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S20.E08: 10th Anniversary Special


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I know it's hugely unpopular but I actually think it was glaringly lacking that Derek was completely gone from the show, even though yes it was due to injury. Because much as the reality physically pains some, he is in actual fact the most successful Pro dancer on the show in terms of wins. So it is a big deal in my opinion, when he is completely not present in a show celebrating the DWTS' run. But not surprising for what was clearly a rushed/half assed put together show. With him getting injured on the Monday night, there was no time to figure out how to incorporate him in the show by Tuesday night.

I can understand what you're saying about the physical absence of Derek from the anniversary show, but he was heavily featured in the clips.  Additionally, his partners were front and center throughout the show. If he hadn't gotten injured rehearsing the special, he would have been in a long dance number. To me, it wasn't as much of a big deal because the intention was to make him a star of the show.   

I agree it was rushed and that they could have gotten a few talking heads from him.  I think that Cheryl's absence was just as much of a hole. I understand the absence since she chose not to be part of it. 

 

Edited by Lilytiger
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I count 9 winners who didn't dance and 10 who did, so JR's not alone.  7 weren't even there, I think?  I think only 3 who did dance, danced solo.  No, wait, 4.  The two recent and popular winners, Alfonso and Meryl, and the two ABC employees, Kelly and Melissa.  

JR is alone.  If 7 of the 9 winners who didnt dance were not there, that leaves JR and Apolo sidelined champs. Apolo already was given an opportunity in the 100th episode show to solo with Julianne.  JR, not so much.  

Edited by Andiethewestie
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If he hadn't gotten injured rehearsing the special, he would have been in a long dance number.

 

 

Wasn't it just a dance number where he was sharing screentime with Mark and some of his and Mark's past celebrity partners? So in other words it wasn't exactly a solo number. I don't see that as "making the show about him" when Maks and Meryl got a number entirely to themselves, as did Alfonso and Witney who just won last season, Melissa and Tony had a solo number as well and let's not forget Val and Kelly's stripfest. Derek's former partners also being present doesn't necessarily equal making the show about him in my opinion.

 

For example, I don't view Amber and Lil'Kim's appearance with Patti having a thing to do with Derek even if they were both his partners when they competed. Instead it was likely more to do with the fact that no other celebrity who competed on the show could match Patti vocally but Amber Riley and it was just a perfect number the producers couldn't pass up. And Lil'Kim's presence worked because she was part of the very successful remake of the song in 2001. Which btw, speaking of Lil'Kim, yes it's tragic what she's physically done to her face but that woman can still flow like no one else and I will need her and Missy Elliott to have huge comebacks so I can be spared the likes of Iggy Azalea as a standard for female rappers. 

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As others have said, too short. WAY too short. I am bored stiff at the drawn out finale nights of 3 hours. But 1 hour sucks.

 

Loved seeing Anna, as she's my favorite. Missed Cheryl.

 

I about choked over the NFL Paso. I loved it. And right away Kurt Warner was already facing the wrong way, poor guy. Dancing was never his thing.

 

Lyrics that I could catch: "Michelle Pheiffer that white gold"  "Don't believe me just watch" Then the group in red came out and it sounded maybe sorta like a different song but it went right into it like a medley? or IDK what. I loved it! OMG! [/old] It sounded like lyrics of "Uptown... eff... you up" but IDK . TIA!

 

Oh that song is "that" song. I've heard it on every show that has a soundtrack, several commercials and in every store that has a radio playing. Good song though.  Check Michael Sam's premier night Cha Cha. It was to that song.

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What I really liked about the football number is the high cheese factor (Tom and Erin coming down from the ceiling on the 10 was likewise cheesy, but a total lighting fail (should have been rotating searchlights on them)). I loved when the show used to go for the cheese - somehow that element is no longer as prominent. 

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Wasn't it just a dance number where he was sharing screentime with Mark and some of his and Mark's past celebrity partners? So in other words it wasn't exactly a solo number. I don't see that as "making the show about him" when Maks and Meryl got a number entirely to themselves, as did Alfonso and Witney who just won last season, Melissa and Tony had a solo number as well and let's not forget Val and Kelly's stripfest. Derek's former partners also being present doesn't necessarily equal making the show about him in my opinion.

