S21.E10: Icons Night & Dance Off Challenge

[radishcake]

According to Kym Johnson, the “Icon” dances next week is someone who has inspired the celebrity.

 

The dance styles will include Argentine Tango, Foxtrot, Contemporary, Salsa, Paso Doble and the Viennese Waltz. For the first time this season, the couple with the highest score from their solo dance will be granted immunity from elimination next week and will also receive 3 additional points.

For the first time ever, each of the six couples that do not receive immunity will then be paired up to compete in a head-to-head dance-off to be voted on by America in real-time on www.ABC.com and the three judges. The couple with the majority of the four potential votes from each dance-off will earn an extra 2 points, increasing their overall score. At the end of the night, one couple will face elimination.

 

Here are the Immunity Dance details, straight from ABC, with the intel on what you’re supposed to do:

“For the first time this season, the couple with the highest score from their solo dance will be granted immunity from elimination next week and will also receive 3 additional points. For the first time ever, each of the six couples that do not receive immunity will then be paired up to compete in a head-to-head dance-off to be voted on by America in real-time on www.ABC.com and the three judges. The couple with the majority of the four potential votes from each dance-off will earn an extra 2 points, increasing their overall score.”

 

Here are the songs the seven couples will dance to:

Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough: "Grace Kelly" by MIKA

Alexa PenaVega and Mark Ballas: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay

Carlos PenaVega and Witney Carson: "Valio La Pena" by Marc Anthony

Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess: "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Haley Reinhart

Tamar Braxton and Val Chmerkovskiy: "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga

Andy Grammer and Allison Holker: "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder

Alek Skarlatos and Lindsay Arnold: "Holding Out for a Hero" by Ella Mae Bowen

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8pm on ABC.

[Danseur]

I don't like immunity. It causes fan wars to escalate. Let's say, for example, someone who had low scores last Monday, also received the lowest number of viewer votes and would ordinarily be going home next Monday. Is it possible that he or she might win immunity and not only be saved week 9 but actually avoid elimination two weeks in a row?

I can think of several not-so-pleasant scenarios. Sigh.

I really wish they wouldn't do this, but they can't seem to stop themselves from adding unnecessary little tricks and gimmicks.

[Danseur]

I'm guessing Nick might win immunity just due to the fact that he is dancing Contemporary which the judges don't know how to judge and almost always score high. Someone said he commented in an interview that he has already danced all three styles.

It will definitely be interesting to see who the pair-offs are.

[majormama]

In the past, the highest scoring (non-immune) couple chooses their opponent, the opponent chooses the dance style. It's been said they all kind of work out ahead of time who wants to dance what and make their choices accordingly. 

[TeeMo]

I hope the judges so a better job of hiding their predetermined dance off scores this season than they did last season. Between Erin letting the Nastia immunity cat of of the bag and the super cagey furious whispering at the judges' table during the dance off scoring, this night last season was a farce.

[RemoteControl88]

In the past, the highest scoring (non-immune) couple chooses their opponent, the opponent chooses the dance style. It's been said they all kind of work out ahead of time who wants to dance what and make their choices accordingly. 

 

But now they are factoring fan participation via www.abc.com in real time to included with the judges scores.  They made sure that it's not twitter so I can't be tracked by fans. As always I think they threw this new idea together at the last minute so I'm expecting a cluster. per usual.

[majormama]

I thought the fan participation was to choose the winner of the dance off, not to choose the competitors or dance style.

[luvthepros]

I'm interested to see who they are paired up with for the dance off......

I thought the teams (by the order of their scores) get to choose who they dance off. I remember Val saying he prefers to compete against the best as that is the only way there is competition for him. Am I confused and thinking of another "gimmick"?

[luvthepros]

But now they are factoring fan participation via www.abc.com in real time to included with the judges scores.  ....

The vote will be on the ABC website? Just like we vote every week online? I don't need a twitter or Facebook account to vote for the dance off?

[Danseur]

Uh oh. That's what I was afraid of. I know they want their winner to go on the tour. I so hope they didn't throw this together at the last minute to make sure that happens. I don't like getting into conspiracy theory territory but these little stunts they pull make it hard not to trust anything they do. Have they ever given immunity to a couple for the Semifinals? I can't remember, but it seems so wrong. If it would mean immunity for week 8 only, I would like it a little better. Maybe.

