tearbender

Not to say Val looked good in that talking head, but I can't feel too bad for Derek because he (and Mark) has thrown his fair share of shade in a pre-finals analysis of their competition, most notably his passive aggressive compliments towards Kyle Massey in S11, when it seemed like he might be more of an audience fan favorite than his partner Jennifer Grey.

If Derek's not first, he may as well be last! Poor baby, some other celebrities may be more engaging, charismatic and better dancers than his celebrity. It's just so unfair. Sweet humble angel has just suffered so much. This pure cinnamon roll is too good for Dancing with the Stars.

Technically he made the finals last season as it was still Top 4 who did freestyles then.

Goodness, can't this show save the extreme contrivance and manipulation for the finals? Noah needs to move into the finals? On screen proposal! I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, and heck some peopl would be thrilled and love a public proposal but I can't help but find them emotionally manipulative as well. Allison's choreography and dancing isn't up to snuff? Why not bring on some more Hough-on-Hough action to inspire middle America's love of this wholesome blonde family? So far, Nastia has displayed the emotional range of a teaspoon? Bring in Len for a very touching moment to inspire votes. Bye, Rumer. Of all the seasons to revert back to a Top 3 finals.

Well, that spoiler doesn't reek of favoritism and of a gift wrapped, manufactured tearjerker moment at all. I feel like this has happened at least one other season (excluding All-Stars). Season 8 (Gilles, Shawn, Melissa), or Season 10 (Evan Lysacek, Nicole Scherzinger, Erin Andrews), maybe? Or at least that Tom made a note of it. This makes me even more wary for the freestyles, and for the completely unnecessary (IMO) Tuesday Finale Night instant dance scores.

But..but... that's a cable show. With a measly 10-13 episodes, unlike The Good Wife, aka The Best Show on Television. How could the quality possibly compare?!

Poor Sharna. If only she had the vision to grab a nice piece of furniture and plunk Noah down on it for an entire routine. Maybe then she'd get some pats on the head and praise for redefining choreography for our generation. I vaguely remember rumors of Stevie Wonder expressing interest in the show a few years ago.

Why not both? Sharna came out swinging with Andy Dick and had a lot of creative routines with him. Her Mad Hatter jazz is one of my favorite routines from the last few seasons. She's not perfect, but I find she shares strong qualities with some of the pros who are better teachers, like Kym and Karina. I loathed Lacey her first season with Lance but she really grew on me over the years. It's funny because while she did stick out a bit from the other pros her first season, I think she's pretty much the perfect pro for what the show has evolved into. She has just enough ballroom training where she's not horribly out of her depth, like Allison. Tying the topic back to Tuesday night, I really wish we'd get more pro numbers and invite former pros. That way the 10th anniversary can be celebrated all season long. I feel like if I've seen one performance of a Dance Mom's kid leaping around I've seen them all.

Aw. I will kind of miss Robert and Kym. She obviously wasn't able to do her best work, but I missed Kym's warmth and presence on the show. If Noah can play spoiler to Nastia or Riker and boot one of them from the finals, I'll be thrilled. I think it's about time Sharna got to choreograph a freestyle. After the ridiculous smoke constantly blown up Amy Purdy's behind throughout S18, I find I mind Noah less. I didn't think Nastia's edit was that awful. And Derek can shut it with his excuses too. Bless Erin for bringing up the Hough nepotism. Even Tom seemed surprised that she went there; it's one thing for the DanceCenter crew to joke about it but quite another for Erin talk about it so casually with Riker. I wonder if some producer gave her a slap on the wrist for that.

That's about how I feel too. Brooke had no improvisational ability, somewhat necessary when hosting a live show. Plus she just came across as cold and vapid. What it boils down to for me is annoying yet competent is better than annoying and incompetent. I do think Erin was a lot stronger last season, however.

Ha. Of course he's earned it when this entire season has been set up for him to win. Everything has been designed to paved his way to the mirrorball trophy. It's been apparent from day one. Can't provide any proof or actual convincing arguments for this theory, but it's totally obvious.

It's not like Nastia has spent her entire life in the gym with no contact with the media and entertainment world besides competitions. She's had her share of PR training, just watch any of her interviews or fluff pieces with NBC. She definitely has an image for the cameras. She does have performance experience from gymnastic tours and her floor routines ,even if it doesn't translate as neatly to DWTS as say the experience figure skaters had. I just find the "sheltered, inexperienced, stoic gymnast" storyline quite unbelievable and unsatisfactory as an explanation for Nastia's lack of expression and effect. She's just not a natural performer, or even still a convincing or engaging one in my opinion. Nothing wrong with that. I actually wouldn't compare her to Meryl Davis either as Meryl, while quiet had a warmth about her, and could turn on the charisma when it came time to perform. Plus I've never heard anything negative about her behind the scenes. Can't say the same for Nastia.

Also Roshon/Chelsie/Sasha and William Levy/Cheryl/Tony for their PasoDobles. This is also the man who told Brooke Burke that she had a lazy mind I'm not surprised Nastia wasn't great with her assigned dance styles. I feel like she's had surprisingly few showstoppers for someone with all of her gifts this late in the season. What's left for her? Waltz, Contemporary, and Cha Cha? She had a good week last week but she's still missing that anticipation factor for me each week. Plus I still find her an awkward performer lacking even if her smiles seem more genuine with Sasha.

Ashley Judd and Helen Hunt: Source. Honestly, she sounds like a whiny baby. How many years has she been in this business? Does she not know how these things work? She comes across arrogant and delusional, and I don't think she's that great of an actress.

