S20.E10: Week 8 Eliminations

[LadyMustang65]

So um I think Nastia ran over one of the producers puppies or something...because she didn't get a great edit even in her Dance Center piece. 

 

It's interesting how different people see things differently.  There are five of us who watch together, and we all thought the piece was funny.  We didn't think she looked bad at all, and we actually like that she isn't willing to manufacture drama for the sake of drama.  We've lost track of the number of times we've wished someone would have just kept their mouth shut.  So anyway we obviously thought that was a great edit for her. 

[kitcloudkicker]

I'm a bit confused now, though.  The past couple of seasons, they've had four couples in the finale.  They all do their freestyles, and then one is eliminated, and the remaining 3 couples do the final dance on Tuesday.  But this was week 8, so next week is 9, and the season usually runs 10 weeks.  So are they back to doing a semi-final where one couple will be eliminated next week and then only 3 couples will do freestyles?  Or is this season going to be a week shorter than usual?

 

I have heard 3 in the final. Which makes sense, given the return of the results show - they're back to being able to eliminate the person the week that they dance, and not having to wait until the next week. I think that's why they switched to four in the finale. When they run it with four, one of them is toast before they even dance, because they're working off the last weeks votes. If you have a results show, you can eliminate them right after they dance, and you don't have to make them learn a dance for a week  before you tell them.

[kayma]

We didn't think [Nastia] looked bad at all, and we actually like that she isn't willing to manufacture drama for the sake of drama.  We've lost track of the number of times we've wished someone would have just kept their mouth shut.  So anyway we obviously thought that was a great edit for her.

I thought it was funny, too. I would really like to know what the questions were that they didn't want to talk about. I thought it was interesting that the clips made it seem like she and Derek had talked about what a strategy of what to say and what to avoid. Some of the other pros might want to start doing that with their celebrities going forward.

The wall dance was awful.  What was up with the borderline abusive behavior?

I really liked the beginning of it, but then there were parts that I don't think looked like they thought they would look. A few moments looked really wrong to me.

 

Overall, I liked seeing the trio paso again. I felt bad for Chris. I think TPTB are making it clear that Riker is in danger of not making the finals on votes. Dance Center made me laugh. I wish they'd show more fun clips of the couples instead of the nervous or dramatic clips. I'm surprised Carly Rae Jepson was apparently nominated for a grammy. I'd rather see the pros dance than the contemporary kids. I'm glad the results show is back.

[jmt111]

Who in the heck is still voting for Noah?

Also, if Nastia is getting bad edits, she only has herself to blame as she's giving them all the material.

[OakGoblinFly]

Jeepers, they are going to coddle and special case Noah into winning, aren't they?

Who in the heck is still voting for Noah?

Also, if Nastia is getting bad edits, she only has herself to blame as she's giving them all the material.

 

 

Is she though?  What if she had a single moment where exhaustion and frustration made her less than positive and the powers-that-be elected to show only that and NOT the dozens and dozens of other moments where she is giggling, happy, and teasing Derek and Sasha.

 

The powers-that-be have an agenda and they will do whatever it takes to push that agenda - they always have, and they always will.  I take the "edits" on this show with a bigger grain of salt than on other reality/competition shows.

[Stitsch]

I feel for Nastia. I would also be upset if anyone was to single out my worst moments and then broadcast them to the United States as a representation of my personality. Derek said assy things, Nastia reacted. Nastia was irritated that she wasn't picking up the steps as quickly as she's used, she reacted. Anyone would seem like the biggest bitch if TPTB honed in on his or her moments of reactionary irritation, and Nastia is entitled to be upset about that. 

 

Plus, she couldn't have anticipated Derek injuring himself. I'm sure the mess she's been thrown into with Sasha/Derek is equally as frustrating. Along with Willow and her egregiously unwarranted elimination, Nastia got the short end of the stick this season. I'm still firmly in the Rumer/Val camp, but if Nastia was paired with anyone but Golden Boy, I'd be okay with a Nastia win too.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Stitsch

[Danseur]

I felt bad for Nastia too. I think there is far less reality on "reality" shows than any of us will ever know. The conversations are scripted, the VTs are scripted and the agenda is highly manipulated. People behind the scenes talk about it and former contestants have written about it.

People in the public eye always have a persona, someone their image makers work hard to present, and then there's who they really are. I totally agree that any person can be made to look like the biggest a_____ by an editor, photographer or journalist by excerpting a moment out of any given day.