I've assumed Bindi is getting lots of votes because she has had so much positive response from the audience, on social media, video views, etc. It's an interesting question though about the possibility of her being propped up because of fewer votes. It's still a little hard for me to think she isn't getting them, although both Tamar and Nick have far bigger fan bases.

I do wish they would make the dance-off be between equals or as close to equal as possible. I don't think Nick would beat Tamar in a dance off if they dance Samba or Jive. She kills in those dances.

[Packerbrewerbadger]

No way should contemporary be a choice when the judges score determine something!!! ( of course in my opinion contemporary should never be a choice.....) unfair and boo!

Kudos to Haley Reinhart! Loved her on American Idol! ( now there's an example of the judges hosing a contestant! She should have been in the finals instead of that boring very young country girl!)

[Brownie]

Who knows, maybe Carlos is the one getting most of the votes.

[Danseur]

How you guys remember all these details is amazing! Thanks, Andie, for the correction. I forgot Tamar did a Charleston. That was such a great dance.

Derek said in his blog that he and Bindi have only done two of the three dance styles in the dance-off: Cha Cha and Jive. I'm guessing the third style is Samba?

[Andie1]

How you guys remember all these details is amazing! Thanks, Andie, for the correction. I forgot Tamar did a Charleston. That was such a great dance.

Derek said in his blog that he and Bindi have only done two of the three dance styles in the dance-off: Cha Cha and Jive. I'm guessing the third style is Samba?

If it's Samba then only Nick and Tamar have danced it so far.  If it's Foxtrot then all but Bindi have danced it, but she's dancing Foxtrot this week as her main dance.

[radishcake]

I'm locking this thread for now since civil conversation seems to have ceased.

 

ETA: Since we're having some serious issues with our Be Civil policy going forward these threads will be locked prior to air time. 

If you are missing a post that was in there, check General Gabbery as that's where I moved it. If it's missing altogether it's because you were flagrantly violating our sitewide policy and I've deleted your post. 

If you have any questions or problems please PM me or one of the other DWTS mods and we'll be happy to assist you. 

Edited October 31, 2015 by radishcake
adding info re: locking the thread

[mtlchick]

It took 20 years but Nick made me tear up tonight. The dance wasn't the greatest but dammit, I'm happy for the guy.

 

"Nice strategy and yet interesting that you gave into Derek's strength."  I giggle snorted at that.  Well played Julianne.

 

Oh Andy.  You lasted longer than I thought you would.  And you left doing THE WORM.  Which encourages me to post this any chance I get:

Edited November 3, 2015 by mtlchick

[dizzyd]

Nick's dance was definitely the best of the night. I am actually relieved that Andy was eliminated, I was not comfortable watching Allison dance so aggressively every week as far along as she was in her pregnancy, I felt that she was doing damage the kind that you would get from shaking a baby.

[truthaboutluv]

To quote the classic Clueless, Mandy Moore’s choreography for this show is like a Monet. From afar it looks all pretty and awesome with the staging but up close you realize that the Pros really aren’t doing much. And so I will continue my one man crusade demanding the show get rid of her. Or at the least limit how much she does and get an actual ballroom dancer to contribute to Pro numbers. 

 

Carlos/Witney (Salsa) – I didn’t love the choreography. It felt a bit slow and dull to me and like a bunch of lifts was randomly thrown in to compensate for the dullness. Overall it was just okay. I think he should have lost the shirt earlier in the dance. Not because I’m so desperate to see Carlos’ chest but I felt like his hip movement looked a lot better when he was shirtless than with the baggy shirt that almost looked a little too big for him.

 

Alek/Lindsay (Contemporary) – So he was the definition of a forklift in this dance. Dude never pointed a foot, extended an arm and had no lyricism in his movements. I can’t blame him entirely because a lot of that was the choreography but this just felt like watching Alek throw and catch Lindsay for a minute and a half. I thought Julianne was spot on in saying she wanted to see more side by side to really see him dance in the number.

 

Andy/Alison (Viennese Waltz) – Andy was hunched throughout that entire dance and at one point I swear his shoulders were practically up to his neck. This is the second time Alison’s doing a VW this season and even with the criticism the first time, she still choreographed the dance like it was on speed. For such a tender story, I felt the dance was lacking the fluidity and subtle grace. It still felt very rushed at points.

