S29.E06: Top 11

[PumpkinLumpkin]

Skai Jackson needs to loosen up and have fun. That plastered creepy smile is workin on my nerves...

[OnTime]

I guess it doesn't really matter, but was Derek's dance taped??

I don't think it was live.

[PikaScrewChu]

8 minutes ago, OnTime said:

I guess it doesn't really matter, but was Derek's dance taped??

I don't think it was live.

It looked pre-taped. 

It's always fun watching Cheryl dance when she throws herself into it.

The lack of practice time is getting more and more apparent. Nelly is the only one who is going to have a growth arc this season, much like Ty Murray did.

Britt, in what world was that a salsa???

[mtlchick]

It just hit me that next week being Halloween, we won’t have team dances.  

[CatLady]

First post here in a long time.

I feel the stars this year have mostly been pretty good at learning and progressing with the dances.  I loved Vernon for his beautiful spirit and humble attitude.  His tears last night over his grandfather made me cry.  I will miss him.

I find Skai to be robotic.  She never seems to connect to the music and the dead eye look is creepy.  Of all the dancers left, she is the worst to me.  Nelly has been such a pleasure to watch and I love Chrishell's determination to do better each week.  Nev is good and so is Justina.  I miss Len.  This year as always, I find the judges misjudging some dancers week after week. But what do I know?  I just know what I see.

Loved Derek's dance with his gf.  They were dazzling.  He is missed as one of the pros.  He is easily one of the very best dancers I have seen on the show.

Sadly, I like Tyra Banks but she is not good as the host.  I find it hard to hear her and sometimes understand what she is saying(if not for close captioning).  Her clothes are horrendous.  She did wear a gown last week that was lovely however.  Tom's easy comradery and jokes  with the contestants is missed.  Also the show needs a pair of hosts.

 

[Legalbeagle421]

12 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

Sheesh, in whose universe are Monica and Chrishell better than Johnny? They must be in talks with ABC, because I don’t get the show’s fascination with them at all.

I still maintain that I don’t know who is voting for Monica but I never watched Cheer, so I don’t know her (cue: Mariah Carey). 
Chrishell has been on soaps since the early 2000s. Throw in her hit show Selling Sunset, fans of the few lifetime movies she’s been in, others who have been unceremoniously dumped by their exes and/or experienced devastating loss of family and you’ve got lots of votes coming in. I personally love her but was fine with her leaving when she wasn’t getting any better. I thought she did well this week and last week. We’ll see how next week goes! 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Legalbeagle421

[realdancemom]

9 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Derek's being a judge only happened because Len could not be available due to the pandemic. Hayley was already booted well before that. She was let go from the show last season. 

All I'll say about the Hayley for Pro stuff (seeing a lot of it on the show's IG page) is anyone remember Alison Holker? Hayley is a trained Jazz/Contemporary dancer who yes, when given choreography (as I'm sure the dance was all Derek) and paired with a Pro dancer, can kill it on a dance floor. 

Does not mean she knows how to train and choreograph for an untrained celebrity. And to my knowledge, she never choreographed or even co-choreographed anything while in troupe. 

Or Britt this season.  I liked Johnny and Britt's contemporary last week.  That was expected since I figured Britt could dance  and choreograph contemporary.  However, this week, she did not teach Johnny the basics of a salsa.  If it wasn't for Covid-19, he could have gotten tips from Justina and she would have helped more than her pro.

I haven't read all the comments yet but I've seen some posts asking about contemporary and feet.  It can be flexed or pointed but it can't be lazy.  It depends on the choreography.  Chrishell's feet bug me so much.  I'm surprised the judges didn't say anything on the second or third week when she had the rumba because I was cringing then.  I love beveled arched and pointed feet in contemporary ballet the most.

Edited October 20, 2020 by realdancemom

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, OnTime said:

I guess it doesn't really matter, but was Derek's dance taped??

I don't think it was live.

It was most definitely pre-taped because of the sudden outfit change. There's no way Derek would have had time to get back into his suit to watch Jeannie's dance.

There were some nice dances last night. Nelly's dance REALLY impressed me. He did a beautiful job with it. He's vastly improved and he looks like he's having fun now. 

I also don't get the higher scores for Monica. I don't find her appealing, to be honest. She's a decent dancer but not in terms of how high her scores have been. 

Chrishell's been getting a little better each week. Gleb is still going to be her downfall. I think Chrishell could have gotten better faster with a different pro. I just don't think Gleb is a good teacher. He, once again, carried her (literally) through the dance. 

I also agree about the Skai critiques, but I feel bad for the girl. She's only eighteen and has been in the spotlight for so long, especially from Disney, so she's almost been...programmed to act a specific way in public. It might take her a long time to not have that Disney PR face because it's been so ingrained into her for so long. She's young; she'll learn. But, for now, I get why it's an issue. She isn't connecting to the music either so that is noticeable. She definitely looks like she's going through the steps instead of feeling the music. 

