and Deacon and, if he sticks around, Luke and his kids. It's a situation that plays out every day in families from all walks of life. It pretty much is life. Magpie - I don't know where you get that Rayna put all her eggs in the Scarlett basket. Will was her first sign until Jeff stole him away. Then she was originally going to sign Gunnar and Scarlett, but Gunnar didn't show. There was that group she made an offer to who eventually also signed with Edgehill, I think, or maybe it was another label. Then she picked up Juliet and now Sadie. If memory serves we also saw her talking with or listening to other artists along the way. It's not like she hasn't done anything at all in that direction. This season all we've seen is Sadie, but she's kind of got her hands full right now, and there's only so much they can show us in one episode. So I just don't get this "she's done nothing" idea. I am enjoying watching Rayna struggle and learn a whole new role, and I think she's doing pretty well with it. Does she still have a lot to learn? Absolutely. Does she have the right instincts at heart? Yeah, I think she does. When she has it all together, she is a force to be reckoned with, and I'm looking forward to the journey. Clearly your mileage varies. :)

Sutton - I don't think this has anything to do with Luke at all. Rayna would be or should be doing the same things even without him in the picture because it's what she needs to do to get her record company off the ground and in it for the long haul so that it can be what she wants it to be. No, her girls are not her first priority any more, but neither is she ignoring them. She talks with them every day and sees them as often as she can, either by coming home or by flying them to her. The girls miss her, but she misses them as well. Rayna was counting on Teddy to be the supervising parent while she was gone, but he failed at that, so they got a nanny for the girls. Not to take her place but to provide the supervision they need. That's an appropriate response, I think. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and make a change when the opportunity presents itself, because if you pass it by, it may never come again. The time was now to do this - while she is still a big draw and can be the face of Highway 65. If she waited a few more years until the girls were in college, there's a good chance her star would be waning, and H65 would not have a chance at life. Rayna is not a perfect woman - but she is doing the best she can with the hand she's been given. She'll make mistakes along the way, and she'll learn from them. I just don't think she should have to put her dreams on hold - or even give them up entirely - just because she's got kids. The only family will learn and grow along the way.

We see things exactly opposite. Rayna can't concentrate on finding new artists until H65 is a viable label, and right now she is the main attraction. If she isn't out there touring, selling records, etc., then nobody knows who or what H65 is or cares. The label will grow through record sales, and Rayna's got to ride her new album as far as she can. Hopefully by the time that runs out of steam, Juliette will be ready to go back out there with some new material as will Sadie and maybe a few others. If Rayna just sat back and spent her time looking for new artists, then she would indeed be just a vanity label - H65 would exist solely so that she could say she started a record company, but it would never go anywhere. New artists would only be willing to sign with her if they couldn't get a deal with a "real" record label. You want her to run before she walks, and it just doesn't work like that. Rayna being out on tour, making appearances, selling records is also selling H65 and building its name. Her staying in the office, doing an occasional small venue concert, looking for new talent would have H65 closing its doors before it ever had a chance to get off the ground. That's her payoff for doing all the hard work now - that one day she will be able to do that while others make the name for the label. But she has to do the work and put in the time first. And she is a novice! Rayna has never run a business before. Others have done all that work while she was able to concentrate on her music. Now she has to do both. She'll learn as she goes, and that's part of the fun. It would be totally fantasy to see her start a company and be a 'badass business woman' right off the bat when she's never done it before. Tandy had run their father's company, and even she wasn't able to get it right right off the bat. That's realistic. It's hard work to start a business, and most of them fail within the first few years. And that's even with people who have done it before.

