realdancemom

I loved his Halloween dance. I found it creepy not sexy though. If there was some sexiness in it, I'm assuming he did it since he played a character and not himself. It can be uncomfortable for some people to act sexy. I remember a lot of giggles when sometimes male pros ask younger females to do it. I think in this case Stephen had a difficult enough time to get the hips and timing correctly. LOL. And Witney stood in front of him for some parts so that you couldn't see what he was doing.

I noticed that about Witney covering up Danny too. You couldn't see what he was doing most of the time he was doing dance steps. I'm sure that was on purpose. Jenna like the other female pros know how to dance circles around their male partners to make the routine interesting and distract from their partners. It's nice that Jenna doesn't have to do that this season. Joey has great musicality probably from his drumming. I did not see where he lost timing in his foxtrot. I guess it happened since both CAI and Bruno pointed it out. If it was just one of them, I would be skeptical. I will say that song was fast for a foxtrot. It seemed more like a QS. But the concept was excellent and Joey pulled it off nicely. I think DWTS fans are brutal with Chandler. When she was showing her fierce face for the AT, people would say that she has a bad attitude. She can't win with those type of fans.

I also think Chandler is the one that would have been eliminated. Five people is a lot for the finale. However, if it means that she and Brandon stay, I'm all for it. I think Danny or Stephen should have been eliminated if it was based on dancing. That wasn't going to happen based on fans. There are people on FB complaining that Danny and Witney should have received 10s for their salsa. Yes, their lifts are amazing especially the first one where she shot up so high. But he was mostly standing there setting up for the next lift. What little dance steps existed were not good. He's very stiff and stompy. His facial expressions are stoic. I think his best dance in terms of performance was his jazz since we got to see some humor. Stephen doesn't do sexy or hips. I don't understand why the costume people can't put some back strap on his glasses so they don't fall off. Each strap could match his outfit color. If they can bedazzle Anna's ankle monitor, they should be able to do that. My eyes aren't that great but not as bad as his. I would still be squinting and not dance as well without glasses though. Ilona for most improved. She looked gorgeous, sexy, and powerful in her paso. I can see her winning based on social media. I think her personality makes somebody want to root for her. She was so happy getting her scores on the first show. I believe Brandon was teaching proper technique for each dance. However, freestyle is anything goes so he isn't restricted to a certain style. Today, I saw Derek's FB post where he acknowledged his first dance teacher, Rick Robinson. He was one of the owners of Vibe so he has taught most of the Utah ballroom dancers, especially the ones you see on the show, like Brandon and Witney. Rick not only is a great Latin ballroom dancer but is an excellent hip hop dancer. I'm saying this since I'm sure Brandon is capable of fusing different styles like he did during soul train night. Or he can ask for help from his mentor, one of Debbie Allen's instructors, or maybe Debbie Allen herself. Fingers crossed since Chandler is very capable of doing an excellent freestyle.

Previously, I wrote that Danny is only excellent in lifts. He had contemporary, jazz, and AT three weeks in a row. Now, he has Salsa. I'm sure Witney will fill it with a bunch of lifts again. She knows what works for him and votes. It would have been nice to see a samba from Chandler/Brandon. I think we only got one this season. It was when Joey did Tarzan. It might have been his weakest technically. I saw people saying that he should have received 10s. A lot of posters think that their favorite is low balled and should receive 10s. I'm sure Chandler would have been the best at it this season. However, samba is also a dance that the judges can nit pick. Maybe, that's not a good idea for the semis.

I also think that one of the Olympians might win. At first, I thought it might be Stephen since he was the Clark Kent/Superman of the men's gymnastics team. Now, I do think it will be Ilona. She and Alan have a great partnership and are very active on social. I'm old and not savvy with social but even their posts pop up on my FB feed. I'm not following them so it's just some algo doing it. She's also a positive role model for bigger girls. If it was all about the best dancer winning, Bobby Bones would have never won or made the finals. Tinashe and Juan Pablo would have been there. I've been worried about Chandler/Brandon being eliminated the last few weeks and next week. You can see it in Brandon's face every time they are in the bottom. He's worried too.

I'm glad that Chandler is still there. I don't care if she's a ringer. I watch for the dancing and she's miles ahead of everybody else. I wish they had a five person finale like last year. That way, I know she made it. I mostly want to see their freestyle. I'll be happy that Brandon finally has a chance to do one if that's the case. People are saying that his choreography is boring. Len would have loved it. He is teaching proper ballroom technique. Joey is my second favorite since his technique is decent. Everybody else has improved but there's a bunch of stomping going around. I'm glad Dwight is gone since he was the worse one left. If they're not doing a five person final, I hope Danny is the next one to go. He's a very handsome man but he's really only excellent at lifts. He and Witney did some amazing ones but this show is about dance. Personality wise, I do like everybody left. As I mentioned, I mostly want to see Chandler/Brandon's freestyle. I don't really care who wins although I do hope it's them.