Johnny is a good dancer but he still looks like he's out on the ice. He is very elegant but sometimes, elegance isn't needed in some of his dances. He's still one of the better ones, but he's still holding back in certain dances. 

Jeannie is still one of my favourites to watch. I think she's actually really good and I like that she gives it her all every time she dances. I also teared up at her story this week. 

I also LOVE Justina. Her dance this week was so good and so fun to watch. Same with AJ, who is truly one of the underdogs this season. I also like Kaitlyn and Artem, but their dance this week was weaker for me. Nev's dance this week was good as well.

I feel bad for Vernon, who really was getting better. I get why he went but it still sucks. 

As for Derek and Hayley's dance, I thought it was fantastic and love that they did that.

[boyznkatz]

That episode last night left a bad taste in my mouth. This season started off good, but now they are back to their usual BS. I don't think it's a coincidence that they are lowballing the Black woman contestant AGAIN. Sure Skai has been disappointing, but she has plenty of dance content every week, unlike Chrishell, who does ZERO dancing and gets 8s. Skai doesn't deserve 6s. There are/were plenty of people worse than her.

I'm also convince Carrie Ann is a bigot. There was no reason to save Vernon over Johnny. Either she's voting for who is better looking, or she doesn't like gays. Such BS.

What is the point in having judges when they don't judge fairly? It's obvious they are either biased or working overtime to pimp the people ABC want to make happen. Or both.

[MartyQui]

12 hours ago, Morrigan said:

Anyway, I thought from watching SYTYCD that contemporary was a dance where you didn't have to point your feet? Is that only true for those ugly bicycle things they do?

You don't have to point your feet, but you have to be conscious of them...flexed, pointed, something.

[OnTime]

2 hours ago, Legalbeagle421 said:

I still maintain that I don’t know who is voting for Monica but I never watched Cheer, so I don’t know her

I still maintain that I don't know why the judges are giving her 9's!  

[leighdear]

As little as I like Tyra as host, they need to TURN.THE.DAMN.MUSIC.AND.APPLAUSE.DOWN while she's trying to talk.   She's got enough challenges without having to compete with fake music and fake clapping. She was basically yelling the whole time.  And yep, looked horrible. 

I only knew about 3 of those songs, so I couldn't really tell how well the dance matched with the music.  I didn't even like the ones I knew, much less the ones I didn't.  After about the 3rd dance, I just muted my TV & watched the movements.

I though Derek & his lady were stunning.  I loved the mirror effects, and they moved so amazingly fast.  Just mesmerizing, even if it was taped. 

I adore Johnny, and the grace of his movements.  And the man can bring the fringe like nobody's business!

I would think that the one component to NOT suffer would be the costuming.  Professionals usually work alone, or in small groups, away from other people.  A single sewer only has to deal with the star & the pro, so why do they all look like crap?  Seriously, good fabric, design & tailoring for so few people has got to be a lot less money than outfitting the whole cast they used to have to use.  Maybe Tyra's ridiculous costumes are using most of the budget.  

[edie3]

I was texting with a friend as we both were watching. Apparently, she was not paying too close attention, because she said she really thought the dance with all the special effects in red and black was the best dance of the night.

[Lovecat]

2 minutes ago, edie3 said:

I was texting with a friend as we both were watching. Apparently, she was not paying too close attention, because she said she really thought the dance with all the special effects in red and black was the best dance of the night.

Technically, she was not wrong 🙂

Say what you want about Golden Boy, but great googly-moogly the man can dance.  That flamenco-flavored Paso was muy caliente.  

Guys, I am loving Nelly!  Now that he's relaxed and started having fun, he's doing great.  I also love Justina, AJ, Jeannie, and Nev.  I've got a soft spot for Johnny Weir, being a figure skating fan going way back (and a born-and-bred Pennsylvanian to boot 🙂 ) and it drives me nuts that he's not doing better.  He dances exactly the way he skates, and he needs to break out of that, stylistically, to really succeed.  He's always been his own biggest fan (and I say that with love), and he's really stubborn; I think change comes hard to him.  He's a huge Russophile and loves working with Russian skating coaches, so maybe Britt needs to learn how to scream at him in Russian.  

[boyznkatz]

2 hours ago, realdancemom said:

Or Britt this season.  I liked Johnny and Britt's contemporary last week.  That was expected since I figured Britt could dance  and choreograph contemporary.  However, this week, she did not teach Johnny the basics of a salsa.  If it wasn't for Covid-19, he could have gotten tips from Justina and she would have helped more than her pro.

I haven't read all the comments yet but I've seen some posts asking about contemporary and feet.  It can be flexed or pointed but it can't be lazy.  It depends on the choreography.  Chrishell's feet bug me so much.  I'm surprised the judges didn't say anything on the second or third week when she had the rumba because I was cringing then.  I love beveled arched and pointed feet in contemporary ballet the most.