 

Alexa/Mark (Argentine Tango) – I cannot take Mark seriously with that thing on his head. As for the dance itself, well it was kind of a mess. I liked the concept but I don’t think it lent itself well to an Argentine Tango at all and then Alexa went wrong twice and it was so glaringly obvious, it just pulled me out of the dance completely. With Alexa it’s like one week up and one week down.

 

Nick/Sharna (Contemporary) – I liked seeing Sharna saying she agreed with most of the judges’ comments last week. Always nice especially with how quick some are to dismiss their comments at times and declare them unfair or biased, etc. when it's against a celebrity one likes. As for this dance, I liked but didn’t love it. I’m happy for Nick with the new baby and his wife. I like him and he was always my favorite Backstreet Boy but this just didn’t do it for me. But the moment I found out he was doing contemporary, I figured he’d score really high and probably get the immunity. What was with the people backstage with the tissue?

 

Bindi/Derek (Foxtrot) – First off, I love that song and Mika. Seriously, I barely cared about the dance if I could just listen to the song all night and thank goodness the band did bastardize it. But if I must talk about the dance, it was adorable and as a performance I really enjoyed it. As a Foxtrot, I didn’t feel like it had enough for my taste and her frame was definitely not as perfect as it should have been at times. So fair score, except for Carrie Ann’s 10.

 

Tamar/Val (Paso Doble) – So let me get this straight, Tamar’s icon is her sister Toni, you know a singer and yet she dances to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way? WTF – could they not get the rights to Toni’s music? I don’t know, I liked it but I felt like it lacked some of the fire and intensity needed for the Paso which is surprising because if there was one thing I expected Tamar to bring, it was fire and intensity. She had it at times but then sort of lost it and then found it again. So there wasn’t a consistency throughout for me but it was good. 

 

Dance-Offs

 

So this was confusing. First I thought they were leaving the decision up to the viewers but then the judges still voted and their vote is what counted.  So what the hell was the point of the viewers’ vote? I guess it tells you who may be getting more viewer votes. I also didn’t like the addition of them dancing at the same time because I had trouble looking at both pairings.

 

Bindi vs. Carlos – Honestly, they both just redid the Jive they already did so it was like *shrug*. I actually thought Bindi was sharper in her flicks and kicks than Carlos, so overall I would have given it to them but clearly the judges all disagreed. And no surprise the viewers voted for her.

 

Alexa vs. Tamar – This was close until Alexa missed a step and had a slight stumble. I actually thought she and Mark went for more traditional Cha Cha and she looked great. But again the stumble happened so Tamar deserved the win. Not surprising the viewers voted for Alexa.

 

Alek vs. Andy – Frankly they were both mediocre so it’s kind of like trying to pick between bad and worse. I guess Andy sort of had more fun with it but what the hell was up with the random worm dance? And then he went home which honestly, it’s kind of like whatever. He was always just okay and had no shot of winning anyway.

Edited November 3, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[gryphon]

Aw, rats.  I really liked Andy.  He's the one that said, "Dancing is hard." Right?  I'd rather Carlos had gone...he just strikes me as a tool. But, I did like it when he and Val were dancing.  That was great. Love Val's hip action.  

Not sure who my horse is right now...Alek? Nick maybe? I'm not partial to any of the women.  

I had to mute the first number--what song was that  supposed to be? 

Edited November 3, 2015 by gryphon

[smiley13]

Another night of crazy scoring.  I did not think that Nick was that good, then they give him a gender reveal and immunity.  Makes me start thinking conspiracy theories.

 

I also did not care for faker than fake Bindi.  The dance was too busy with all of the extras.

 

Let's go Carlos, Alexa and Alek!  They are the dream final three for me.

[Saylii]

It looked like the viewer votes were the tiebreaker, which keeps them from naming a head judge.  The voting was also super screwed up for me.  I didn't realize you had to click the button a bunch of times to register your vote.  Then it shut off right when the music did, not 30 seconds later.  The only one I actually got to vote for was Andy & Allison.

 

I'd be more annoyed with the Nick stuff, but a) it's not the finals, b) it's shows up Alfonso & Angela's pregnancy announcement, and c) he's probably the highest vote-getter as is.

