S18.E03: The Most Memorable Year of Their Lives

[formerlyfreedom]

Another elimination occurs after the third week of performances, and Robin Roberts serves as a guest judge. The theme for the dances is "The Most Memorable Year of Their Life.

Airdate: March 31, 2014

[crowceilidh]

Tom talking about a show airing later tonight "on this nightwork, or why would I bother mentioning it?"

Also, the ad for the switch up came with an interesting commentary in my head. It sure hasn't been going over the way they want it to, has it?

[Buggin]

Not surprised to see BDW drop out. Would have liked to see Diana get one more week since she was so joyful about the whole experience.

Loved Meryl and Maks' dance. I also really enjoy Val's contemporary choreography and even though I haven't been crazy about him and Danica so far, I liked their dance a lot. 

Charlie makes me smile. I thought his dance was so great! I hope he is in the finals.

I really like Emma and hope she doesn't get the Tristan treatment as a pro...first time out going a little further than expected with the middle-aged celeb, then stuck on Grandma/Grandpa duty the rest of the seasons.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Buggin

[Princess Sparkle]

I feel like I was watching different dances than the judges. I just can't reconcile that James, Cody and Charlie ended up with the same scores. I actually thought everyone was scored very generously, except for Charlie and Drew.

I knew we'd be getting the first 10 of the season tonight, because of the way they were throwing 9s out like candy at the beginning of the episode, but I didn't think Meryl necessarily deserved one point off a perfect score. Something about her leaves me cold - it looks like she's thinking about every step when she's dancing and never loses herself in the dance. It doesn't look natural to me. Whereas I think Charlie has personality to spare - he seems like the more natural and personable of the two.

I won't lie, I absolutely teared up at Amy's dance. And it's shallow, but I thoroughly enjoyed shirtless Tony.

I had the feeling Billy Dee might remove himself from the competition; he looked like he was in pain last week. It did seem like he had a very nice partnership with Emma - she's impressed me the past two seasons; I hope she gets a contendor next season.

I do have to say, I wish I could see Mark dance jive full out - that's his specialty, right? I can tell he's holding back for Candice's sake, but I'd love to see him dance full out with another pro - maybe Karina?

Edited April 1, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[Bavct]

Did I miss them saying there would be no elimination because of BDW?  Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but it seemed like they were saying he couldn't dance for just this week but I guess not.  I wish him well, he is a charming gentleman.

I have to say it - I hate weep week and I'm glad it's over. 

I've never been a fan of Maks but you can actually see his ego getting bigger this week (yes, it really is possible).  That's a crash and burn waiting to happen.

I loved Drew's story as well as Candace and Danica's stories.   Amy of course made me cry because I just can't even imagine having that kind of strength. 

Everyone else was just meh - except for Cody dancing to his own song.  Sit down and shut up.

Hey IIC - get the feeling your cast is not fond of your guts for this stupid switch?  It was subtle, but I think if you are breathing, you might have caught the heat from the thousand suns that they hate it with. 

[smiley13]

When and how will they announce the pairings for the switch off if the voting continues through tonight?

[TheAnglican]

A few thoughts:

I am evil and clearly going to hell, but it's very convenient that Amy can just switch out her feet to have nice pointy toes for Contemporary.  I still hate Derek and he even threw in the frakkin bicycling feet move.  I'd like her with anyone but him.  

I thought that Charlie and Drew were underscored too.  (loved Charlie's Pharrell hat at the beginning of his dance.) Threw them both some votes even though I've not bothered to vote for a while.  Oh, and I was shocked that Len did not call Charlie and Sharna out for "messin' about" at the beginning.  

Candace's jive was underwhelming for the pimp spot.  

[spanana]

So if they announced that everyone is returning to their partners the following week, why are we voting?  Why are fanbases taking it so serously?  Derek isn't keeping Meryl.  Does Maks think Derek is going to kidnap her?

If Maks can't find a way to win this season, it's never happening.   That's for sure.  

It was definitely Danica's best dance to date.  I'm not sure I'll remember it tomorrow, but she's clearly one of the top dancers skillwise.  I would like to see her bring what she brought this week in an actual ballroom dance though. 

If we have to pick between Cody and James then I choose James.  Peta aside, I see James improving.  I don't know if his jive deserved 9's, but I liked it.  Cody's dance on the other hand I thought was sloppy as hell and not one person called him out on it at all.  No, just no. 

Candace isn't that great of a dancer when you take her away from contemporary, but I see Mark is going to push the "she's never taken a dance class" angle hard.  Which likely will work somewhat in this group considering the extensive experience of some of her competitors.  What she seems to lack is natural grace and she is very awkward at times.  Though she goes for it and I like her attitude about it, plus she whipped out Aunt Becky and Kimmie Gibbler.   But I feel like she might be our our improvement art contestent this season.

[gryphon]

Tonight the music seemed especially bad...I wish they would've done the songs as big band instrumentals.

10's on week 3?  I really like to see stars improve and learn throughout the season...where do you go from 10?  Not a fan.

[spanana]

I'm not a fan of 10's on week three except that when you give James straight 9's and Cody almost all 9's, there was really nowhere else to go for Meryl.  Because Meryl should not have been getting the same score as them for sure.

[truthaboutluv]

So, I guess the DWTS crowd has already officially jumped ship to the new board. Okay, I can live with that. So just going to c/p my post from TWOP.

Don't have a lot of thoughts because as usual I was doing other stuff and plan to catch up with the DVR. Just a few quick observations.