I agree this wasn't Johnny's best dance, and whatever the hell he did certainly wasn't a salsa. But still, even on his worst day he is better than half the people left.

Chrishell seriously needs to go. She seems nice enough, but it's depressing to hear her sad sob stories every friggin' week. This year is already depressing enough, and I watch this show for some campy fun. That's why I like to watch Nelly, Nev, Justina, Jeannie etc. because they embrace the cheese and have fun. Plus, they are improving. Jeannie's package was weird this week, though. I get that her parents sacrificed, but I don't get why she kept crying. Maybe she needs some help with votes? My parents were immigrants as well, so I get that, but all the sobbing was weird.

[Thadeeeyus]

2 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

What is the point in having judges when they don't judge fairly? It's obvious they are either biased or working overtime to pimp the people ABC want to make happen. Or both.

Hon, where have you been? That's been the purpose of the judges from the very beginning of the series.  They are there only to do the producers' bidding and are not allowed to have opinions to the contrary.  

[ams1001]

56 minutes ago, edie3 said:

I was texting with a friend as we both were watching. Apparently, she was not paying too close attention, because she said she really thought the dance with all the special effects in red and black was the best dance of the night.

Well, it was... 😉 

[PikaScrewChu]

4 hours ago, Legalbeagle421 said:

I still maintain that I don’t know who is voting for Monica but I never watched Cheer, so I don’t know her (cue: Mariah Carey). 
Chrishell has been on soaps since the early 2000s. Throw in her hit show Selling Sunset, fans of the few lifetime movies she’s been in, others who have been unceremoniously dumped by their exes and/or experienced devastating loss of family and you’ve got lots of votes coming in. I personally love her but was fine with her leaving when she wasn’t getting any better. I thought she did well this week and last week. We’ll see how next week goes! 

John Oliver endorsed Chrishell this week on his show. I'm doubtful he has the "Colbert bump" but hey. 

[trimthatfat]

Justina is up there are my favorite. Just love the way she dances! Also, Nelly growing/improving through the weeks is incredible to watch. 

Skai...has there ever been a contestant who went back and forth from the top scoring to bottom scoring? I'm so rooting fo her, but she seems to be quite disconnected from the music and her partner. I feel bad because she often looks like someone who is very uncomfortable even though she has the skills and technique to be a winner.  Maybe it's the live aspect that is tripping her up and making her lose confidence. 

Edited October 20, 2020 by trimthatfat

[iMonrey]

I know I'm beating a dead horse but every time the announcer says "And here's your host, Tyra Banks!" I immediately go "Why, again?" So weird, such an odd choice for this. 

I'm guessing Johnny isn't getting the votes. He's a little too weird for the conservative audience.

Quote

Johnny is a good dancer but he still looks like he's out on the ice. He is very elegant but sometimes, elegance isn't needed in some of his dances. He's still one of the better ones, but he's still holding back in certain dances. 

I don't get the impression that he's dancing like he's skating. I'm not even sure what that means. What I will say, however, is that his Salsa looked like two girls dancing rather than one boy and one girl. And that's not a judgment call, it's just an observation. His moves, his body type and his positions all seem very feminine to me. Again - this is not meant to be an insult or even a critique. But maybe that's what people mean when they say he moves like he's still on the ice because he has a very specific presentation. 

I must have been watching a different show because I thought Nelly's Waltz was very stompy and clompy and was overscored.

I did enjoy AJ's Samba though, it was probably my favorite dance of the night.

Quote

i finally figured out what I dislike most about Skai.  The minute she knows the camera is on her, her eyes become unfocused and she plasters on a big, phony smile.  She’s like a cheerleader, but not a real cheerleader...a cheerleader in a Lifetime movie.  She never seems to be looking at anyone or anything, and for me, it’s extremely distracting.

Ditto. She's out of her element here. Hey, maybe next season she'll be the Host.

[TVbitch]

Nobody is really impressing me yet. Especially Tyra!

Derek was great, though. But I wish I could have seen it without the Bon Jovi concert lighting. 

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Loved watching AJ and Cheryl dance! They looked like they were enjoying themselves and I'm excited AJ got good scores. I'm hoping this will be his breakthrough and he will continue to get decent scores. 

There's just something endearing about Nelly and his smile when he dances. 

I was reading the comments about the costumes. Bless her heart, I've watched Justina on One Day at A Time every season and she never struck me as a "bigger woman" -maybe in an industry of size 00 as the norm. Yet what the heck are they doing with her costumes? They make her look enormous with a gigantic bottom which she doesn't have, or very tubular. 

