S20.E11: Week 9: Semifinals

[gohawks]

The pimping this year has gone to Derek. Like most years.

Sentimental dance with Len

Derek recovering just in time

Nastia image rehab(set up by last week's "negative" package)

Pimp spot

Check! Check! Check! Check!

I will be done with this show if rat-face wins this year.

Edited May 12, 2015 by gohawks

[tessaforever]

It's hard to tell where all the chips will fall but I think Rumer and Riker are the two most in danger of going home tomorrow. It's too bad, the finals should be Rumer/Riker/Nastia. 

Agreed, one of them should have been able to edge out Noah, but not after that proposal. Super savvy, that one. Third time's a charm!

 

The most random moment on the show was the comment from "Michael Vartan, family friend" during Riker's segment. Uh, what? How do they know each other? Michael Vartan, I wish YOU would be on DWTS!

Edited May 12, 2015 by tessaforever

[TeeMo]

Some have already mentioned it, but I don't think YouTube is the best judge of the season. There are a lot of issues with videos from the show with all the copyright and stuff and it seems like people have navigated elsewhere. As others noted, Facebook may be a better judge and as noted, Noah's Contemporary has something like 50 million likes or views, Nastia's trio Jive has almost 2 million views and a number of likes and there are many other videos in the 500,00)+ in views and likes. Plus ratings is slightly up I believe, this season. 

 

Total viewers are up over Season 19 but the spring season is traditionally higher rated than the fall seasons so the TV ratings tracker sites tend to compare spring seasons to spring seasons and fall seasons to fall seasons for shows that run two cycles per year like DWTS.

 

In that case, we'd be comparing to Season 18 and the ratings are down from that (Season 18 averaged 14.7 million viewers per performance episode, Season 20 is averaging 13.5 million viewers per performance episode). But the demographic share info is actually down this season from Season 19 despite having higher overall viewers (Season 19 averaged 12.76 viewers per performance episode.)

 

For the 18-49 demo the share for the last 4 seasons were:

 

Season 20 - 2.05

Season 19 - 2.13

Season 18 - 2.3

Season 17 - 2.2

[kitcloudkicker]

Mark looked like the leader of the "mean kids gang" in an early 90s rollerblading movie. 

 

I'm going to be really bummed if Rumer, Nastia or Riker (spellcheck hates all those names) go home, but I'm guessing that proposal put Noah in the final. Meh. 

 

Loved the contemporary (great to see Allison shine at what she's good at, and Riker kept up), and Nastia's dances best tonight. I liked Rumer too, though I might be more sick of 50 Shades of Gray than I am of Frozen. She looked gorgeous in the ballet dance. 

 

It was a good night though, entertaining all around. I wish it was Noah's time to go, but I don't see that happening. 

[skittl3862]

 

Dear everyone that's been on the "they're setting it up for Val to win" train: what now?

 

I still haven't come across all this mystery footage Derek fans kept referencing all season that was apparently missing from my broadcast, where the show made a big deal of how it's Val's time and Val's season. Weird.

 

I only saw Nastia's quickstep from the first hour because I was in and out.

 

I like the idea of the judges' choice better than the "judges help" from past seasons. It gets them a little more involved and it's nice to see their actual talents on display. Yeah, it's a freebie since obviously the judges probably weren't going to give each other crappy score, but as a viewer, I prefer seeing a new dance instead of the re-do dance or a relay.

 

I was worried about Bruno's Swan Lake concept, since it's so overdone. I didn't love it. BTW, Val? Nothing is more masculine than Ivan Vasiliev in a pair of tights. Google that. You're welcome, ladies.

 

I spent Noah's dance wishing I could see that concept with a good dancer. Sorry. Meh.

 

Hated that Julianne was featured so prominently in Riker's. I thought the choreography looked sloppy, especially the transitions between the girls.

 

All joking about Derek shoe-horning himself into dances aside, I hope he takes Len's story to heart. Pushing it every week to dance on a broken bone when you're 29 to win a reality show isn't worth it when you're 40 or 50 and can't dance anymore at all. I know people who had that happen. My cousin ruined her right foot by the time she was 30. It's not worth it to push it in the moment if you don't get to do it ever again. *cue "What I Did for Love"*

 

I hope Noah goes home, because he's clearly out of his league, but between the Bush-esque 9/11 shout-outs, the military voting block, and the showmance fans excited about his engagement, I don't see it happening, even with the lowest score. I think Rumer is gone tomorrow.