It wasn't my intention to make it out like the anniversary special was going to be the Derek show.  However, I think the producers intended to feature him throughout the show and were still able to do so through clips. I didn't think he was absent or forgotten, one could see his accomplishments when they showed a montage of past seasons' winners. There were talking heads about how he, Julianne and Mark shifted the focus of the show and how innovative they were.  They also talked about how amazing his slanting room dance was.  I do think that he should be one of the pros heavily mentioned, but honestly, there were pros who accomplished quite a bit on the show and weren't even mentioned.  Did they even talk about Kym being a two time winner or Cheryl outside of the cowboy number? When I see Amber and Amy Purdie, within the context of this show, I think of Derek. Derek has contributed a lot, I just think that so have a lot of the pros who weren't featured that should have been. Maybe not in terms of wins, but in terms of how fans responded to them. 

 

The dance number that he and Mark did was longer than the other pro-featured numbers and had a costume change. Derek and Mark are best friends and I think they have enough pull that if they wanted to have solo dances, even if they had to with multiple former partners, they would have gotten it.  The staging of the dances gave plenty of face time for both Mark and Sasha (in Derek's place). 

 

IMO, the Whitney and Alfonso dance was only because of Alfonso's popularity, they were on the road show together, and he was the most recent winner. Tony and Melissa because she was going to host something. I have no idea why they had Val do that number other than the shock value. I do think a significant portion of time was about Maks, when you consider his dance, the audition tape, and conflicts/bike ride with Len.  Maybe they're trying to woo him back.  

Edited by Lilytiger
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It wasn't my intention to make it out like the anniversary special was going to be the Derek show.  However, I think the producers intended to feature him throughout the show and were still able to do so through clips. I didn't think he was absent or forgotten, one could see his accomplishments when they showed a montage of past seasons' winners. There were talking heads about how he, Julianne and Mark shifted the focus of the show and how innovative they were.  They also talked about how amazing his slanting room dance was.

 

 

For the record, I am not saying that Derek should have been all over the show and I don't doubt that he was mentioned it clips and talking heads (I actually didn't watch the whole show and just watched clips of some of the performances) but being mentioned is different than physically being present and that's all I was saying. There were quite a few comments about some being glad he wasn't there and I'm just saying that in my opinion, no matter how much some may not care for him, his being as successful on the show as he has, made his absence very glaring and I do think it was disappointing that he wasn't physically present. 

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Val and Zendaya are still close. He went to the award show she was hosting. So no falling out there.

 

I only watched this show for my Vally reunion. Kelly and Val still know how to get people talking. The reactions they got from some people in the crowd had me laughing.

 

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I did not like the special at all. There was too much focus on a few people and not enough on everyone else. With such a short show and so much to put in it, they should've done some other group dances like the football players -- the Olympians, the 80s/90s sitcom stars, etc. I did not need to see Val and Kelly do that ridiculous dance again, I did not need to see Melissa Rycroft do anything again, and if I never see Meryl Davis on my TV ever again it'll be way too soon.

 

Maks was such a central part of the show for so long and believe it or not, he had other great partnerships. Same with Tony. Yet there wasn't even an acknowledgement of any of their other partners. I realize in Maks's case it's likely because a good number of his partners no longer speak to him and he burned a lot of bridges with the crap he was spewing about them in an effort to win his mirrorball, but when one of his former partners who actually does still speak to him is your co-host and you don't even acknowledge that or have the two of them interact, that's a problem I have. It would've also been nice to see some of the more beloved pros who aren't on the show anymore like Karina, Anna and Louis get some time with their former partners rather than just being shoved into a group number or not used at all outside the opening.

 

With the way this special was moved around so much it obviously wasn't very well thought out. Shame on ABC for that.

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Did JR dance in the end number?I did see Apolo in the crowd. Maybe that's

why he was upset?

I thought it was really a dud of a show, especially not doing Dance Center or even a survey of the seasons. Then using a song with Chris Brown...

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I thought ABC did an ok job with the 10th anniversary special. It could've been better by making it two hours instead of one and including segments such as a countdown of fan favorite dances like someone mentioned here already.

I loved seeing Alfonso and Witney dancing together again. They're one of my favorite partnerships on DWTS because they dance so well together and look like they're having a lot of fun. Meryl and Maks were great as well.

On the other hand, Melissa and Tony's samba was poor compared to the rest. I still can't believe she won the All-Stars season over Shawn who in my opinion, was clearly the better dancer.

Patti, Amber, and Lil Kim were great. That should've been the closing number.

Edited by Steph619
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JR was not at the taping of the anniversary episode.

"@iamjrmartinez:They asked everyone else to participate. They invited me to sit in the audience. I'll pass. I'll watch at home"

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JR was not at the taping of the anniversary episode.