I don't know Johnny's not getting the votes. I always thought DWTS would pick up a lot of the figure skating followers as well (They did have multiple figure skaters in the past). He is perhaps a little unusual with his costuming but hey, that's what makes an interesting show. 

I can't put my finger on it, but Nev drives me crazy when he dances. He looks like a pageanty pageant kid in the end of summer camp musical. 

[Annber03]

2 hours ago, PikaScrewChu said:

John Oliver endorsed Chrishell this week on his show. I'm doubtful he has the "Colbert bump" but hey. 

Eh, hey, he's managed to get a couple places named after him, so...:p. 

[boyznkatz]

I can believe Johnny isn't getting the votes. This show has a very conservative audience, and he is over the top, as well as gay. They accepted Adam Rippon because he's pretty conservative looking. The thing that pisses me off is that Johnny gets worse scores than crappy dancers and Carrie Ann picks Vernon over him? If they saved Kaitlyn or AJ over him I wouldn't be pissed, but Vernon was the worst dancer (as delightful as he was).

I know the judges are tools of the producers, but why waste five minutes of the show with a useless judge's save if they aren't picking the best dancer. They might as well overscore their favorites like they always do, but the extra time at the end could be used for another dance.

 

[Jodithgrace]

They had that fake applause volume turned up to Blast last night. Thank goodness for closed captions or I wouldn't have heard one thing Tyra was saying. Turns out I wouldn't have missed much. Her outfits continue to be hideous. Those bright red pants made her hips look huge, which they aren't, at least in the gold, not quite as monstrous, number she wore later. As a model, I would think she would be horrified when she saw herself on TV later. 

And speaking of outfits, what was that thing Derek was wearing? As a decorative brooch, it was gigantic and placed oddly, too low on his jacket. 

I had never heard of Dev before this season and some people are saying that he is a sleazy character, but I don't care. I think he might be my favorite. He has a wife and kid (or kids) now so whatever his past, he seems to have gotten over it. 

Hated Johnny's outfit. I so much prefer him when he dresses appropriately to the dance. I don't care if he's all in sequins or whatever, if it fits the tone of the dance, but last night's costume was just ridiculous and over the top. He shouldn't be wearing more fuss and fringe than his partner. Just my opinion. I'm glad he was saved, though. He has so much potential, and I've been rooting for him.

It was a pretty boring episode for me, I must say. And Tyra continues to be awful.

 

 

[kitcloudkicker]

19 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

The thing that pisses me off is that Johnny gets worse scores than crappy dancers and Carrie Ann picks Vernon over him?

I kinda just assume Carrie Ann has the hots for Vernon, and voted with her libido. 

[ams1001]

9 minutes ago, Jodithgrace said:

Thank goodness for closed captions or I wouldn't have heard one thing Tyra was saying.

I had a really hard time hearing her, too. My mute button kept engaging for some reason.....

[kirklandia]

Watching Skai dance felt like watching a puppet show (and I think puppets are scary).

[Morrigan]

From the beginning, I've felt that the producers may be out to lowball Johnny and cut him early, but then I wondered if they were building an arc. (I finally realized that just because he was the biggest draw for me didn't mean that he was for anybody else lol).

Anyway, I'm still wondering what their storyboard is for him - he's the only celeb next week to have a lyrical dance (Viennese Waltz.)

And I can't wait to see, between Nelly and Skai, who pulls off the better Argentine Tango.

The assignments (according to Wikipedia): AJ Tango; Chrishell Paso; Jeannie Paso; Johnny VW; Justina Tango; Kaitlyn Paso; Monica Jazz; Nelly Arg Tango; Nev Paso; Skai Arg Tango.

[McManda]

That is a heck of a lot of pasos and tangos. It's almost like old school DWTS.

[PikaScrewChu]

2 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Eh, hey, he's managed to get a couple places named after him, so...:p. 

So what you're saying is he needs to throw some HBO money out there for charity and Chrishell will have the mirrorball trophy?

I re-watched Skai's dance. She clearly didn't have time to practice this week. I barely listen to the filler pieces before the dances. She said she's going to college right now? If so, she's going to struggle to put the time in some weeks more than others.

[realdancemom]

1 hour ago, Morrigan said:

From the beginning, I've felt that the producers may be out to lowball Johnny and cut him early, but then I wondered if they were building an arc. (I finally realized that just because he was the biggest draw for me didn't mean that he was for anybody else lol).

Anyway, I'm still wondering what their storyboard is for him - he's the only celeb next week to have a lyrical dance (Viennese Waltz.)

 

I think Johnny having the VW will help him.  He's better at the lyrical type dances. 

[ams1001]

19 minutes ago, PikaScrewChu said:

So what you're saying is he needs to throw some HBO money out there for charity and Chrishell will have the mirrorball trophy?

I re-watched Skai's dance. She clearly didn't have time to practice this week. I barely listen to the filler pieces before the dances. She said she's going to college right now? If so, she's going to struggle to put the time in some weeks more than others.