Edited May 12, 2015 by skittl3862

[tessaforever]

Mark looked like the leader of the "mean kids gang" in an early 90s rollerblading movie. 

I know! I never thought I would say this, but I'll take the porkpie hat over that hair!

[TeeMo]

Is it just me or did Nastia's waltz seem incredibly similar to Bethany's from last season? I know a lot of the dances are pretty redundant but that really stuck out to me. Though I must say that I did love Len's concept for it and found that aspect of it all to be very, very sweet. 

[Saylii]

Agreed, one of them should have been able to edge out Noah, but not after that proposal. Super savvy, that one. Third time's a charm!

 

The most random moment on the show was the comment from "Michael Vartan, family friend" during Riker's segment. Uh, what? How do they know each other? Michael Vartan, I wish YOU would be on DWTS!

NOOOO... I ff'd through Riker's segment because I thought it would be a snoozefest.  Now I missed Michael Vartan?  Damn, DWTS, making it so that I'll be afraid to use the FF button now! (And yes, if they are that close Riker needs to do us all a favor and get him on ASAP.)

 

Google-fu tells me they did some charity event hockey event together in January.

[howmanywords]

I couldnt watch the show in real time since I was out but I checked Twitter to see what was happening and my so much of my feed was filled with people talking about Noah and the proposal.  I had him as an easy 4th place elimination but now I feel certain there will be a shock boot tomorrow.

 

Am I the only one that simply does not get the big deal about Bruce and Demi? I'm old enough to remember them when they were big stars and I know their names are obviously still well known, but technically speaking are they such superstars that using them to pimp Rumer would help any? Or much of a draw for that matter whenever they appear?

[crowceilidh]

Michael Vartan was more random than William Shatner?  They couldn't get a real army captain so they substituted Captain Kirk?  Or the subtext is that Noah "has boldly gone where no man has gone before"?  

[tessaforever]

Michael Vartan was more random than William Shatner?  They couldn't get a real army captain so they substituted Captain Kirk?  Or the subtext is that Noah "has boldly gone where no man has gone before"?  

Yeah, that was pretty random too, but after seeing Shatner do a home renovation show, I'm really not surprised to see him pop up just about anywhere.

[crowceilidh]

Looks to me like Val and Rumer will be the shocking boot tomorrow and it looked to me like Rumer knew it.  I hope it will be Riker, but Julianne has a LOT of super-rabid fans (one of the world's great mysteries - that girl has become tragically ugly due to either her own bad taste or her stylists').  I was so taken up with watching Allison flub and recover the hat that I missed most of Julianne's dancing, but the last thing I saw her dance (my memory is foggy - some group number that was treating her like she was Marilyn Monroe when she was anything but) showed that she had lost a LOT of edge.  I suspect she's better after the touring shows...

[Saylii]

Michael Vartan was more random than William Shatner?  They couldn't get a real army captain so they substituted Captain Kirk?  Or the subtext is that Noah "has boldly gone where no man has gone before"?  

 

 

Yeah, that was pretty random too, but after seeing Shatner do a home renovation show, I'm really not surprised to see him pop up just about anywhere.

Shatner was also rooting hard for Noah on Twitter this season, so I assumed the appearance stemmed from that.

[crowceilidh]

I also thought Noah's gf was introduced as his fiancee in show #2.

[Stitsch]

I was so taken up with watching Allison flub and recover the hat that I missed most of Julianne's dancing, but the last thing I saw her dance (my memory is foggy - some group number that was treating her like she was Marilyn Monroe when she was anything but) showed that she had lost a LOT of edge.  I suspect she's better after the touring shows...

 

It happened last season. She danced with the male pros, and compared to the Julianne of yore, looked pretty rough. It's like she lost whatever spark she had before Chuck happened.

 

I agree about Rumer seeming to know that tomorrow might be her last night. She had a look about her at the end of the show and barely moved to acknowledge any of the other dancers when the hug circle started.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Nastia is with Golden Boy.

Riker is related to Hough of the Corn.

Noah proposing live on the air will save him from elimination tomorrow.

Buh bye Rumer Willis, SMDH.