"@iamjrmartinez:They asked everyone else to participate. They invited me to sit in the audience. I'll pass. I'll watch at home"

That is pretty crappy treatment IMO, especially since he has been in the show audience this season and has been actively supporting Noah on social media.

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I thought it was really a dud of a show, especially not doing Dance Center or even a survey of the seasons. Then using a song with Chris Brown...

 

I almost muted the TV during that performance, just so I wouldn't have to hear Chris Brown.

 

 

"@iamjrmartinez:They asked everyone else to participate. They invited me to sit in the audience. I'll pass. I'll watch at home"

 

Just curious: how does he know they asked "everyone else" to participate? They may have asked others to sit in the audience too. Or does he mean he's the only DWTS winner not asked to participate? I find that surprising, given how much they highlighted him in that video package.

Edited by sinkwriter
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Oh did I enjoy that...I would have liked it longer but then there might have been something to complain about..

The highlight was seeing Tom Bergeron dance for a few mili-seconds...and Patti, Amber and Lil' Kim..wow...wow...wow...

I do wish they would have done a compilation of great Tom Bergeron lines...

This season has been good but after seeing this one-hour razzle dazzle of hellagood dancing, it seems merely okay...

Still, I watch as my crush on Tom Bergeron has no limits...

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Just curious: how does he know they asked "everyone else" to participate? They may have asked others to sit in the audience too. Or does he mean he's the only DWTS winner not asked to participate? I find that surprising, given how much they highlighted him in that video package.

There's no way he could know that.  And there's no way they asked even every winner except him to dance.  Why would they do that?  He sounds very childish there.  

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Wow JR Martinez sounds pissed.  He tweeted that he was getting a lot of questions about the show and said he was only asked to sit in the audience that everyone was asked to participate and thats all he was asked to do..he said he was taking it personally that he wasnt asked to dance. Maybe its just my gut reaction being turned off by his bitterness but does anyone else buy that he was the ONLY one not asked to dance? 

 

Maybe he didn't appreciate being grouped in with the handicapped performers in the "inspirational" package.  JR is neither deaf, nor an amputee, and I found his inclusion in those groups a little tacky.  He is completely able bodied, but placed in that category so drama queen Lisa Rinna can ramble on about how amazing he is.  It can come off condescending.

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I didn't like Kelly Monaco's dancing in S1 and I still think it's not good ten years later. At least she still looks good in a bikini, I guess. I noticed that both Alfonso and Meryl, who are clearly much better dancers, got to do longer performances than, say, Kelly and Melissa. As it should be!

 

Interestingly, having this tenth anniversary show reminded me that the best dancers do not always win (much to my chagrin). I was fine with the special only being an hour long. Although they definitely could have shown so much more, whether it was clips of old dances, interviews with past competitiors, or live performances, I'd rather have a short show than a bloated show where I have to fast forward and I keep checking to see how much longer is left.

 

The much vaunted finale number was a huge stinker. I know they had to take the non-coordinated people into consideration but come on. Make it a little bit more difficult/interesting than the Macarena and just hide the sucky people in the back. That's the rule of large group dance numbers!

 

It was nice to see so many of the former contestants in the audience. I wish they had put more names on the screen during the group numbers. I had a hard time telling who was in the red number until the very end. Once they hit the ending pose and I could see everyone I was like oh, right, her and her and her.

 

And good lord, Lil' Kim's face was a sight to behold. When they initially showed her standing next to Patti, I thought wait, when was LaToya Jackson a contestant? Did I miss that season? Then they said it was Lil' Kim and I was like whaaaaaat?!

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I will say I really liked having Kelly and Val on the show.  They are both hot!  :-)  I think I like to see Kelly getting good attention as I always thought she never got enough credit for her season one win, esp with the John Hurley nonsense.  Funny how they never mention him now, and she got her time in the sun (when she got to come back and shine with Val in another season) and still gets to participate in shows like this.  

 

Overall I thought it was good--given the short time they had to exclude a lot of people and dances.  I don't get the JR situation--it was clear they didn't have time for every winner to dance, and to be fair, they have to pick who and what dances are best for a 1 hour format.  Not every viewer will agree on who that should be, but regardless not everyone can dance.  I thought the other participants in the audience seemed to just enjoy being there and glad to be a part of it overall--and that is how it should be imo.

 

It was so nice not having Derek.  It just had a more relaxed vibe for me not being so Derek centered.  I felt everyone else had a chance to shine, which was nice.

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There's no way he could know that.  And there's no way they asked even every winner except him to dance.  Why would they do that?  He sounds very childish there.  