I believe she said she's doing three classes, online.

[Zuleikha]

I re-watched Skai's dance. She clearly didn't have time to practice this week.

Isn't Skai an actress? Shouldn't she be able to fake like she's enjoying herself? I haven't been watching, so I thought you all were exaggerating with the Barbie comparisons. But nope. That was the most unpleasant, uncomfortable dead-eyed and pained expression that I've ever seen. 

Johnny's outfit was weird because it didn't match his partner's, and the fringe should have been at his hips. Latin dance costuming does not lack for flamboyance possibilities, so I don't know what anyone was thinking. 

I thought every individual component of Justina's costume was hideous, but somehow as a holistic thing it was beautiful. I also loved her dance.

I didn't like the choreography of Nev's jazz, but I was surprised at how good he was. 

Derek and Hayley were sensational. I loved how much flamenco Derek incorporated into the paso doble. Does anyone know if the footwork tapping was really him? It was all fast enough that I couldn't quite tell, but traditional flamenco shoes have nails pounded into the soles to make the tapping sound. I would think that would create a problem for the paso doble part.

[Bliss]

Being a skating fan, I'm used to JW - however, I'm more a fan of Evan Lysacek, including his wardrobe.

I wish JW would quit sticking his butt out... and I was surprised he was bottom 2. Really???

Other than that, I'm still loving everything Jeannie+Justina, Derek and Hayley's dancing (I was fortunate to see them live once... amazing!), Nev's energy, Nelly's smiles, Peta's abs, and the fast forward feature on my pvr. Buh-bye, Tyra. I am Tyra'd of you and your need to reign over be part of the sacred DWTS circle. Go find your own kind. Maybe you could shove whatsherface out of Masked Singer...

Speaking of the tiring Tyra, I can hardly wait to see her "in costume" next week. Umm, so what's she been wearing these past weeks? Hostesswear? So we're going from stainless steel to the good silver? Woohoo. I'm voting for Wendy the Witch, followed by Oscar the Grouch - basically how I'm being about her. Forgive me, please. I miss my Tom, and I'm grieving.

Whoever made up Skai's face better watch out. Karma, baby.

[Sile]

4 minutes ago, Bliss said:

Whoever made up Skai's face better watch out. Karma, baby.

It was especially horrific when they were waiting to be called safe.  Seeing her standing there stock-still, unblinking, in a glittery dress, nylon looking hair and OTT type makeup in odd colors, she looked like an exceptionally creepy doll.  And it seemed to get worse every time they showed her!  Like Talky Tina and Annabel got together with Alice in Wonderland in some bizarre party wear.

Then I find out that next week, she's going to be

Spoiler

Bride of Chucky

It's just too much!

And, yes, I realize this isn't very nice, but she's an adult and put herself out there.  She looked best (and most relaxed) on 80s night when she was dressed age appropriately and actually looked like she was having fun!

To end on a compliment, her mother is GORGEOUS!!  I'd have rather seen her dance, since I was equally familiar with both.  Which is to say, never heard of them.

 

 

 

