Season 33.E09: Semifinals

[Irlandesa]

55 minutes ago, DietCokeJunkie said:

I wonder who was really supposed to go home tonight that they decided to protect with no elimination?

Do you mean who was on the bottom?  That's a good question.

If you mean who was scheduled to leave, no one.  Someone let it slip a few days ago that it'd be a 5-person finale, which became obvious once the three-hour finale came out. So production knew that no one was leaving before the opening dance.   

[Andiethewestie]

I still have a strong opinion that Chandler was most vulnerable. Perhaps she got a rally of support after the hate fest on line last week. That would be great wherever she can find the support because the personal attacks have returned. Last week she had a bad vibe.Now she's a smug self entitled bitch that doesn't take criticism because they were confused by Carrie Ann's deduction.
 

The confusion is warranted btw. In Dancesport unintentional lifts which this was, are not deducted from the score. But even if it's just Carrie Ann's rules she is inconsistent.

Allen choreographed a lift for Ilona's Foxtrot and Witney choreographed an assisted lift on their Quickstep last week. So it's a bit exhausting I'm sure for this team to be nitpicked. Carrie Ann just won't give that gorgeous foxtrot a 10. It was danced right on the edge beautiful dance topline, and lovely over sway. I am as always disappointed in Carrie Ann. 

[boyznkatz]

11 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Sorry, not sorry, but five people are too many for a finale. 

Everyone gets a participation trophy!

[babyhouseman]

I wonder even though she's so good, would Chandler have gone? The others have established fan bases: Bachelor, Olympic, sports. It's just a theory. We'll find out next week.

[FilmTVGeek80]

19 hours ago, Desperado said:

“A friend for life” has been said so often on this show and I haven’t believed it for one second, ever. 🤣

I think it is true for many of them. I know some of the previous pairings have stayed friends. Heck, a few have gotten engaged or married.

Ugh!! Echo those who think a five-person finale is too much. At least last year, when they pulled "Shocker, no one is being eliminated," there were only four people in the finale. I had an inkling this would happen because I didn't finish the ep last night, and today I saw an E! headline about the "shocking" elimination twist. Since they indicated it was a twist that was allegedly shocking and not an elimination, I wondered. Before the last segment, the way Julianne stressed how unimaginable it would be to lose any of them seemed fishy. Also, you can usually tell when they do stuff like this because there's so little time in the last segment. Once I saw there were only four minutes left, I was pretty sure no one was getting eliminated. Even though I hated it, Stephen and Ilona's reactions were cute.

I still believe they're trying to protect Chandler. I guess they feel we can't have a finale without a teen, Disney kid, or Bachelor/Bachelorette contestant. 

Chandler reminds me so much of Charli and other contestants like her. I can tell her dances are technically good, but for the most part, they make me feel nothing. Bruno mentioned how unforgettable her foxtrot was, and I forgot about it before she had even finished.

I didn't realize how forgettable Danny was until I was shocked to completely forget he hadn't performed his final dance. I find him and Joey almost interchangeable, except Joey does really well at emoting. I think Danny tries, but I feel like he always looks dead behind the eyes, and whatever character he's attempting feels hollow.

Ilona did have a great night. My favorite two dances of the night were her waltz and Stephen's tango. I almost had to watch Stephen's cha-cha through my fingers. He must have completely given up on sexy because he smiled that goofy smile of his two seconds into the dance, and I was like, "Cute, but not sexy." There were other obvious mistakes. I agree with Derek that I love the song for their tango - "Sweet Disposition." My heart was in my throat when I saw his glasses were askew. I agree with Carrie-Ann; how he handled that (and Rylee as well) was impressive!

Like I said, I hate the idea of a five-person finale. I hope they do like they used to when they had four-person and three-person finales where all the finalists did the dances, and then they eliminated one contestant right after the freestyle. 

[iMonrey]

3 hours ago, babyhouseman said:

I wonder even though she's so good, would Chandler have gone? The others have established fan bases: Bachelor, Olympic, sports.

So long as the judges keep her in first place she's not going anywhere. Votes can't overcome low scores, and Stephen was far enough down there he probably would have gone (53 versus Chandler's 58). 

[Backwards999]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:22 PM, Irlandesa said:

Chandler is so good but I find Brandon's choreo kind of boring.  I miss the kinds of routines someone like Derek used to do with his ringers.

 

Can we talk about this because...Yes, this is a huge problem for me as well.  Take this episode for example, other stars that are not anywhere near as good as her dance wise had great dances because the music and routine were superb like Stephen's Tango for example.  Half the time, I don't even like the music Chandler is dancing to.  To me, sometimes Brandon doesn't choreograph well for entertainment and television (music, groove, interesting choreo, choreoing to his partners strengths, etc can be off sometimes). He's doing much better this year (The Rhumba to Billie Eilish was exceptional), but I hope he can pull something spectacular off for the finale because I doubt if she has a large fanbase.  Still, I would love to see them win.  He's never been this close and she may be a ringer but a bit of an underdog in the fan department imo.