JR is an avid show watcher and he would sense that the previous anniversary shows featured champs and fan faves from every season up to season 11. Moving forward season 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 should have had representation from at least a finalist from each season on the one hour show.  Sure enough,  we have Chelsea Kane and Hines Ward from season 12,   Donald Driver, Kathryn Jenkins, and Maria Menounous from season 14,  Melisa Rycroft and Kelly Monaco season 15,  Jacoby Jones from season 16.  Amber Riley from season 17.  Meryl Davis and Amy Purdy from season 18 and Alfonso Riberio season 19 . 

Would it have killed the show runners to feature JR and Karina doing 45 seconds of Newsies?  You know if they wanted to they would have done something. As it is Season 13 is completely missed. That is sad.

Edited by Andiethewestie
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Maybe he didn't appreciate being grouped in with the handicapped performers in the "inspirational" package.  JR is neither deaf, nor an amputee, and I found his inclusion in those groups a little tacky.  He is completely able bodied, but placed in that category so drama queen Lisa Rinna can ramble on about how amazing he is.  It can come off condescending.

He didn't find it condescending when they invited him on the show in the first place for his inspirational story, though.  

 

And good lord, Lil' Kim's face was a sight to behold. When they initially showed her standing next to Patti, I thought wait, when was LaToya Jackson a contestant? Did I miss that season? Then they said it was Lil' Kim and I was like whaaaaaat?!

I caught the end of that song in the live broadcast in passing and thought, "Who the heck is Lil Kim?"  Then when watching my DVR copy I realized she'd actually been a contestant.  She just didn't last long or look like that.  

Edited by Guest
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All I took away from this anniversary special was wondering how they managed that fast ass costume change during one of the dance numbers. The lights flashed for literally a half second and they were in totally different outfits. Am I just an idiot and it was pretaped? 

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Those with severe facial disfigurement are discriminated against in most aspects of the working world and have a very difficult time with obtaining jobs and social normalization. Without that disability (and it is one) JR would not have been on the show. 

Edited by Quickbeam
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Those with severe facial disfigurement are discriminated against in most aspects of the working world and have a very difficult time with obtaining jobs and social normalization. Without that disability (and it is one) JR would not have been on the show. 

JR is an actor who was on All My Children, an ABC show, so he could have been on DWTS like other ABC soap stars have been.

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Amelia, the episode was pre-taped a week before it aired. It wasn't live. A good thing because that mess took nearly 6 hours to film. Imagine the disaster had it been live!?

Edited by Mbeaker
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JR is an actor who was on All My Children, an ABC show, so he could have been on DWTS like other ABC soap stars have been.

Do you think so?  I don't watch the soaps but his role and career seemed modest (174 episodes) compared to the other soap stars they've had on.  

Susan Lucci (952)

Cameron Mathis (1073)

Kelly Monaco (1286)

And I kind of figured he got the role due to his disability so it's hard to say an uninjured JR could've been on DWTS.  

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Really though, the guy WON his season, regardless if he was disfigured or not.  The fact that JR  was not asked to participate in a dance routine is shameful, given the fact that every other winner on this show has been asked , either on this Anniversary show, or in previous celebrations, or even to come back for the all stars. JR gets passed over.. Oh yes JR we will praise you for your inspiration, but just dont dance please.

Edited by Andiethewestie
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It wouldn't surprise me if they consider several criteria about whom to invite back, like how popular the winner was and still is, if their pro is still on the show and if so is he/she interested in a reprise, how popular the season was, if they've had him/her back before and how flexible the star is to work with.  I could see him scoring low on the overall want-ability scale.  Who knows, though.  

 

I didn't mind JR but I can think of many people who'd be my personal picks to dance before him.  Mel, Helio, Donny, Corbin, Gilles, Kelly Osborn, Kyle Massey, Jennifer Grey, Ty Murray, Rob K, Drew, Kirstie, Sabrina, Zendaya, Bethany, Sadie...

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So somebody doesnt like JR - I could not stand half the people they brought back, but thank god they did not bring back vomit inducing Donny Osmond this time, he has been back too often to count.  The fact is every season has been represented except season 13.  And surprisingly the lowest ratings were season 15 the All Stars, so pushing JR away doesnt make any sense 

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Would it have killed the show runners to feature JR and Karina doing 45 seconds of Newsies?  You know if they wanted to they would have done something. As it is Season 13 is completely missed. That is sad.

 

Was that the lindy hop?  I loved their lindy hop.  ETA:  I just found that dance on youtube and it's the jive, but it's the dance I'm referring to.  I think Len called it a lindy hop and it stuck in my head.