Edited May 12, 2015 by MrsRafaelBarba

[McManda]

Shatner was also rooting hard for Noah on Twitter this season, so I assumed the appearance stemmed from that.

 

Shatner roots hard for everything on Twitter. He spends more time tweeting that I feel like there are hours in a day. Dude loves his twitter.

[Blue Plastic]

Okay, so why were the men in Noah's dance have curtains stuffed into the backs of their trousers and why were they wearing devil horns on their heads?  Yes, I know they were supposed to be bulls but they looked more like Disney's Maleficent.  With curtains stuffed into the backs of their trousers.

 

And BTW, please make Noah go away.

 

Other than Noah, I thought all the dances were great.

[Toonces464]

I feel like this has happened at least one other season (excluding All-Stars). Season 8 (Gilles, Shawn, Melissa), or Season 10 (Evan Lysacek, Nicole Scherzinger, Erin Andrews), maybe? Or at least that Tom made a note of it.

 

 

It did during the Season 10 semi finals. Tom said each of the four remaining couples had been in the lead at least once and Erin commented about it in one of her video packages.

[Padma]

As if I didn't dislike Noah enough already, tonight clinched it.  He could have been classy and proposed tomorrow, after the voting (if doing it on air at all. I mean, no rush, right? haha).

 

Going now, in the semi-finals, was such an obvious viewer/voting manipulation. Anyone with some class wouldn't have done it, but obviously he doesn't have it. And he'll advance, knocking out someone he knows is more deserving (Rumer or Riker), because of it.

 

Also, could someone please settle the question if his gf was already introduced as his fiancée when she first came on stage with him? That's how I remember it too.

 

I'll stick with The Voice tomorrow night. This show has lost any credibility with Noah on the fast track for at least F2--and probably just enough manipulative tricks to win it.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Padma

[superdeluxe]

Am I the only one that simply does not get the big deal about Bruce and Demi? I'm old enough to remember them when they were big stars and I know their names are obviously still well known, but technically speaking are they such superstars that using them to pimp Rumer would help any? Or much of a draw for that matter whenever they appear?

 

But they are still somewhat A-List and that's what they want.  They want A-Listers in the audience.  Remember when they started pimping Leah Remini because she was bringing Jennifer Lopez along?

[sinkwriter]

One thing I can say I liked about Noah's dance is a moment near the end when the guys stacked up behind him and Noah slowly raised his hand and they all did a move behind him, arcing to the right. That gave me a chill. It looked cool. 

 

But yes, overall, it was a lot of him being moved around. Good concept, but still no dancing going on.

 

*sigh*

 

I still think Noah should go home. And as for his fiancé, I was confused because I too thought she'd already been introduced as his fiancé back at the beginning of the season. I felt the proposal was very interestingly timed. 

 

I loved Rumer and Val's first dance - can't say much about the movie, just not interested, but their dance was definitely sensual and beautiful. And the Swan Lake concept was lovely.

 

I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but I wish we didn't have to sit through an hour of padding in order to find out. I try to watch the entire program, because I want to give everyone a chance and honor the work that goes in, but I may actually end up fast-forwarding a lot tomorrow night. Like I did during Melissa's performance tonight. Just didn't care to see it. Sorry!

[HappyDancex2]

I had to smirk during the recaps when Nastia & Derek clips were Sasha and Len dancing.

If it weren't for the Houghness factor I would say Nastia was going home. But like most I hope it's Noah although I thought Carrie Ann did a nice job on the concept. I especially enjoyed the fan out of the guys behind Noah and Artem with his Artemness chest.

[truthaboutluv]

Is it just me or did Nastia's waltz seem incredibly similar to Bethany's from last season?

 

 

Speaking of Bethany, I thought the staging for Noah's Paso Doble was very similar to Derek and Bethany's Paso last season with the only difference being there was no drum core and the guys were wearing bull head versus the hoodies they wore in Derek and Bethany's dance. 

 

As for Michael Vartan appearance, yeah that was random but no more so than Dan Quayle being in Alfonso's package last season. 

[Woodrose]

Public proposals are pretty common these days.  The Reality TV Generation. Noah is just luckier than most, with the opportunity to do it on live national TV.

 

Would you like to watch Twitch propose to Allison?  It's on youtube:

 

 

Just another reason to be glad the Internet didn't exist when I was young.