 

I wasn't too impressed with any of the dances tonight.  Carlos seemed to dance really small.  A lot of times his hands just stopped on their line which took me out of the dance.  I think Alexa would have chosen God as her idol if TPTB let her.  She got about as close as she could as is.  Nick probably did have the best dance out of the night just because it was the cleanest.  Everyone else was pretty boring and I've already forgotten about their dances... not a good sign for the rest of the season.

[McManda]

My favorite part of Nick's dance wasn't the dance or the story or even the gender reveal at the end. It was how Nick reacted to the dance. The guy threw his heart and soul into that dance and yeah, maybe it was a mediocre contemporary (but aren't all DWTS contemporaries?), but what he did tonight is what is missing in someone like Tamar's dancing, IMO. And maybe even Bindi's just because she's on all the time.

 

I have a hard time thinking that Nick is hurting for votes so much that they'd have to shelter him with immunity, though. I think it was just going to be a "whoever of the top three does well enough" wins situation and Nick got lucky with getting an emotional contemporary.

Edited November 3, 2015 by McManda

[Packerbrewerbadger]

"To quote the classic Clueless, Mandy Moore’s choreography is like a Monet. For afar it looks all pretty and awesome with the staging but up close you realize that the Pros really aren’t doing much. And so I will continue my one man crusade demanding the show get rid of her. Or at the least limit how much she does and get an actual ballroom dancer to contribute to Pro numbers. "

Not a one man crusade , I comment every week about getting rid of her and let Louis do it!

Edited November 3, 2015 by Packerbrewerbadger

[McManda]

Not a one man crusade , I comment every week about getting rid of her and let Louis do it!

 

Yeah, definitely not a one man crusade. I'll co-sign.

[Packerbrewerbadger]

Really liked Val and Tamar's cha cha in the dance off , she won 2-1 from the judges but the audience vote lost her the dance? So the audience had more pull the judges??

[mtlchick]

 

To quote the classic Clueless, Mandy Moore’s choreography for this show is like a Monet. From afar it looks all pretty and awesome with the staging but up close you realize that the Pros really aren’t doing much. And so I will continue my one man crusade demanding the show get rid of her.

 

Can we be friends?  For wanting to dump Mandy and quoting Clueless? 

[Artymouse]

Sad to see Andy go, but I loved his WTF danceoff samba. Neither he nor Alek knew what they were doing, so I was glad to see Andy having fun with it. I really think he would've gone further with a pro other than Allison. Watching their Viennese waltz, it just felt like Allison was off, like maybe her center of gravity has changed with the pregnancy. It just looked awkward to me.

Nick and Sharna's dance was really pretty, but I kept forgetting it was contemporary rather than a rumba. I finally decided that barefoot = contemporary. No idea if I'm right.

Tamar was fabulous. I thought her and Val's paso was splendid. And i like Alexa's personality, but her dancing is all over the map. To me, it looked like she messed up several times.

[blackwing]

Either Alek or Carlos can go next week as far as I'm concerned. Ales has peaked, and he's easily the worst one left. Carlos just isn't enjoyable to watch at all. He reeks of desperation. The way he stands there at eliminationwith his praying hands and pleading eyes. Ugh.

Nick and Tamar are my top two

[Uke]

Another Mandy Moore opener.  Blah. Please, let Louis take over.

Carlos:
Not so good.  He really was kinda deadish from the waist down.  I think the shirt came off to try to spice it up. I almost laughed when he ripped off the shirt with such bravado then immediately flubbed the lift - I think Witney saved it (or saved herself from getting hurt). I think he messed up some footwork in the beginning also. Kudos for the overhead lift though.  9s too high. 8-8-8 would have been plenty. (Did Carlos have dark makeup under only his right pec?)

 

Alek:
Very pretty dance.  He's back to looking like the leading man.  Simple choreography - I feel like he's not advancing in difficulty.  A bit of a hiccup on one lift but Alek had hold of her as she came down. (Very different from Witney saving herself.)  Perfect theme for him after coming off a bit pissy in last week's rehearsal package. I think he very effectively reversed any negativity.  The scores were okay.

 

I find it funny both Carlos and Alek did an overhead lift, both very solid without any noticable shaking. Are they answering back to Derek? Or just trying to get the same accolades? Ha!

 

Andy:
Not as smooth as I'd like to see in a Viennese Waltz, but a better choreo job from Allison, well, less jerky anyways.  Posture looked terrible. Not enough in hold.  It looked like Allison screwed up some footwork. A missed handhold. Not good.  Can't really disagree with the scores.