 

Really though, the guy WON his season, regardless if he was disfigured or not.  The fact that JR  was not asked to participate in a dance routine is shameful, given the fact that every other winner on this show has been asked , either on this Anniversary show, or in previous celebrations, or even to come back for the all stars. JR gets passed over.. Oh yes JR we will praise you for your inspiration, but just dont dance please.

 

Poor JR.  Not included, and then argued about how unimportant, unpopular, undeserving, whiny, and disfigured he is.  I liked the guy.

 

By the way, I think part of the dis on JR is rooted in Karina.  She's not a man after all.  On this show if you're not Derek, Maks, Val, and maybe Mark, or their partner, you're really a second class citizen.

Edited by RedheadZombie
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I'm still wondering why Derek wasn't seated in the audience just to make an appearance on the show. Was he hospitalized during the time the show was being taped? I'm a bit fuzzy on the timeline.

I think he hurt himself the day before so he was probably still preoccupied with that.

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Was that the lindy hop?  I loved their lindy hop.  ETA:  I just found that dance on youtube and it's the jive, but it's the dance I'm referring to.  I think Len called it a lindy hop and it stuck in my head.

 

 

 

Yep. Karina tried the Derek and Nicole Quickstep not a Quickstep route for her Jive not a Jive Lindy Hop Newsies routine and it brought the house down.  JR may not have been the greatest dancer on the show but he sure knew how to bring fun into the ballroom and was a worthy winner that season.. 

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By the way, I think part of the dis on JR is rooted in Karina.  She's not a man after all.  On this show if you're not Derek, Maks, Val, and maybe Mark, or their partner, you're really a second class citizen.

 

Amen. The favoritism on this show is nauseating.

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My heart went aflutter for a brief moment as Tom was introducing the NFL Paso.  I thought when he mentioned Sportscenter, instead he was going to intro Dance Centre.  Silly Lonesome.

 

It was nice to see so many alums returning.  I missed not seeing Cheryl the most.

 

The montage with the voice overs as to how the show has evolved angered me.  We had a brief glimpse of proper ballroom when the first year was recalled.  Then, they credited (blamed) "Save a Cowboy"  as the catalyst for the zero-standard dreck we now have.  I wanted to slap the mess out of TPTB for that one.

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Yeah, that annoyed me too. It's one thing to do a number like "Ride a Cowboy" for your freestyle in the finale. It's another to act like (1) this revolutionized the show for the better or that (2) this is something to aim for every week. When they talked about how the show had changed, I was just rolling my eyes because I liked S1 and don't see the need for all the over the top productions, theme weeks, etc.

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I agree with JR that its insulting to be asked to sit in the audience while other winners (whether "all" or just "many") are asked to dance. Karina was there and it would have been easy to do a brief dance after the "Inspiring" package, as was said upthread. I don't know if it was an intentional slight--hopefully not--but especially when you have a winner with such severe and obvious physical challenges I think you want to make sure they don't feel marginalized. JMO, but I think he's right to be hurt. Too bad, because including him live, however briefly, would have been a nice touch for the show itself, not just for JR.

 

Otherwise, it was fun and went by too fast. I was happy Patti, Li'l Kim and Amber told Tom they'd be back next season to perform. Because they were great!

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Which btw, speaking of Lil'Kim, yes it's tragic what she's physically done to her face but that woman can still flow like no one else and I will need her and Missy Elliott to have huge comebacks so I can be spared the likes of Iggy Azalea as a standard for female rappers

 

This, times a bazillion.

 

Did Derek perhaps have to be back in New York?  (I have no idea.)

 

I'm very late to the party having just watched this episode, but was Chelsie really there?  And no Dimitri, boo!  So good to see Karina, Anna and Maks.

 

Miss Patti LaBelle, this rendition was just as good or better than I remember her, because I'm a dinosaur, on The Midnight Special.  Those three can come back and perform every single week next season, outstanding performance!  It made up for all the rest for me, along with the silliness of the NFL Paso.  I loved Whitney's costume for her dance off with Alfonso.

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(edited)

 

........ I loved Whitney's costume for her dance off with Alfonso.

 

 

Witney rocked that blue costume. She wore the same costume for her Samba with Alfonso during his season.

Edited by luvthepros
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If you missed all or part of it, or want to see it again, the 10th Anniversary Special airs again tonight, May 31st, on ABC from 8-9PM Eastern/7-8PM Central Time. Check local listings for the correct time if you're in the Mountain Time Zone, or going West from there. (Thanks!)

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