I really enjoyed this show, although I was left feeling a bit 'meh' about many of the dances. Maybe because it's so close to the end I was expecting a bit more? Val/Janel - I thought they were the clear winners for the night. I loved both of their dances, and those lifts in the AT were amazing. I thought they were crisp, clean, exciting . . . very much fun to watch. Witney/Alfonso - my second favorites of the night. It was clear that Alfonso could not dance full out, but that didn't stop him from trying. Even injured, he dances better than most of the others. And I love this partnership. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for him so he can dance full-out next week. Derek/Bethany - I was a bit underwhelmed by them this week. I thought the Samba with Sasha was cute and fun, but it didn't seem overly difficult for this being Week 10. So I enjoyed it immensely but was left wanting more. I think I would have liked the contemporary better without the frame - or if they'd ditched the frame earlier. It felt kind of like it got in the way at times. Bethany was quite graceful and struck some beautiful poses, but again it just felt a bit lacking. Mark/Sadie - I did not think her Quickstep was good at all, and I was amazed when Len mentioned speed because I thought it was on the slow side. I also didn't care much for the hip hop, Charleston, shimmy stuff in it. Her footwork wasn't really good either. It wasn't bad, but I thought it was overscored. Her AT with the guitar was another one where I felt like maybe they should have gotten rid of the prop earlier. And I thought it was lacking the usual crispness and sharpness we see in the AT. Again, it wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was as good as the judges did. I kind of feel like maybe Sadie peaked a few weeks ago. She certainly deserves to be in the finals, but at this point I would place her 4th. I just don't see the same spark in her any more - maybe because she's putting too much pressure on herself? Peta/Tommy - the jazz was just not good for me, but I did enjoy the rumba. Very nice choreography on Peta's part. He was fun, but I'm happy he was the one who left this week. If any of the final 4 had been knocked out by him at this point, it would have been a joke. I am really looking forward to the finale next week and seeing what they come up with for freestyles. Witney has hinted that there might be some tap in Alfonso's freestyle. She has had some training in tap, and we know Alfonso taps, and this would be something we've never seen before. I expect Derek's to be full of gimmicks, but I'm not sure what to expect from Val and Mark other than I expect Val's to be good and I never know what to expect from Mark - it could be good or it could be exceedingly strange and/or tacky (stripper poles anyone?). When all is said and done, I will be happy if either Alfonso or Janel wins. I would be okay with a Bethany win (although not so much with another Derek win), but I would be disappointed with a Sadie win. She seems like a sweet kid and early on in the season she had a spark to her, but I really think she's the least of the dancers left.

What you see as bad decisions, M. magpie, I see as good, smart business decisions, not to mention necessary ones. SunnyBeBe is right - if Rayna can still fill a stadium, she needs to be doing just that. Just because we don't see her scouting new talent doesn't mean it's not happening. She knew who Sadie was and got her signed, and she'll meet up with a lot of new artists on the road. And I disagree that she's sacrificing her children's emotional health. She talks to them every single day, often via Skype. She comes home every free day she's got as well as brings them to visit her from time to time. She is more available to her kids than some stay-at-home moms I know. Her children are not babies or toddlers any more. They are old enough to understand that this is important and why. It's a bit of an adjustment for them, but they're not being abused or neglected in any way. I empathize with the problems Rayna faces, and I want to see her succeed. What she's doing is very hard and very risky, but the rewards if she succeeds are great - not just for her but for her kids, too. She doesn't want them in the music business now, but a few years from now, if they still want it, I have no doubt there will be a home for them at H65 where they will be nurtured and protected and encouraged - not used up and spit out. H65 can be a legacy that gets passed down to her children at some point, if they want, or sold to secure their futures. She's going to make some mistakes along the way, and there's going to be pain and doubt, but I'm enjoying watching H65 grow and hoping that soon they'll settle down some of the melodrama and show us H65 taking shape and becoming a real contender in Nashville. I don't know if that's the direction they plan to go, but I can dream. :)

My impression is that he was incredibly wealthy as well. But again, let's say that after his debts and obligations were paid, he had an estate of $100 million. To me that's incredibly wealthy. Rayna gets half. She herself has debts and obligations that are probably close to at least $30 million (she mortgaged her house for $22 million?). So if she's smart and pays those off, as she should, then she's left with $20 million. That's a lot of money, but it's not going to keep her lifestyle up as well as pay H65's bills for long. And even if it did - or heck even if Lamar left her $100 million - just shoveling money into H65 is not going to make it a viable company. Money alone is not going to create demand for the product they sell, and without demand, the company does not survive. Rayna IS Highway 65 right now, and at the moment it lives or dies on her success. Rayna knows that, and I believe she is sincere in her desire to make it a place that nurtures young artists and is doing everything in her power to make H65 a success.