I knew about Nastia's reputation and actually had a bit of prejudice against her because I am a huge Shawn Johnson fan. But I've watched their rehearsals and in one, she worked constantly without a single complaint and in the second, she laughed all the way through it. I think she got a horrible edit last night and Rumer got the "superstar" edit. This is just a TV show, and it's my true guilty pleasure. If my favorite doesn't win, I'm disappointed for about 30 minutes but life goes on.

Still, there's no need to be outright mean to anyone and I think these producers could care less about how anyone feels, including the Golden Boy as people are so fond of calling him. They will use him until they don't need him.

One knollish idea bandied about is that Nastia is getting too many votes and it doesn't fit with the agenda. Wouldn't surprise me at all. Nothing that happens on this show surprises me. Riker has been in jeopardy four times and the bottom two twice. Nastia is the only one left who has not been in jeopardy.

[truthaboutluv]

Who in the heck is still voting for Noah?

 

 

Based on this show's demographic of viewers, I'd wager to guess that A LOT of people are voting for Noah - war vet who got injured while serving his country, going out and dance every week with one leg and one arm - yeah Noah's probably getting a lot of votes. This show has never been solely about dancing, just like American Idol wasn't always just about the singing. Any show that asks people to vote for their favorites, you're going to find people who vote for any number of reasons and I'm sure there are many voting for Noah just based on his story and his "journey" on the show. 

 

Is she though?  What if she had a single moment where exhaustion and frustration made her less than positive and the powers-that-be elected to show only that and NOT the dozens and dozens of other moments where she is giggling, happy, and teasing Derek and Sasha.

 

 

Honestly, with the clip on Monday night of her telling the Producers she would not talk to them about that as they kept shoving the camera in her face during a moment of frustration clearly trying to get some soundbite out of her, coupled with the Dance Center bit of clips of her from other interviews saying what she wouldn't talk about - I actually think if anyone looks bad here it's the producers. The whole thing comes across as they're annoyed that she refuses to give them the soundbites and "personality" they want and play the game if you will, so they'll edit her as difficult and not forthcoming. It's all really stupid. 

 

Like others, I don't think Nastia looked awful and I didn't think Derek looked like a horrible, crazed, mean teacher either. As someone else noted, last week we saw a package from Rumer and Val where Rumer literally looked like she was about to pass out and could not breathe while doing camera blocking and Val was still on her, pushing and pushing and then eventually swung the woman so hard she almost damaged her neck. That's some intensity there in my opinion and all I thought when I watched the package was "Val, you're getting a little too intense with the competition, you need to calm down." I didn't think he was an awful person. 

 

As I said, I imagine with all these hours, stress because everyone who has done this show talk about how much harder it really is, everyone gets frustrated at some point. It is what it is. But this is an entertainment show and the producers will always go for what they think creates the most drama. 

 

I felt bad for Nastia too. I think there is far less reality on "reality" shows than any of us will ever know. The conversations are scripted, the VTs are scripted and the agenda is highly manipulated. People behind the scenes talk about it and former contestants have written about it.

 

 

This reminds me of Mark on Afterbuzz talking about the package that had aired that week of him and Willow, where Willow was shown saying "I'm only 14" repeatedly. And Mark rolled his eyes and immediately said, "that was the producers prodding of her to say that because I know Willow and she never goes around saying "I'm only 14" all the time". And he added that in fact it's something she pretty much never said during rehearsals. And I remember what sucked about that was there were many comments on the board that week with some rolling their eyes at her and mentioning how sick they were of her talking about her age. It just again shows that the show can create whatever narrative they want for any pairing/celebrity. 

 

One knollish idea bandied about is that Nastia is getting too many votes and it doesn't fit with the agenda.

 

 

While I may not necessarily subscribe to that knollish idea, I have been saying for awhile that I think Nastia may have a bigger voting base than many realize. I think there has been a belief established that many viewers are anti-Derek/anyone but Derek so she won't get votes just based on that and her narrative so far has been "cold, not connecting" and so viewers won't like and connect with her. All valid - but there is also a possible reality that Nastia came into this with an existing fanbase that may be a lot bigger than people realize.

Edited May 6, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[crowceilidh]

SM is full of claims that Travis Wall's dance was showing domestic violence. It's been my lifelong perception that dance is metaphorical - I saw the revelation of emotion, NOT abuse.  Unfortunately, dance in the eye of tv, often relies on vignette (I blame Nappytabs <G>), but that does not mean that a dancer violently throwing another dancer into the air is a one-to-one demonstration of violence. Sometimes the dancer is manifesting something else, like emotional frustration.

