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S19: Alfonso Ribeiro: The Tap Dance Kid


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Witney tweeted last night that he was getting treatment in rehearsal along with this picture so it seems hes getting more than the cryotherapy

 

 

That's the same guy that was running the cryo machine. He must be an overall physical therapist.

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There's always Tommy Chong....

 

 

  Not after this week, I'm guessing.

 

 

Unless Alfonso pulls out due to injury before tomorrow's elimination, in which case Chong and the ladies would all be in, which is what I was thinking. But you're right, barring a catastrophe, he's most likely the next one out.

Edited by majormama
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Carrie-Anne said in her Parade.com blog that Alfonso's "judges pick" dance is Jive. I can understand why they chose it and I would have easily chosen it as well all things considered, and she did specify they chose this for him before the injury but ugh. She' wondering now if he could pull it off.

Edited by howmanywords
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Carrie-Anne said in her Parade.com blog that Alfonso's "judges pick" dance is Jive. I can understand why they chose it and I would have easily chosen it as well all things considered, and she did specify they chose this for him before the injury but ugh. She' wondering now if he could pull it off.

How unfortunate!   If I'm remembering correctly, they perform the judge's pick before they perform the freestyle, right?  If so, and unless Alfonso's had a miracle healing or miracle drugs this week, he's going to lumber painfully through a jive and possibly aggravate his injuries enough not to be able to bring much to the freestyle.  I want to be wrong so badly.

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Yeah I'm almost certain freestyle comes last..and I posted this in the semi-finals thread but here's the freestyle hint Witney posted tonight. It sure looks like we're getting the freestyle many of us have been wanting from day one!  I would be more excited if I wasnt so worried about his injuries.  I went back earlier and watched the week 1 jive and I'm still so blown away at how he came out with such an insane dance the very first week. You can see how his body was obviously hurting by the time they did the 2nd jive. 

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He's definitely been in rehearsals because he and Witney both are tweeting out pics talking about how hard they're rehearsing..seems to be holding up ok. And he mentioned last week during a post show interview he couldnt even lift AJ but there's paparazzi video from last night of him out to dinner with Sadie and her family and he picks up AJ in his carseat so I'm hoping its a sign hes better.

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He's definitely been in rehearsals because he and Witney both are tweeting out pics talking about how hard they're rehearsing..seems to be holding up ok. And he mentioned last week during a post show interview he couldnt even lift AJ but there's paparazzi video from last night of him out to dinner with Sadie and her family and he picks up AJ in his carseat so I'm hoping its a sign hes better.

Thanks. Glad to hear Alfonso seems a bit better. I'm going bonkers with the anticipation for Witfonso's Freestyle.

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Wonder if tapping is like riding a bike....you never forget???? Alfonso seems quite confident that he's a better tapper than Witney. He's looking really great, especially his abs. Hope he is feeling better from his injuries. He looks quite happy.

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 Alfonso & Witney were great last week. Despite his back injury, Alfonso pulled through like the trooper he is. Alfonso couldn't do as much as he probably wanted, but what he could do kicked ass. The AT was wonderful and the Contemporary routine was powerful. Alfonso used his injury to his advantage in both numbers. In the AT, Alfonso's posture helped it shine. As for the Contemporary, I think Alfonso's physical pain underscored the emotions behind it. Speaking of emotions, when Alfonso danced I not only cringed both times, a couple of moments I actually watched through my fingers because I was scared that he would hurt himself again. When Alfonso cried, I cried too, I'm not gonna lie.

 

  About the piece with the most important people in Alfonso's life, I loved hearing from his family and former co-stars, but I didn't give a shit what former VP Dan Quayle thinks of him. Re the Finals & CA choosing the Jive, their first Jive was perfect IMO and I don't think it needs improvement, plus Alfonso's back was doing much better then than it is now. As for the Freestyle, I'm definitely looking forward to it. If he can survive this Jive, then hopefully the tap will be a piece of cake.

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Alfonso did a Q&A on Twitter last night and an interesting piece of info came out. Looks like he has a job lined up already..heres the funny thing, I was JUST reading last week about the show on Food Network "Unwrapped" which has been showing in reruns will be revamped next year but very little info was given. Well guess who the host will be?! Yep he said the show starts airing in February. Pretty cool! And Joey Fatone hosts the show REwrapped" also on FN. Really glad to see he'll still be on TV in some form. He's a great host too from what I remember when he was on the Game Show Network.

There's rumblings that hes closing the show with the freestyle tonight..hmm I'm hesitant to believe it because they just went last LAST week but if its indeed true I'm banking on that number to be pretty damn amazing. Guess we'll know soon..