I've been trying to figure out how I feel about Luke. Generally, I've liked him just fine, although there were times he came across a bit sketchy. This is what I finally came up with regarding him - I think Luke is extremely competitive, and he views Rayna as a prize. We know he was interested in her way back in the day, but he lost out to first Deacon and then Teddy. Now he has won the prize, but it’s not turning out the way he expected. He still has to share her with Deacon and Teddy and H65 and all kinds of other people. And she’s now competition for him in the music arena as well as his prize. And I think he just doesn’t know how to handle that. It’s like on one level he understands the demands and is okay (for the most part – Deacon excepted I think) with sharing her, but when it’s what he views as *his* time with her, then he doesn’t want to share. That’s not necessarily wrong, but it’s unrealistic at this time in her life. I don’t know if it’s “shallow” exactly, but I think Shron is right that he wants the relationship more on his terms. He’s supportive as long as it’s convenient, but when it starts to get inconvenient, then he’s not quite so understanding and supportive. Overall, though, at least what we’ve seen so far, I think he’s trying to be a good guy, but he’s never had to deal with this kind of a situation before, and he’s still working his way through it. My opinion may change as things move forward, but right now I’m thinking he’s mostly a good guy, if a bit spoiled and used to having things the way he wants them.

I agree that Lamar was quite wealthy, but we never knew how much he was worth, and I think people may be over-estimating there. First off, any and all of his business and personal debts would have to have been paid out of the estate. Then Rayna got half of that at best - less if Lamar left money to different charities or friends or anything else. If memory serves, Rayna borrowed $22 million against her home, which if she was smart, she would have paid off immediately. Likewise her other creditors, as I believe she also had other investors. So unless we think Lamar was worth billions, which I don't think we've seen any indication he was that wealthy, Rayna's inheritance is probably not as massive as some think. Probably enough to keep her and her kids in their current lifestyle, but not enough to keep H65 afloat for long. And as Shron pointed out above, it takes more than money to build a successful label. If all Rayna did was plow her own money into H65, it would be nothing but a vanity project for her and would not be long for this world.

Thanks, Serendi!

I'm kind of surprised at the perception of Rayna here. Maybe I'm the one that's out in left field, but I have no problem with what's going on with her right now. I don't see her as a 'famewhore' or as being in it for the money. Yes, Rayna has money now from her dad's estate. That would take care of her personal living expenses. But that is not going to keep H65 running. And getting a business up off the ground is no easy feat. It takes a lot of work and time and effort, and if you're going to be successful, you're going to need to put it first for a while. Right now Rayna is H65. Juliette is out of commission at the moment, Scarlett wigged out and asked to be let out of her contract, and Sadie (I think that's her name) hasn't been around long enough to be contributing that much at the moment. So it's all on Rayna right now, and she's got a lot of people depending on her for their livelihood. Not just Juliette and Sadie and Bucky but all the people who work at H65. There will be a whole bunch of them necessary to get this label up and viable. And they all depend on Rayna coming through. Awards for her will bring recognition to her label. TV appearances for her bring name recognition to her label. The cover of RS is a big deal, and as Bucky pointed out, very few country artists get that opportunity. The more Rayna James gets out there, the better it is for H65. As Rayna mentioned in an earlier episode, she made Edgehill, and now she needs to do that same thing for her own label. This is not for the faint of heart. Rayna wants to make her label a place that nurtures up and coming artists, but in order to be able to do that, H65 has to be a viable label in the first place. And that's all on Rayna's shoulders. That's a lot to undertake. And I don't think it's unrealistic or selfish for her to expect her family to be supportive of her. It seems pretty well established that Rayna has been a hands-on mother for most of her kids' lives, but she had the luxury because of the situation. Someone else had all the responsibility that she now carries. Her kids aren't babies any more. They are old enough (or should be) to be able to understand the importance of what she's doing and to be able to give her some help, even if that help is simply not being a moody brat. And I am not ready to assume that she did not call Deacon on her way to talk to the reporter. Just because we didn't see the conversation doesn't mean it didn't happen. The way they shot it had much more dramatic impact than if we'd seen her talk to Deacon and get his okay. But even if she didn't, I'll be absolutely amazed and flabbergasted if Deacon says anything other than, "right call Rayna" when he finds out. Deacon appears to truly love Maddie and want to be a good father to her. That would include having their story come out to protect her from a stupid kid mistake. And I can certainly understand Rayna being upset at having to reveal parts of her life that she would prefer be kept hidden. She did it to protect Maddie - and the fallout would not have been pretty at all - but that doesn't mean she likes it or feels good about it. And Maddie needed to know that what she did was stupid and irresponsible. Actions have consequences, and after the party incident, you'd think she'd be smarter by now. My biggest question was where was the nanny? Or Teddy? After going through this whole thing about having to get a nanny, why wer Maddie and Cole alone in the house together anyway with apparently all the adults gone? That didn't make much sense to me.