[Uke]

I'm a little confused about reactions to the Nastia "edit" last night. I thought the interview with Kenny Mayne was a total spoof.  During her rehearsal video package, she didn't want to answer a producer's question about how she was feeling. Dance Center spoofed it and I saw it as Nastia playing along with the spoof by giving those answers. It looked like she changed her top and pulled back her hair differently but the background remained the same so I don't think they pulled clips of her answers from various recordings. 

[truthaboutluv]

Yeah, this why I said I wasn't even sure if the Dance Center clip was just one giant gag that everyone was in on, including Nastia. Or the producers just took parts of one interview Nastia did with them and spliced it and played her answers in a loop as Kenny Mayne pretended to interview her. 

[renzii]

Peta was there but she tweeted a picture of herself icing her ankle last night.

 

And I have no idea why this show is so wonky on timing, now. They don't have opening credits anymore, the rehearsal packages are shorter, so are the dances, they don't introduce the stars anymore and they don't even introduce the dance the couple is about to do.  The show just seems like such a disorganized mess.

I think the caption in the post actually referred to Maks' knee. He actually flew to Ohio and had surgery on it immediately after taping the 10th anniversary special.

Edited May 6, 2015 by renzii

[Andiethewestie]

Based on this show's demographic of viewers, I'd wager to guess that A LOT of people are voting for Noah - war vet who got injured while serving his country, going out and dance every week with one leg and one arm - yeah Noah's probably getting a lot of votes. This show has never been solely about dancing, just like American Idol wasn't always just about the singing. Any show that asks people to vote for their favorites, you're going to find people who vote for any number of reasons and I'm sure there are many voting for Noah just based on his story and his "journey" on the show. 

 

 

Honestly, with the clip on Monday night of her telling the Producers she would not talk to them about that as they kept shoving the camera in her face during a moment of frustration clearly trying to get some soundbite out of her, coupled with the Dance Center bit of clips of her from other interviews saying what she wouldn't talk about - I actually think if anyone looks bad here it's the producers. The whole thing comes across as they're annoyed that she refuses to give them the soundbites and "personality" they want and play the game if you will, so they'll edit her as difficult and not forthcoming. It's all really stupid. 

 

Like others, I don't think Nastia looked awful and I didn't think Derek looked like a horrible, crazed, mean teacher either. As someone else noted, last week we saw a package from Rumer and Val where Rumer literally looked like she was about to pass out and could not breathe while doing camera blocking and Val was still on her, pushing and pushing and then eventually swung the woman so hard she almost damaged her neck. That's some intensity there in my opinion and all I thought when I watched the package was "Val, you're getting a little too intense with the competition, you need to calm down." I didn't think he was an awful person. 

 

As I said, I imagine with all these hours, stress because everyone who has done this show talk about how much harder it really is, everyone gets frustrated at some point. It is what it is. But this is an entertainment show and the producers will always go for what they think creates the most drama. 

 

 

This reminds me of Mark on Afterbuzz talking about the package that had aired that week of him and Willow, where Willow was shown saying "I'm only 14" repeatedly. And Mark rolled his eyes and immediately said, "that was the producers prodding of her to say that because I know Willow and she never goes around saying "I'm only 14" all the time". And he added that in fact it's something she pretty much never said during rehearsals. And I remember what sucked about that was there were many comments on the board that week with some rolling their eyes at her and mentioning how sick they were of her talking about her age. It just again shows that the show can create whatever narrative they want for any pairing/celebrity. 

 

 

While I may not necessarily subscribe to that knollish idea, I have been saying for awhile that I think Nastia may have a bigger voting base than many realize. I think there has been a belief established that many viewers are anti-Derek/anyone but Derek so she won't get votes just based on that and her narrative so far has been "cold, not connecting" and so viewers won't like and connect with her. All valid - but there is also a possible reality that Nastia came into this with an existing fanbase that may be a lot bigger than people realize.

I firmly believe Nastia has a huge voting fanbase, much the same as Shawn Johnson did in her first season, and while Shawn was routinely 2nd or 3rd in the judging she came up the winner. Nastia has been the frontrunner for most of the competition and she has never been in jeopardy. Jeopardy is always  to help those with the soft vote to vote harder.  I absolutely love Rumer and Val this season, and hope they win, but she's vulnerable  I think the two who will easily go through are Nastia and Noah.  The fight will be between Rumer and Riker for the third spot. I hope the fans vote for classic ballroom, because that is what got them through week 8. Just a note about the Foxtrot dance off, how much more appealing was that choreography to classic Foxtrot music than to pop music?  Rumer is for me what the show is about, someone who can move and perform but with no foundational training in ballet and no training in Ballroom and Latin. Her natural ability to feel the dance is exciting and for me a joy to watch. 