Mark is slipping with Candace's technique. There is potential with her, a lot actually but he's not working enough on helping her master the technique and it's starting to show and her scores are reflecting it. After a great debut she is quickly slipping down the ranks.

I continue to not care about Cody Simpson and think he was ridiculously overscored. Meryl is a beautiful dancer but something about her and Maks just don't work for me. I don't know if it's his choreography, their chemistry or just my general annoyance with Maks but something just isn't working for me.

I don't know what Carrie Ann was blabbering about with Charlie as I thought that was an amazing jive and possibly the best male celebrity jive ever. The celebrity males tend to be very weak with this dance and Charlie was on point and sold the hell out of the number. Danica and Val were gorgeous and Amy and Derek were just breathtaking. I really love the latter's partnership and am super nervous for Amy with whoever she will get in this switch up mess.

If Maks can't find a way to win this season, it's never happening.   That's for sure.

 

And I can still see him losing. Remember Charlie likely has Meryl's same fanbase and so far, Charlie has been outscoring her. So if they go to the end, I can easily Charlie winning especially depending on which one has the better freestyle. Two, never count out Derek and only Derek somehow still manages to luck out with a celebrity with two prosphetic legs. You can tell that Amy actually is genuinely a good dancer with great rhythm and she has the amazing back story. Would totally not be shocked if they somehow win. 

[RescueMom]

I am evil and clearly going to hell, but it's very convenient that Amy can just switch out her feet to have nice pointy toes for Contemporary.  I still hate Derek and he even threw in the frakkin bicycling feet move.  I'd like her with anyone but him. 

I read (I think it was in Derek's blog) that they knew they needed pointy toe feet for some of the dances or they won't look right, so they found prosthetics that swimmers use, since swimmers need their toes pointed.  Maybe I am going to hell as well, because my first thought was "why would anyone wear prosthetics to swim?"  I guess I don't know why they shouldn't use them if they are out there, it's not like she has a big advantage by using different artificial legs in a dance competetion where everyone else has actual toes that they can point. 

I liked that they didn't try to hide her legs.  But I rolled my eyes at that bicycle move as well.  I hate contemporary.

[00redsvt]

Apparently im just mean because while I like Amy well enough, the judges never really critique her, ever. I know Len made a big show of stating they wouldn't judge her differently, but you can't NOT judge her differently, and that irritates me. And I feel evil because i don't know why that bothers me so much.

I cant stand Cry Week either. No one really, truly deserved their over scoring, but i guess everyone was judged emotionally rather than technically.

[CCee123]

Overall, I really enjoyed this week.  I found Danica's dance really touching, though part of that might have been because I just love that Billy Joel song.  Charlie was joyful, and I thought it was fun to see his girlfriend, Tanith, send daggers Carrie Ann's way.  My favorite was Meryl & Maks.  It was beautiful and Meryl & Maks just have amazing chemistry between them.  Generally I don't agree with 10s in week 3, but with the insane amount of 9s that had already been given out there really wasn't any choice.

[Linderhill]

I said this over on TWOP and I'll repeat it here, I agree with truthaboutluv, I don't care about him at all either, and that was a hip hop routine, not a jazz or jive.  Ugh. 

I couldn't understand some of the scoring at all.  They gave Cody 9's for that awful, sloppy hip hop number, basically the same as the better dancers give or take a point or two?  I don't buy it.  And Candace was just uncomfortable to watch with that awdward dance.  I'm no fan of Mark's but that was bad, no matter what the judges said.  It looked to me like he was dragging the poor girl around during part of the dance.

I also agree with those that can't stand the contemporary and would wish they'd let it go, or at least wait until the later weeks to use it.  I did enjoy Danica's but some of these, way too contrived. 

[WhitneyWhit]

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't see a whole lot of dancing in Amy's dance, I didn't find it very emotionally riveting, either. Then again, I think years and years of sob moments on reality television have hardened me, because I never find the memorable moments episode moving ,except JR Martinez, that had me in tears.

Cody's routine was hip hop, not jazz, and I'm disappointed they didn't call him on that, especially since they had no problem pointing out that Candace's rhumba was more contemporary, he was overscored.

Danica was great, and I don't think Amy's contemporary should have received the same score as her. Danica's contemporary had far more choreography.

I got very nervous when I heard that Nene was dedicating her rhumba to her husband and that a bed was involved, I had no idea where that was headed, but surprise surprise, I liked the dance, and actually liked her tonight.

James continues to be forgettable and Charlie continues to be adorable.

[TheAnglican]

There was entirely too much self-aware hair going on between Witney and Cody.

[crowceilidh]

I like Meryl and Maks as a couple -- much more than I like them as individuals.  As a couple, I like both of them.  I'm not sure that I thought that Meryl's dance was better than Danica's.  I found Danica's far more emotionally engaging.

James' dance was good, but he's just not very attractive to me.  I don't get the he's-so-hot reaction at all.

So here are the next few exits I would like to see: Cody or Candace, James, Drew or Nene.  

The ad for the switch up should have had a Mad-style voice-over: "Ooops, we thought everybody would be all over this on that awesome Twitter thing, but unbelievably they weren't that interested.  The whole idea had more problems than we anticipated.  We should have marketed the launch, but we didn't realize it until all the fan boards started reporting on the problems with the tweeting format, due the fact that we didn't explain the process clearly. It's so obvious that no celeb is willing to appear evil enough to publically ditch their original partner that we've decided to just switch back to the original partner afterwards.  We effed up and now we're trying to fix it by keeping the results secret till next week so you'll have to tune in to see them."