 

 

[katha]

Yah. That's reality TV for you. That proposal might have gotten Noah into the finals, even moreso since his scores are practically on par with the others. Tend to agree that Riker or Rumer seem most at risk. Riker had the better, more memorable dances IMO, Rumer was very good, but perhaps not "flashy" enough with such an emotional manipulation hammer going against her. Or it will be Riker's fanbase giving out? I don't think it'll be Nastia, but who even knows at this point?  Perhaps the three best dancers will pull through, I hope so, but it might be difficult. That's just the nature of the show, it's not a dance contest. No matter how irritating that is when you're mostly watching for the dancing.

[Danseur]

As you said, Truth, we pretty much knew the second round of dances would be given tens but I did enjoy them. I agree with so much of what you said.

The Riker/Allison/Julianne dance was good but I didn't love it either. I saw the mistakes Ripley saw and agree that Julianne overstayed her welcome, in spite of the fact that I like watching her dance. Riker is very appealing and I think he's a good dancer but Allison still needs to calm down.

I think both of Rumer's dances were very good but couldn't take my eyes off Val during that first dance. He was magnificent. I never like the stripping and flesh exhibitions but I guess they will keep doing it until the show dies. Bruno's choice was a good one. I was definitely relieved when he didn't join the dance.

Both of Nastia's dances were outstanding in my opinion. The Quickstep with Sasha was full of content and Nastia danced it beautifully. She expressed a lot of joy and I loved the choreography. I'm one of those who wishes they would go back to the original concept and dance more strictly ballroom. I was very moved by the tribute to Len. I'm a Len fan even though I was often mad at him for deducting points for things like "frippery" in one dance and ignoring it altogether in others. I will miss his straightforward speaking and also his appreciation of the rules. As much as Len has picked on Derek, I felt the respect the two of them expressed for one another. Len, by choosing Derek to represent him and Derek, via the words he spoke and his obvious desire to please Len with the choreography. Sniff. I thought I saw tears in Nastia's eyes but will watch again to verify.

I like Noah but agree with those who are frustrated that he will most likely be the reason one of the three best dancers leaves tomorrow. I'm literally praying that I'm wrong. I know people love him and I won't be upset if he wins or is in the final two. There's no question he is a true hero. But I always want the best dancers to be in the finals because I love to see great freestyles. Fifty million views shocks the heck out of me. That has to be a record, at least for a dance video. That fact alone leads me to think he'll be in the finals even though views don't always equal votes.

[Glaadrial]

Did they say something about lifts in Judge's Choice? Ironically, Carrie Ann "Lift Police" Inaba conceived of a Paso where the guy is lifted. 

[Electruck]

Michael Vartan, I wish YOU would be on DWTS!

Seriously!

Twitch (Allison's husband and fellow SYTYCD alum) was in the audience in either week one or two or both. He seems to always sit behind CarrieAnn when he's there.

I'm worried for Rumer. I don't think either routine was a grabber, even though both were really good.

I want them to skip elims this week and have a four-couple finale.

[jhlipton]

Oh so convenient for Derek to be miraculously healed in between the first dance and Len's Farewell.  Oh so convenient that Len was with Derek (and wassername). 

Now I see why Willow had to go -- otherwise there would have 3 women (Willow, Nastia and Rumer) and only one man (Riker), which meant they couldn't have each judge with a star of the opposite gender.  O so very convenient!

 

BTW, Len, would it have killed you to do one half-decent extension?

[babyhouseman]

Shatner was also rooting hard for Noah on Twitter this season, so I assumed the appearance stemmed from that.

Shatner is a good friend of Tom Bergeron's He's chatted on twitter with Mark. He seems to be a DWTS fan.

[MsTree]

If Noah is in the finals after tomorrow night, then this show has officially jumped the shark!

[Sile]

Okay, so why were the men in Noah's dance have curtains stuffed into the backs of their trousers and why were they wearing devil horns on their heads? Yes, I know they were supposed to be bulls but they looked more like Disney's Maleficent. With curtains stuffed into the backs of their trousers.

And BTW, please make Noah go away.

Other than Noah, I thought all the dances were great.

It reminded me of one of Vincent d'Onofrio's scenes in The Cell. I think the one where he's yanking out Jennifer Lopez' intestines with a hurdy gurdy , but it's been a while since I've seen it. (Yes, the movie was just as weird as it sounds.). But before they came down the stairs with the poitiers all I could think of was Maleficient. Edited May 12, 2015 by Sile

[Kerri Johnson]

It comes to that awkward stage of the competition where the judges are required to only give out 10s. Unless someone really screws up, it's 10s until the end.