 

``````

[MsJamieDornan]

12 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

My parents were immigrants as well, so I get that, but all the sobbing was weird.

I think she said her mom just died in July.  

Quote

I can't put my finger on it, but Nev drives me crazy when he dances. He looks like a pageanty pageant kid in the end of summer camp musical. 

You're right. I'm not a fan and I dont know why.

Edited October 21, 2020 by MsJamieDornan

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I can't decide which is more true: the wardrobe people hate Tyra or Tyra doesn't have access to a mirror before she goes onstage before each episode. Those crazy shoulder pads made her look like she was wearing football pads.

I had a lot of conflicting feelings about Nev's jazz routine. On the one hand, it's one of the few jazz routines I can remember seeing on this show that had so much old school jazz choreography so I guess props to Jenna for actually choreographing in the correct style instead of using the jazz assignment as a coverup to do a freestyle routine. She only added a tiny bit of ballroom at the end (I hate when the pros throw in a bunch of random ballroom choreography into jazz routines).

But my issue was that the jazz choreography she used was SO simple and basic that it looked like a recital performance for a beginner class and regardless of the "Nev doesn't have any previous dance training" story (aka LIE) that they are trying to sell, we all know that Nev has more than enough dance experience to handle more advanced choreography. On the other hand, because it was so extremely simple, the execution was very clean. On a shallow note, I hated those costumes. It looked like gold lamé that got tossed in the mud.

Monica's rumba wasn't the worst I've seen but it wasn't memorable.

As soon as I saw what Skai was wearing (a dress that revealed her legs), I knew this was going to be another awkward Bambi performance. I don't think she has shown any improvement (and she wasn't that great a dancer to begin with so she had plenty of room to improve). I feel like we get the same stilted movement from her every week. I watched all the routines on youtube so I missed whatever this week's theme was as well as the pre-performance packages so I was really trying to figure out why her partner was wearing a zebra print manpri jumpsuit.

This was followed by Vernon's inexplicable print suit so I was really wondering what the hell was going on this week. Although Vernon has shown a slight amount of improvement, he was definitely in the bottom three (in my opinion) pretty consistently since the beginning of the season, so I was fine with him being eliminated. He wasn't my top choice (that would be Nelly) but he wasn't going to last much longer.

Nelly really improved last week so I was hoping he'd had some kind of dance breakthrough that would continue, but his Viennese waltz was a return to his flat footed shuffling stompy feet.

I was so distracted during Jeannie's rumba because I kept thinking, "Isn't that the same fugly material that Nev and Jenna were wearing? A lot of times when people learn ballroom, the women just rely on the high heels to lift their ankles up so it was nice to see Jeannie really up on the balls of her feet, so much so that the heels of her shoes weren't touching the ground. I know she isn't the best dancer this season, but I like to see her really attack her dances.

AJ's samba was his best performance this season. This is what I was expecting from him from the beginning so I'm glad he's finally there. He looked a lot more comfortable in the sections where he wasn't in hold. He looked relaxed and like he was really enjoying himself without having to think about the steps.

Oh, Chrishell. All I knew about her before DWTS was that her husband dumped her via text and then within a few hours, the news had hit TMZ so I felt bad for her based on that and I had hoped that she would do well (living well is the best revenge so I guess doing well on a dancing reality show comes a distant second?). Her feet were driving me crazy during this contemporary routine. Regardless of the style of dance, whether it's jazz, ballet, contemporary, etc. you should always have a specific position for your foot. It can be pointed, flexed, whatever, but you have to have something specific that you are doing with your foot the same way that you should always have a specific position for your arms (bent, straight, relaxed). When you don't put any intent or energy into your feet, they just flop around lazily. It's bad enough to see that when the dancer is wearing shoes but the shoes provide some semblance of shape. But when you're barefoot, ugh. It's so obvious that your feet are just hanging there like dead weight. There was something else I noticed about her feet during this routine too but I can't remember what it was now. I think maybe she's slightly pigeon toed? But her feet kept drawing my attention, and not in a good way.

For all of Kaitlyn's ballet training, I really didn't see any evidence of prior dance training until this week. Her samba wasn't amazing but I could see the training in her movement.

I continue to love Justina. She is so full of joy and energy. But ugh, I hated that costume. It looked like something a six year old made out of some old feather boas and a ribbon tied around her waist. Justina has a beautiful curvy body but those awful feather things made her look like a giant cat toy.

[boyznkatz]

8 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

I think she said her mom just died in July.  

Isn't that her mom that she talks to in her rehearsal packages? I don't think she's dead.

Now I'm curious.

We are talking about Jeannie, right?

Edited October 21, 2020 by boyznkatz

[MsJamieDornan]

1 hour ago, boyznkatz said:

We are talking about Jeannie, right?

Oops,,,,Chrishell.

[scenicbyway]

On 10/19/2020 at 11:45 PM, truthaboutluv said:

Derek's being a judge only happened because Len could not be available due to the pandemic. Hayley was already booted well before that. She was let go from the show last season. 

All I'll say about the Hayley for Pro stuff (seeing a lot of it on the show's IG page) is anyone remember Alison Holker? Hayley is a trained Jazz/Contemporary dancer who yes, when given choreography (as I'm sure the dance was all Derek) and paired with a Pro dancer, can kill it on a dance floor. 

Does not mean she knows how to train and choreograph for an untrained celebrity. And to my knowledge, she never choreographed or even co-choreographed anything while in troupe. 

