S25: Maksim Chmerkovskiy

[katha]

I'm skeptical how far Heather will make it since I see massive backlash coming, plus I'm not sure how much fanbase she has. And in the cast reveal she struck me as rather quiet as well, actually Normani, Heather and Nancy all seemed that way and I'm curious how that will play out. If they will be able to open up or if it will become a problem. But once they decided to cast her, I don't see that they had much choice about which pro to give her. She's pretty tall, which leaves Keo, Gleb and Maks. Maks is inconsistent, but Keo was seriously struggling with Jodie and I don't see why they should give him a shot with another good partner so soon. Gleb was IMO really inconsistent with Jana as well and produced some clunkers last season.

Maks delivered really strong seasons with both Mel B and Meryl Davis, so he is capable of producing outstanding work even when the pressure is on because he's got a ringer. The question will be if he's up to the task here. And I think he will need to draw Heather out of her shell a bit, if not I see "she's so cold and I can't connect with her" comments coming her way.

[Dots And Stripes]

I think Heather is 5' 8". If they wanted to, I think producers could have paired her with anyone but Sasha. There have been pairs where the woman in heels is a little taller than her partner before. Her height does match nicely with Maks though. 

[PBGamer89]

I just find it funny becauses Maks (and Erin for that matter) never shut up about Nicole being a dancer all season long, when yes she had training and experience, but she was primarily known for being a singer first and foremost, where as Heather started as a dancer and transitioned into acting.

Naturally he's not made a comment regarding any unfairness because he's the one benefitting now.

Personally I don't mind. She never trained in ballroom and we've seen so many Jazz/Contemp/Hip Hop dancers on SYTYCD attempt Ballroom and suck, plus she has to train each week and learn just like the rest, plus connect with the voters.

[Toonces464]

21 minutes ago, PBGamer89 said:

I just find it funny becauses Maks (and Erin for that matter) never shut up about Nicole being a dancer all season long, when yes she had training and experience, but she was primarily known for being a singer first and foremost, where as Heather started as a dancer and transitioned into acting.

I had the same thought, I wonder if Maks or Erin will say anything about him having a professional dancer as a partner considering all the whining they both did (and still do!) about Nicole. But then I remembered neither of them said a word about Meryl Davis.

[Dots And Stripes]

11 hours ago, PBGamer89 said:

I just find it funny becauses Maks (and Erin for that matter) never shut up about Nicole being a dancer all season long, when yes she had training and experience, but she was primarily known for being a singer first and foremost, where as Heather started as a dancer and transitioned into acting.

Naturally he's not made a comment regarding any unfairness because he's the one benefitting now.

I don't recall Maks saying it was unfair for Nicole to compete. He said she was a better dancer than Erin, which was true. I wish I could remember the exact quote, but in an interview after Erin's AT he talked about how Erin's time on the show was about her improvement arch. He compared Nicole and maybe Evan to Mel B saying about they had different expectations and complimented Nicole & Derek and Evan & Anna for living up to those expectations. I definitely remember the him making the Mel B comparison which means he was not saying Nicole shouldn't have been cast. He also definitely complimented the other pros that season. 

I think it can be helpful to think of the pros as being more like lawyers than like judges (although let's be real, none of this is that serious). Judges have to apply the law consistently and fairly. Lawyers argue the law in a way that favors the interest of their current client's interest. With different clients you make different arguments. With the pros, you argue that growth matters when you have a partner without experience who started slow and you argue the quality of the dance and consistency matter when you have a ringer capable of great dances every week. I see that as part of the job.

[Uke]

5 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I don't recall Maks saying it was unfair for Nicole to compete. He said she was a better dancer than Erin, which was true. I wish I could remember the exact quote, but in an interview after Erin's AT he talked about how Erin's time on the show was about her improvement arch. He compared Nicole and maybe Evan to Mel B saying about they had different expectations and complimented Nicole & Derek and Evan & Anna for living up to those expectations. I definitely remember the him making the Mel B comparison which means he was not saying Nicole shouldn't have been cast. He also definitely complimented the other pros that season. 