 

I must say Julianne still has it. I was watching her instead of Allison.

 

The entire Lynch family is unfortunate looking. 

 

Nastia is STILL not over her rude interview last week. Hasn't she had media training before? It's still your fault, girl. You shouldn't have blown up. Get over it.

[NikSac]

I came in part to see if anyone else was as annoyed by Noah's "proposal" as I was. Emotionally manipulative towards the audience is the perfect description. I don't even usually vote, just follow along, but I seriously may cast my vote for anyone BUT Noah if I can figure out how to do it. His story is pretty inspirational and I absolutely admire him for everything he's done, but that proposal was ridiculous.

[howmanywords]

If it weren't for the Houghness factor I would say Nastia was going home. But like most I hope it's Noah although I thought Carrie Ann did a nice job on the concept. I especially enjoyed the fan out of the guys behind Noah and Artem with his Artemness chest.

The  Hough factor didn't stop Derek and Bethany from going home in 4th place last season. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

On the day the all-time entertainment reality show was announced as ending, we got a wonderful taste of what could have been on this one, along with a genuine, heartfelt, farewell.  

 

Bruno's Swan Lake with the unsurpassed score and phenomenal staging, along with a couple who was good enough to even attempt it, moved me very deeply.  THIS is what the show could have been all along!  Of course it would never play at Carnegie Hall or the Royal Ballet.  Yet, it was very powerful of its own accord.  The whole enterprise did honor to that piece and to "the dance."  I now want Rumer to win.

 

I was furious with the costume for Nastia on her QS.  She seemed to be killing it, but there was no possible way to confirm it with that flared hem!  She got her 10s, but maybe lost votes.  I know WE were cheated!  

 

Noah's proposal was also vexing.  If he wanted to do this, it should have been during a results show.  It's beyond time for him to exit.  

 

Riker was fine.  He does not inspire in any way, though.  

 

Boy, did Len's, er I mean, Nastia's segment get to me.  It is so very rare when those putting on a show drop all pretense and artifice and openly pour their hearts out as everyone did for Len.  Nastia danced in a timeless, ethereal, manner befitting Len's wistful remembrance of what was and can never be again.  Wow.  I was a wreck.  That Nastia will garner oodles and boodles of votes due to the emotional transference bothers me not a whit, which is a bit of a shock to myself.  She's well earned a slot in the Finals.

 

Len has earned so much more in his time on DWTS.  Just as AI would never withstand losing Simon, DWTS will not long survive losing Len.  I wish him every happiness as he lives out his days.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Lonesome Rhodes

[anonymiss]

I hate Noah. He feels entitled to your pity and the win, like he legitimately deserves it. He deserves accommodation in life in general but not preferential treatment on an elective dance competition where we are his captive audience. Thank goodness for fast-forwarding.

 

If Val played Christian Grey that awful movie would actually have lived up to the hype. I barely noticed Rumer in that dance because of Val in that role. Her Bruno dance was gorgeous. That's when Bruno's flair for the dramatic was able to shine.

Edited May 12, 2015 by anonymiss

[Rancide]

I don't see the problem with Derek's miraculous recovery.  He did a lot of standing and gentle walking--to the benefit of his partner, I thought.  For once Derek's partner did three times as many steps as Derek instead of the other way around, and since Nastia is actually a good dancer, it worked and gave her more of an opportunity to showcase her dance skills.  I like Derek fine, but on healthy days, he does often seem to struggle to grasp when less is more.  

