Bellisima08

I remember watching this back in the day. It was really cool to see them learn the dance. Man this was a strong team back then!

OK, K&J when you can count the ribs of the cheerleaders, they are TOO THIN. This is crossing into scary territory.

Ok, time for my musings on this week's episode: I liked Charm's choreography & the way she gave feedback to each girl. She knows how to mix honesty with kindness & you can tell she really wants them all to succeed. One observation is that she is one of the few choreographers who doesn't seem to be trying to kiss up to Kelli & Judy & fall in line with them. I loved seeing Kashara again. She seems to have let her hair go to a bit of a darker blond which looks great. I would love for her to be the regular "on-call" mentor instead of Melissa R. I am really feeling bad for Cheryl when she has to go out into the practice room to bring a girl into the office. To have all those eyes on you must be so uncomfortable. In past seasons the other girls would all be waiting in another room while she brought whoever was summoned into the office. Now you can practically hear girls whispering under their breath "don't come up to me!" Also poor Lauren. When she started crying my heart broke for her. I was so happy for Shaina to get some positive attention from a choreographer & from Marshall. She is so pretty & seems to have a really lovely attitude. You could tell that K&J were really impressed with her as she talked about the visit with the Veterans. She would make sure a great ambassador so I really hope they tell her to try out again and that she decides to. So far I've seen nothing that justifies her being cut. I do wonder if the death of her friends plays a role, like maybe the sadness of losing them takes her head out of the game. I mean grief can impact your sleep, eating habits & immune system to name a few things. I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out. So far, I'm still seeing no reason for Kat and Meredith to be making the team in any capacity over someone like Julia. Meredith is pretty & has a great attitude, but I didn't see that moment of her fighting for it like the one choreographer said she was. As for Kat, she seems to just be scraping by. Maybe they are good with the whole alternate thing because they are just glad to be part of it, but I think its a a bit dismissive of them & a bit unfair in the sense that they could have gotten a job somewhere else that allows them to do more. Alternate just seems like a very thankless position. Loved the visit with the Veterans. How they all keep from getting emotional while talking with them is beyond me. I'd be a weeping mess after hearing some of those stories. I could have done without seeing VK front & center during the dance. Dear God please don't let that be a sign of things to come. Also her hip hop outfit was not flattering on her. It made her torso look very rectangular. Lastly, that preview for next week floored me. I usually like Cheryl Burke, but to see her being so rough on Jalyn shocked me. She's always seems so easygoing on Dancing With the Stars & it just seems odd that K&J would cut Jalyn based on just Cheryl's feedback. All in all, while Charm elevated the episode a bit, it was still just ok. Looking forward to show group auditions play out.

Yes!!! I'm not sure if it's been on a t-shirt, but I'm sure I've seen that quote printed on something. There's another Sanderson sister that VK reminds me of. The blond one named Sarah. I mean Sarah spends most of the movie dancing in her own world with her arms waving, hair flying & going amok. Maybe Charm should choreograph a dance number set to "I'll Put A Spell On You." Actually I think they are overdue for a change to the number that's usually done around Halloween. They've been doing that one set to the Brittney Spears song for a while now.

ROTFL! You just reminded me of one of my favorite Hocus Pocus lines that's said to Winifred: "You buck toothed, mop riding firefly from hell!" What a great movie. Now to keep this on-topic...have you noticed how the white that's in their sleeves blends with the background. It makes their upraised fists look like they are floating. Poor planning.

That was the first thing I thought as well. I mean where's Amanda & Kelcey (who are both better than VK)?

DCC: Making Victoria's Team Next year's promo (in Kelli's voiceover): This year on Making Victoria's Team, we follow the journey of thousands of candidates who audition to not only join our world class squad, but to also learn at the feet of returning vet Victoria! Watch moments of encouragement (VK comforts a nervous girl at auditions with a milkshake), tears (VK: you've got to use non-waterproof mascara when you cry so they feel extra sorry for you), and triumph (Kelli: And after last year's alternating points of the triangle experiment, I give you our new point....Victoria)!

Sorry I should have clarified that I was referring to how it would be nice if the show highlighted the Vets & the positive things they do more during filming versus how they usually only get focused on if they are not doing well. I know that on social media, DCC showcases the Vets & the team doing outreach & stuff throughout the year.

I'm really liking Maddie's longer curls. They should have had a photo of Amy in a pose like the others. Her being the only one with her arm up makes the photo look unbalanced.

You are right about that. It's really only if Vets do something not in keeping with DCC standards that focus turns on them like if they have weight issues, they date a player, or they party too much. I guess they do get some attention if they make point or are a group leader, but how about they shine a light on Vets when they do something positive? Like doing volunteer work, the charities they support or when they call attention to certain causes. I'd love to see stuff like that.

Lol!! Well as I said I was trying to understand Travis's preference for VK and I was also trying to compare how others danced against her. She did ok with the dance moves, but there was nothing I saw that made her "best in the room." I would have said those words were more applicable to Gina or Amanda. I do agree that it's a hard dance to watch. Those jerky movements, while in keeping with the tone of the music, were unpleasant to watch. I have seen the music video of the song & I personally found it a bit unsettling. Certainly not in keeping with DCC's style and brand.

