katha

I have no idea how Val and Tamar get on, why and how they follow or don't follow each other. But looking at Tamar's instagram, IMO it's clear that she feels hurt by the way the show has portrayed her, that post about the "angry black woman" stereotype is pretty pointed. And just yesterday she posted "You never think someone will do you like that, until they do you like that." She doesn't refer directly to DWTS, but still. I don't know how and if Val comes into that, if perhaps she feels let down by him? No idea. Pure speculation on my part. But that coupled with the pointed lack of posts about DWTS...yeah, Idk. I'm not sure she has a great experience on the show and that's always sad to see.

Yeah, it sounds the usually poorly planned out mess. Though we don't know what "stick closely to the original" means...especially when they told them that but made the Dirty Dancing song into a rumba? That doesn't sound like sticking closely to the original. Perhaps it's more that certain famous elements must be incorporated, not really replicating all of it? The Britney song could work well as a samba, so I assume that's what they're doing. With the belly dancing elements and so on, that could work nicely. I could perhaps see a cha-cha as well? I don't know how the Magic Mike thing will work, will they just do hip-hop or try to sell it as salsa or? They can't all do jazz and obviously they aren't since I assume Alek has jive and Bindi has rumba, so it's going to be curious how it all plays out. Trying to shove certain moves and themes into specific dance styles could end up supremely awkward. I don't have high hopes for the night.

I think there's quite a bit of partnerships not really meshing this season and that might give all of those slightly awkward pairings a shot at doing well anyway? I feel Bindi/Derek are a success, Nick/Sharna (though not everything works and I know they edited him to pieces this week, but his intensity might be off-putting to some of the audience anyway), Alek/Lindsay (though his limitations as a performer are coming to the fore now) and Hayes/Emma (though he's not a super dancer IMO). Everyone else is being slightly strained around each other and that was exposed during switch-up. And since you can't eliminate them all at once, some of them have a shot at doing well for themselves despite not being ideal pairings (I think Paula and Andy are the most vulnerable right now, but who knows how voting looks like...). I think Paula's probably going next week, though Louis might have unwittingly "helped" himself by overshooting so in the choreo for Tamar. She's got quite a cushion on Paula and a good fanbase, but is that fanbase interested in DWTS since Tamar doesn't seem that invested in it either? While Paula appeals to the core demo of the show and had a good (for her) and (more importantly) memorable dance with Mark which might have brought in lots of votes. Alek is rather low on the scoreboard as well, but I think he has the votes (who knows, though). I think Hayes has the votes. Alexa and Carlos are big question marks voting-wise for me after this week's overscoring extravaganza, but it should have given them enough of a cushion for this week. Andy had a good dance, but was it memorable enough to get him completely out of danger zone?

I see nothing wrong with current or former pros talking about what a toxic and manipulative environment the show can be. It has many positive aspects and they talk about that as well, but getting a paycheck doesn't mean you can't ever talk about the fact that the show is scripting, railroading and bullying people to get "dramz". Now with Wade at the helm it's worse than ever on that front. Derek was pretty vocal throughout the last season about the way they were dragging him and Nastia around the block to establish their desired storyline and I didn't think there was anything wrong with that either.

I think the dynamic within the dance partnerships with the PenaVegas must be challenging...so in that sense I don't envy Witney and Mark at all. And IMO you see the strain on both of them a bit this season. I actually feel worse for Witney tbh. Mark is rather open about his feelings, he'll bite back and say his piece if something bothers him and if that doesn't help he shrugs his shoulders and takes a step back and out of the situation. I'm not sure such a thing is possible with Carlos and Witney IMO has a bit of a problem establishing authority with younger males to begin with.