The judging is really weird this season. The last two shows, most of the people received a 32. The differences between the top couple score and bottom is very minimal. That means it really is up to the votes. So far, eliminations are about what I expected but it will be painful moving forward. I do understand that there has to be some curve. A pro can't throw as much to somebody like Phaedra vs somebody like Chandler. Phaedra was clean during her routine. She played the character correctly and looked fabulous as Cruella. They could be judged based on quality of movement. For example, Phaedra could have given more oomph to her movements especially when sticking her booty out. Jenn could finish her hip movement more instead of cutting them short. I think that is also the reason why Joey received an 8. His character playing was fine. There was no samba bounce though. Samba is one of the hardest dances, and I'm sure he'll bounce right back. :) I do think he was scored about right and Phaedra too high, though. She should have received 7s. Edit - I thought Chandler should have received at least one 10. She was fierce and the cape work was amazing. Her posture and shaping looked great.

Chandler did attend Debbie Allen's dance academy. I believe that she stopped going regularly at around 9-11 years old. She is now concentrating on acting. Lots of female celebrities take dance. This season, both Brooks and Anna said that they took ballet when they were younger. That's why both did have nice lines and Brooks is flexible. Anna was just a pill to watch with no performance skills. Brooks didn't flow well between moves. Jenn said she took one semester of ballroom in college. Since I watch for the dancing, I really don't care if "ringers" are there as long as they didn't take ballroom seriously. So I don't consider Jenn's one college course as disqualifying. It's about popularity anyway. I agree with the stats above that the top four will probably be Ilona, Joey, Danny, and Stephen. Danny has had two good weeks and his confidence has improved. We'll see what happens when he goes back to ballroom since contemporary and jazz is pretty much a freestyle on this show. So the top four can change. Phaedra was the right one to go. She was the weakest one in her group of weaker dancers. I definitely saw her looking back when she was in front of the line. Dwight should be next. He looked promising on the first show like an Iman 2.0. It hasn't worked out that way. I don't know how big his fanbase is. He is one of the stars that I knew before the season started. I also knew Tori, Reg, and Eric but they're gone.

I know that the DWTS winner is mostly based on popularity. That's how Bobby Bones won. Based on both popularity and dancing, I think Joey will win. To me, that would be a better outcome than if Stephen won. I say that as somebody that loved watching him in the Olympics. He has an adorable personality and is popular. I was excited to find out he was competing. I don't watch the Bachelor or Bachelorette so I didn't know Joey or Jenn before this season. I just know that the show brings a big fan base. Stephen is a decent dancer so it wouldn't be a terrible outcome. I just think Joey is better. I'm still worried about Chandler. There was a mistake in the lift. However, 8 is still too low in comparison to the other dancers getting 8s. I didn't want her at the top of the leader board every week. She shouldn't be this week and she's already getting ringer backlash. However, planting the seed that she doesn't emote enough is problematic. It could work for somebody with a big fan base and give the narrative that they overcame that. I'm not sure how big her fanbase is. I'm still hoping she makes the finals so I can see their freestyle. Based on dancing, I think Phaedra and Dwight should be next.

Since Ilona was upset, she shouldn't have been one of the last three. I'm sure she wasn't so they could have chosen somebody else. Her dance wasn't her best but she looked fantastic!! They finally dressed her properly for her body type. Joey looked really good with his wig. It brought out his blue eyes more.

Thanks for the media links, tv echo. This quote right here is my biggest issue with Gene. “If Gene doesn’t think the woman is hot, she gets a low score. Get this man off my screen. No reason he tried to give Brooks a ten and THE Phaedra Parks a five? #DWTS,” user @shelbykvosburg weighed in." A 5 for Phaedra and 10 for Brooks is ridiculous. His comments were creepy but Bruno makes similar comments about contestants being hot. The difference is that he kind of says that to everyone. It's part of his act. He also gives constructive criticism afterwards. Gene offered nothing.

I thought Sasha and Jenn's dance was sexier than Brooks and Gleb. I agree with CAI and Rosie. Brooke has beautiful lines and she's flexible. So there are some pretty pictures that are made. There's no flow though. It might be Gleb since I don't think he's a good choreographer. However, I've read that Brandon is not a good choreographer and he's killing it this season. I did think Brandon choreographed well for Tinashe. He's also had some really good rumbas. I specifically remember Kenya Moore's. Stephen needs to slow down. This was Illona's best dance so far. I don't know why Dwight couldn't rehearse but that was not good. Phaedra's quickstep was a hot mess and I don't know why she got a 30. It's especially weird since she was the first one and the judges usually score lower for that. I probably like Joey second best after Chandler.

I haven't watched this episode yet. I'm not looking forward to Gene's comments based on posts. It's too bad since I thought Rosie Perez was a good judge that gave appropriate scores. I just wanted to comment on Chandler and Brandon. I'm worried for them since there have been a lot of ringer comments. Brandon is also not one of the popular pros. I don't want her to be a shock boot since I'm looking forward to their freestyle. She doesn't need to win for me but I really want to see them in the finals.

His face also spoke volumes when she said the best part is not doing the dance again. I don't know anything about her except from this forum. Just from this show, I wouldn't vote for her based on personality. Sorry Ezra.

With all its faults, I wish I could watch another episode tonight. I liked when there were more dance shows list this, DWTS, WOD, etc. Now, I have to wait for DWTS in the fall. That also was cut down from two to one season per year. I like the idea of going to the old format for top twenty and then doing the challenges when it's top ten. And if they can't have everyone vote, at least have the audience vote like last season although I know there were complaints about that. Unfortunately, I don't see having a top 20 because that would require a longer season. I don't think they would spend money on that especially with the ratings.