[Serendi]

Really liked about half the dances, liked Billy Dee's exit being classy. What was with Bruno not being able to keep his hands off Robin? 

Before the season started, I wrote down my best guess as to which three would go first, etc. The first three are gone. And I haven't changed my mind about the final three - I think Charlie, Meryl, and Danica. Not that it means anything, I'm usually waaaaay off. After tonight, James has moved up to the upper middle three. Provisionally. I still want to snooze during his backstage video package. 

I'm surprised by Candace not being better; I really liked her first week, thought she had more potential.

Glad they've dropped the idea of people being able to keep the switched partner. 

[Barbara Manatee]

 

Charlie was joyful, and I thought it was fun to see his girlfriend, Tanith, send daggers Carrie Ann's way.  My favorite was Meryl & Maks.

It's also great fun to see the hardcore Charlie/Meryl shippers flip out over him dedicating his dance to his girlfriend. Such delicious outrage!

[spanana]

Meryl has a whole new contingent of fans that ship her with Maks, so Charlie might be relieved about that too.  No, really.  It's a thing.  The main reason I liked Meryl's dance better than Danica's tonight is that I think Meryl is doing an overall better job of connecting with Maks on the dance floor.  Though considering she partner skates for a living, that's not surprising.  Danica was connected to her dance, far better than she has been up until this point, but I'm not 100 percent sure I felt like she was connected to Val.   I realize it wasn't supposed to be a romantic dance as it was about her kid, but I have yet to see Danica and Val spark any connection on the dance floor.  Off the dance floor they are fine and all that.

Also I still say don't count out the fanbases of Cody and James.  At the rate we are going I wouldn't be surprised to see them both sitting in the finals with a couple of better dancers being ousted along the way.  Now that we have the obvious gone in Billy Dee, I'm not really sure what I expect to happen next.  I wouldn't guarantee that those with lower scores have lesser fanbases.  The score differentials aren't that big.

Edited April 1, 2014 by spanana

[Uke]

Hi! I'm the same Uke who just signed up over at TWOP.

This is the one week each season I sooo don't like - someone called it "Weep Week".  Anyways,

James: He did fine, he's improving but four 9s? Way overscored. Didn't care for the choreography.

Nene: Surprised me, she did very well. While Tony is in fine form, I don't think he needed to go shirtless.

BillyDee: I'm glad he decided to drop out rather than wait to be eliminated - a classy route. We've seen too many times stars who are clearly out of their element but fans just keep voting to keep them. He gave it a good try, good for him.

Cody: What was this? Looked more like hip hop than jazz but I guess jazz is so undefined on DWTS that the pro can basically do anything.

Danica: Beautifully choreographed and beautifully danced. The ONLY dance deserving of a 10 tonight. 9-9-9-10 or 9-9-10-10 would have been appropriate. She's had some level of ballroom training but I wondered if she's also had some ballet training.

Drew: Nice. He's improving. Just nothing memorable about his dance.

Meryl: I really thought they'd get called out for that loooong nuzzling pause.  "Everything's easier with Meryl" - no kidding! She's had 17 years of relatable training. Overscored. This looked more like a waltz than a foxtrot. Should have been four 9s.

Amy:  Huge credit for her being able to walk on those "swimmer" feet.  And after the dance, she did walk on them. But during the dance I only saw 3 unassisted steps. Same as weeks 1+2.  She snowboards, she skateboards, she walks on tippy toes, all demonstrating that she does have balance. So why is Derek carrying her and holding her all through her dances?  Derek is always about creating shapes and pretty pictures, but he's not teaching her to dance. (Yes, I do recognize lifts require training and that she's learned to control herself in the lifts.) I look forward to her getting another partner next week and hopefully seeing what she can really do.

Charlie: I liked the entrance and it showed his confidence dancing without his teacher. I just didn't like the choreography - just not as airy and lighthearted as the music calls for.

Candace: After a rather maudlin hour and 45 minutes or so, what a relief to end with a smile. She had fun with it, she got her hips moving. The kicks/flicks could have been a bit sharper but I enjoyed this.

Switch: Sounds like they've already decided this will be just for 1 week and we won't have to do ridiculous twitter voting to get the couples back together again.  Uggg! If they ever say "hashtag" ever again on this show....grrrrr!  They did say that they would combine this week's + next week's scores/votes for elimination after the switch dance. Since all couples will reunited after the switch, I'm assuming the original pro will get eliminated with whichever star gets the boot.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Uke

[Cherry Cola]

My favorite show so far. Meryl and Maks were hot tonight. That was a sexy dance. I loved Charlie's "happy" dance. I love that song anyway. So fun. Candace is gorgeous. It's fun to see that she really is friends with Kimmy Gibler. I liked her jive.

[DanDanNoodles]

Why do they even bother pretending they have a 1-10 scale?  I think there was one single 7 the entire night.  It's ridiculous that James and his flailing arms got the same score as Danica, or whoever else got all nines (it seemed like half the contestants did).  Here's what I think they should do:  the first couple gets 5s across the board no matter what, and the rest are scored relative to them.  At least then the judges might be forced to used the full range of scores for once.

Something odd I noticed today:  Sharna looks much better with no makeup on.  In the practice sessions she's astonishingly beautiful, but when she is actually on stage... well, she's still pretty fucking hot, but the makeup makes her head look too large, or something.