Oh wow my local ABC news just showed the rehearsals and they showed them doing the jive. Sure looks like those injuries aren't acting up!

Edited by howmanywords
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Between the apache dance and Will Smith urging his 74 million facebook fans to vote for Alfonso my Fresh Prince lovin' heart is all warm and fuzzy tonight hee That freestyle was everything I could have wanted.  And I was disappointed when they were given the jive because that week 1 jive remains one of my all time favorite dances..my mind is blown that this actually ended up even better.  

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I thought for sure that at best Alfonso and Whitney would be damn lucky to create the same magic as night one with their Jive, but to best it? It just didn't seem possible and yet, somehow, some way, some kind of magic they completely outdid themselves.

 

It had extra moves, extra flair, it was cleaner, tighter, sharper, even with his injuries and I think Carrie Ann was right, first and last time I'll probably say this heh, but last week she mentioned how his posture had improved because he was having to hold himself differently due to his back and not wanting to further injure himself, and I saw that in his movement tonight.

 

The last thing I wanted was for Alfonso to finish off this season on empty, running entirely on fumes as he was dragged across the finish line by his partner, carried only by loyal fans but not the actual quality of dancing he could produce, but to see his work ethic and drive and desire to go all the way, to literally give his all until it hurt and still he continued, he has impressed me profoundly. 

 

Alfonso has so often been in the shadow of the spotlight and unlike so many actors and celebs it didn't make him bitter. He didn't come on DWTS with a huge chip on his shoulder, he didn't have an attitude, an air of expectation or smugness, he never once disparaged any of his competitors, he didn't act as if not getting the highest score for the night or being knocked down the leader-board was the end of the world or "beneath" someone of his talents.

 

This whole time he has remained humble, kind, respectful, generous and most of all genuine.

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This whole time he has remained humble, kind, respectful, generous and most of all genuine.

 

Such a total class act. There was paparazzi vid the other night of Sadie and Alfonso out to dinner with their families and this obnoxious paparazzi guy was trying so hard to create tension between the two with all his cracks about being enemies and competition. When he asked Alfonso what they discussed over dinner I loved his answer, he said "friendship, and life. That this show is only a slice of life and when its over the friendship will always be there". Him and Sadie really seem to have developed a very sweet relationship and I remember her saying not long ago that hes like a 2nd dad to her. I forget sometimes that he has a teenage daughter from his first marriage.  And as far as staying humble, well I said this back when he first did The Carlton but I have total respect for the fact that he never forgot where he came from and never acted ashamed.  Jaleel White made it clear when he was on that he would never do The Urkel and had this air about him like he was too good to even go there. Alfonso embraces the nostalgia.

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Alfonso & Witney killed it, buried it, then dug it up and killed it again! They were phemomenal last night! That Jive was even better the second time around. As for the Freestyle, it was perfection. Between "Sing With A Swing," the tapping and last, but never, ever least, the Apache dance, it blew the other freestyles out of the water. They deserved every last one of the votes I've given them, especially for the Finale. As far as I'm concerned, Alfonso and Witney are the true winners of this season, whether they get the trophy or not.

Edited by DollEyes
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Dammit.  He's going on the tour which may force me to look up tickets for this now. 

 

Happy tears indeed.  Best reality show win in ages. 

 

Yes! I saw he's coming to my city and I'm definitely purchasing tickets although I'll be by myself, but I heard they don't always perform at all shows. Does anyone know if this is true?

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  YES! I haven't been this happy that a man's won on the show since J.R. Martinez won with Karina Smirnoff. I always believed that Alfonso & Witney would win and they did, for several reasons. First, they're great dancers, which they've proven before, especially Alfonso, whether it was on Broadway, in the Pepsi commercial with Michael Jackson or on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air in general and "The Carlton" in particular. I never cared that Alfonso was a ringer because whatever dance training he's had in the past wasn't ballroom. Next, character. I've seen Alfonso grow in some weeks and struggle in others, but both things have shown his & Witney's skills as dancers and much more importantly, as people. When Witney was stuck with Michael Waltrip for "Switch-Up Week" and Witney got 5s while Alfonso killed it with Cheryl and Alfonso saw how devastated Witney was, his comforting her was very sweet. When Alfonso suffered his injuries including his back problem, Witney was careful with him. She did great choreography, but she also made sure to protect him and not make it worse.