Edited May 6, 2015 by Andiethewestie

[kayma]

I have been saying for awhile that I think Nastia may have a bigger voting base than many realize.

As disappointed as I've been with Nastia's season (not because of her), I would vote for her if I weren't loving Rumer. I really liked Nastia in the Olympics, and I have a lot of residual goodwill toward her. I'm sure there are a lot who feel the same way. The clips of her refusing to answer questions and not saying things when she's frustrated endears her to me even more.

 

I do think this elimination episode clearly showed that Riker is in 4th currently. He's the only one that I actually see TPTB playing games with, and I can't disagree that he deserves the finale more than Noah based on dance ability. 

 

Rumer may get some fans of her parents voting, but I think she's still got an uphill climb to overcome the affection people have for Nastia and Noah. I wouldn't be surprised to see Noah end up second based on voting.

[majormama]

The wall dance was awful.  What was up with the borderline abusive behavior?

 

 

I thought the same thing. I wondered if it was supposed to be about domestic violence and kept waiting for the women to triumph over their abusers, but that moment never came. My kids picked up on it, too. The 5yo wanted to know why those men were hurting those women. Um, they aren't really hurting them, it's just the story they're telling. "Well, it's not a nice story," he said. 

 

SM is full of claims that Travis Wall's dance was showing domestic violence. It's been my lifelong perception that dance is metaphorical - I saw the revelation of emotion, NOT abuse.  Unfortunately, dance in the eye of tv, often relies on vignette (I blame Nappytabs <G>), but that does not mean that a dancer violently throwing another dancer into the air is a one-to-one demonstration of violence. Sometimes the dancer is manifesting something else, like emotional frustration.

 

 

 

If the dance was meant to be more metaphorical and about controlling your emotions rather than controlling your women, they did a poor job making that clear.

[Primetimer]

The separate results shows are back for some unknown reasons. How much of it is unmissable?

Read the story

[jjjmoss]

Hmm, the ratings are noticeably meh, but they're also visibly denting The Voice, so.

[janerazor]

Every season, when the cast is announced, people complain and say the stars are hardly stars and will be boring to watch. I always pooh-pooh them because someone always ends up winning me over. Usually a couple of the stars, actually. But this has been a rough season, that's for sure.

 

Robert was adorable, so I was sorry to see him go. I don't know if the showmance was real. I sort of got the feeling from his facial expression when he was eliminated that it wasn't, like "Oh, this is done, so I should fly off in my private jet now, thanks for the dances, Kym."

 

Rumer seemed better in her encore than when she did the piece for-reals.

 

I didn't care for that wall dance. I mean, it was interesting and all, but it's not the kind of thing I really want to see when I tune into DWTS. I kind of hate that they seem to be going in that direction.

 

Loved Dance Center. In fact, I found I had really missed the traditional big ol' cheesy results show. I realize that due to ratings, they can't have them every week, but a few more sprinkled in the season would be more than welcome.

[Serendi]

Just watched the wall dance. I just don't see the domestic violence angle - it seems like one of these uber-intense contemporary dances with lots of posturing. I thought it was well done, though I'm not into contemporary enough to watch it again.

 

ETA: Oh, yeah, looooved seeing Dance Center again. Keep it around, show!

Edited May 6, 2015 by Serendi

[Pattycake2]

Haven't all the contestants had an "I'm frustrated/mad/upset" package throughtout the season?  It was just time for Nastia and I saw normal frustration.  No big deal. My niece was a gymnast.  Pretty good, too, until she had a fracture.  Then she went into a top high school dance team.  They won Nationals several times and she became Dance Captain. She had no additional dance training.  FYI, she won many a club "best booty dancing" competition in her early 20's, too. LOL

 

I was not sorry to see Willow go.  Kept expecting to see Mark choreograph a Dancing Teletubbies number next (no gay purple one, of course).  Glad to have been spared from that!

[Steph619]

I thought that the show would've put Nastia in a fake bottom two just to create some drama and make it seem that her rehearsal package cost her some votes, but I'm glad they didn't. It wouldn't have been believable at all because as others have mentioned, she probably has a huge fanbase from people that have followed her since her gymnastics days.

I think that Robert and Chris were the right choices to get eliminated. If Noah has made it this far, he could possibly sneak into the finale over Riker who I suspect is not getting as much votes as the rest.

