tearbender

I get the same impression. I'm not sure I agree with the prevailing sentiment that they're continuously held down in scores solely because they are a sibling team and can't do romantic or sexy routines. They are technically good, but not so amazing that it makes up for other shortcomings IMO. In Ice Dance especially I feel you need to have great musicality and charisma. The Shibs seem very controlled and sometimes stiff, and to me it feels like they rely on the music to bring the personality to their routines, instead of acting as storytellers themselves. Even Tanith noted that the energy in the arena went up once the Italians skated after the Shibutanis in the SD. Word from a journalist is that Yuzuru looked good in practice. Landed a 3A then left. I hope he's recovered well from his injury.

With the dance teams so close, I really don't think it makes sense for the Shibutanis to do both. It's great for them, personally, but it definitely screws the other two dance teams at a nearly guaranteed medal. I think another team should do the Free Dance. I think it all mostly depends on what Nathan wants to do. I think pragmatically it's good for Bradie to skate twice in the team event, but then Mirai loses out on a medal, and NBC misses a feel good comeback story.

The word is that the Shibutanis expressed a wish to skate twice in the Team Event. I think US has to be quite strategic about the Team Event. It would make the most sense to rest Nathan, and have Bradie skate twice for Ladies, but then that denies Mirai a potential medal and the obvious feel-good comeback story. Plus the U.S. National Champions in Ice Dance should participate in the team event.

I'm happy Laurie won too! I imagine the DWTS tour is another nice paycheck and also a great opportunity for Laurie to hang out with people she's formed friendships with on the show.

That's an excellent observation about Sharna's work this season. I think I have to agree. The James as the "best male dancer" hyperbole from the judges was inaccurate; it would have been better that's he's one of the best "actors" when he dances. Sharna's been quite theatrical, and James certainly sells every character Sharna gives him to play, but his dancing is not the best. I think it's interesting to compare her to Mark, especially early DWTS Mark. Calvin is very charming and athletically gifted, but it's seems to me that's he's stagnated as a dancer. I'm sure it' great fun being twirled and hoisted in the air, but it would have been nice if Lindsay had relied less on so many lifts this season IMO. I am pleased that Val struck a good tone for the freestyle when it mattered. I think Laurie may have been getting the popular vote this season but I can see James' freestyle resonating and pushing him to the win. This feels a bit like S16 where 4th and 3rd place finishes were quite obvious and the only suspense all season long was which of the top 2 would win.

I'll be shocked if Laurie, Calvin and James aren't the Final 3. I'm interested to see who slips into 4th place, however. I think the judges favor Jana or Terra, but who knows? I was very worried that Laurie would just break character in the tango. She was lovely and I liked that she could show off her flexibility in ways that were natural to the dance. I would have given her 3 10s and a 9 perhaps but we're in the unfortunate phase of the season where anything less than a perfect score is seen as a diss. I wasn't able to turn up the volume or put on closed captioning, what did Laurie say in response to Val's little "Sexy? I'm going to say ahead and say sexy" pep talk? Something about her mom? James and Calvin's routine was cute, but just like the dance off last week it really exposed Calvin's (and James') weaknesses as dancers. I would have liked to have seen more Paso, and more actual dancing than playacting. It was nice to see Kym in the audience. I think Mark sitting out this season and Cheryl taking several seasons off highlights the importance of rotating Our Pros. I can see why some might be reluctant to take a season off -the troupe members don't bother to disguise their thirst for a promotion - but there's something to be said for going away long enough to be missed. I won't miss her, but I do feel bad for Marilu. There's having a rose colored glasses for what the show really entails, and then there's just a completely mismatched partnership with Derek.

Pre-season it was speculated Charlie White would go further than Meryl for a few reasons. Once Amy Purdy and Meryl came out however, it was apparent Sharna wouldn't win with Charlie. Injury aside this could still be Sharna's season to win. If it is Laurie vs. James in the finale, the win may very well be determined by the freestyle and on paper I'd give that edge to Sharna over Val even though Laurie is capable of more tricks.