 

Alexa:
Nice to have an AT pro dance (even labeled!) right before Alexa has to do an AT.  She came out with such ferocity that her moves looked a bit safe.  She fumbled a step and it looked like Mark used his leg to put her back in place and then I think she forgot her steps so Mark just waltzed her around for a bit till she recovered.  I'm glad she got one 9 for her improved mindset but the 8s were fair.

 

Nick:
I didn't like the choreo for this. A little to literal.  Nick's dancing was not the least bit smooth - very clunky-looking.  I think all the judges compliments were for the story, not for the dancing.  Erin called immunity for Nick? (Flashback to her calling Nastia immune when Willow hadn't even danced yet.)  Massively overscored. Should have been 8-9-9 or even 8-8-9.

 

Bindi:
A 17 yr girl from Australia chose Grace Kelley as her icon?  Or was it chosen for her?  Just the era Derek seems to love.  What a coincidence.   Anyway, could Bindi have grinned any bigger during that entire dance, even while she was singing along?  It was completely distracting to me. But I'm not interested enough to scroll though the dvr recording to watch again.  If Julianne can't find anything to critique, maybe she's not the ballroom expert we thought. How about the stompiness at the beginning, for starters?  Oh well. Scores. Oh well. I think we've known since week 1 that Bindi is on a fast-track to at least the semi finals.

 

Tamar:
Still the glazed look in her eyes.  Technically, she's very good. I just can't feel her. I didn't see the lift. But there was one moment near the beginning where Val kissed Tamar on the forehead and she appeared to shrink away from it.  I replayed it from youtube a few times - she already had her skirt in hand, she wasn't reaching for anything.  She just recoiled from a kiss on the forehead.  This partnership just doesn't work IMO. Unfortunate. Scoring was ok. The 10 was a little generous.

 

Scoring overall seemed intended to give Nick immunity.

 

Dance-Off:

Interesting that Bindi chose Carlos but once again this all seemed prearranged for both pairing and dance style.  Way to get your preferred dance, eh Derek? (kidding-I do believe it was prearranged.)

 

Bindi/Carlos:
Toss up. I thought they were pretty equal so I voted for Carlos.
Alexa/Tamar:
Tamar seemed to be a little slow getting started while Alexa looked like she was having fun so I voted for Alexa.
Alek/Andy:
I don't think either had anything prepared. (Andy: a flip and the worm?) .The voting window snapped shut as I was reaching for my mouse to click. I don't know what Tom was talking about 30 seconds after the dance ended to vote.

It doesn't seem right that Alexa is only 2 points over Alek and that's only because of the dance-off.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Uke

[superdeluxe]

Nick's immunity was obvious.  First, he gets contemporary with that version of the song from the gum commercial.  Then, reports of his wife being pregnant came out.  That was going to be announced on the show.  But then they had to go the extra mile and reveal the sex of the baby.  It was just too much.  I was rolling my eyes.  I think they're just coming down right now.

[RemoteControl88]

For the record...in the future...I'd rather the couples NOT have to learn 3 dances on top of their main dance.  I think everyone's dance suffers.  I am #team good dancing and all the random stuff TPTB throw into the show that take away from that annoys me.  That said:

 

As I suspected the dance off was random, not clear and added nothing to the show. Here's hoping they NEVER do that again.  

 

I don't think anyone deserved a 10 tonight.  

 

Nick came the closes but I didn't love the dance.  But it was good. TBH Sharna's choreo looked similar to Lindsay's only in that some of the lifts/moves were similar. Also that hopping thing they did reminded me of Derek's choreo with Bindi.  Oh and she threw in that flexed foot thing which I can't stand. I wasn't blown away...but it was nice.  

 

Same with Bindi. I wish there was less floor-ography? But it was a cute dance and she did well. Right up her alley- personality wise.  Refreshing to see her open up a bit in her packages. I felt like I got a glimpse into another side of her.  

 

Same with Tamar.  Her dance was good as well.  It was clean.  Glad TPTB got back to showing folks in rehearsal...rehearsing.  Less drama...more dancing/practice is what I enjoy. I want to see the team interact on a human level.  

 

I enjoyed all 3 of their packages this week and thought Nick, Bindi & Tamar had the strongest dances of the night.  

