LadyMustang65

I don't understand this comment at all. I can only recall one partner with which Maks might have been thought to have a "showmance," and that was Erin Andrews. Only in that case, it wasn't a showmance but an actual pairing for a while. I can't think of any other time. There were rumors of a pairing with Willa Ford, but there was nothing played up on the show. His partnerships with Tia, Brandy, Laila Ali, Mel B., Melissa seemed good but not a "showmance." There certainly was no "showmance" with Hope. Or with Kirstie. That one time they kissed in the dance was not planned, and Kirstie admitted in an interview that she kissed Maks, and he had no idea it was coming. They had some fun with it in other dances, but no one in their right mind (imo anyway) would have seriously thought for even a second that we were supposed to think they were romantically involved. <lol> I don't even see a "showmance" with Meryl. They have a great partnership and some terrific chemistry, but I have seen nothing that makes me think it is anything more than that. Some people have a need to pair up everyone around them like animals on the ark (and I absolutely agree with you that shippers ruin everything - drives me crazy), but that doesn't mean that Maks is instigating it. He may play along with it in interviews by being coy and not flatly stating they're just friends, but unless you happen to be someone who frequents message boards or follows the pairs outside of the show (which most viewers don't), you wouldn't even know about that. All you'd know is what you see on the show, and there's nothing there. Now if Maks made stupid comments like, "we're trying to keep it platonic," then I'd think there was some basis for saying he's trying to push a showmance, but all he's ever said on the show is that they have a great friendship and he hopes it continues after the show. He's not really feeding it, and Meryl certainly isn't. I just think it's really unfair to claim that Maks can't do choreography so he just goes for showmance. I don't know where that's coming from. Maks has come up with some really wonderful choreography through the seasons. The first person to actually kiss a partner during a performance was Derek. And when asked, he was very coy about whether it was planned as part of the choreography or "just happened." I really feel bad for Maks this season. The guy can't win no matter what he does. When Derek plays to his partner's strengths, he's a genius and the best choreographer/teacher on the show. When Maks does it, he's just copying Derek. And if Maks went a different route for the freestyle and they lost, then it would be all "Maks sucks at the freestyle, and he cost Meryl the trophy." Win or lose, Maks will get no credit for doing anything right with some people.

I think the throwing the mic thing has been blown up out of proportion a bit. The mic pack slipped off his back where it had been secured and was banging around his legs, so he grabbed it and tore it the rest of the way off before throwing it away. Was it a bit childish? Yes. But I've done the same kind of thing when I've been frustrated and something mechanical isn't cooperating. It can be very satisfying. I didn't think it was any big deal. Now, if he'd thrown it at Meryl, that would be a different story. But ripping it off when it was getting tangled up in his legs? Been there done that. And I'm generally considered to be a fairly mild-mannered individual. :)

That didn't bother me because it was falling off him already. That's kind of what put him over the edge - it slipped off and was banging around his legs, so he grabbed it and threw it. Without that happening first, I'd have thought it was kind of childish. But under the circumstances, I was okay with that.

I don't believe that's true. He was very good with Kirstie Alley, and I never got the impression that he found her disgusting. Nor have I ever seen anything in his interactions with other zaftig female contestants on the show that suggested he looks at an overweight woman with disgust. I really don't think the disdain for ALM has anything to do with her weight. She's just a really nasty piece of work who abuses children. No more explanation needed.

I have no personal experience with the show but from comments I have seen from folks who have attended one, it sounds like it would definitely be worthwhile. If there were one in my neck of the woods, I wouldn't hesitate to get tickets. For whatever that's worth. <lol>

I think James was put in the fake B3 for the same reason Charlie was - so they could announce that someone from Team Vida was going home. The whole team was in jeopardy. Once they did that, I think it would have been too obvious it was Nene going home if they had left Charlie as one of the faux B2. I don't think anyone would have believed for a second that Charlie was leaving. James' popularity is less obvious, and despite the judges' scores, the general consensus on boards is that he's not that good a dancer. He created at least a bit of suspense with the B2 while Charlie, imo anyway, would not have.