You know what, I actually think Jenna was a good choice of replacement, even though Emma is the stronger pro overall. That dance as Harley required someone who could be "extra" and she nailed it perfectly in a way I can't quite picture Emma (or Witney) doing, honestly. And good on James for not missing a beat. He had great chemistry with Jenna. Dance-offs/Immunity Weeks are so shady, and I dislike them on principle, but the first two match ups were fun. I loved Calvin's expression and pantomime when Val (via Laurie) told him to pick on someone his own size. Not sure if Val is repeating lines or poking fun at the way he kind of dissed Aly Raisman back in S16. Speaking of Val, I disagree that's he not creative, although he needs to pick and choose when to go with the traditional approach. I actually prefer his approach with Laurie than what we'd probably see with Mark or Derek. And it's both touching and concerning how seriously he takes being a mentor to Laurie. I hope he gets his self doubts over with and starts brainstorming freestyle ideas for Laurie, which he should have done Week 1. Lindsay can have a liftpalooza freestyle and Sharna must have a fire lit under her now. I love Pure Imagination. I'm surprised it hasn't been used in the show before now. Laurie looked lovely but I thought the dress could have been a bit more flattering to her. I'm not a fan of the hyperbole James inspires. He's not even the best male dancer in the show's history if you discount the ringers IMO. However, if he's interested, I hope he gets a Gilles Marini like acting career surge from this show. Because he can act. He sells every character Sharna gives him.

That was an interesting episode. Felt like old school DWTS in some ways. In many ways, the teaching process was more interesting than the actual dancing, along with the strategy for the dances, and the camaraderie, or lack thereof in some instances. I would watch an entire hour of team dance rehearsal footage, honestly. I think I enjoy the partnership with Sasha more than Terra herself, but wow, my heart went out to her in the rehearsal practices. I can relate to having that kind of hyper awareness in a group setting, and I felt so bad when she said that Derek was asking permission for every move he suggested, to make sure Terra could do it. I hope the other pros on Team Future were not consistently communicating in Russian during rehearsal because that’s kind of rude to Derek. The team dances also reminded me of last year with Team Nightmare vs. Team Who You Gonna Call, with the former team being underdogs by virtue of not having Derek on their team, and yet still pulling out a showstopper. Color me surprised they chose the theme from Outlander for a Team Dance. I thought it was lovely. On a shallow note, Team Past looked fantastic in those costumes. Especially Calvin, mmm. I think it was an interesting choice to go for a more cohesive approach for Team Past, where nobody really stood out like Bruno said, but the overall effect was better IMO. Team Future gave me interpretive dance, junior high dance recital vibes, but I did kind of dig it. And the production quality and effects for both dances were awesome. I was worried after hearing Team Past’s song that Team Future would get a much more upbeat song, which the show used to do and it made the Team dances quite uneven right from the start. Ryan Lochte being confused by circles pretty much sums him up. Sadly, I can see him outlasting Jana, Terra and Marilu.

Well, depending on how unsatisfied you were with the All-Stars outcome, Shawn not winning is a conspiracy on the part of TPTB. Marilu's legs are indeed fantastic. I thought she was slow, however, to the point of distraction. Derek often takes assigned dance styles as suggestions anyway, so I'm not surprised it looked like a bit of a hybrid. I'm lowkey worried for Laurie. I can actually see a Gilles situation where she might lose on the freestyle. Calvin and James/Sharna are not to be underestimated. I wish Val had chosen a brighter, different outfit for Laurie. This one was a bit reminiscent of her Week 1 costume. Laurie was very good as usual but I agree Val could be doing more for her with his choreography. I think he's tied so far on hits vs. "meh" routines. I liked her routines the first two weeks, and she killed the Michael Jackson dance. Last week's Paso was a bit too ambitious and busy for Laurie. I do think he's in that dangerous territory as a pro where he has a partner with many gifts and ups the difficulty and over-choreographs, instead of packaging her in a way to highlight her personality. Sharna fell into this trap occasionally with Charlie White, IMO. I like him a lot, but I don't think Calvin has done anything to deserve 10s just yet. Lindsay is relying too heavily on lifts. I'm curious how many better dancers Lochte will outlast now.