Conversation from our couch during the show:

Me:  "They keep showing Danica's son, but nothing about the father.  He must be out of the picture.  Which means, THERE'S STILL A CHANCE!"
Mrs. DanDanNoodles:  "A chance of what, exactly?"
Me:  "Oh, uh, nothing, dear."

[Woodrose]

cross-posted from TWOP:

Kym in the audience! Would love to see her as a guest judge or maybe in a Macy's Dance. I miss her charming comedic choreography with partners like Jerry Springer.

Tony should dance without his shirt more often.  I expect Nene to be the next star sent home.  She's not that good of a dancer, and reality stars tend to go home after three or four weeks, so it's her time.

No one is looking forward to the switch up. I do believe I could have predicted that. I'm glad they've announced that it's a one-week deal (wish they'd done so earlier), so people can stop worrying about the prospect of favorite couples being broken up for the rest of the season. If Meryl wins the mirror ball, it will be with Maks.  Ditto Charlie/Sharna and Amy/Derek and the rest.

I'm quite pleased with this season's slate of dancers.  Danica, Meryl, Charlie, Amy, James, Cody, Drew, and Candace have all performed dances that I've enjoyed watching, and they all, including Drew, have enough skill to be above trainwreck-level dancers. And they all seem to be nice people and get along and support each other, so all in all a good cast. Once we start eliminating any of the above eight stars, I'll regret having to say good-bye before seeing the full slate of dances from them.

Quite a change from some past seasons with only three good dancers among the celebs, so it really didn't matter too much in what order the others went home.

Emma seemed somber and sad alongside Billy tonight.  I'm sorry to see her leave so early in the season, but I wouldn't want to send any more competent dancers home ahead of Billy.  Better luck next time.

Tom on the judges' table! For once, he was standing as high as his awesomeness warrants, the top cat.

[SnarkyTart]

Re:  Charlie and Sharna's dance.   As soon as Charlie completed his entrance and joined Sharna on the floor, for the first minute or so of them dancing together, I was totally distracted by the appearance of Sharna dancing behind the beat.   Carrie Ann deducted points because, she said, Charlie was ahead of the beat a couple of times.  I don't think so.  I re-watched it and it still looks like Sharna is behind the beat and Charlie's right in time with the music.   

Glad to see Billy Dee withdraw from the show.  He made a graceful exit, and now I don't have to worry about whether or not his sympathy votes would keep him in longer than the more deserving "stars." 

Beyond bizarre judges scoring tonight.  Everybody gets a trophy! 

The fourth judge is almost as pointless as the partner switch-up.

[carlyhope]

I loved Danica and Val's Contemporary. Val is a wonderful choreographer and Danica's spins and the lifts were just wonderful. There was such gentleness in the dance. And I loved how Val was with her son in the introduction clip.

Why is everything Cody does hip hop? It wasn't a bad dance but it was very sloppy. It's like he believes he will get by solely on his charm. Which he doesn't really have that much of. On the other hand Charlie has charm to spare but his dancing leaves me cold too.He is a sweet dude but I just can't get into him or his dancing. He is good but there just seem to be so much messing around and so little actual dancing.  I liked James's Jive more. It was fun and energetic and he is very light oon his feet.

Meryl's voice grates so much. And there is something about their dances that just doesn't click. It's like it is supposed to be beautiful and smooth but something is missing. There was a lot of intensity - about 187% of it from Maks, and it flew beautifully but there was something missing.

Amy's dance was interesting. It is sure challenging to create choreography given her needs and there were some lovely moments but overall it felt a bit like cheating. As Derek was carrying her around for the most part.

Candace is probably having fun but that jive was very slow and it lack energy. there were a few interesting moves but overall it was just a huge bore. Drew's dancing is very careful and he needs to work on posture but there is somewthign really sweet about him. I like their waltz well enough. As I liked Nene and Tony's Rumba. I have no idea who she is but she has the grace Candace lacks, she is pretty bendy and her movements are smooth. Though the size disproportion is a bit

[ari333]

I, too, hate weep week.

Maybe next week or later they'll have to score using two paddles so they can give out 15s heh.

Cody is a colossal twit, imo. Wish Diana could have stayed a week or two more instead of TWIT.

I was ready for James to go because of Peta's beckoning pelvis which threatens to show itself on tv, but he surprised me in a good way sort of. Also, his sob story was endearing without making me actually sob. So there's that.

Dropping out for BDW was best for him, I'm sure; And he got to go on his own terms. I agree, as mentioned, nice gentleman.

I can't warm to Erin especially now that I think the reason they canned Brooke was not because she blew, but because she's 42, not 32. That makes me stabby.

The fourth judge puts more space between the hamsters' scores. Alapaki always explains these stats so well, I won't even try. Where the heck is Alapaki? :) 

[ari333]

It seems unusual to me, or I'm misremembering, for Ballas to pace himself and not go all ablaze firing on all cylinders to try to dance down to his partner and sort of match her a bit. He's normally full out LOOK AT ME! manic regardless of his partner, or rather that's how I think of him. Hey, folks, did you know that Candace has never taken a dance class? Did ya know? Cuz if you didn't, Mark is going to mention it 11-ty 20 times and inscribe it on a blimp that floats around the country. Just so ya know. And are we to infer from Mark's sharing of that nugget that if one has taken a dance class one is going straight to hell in a handcart?

