Hybiscus

And let's not forget James, who can't get his butt under control in hold. Geez, I'm still depressed about this. *gak*

Well, let's see... It isn't Charlie's rumba. :( Meryl had Argentine Tango with Val - score of 39 James had Tango with Cheryl - score 35 Amy had Salsa with Mark - 34 Candace had Quickstep with Tony - 25 Hmmm, wonder who it'll be.

Damn! You are so right! Here I was blaming America for not throwing their votes to Charlie, but it really is all about manipulation. So Charlie and Sharna didn't have any drama, other than being tired and wanting a perfect score (which pissed off some people). Why didn't the producers focus on this adorable, loving every-mother's-dream of a young man with floppy hair and a charming laugh? Oh yeah, because All American loses to sexy bad boy persona. What a fucking shame.

Except that even that was overshadowed by Amy Purdy on her running blades. What does this sweetheart have to do to get his own spotlight? Jeez.

Nope, it's not Sharna's fault at all. Last week Charlie had the second highest score 78/80 (should have been 80/80 but for Sharna's mistake), and yet he still got lost in the shuffle. I has a sad.

Well, that was the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever seen. Not one, but two inferior dancers make it to the finals. Well, at least I have this monkey off my back, and won't need to watch DWTS any more.

Ooh, thanks for the video! Did Charlie really say "Bambi strides"? :D I understand the video was taken on Tuesday? First day of rehearsal? Man, I hope so, because that samba looks pretty awful. =:0 They're probably just learning the choreography, because both are in sneakers. For me, samba is probably the hardest dance to get right. I think Danica is the performer this season who's come closest. (hashtag fingers crossed)

fembotz, that link led to an interview with Maks and Meryl. It was a great interview, but I really want to see C&S's samba, since it's my favorite dance. I tried checking the site for other links, but couldn't find the footage you mentioned. Can you help me? I'm with you about wanting Charlie to make it through. I'm going out on a limb this week, and against "conventional wisdom" (i.e., FB and such) to say he'll be safe. I predicted (really, more hoped for) his 4 10s last week. We'll see if I'm 2 for 2 or all washed up.

Understood. I did give a disclaimer that the bottom 3 might not be the lowest cores. I've only heard them say the last 2 standing may "not necessarily be the bottom 2." I haven't heard that said of the bottom 3, but that doesn't mean it isn't so. Wait, there's too many negatives in that sentence. What I mean is that even though I haven't heard "you 3 in jeopardy are not necessarily the bottom 3," it could in fact be true that the 3 in jeopardy aren't the bottom 3. I guess that's a long way of saying, "Yep, you're right." :-) I didn't say that Meryl was behind in votes. There's no way any of us could know that. What I said is that she needs more votes than anyone else, and it's by a (relatively) high margin. Alapaki, your first set of numbers agree with mine, but I came up with a different set of numbers for percentages with Danica's scores. Mine show Meryl is a little over 1% behind Candace, while all the other differences are less than 1%, most being about .25%. That's why I said she's "far behind," because the separation between Meryl and Candace is greater than any of the other separations. Please don't take any of this to mean that I want Meryl gone. I do NOT. In fact, even though I'm primarily a Charlie fan, I'd be happy seeing Meryl and Maks win.. I do think they're a popular team, whether because of possible romance or just fantastic dancing, and believe they'll pull through. Take heart, fembotz. I did just the opposite. I was so scared for Charlie last week, even though he was declared safe, I gave all my votes to him. Then, when I realized Meryl's numbers weren't so good, I was sorry I hadn't saved some for her.

This was dscussed quite a bit last week. I don't think the number of Likes on FB (even with comments accounted for—however that's done) equate to votes. Charlie was last or near last in last week's likes, but wasn't in jeopardy. (I'm assuming the 3 couples in jeopardy are indeed the 3 lowest scores, although I realize that might not be the case.) I did my own analysis with the scores and determined the percent of votes each celeb would need to stay in the game. Looking at it from that perspective, Meryl is the one who's far behind. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the M/M fan base is strong enough to come through for her. I can see her possibly being in jeopardy, but it would be a huge miscarriage of justice if she was sent home.

How do you give nothing but glowing praise to Charlie for his cha cha, but give him only 9s? Actually, Bruno told ALM her criticism of Charlie wasn't justified because it wasn't a ballroom misstep. ALM stated in an interview before the show that she's not a ballroom expert. Did you notice she also tried to say Charlie slick back his hair? How dare she mess with the curls! Then what about Amy's AT? I'm not a big fan of contemporary, but that "duel" (more like "duet") with Candace and Charlie was superb and agree it should have gotten all 10s. I didn't see Sharna's mistake, even when I rewatched and tried to look for it. Why should they knock down the celebs for a pro's mistake, especially when it's done when she's dancing alone? (Or did it happen when she was with Charlie?)