I think it can be helpful to think of the pros as being more like lawyers than like judges (although let's be real, none of this is that serious). Judges have to apply the law consistently and fairly. Lawyers argue the law in a way that favors the interest of their current client's interest. With different clients you make different arguments. With the pros, you argue that growth matters when you have a partner without experience who started slow and you argue the quality of the dance and consistency matter when you have a ringer capable of great dances every week. I see that as part of the job.

Yes, I agree. There's been soooooo much spin + defensiveness coming off another site for & against certain pros,  that facts get really twisted and a megaphone put on perceived slights.

[gimmeegimmeegim]

Max and a mirror sittin' in a tree

Kiss ing

Back to europe please go thee.

NOW.

Edited March 4, 2017 by gimmeegimmeegim

[renzii]

On 3/3/2017 at 6:43 PM, Uke said:

Yes, I agree. There's been soooooo much spin + defensiveness coming off another site for & against certain pros,  that facts get really twisted and a megaphone put on perceived slights.

Actually both he and Heather addressed the issue of her past experience on their first day together and while they both agreed that ballroom and latin partner dancing would stretch her beyond her previous knowledge, Maks said openly that he expected and understood that the judges would demand a higher level from them as a couple.

[Uke]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/robin-leach/maksim-chmerkovskiy-i-fall-love-peta-more-and-more-every-day

Nice interview with Maks.   He & I have something in common - I too would be happy with a diet of sourdough bread & coffee! LOL! 

[Glaadrial]

On 3/2/2017 at 9:06 PM, PBGamer89 said:

I just find it funny becauses Maks (and Erin for that matter) never shut up about Nicole being a dancer all season long, when yes she had training and experience, but she was primarily known for being a singer first and foremost, where as Heather started as a dancer and transitioned into acting.

The show has changed a LOT since that season. I'm actually very excited by the prospect of watching a bunch of what have traditionally been called ringers going at it. It's nice seeing the talent spread among many different pros. I'm looking forward to some very good routines from Maks this season, I like him best when he's able to dance full out like he did with Meryl.

[katha]

I rewatched some dances from the earlier seasons and wow...it was a way different show then. DWTS had to adapt to survive for so long, but some of that traditional latin/ballroom flair is really missing. Also? When Maks is on he does stellar work in this traditional vein, fantastic stuff. Great mambos, sambas, rumbas, cha-chas that cover the whole floor. Pasos and tangos were always his thing anyway and he's done his fair share of nice ballroom as well. He just needs to concentrate and avoid trainwrecks, lack of consistency was always his problem. And terrible freestyles, of course. (-;

[kitcloudkicker]

Maks is out this week with an injury- Alan will be filling in. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/exclusive-dwts-star-maksim-chmerkovskiy-sidelined-calf-injury/story?id=46392400

 

(Alan strikes again, someone keep an eye on that guy ;) Nomi Maloned another pro.)

[truthaboutluv]

7 minutes ago, kitcloudkicker said:

Maks is out this week with an injury- Alan will be filling in. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/exclusive-dwts-star-maksim-chmerkovskiy-sidelined-calf-injury/story?id=46392400

 

(Alan strikes again, someone keep an eye on that guy ;) Nomi Maloned another pro.)

Yeah, Pros sure seem to get leg injuries around him, which of course means he conveniently gets to step in, come the live show (btw, just to be clear, I am kidding).

Edited March 27, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[pally]

Looks like an extended absence for Maks.  He needs surgery for a torn calf muscle.  

http://cartermatt.com/248245/dancing-with-the-stars-24-maksim-chmerkovskiy-will-require-surgery/

http://www.accesshollywood.com/videos/dancing-with-the-stars-peta-murgatroyd-shares-exclusive-update-on-maksim-chmerkovskiys-injury/

[boyznkatz]

Ouch, so is Alan going to be Heather's partner for the rest of the season?

[Wings]

I wonder how much this will effect the judging.  I don't believe they can easily take the pros out of their minds.  I also wonder if another pro steps in to help with choreography.  