Edited April 1, 2014 by ari333

[RescueMom]

Maybe I'm the sappiest sapper whoever sapped, or maybe it was because I was just in a really good mood yesterday, but I loved just about every minute of last night's show.  I don't mind story week, although I feel like it isn't terribly compelling for the teenage mega-stars and I don't like it as much when the stories are all dramatic and down.  I liked that there were a lot of upbeat dances this season for this theme.  I also thought all of the dances were good, and some were great, especially for week 3.

Amy: To continue the "I'm probably going straight to hell" theme, I get that her dance was dedicated to her dad, but by the end of the package I was wondering if perhaps her mom was out of the picture - I don't think she was mentioned once (apologies if I am mistaken).  Then we find out that mom is there, and it is even her parents' anniversary.  I wish she would have been aknowledged her in the package just a little, something like "both of my parents were great, but I especially want to thank my dad since he gave me the kidney."  I suspect her mom would have given one had she been a match and dad had not, you know?  I agree with the poster above who said the home video of her dancing with her dad on her new legs for the first time was pretty incredible.  It's hard not to be moved by her story and in awe of what she has accomplished.  I thought she did a great job, and I don't care that she wasn't on her feet that much for contemporary.  I suspect you could choreograph a legit contemporary routine where the female partner's feet never touch the floor. Blech, I hate contemporary.

Candace: I felt badly for her having to follow Charie's routine, which was so upbeat and big that it felt like a finale number - oh, but wait, we have one more star left to dance.  I do think expectations were set really high for her after a great first week.  She is good and has a lot of potential but she is going to have to work for this (and she obviously is).  I thought the "DJ and Kimmie Gibbler are still best friends" line was adorable.  I didn't think her costuming really fit the jive, so that was distracting to me.  

Charlie: I think that if you threw the essense of sunshine, puppies, and rainbows into a jug and shook them up, you'd pour out Charlie White.  I loved, loved, loved the opening section of his number.  I thought this was a fabulous routine, and I can't believe they didn't use this as the finale piece.  It was one of my favorite routines of the night.

Cody: I don't think Cody comes across as a snotty, Bieberish kid - he works hard, is respectful to the judges, and seems to be having fun.  He has terrible taste in pants, but I'm a middle-aged woman so his job is to give me a reason to say "why on earth would someone wear that?"  I don't know jazz to save my life, but I thought his routine was fun and energetic.

Danica: I think Val is probably the best contemporary choreographer on the show, and Danica is a really good dancer, so this didn't disappoint.  Except for the fact that it was contemporary.

Drew: I have so much admiration for him recognizing that he wasn't happy with the way he was, and then actually doing something about it.  I loved the little clip he did with Derek as his potential switch partner. 

James: I would never in a million years have believed those childhood pictures were him.  Of all of the stories, his actually touched me the most - being bullied for being heavy as a kid/teen has got to be brutal.  I thought he did a really good job on his jive - that hand-stand leap to the judges' table was amazing.  I think Peta deserves some props for her choreography on that routine.  And while i didn't like the little red bow on her forehead (I found it really distracting), I really do like her haircut.

Meryl: This dance was unlike any foxtrot I have ever seen. Wow.  I think Maks did a great job on the choreography and Meryl danced it perfectly.  Meryl is usually ridiculously poised in her interview sections, so I think my favorite part was her nonstop giggling after their dance while they were showing the slow-mo replay of her SexyMeryl face. 

Nene: I thought Nene looked beautiful - her dress was absolutely perfect, and she really is a gorgeous woman.  And shirtless Tony - wow, who knew? I thought she did a great job on this dance, and I hope Nene sticks around for a while because I think she has a lot of potential.

I was really happy that Billy Dee left as he did.  He obviously wasn't up to the physical demands of the show, and I'd rather see a star like him bow out than try to continue on.  Good for the show for giving him a nice sendoff.

I noticed tonight that the bumpers were really toned down compared to last season - yay!  It was fun to see some actual snippets of fun, energetic dance rather than semi-porn routines. 

[Rogaine2233]

I didn't catch everyone's routine and I tuned in this season mainly to watch Meryl and Charlie, but I caught a few others last night in the process.

Meryl and Charlie are professional athletes who dance on ice for a living. Not surprising that changing the medium to a wood floor just showcases how versatile they are. That's the athleticism. Charlie has his looks and personality going for him as well. It's tougher for Meryl, especially without Charlie as her partner because I think she's inherently very shy. And she does have peripheral vision issues. On the ice, I think Charlie is an expert at working around this, but Maks has not had as many years dealing with it, so we see some hesitation on Meryl's part at times, like when they are not actually hand-in-hand.

I'm no professional, so I can't judge the validity of Charlie and Sharna's timing issues but I was scratching my head over it, for sure. A gold medal Olympian doesn't have timing issues. Period, end of story.

I think Charlie will make it all the way to finals because he has an existing fan base and he is probably picking up new ones because he is so damn cute and personable. Not so much with Meryl and though I think she's really good, this show is not just judged on talent like the Olympics, so I think we will see her go before the end, unfortunately.

[Quickbeam]

I think that if you threw the essence of sunshine, puppies, and rainbows into a jug and shook them up, you'd pour out Charlie White.

 

So true. I don't even like figure skating but I watch ice dancing for Meryl and Charlie. He was delightful last night. 

[pumpkinspice]

Okay- gonna post my thoughts and then go back and enjoy y'all's snark w my morning coffee :)

Peta and James' dance was fun, and I lovethe song, but I just can't root for Peta. She bugs.