[katha]

Nastia  isn't my cup of tea, but I don't think it has been just this week with a less than favourable wind blowing their way. Some of their packages didn't paint Derek's double duty in such a great light IMO, the judges to me have been getting into her "lack of emotion" in ways that skated borderline on saying something is wrong with her as a person and this week's package was basically the producers getting back at her for not giving them what they want. At least it reads that way to me. Don't know. And now she has to deal with Derek's injury situation and the set-up with Sasha. I know she's highly skilled and if anyone can deal with all of this it's her, but at this point I feel bad for her.

[Danseur]

I actually had the same thought about Nastia's Dance Center spot being a spoof when I first saw it. That's what those guys do and I have always laughed. After reading the comments here, I think it probably was meant to be funny and I can see the humor in it. In context with everything that happened on both nights, I don't think Nastia would have felt good about it.

They made positive comments about all the other Pros in the DC segments, but in hers they didn't. Len offered up two obligatory words about her dancing. In the end, it felt like an overall negative edit, especially when comparing it to how Rumer was represented.

Include me in with all who couldn't appreciate the Travis Wall dance. I do appreciate what those dancers can make their bodies do.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

 

I really liked Nastia in the Olympics, and I have a lot of residual goodwill toward her. I'm sure there are a lot who feel the same way. The clips of her refusing to answer questions and not saying things when she's frustrated endears her to me even more.

One thing I haven't seen addressed is that Nastia and her family are from Russia AND her parents were gymnasts. My kids were both competitive gymnasts for years and the majority of Russian coaches we encountered over that time were stoics. They didn't complain, they didn't scream, they just worked like beasts and they were harder on themselves than others would be. So perhaps it's a bit of a cultural thing. And as for the dance connection - Nastia has also had extensive ballet training as part of her gymnastics training - but it's certainly not the same as ballroom. 

[iMonrey]

 

Her personality is actually what I expected Meryl would be like before Season 18 started. I think it is just that years of elite athlete training turns you into a bit of a robot in interviews.

 

I think it's more the case that when someone begins training for a competitive sport at a very early age, their whole life is consumed by school and training, and their social skills end up lacking. 

 

I was disappointed Noah was saved. Granted, Chris and Robert both needed to go but I still believe very strongly that Noah deserved to go more. It's not as if he's ever going to be able to do any more than he's doing right now. That may be enough for some but I feel like it's unfair to the other stars. Rumer, Nastia and Riker are dancing their butts off while Noah stands there and gets all the votes because the audience feels bad for him or feels compelled to encourage him or admire his bravery or whatever. It's kind of like if they put Anne Frank on the show - who could stand a chance against that? Who's not going to vote for her no matter what she does or doesn't do?

 

The parts of the results show I miss are the backstage stuff and the sound bites we hear from the dancers just before they're going on, which we don't hear during performance night. I don't miss all the filler and production numbers and kiddie dancers.

[Kerri Johnson]

I really hope they don't bring back Tuesday night elimination. That makes DWTS 3 hours a week. I was thrilled when they started to combine everything into one night.

 

This episode just proved why they did that. It was a whole lot of rehashing going on.

 

Allison was great in contemporary. She should honestly stick to her lane.

 

Nastia whining to Derek about the package was annoying. Suck it up. There was no reason for you to blow up on the producer. Of course they're going to ask annoying questions. The footage YOU gave them was gold. Sorry Nastia but if you thought coming on this season was going to help change your image, it didn't. It just showed you as boring and plain.

[Barbara Manatee]

I was disappointed Noah was saved. Granted, Chris and Robert both needed to go but I still believe very strongly that Noah deserved to go more. It's not as if he's ever going to be able to do any more than he's doing right now. That may be enough for some but I feel like it's unfair to the other stars. Rumer, Nastia and Riker are dancing their butts off while Noah stands there and gets all the votes because the audience feels bad for him or feels compelled to encourage him or admire his bravery or whatever. It's kind of like if they put Anne Frank on the show - who could stand a chance against that? Who's not going to vote for her no matter what she does or doesn't do?

 

I've voted for Noah now and then when I've liked his dancing (and it is dancing, not standing still) or admired Sharna's choreography. No pity involved, I was just entertained. But if people are voting for him because they think he's admirable in some way, so what? How is that any more unfair than voting for stars because you like their tv show or love their pro partner or are swooning over their showmance?

[skittl3862]

Yeah, but did anyone make anything of the Val/Rumer package from last week?  Was anyone calling Val an ass?  I don't think so.

 

Actually, plenty of people were, if you look back in the thread from that week. A few even implied that he routinely abuses his partners, pulled from some quote of Maks about Meryl being bruised after the switch-up week.