I just saw on the news this morning that Alfonso hurt his back last week during rehearsals. Apparently it's not clear yet whether he'll be able to dance tonight or not.

I was reading through the thread and was intrigued by the comments that Janel's salsa was a rip-off of Shawn's samba. That surprised me because I loved Janel's salsa but disliked Shawn's samba. So I went back and watched first Shawn's trio dance and then Janel's trio dance, and honestly, they are nothing alike in any way that matters. Yes, they both included hand-clapping with dust, but Janel's was staged quite differently from Shawn's, and it's not exactly an exclusive Derek move. Alfonso started off his flamenco with that same hand-clapping/dust stuff. And after that opening, there's just really nothing that's the same except a couple of spots where Janel is in front with the two guys behind and to either side, but they're doing different things and you see that a lot in trio dances. If memory serves, Derek used that same kind of staging in Bethany's trio in places as well. So for what it's worth, while the two dances were somewhat similar in that they used the same kind of music, if you go back and watch them one right after the other, they're not very similar at all. I think it's unfair to say Val "ripped off" Derek's choreography.

Quinn--it's an interesting theory but from what little I know about dancing from watching this show and especially SYTYCD, doing lifts is really hard to do well and not something you'd do with an untalented partner. Apparently there's a real knack on both sides, but especially on the woman's side, to doing a lift well. So it seems unlikely a male pro would pack a dance full of lifts like that if his partner isn't talented. My thought was that Val did it that way precisely because Janel can handle those things, and they are both crowd-pleasing and judge-pleasing. And very much in line with contemporary. They do a lot of contemporary on SYTYCD, and a shorthand comment is that the guy was a 'forklift,' meaning pretty much his whole job was to lift the girl again and again and again. So Val's contemporary didn't seem unusual to me. The lifts were (to my eyes anyway) beautifully done, and I thought the dance was very well done overall. I'm not sure it was worth a 40, but in our house it was a top dance along with Alfonso's, which we thought should have scored equally well. Sadie had some issues with her contemporary, and she nearly fell towards the end and had to put her hand down to the floor to steady herself. So the 38 seemed appropriate to me.

Truth - just so we're clear - I'm not criticizing Mark if he was in fact annoyed. I wouldn't blame him at all. I've been annoyed by it since the second week, and I don't have to put up with it 8 hours/day 7 days/week. He's been a good sport about it all. But I just wondered if it's finally starting to get to him with all the accommodations he has to make to satisfy that clan. And I guess kind of wondering if that's exacerbating his annoyance with the scores. He's been working overtime to come up with dances that both satisfy his creative side and will hopefully please both audiences and judges while being hampered by all the 'I'm a Christian; I can't do this and that, and I can't wear the other thing' input from the peanut gallery. It seems like that would have to wear him down after awhile, and maybe that's why he was exceptionally pissy about the scores the last couple of weeks?

I also wondered about her being uncomfortable with the hand on her butt but apparently no problems with having her crotch in her face. But I'm wondering if it was just me or did anyone else feel an undercurrent of . . . exasperation maybe? . . . in Mark's voice when Sadie asked if his hand had to be on her butt during the lift? No one else has mentioned it, so maybe I'm just imagining it, but when Mark said yes it did, I just got a vibe like maybe he's getting tired of the micromanaging and the 'modesty' stuff and was kind of wishing she'd just shut up and do what needs to be done.