Hayley was a coach though for Dancing w/the Stars Juniors.  She was also a troupe member for several years until she was dumped just before production began last fall.  She's an amazing dancer, I don't think Derek would dance with her if she wasn't.  I wouldn't be surprised to have Julianne come in for a dance at some point.  I think Derek is afraid to get married, they've dated for 5 years but she's only 26 to his 35.  He regularly remarks about their age difference.  It does seem like quarantine has been good for them, they've actually had to live together vs. one always being on tour etc.  Julianne's last season on the show she and Derek did a dance about how badly they were affected by their parent's divorce, I think it's had lasting effects on them.  With Julianne's own marriage demise I would guess Derek's even more jittery.

 

I think Johnny is only here for the costumes.  He seems to be spending all the time on the outfits and little of it practicing the dance.  I wonder if he'd had a pro like Cheryl if his experience would've been different.  Having Brit as a first time pro she may not be able to stand up to his personality.

Skai is way overscored and she constantly looks scared, who is voting for her?

 

[leighdear]

I think the problem with Tyra is that she's still trying to dress the body she had on the cover of Sports Illustrated, 1997.  

She's successful, accomplished, beautiful, a mother, and has curves to be envied.  But she does NOT have the shape now to wear what she wore 20+ years ago.  And she's trying hard to do that.  She has every right to wear exactly what she loves and wants to wear.  It doesn't take away any from what she has achieved for herself.

But she doesn't look good to me.  YMMV. 

[boyznkatz]

1 hour ago, leighdear said:

I think the problem with Tyra is that she's still trying to dress the body she had on the cover of Sports Illustrated, 1997.  

She's successful, accomplished, beautiful, a mother, and has curves to be envied.  But she does NOT have the shape now to wear what she wore 20+ years ago.  And she's trying hard to do that.  She has every right to wear exactly what she loves and wants to wear.  It doesn't take away any from what she has achieved for herself.

But she doesn't look good to me.  YMMV. 

I agree. She looks great, so why not just embrace it? There are plenty of flattering clothes they could put on her.

At least Justina admits she isn't skinny and people love her for it.

[seacliffsal]

I think the issue with Johnny's low vote totals is that we are quite a few years out from his skating years and although he won several national and other competitions, I don't think he won any Olympic medals which is what most people watch if they watch ice skating.  I love watching him on the other shows he works on-such as Wedding Cake Championship and various skating shows during which he and Tara Lipinsky provide commentary.  I look forward to what he will wear (and his hairstyles).  However, those shows do not pull in the number of viewers that DWTS does and so he may not be that well known to many viewers even though there are people like me who continue to watch him on various other shows.

So, overall, I don't think he is as well known as a skater as some of the others who have been on DWTS.

[realdancemom]

On 10/20/2020 at 8:28 AM, realdancemom said:

Or Britt this season.  I liked Johnny and Britt's contemporary last week.  That was expected since I figured Britt could dance  and choreograph contemporary.  However, this week, she did not teach Johnny the basics of a salsa.  If it wasn't for Covid-19, he could have gotten tips from Justina and she would have helped more than her pro.

I haven't read all the comments yet but I've seen some posts asking about contemporary and feet.  It can be flexed or pointed but it can't be lazy.  It depends on the choreography.  Chrishell's feet bug me so much.  I'm surprised the judges didn't say anything on the second or third week when she had the rumba because I was cringing then.  I love beveled arched and pointed feet in contemporary ballet the most.

Quoting myself so that I can add to my comments for this week.

Tyra comes out and she looks huge.  She's not as thin as when she was a model but she's not big either.  She's curvy.  Her outfit made her look bigger than she really is.  The top was stiff/boxy and made her look like she had huge shoulders.  One thing that she's doing is making me talk about her outfits.  That's something that I never did with Tom.  That doesn't mean that I want to see outfit changes which is what she said in an article that was linked on this forum.  She tries to be so dramatic like when she was introducing Derek and Hayley.

Derek and Hayley were fantastic.  It wasn't just the dancing.  It was the whole production.  I'm sure it was pre-recorded since there were multiple images of them in certain spots.  I do miss Derek and the other pros dancing the pro dances.

The judges said that Johnny has a history of going up and down.  This is true since I mostly only liked his jive and contemporary.  However, he is doing better because he delivered the sassy attitude this week.  The first few weeks, he was thinking too much in his head.  The problem this week is that he didn't get the feel for the salsa.  I don't know if it's because Britt is not teaching him proper technique or if Johnny's lyrical movement is really ingrained in his body.  It reminds me when I used to belong to a funk jazz dance group for adults.  There were dancers that had years of ballet training that were beautiful dancers and could do quintuples or six turns when doing pirouettes.  But they danced too pretty and not grounded at all.  That's what Johnny reminds me of.  However, I think he will be beautiful next week when he has a VW.  I can also see why the conservative audience would not vote for him especially with the outfit that he wore. 

Like I wrote above, I can't enjoy Chrishell's dancing because her feet are distracting.  She's had a really rough year and she seems sweet though.  She did put a lot of emotion in her dance so I'll give her props for that.

Nev should have had jazz during 80s week.  Jenna choreographed a cheesy jazz routine that matched the cheesiness of that week.  It was beginner jazz moves but you can still tell that Nev took dance so it's good that he at least said something last week even if it wasn't the whole truth.