[Beatrice]

24 minutes ago, wings707 said:

I wonder how much this will effect the judging.  I don't believe they can easily take the pros out of their minds.  I also wonder if another pro steps in to help with choreography.  

Alan said he was choreographing the dance this week. I think Maks will be busy with rehab.

I don't think this will effect how they judge Heather at all.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Beatrice

[Wings]

4 minutes ago, Beatrice said:

Alan said he was choreographing the dance this week. I think Maks will be busy with rehab.

I don't think this will effect how they judge Heather at all.

Probably not.  I do think they have favorite pros though.  ABC wants the favorites to stay as long as they can because they keep viewers tuned in, and why they never get clunkers.  

[Beatrice]

8 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Probably not.  I do think they have favorite pros though.  ABC wants the favorites to stay as long as they can because they keep viewers tuned in, and why they never get clunkers.  

For sure. I tend to think they are harder on Maks even though he is one they want around for a while. Maybe this being Alan's first showing they will be a little nicer. They will keep Heather around if there is a chance Maks could be back.

[katha]

At least for now it sounds like they expect Maks to be back in a few weeks. Since DWTS makes it all about the melodrama, who even knows what's really going on with his injury. I'm miffed that Alan will do the tango, Maks has done some great tangos in his time and l was looking forward to that. But oh well. Perhaps once he's back in LA and they're sure that he'll come back to dance, he'll do choreography again as well.

With Maks and the judges it's like this: He'll snap back if he thinks criticism is not warranted, so the show sometimes provokes it. Also, he's inconsistent as a choreographer. To some degree underrated IMO, though, because of that inconsistency. He's produced a lot of highlight dances for the show over the years. In a certain style, sure, rather throwback traditional. But he's done some spectacular stuff.

[TeeMo]

I agree, katha. When Maks is on his game he comes up with some great routines. And though I am no longer much of a Maks fan in general like I once was, I do still enjoy watching him dance. He has a presence that I find lacking in some of the other male pros/troupe like Sasha, Alan and Gleb. He is very compelling to watch. 

[Dots And Stripes]

9 hours ago, katha said:

At least for now it sounds like they expect Maks to be back in a few weeks. Since DWTS makes it all about the melodrama, who even knows what's really going on with his injury. I'm miffed that Alan will do the tango, Maks has done some great tangos in his time and l was looking forward to that. But oh well. Perhaps once he's back in LA and they're sure that he'll come back to dance, he'll do choreography again as well.

At least we have press line interviews to tell us what is going on. I think we can trust Peta saying he flew to Cleveland for surgery. I don't think anyone knows exactly when he'll be back because that's the nature of injuries.

I'm so disappointed we didn't get to see Maks jive. With his long limbs and flexibility, I love watching him in that style. Tango is hard to mess up on this show. Even bad tangos usually score ok because the pro can have so much body contact and keep the celeb in line. I also think it's a hard style to always make connect with the audience unless there are raves. This show doesn't do well with subtle dances. They want light shows and back up dancers and fire works.

[PBGamer89]

On 3/29/2017 at 10:58 PM, Dots And Stripes said:

At least we have press line interviews to tell us what is going on. I think we can trust Peta saying he flew to Cleveland for surgery. I don't think anyone knows exactly when he'll be back because that's the nature of injuries.

I'm so disappointed we didn't get to see Maks jive. With his long limbs and flexibility, I love watching him in that style. Tango is hard to mess up on this show. Even bad tangos usually score ok because the pro can have so much body contact and keep the celeb in line. I also think it's a hard style to always make connect with the audience unless there are raves. This show doesn't do well with subtle dances. They want light shows and back up dancers and fire works.

In relation to the bolded part, it's likely why we've seen maybe 6/7 Rumbas in the past 3 seasons in total. Last season only had 3 and S22 only had 3 as well.

Personally I miss Rumba on the show, when it's done right, it's so good.