Maks and Meryl were sizzling! I mean, they're dance was hot! First time I've really been completely draw to Meryl.

I found that Charlie and Drew couldn't hold my attention. Surprising.

Cody and Witney were cute, but what in the hell was she wearing? That was such an unflattering cut for the shorts, and dot the pros help design their costumes? Way bad judgement, Witney. Also, I admit to thinking that surfboard song was catchy. ::ducks tomatoes::

Candace and Mark disappointed me. Can't believe they saved them for last. That was a weak jive, Candace. I think she can do it, she's just so timid in her movements. C'mon girl, show us what you've got!

Val and Danica. I didn't like the dog, or te fact that se brought her son, who was obviously scared half to death, on stage. Danica is just annoying, IMO. Man, I could watch Val all day. And all night. He's so yummy.

Tony was looking pretty yummy last night as well. My eyes were on him, not NeNe. I told my husband it's so funny when Derek and mark come out shirtless (and I say this as a mark fan) and look like little boys, and when Tony and Maks and Val come out they look like MEN. Mr Pumpkinspice didn't seem to enjoy that comment. Oh well.

Amy. I love Amy. I do. She's beautiful and inspiring and strong and just all around awesome. I liked the dance and loved the song. To my eyes though, she barely moved her legs. I know she was using new feet w pointed toes, but that was their choice. It just seemed like it was a lot of Derek lifting and pulling and placing her. I even feel crummy for having that opinion, sort of. But it's what I saw.

How the hell does the switch up thing work? We don't know who is paired together until they dance next week??

Ps-so long Billy Dee and Emma. You are so gracious, and lovable. I hope Billy Dee feels better soon!

Sorry for all the typos--on my phone at work!

[crowceilidh]

 

I loved the little clip he [Drew] did with Derek as his potential switch partner.

This was one of the areas where I could hear the producer's commentary, viz. "Stop voting for Drew and Derek together; we're going to put it in our ad and then you'll get that we think it's funny and you'll stop voting for them as a couple"...

[anniebell]

Wow, do I hate sob story week.  It just feels like whomever can pull out the most tragic story = more votes.  My ticket to hell firmly in hand, I state the following: of course if Derek's partner isn't a ringer then she must have the most tragic i.e. vote worthy storyline of the season.  How can others compete?  Danica drags her cute son out to the judging for vote and then Drew does the same. 

As to the dancing, I actually enjoyed James' jive more than Charlie's.  The choreography for Charlie was just too much.  I hate all the running around and about.  Just dance on the dance floor already.

In the past, I have found Merly's connection to the dancing lacking but I thought the chemistry with Maks to night was off the charts.  Also Tony & Nene's chemistry is so great.  It's so nice to see Tony so happy and all see Tony's chest.  For the rest, I know little about boy bands, so Cody is a non-factor to me.  And Candace is fading big time.

I am happy that Bill Dee bowed out but am hoping for Emma's sake she has a better partner next time. 

Edited April 1, 2014 by anniebell

[onthebrink03]

Switch: Sounds like they've already decided this will be just for 1 week and we won't have to do ridiculous twitter voting to get the couples back together again.  Uggg! If they ever say "hashtag" ever again on this show....grrrrr!  They did say that they would combine this week's + next week's scores/votes for elimination after the switch dance. Since all couples will reunited after the switch, I'm assuming the original pro will get eliminated with whichever star gets the boot.

I don't see how this is going to work.  Scratch that.  I know how it works but how is it fair?  If they are going to combine votes for the original couple with votes from the switch couple and eliminate the original couple then it's not really a true representation of who the audience wants to go home. Half of the vote total is for a configuration that was different.  Both celebrity and pro will be going home on vote totals not really earned as dancing together the outcome could have been much different.  If the switch couple gets voted off and their respective partners stay and become a new team, that makes sense.  But I don't think that's the way it's going to work. Nor is it anything I want to see happen.  Did anyone really think this through?

I know asking how is it fair is a stupid question for this show (or any reality show really) but it just makes me scratch my head on how they ever thought this was a good idea.  Gimmicks are maddening and manipulative and this one is top of the heap!

[spanana]

Since it was mentioned, Danica got divorced some time in the last couple of years.  My one main beef with Danica is I wish she would cop a little bit to her training.  No, I don't expect her to have flashing lights on her forehead.  But Meryl and Charlie are getting the brunt of the ringer accusations for obvious reasons.  But Danica's mother is a professional dancer who runs a dance school.  In addition to having done ballroom on and off, she's clearly also done quite a bit of ballet.  Which is fine, but the few times I've heard her mention her previous dance experience she downplays it to the point that you would think she's barely taken a dance class before.   But I agree Val is probably the best at choreographing contemporaries on this show and especially in the sense that they are tailored to each of his partners.  He doesn't give us the same bicycle feet crap every time that some of the others do.

In terms of the switch, I don't know if it's fair, but I think they consider it so in the sense that in theory we are supposed to be rooting for the celeb on their own.  Not necessarily the partnership or the pro.  So in this case the celebs scores will follow them around no matter who they dance with, which is a lot of pressure for the pros.  The original pro will have part of their fate out of their hands completely and the new pro will have a lot of pressure to get their new celeb to do a halfway decent job.  That said I think the judges are going to go super easy on them next week. 

I'm not sure that when this show started they realized that the fans in many ways get more invested in their favorite pros than the new celebs season to season. 