 

And while on a major snarkfest, gymnats used to have musicality. It's a shame that there are generations now that have no idea that floor exercise used to be about grace and dance and music.  Now it's just a pounding rythme that girls bounce around to, but it used to be an art form.  Oksana Omelianchick is a great example for those who don't know her infamous bird music.  I'm sad that a sport I trained in and coached and loved is now unwatchable.

 

Blame American elite gymnastics, where the ideal is now short, stocky girls who build up muscle to do big tricks. Someone linked to that video of Oksana's floor routine and she was 4'7" and 66 pounds. That's about 25-30 lbs less than the American team members in 2014. The Chinese still appreciate the grace and dance of the routines, but unfortunately their sketchy practices about ages overshadow appreciation of their team's abilities. To bring this back around to topic, Nastia's mother was a rhythmic gymnast, which is all about dance and musicality. With that background, Nastia is probably more experienced with musicality in her routines than the American gymnasts others are using as examples. 

[realdancemom]

I'm happy with the results.  I hope Nastia, Riker, and Rumer are in the finals because they are the best dancers left.  However, if Noah is in the finals, then that's just how it goes.  DWTS has always been a popularity contest.

 

I didn't tihnk Nastia came off badly in her package. I thought the same thing with everyone's packages like Noah and Rumer.  Chris and Witney had one earlier too.  These pros and stars are dancing for long hours.  They are going to be tired and frustrated if they don't get the steps right away.  So I think it's just natural if they argue a little.  I know that they will make up later even if it's not shown.  The only packages that I remember feeling uncomfortable with were Maks and Hope's packages.  Those two were toxic together.

 

ETA - There's been talk about gymnasts' musicality.  I don't think that's Nastia's problem just like it wasn't a problem for Shawn.  She had a connection/chemistry problem with her partner.  I think she's gotten better with that.

 

As for Val, he is an aggressive dancer.  I was worried that his rumba with Rumer would be too aggressive since that's how he dances with other pros.  So I can see how he unintentionally injured Rumer last week.  But Rumer and Val's rumba was my favorite dance on Monday and it wasn't too aggressive. 

Edited May 6, 2015 by realdancemom

[Woodrose]

I definitely was not a fan of Travis's Wall dance -- too violent, as if it was a domestic violence dance or a gang warfare beatdown. Ugh. I'd much rather see our pros do a special waltz or tango.  

 

Same for Maddy Zeigler -- leave that kid on the horrid show she stars on, and let our pros dance with the music guests.

 

Erin's outfit looked fine at first glance; but then she twirled the long string like a whip, and then I also noticed the black stripes down the inner legs of the pants -- and the black stripes were not of the same length.  Some fashion designer just had to do something different and wacky so we could talk about it.

 

It was definitely time for Robert and Chris to go home.  They both worked hard on the show and tried their best, they should both be proud of how long they lasted. 

 

I won't be too surprised if Noah wins the trophy.  Next couple of weeks will be interesting.

 

I did get the feeling that the producers are on the warpath against Nastia now. Pretty damn rough.  Not what I want to see on my sparkly feel-good silly dance show.

[kitcloudkicker]

Actually, plenty of people were, if you look back in the thread from that week. A few even implied that he routinely abuses his partners, pulled from some quote of Maks about Meryl being bruised after the switch-up week.

 

I said that, in reference to him having a pattern of being really intense. Which I think is true. I think he can get in his own way with it sometimes, if it starts to stress out his celebrity. I did not call him abusive. 

 

People did call Derek abusive, implying that he injures his partners. The only seasons I've watched in real time have been Amy Purdy and admittedly unathletic Bethany, but I haven't seen evidence of this, I thought he was great with them. Amy got injured because of how much core strength it took her to balance and dance, and it threw out her back, and Bethany rolled an ankle early on but otherwise went uninjured. 

 

I do think it's funny though, when it becomes Derek vs Val wars, because I see them as more alike than different, in terms of their flaws. They both seem to be perfectionists. They both occasionally push the star a little too hard. They've both been accused of coming across as arrogant. Most of the time I like them both, because they turn out dances I enjoy, but it feels like more people who hate one should also hate the other. But I guess people like picking "sides," and that doesn't fit the Montague/Capulet - Hough/Chmerkovskiy narrative. 

Edited May 6, 2015 by kitcloudkicker

[Serendi]

the Montague/Capulet - Hough/Chmerkovskiy narrative. 

 

You calling Val Juliet? Or maybe Maks??

