kitcloudkicker

Well, Jenna’s out for the season https://people.com/parents/jenna-johnson-pregnant-expecting-first-baby-val-chmerkovskiy/

Info on the Disney+ format from Alan: I feel like our fans — and I know I’m biased — they’re so loyal. We owe everything to them. Yeah, they’ll have to switch [to Disney+] but they’ll get more time with us — two hours and no commercials. That would open up the time for both longer dances, and more behind the scenes (since they’ll still need time to switch over the stage)

I doubt it, but then I’m also probably the wrong person to ask, I like it better on streaming.

And I still don’t think he’s likely coming back but seems like this might put a tiny crack in a door that was previously firmly closed. 🤔

Those wanting a return to tradition might be getting their wish: ‘Dancing With The Stars’: Conrad Green In Advanced Talks To Return As Exec Producer Green was the EP/showrunner of the competition show when it first launched on ABC in 2005. He was also part of the original BBC Worldwide Prods. team of Dancingthat pitched the format to ABC.

Yeah, I think Disney (and other theme nights) would definitely stick around, but they’d maybe (and it might be a big maybe) be able to drop the really forced ones like, “Britney Spears has been in the news lately, jam in a theme night about that to try and get into the news cycle.”

I’m pretty sure they were thinking, “it’s either this or we’re going to cancel it outright.” Because if they thought it could make money on network, they would have kept it on network.

Huh, interesting, this actually makes it easier for me to watch as the only time I ever miss network tv is for live stuff (this dumb show, dumb awards ceremonies, sports.) I actually wonder if this will give them the freedom to drop some of the gimmicks, as streaming shows usually aren’t as beholden to the “ratings at all cost” mindset that gets you the most network meddling.

I don’t know if this 100% goes here, but it’s fun. Derek directed the latest Michael Buble video. Hayley’s in it, and I guess it should also go in the SYTYCD alumni projects because most of the choreo is from Phillip Chbeeb (one of my favorites) and Makenzie Dustman.

I just think “broadcast” is a bit of a strong word for what he seems to be doing. I’ve been no Maks-defender in the past (though fandom or no fandom feels shallow to bring into in this circumstance) but he seems to have been using his posts to give status updates on himself, and then sharing the hardships of the situation for everyone else. He’s been pretty consistently in a, “don’t worry about me, I’m fine and have resources, but please help these other people” kind of message, and he also seems to be using his Instagram to communicate his status to people he knows - he posted one message that was like, “if you’ve texted me and haven’t heard back I’m really only communicating with my family but know I’m okay.” Doing things like that can take the burden off of his family having to field those messages. I dunno, I just kinda feel like social media is complicated, and even more complicated during a something like this, because you’re never only talking to one audience. He seemed to me to be 50% posting status updates on himself so his loved ones know he’s okay, and processing what he’s been seeing and hearing from friends, and 50% posting videos from other sources, of people under active attack, trying to call attention to what others are going through.

Eh, I’m no immigration expert and I don’t know his exact status, but clearly he’s not subject to the Ukrainian mandate because he did get out, on what sounded like a normal (though stressful) train, there was no sneaking out of the country. Just a US passport abroad can be a handy thing to have. I’m uncomfortable with a) suggesting US citizens should be forced to fight for a foreign government or b) Monday morning quarterbacking someone’s life or death decisions in the middle of an active war. I’ve seen some of his Instagram videos he’s posted and he does not seem like someone “doing this for attention,” he seems like someone shell shocked and full of survivors guilt, doing the only thing he can think to do to help which is using the small platform he has to share info about what he’s seeing. Whether he got out on a US passport or because he had other connections, he clearly feels conflicted about it, he said he stood for the 13 hour train ride to Warsaw, cramming himself into a corner of the train car trying to make himself as small as possible to not feel like he was taking up a spot for someone else. If I was in that position can I say I would make a different decision? It just feels like a weird place to be making broad moral judgements. ETA: Peta confirms he only has US citizenship, not dual

I just went down a rabbit hole researching the dancers in Iman’s freestyle, and realized I forgot that Kel Mitchell also did Chicago footwork for his freestyle, with a lot of the same dancers. This was the choreographer (I like that Dani went authentic with this dance, and didn’t try to do it herself) https://instagram.com/1kemo__?utm_medium=copy_link Who it looks like was a dancer for Kel and Witneys freestyle? This win a bit of redemption for Kel? Rewatching I’m still just impressed with how much energy they were able to generate in the ballroom, especially knowing they’re not filling it as full as they used to. It felt like they were performing to a packed house by the end of that dance.

I was thinking the same thing. I think there was a moment in Amanda’s dance where even the camera operators lost track of which pair was them - there was a section where they did this lift spin thing and they were sort of off to the side in the shot, and Val and Witney were centered. (And they looked the same from a distance, I kept mixing them up.) A weird choice by Alan - it would have been fine if it were a generic pro dance and you weren’t supposed to focus on any one pair but he needed to center his partner more. And I thought they started strong too, with the pretty floating entrance that didn’t take too long to get into the dancing. If they get a 31st season the male pros really need to step up their choreography game. I thought Jenna and Dani were so strong all season. (In the Emmy mix? I say with no dance background.)

I mean, if we want to get serious about what actually happened, JoJo likely has a team behind her that’s MUCH more savvy than Cody at negotiating a contract. She’s been at it since she was a child and has a merchandising empire, up until the last year or two he’s been a struggling backup/nightclub dancer who took a day job as a spin instructor to make ends meet. I believe them when they say JoJo asked for it (and likely made it a condition of her doing the show) and Cody didn’t know that was a power he had, and probably was too small potatoes to have the leverage get it anyway.