Edited April 1, 2014 by spanana

[DianeDobbler]

I loved the beginning of Charlie's jive but once he got to the dance floor, it was clunky. His posture was off, his feet were flat, and he was imprecise and tight at once. Look at that first kick he did - uh oh. James was kind of the same sort of mess. Both of them very energetic, both of them having the two most important attributes for this show - athleticism and rhythm. In past seasons, the the judges haven't given nines this early when the technique is jacked up, and for both of them it was. I can't with the scores this season. Maks and Meryl got three tens for what was pretty much a non-dance. A very pretty one, but a fox trot it was not, plus the pause in the middle went on for half a minute.That's before we factor in that she sat on the floor, too. Come on show.

ETA, spanana, if Meryl and Charlie were actually ringers, Meryl would have been called out for all the posing, pausing and no rise and fall in her foxtrot. Except for the kicks I could see somebody middle-aged getting that choreography. The judges are lowering the bar for her, and she's an Olympic athlete with "dance" actually part of her discipline. Maybe the fans think of her as a ringer, but the judges are being pretty leniant.

There's nobody who got robbed because of the overscoring. Just the 9s and 10s are silly and definitely not warranted. I didn't see any nine and ten performances, not even looking at it generously.

Edited April 1, 2014 by DianeDobbler

[ari333]

Peta's white thigh-highs were very, "Here's my crotch" but that's not new. I did wonder how they stayed up during that dance.

Edited April 1, 2014 by ari333

[OakGoblinFly]

I don’t know what it is about this season, but something feels off.  I find that I’m not enjoying the contestants, the professionals, or the dances very much.  I might hang around another week to see (1) if it improves and (2) what a cluster this partner switch may turn out to be.

The musical choices on this show continue to mystify.

While the dance performed by Meryl and Maks was lovely, with the exception of two circuits around the dance floor there was very, very little actual Foxtrot content. For a Foxtrot, that dance was egregiously over-scored; the scores would have been fine if that dance were a Contemporary.  Meryl lost points with me just for her song choice.

Thus far I have been less than impressed with Sharna’s choreography.  She has a wonderful partner in Charlie White and she wastes his potential and a significant portion of the allotted dance time by having Charlie “mess about” backstage.  While I thought Charlie captured the spirit and general movement of the Jive, I thought he was a little too stiff in the upper body.

I’d much rather watch Candace’s Jive as it was (as Len said) a proper Ballroom Jive.  I did enjoy Candace’s face when she and Mark got through sweeping the floor while she swings through his legs move – she had the most exuberant smile.   I do wish Mark with work with her a bit more on her technique as I think she has the makings of a strong dancer.

Am I terrible person because Danica’s story left me cold?  I did like her dance. 

I really enjoyed Amy’s dance and I didn’t need to hear the intro package to know what that dance was about; the movement told the story (as it should).

[MarkHB]

Charlie and Meryl... Cheryl?  I can't ship them (even if I were ship-prone, which I'm not).  They've been together 17 years; at that point you either know you're soulmates or you're just work buddies, and no number of dances to "The Search Is Over" is going to change it.

I was too old to really watch "Full House," but I did think it's hilarious that Candice is still friends with Kimmie Gibbler's actress.  I'll also note that she didn't mention God or her faith this week; it doesn't bother me one way or the other, but I've seen her get hammered for mentioning it in past weeks so I think she deserves to have it noted when it doesn't come up.

Danica's still my favorite.  I loved her dance, and even when she brought her son out she didn't really force him to look at the cameras or anything... she just held him with his face buried in her shirt because he was upset (quite possibly seeing her with Val made him miss Dad?)  I have a feeling she doesn't play up her training because she feels like a dork and doesn't think it's really helping her now.

[StayClassySD]

Both Meryl and Charlie are in relationships and I dong think her song if choice (John Legends "All of Me") was a subliminal message that she has romantic feelings for him. I do think after 17 years they have a love for each other that comes with growing up and competing together and I think that song can apply to platonic love. At least that's how I took it when she chose that song for their dance.

[fishcakes]

I would like to be a guest judge so that I can subtract one point every time Cody adjusts his wall of hair after dancing.

[ari333]

Regarding Tom's remark about guest judge Robin's entrance, I too could do with a little Chmerkovskiy sandwich. [/hall pass]

Robin is a cancer survivor and an awesome  person, but she is not a freakin judge. Any of us could have had that seat as all that's required to sit there in the guest seat this week is being a huge fan and having watched the show..

Hold a spot for moi on the train to hell. But move over to save me a seat. I have a smokin' voluminous ass.

Holy Mother, who hates The Whitney in wardrobe? Those folks must be vicious. This is not the first time she showed up in some high-waisted fiasco. Holy crap those high mom shorts don't look good even on a stickboy figure, much less a beautiful, hot, feminine shaped woman.

[spanana]

I was too old to really watch "Full House," but I did think it's hilarious that Candice is still friends with Kimmie Gibbler's actress.  I'll also note that she didn't mention God or her faith this week; it doesn't bother me one way or the other, but I've seen her get hammered for mentioning it in past weeks so I think she deserves to have it noted when it doesn't come up.

Danica's still my favorite.  I loved her dance, and even when she brought her son out she didn't really force him to look at the cameras or anything... she just held him with his face buried in her shirt because he was upset (quite possibly seeing her with Val made him miss Dad?)  I have a feeling she doesn't play up her training because she feels like a dork and doesn't think it's really helping her now.