Ok, now Travis Wall's credibility & objectivity when it comes to princess illegitimate boots must be questioned & doubted from here on out! He has a long-standing history with VK that has never been mentioned on the show before and in the interest of transparency it should have been! Given that history, they should not be asking him to rate or provide feedback on VK's dance performance. I have rewatched that whole dance sequence from the last episode in an effort to understand his "best in the room" comment about VK & I couldn't find justification for it, but now it makes total sense! I've lost all respect for him!

Well if CMT holds true to form, once a cheerleader becomes a veteran, they tend to focus on them a lot less. I mean there have been plenty of seasons of the show where I've wanted to see what was going on with my favorite vets, only to be disappointed when they are hardly mentioned at all for the remainder of their time on the squad. I'm strongly hoping that the standard lessening of attention on vets holds true in VK's case.

With two lies revealed (having the thyroid condition & saying she went to the appointment but didn't, plus the disrespect to Jinelle), VK should have been released from training camp THAT night!

ROTFL!! Love that hiku! Veruca the whirling dervish does have a ring to it! And you make a very good point about if Travis would ever hire VK. I'd love to hear someone ask him that. If he did she'd be a fool not to accept a job offer from him because if she was serious about dance that would be a better career move than DCC.

Knowing what happens to Alexandra, that scene was very hard to watch. She seemed so happy to finally be in that uniform & Kelli had to bring the moment down. I mean on the one hand I get that Kelli uses those fittings for some one on one time with the rookies to get to know them & better understand their goals, but I think she could have worded it better.

I agree. I'm not sure if she's been told to make her personality bigger by TPTB or if it's all due to editing, but it clear that there's a lot of early focus on her. And there's really no reason for it. It's not like she out of all the rookies has had more hardship & sorrow in her life, nor is she this super exceptional dancer that out dances everyone else & just naturally draws your attention. If it was one of those things then the focus on her would at least make some sense. It could very well be that she was simply chosen to be the quirky, boisterous one to draw attention from VK which is not fair to her. If it were me, I'd hate to have focus put on me just to deflect from someone else.

Hi all, so that episode last night was....I don't know. It kind of felt a bit all over the place for me. I mean a lot was happening, but at the same time is was not really enthralling. Here's the thoughts that came to my mind while watching: Kat: So as an animal person who has dogs, I get her devotion to her cat and not wanting to be without it. She's in a new city pursuing a new career & dealing with stress so you can't fault her for wanting her adorable kitty with her. Hopefully the situation was that her host family was initially ok with the pet & honestly didn't know about the allergy. Other than that there was WAY too much focus on her. We didn't need to see the conversation with the random woman since she didn't even end up living with her. I just feel like she is being shoved down our throats so that TPTB can say "hey look we're not focusing on VK." That's fine, but let us see some of the other rookies. Ashley & Gina Marie: Even though I knew their cuts happened early, I didn't think they would get cut mid-practice. When they told Ashley, I don't think the show had even reached the half-hour mark so when it happened, I thought I'd missed a huge block of the show & actually checked what time it was since they usually do it at the end. While I agree that they were right to cut them given how bad their kicks & jump splits were, I did think it was sad for them to be cut during practice because it didn't give them a chance to say goodbye to the others. I found myself wondering if this early cutting was due to what happened with Malena last year & how they kept her for far too long & she had that meltdown. Speaking of the jump splits, I don't recall them being shown this early in the season before. That & the uniform fittings seemed to be happening too soon as they usually seem to take place in the 5th or 6th episode. Travis Wall: There were things I liked & disliked about his appearance. While I loved seeing him dance with the girls (he killed that dance routine & I'd watch him as the point of the triangle), I didn't really like the dance routine he taught them & hated how he fawned over VK. Best in the room? Please! Speaking of VK, is it impossible for her teeth to not be showing? I mean even when she's not smiling, her mouth is open & those teeth are visible. At one point she was doing Travis's dance & had a serious expression & her hair was falling over her face & I could still see those blazingly white chompers. So yeah, for an episode that had a lot going on, it felt like filler.

I don't know about anyone else but my eyes go right to Kelcey in this photo!

No such accusation here. I was talking about how I much preferred Madeline's viewpoint of how "you are not a legacy until you make the team" compared to others who have raised their children to have an expectation that there's a spot with their name waiting for them, like VK for example. In the post of mine that you quoted, I said NOTHING about Cassie's daughter. If she wants to try out for the team, good for her. I would just hope that she tries out for reasons other than because everyone paves the way for her or because everyone thinks she should because her mother was a DCC & that's its the only dance career option that's open to her.

Madeline's view of how you are not a legacy until you make the team is really so much more appealing then VK and others acting like being a legacy is their due & that a spot should be theirs automatically. It would be interesting if one day one of these kids not only rejected it, but went public & railed on the organization.

Amen to all of this! Particularly the part about VK getting personal attention this past year. With the majority of returning girls, on the night they are cut, if they are encouraged to try out again, they get that little bit of feedback and then off they go with no further interaction from Kelli & Judy until they see them at the next audition. VK on the other hand, had WAY more opportunity for interaction with Kelli after training camp was over. I'm sure she was getting a lot of off-the-clock insight & advice on what to do & how to present herself. When you have access to your own personal svengali, you're going to have a huge advantage and it really shows in this case.

Eh, the dancing was ok, but they lost me when the closing shot was of VK baring her chompers.

So creepy! VK and her teeth do NOT need to multiply! I wonder how much Tina & Kelli paid those kids to hold those cutouts.

I have been trying to figure out who it is with the super low leg, but their face is too far back. It looks like its the 4th person from the end of the line next to Maddie.