I think Louis is a very great dancer and he's a top teacher for other pro dancers, he's made some super group numbers for DWTS and I would rather have him than Moore do those routines. I know he's also got a super impressive competitive history and an all-around stunning career. But I think this week kinda showed why he's never been a big breakthrough on DWTS despite his credentials. That was too much for Tamar and she couldn't execute it well. And this is not the first time he's done something like that when he had a good dancer. You had it a bit with Paula and Mark as well tbh. Was this the first time she knew all her steps? It's Paula, it was never going to be a good jive. Mark just focused on getting her from A to B, getting her somewhat engaged in the performance and giving her a wacky, memorable set-up. She had all the content she could handle, nothing more. I think there's a fine line between giving celebs challenging material so they can strive to improve and overwhelming them with material that's way beyond them, and I'm not sure Louis always makes the right decision there.

I think with the very high scores both Alexa and Carlos got (IMO too high in both cases), it's a real possibility that they are both not pulling votes. I know it was edited to show him being a big meanie or whatever, but I thought Mark was just realistic talking to Alexa about the possibility of elimination. I think she's got zero cushion now (same perhaps true for Carlos and Andy as well?) and mistakes like she did in the foxtrot will kill her. Perhaps it's better to not tell her that so that she doesn't feel bad or something, but it's the truth.

I thought they both came off not that great in that package. Who knows what editing did to them, of course... The package implied both that Witney wasn't giving it her all because he's not her "real partner" and that Nick wasn't respecting her and went over her head. I do think there's a genuine pattern that can perhaps be observed where Witney has difficulty establishing authority with younger male celebs: It was a problem with Cody, Chris, Carlos and Nick that we have seen.

I actually quite like them and enjoy them together and the work Mark can do with an adult, capable dancer, but I agree that they aren't the greatest personality fit ever. They seem so...polite towards each other. Like, I feel they get on well enough and they both put in the work, but it's pretty clear that they don't have much in common and probably would never hang out together outside of work. I think it's rather telling that their best dance was the abstract jazz. I don't think it has to sink them, they could still do quite well, but it's clear that they won't be BFF afterwards. That said, I think they showed strong dance partnership and performance together from the salsa going forward, so I don't actually think they are lacking in what they put out on the dance floor. But since this show is also determined on general likeability and how a dance pair comes across outside of the dances (most of the time moreso), that's not their strongest suit. It's not bad, but it's just a friendly enough work relationship while the audience craves more connection. IMO Carlos and Witney are also somewhat off...in different ways, but also off. Tamar has a 12 point cushion on Paula, so that should help her out. Of course no one knows how Paula is doing with the voting.

Yes, I actually thought he did rather well. He was very constructive. I thought the 10 for Val...sorry, Bindi, was too much. And I figure he went with the OTT 10 for Alexa because he caught on to the fact that it's "prop up the PenaVegas" week after his confusion about the scoring for Carlos. I've seen some comments about how evil he was to Allison or something...but honestly, everyone should be telling her that every week and since he's not as tightly contracted to ABC and not as dependent on them he could say what a lot of people are thinking. And he wasn't mean-spirited about it either.

I thought Louis did her a real disservice with that choreo, though. It was too hard for her. Just because she did it better than probably anyone else in this cast could doesn't mean she did it well. They really underscored her, though, I agree. You can't give her 7s and then also give Paula 7s. I mean, you might have an argument for 7s for performance and entertainment factor with Paula, but then you have to go way up for Tamar. And she had to dance first, never a good spot. Though yes, Alexa, Carlos, Bindi, Andy, Nick, etc. were all way, way overscored compared to her. They really lowballed her, and I don't know why. I don't even much care for her, but that was really harsh this week.

Yikes, I thought they might be okay vote-wise, but apparently not... IMO Alexa and Carlos were both overscored and apparently the planned double elim was also cancelled, they must not be pulling in the votes. Both were good though, just not as good as the scores they got. And they did the second unflattering package on Carlos...hmm. And the switch exposed a bit of strain in the partnerships with Witney and Mark, though of course ramped up for useless drama. And I know they edited it to be harsh and unfavourable, but I thought Mark's reaction to Alexa was on point anyway. Half the time it seems like she's being distracted for whatever reason...and yes, she's in danger of being eliminated. Her being so overscored this week actually reaffirms his point that she's in danger of being eliminated. Of course they had to edit Derek as the saviour on a white horse coming to the rescue. Eyeroll. Her jazz and salsa were on point as well, she just had not quite so great dances inbetween. They were way harsh on Tamar. Louis gave her too much, but still. But yes, she has problems performing for some reason. Paula was as good as it was going to get with jive, and Mark cracked me up. Alek and Emma were one endless cringe. Nick wasn't so hot IMO. And unsurprisingly Andy did better with a pro not named Allison. Just as Hayes struggled a bit with Allison.