I'd also like to point out that I'm pretty sure Andrea Barber (Kimmie) does not share most of Candace's religious and political views, so say what you want about Candace but she can seemingly continue to carry on friendships with people who don't necessarily share the same belief system as she does.

But while I can understand maybe Danica thinking her background isn't helping her with the ballroom dances, she has to realize that she has ballet training that most of her competitors don't.  Though I also think Val choreographed that routine very carefully so as to give Danica her moments to shine and if you look at him, he wasn't really doing all that much besides lifting her about.   He was being very careful to not distract from her in that routine. 

As for Meryl and Charlie, I didn't necessarily mean that the judges are scoring them as if they are ringers so much as that they are considered the obvious ringers by the media and fans.  For obvious reasons.  Jimmy Fallon and others have made jokes about it in their monologues.   People expect them do to well by virtue of their day jobs.  Danica is more of the undercover ringer since most people wouldn't have a clue about her background since it's not directly out there.

[OakGoblinFly]

A few thoughts:

I am evil and clearly going to hell, but it's very convenient that Amy can just switch out her feet to have nice pointy toes for Contemporary.  I still hate Derek and he even threw in the frakkin bicycling feet move.  I'd like her with anyone but him.  

I thought that Charlie and Drew were underscored too.  (loved Charlie's Pharrell hat at the beginning of his dance.) Threw them both some votes even though I've not bothered to vote for a while.  Oh, and I was shocked that Len did not call Charlie and Sharna out for "messin' about" at the beginning.  

Candace's jive was underwhelming for the pimp spot.  

I don't understand the comment about Amy's feet - if you noticed while she could dance on them (though only whilie supported by Derek) she couldn't really walk on them.  I don't see how those feet (which I believe she mentioned was the first time she was going to use them - perhaps she had them specially made) would have helped Amy in a Cha Cha or Swing.

I too was surprised that Len didn't ding Charlie or James for wasting a good portion of their dance time not dancing

Although Candace's dance was not up to part with Charlie (and it shouldn't as he's a pro and she's not) her dance was filled with lots and lots of actual jive content; I give her props for that.  Mark really does need to work on the basic techniques with Candace, iron out those rough patches so to speak. 

Edited April 1, 2014 by OakGoblinFly

[ari333]

I know Danica looks super young and has a baby face of sorts; but I'm getting a real cougar vibe coming from her for some reason. Not saying it's bad; just sayin'.

What were those spangle-y things on Nene's bare feet? I liked them. TIA

 

Are you guys having issues loading these pages? I keep getting slowy slow loads and a "recover webpage" message. Anyone?

[OakGoblinFly]

Charlie and Meryl... Cheryl?  I can't ship them (even if I were ship-prone, which I'm not).  They've been together 17 years; at that point you either know you're soulmates or you're just work buddies, and no number of dances to "The Search Is Over" is going to change it.

I was too old to really watch "Full House," but I did think it's hilarious that Candice is still friends with Kimmie Gibbler's actress.  I'll also note that she didn't mention God or her faith this week; it doesn't bother me one way or the other, but I've seen her get hammered for mentioning it in past weeks so I think she deserves to have it noted when it doesn't come up.

Danica's still my favorite.  I loved her dance, and even when she brought her son out she didn't really force him to look at the cameras or anything... she just held him with his face buried in her shirt because he was upset (quite possibly seeing her with Val made him miss Dad?)  I have a feeling she doesn't play up her training because she feels like a dork and doesn't think it's really helping her now.

Just before Danica picked up her son, you could see that he was covering his ears; perhaps the noise, the lights, and the situation was overwhelming and Danica, being a good mom, picked up her son and comforted him.

 

I know Danica took ballet as a child, though I thought I read she didn't stick with it for very long and any ballroom training she had was for a role and a specific dance (the tango).  She enjoyed the ballroom so much she takes occasional classes. 

[ari333]

Wow, am I missing something? What with the switch BS, apparently some poor schmuck celeb and their original poor schmuck pro will be sent packing because of the previous dance performed with another person. How is that fair? Not that fair has ever been this show's forte. I love peanut butter with my chocolate, but I hate overwrought drama with my cheese.  BLARG. Get off my lawn. There's applesauce callin' my name. :) 

Both Meryl and Charlie are in relationships and I dong think her song if choice..

 

Hee. Dr. Freud slips in yet again. *snort* That, or it was an innocent typo :)

I would like to be a guest judge so that I can subtract one point every time Cody adjusts his wall of hair after dancing.

Get out of my head, Fishcakes. :)

Edited April 1, 2014 by ari333

[penbrat]

I loved Danica's dance - Val did wonderful choreography and she executed it so nicely.   Her son is adorable and I thought it was a genuine moment when she carried him on stage, just wanting to comfort him.  I didn't think it was preplanned. 

Candace was a disappointment - it was a very boring, mediocre jive.   I thought Maks and Meryl were great, perhaps a bit over scored but I enjoy their partnership.  I hope Maks can keep his lip zipped and just look pretty this season but I am sure he will blow at one point.   I don't care for Nene but thought she actually did pretty well.  And I am all about shirtless Tony.

I am not feeling Amy.  Yes she is an inspiration and her dances have been competent but I just do not feel her for this show.  I think the judges will continue to go easy on her.

Not feeling the switch up either and I still am not understanding how it will work.   Would love it if Derek got Nene but of course he will get Meryl or maybe Danica.

Edited April 1, 2014 by penbrat