Ugh, they ran out of time for the end again. This show CANNOT do time management. But yay Iman!

Nah, they were making out in the opening number.

Cheryl looked really uncomfortable in that freestyle, while Cody actually looked like he was having fun. It’s hard not to compare that with Jenna and Adam Rippon, and how much more comfortable Jenna was in that style. I still feel like it was a mismatched partnership. Britt (or if they let him have a male, maybe Val) could have tapped into Cody’s energy a lot better. Unknown if they could have fixed some of his posture issues, but I think they would have had a better chance of making it more entertaining.

A little weird to dedicate a song to all the finalists doin’ it together, show. I’m a little uncomfortable 😳

True, every contestant has their annoying fans. I think Cody’s most annoying fans just remind me the most of Bobby Bones’s most annoying fans, if that makes sense. They're the most Bonesian. Kind of a, “I never watch this show and don’t give a shit if his dances are entertaining I just like him (and I like that it’s making people mad)” kind of attitude vs Iman fans who give me more, “Holy shit, I don’t know anything about dance but that was really fun to watch!” kinda vibes. That’s what drives the comparison for me, anyway. I generally don’t really care who wins this show, as long as my favorites end up in the finale. It’s most disappointing for me to miss someone’s freestyle that I wanted to see, because it’s the big culmination of the season. I’m happy enough to see the other three’s freestyles, regardless of eventual winner. Would have liked Suni in the mix but it’s not as disappointing for me as when Nastia missed the final. And if he wins, I do hope that Cody gets his big moment in his freestyle, since the song seems like it could let him show more personality. I do wonder if this is driving any of the disconnect between Cody/Cheryl. Even if they actually do get along, he could even subconsciously be disappointed that he wasn’t offered a male partnership, and it could be manifesting in the seeming disconnect between them.

For me the Bones comparison is more about his fans than Cody himself. He seems fine, but they got on my nerves. They seem to have calmed down a bit (or maybe I stopped looking) but I kept encountering them places online, extremely loudly complaining about how he didn’t get graded on a curve for having COVID, which is just a stupid, annoying opinion, IMO. It sucks that he had it, but you have to grade the dance in front of you or you’d have to investigate everyone’s personal struggles that week and grade them on curves too. And what if they didn’t want to talk about them on camera (like Suni getting harassed) - they don’t get bonus points then? And anyway, if they weren’t going to give James bonus points the day after he lost a baby and thought his wife was going to die, the certainly shouldn’t give them out to Cody. My finale predictions - I’d like it to be: 1. Iman 2. JoJo 3. Amanda 4. Cody But I won’t be surprised if it is: 1. Cody 2. Iman 3. JoJo 4. Amanda

Was just coming in to say that I highly doubt Derek won't still judge the Finale, even if he has to do it from his home. If Cheryl and Cody could be kept in the competition, having to dance at one point in different locations, Derek judging remotely should be a piece of cake. I’d absolutely love to be wrong on this, but I’m still not 100% sure the cameras are for DWTS because I think he was also supposed to be doing stuff for some ABC/Disney Christmas specials? While I absolutely believe it’s possible to patch him in, I think it’s harder than with Cheryl/Cody because they just had to be patched in once, for an extended period of time, while judges talk in such short spurts throughout the episode that getting the timing down feels harder. Not to mention they have to get a feed of each dance sent back to him. If there’s any issue with timing, a delay of 3 seconds or something gets a lot bigger when you only had time to talk for 20 seconds in the first place, and this show has horrible issues with timing already. I guess maybe if they always made him be the last one to talk I could see it working? That way they’d have time to vamp if something came up.

Lol, this is funny to me because the reason I know Cody is from dropping in to those live rides in the city a few years ago. They were on ClassPass like any other spin studio and not that hard to get into, you knew you were being filmed but they only went out to like, a few people in Miami and/or Jersey who had bought the bikes. Obviously I’ve known it’s grown since then but it’s kind of mind blowing to see it. I’m also surprised Cody’s personality hasn’t come out more. He’s known for being fun (that’s why I liked his classes) and his dances just haven’t been very fun at all. If I only knew him from this show, I’d think he was nice, but reserved and a little dull. Who knows, maybe they can still pull out a show stopping freestyle that finally lives up to expectations. I was mostly joking about my conspiracy that there’s a brand deal between DWTS and Peloton, but I do think the demographic of Peloton riders would be like catnip to DWTS execs. Lots of women in their 30s-40s with disposable income? And Peloton gets a bunch of advertising and media coverage every week in return, what company wouldn’t want that? (Though maybe someone needs to start some rumors among the Peloton peeps that if he wins he’s committed to the full tour, and that means he won’t be leading any rides for months. “You want him to win, or you want him around to help you with your fitness, Pelotonians? Eh?”)

No, and he would have interacted with them last Tuesday. Wednesday morning at the latest because he had a show Wednesday night.

No one. Len did 3 (Melora, JoJo, Amanda), everyone else did one.

Yeah, but with his Vegas show schedule he would have mentored them like, last Tuesday right after last weeks show, then was in Vegas until yesterday right before showtime. I highly doubt he’s had it for a week - the most likely place he got it was in Vegas. People flying in from everywhere in the country to sit in a medium/small sized theater - doing any sort of live show right now is a calculated risk. I get the feeling that having a judge be remote is a timing nightmare - too much work for the payoff. They speak for like 10-15 seconds apiece throughout the whole show, vs the remote dance they did with Cheryl and Cody which they were able to patch in just once. Having to set Derek up with a stream so he can see the dances, and then patching back and forth all show feels like it just opens up a lot of opportunity for things to go wrong or off time, and while I like Derek, his presence isn’t make or break for the episode.