Since this week didn't have a "theme" like Disney night or Party Anthem week, I christen thee... Prop Night. To wit: Charlie & Sharna had a flower Danica & Val and the crown & a chandelier Meryl & Max had the kitchen table Candace & Mark had the sofa and remote James & Peta, cherry trees and blossoms flower petals And of course, Amy & Derek & the infamous stool I was going to amend the DWTS drinking game this week with a drink for every time ALM said "sickled feet." (She complains about them incessently on Damce Moms and her "Ultimate Competition" show.) Guess I would have had only one additional drink, had I had any alcohol in the house. And I know of no rumba dance move that includes rolling around on the floor.

Dang, why didn't I think of that? That's a very commendable life's mission! I just wish you hadn't beaten me to it. :)

Ok, this is a smidgeon off-topic. (But it IS Charlie-related!) I noticed Mama White's twitter photo/avatar/whatever is of a most adorable little puppy. Could it be the same adorable doggie shown here? (The one without the glasses!)

Speaking of Kristy Yamaguchi, she tweeted earlier this week to support Charlie. Awww. I knew there was a reason I loved her. There's a whole lot of Charlie conversation on the Latin Night thread. Perhaps it would be better to bring it over here?

bearcatfan, couldn't agree with you more. This is my first season watching DWTS (and will likely be my last), so I didn't know about the shitty judging. Not only are they inconsistent, they don't judge all contestants on an equal basis. Despite what Len told Amy at the start of the season. They're judging each contestant on a different scale. (It's frustrating, especially for us Charlie fans.) I think Charlie's package of "I want perfect scores" was a set up, mainly because there is no other drama with him and Sharna. They both have relationships outside of the show, so no showmance to support. They show up to practice, and that's what they do. A couple weeks ago when asked about his scores, he said he was more bothered that Meryl hadn't gotten a perfect score. I'm thrilled that Charlie finally gets a Quickstep next week. But I'm not thrilled the guest judge is Abbie Lee Miller. *shudders*

Granted, I'm partial to Charlie and the samba, but I actually liked Team Vida's dance better, but I'm in .1% of the population. I agree about the contained area, but also, Team Loca was mostly solo dances, so any chance of poor synchronization was minimized. (I did see some toward the beginning.) I saw a video interview (from On the Red Carpet, I think, but I can't find the video now) that commented on the shortness of Charlie's pre-package, when others were more than twice as long. Charlie and Sharna acknowledged that they simply don't have much drama to bring to the camera. Hee!

As a Charlie fan primarily, I was disappointed in tonight. I agree about the manscaping. Truthfully, I don't like all the guys not wearing shirts. It takes away from the dance rather than add to it. I don't care for the Paso Doble, so I can't really say whether he did good or not. So far Charlie hasn't had one smooth/standard dance other than the tango, and wasn't that an Argentine tango? it has a much more staccato rhythm than normal smooth dances. I hope he gets something smooth next week. And hope that Sharna doesn't overkill the choreography. I did love the Team Vida dance (but then samba is my favorite dance), but was so disappointed with their scores, I didn't even bother watching the other team. It truly wasn't fair that all the men on that team were pros, but then, Charlie picked James first, so there ya go.

Thanks for the answers. It just doesn't seem fair. Every dancer should have to do the same dances—not in one week, that would be boring. But they should pick 10 or so dances to rotate through the group. That way everyone would have to do a waltz, paso doble, you get the idea. And I would be fine if contemporary was not part of the equation.

Can anyone tell me how the dances for each couple/each week are determined? Is it just the producers pulling something out of the hat, or do the pros decide? Or something else?

I want Danica to outlast NeNe! :D

Hey, something I can actually answer! They use eyelash glue. I used to do some amateur ballroom dancing. Loved it. I had to look up "feather" on Wikipedia. The man steps outside the woman and turns his frame a bit. It's a foxtrot move, but I can see where it'd work with tango. I'll have to go back and watch to see where it is in the routine. That said, I'm a DWTS virgin.. I watched the very first episode, but 1) didn't think it was "real ballroom," and 2) I hated Kelly Monaco. So I have no history with the show and the pros. I started watching this seasaon out of boredom, but have really been enjoying it (even with the crappy scorin), but that's probably because I have a little crush on Charlie White. I was a tad disappointed in his scores this week, but I think you've all nailed it. Sharna should ease up a bit on the choreography and tricks. She really shouldn't have pushed all the cane/umbrella work last week. If Charlie loses, it will be because of her. I thought the judges were spot on about Candace. Here leg- and footwork on the cha cha were terrific—at times. When she was on, it was gorgeous. Her legs are awesome. I didn't think Danica's was quite as good, but she is enjoyable to watch. Meryl and Maks' tango totally deserved the perfect score. Meryl's voice has annoyed me in the past, but I thought she was lovely this week, and definitely got into the dance. Their critiques of NeNe were right, too. Her body upper body is good, footwork, not so much. I'd wondered why sh'ed been so emotional after her dance last week, and now we know. The sap in me says "Awww." But James and Amy were way over-rated. Amy was terrific, but not 10-worthy. And James' quickstep was horrible: bad footwork, bad knees, bad body. Oh well.