Heh, I look forward to it as well. I would have liked to have seen him with Tamar as well, that could have been interesting IMO. Tbh Bindi is been there, done that where Mark is concerned, we've seen enough teenager sitting from him... Though giving Paula jive in switch up week? So having her learn what is traditionally a super difficult dance for older celebs with a brand new teacher? Yeah, they're stacking the deck against her here. Getting too many votes? They released a video of Mark and Paula first learning that they're paired together and it's pretty cute LOL: http://www.people.com/article/paula-deen-mark-ballas-dwts-switch-up-video If she doesn't know Mark that well and only goes by his tattoos, his hair and his concept dances, I can see that she might be a bit apprehensive about how he'll react to an older partner that isn't all that quick with learning and seems a bit neurotic tbh. But he had Bristol Palin. Twice. One week of Paula is a breeze compared to that...They seemed to have gotten on quite well, at least judging by the general cheeriness of Mark's social media. Of course that says nothing about how the dance will look like. I hope it's at least an entertaining trainwreck...or perhaps they defy expectations and it's not a trainwreck at all. Most of the other celebs should do all right with their new partners as well. They gave Derek tango, IMO a clear strength of his, probably in the hopes of getting Alexa's scores up after last week's mistake. I think they'll prop her up a bit this week since I don't know how she does vote-wise...and supposedly with double elim coming...she's in danger zone. I'm not sure they are quite ready for that "marrieds in jeopardy" thing yet, I think they want that a bit later in the season. Hayes could suffer a bit with Allison and a ballroom dance... And big eyeroll that they gave Alek and Emma the rumba.

The show doesn't have to follow the Standards and Practices rules, as far as I know? They're not a competition, they're a reality show. They just give the appearance of being a competition. And the tweets generated by the ABC site could also be publically seen via twitter. It wasn't about protecting Val from Paula IMO, it was to give Val Derek's partner so this whole nonsensical fan war could happen. It's what the producers wanted. They disregarded the votes in season 19 as well, this is not new behaviour for them. Far as I could see, no one voted for Lindsay and Carlos and Hayes and Allison either, they paired them up anyway. They don't have to follow any guidelines, they're not a proper competition. It's often in their best interests to look at voting results, but I don't think they have to.

I think this whole fiasco has actually shown quite well what the problem with their source is, I agree. I believe they know someone who has insider info (they know celebs and pairings often before announcements, sometimes weeks earlier, they used to know about dance styles and music way before announcements. Now the show posts that info beforehand as well, so it's not as big a deal anymore, but it used to matter more. They sometimes get personal details etc. right), but that someone is already super biased and then probably spins it some more to please the desginated audience. Like...their big scoop on Val this week (no matter if it was true or not) was nothing. Absolutely nothing whatsoever scandalous happened in that description of events: Bindi supposedly didn't get a step or something and Val was a bit frustrated. As has happened probably in every single dance partnership ever on this show! But then it turned into "Val is a big meanie" in the interpretation of the "source", and then it turned into "Val is history's greatest monster". And I suspect everything that is a bit opinion-based, speculative, gossip etc. goes through the same process with the source and then on the site. I feel this is also important to note: They're not only against Val and Maks, though they get the most vicious attacks. They're only ever for Derek and they tear down everyone they perceive as a threat. They may patronizingly praise some of the other pros to disparage Val and Maks some more or if they are seen as "second best" and harmless. But at various times malicious nonsense has been spewed at and about Peta, Cheryl, Mark, Tony, Louis, Artem, you name it. There's a possibility that the claws will come out for Sharna now that she's direct competition for Derek's sixth mirror ball.