 

Carlos was kind of messy and the missed lift was obvious to me.  Tonight he was overscored on that salsa. It was sloppy.  I didn't see what the judges saw.  I just wasn't a clean performance.  

 

Same with Alek...the missed lift was glaring.  Alek has stagnated for me. All his dances are starting to look the same.  I'm not seeing growth.  

 

Alexa - was doing good..but then she messed up a few times and it was obvious because she froze and it was written all over her face.

 

Andy - was fun.  I couldn't miss Bruno's comment basically calling out Allison.  Maybe because he was going home the judges felt they could be honest. 

Edited November 3, 2015 by RemoteControl88

[spanana]

I don't want to vote for any of these people.  Can it be a new season already?  The only kind of fun thing is not really knowing who is leaving week to week.  Bindi and Nick are the only ones I feel confident will be in the finals.  But the actual dancing?  It's all so mediocre.

Edited November 3, 2015 by spanana

[Callaphera]

Can they please retire that blue dress that Witney (I always want to put the missing 'h' in there) was wearing for the dance off? I feel like that thing has been around forever. Ooh, you added a butt ruffle to it this time. Butt ruffles don't look good on anyone, except little babies wearing bloomers.

 

ETA: And the dress Bindi was wearing. I swear I've seen that Big Bird skirt a few times now. I'm not saying they shouldn't reuse stuff, because budget, but there should be a shelf life on these things.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Callaphera

[majormama]

Carlos and Alek both had a botched lift and Alexa had at least two missteps. I'm not sure if it was because Bindi was the only one in a skirt, but her lying-on-the-floor-synchronized-leg thing seemed off as well. 

 

I was really enjoying Alexa's dance until her missed step threw her off. Funny that my favorite two of her dances both had her playing the role of a boy (David & Goliath and Breaking Bad).

 

The choice to put the camera practically on the floor and shoot at an upward angle for the dance-offs was terrible. 

 

ETA: And as long as I'm complaining, I hated that lame version of Holding Out For a Hero. That's supposed to be a power balad, not an angsty-emo contemporary. 

Edited November 3, 2015 by majormama

[MsJamieDornan]

Tamar really tried to dig herself out of a hole, didn't she ?

Edited November 3, 2015 by MsJamieDornan

[SophiaPehawkins]

Derek is a talented choreographer and Bindi is a good enough dancer that he doesn't need to add all that useless crap like dancing on the floor. I'm not a fan of Derek, because I think he gets too much overt preferential treatment, but I can acknowledge his talent. I just hate it when he choreographs around a dance. 

 

I liked Tamar/Val and Nick/Sharna. On a side note, it really works in Sharna's favor to be the only red head (besides Anna) female pro. She easily stands out in any and all of the pro dances. 

[Andie1]

Tamar really tried to dig herself out of a hole, didn't she ?

 

Was she in the bottom this week? I figured she'd be toast, nobody wants a strong black woman to hang around. .

[PTVjones]

 

Val:

Still the glazed look in her eyes.  Technically, she's very good. I just can't feel her. I didn't see the lift. But there was one moment near the beginning where Val kissed Tamar on the forehead and she appeared to shrink away from it.  I replayed it from youtube a few times - she already had her skirt in hand, she wasn't reaching for anything.  She just recoiled from a kiss on the forehead.  This partnership just doesn't work IMO. Unfortunate. Scoring was ok. The 10 was a little generous.

 

You say Val but I'm going to assume you mean Tamar.

 

Certainly agree to disagree but I by no means saw a recoil, as much as I saw her smiling and kind of blink and nod her head in acknowledgement. Interpretation is subjective but I didn't see a recoil. 

Derek is a talented choreographer and Bindi is a good enough dancer that he doesn't need to add all that useless crap like dancing on the floor. I'm not a fan of Derek, because I think he gets too much overt preferential treatment, but I can acknowledge his talent. I just hate it when he choreographs around a dance. 

 

I liked Tamar/Val and Nick/Sharna. On a side note, it really works in Sharna's favor to be the only red head (besides Anna) female pro. She easily stands out in any and all of the pro dances. 

Agree to your Derek and Sharna points. I always suspected that Sharna does this on purpose as it's not a natural red but like... a crimson red. She definitely stands out from the Utah crew that's for sure. 

[Artymouse]

No, Tamar wasn't in jeopardy, and she got good scores. Carlos and Andy were the two in danger.