Edited 7 hours ago by Backwards999

[SunnieDays]

I firmly believe that Chandler was going to be eliminated and thus the five person finale. She is an exceptional dancer but she somehow doesn't connect with anyone I know. Of all the people I talk to no one mentions Chandler as the person they are rooting for. Something about her performances seem cold to me. I don't think Brandon has the audience draw of a Val to carry her through either. 

[Andiethewestie]

2 hours ago, SunnieDays said:

I firmly believe that Chandler was going to be eliminated and thus the five person finale. She is an exceptional dancer but she somehow doesn't connect with anyone I know. Of all the people I talk to no one mentions Chandler as the person they are rooting for. Something about her performances seem cold to me. I don't think Brandon has the audience draw of a Val to carry her through either. 

 Oh she will be eliminated but  imho not for the reasons stated.
 

In my home  she is by far the most beautiful entertaining dance contestant we have seen in quite a while. She has been robbed of perfect scores to create some asinine drama. And keeping those scores at razor thin margins ensures she will be eliminated because the social media cockroaches have pelted her with boring and too much dance experience as if this were new.
 

What is new is how blatant the racism.  What is new is Carrie Ann not giving a perfect score to the Viennese Waltz because it's judged differently? And what is new is saving that goddam lift police for Chandler and no one else all season for probably one of the best Foxtrots in the history of the show. What isn't new is fans defending Carrie Ann because the contestant being penalized isn't their favorite. When it's anyone else, they go after Carrie Ann.
 

In a season of firsts, only Joey gets an official mention as the first Bachelor to make the finals. 

There is no mention at all that Chandler and Brandon are the first Black couple to make the finals in 33 seasons. 

And while all the others have their gimmicks and their championships in other areas for me their poor dancing is about as entertaining as a drunk uncle at a wedding. Marginal improvement to simple choreography or going backwards and not being able to do one Latin ballroom doesn't hold much for me to vote for.

She is being used for the Carrie Ann drama, She is attacked all over social media and many are very vocal about how much she is disliked and dismissed.again she's taking the deluge on social media so it very clear the voters of this demographic don't want her around

Brandon has hinted their Freestyle will be a celebration of their reaching that milestone. And it of course will be met with racist and misogynistic vitriol. And yet being able to showcase a little piece of the black culture in dance will be fire I'm excited to see if it's a little bit of Alvin Ailey, or Lindy or African Jazz or Hip Hop the sky is the only limit. It's amazing just how much dance has benefitted from the black experience. But then again it's not hard to imagine how much the culture is appropriated but not credited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[boyznkatz]

Other contestants have incorporated black culture into their freestyles. Amber Riley comes to mind and there were others. Brandon's choreo is pretty vanilla and I don't see him being influenced by Alvin Ailey, but we'll see. Here is his chance to show what he can do.

I wish they would have some actual pros who actually ARE influenced by ethnic choreography and incorporate it into the show. Derek has attempted to do it, although he was more miss than hit (that monkey bangra dance he did with Shawn Johnson was horrible) but I do appreciate the effort. I'm Indian, so know crappy Indian choreography when I see it, but I loved that they used to attempt Bollywood.

Edited 1 hour ago by boyznkatz

[Ilovepie]

I agree with everyone that five in the finals is too many, but I can't be mad because all five bring something different to the dance floor and are all really likeable. I think the leaderboard at the end was accurate - Chandler and Joey tied, Ilona in the middle and Danny and Stephen at the bottom. 

I think Chandler, Joey and Ilona had the best nights, and Chandler is objectively the best dancer left (as she should be), but I just am always so bored by her. Is it that Brandon is mediocre? Is it that she is boring as far as personality? Is it that she and Brandon have no chemistry? Is it that I am over the perky Disney kids? I don't know, but she is not my favorite. Even though she is great, when this season is over, I won't remember any of her dances except maybe that Tango from last week which I thought was stellar.

I hate all the bachelor/bachelorettes almost as much as the Disney kids, but I love Joey. Now here is a team that has chemistry for days! And he has all the charisma and great technique despite NO dance training. I loved their foxtrot. Go Joey!

I love both Olympians, but I feel like Ilona has improved more than Stephen, and maybe that is because of the pros they are paired with. Mark got more out of Stephen in one session than Rylee did all season. When Ilona says she and Alan will be friends for life I believe her - they are awesome together and you can see how much he adores her. Love them and glad they made it to the finale. Even if they don't win (and I do think it's a possibility - they are hugely popular on SM) I think they just wanted to go all the way so they could keep dancing and hanging out together and that is fine with me.

Danny is my least favorite of the five that are left. Witney over-relies on tricks and lifts and I think that's boring. He's cute, but kind of boring and I really think they are only here because of that trick on his contemporary being so viral on social media. He's the only one I really don't want to win.

[Meowwww]

So.   I watch this show for the journey.  The non-dancer, no dance training, finding themselves dancing and full of joy. Ilona does that for me.  Her smile when she waltzed…..so lovely.  
I vote on this emotion and I vote on how these people make me feel when they dance. Chandler, while gorgeous, does nothing for my emotions. I certainly don’t see racism.

I think there are lots of people like me out there.