I'm sure the producers are loving this BS. That's probably also why they overrode the actual switch voting: Bindi was with Mark, but that wouldn't produce the drama of Val with Derek's partner. And then Maks will judge them on Monday! Oh joy. Not. I'm sure they were dearly hoping for fan wars and that's what they've got. I think with Pure (sorry, I won't talk about them again if it's not wanted, it just seems like you can't leave it out with the current blow-up...) it's a case of: They do have a source, but the source is biased and prone to exaggerations. So perhaps Val did snap at Bindi once, as Derek has probably also snapped at her or at other partners. But that doesn't mean it has to have been a big deal, just normal rehearsal when you're together for hours and get slightly annoyed with each other. And the PenaVega stuff: I mean, IMO that's something you see even in their public demeanour. Carlos promotes Carlos and does what Carlos wants and Alexa also promotes Carlos and does what Carlos wants. They have a rather 1950ies approach to their relationship and gender roles, it seems.So it's not like those were some grand revelations, they were just presented for maximum melodrama.

I generally agree with this. Alexa didn't have winner potential to me from the start, I also talked about this in her thread before the season (too little fanbase, no compelling story, not a big nostalgia factor, not loud enough as a persona), so some of the predictions before the season that speculated she could be a frontrunner were rather a head-scratcher. I think she's someone who can do well, and that's still in the cards. She made one mistake, the dance was still nice, she didn't freak out and stop the performance, both her and Mark were in good spirits about it afterwards. It doesn't have to be a dealbreaker. And apart from the first week I think she's given really committed dance performances and it's obvious she puts in the work. It's still my opinion that she really shot herself in the foot with the weird reaction to Fons' comments, inadvertedly creating the perception that she has trouble separating her marriage from the DWTS dance competition. Though I also acknowledge that this is the narrative the show is creating for her and that she was probably prodded into that rant by the producers. IMO Mark and Alexa get on fine, they are fine in interviews together, it doesn't seem like there's any tension in rehearsals. It's just that Alexa has created the perception, or the show has created the perception for her perhaps, that she's almost more into Carlos' and Witney's progress than her own. That's gonna follow her around now to some degree, but it doesn't have to be a fatal blow. I mean, she's not winning this thing anyway, so it's not like it has destroyed her chances for the MBT. She didn't have a chance for the MBT to begin with IMO. She can still do well anyway. I do think Mark is a bit subdued, but part of that is that he's not in babysitter mode like for Sadie and Willow (and Candace, let's be honest...), so people aren't used to the more relaxed version of him. Part of it may be the marrieds!!! thing, but I think he's accepted it for what it is at this point, and that he probably also knows that he's not winning with Alexa this season. But he seems reasonably cheerful, Alexa seems pleasant enough to be around otherwise, things seem okay to me. And personally I appreciate that he has a partner who is capable and where he doesn't have to do the kindergarten version of every dance. I like that I get to see him do mature dances. Not even necessarily sexy dances (I don't think doing steamy, raunchy stuff particularly interests him as a choreographer...), but things that are more sophisticated. I'm enjoying them as a pair, despite some reservations.

It was a cute dance, so hopefully at least some people voted for it on that ground. And since she obviously had the mistake and was marked down for it, perhaps that rallied the fanbase she has (which doesn't seem large...) and Mark's fanbase and that can pull her through. It's still early enough in the competition that she has a fighting chance. If something like this happened in week seven or so: Toast. And yes, hopefully she has a good, memorable dance with Derek that will give her decent scores that will prop her up some more. Now that the producers have caught on that she might be vulnerable to manipulation they will want to exploit that some more. So fingers crossed she doesn't fall for it again. And agree that having on a couple that's been together for longer would have been more fun. I think Carlos and Alexa are still so wrapped up in each other that they don't quite know how to take the DWTS shenanigans in a more light-hearted way.

I think Maks did fine when he was on a few seasons ago, also resisted the temptation to do anything hurtful or controversial to grab headlines. I hope it's the same this time around, even if the producers egg him on to do something mean-spirited.