[ocelot]

If they don't take contemporary off this show immediately I'm going to riot. Honestly this is disrespectful. I've run out of can'ts.

[kitcloudkicker]

I guessed when I had heard that Nick was both 1) expecting a baby and 2) dancing a contemporary, that he'd be getting immunity. BUT, agreed that he finally got out of his head, and I'll go with it, that was good. The gender reveal was a little gratuitous. Pinterest cheesiness is infiltrating everything. 

 

I loved the foxtrot. It was just so fun and light, and I'm a fan of when Derek gets creative with the camera angles. For lack of a better word, I find when Derek goes big and creative, he tends to go cinematic, in contrast to when Mark goes big with a concept, it tends to feel theatrical. If that makes sense. It's not necessarily a surprise since he's expressed interest in directing (and did Mark's video) but one of the reasons I like to watch his dances is to watch him play around with it. (If I can say that without starting a war - I just like it.) And I can't help it, I like how Bindi throws herself into everything, and I liked that we got to see a little more from her personality. 

 

I wanted to love Tamar's dance (I like that she got a more realistic edit this week, and interesting that they actually showed Val calling out a producer) and the dancing itself was good, but it fought the song a bit for me. Or maybe I just like a more traditional Paso song with my Pasos. Alexa had the same problem for me (plus the addition of footwork problems), an un-sultry Argentine Tango is just a less fun Argentine Tango. 

 

In the danceoffs, I noticed Mark and Alexa went right up to the camera in the front, which I thought was clever strategy. My eyes kept going to them because they were right there and kinda overpowered Tamar and Val by just being a bigger focal point than them. And the Carlos/Bindi moment was almost cute and then Carlos ruined it by ending the spin facing the back of the stage instead of the camera. (Dammit Carlos.) 

 

 

Bindi:

A 17 yr girl from Australia chose Grace Kelley as her icon?  Or was it chosen for her?  Just the era Derek seems to love.  What a coincidence.   

 

Bindi gave an interview early early on, I want to say before the season started, for some entertainment fluff show -- they were asking her the standard, "What's it like changing out of khaki and into sparkles" type questions, and she said then that Grace Kelley was her fashion icon. So I was unsurprised when she picked her and it seems genuine to me (unless they were playing a looong game, but I don't necessarily have faith that the producers had it together enough to know there was even going to be an "Icons Week" that far in advance.)

 

 Glad TPTB got back so showing folks in rehearsal...rehearsing.  Less drama...more dancing/practice is what I enjoy. I want to see the team interact on a human level.  

 

Yes, this. 

Edited November 3, 2015 by kitcloudkicker

[Saylii]

Australia is still ruled by the British monarch, so I imagine all facets of royalty reigns supreme down there. Australia had a pretty big Grace Kelly fashion exhibit set up a few years ago and Nicole Kidman starred as Grace Kelly in an Australian biopic. It's not a stretch that's Bindi's idol.

I did think some of the celebrities were shafted in their package. Carlos & Alek had interviews from their idols (I'm counting Taya Kelly). Andy got to talk about his mom again. Nick had his gender reveal. Then Alexa had the producers, Bindi had her feet, and Tamar had crying. It felt very uneven for it being idol week.

[truthaboutluv]

I'm not sure if it was because Bindi was the only one in a skirt, but her lying-on-the-floor-synchronized-leg thing seemed off as well.

 

 

Nah she was slightly off. I think Derek missed the timing just a hair in getting her to the floor, so she was off right from the start with the troupe members. She tried to get it back but it was obvious. 

[Uke]

Bindi gave an interview early early on, I want to say before the season started, for some entertainment fluff show -- they were asking her the standard, "What's it like changing out of khaki and into sparkles" type questions, and she said then that Grace Kelley was her fashion icon. So I was unsurprised when she picked her and it seems genuine to me (unless they were playing a looong game, but I don't necessarily have faith that the producers had it together enough to know there was even going to be an "Icons Week" that far in advance.)

 

Okay then. I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.

[Uke]

You say Val but I'm going to assume you mean Tamar.

 

Certainly agree to disagree but I by no means saw a recoil, as much as I saw her smiling and kind of blink and nod her head in acknowledgement. Interpretation is subjective but I didn't see a recoil. 

 

 Oops Yes, I meant Tamar.