Val, teaching Laurie about the tango. Val: It's about the relationship between two people. It takes two to...? Laurie: Make a thing go right *grin* Val: No!

This is one of these weird seasons where I think the competition would be tighter if some of the pairings had been assigned differently. Laurie/Val, Rick/Emma, Ryan/Cheryl and Terra/Sasha are all just well matched, IMO. I suspect Derek is actually just fine with a midseason exit, hence the "surprise return" and Marilu. I think Vanilla Ice, Babyface and Amber have potential, but I've nearly given up hope of their pros helping them to improve their dancing. I often find that a many Maks' partnerships suffer from high expectations. In some way, I think the show has constantly been trying to replicate the success he had with Laila Ali and Mel B., and to a lesser extent Kirstie Alley. On paper, Maks and Amber should be a great, fun pairing, but for the things they have in common, I wonder if Amber needs more of a nurturing partner than Maks is capable of being. The issue is if not Maks, then who would be best for Amber? Perhaps Tony if he was here this season but his choreography would probably still hold Amber back. I wonder if there will be a four person finale this season? I see Laurie, Calvin and James as the Top 3, but the fourth slot is up in the air at this point.

Maks, Cheryl and Derek are not my favorite pros but I did get a little nostalgic with the hyping of their return, mostly due to how genuinely thrilled Tom seemed to welcome them back. The three dancers' styles are incredibly different, but I was a bit bummed that their solo routine was so short, and included others. By the time I really got into it, it was over. For all the fanfare, though, I don't see any of them making the finals with their celebrities, except Cheryl. The outfits for the pro dance were eyesores, but I appreciate Mandy Moore trying something a little different every 5 seasons or so. Alison still stuck out in a bad way. I wish Karina was partnered with Babyface instead. She'd work wonders with him.

I feel bad for Babyface. Allison's quality of movement is just so unappealing. She's not a ballroom dancer, and she won't ever be up to the level of the other pros. Her partners are always going to be at a disadvantage, and frankly it's not fair. Laurie is just a delight. She has a bit of the gymnastic arms thing going on that Shawn and Aly had, but she has so much more natural rhythm and enthusiasm. She's going to have a target on her back the entire season but I have high hopes for her partnership with Val. Her energy and enthusiasm seems genuine, and not played for the cameras like some other teenage contestants. I think Val needs to be careful of making his own movements less "big" to compensate for the height difference between them. Marilu unfortunately reminds me of Jennifer, Derek's partner from several seasons ago. Just the giggly nature and the over the top worship of Derek makes for an uncomfortable partnership to watch, even if they get along well. Derek himself seems to be kind of reverting to his over the top 2007 self as well. There's not much to say about Ryan's dancing, but I was surprised to see how much I've missed Cheryl as a dancer. Jenna needs to hide her thirst better. Jake makes me uncomfortable. I see Julianne is trying to position herself as the completely impartial "tough" judge this season.

I think health-wise Laurie doing DWTS and the tour is ill advised, but career wise, I can see why her management (same as Shawn Johnson's) might encourage her to do both right away. Simone Biles has essentially committed to next season in the spring, so there's that chance gone for Laurie. Laurie's gone pro, and while she became a bit of a star on social media through these games, it's important that she keeps her name in the public eye and strike while the iron is hot for more potential endorsement deals. What worries me is that the gymnastics tour just seems not very safe or well put together. I know Mckayla Maroney got injured on the tour in 2012, and I believe Aly did too. Like I think the gymnasts were landing on mats set on concrete. I hope USAG or whoever is in charge of the tour takes the gymnasts' safety into greater consideration this year. The one positive is that it seems the tour is a bit flexible and some athletes aren't required ore expected to perform in every city.