[surreysmum]

I mentioned Hope Solo's allegations in her autobiography in the week 3 thread, and someone asked for a quick summary. Here's a quote from Huffington Post in 2012, when the autobiography came out:

“He manhandled me in rehearsals from the start, pushing me, whacking my stomach, bending my arms roughly,” Solo writes in “Solo: A Memoir of Hope, which was published just this week. “I thought that was just how it went – how dancers worked with each other. But it kept getting worse. One day, Maks was trying to put me in a certain position and hit my stomach so hard with his open palm that I had a red handprint there for the rest of the day.”

ABC reportedly gave Solo the option to switch partners after Chmerkovskiy’s violent outburst but she was afraid that a switch would make her look like a “prima donna.”

According to TMZ, Chmerkovskiy calls the Olympic soccer player’s story “completely false”and is reportedly clueless as to why his 2011 dancing competition partner would publish such defamatory statements.

*********

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/hope-solo-maksim-chmerkovskiy-slapping-scandal-book_n_1797789.html

It's he-said she-said, but frankly I'm inclined to believe her. This particular article doesn't mention a face-slapping incident, but that is also in the book, and widely reported at the time the book came out.

Edited April 4, 2017 by surreysmum

[boyznkatz]

Well I distinctly remember him shoving her in one of the packages. I never really liked him, but but that made me dislike him even more.

[tricknasty]

What an ass. Mel B must be magic because the only time he was tolerable to me was when he partnered her.

[Toonces464]

2 hours ago, tricknasty said:

What an ass. Mel B must be magic because the only time he was tolerable to me was when he partnered her.

I liked him very much with Erin. Since their season he's been all downhill for me.

[Venee]

3 hours ago, tricknasty said:

What an ass. Mel B must be magic because the only time he was tolerable to me was when he partnered her.

I thought he and Meryl were magic!  Meryl and Charlies coaches are Russian so is Maks, maybe she was used to the no nonsense intense till you get it right style. He seemed to be putty in her hands though. She's a perfectionist in her discipline which probably made them more of a match. If Hopes accounts are true she could have had him arrested, that reads like assault!

[dustoffmom]

I tend to take Hope Solo's press with a bit of skepticism.  She does not seem to be completely trustworthy in her retelling.  Not meaning to take Maks side of anything here, just that I have trouble accepting at face value her relating of events.

[Dots And Stripes]

2 hours ago, Venee said:

I thought he and Meryl were magic!  Meryl and Charlies coaches are Russian so is Maks, maybe she was used to the no nonsense intense till you get it right style. He seemed to be putty in her hands though. She's a perfectionist in her discipline which probably made them more of a match. If Hopes accounts are true she could have had him arrested, that reads like assault!

Yet she didn't seek legal recourse or quit the show. In the same book made accusations the show was rigged, and that the show would put that in writing. She accused a coach of pushing her, also unproven. She has since had multiple brushes with the law, including a physical altercation with her nephew. I don't think Maks was a prince his season with Hope but I do not think her account is accurate. She has too many credibility problems. I know others will disagree but this is where my engagement with the topic ends. 

ETA: I do not mean to imply victims must always go to the police or seek legal recourse. It's just one of many things going on here.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Dots And Stripes

[PBGamer89]

Hope has a long track record of violence and run in with the law anyway, not to mention she has a track record of a temper.

The show likely thought her and Maks would be a good pairing, but they were both too combative and tough. Not to mention she was a crap dancer. Her making the semis int hat season showed how weak that season was dancing wise.

The fact that Maks has such a good relationship with many past partners (Mel B, Meryl, Amber, Brandy, Erin) shows that he's not a horrible abusive guy. He has a temper yes, but Hope likely exaggerates. Don't we all, (ex. when we say "God this is a taking a thousand years" when you've been waiting in line for something).

[DkNNy79]

19 hours ago, tricknasty said:

What an ass. Mel B must be magic because the only time he was tolerable to me was when he partnered her.

I also really liked him with Brandy

[realdancemom]

I thought Maks and Hope were toxic together.  There was that one DWTS clip where Maks was too physical with her.  However, I also wouldn't believe everything Hope says either.  She does have a history and was kicked out of the U.S. team despite being considered the best woman goalkeeper.