 

Yes, we can agree to disagree.

[truthaboutluv]

I forgot to add, was I the only one a little WTF about Val's "pep" talk to Tamar? "You are the best because you're with me and that makes you the best because all of my celebrities are the best." I get what he was going for but it was a little awkward. Like shouldn't this be about Tamar, but instead it became more about Val. Like she's not the best because of her but because of him and his greatness. Well okay then. 

[sinkwriter]

I really wish they had let one dancing pair and then the other do their routine in the dance-off, because I found it really difficult to watch both dancing at the same time and judge who I thought was doing better, especially when the cameras would cut and only show one or the other so I felt like I was missing part of each pair's routine. 

 

I felt it was too close to call for Bindi/Derek versus Carlos/Witney. They both did a good job. 

 

For Tamar/Val versus Alexa/Mark, my vote was for Alexa. I thought Tamar had great form but I don't think Val did very interesting choreography. She seemed to be just doing a hip jut here and there and some fluid arms but not much else, while Alexa seemed to be doing a whole bunch of footwork. She had a stumble at the end where she seemed to mess up but I still thought she did more intricate work than Tamar did. But again, it was really hard to tell because the cameras were all over the place. I felt like the camera stayed on Alexa/Mark more often so I didn't get to see enough of what Tamar and Val were doing. So it seemed like Tamar and Val didn't do very much.

 

I have to give it up to Andy - he threw himself into that routine and all the silly moves and the flip and the worm, like 'Screw it! I don't know what I'm doing so let's just have some fun!' I know he wasn't the greatest dancer there, but his attitude was one of the very best. Such a good spirit, and so funny.

 

Boy, did the judges project that loss, though. ALL NIGHT they kept saying to Andy, "If you make it through to the next round..." but they didn't say that to anyone else, so I just knew he was going home. I would have been shocked if he hadn't, after all their obviousness.

[katha]

I don't want to vote for any of these people.  Can it be a new season already?  The only kind of fun thing is not really knowing he's leaving week to week.  Bindi and Nick are the only ones I feel confident will be in the finals.  But the actual dancing?  It's all so mediocre.

For me, it's not that I find them mediocre. It's that IMO there's no standout at all. I know the judges like to pretend Bindi is, but for me she's not and I think she's overscored almost every week. All of them, except for Alek, are usually pretty good to really good. But no real stunner among them.

 

Like this week, I thought no one should have gotten 10s at all. The dancing didn't warrant it. I guess I'm okay with Nick getting the higest score, but it sure wasn't perfect. Carlos was overscored for his dance. Alek is always overscored. I liked Alexa's dance, but the stumbles were obvious so 8s would have been enough (though I guess if you go way high for everybody, might as well go way high for her...). Bindi was overscored. Tamar shouldn't have had a 10 there either. Poor Andy was about the only one who got scores that reflected his dancing.

 

Scores are close so it could be anybody but Bindi and Nick. And I'm okay with all of them leaving, would prefer Alek though. His hero package will bring us another week of his mediocre dancing, I suspect. I think Alexa is so inconsistent because she's nervous and insecure and then tries to cover it up with OTT positivity. At the beginning of the season I thought it was a problem of her not focusing or something, but now I just think she can't help herself. She tries her best but is scattered like that.

Edited November 3, 2015 by katha

[UsernameFatigue]

Can someone please explain to me how the dance off points were awarded? In the first dance all three judges chose Carlos and Whitney but the audience chose Bindi and Derek by 64%. Erin said that the 2 points went to Carlos and Whitney which seemed to mean that the audience votes did not matter.

 

In the second dance Carrie Ann voted for Alexa and Mark while Julianne and Bruno voted for Tamar and Val. The audience chose Alexa and Mark by 76%. In this case Erin said Alexa and Mark won the two points which seemed to indicate that they won due to the audience votes. I am so confused.

 

In any case why would they not have made it 2 points if both the judges (by a vote of at least two to one) and audience voted for the same couple and one point each if there was a difference in choice between the audience and at least two out of three judges?

[katha]

I think audience was tie-breaker: Bindi won the audience, but it didn't matter since Carlos had all the judges so it was 3-1 for Carlos. Alexa had one judge and the audience so it was 2-2, in which case the audience vote decided and was given the most weight. Of course none of this was explained well, like nothing on this show is ever explained well...