 

;-)

[kitcloudkicker]

You calling Val Juliet? Or maybe Maks??

 

;-)

 

I'm torn! They'd both be such pretty Juliets. If Val is Juliet, Maks gets to be Tybalt, and Julianne and Mark can be Benvolio and Mercutio. :P

[Padma]

I'm not anti-Derek, but I thought he was waaaayyy too demanding of Jennifer Gray and very likely (imo) his coaching played a part in her need for (neck?) surgery after the show.  There's a fine line between pushing someone to do their best... and pushing them to take physical risks in the hope of winning. The second attitude comes with many "winning coach-types" including in fields like gymnastics (think: Bela Karoly) but it's not something that I personally believe in. I think Derek does.

 

As for Nastia, I feel bad for her. I think she's been getting less-than-stellar edits to-date (ones making her seem cool and kind of unrelatable), but she's certainly pretty and very, very good at dancing.  I didn't blame her at all for (1) being too tired at the end of that particular day to have any more left to give--physically or to the intrusive interviewer and (2) not wanting to bare her soul to anyone when she was already tired. Some people have that kind of self-discipline and I respect it. I don't think the DWTS producers do, though. It is the opposite of the "raw emotion" they were looking for and she paid for it by being edited to look like a grumpy prima donna.  Not fair, but that's the way these shows are.  Everyone should know by now that it is a risk when you don't "play ball" with the producers.

[truthaboutluv]

I'm not anti-Derek, but I thought he was waaaayyy too demanding of Jennifer Gray and very likely (imo) his coaching played a part in her need for (neck?) surgery after the show.

 

 

I don't think that's fair and accurate. To my recollection, Jennifer had had surgery prior to being on the show and basically had existing issues that yes, got a bit exacerbated because she was willingly competing in a very physically demanding show. It's no different than Amber who already had issues with her knees prior to competing on the show, that naturally was exacerbated because she was asking her body to do a;lot more, in a much shorter time, than usual. Plenty of people have sprained something, gotten bruised, beaten up throughout the competition - not just Derek's partners. It's a very physically demanding show and often times many of these celebrities are not in the greatest shape when they start the competition. But to my knowledge Jennie, Shannon, Lil'Kim, Joanna, Nicole and many of his other celebrities were just fine during their season. 

Edited May 6, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[Wings]

I will not be surprised to see Noah as F2 just like Amy, last season.  There is a huge military pool out there voting for him like crazy. 

 

I chalk this up as entertainment having little to do with dancing ability.  The best or an excellent dancer always wins.  

[Glaadrial]

So perhaps it's a bit of a cultural thing. And as for the dance connection - Nastia has also had extensive ballet training as part of her gymnastics training - but it's certainly not the same as ballroom. 

This is an excellent point. More so when we consider the context of the discussion surrounding Allison as a Pro. Obviously, it's not the same situation but it does serve to highlight the different requirements for success among the different genre of dance.  There's really only so much anyone can do without training in the fundamentals of each genre at an early age.

[mtlchick]

Kenny's pasty chest will never fail to scare me but if that what it takes to get Dance Center back, then I'm all for it. 

[crowceilidh]

Can anybody tell me what the music for the Wall dance (that's funny, did Travis do that on purpose?) was?

[kitcloudkicker]

Can anybody tell me what the music for the Wall dance (that's funny, did Travis do that on purpose?) was?

Seven Nation Army, by the White Stripes

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

I'm a little confused about reactions to the Nastia "edit" last night. I thought the interview with Kenny Mayne was a total spoof

I agree that the DC segment was done more in humor than spite.  I don't believe they had Nastia record special snippets to use for it.  As I wrote, DC was in the can long before the regular packages were edited for the week's rehearsals.  The issue in my opinion is that TPTB then decided to go after Nastia with a truly mean edit.  There was no way to go back and change DC.  So, the effect was one of piling on.  I am pretty sure TPTB were rather pleased with themselves when they realized this was the natural result of their innocent original choice for Nastia's DC vignette.

 

YMMV.

[skittl3862]

I don't know why some think the Hough-Ballas vs. Chmerkovskiy rivalry is somehow an even match, so that it's ok to counter every Derek criticism with "But-but Val!". Julianne won twice, Mark won twice, Derek won 5 times, and they all have received Emmy nominations. In comparison, Maks won once with a ringer in the most orchestrated win of all time, and 2/3 times Val made it to the finals, it was written off as a showmance for votes.

 

The feud is less Capulet and Montague, and more David and Goliath. And if you dare call Goliath huge, people claim that, actually David is pretty tall sometimes too.