From what I've read of the dance-off - the highest scoring couple gets immunity. Then the second-highest couple decides who they want to dance-off against, and the couple they select gets to choose the dance style -cha cha cha, jive or rumba. Then the next highest-scoring couple gets to pick who they want to dance off against and so on. One place I read said the winner of the dance-off gets an additional 3 points, they thought but weren't entirely sure. As in previous dance-offs, the couples dance at the same time, and the judges pick the winner. The last two winners of immunity were both Derek's partners - Amber and Kellie. They did not do any dance-offs last season.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. I didn't think it was the greatest night of dancing, but Halloween theme night is always just so fun. I had been really looking forward to Len's return, but I found myself getting rather annoyed with him and his issue with "mucking" about and having others in the dances. Normally, I would agree with him, but it's Halloween theme night, and if there's one time the contestants/pros should be able to have some fun, it's this night. It was not a night to be cranky. Boo, Len. Loved the troupe dancer hiding in the fridge. Some of those reactions were great. Also loved the guy sneaking up behind Cheryl while she was talking to Erin. Cheryl's reaction was hysterical. And Alfonso's was so unexpected! That's the fun of live tv - you never know what's going to happen. Tommy - He continues to be charming, but he's not so much fun to watch any more. That quickstep really wasn't. Lea - It was good choreography and a good performance, but I just didn't really feel it with her like I used to. The 'fun' wasn't there again - I think she was trying too hard to do well, and so she missed out on the joy. Shame. Bethany - I honestly didn't like this dance. I couldn't tell you whether I thought Bethany danced well or not because I kept losing her in the drums. And there were times I didn't see Derek at all. I ended up getting caught up in watching the 'dance' the drummers were doing. Hit a beat here, move the drum over there, hit a few more beats, move the drums again. I liked the idea behind the choreography, but the execution was just somehow lacking for me, and the only thing I really remember about that dance was watching the drums navigate out of the way of the dancers. Antonio - I thought this was the best he's danced, and I was annoyed with the judges for the low scores. He was better than that. The judges have said before that they judge the dancers against themselves and their expectations for them, so there was no justification in my mind for more 7s. He has definitely been improving each week; they could have given him an 8 outside of the team dance. I feel bad for him. He was a good sport and tried hard every week. The upside is that Cheryl can now go visit her dad before the finale. Michael - can people just please for the love of God stop voting for him? The man is in his 40s to Tommy's 76, but Tommy has far more pep in his step than Michael can seem to muster. That jive was horrendous, and I got really tired of listening to him excuse his poor performance with "I can't." How would you know? Did you even try? Janel - this was one of my favorites of the night. I don't know enough VW to know whether Len was right or not when he said it was a beautiful flowing 3/4 time dance but not a VW, but for me it was a beautiful flowing dance with rise and fall and plenty of turns. I didn't think they took overly long to get started, and it did set things up nicely. I loved the choreography, and I thought Janel danced it beautifully. It wasn't 10-worthy, but that 7 from Len was crap. Alfonso - I am the odd man out here, but this rumba did nothing for me. Something just felt 'off' to me - I don't know if it was his posture or what. I also didn't see a lot of hip action - it was there in places and in others not so much. This is probably my least favorite of his dances, even though I love this partnership. And I did appreciate that Alfonso took the time to praise the singer. That was nice. And congratulations to him and his wife on the new baby. Also loved Tom's quip right after the announcement. Sadie - First off, let me say that Mark looked incredible. Whoever did that makeup did a fantastic job. And I actually loved the choreography and would love to see that done with one of the female pros in the lead. But Sadie just could not handle this dance at all. Her hands were weird at the beginning - kind of splayed open. She couldn't get the right 'feel' for the paso. She looked more mad than intense, and her dancing just wasn't good this time. For me it was just all wrong. I loved the concept and really would love to see it done with someone who could dance the crap out of it. I think it could have been great. But this was just not a good dance for Sadie at all, and I thought the judges were kind with their scoring. Team ItsyBitsy - The dance was well done, and even Michael didn't screw it up, but I'm feeling a kind of 'sameness' with Derek's team dances. Clearly he knows what the judges want with that 'military style' precision, but it's beginning to feel like variations on a theme for me. Team Creepy - I actually enjoyed this dance much more. From a precision standpoint, they were not in sync the way TIB was, but I just really liked the different personalities and characters in the dance. Much the same way I preferred Team BomBom (or whatever they were called) over Team Foxing Awesome a few seasons ago. I can look at it objectively and say that one was danced better than the other, but also that one was far more fun to watch than the other, and they weren't the same teams for both.

I am firmly in the Dina for the win camp. I have loved almost everything she has done. Cig has been hit or miss for me, and last night's was a miss. I was nowhere near as impressed as the judge's were. I love both Drew and George, so I would have been sorry to see whichever one leave, but I did think Drew was the right choice to say. He's been doing well the last couple of weeks, and I thought his sloth was better than the squid. Really looking forward to seeing a lot of folks back next week for the finale. Go Dina!

I believe Witney is also Mormon. She and Lindsay Arnold were/are best friends who danced together, auditioned for SYTYCD together and were on the show together.

Truth - I understand what you're saying. It's just that for me, I don't mind. If he did it every single week, that would be one thing. But I don't find it excessive at this point. If he pulls it off in the middle of a waltz, I'll re-visit it. <lol> But for now, I don't mind seeing it every other week or so. Just call me a dirty old lady - I enjoy the view. ;0