Kristi impressed me too. She was just having the time of the life. Every time she appears on the show it's like she just finished her season. One of the biggest missed opportunities of DWTS history is that she was on a season with zero competition. She should have been asked back for All Stars. Yeah I think Alfonso, Meryl and Kristi amongst others showed the benefit of having at least one ringer with a ton of charisma on each season. Nastia just isn't cutting it. It was nice to see Meryl do a bit of Paso - her season the dance assignments were so wonky I think only Charlie did a Paso Doble. I didn't miss Derek, and am actually glad he wasn't around to film so everything wasn't about him again. Sasha subbing in for him is making a great case for himself to be promoted to pro next season. Mark and Derek's showcase of some of their partners made me realize how many contenders they've had - though Mark has had a share of duds as well. There was a time when newbie pros would get strong partners right out of the gate (Julianne, Cheryl, Derek and Mark...) or during their second season (Peta, Witney, Mark again). TPTB seem unwilling to do this lately, at least with the male pros. I was not expecting Val and Kelly to revive that "Flamenco." I feel like I've become immune to Val's shirt allergy but "Wow" is right. Was he wearing leather boots?

That I'll agree with. Sometimes even week 3 seems too early. Same with Argentine Tango. I was pretty impressed with how well Willow managed with AT in week 2. I guess Paso Doble and Waltz and possibly Contemporary are the potential hurdle dances Nastia has left.

You can be reserved and still display charisma and act like you enjoy dancing. That's what's missing from Nastia for me. I don't need Nastia to be bubbly, but I'd like her to actually perform. A lot of the time she comes across as a super flexible mannequin to me. Part of it is on Derek's shoulders as well. I'm actually pleased the judges are calling out the lack of connection and passion in her performances this season as they often let that slide with Derek's partners. I actually think it's going to come down to Nastia vs. Riker at this point, but every season post All-Stars has been accused of being set up for Val to win.

As for Nastia, I'm actually looking forward to her dances for the first time since the premiere, though I hope her Charleston isn't a lift and trick fest.

I can see why Eddie rubs some the wrong way but I think Hudson Yang is doing a great job yet he rarely gets praise, and this is coming from someone who is unimpressed with the majority of child actors on television these days. He's got a much tougher job to do as an actor than the younger boys who are naturally adorable. Also ,despite the voiceovers I don't think he's really been put in the position of carrying the show, after the pilot. The show wisely splits the heavy lifting between him and the parents. I think he does a really good job of channeling real life Eddie, especially with his over-exaggerated swagger to his glares at the teachers. I thought he was fantastic in the scene when he stopped laughing and told off his classmate The youngest boy's little shriek when the chicken feet hit the table was my favorite part of the episode. I was waiting with baited breath for though for Jessica to say something insulting about Jamaica, but luckily they swerved. The ratings aren't the best but I have a good feeling about this show getting renewed. There's a lot of good potential storylines as they move through the 90s decade and the kids grow older.

I don't care to see Riker and Allison in the finals but I can see the finale going down the way that you say. At this point I've given up on Derek helping Nastia achieve anything surprising, engaging or interesting IMO, and I agree Val's freestyles have lacked the necessary oomph needed against his competition. I am interested to see how the freestyles pan out this year as the show is experiencing a bit of overproduction fatigue right now. I enjoy Willow's partnership with Mark but her legs really do need some work. She was also worryingly slow with her salsa this week. But how does that make you feel? *awkward pause* *Forced smile.* Tom?

The footballer Paso Doble should be fun. It reminds me of the cheesy Athlete vs. Athlete battles we used to get during the finale results shows. I miss Anna so much, can't wait to I'm always here for Patti Labelle and Amber Riley singing. I wonder if Mya was asked back for the Lady Marmalade performance. On the flip side, Alfonso, Witney, Maks and Meryl seems like an...interesting group for a dance-off. They have such different styles. I'm not even a huge figure skating fan but It would be pretty neat to see Kristi Yamaguchi and Meryl Davis dancing together.

I thought initially Drew Lachey did a good job (he got a few nice jokes in and had a rapport with Tom) but he quickly went the unattractive route of relating every experience about his good old glory days on the show and making things about himself. His behavior during All Stars really turned me off him for good. Maybe it's a matter of lowered expectations and just not watching the show all the way through like I used to, but Erin doesn't irritate me all that much. She can think on her feet and hold her own with Tom I still haven't forgotten Samantha and the utterly incompetent and charisma free Brooke Burke. I do like the idea of hiring one of the former pros to try hosting. I know TPTB seem to prefer auditioning and hiring former contestants but someone like Lacey might be interesting for an episode or so.

I agree. I do hope to see her in the finals. Her performances are definitely getting to be a bit much with production, but I think she is a fine performer and there's a genuine earnestness and determination in her routines that's refreshing to see. Her Argentine Tango remains my favorite dance of hers because, while it was definitely flawed, she just threw herself into the performance and the lifts and really committed to it. I do see improvement with her, which is one thing I'll say for Mark; despite the kitchen sinks he likes to throw in every routine his partners usually display good hip movement and arm placement. I feel like he's one of the few pros nowadays who doesn't give up on teaching technique halfway through the competition.

You know sometimes I wonder if Constance Wu's performances aren't a bit over hyped. She definitely has room to grow as an actor. But then after replaying her monologue about the Sparkle Time Beauty Horse again and again and again I've come to the conclusion that yes, she really is that good. If she doesn't use the pilot as her submission for the Emmy nomination, this episode will work just as well.

Every time I watch Allison and Riker I find myself wishing he'd been paired with Peta. Peta also gets accused of going "too hard" in a lot of her movements, but at least she's you know, trained in ballroom and she can be creative. Allison is just a mess, and the extra dancers really weren't needed. I'd like to see Willow play spoiler to the mandated Final 3. I liked Nastia back in 2008 but she's just not enjoyable on this show. Even leaving aside the less than flattering rumors and reputation, she's not displaying any charisma IMO.