Edited April 6, 2017 by realdancemom

[boyznkatz]

Yeah Hope is trash, but I know what I saw. Maks shoved her. I'm not making excuses for her behavior, but Maks shouldn't be excused either. If she got on his nerves, there would have been better ways to handle his frustration. 

[Dancecaptain515]

Anyone else think Maks had a weird attitude last night? I felt like him saying Alan was fired was rude and he seemed angry. Also, him saying he was the captain and everyone else should shhh was annoying as hell. Alan has been choreographing dances for heather for weeks and I think she started to come alive and I think Maks is about to ruin the progress. I needed to vent.  

[TeeMo]

8 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

I disagree. I think Maks is magnetic when he has a partner he clicks with and enjoys being around. He knows how to play the game so he's never going to say he's not happy with a partner or doesn't like them but he's very transparent it's easy to read his body language. That's why I think he was at his best with Mel B and Erin and, to a lot of people, Meryl (if you could get past the phony showmance, which I couldn't). For all his talk about how much he enjoyed his partnership with Amber, I have yet to talk to one person who didn't think Maks checked out very early last season and I saw way too much of that evidenced by watching the camera in the sky box.

I think it's the same with the other pros. I adored the season they had two pros dance with each team and Maks danced with Anna. Hell, I was ready to start shipping him with Anna LOL. I always thought he danced great with Cheryl too but as much as I hated their relationship, no one can touch him dancing with Karina.

I always think there are multiple kinds of chemistry in the partnerships on this show and the most successful ones usually have a combo of them. Some people have good dance chemistry, some have good friend chemistry and some have what looks like (or sometimes actually is) good romantic chemistry.

I thought Maks and Heather actually had some really great dance chemsitry but no othet chemistry at all. So they were appealing to me in the two dances they did together but otherwise sort of blah. Good dance chemistry alone almost never wins on this show.

Maks and Mel B had great friend chemistry AND great dance chemistry which made them very appealing. 

Maks and Karina always had amazing dance chemistry even before and after their romantic relationship (which always seemed like a terrible idea to me). I saw them dance together on that Ballroom with a Twist tour in 2014 and it was breathtaking. And while I think their romance was never a good idea for either of them, that tension bubbling under the surface always helped. 

Val and Sharna have compelling chemistry for me as well. They have good friend chemistry and good dance chemistry so I love watching them dance together.

Funnily enough I think Peta and Maks have zero dance chemistry at all and find all of their dances together to be a mismatched snoozefest. I'd actually rather watch Val and Peta dance together as they seem to have better dance chemistry. 

This is why I hate when the judges throw around the word "chemistry" on this show as though it is all the same. It really isn't and I think that while the pros can impress with just good dance chemistr with each other, the pro/star partnerships need more than that to be successful on this show.

On this season I think the couple with the most successful combination of chemistry is Emma and Rashad. Last season I'd say James and Sharna. 

[TeeMo]

Also, Toonces, I think you are 100% right about Maks being terrible at hiding when he gives a crap and when he does not. He and Amber had zero chemistry of any kind and it showed. Anytime he starts using phrases like "cool chick" to describe his partner you can prettt much guarantee that doesn't care about her one way or the other.

[Toonces464]

7 minutes ago, TeeMo said:

Also, Toonces, I think you are 100% right about Maks being terrible at hiding when he gives a crap and when he does not. He and Amber had zero chemistry of any kind and it showed. Anytime he starts using phrases like "cool chick" to describe his partner you can prettt much guarantee that doesn't care about her one way or the other.

I think the only reason she's still a memory in his world is because she hooked up with Val. Otherwise I think she would have been written off right after they were eliminated.

[Venee]

Posted this in the media thread, but it belongs here too..... Continued drama

http://people.com/crime/maksim-chmerkovskiy-peta-murgatroyd-break-in-home-baby/

[OnceSane]

Partnering with Vanessa Lachey for Season 25!