 

  Next, there's nostalgia. The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air was one of the most popular shows of the 90s and Carlton was a big part of it. To his credit, Alfonso has embraced that part of his life, unlike Jaleel White, the ex-star who played Urkel on Family Matters, who has treated the character he made popular much more like a curse than a blessing. For an actor, wanting to be seen as much more than one role is understandable, but since White signed on to do DWTS of his own free will, he should have known that Urkel would have been mentioned at least once. Had White had the same attitude as Alfonso, he might have lasted much longer than he did, if not gone to the Finals himself. That Alfonso did the Carlton early in the competition shows what a good sport he is. Even better, when the four finalists were at GMA's After Party, they were not only treated to a Flash Mob who did The Carlton, at one point, Alfonso himself even joined in! Regarding their best moments, dance-wise, they had me at the first Jive, were even better at week 4 when they did The Carlton, the Paso trio was sensational and their Freestyle kicked ass.  Alfonso & Witney gave their all every week, it showed and they were rewarded for it, as they should be.

Edited by DollEyes
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Oh yes to all that! I said weeks ago never underestimate how huge and strong that Fresh Prince fanbase is.  People of ALL ages love that show and watch the reruns that are on multiple channels now.  I think doing The Carlton put Alfonso WAY ahead of the pack and he was probably the highest vote getter by that point, then that freestyle nailed the win down.

 

Out of all the pics that have been all over this morning, this that Alfonso Instagram'ed has to win for the best. Adorable!

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I caught the GMA segment and they asked him, of course, if it was true that he'd been trying to get himself onto the show for ten years and he confirmed, saying how he kept dropping hints and basically doing everything but taking out a billboard requesting a spot, heh.

 

But George Stephanopoulos made a comment that really got a good chuckle but also it was so fitting. He said that Alfonso had to wait so long for Witney to grow up and I had never thought about it like that before but it's true.

 

Of course he could have been paired with Cheryl or Julianne or Edyta or Anna, etc, but I personally don't think anyone else would have been a better fit for Alfonso.

 

She certainly surprised me with her choreography skills, I really can't think of a dance I didn't like, even though a few times I didn't care for the song chosen.

 

It's silly but I kept telling myself I didn't care if Alfonso and Witney won but this morning as I watched them being announced as this season's winners, watching them carrying the trophy, I realized that it just felt right, heh, and I am so glad they grabbed the title, so glad.

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I think Alfonso's Paso trio is one dance I'll remember from this season for a long time to come. (Val & Janel's too - this was a great season for Pasos). One thing I like about Alfonso's is that it wasn't in his jive/tap/Carlton wheelhouse but he nailed it anyway. Also compared to his dance with Cheryl (I know that was a different style but a similar vibe) I could really see improvement in his lines, sharpness of movement, and attack. So while he didn't improve much in things he was already good at, I did see improvement over the season.

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But George Stephanopoulos made a comment that really got a good chuckle but also it was so fitting. He said that Alfonso had to wait so long for Witney to grow up and I had never thought about it like that before but it's true.

 

Yes it is, CPP83! I've wanted to see Alfonso on DWTS since I started watching in season 2.  It always bothered me that so many other celebs with much less potential were asked instead. Thanks to George S, I can let go of that. 

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So happy that Alfonso and Witney won! If it wasn't for him, I probably would've stopped watching this season a long time ago but looked forward to seeing his dances and their sweet partnership every week!

Another post-victory photo: http://instagram.com/p/v4-1raGE7M/ who's the lady standing next to Witney? She looks so familiar to me but I don't think she's a former Fresh Prince costar.

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Another post-victory photo: http://instagram.com/p/v4-1raGE7M/ who's the lady standing next to Witney? She looks so familiar to me but I don't think she's a former Fresh Prince costar.

 

Essence Atkins. She's had small parts in a lot of things, I know her from episodes of Smart Guy I'd end up watching on the Disney Channel when I was babysitting in the late 90s/early 2000s. 

Edited by kitcloudkicker
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Someone asked why it took DWTS 10 years to cast Alfonso. Well, He claimed that they considered him a ringer.

 

It shows that DWTS appparently is running out of celebs and will cast anyone who'll say yes. I do think that dwts is created for celebs like Alfonso though.

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Yeah Corbin Bleu, Nicole Scherzinger and even Lea Thompson I consider bigger ringers. While being trained in tap is impressive as is tap dancing on Broadway, Alfonso was what like 12 then? And he didn't have any Latin or Ballroom training as far as a I know.

 

BTW the Jazz/Carlton on the official DWTS YT channel is well over 5.2 million views..crazy!

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Especially considering he didn't have all that much tap experience.  When he got the broadway show, he didn't know how to tap.  They taught him and that led to the commerical.  It's not like he had years and years of experience.

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Entertainment Tonight has an interview with Alfonso and some video footage of him and Witney rehearsing for the tour.  There's a brief clip that looks like he might be doing the little tap dance he did in the freestyle. They sure are treating him well, hes going to have his own private bus on tour and he'll be able to take his wife and son along.

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