 

Did anyone else find the Dance Center clips of Robert and Kym in rehearsal a little much? I don't care if people hook up on the show. I don't care if they want to keep it a secret. Part of me is thinks it's gross that the show went there, complete with "I love you!" subtitles. The other part is like, obviously they know as soon as they walk into that building, they should assume they're on camera, whether the producers are in the room or not, so it's their own damn fault for getting "caught". I just could never get down with the Sharkaroo ship. Robert seemed sleazy and a little desperate. He probably would have hooked up with any female pro he was paired with.

[kitcloudkicker]

Eh, I judge it less by wins, which, maybe I'm alone, don't mean all that much to me. The Mirrorball is a MacGuffin, it sets the plot in motion. I judge it more by featured player status. Which I've seen them get about equal of. If DWTS had a playbill, they'd both be at the top as main cast.

Also, the issue of tempers and who gets a little snappy when they are tired has nothing to do with wins. We can compare everyone on that scale. (Though it'd get real boring.)

Edited May 6, 2015 by kitcloudkicker

[Danseur]

I've seen quite a few of the Pros, be less than kind during a moment of exasperation. Derek definitely has said a number of things that were extremely unkind, the worst to Maria Menounos.

Spending that many hours a day 24/7 would test the best of us. I know I wouldn't want a camera recording every word I said. Derek has remained friends with most of his former partners so they didn't hold it against him. I was very impressed with Amber's heartfelt message to Derek in Season 17 when she said what she appreciated the most about Derek is "your big heart."

When we're looking for them, we will always easily find another person's faults, especially if we don't like them to begin with.

[luvthepros]

Yay, Noah made it!  I can't wait to see what dance he doesn't do next week!

Good one. Could not have said it better. I will #$%& if Noah makes it to Top 3. I much prefer to see good dancing in the finals.

[truthaboutluv]

When we're looking for them, we will always easily find another person's faults, especially if we don't like them to begin with.

 

 

Yeah pretty much.

[Andiethewestie]

I said it when discussing the "all access" cameras, and I stand by it. We really don't need to see rehearsals. Really.  How the contestants get to the final product doesn't really matter, what matters is the dancing and the entertainment value the audience gets in return/ The old adage is if you have a crappy rehearsal you have great dance, and more often than not a terrible rehearsal turns out a beautiful performance. To judge the process does a disservice to  the viewer because we then naturally formulate an opinion of the dancing based on the personality instead of the performance.   Many of us would hate Baryshnikov and maybe not even attend his shows if we knew what really went in the process.  He was arrogant, demanding and relentless and yet he is legendary in the world of dance. A teacher must teach, not coddle or cajole, and it seems people are quick to judge based on hurt feelings and reactions instead of the work.  Maybe some are here for the soap opera romances, some for the stories,  I'm here for the dancing.  If someone is dancing their behind off and is honest about their journey then I'm all for it. I vote based on what moves me.  I've been known to switch loyalties to a pro that I think is doing a better job with a contestant when it is warranted.For me It's all about what is left on the dance floor. 

[luvthepros]

This really is the worst semi-final the show has ever known.  Oh well.

This is not the first time I'm reading this. I just don't get it. We have the three best dancers of the field and one token in the semi finals. I think this is actually one of the best semi finals this show has ever seen. We actually do not have a lock for the win. Any one of the top 3 dancers could win which makes this semi finals quite exciting. It will be a nail biter for me until Noah is eliminated. Then we will have one of the best top 3 dancers in one season in the final.

[Woodrose]

Over the Rainbow, sung by Jewel, danced by Dmitry and Chelsie.  Can't help but share this, it's one of my favorite dances ever on the show:

 

 

I like Josh Groban just fine, but I won't rewatch last night's performance, as I have with the Jewel/Dmitry/Chelsie version.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Woodrose

[smiley13]

This is not the first time I'm reading this. I just don't get it. We have the three best dancers of the field and one token in the semi finals. I think this is actually one of the best semi finals this show has ever seen. We actually do not have a lock for the win. Any one of the top 3 dancers could win which makes this semi finals quite exciting. It will be a nail biter for me until Noah is eliminated. Then we will have one of the best top 3 dancers in one season in the final.

But none of the so-called top three are remotely entertaining or likable to me.  Riker is a liar, Rumer has made some pretty ugly comments about her not having any competition, and Nastia is with Golden Boy.    None of these people are a nice, feel good contestant like last season's top two, Alfonso and Sadie.

 

I would love to see Noah take it all.  At least he is inspirational.