 

Anyway, the amount of standing around and slow walking Derek did in the waltz is a far cry from the running and leaping the quickstep would have called for.  I don't know which toe Derek broke and how, but when I broke my toe, slow and deliberate movement was very much my friend.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Rancide

[smiley13]

Just another reason to dislike Allison, she is married to some dude who calls himself Twitch??  lol

[LadyMustang65]

Just another reason to dislike Allison, she is married to some dude who calls himself Twitch??  lol

 

Twitch is amazing and sweet and all-around wonderful.  He is seriously entertaining as a dancer and seems like a genuinely nice, decent person.  His real name is Stephen Boss.  Twitch is his stage name, and if you'd ever seen him dance, you'd know it works perfectly.  Guy has ungodly control over his body.  I love Twitch. :)

[NextIteration]

I like the idea of the judges' choice better than the "judges help" from past seasons. It gets them a little more involved and it's nice to see their actual talents on display. Yeah, it's a freebie since obviously the judges probably weren't going to give each other crappy score, but as a viewer, I prefer seeing a new dance instead of the re-do dance or a relay. <snip>

 

All joking about Derek shoe-horning himself into dances aside, I hope he takes Len's story to heart. Pushing it every week to dance on a broken bone when you're 29 to win a reality show isn't worth it when you're 40 or 50 and can't dance anymore at all. I know people who had that happen. My cousin ruined her right foot by the time she was 30. It's not worth it to push it in the moment if you don't get to do it ever again. *cue "What I Did for Love"*

 

I hope Noah goes home, because he's clearly out of his league, but between the Bush-esque 9/11 shout-outs, the military voting block, and the showmance fans excited about his engagement, I don't see it happening, even with the lowest score. 

 

All of this.

 

I also thought Noah's gf was introduced as his fiancee in show #2.

 

Me too!

 

I especially enjoyed the fan out of the guys behind Noah and Artem with his Artemness chest.

 

Indeed. YUMMY!

 

Public proposals are pretty common these days.  The Reality TV Generation. Noah is just luckier than most, with the opportunity to do it on live national TV.

 

Would you like to watch Twitch propose to Allison?  It's on youtube:

 

 

Just another reason to be glad the Internet didn't exist when I was young.

 

Don't agree, that got posted to YouTube, not done on national TV.  But I'm the biggest tWitch and Allison fan on the planet, so there is that.

 

 

couldn't take my eyes off Val during that first dance. He was magnificent.

Both of Nastia's dances were outstanding in my opinion. The Quickstep with Sasha was full of content and Nastia danced it beautifully. She expressed a lot of joy and I loved the choreography.<snip>

 

I was very moved by the tribute to Len. I'm a Len fan even though I was often mad at him for deducting points for things like "frippery" in one dance and ignoring it altogether in others. I will miss his straightforward speaking and also his appreciation of the rules. As much as Len has picked on Derek, I felt the respect the two of them expressed for one another. Len, by choosing Derek to represent him and Derek, via the words he spoke and his obvious desire to please Len with the choreography. Sniff. I thought I saw tears in Nastia's eyes but will watch again to verify.

 

All of this too!

 

If Noah is in the finals after tomorrow night, then this show has officially jumped the shark!

 

That happened a long time ago.

 

I rewound and re-watched three dances, Riker's contemporary, Nastia's quickstep and the Len piece; the last being the only one that made me tear up.  Good bye you cranky old fella, I sort of love you and you taught me a lot about ballroom dancing over the years!

 

The Swan Lake thing was hideous and insulting to me but so Bruno, I could barely watch it through covered eyes.  I actually might have appreciated it more if Bruno had been in it - because then the over-the-top awfulness of it would have made more sense to me, for me that was a big ole pile of "just no, don't even try to do this".  I was also not a big fan at all of CAI's Paso, which was probably more a matter of my dislike of baloney viewer emotional manipulation; the troupe "boys" looked yummy though.

 

I don't vote so I don't get a say in any of this, I gave up voting years ago because it made the inevitable loss of someone that I loved or the win of someone I couldn't really stomach anymore (Noah) harder to take.

Edited May 12, 2015 by NextIteration

[OakGoblinFly]

Which version of reality did I land in?  How does Noah score only two points lower than Rumer?

 

I just can't anymore with the judges or the scores - I don't care that they are only scoring the contestants against themselves, on the score board there is no "weighted" score and the judges pandering/codding of Noah means we may lose Rumer.

 

If the judges were going to give perfect scores across the board for the second round .... why bother giving scores.  Just performance the dance and let the votes fall where they may.  I guess by giving everyone a perfect score, the gap between the contestants becomes smaller.

 

That being said, having Julianne dance with Allison really showcased Allison's shortcomings as a ballroom dancer and makes me wish that Riker was given a ballroom trained pro.

 

I thought Carrie Ann was condescending and downright insulting when talking about Noah (and of course she picked Noah).