I might be the only person on this forum that actually thinks that Monica did have a breakthrough this week.  Technique wise, I always thought she was one of the better ones even though she's not as good as somebody like Kaitlyn.  But she always seemed like she was thinking too much.  She actually looked relaxed in her face, shoulders, and neck.  I thought she was good.

Agree with Skai putting a plastic smile and not connecting with her partner or the music.  She was doing o.k. but it was really obvious that she messed up in the middle.  It's good that she did get back on track instead of completely being flustered and never getting back.

Nelly did well last week but he wasn't as good this week.  I do think he and Chrishell are the worst ones but after doing that country song, he wasn't going anywhere.  I do think he improved over his previous ballroom dance since he seems more relaxed. 

It's funny that Nelly's best dance was a samba because that's the same for A.J. this week.  Samba is supposed to be one of the tougher dances so that's why it's odd.  Performance wise, he opened up when he did the cha cha to a Backstreet Boys song.  That one was entertaining but had little cha cha.  This time, he had samba technique and he performed it well.

I agree that Kaitlyn's technique for the samba was great but she does seem to play it safe.  That's why she's not one of my favorites.  It's also the reason why I really like Jeannie and Justina.

[truthaboutluv]

8 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

Hayley was a coach though for Dancing w/the Stars Juniors. 

Which was hardly particularly impressive. Not to mention her team was booted like the second week so we really didn't get to see much. 

 

8 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

She was also a troupe member for several years until she was dumped just before production began last fall. 

I am well aware, as I stated it. However, my point is I don't remember her ever choreographing anything. Maybe I'm wrong and I just missed it. And someone can correct me if I am. Same with the DWTS tour. Was there any number she choreographed or co-choregraphed?

The reason I bring this is up is because my point is, I expect Hayley to be able to translate choreography given to her very well because she is a trained dancer. However just because one can do, doesn't mean they can teach. And there is little from her to show evidence that she can. Everything she has done has simply been following others' direction. Well like you noted, other than the two weeks of DWTS Juniors. 

 

8 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

She's an amazing dancer, I don't think Derek would dance with her if she wasn't. 

Never suggested otherwise. I noted that Hayley is a trained Jazz/Contemporary dancer. She competed and made it quite far on SYTYCD. I have never questioned her dance ability. And that is why I mentioned Alison. Some forget that part of the reason Alison came to the producers' attention is because she and Derek collaborated quite a bit. So much so that the year Derek won his first Emmy, he had two nominations - one, for his solo work on DWTS and two, for all the numbers he and Alison did together.

And all of these numbers were straight FIRE. Because Alison yes, is a fierce dancer. No one can challenge that. And so they made her a PRO and then we realized that yeah Alison can kill choreography given to her by a professional ballroom dancer but it doesn't mean she knows how to train and choreograph for an untrained celebrity.

That is my point about Hayley. Now admittedly, she did get her feet wet in the troupe, which Alison never did and she did multiple tours so maybe that has helped. And truthfully I don't care if Hayley is made a PRO as I only mostly watch this show in passing the last few seasons. It just always amuses me when people start screaming this one for Pro, that one for Pro because a professional dancer does an amazing dance performance. 

As for their relationship, I'm not going to go into specifics but I'll just say there have been many things throughout the years that make me side-eye that relationship. I have mad respect for Derek as a performer and artist but I would never date that guy. And as for Hayley, I just um, there doesn't seem to be much happening there.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by truthaboutluv

[Dave 97459]

Dude, fix the crappy audio on the show. Too much feedback from the generated audience whoops and jeers and clapping, very difficult in hearing the host and judges audio. Musical overlays are slightly overbearing. Its drowning everything else out, especially during any descriptive dialog from all Tyra or the judges. The audio specialist/mixer on the show is in my opinion,  either partially deaf, or extremely inexperienced,  or their headset is not functioning properly.  Get a proper,experienced,  professional audio master on the set A.S.A.P ! .... The audience is suffering. 😔

[Back Atcha]

On 10/19/2020 at 7:05 PM, ams1001 said:

Tyra [first outfit] looks like she forgot to dry her hair. I need a macro that just inserts "what on earth did they put her in now?" into my post.

She's probably in charge of wardrobe too...especially her own.  She'll come out with a Dancing with the Stars Designs by Tyra, and feature every abomination SHE wore on the shows.

[Back Atcha]

2 hours ago, realdancemom said:

She tries to be so dramatic like when she was introducing Derek and Hayley.

She probably thinks she's an Academy Award level AC-tress.  She does not have what it takes.   Someone VOTE HER OFF!!

On 10/20/2020 at 7:18 AM, CatLady said:

Sadly, I like Tyra Banks but she is not good as the host.  I find it hard to hear her and sometimes understand what she is saying(if not for close captioning).  Her clothes are horrendous. 

How do you think those of us who have NEVER liked her feel?  

[Back Atcha]

On 10/20/2020 at 7:43 AM, Lady Calypso said:

She's only eighteen and has been in the spotlight for so long, especially from Disney, so she's almost been...programmed to act a specific way in public. It might take her a long time to not have that Disney PR face because it's been so ingrained into her for so long. She's young; she'll learn.

We can only HOPE she learns.  She may consider herself extremely talented and successful and sees no reason to change her performance style.  She'll need the right agent, coaches, parents, and some incentive...because it will take work!  I've never watched her show, but her appeal disappeared on this one very quickly.