FWIW regarding the scoring, I saw an interview with Carrie Ann on some talk show, and she was explaining that the judges don't really rank the celebs against each other but rather against themselves (or what the judges think they are or should be capable of). So an 8 for Nene is not the same as an 8 for Charlie. An 8 for Nene means she's doing pretty well for what they expect of her while an 8 for Charlie means they think he's capable of much more. I can kind of understand that logic since there's no way that Nene would ever be capable of what Charlie, Meryl and Danica have already done, and they want a way to reward her improvement with better scores instead of always giving her 5s and 6s while everyone else is getting 8s, 9s and 10s. But on the flip side, when the scoring is so close, there's that much more chance that a better, harder-working celeb will go home before someone who is less capable or who isn't trying as hard. Plus I imagine it must be extremely frustrating for Charlie to work as hard as he does and get the same scores as a Nene who's terrible. It would be better if the judges explained that on the show or at least said something like, "Charlie - that was a good effort but we think you're capable of even more and that's reflected in your score." And for heaven's sake, would someone take away anything over a 7 paddle the first few weeks? There is so little room to reward improved performances when they're handing out 8s and 9s on week one. Or institute a two-score system - one score for technique and one score for performance. At least that way someone who is entertaining but not very good can get a decent performance score while it is being tempered with a much lower score for poor technique.

I think I must be the most unromantic person in the entire world. I've been reading through the whole discussions about Maks' and others "showmances," and I honestly have never really seen anything I would have called a 'showmance' except for Val and Kelly Monaco. They were laying it on pretty thick, and they had good chemistry, but I found it squicky for some reason. I've never seen anything I would have called a 'showmance' from Maks with anyone. I've loved his partnerships with pretty much everyone except Hope (and Melissa a bit), and I know he's very handsy and affectionate with his partners, but I've never considered that a showmance or anything other than what a lot of the pros do. It seems like dancers in general seem to be quite demonstrative. I know they were trying to throw a shomance at us with Peta and Brant last season, but I couldn't see it. Don't see anything between James and Peta this season either. I just really mostly don't see it, but then I've never been one to 'ship people - real or made up. I can't think of a single tv show where I've shipped couples other than very mildly - mostly I hate the forced-ness of feeling like everyone has to be paired up like animals on the ark or something. <lol> So it's never occurred to me that Maks and Meryl were anything more than just enjoying a great friendship - same as I felt with Maks and Kirstie and Maks and Mel and Maks and most of his partners. And so I pretty much am enjoying all the partnerships this season with a couple of notable exceptions. I really enjoyed Latin night. I thought almost everyone did a nice job on their dances with Nene being the weakest link. James I find to be fairly "stompy," so I usually think he's overscored, but he gives it his all, so I enjoy watching him. I'm waiting for Charlie to really break out. I think Sharna needs to pay more attention to his footwork because it seems to be his downfall. Meryl and Danica are so much fun to watch, and I'm finding Candace to be incredibly likeable and a decent dancer, so I hope she makes it a bit further. Overall, I think it's been a really good season. I could do without the 4th judge, but if they're going to bring one in, why not some of our favorite former pros like Louis or Anna? At least they'd know what they were talking about and could give the constructive criticism that the judges seem to be passing on this season. Ricky Martin was ok, but he didn't add much. I actually found Donny Osmond to be the most interesting of the guest judges. Not sure what I think about these new side-by-side challenge dances. I'll have to wait to see them, but I really hope they aren't taking the place of the trio dances. I really liked those. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to next week. I think Charlie should kill the quickstep, so I'm hoping Sharna pays attention to his footwork and doesn't overload the dance with difficulty so he can dance it cleanly. I'd love to see him get some "real" 10s (I don't count the ones from the guest judges because they mostly don't know any more about dance than I do, which isn't much!). It's time.