 

Bruno, you mad crazy Italian, the concept/routine you created for Rumer and Val was genius.  I liked that your idea of "contemporary" fused lyrical movements with ballroom.

 

I will admit it, I did get a little misty eyed when Len danced with Nastia.  I thought it was a beautiful moment; Nastia looked gorgeous, so light and flowly, very elegant and Derek was quite dapper - - she had a fantastic night.  I liked her Quickstep routine with Sasha - that seemed very fast yet controlled (something I wish Allison could do with Riker).

 

In my eyes, Rumer and Nastia should have been tied, both receiving perfect scores with Riker just a point or two behind (he was very good) with Noah a distant, distant fourth.

[OakGoblinFly]

Noah/Sharna.  No words for this.  Mr. Burg, who could barely care less, said that this guy shouldn't still be here , since he cannot do the dances.  Add the manipulative on-air proposal, and the cynic in me is over it.

 

 

I thought that it was odd that he "proposed" on-air considering Noah's referred to his fiancée before.  I never warmed up to Noah;  he comes across as a cold fish and a wee bit arrogant, so was this "proposal" a vote grab?

[mstar1125]

Either Riker or Rumer are done for, and that's too bad. I think Riker is a decent dancer, and I think it was telling when Len said during the judging of his first dance that it would be a shame if he didn't make the finals. That suggests to me that Riker isn't pulling in the audience votes. I couldn't take my eyes off of Julianne during his second dance, which only served to highlight what a superior dancer she is to Allison. 

 

I didn't "get" the Swan Lake dance and I thought Rumer was too stiff for a VW during her first dance. It's as if her limbs had no fluidity last night. I could easily have called this her worst week - I've liked everything else she's done much better, even her Bootylicious dance. I've never really looked at them all at the same time before, but wow, did those Willis sisters all inherit their dad's face shape or what?  Definitely no denying that he is their father, although when I look at pictures of Demi she also has a strong rounded jaw (her high cheekbones de-emphasize it). I think they are all pretty girls, but they certainly don't fit the conventional mold of what society considers beautiful, and it's sad they've had to struggle with that so publicly. 

 

Meh on Nastia/Derek/Sasha/Len. Len is a class act, I will be sorry to see him go. Unfortunate that his last dance had to be with Nastia. Would have liked to see him with a more mature/classic ballroom dancer like Katherine Jenkins. 

 

The less said about Noah, the better. I like him - I thank him for his service and how much he has sacrificed for this country, I wish he and his future wife well, yadda, yadda, yadda. I like Sharna - I think she does great choreography and would like to see her with a competitor with whom she can really pull out all the stops next season. But they don't deserve to be in the finals, not over the other 3 who can actually dance. 

[Primetimer]

The judges each get to choose a dance style and concept for one couple, with heartwarming results.

Read the story

[Wings]

I just started watching now.  A proposal.  Oh good grief.  He wants to win that badly, eh?  Shameful.  

[majormama]

I have no desire to read, see, or have anything to do with Fifty Shades of Gray. I think Viennese Waltz is beautiful except for that one move where the man grabs the woman by the neck and swings her around. It always looks like he's choking her and takes me right out of the beauty. But in this case, it fit the theme.

 

I went back and watched Noah's week 2 package, and he referred to Jamie as his girlfriend throughout, never fiancee. Don't really feel the need to go back through all the rest of the weeks to see if that changed, but I'd guess the proposal was at least not a re-do for the sake of TV, even if it was manipulatively timed.

 

("My kids are hilarious" alert you can feel free to scroll past) My kids couldn't figure out where Derek was during Nastia's dance. He *always* puts himself somewhere in the background, so they were totally distracted. "Where's Derek? Is he the drum player? No, maybe the horn player? He must be there! Where's Derek?!? WE CAN'T FIND DEREK!" So even NOT there he was a distraction in our house.

[jennifer6973]

If it helps your kids, Derek was in the proposal scene.

[tessaforever]

There was so much going on in this episode, I should have been taking notes. My other LOL moment (besides Michael Vartan and David Cook's magic rainbows) was when Bruno led Val and Rumer outside his trailer to plan the judges' choice dance. His patio furniture is the same as mine, from Target! It was so funny to see them sitting on it! (Note to Bruno: I have some cheery throw pillows on mine which help liven up the beige-yness. You're welcome!)

Edited May 12, 2015 by tessaforever