Yeah, I think Allison's choreo is totally unimaginative because she doesn't have the ballroom basics to make it interesting. She also only has one pace: Frantic. Riker made all of that look good, Andy can't. And tbh I would have been totally fine with Andy getting the same scores that Paula got, because yes, she actually had cha cha content. Andy didn't. Of course that's not Andy's fault. But the way the show keeps pushing Allison, has apparently forbidden the judges to say anything about her various issues and the way her various connections in the dance world are defending her even though it's clear she's not really fitting on DWTS...sigh.

I think Alexa just didn't come across well this week. I agree that Fons just parotted things that weren't even true for the jazz Alexa did with Mark. The problem with her reaction is that it still showed there's an issue: She totally misinterpreted Fons to mean that Mark and the show should somehow have priority in her life. Of course they shouldn't. But in her role as dance competitor on DWTS? Yeah, he's her main man. But for Alexa Carlos always comes first, as if she can't keep her private life separate from her job on DWTS. And absolutely no one is saying she should start showmancing or is somehow pushing her in that direction. It was a strange and weirdly defensive reaction that totally missed the point. A better rebuttal would have been: "I think Fons was out of line, I'm plenty committed to my dancing and at home I'm committed to my husband. I can keep these two things separate." IMO Alexa's reaction kinda showed that she has problems keeping these things separate. And yes, as far as social media goes: Carlos is promoting Carlos. Alexa is promoting Carlos as much as herself, perhaps more.

I think the issue that no one dares mention with Bindi is this: Steve Irwin's treatment of animals was actually pretty controversial, as some posters have alluded. Now of course that shouldn't reflect on Bindi or her grief about her father's death. But she herself is a representative for SeaWorld, which does make me side-eye her. Hard.

To be fair, I do think DWTS thrives on creating a toxic atmosphere and messing with people's heads and this week Alexa fell for it. Don't doubt that she puts in the work and apart from the first week she was committed to the performances, even today with the mistake. But even apart from the manipulative editing and scripted comments, IMO it's pretty clear that she's almost more invested in Carlos' dancing than her own. And that becomes pretty apparent because it's a contrast to the way Carlos behaves: He's absolutely in it for himself and makes no secret of that. Now, this is also tied to the fact that Carlos is more extroverted and self-confident than Alexa, true. Fons was too harsh last week with the way he put it, but the way she IMO totally misunderstood what he was talking about and instead got defensive about her marriage was a head-scratcher as well. Perhaps it was just a bad idea to have a married couple on at all, DWTS can't resist the temptation to turn it into drama central. To come back to her foxtrot: I thought it was cute and I loved that Mark gave it a retro feeling that suited the song choice. Perhaps too much work with the umbrella there. Since ridiculously (really, the dance assignments are such a mess!) this was her first ballroom dance it was understandable that she struggled a bit. I thought her upper body work was a bit wonky throughout. It would have probably gotten 8s without the mistake, which seems about right. With the mistake I thought 7s were fair (disregarding overscoring of other couples etc.).

Though I will say the fact that the judges feel free to score both her and Carlos relatively harshly and there hasn't been any propping up yet (I don't think both of them have so far been underscored as much as IMO others were overscored compared to them. Like this week 7s for Alexa with that mistake were certainly ok on their own, but they were too low compared to the 6s Paula got or compared to the scores Andy and Alek got. Tamar's scores OTOH...) makes me have hope that it might not look too bad vote-wise for both of them. That they feel that they can stretch things out till the inevitable "marrieds in jeopardy!!!" moment. And despite my criticism I still think Alexa has the potential for places 3 to 5 (she's not winning this no matter what), hopefully she can realize that potential and not get even more defensive about her marriage and focus all her attention on the show on that instead of on her own dancing.

LOL, have to admit, that was my first thought as well when Carlos was in jeopardy. Of course you can't judge the state of their marriage on the way it's edited on a stupid, manipulative reality show. But it has a very high school vibe, at least as they are presenting it outwards? As if they haven't caught on to the fact that being in a relationship doesn't have to mean clinging codependently to each other and giving up all traces of individuality? Alexa in particular seems to feel the urgent need to step back all the time so her husband can shine. It comes across as weird IMO.