S18.E04: Partner Switch Ups REVEALED

[radishcake]

ABC has decided to keep the new Dancing With the Stars Season 18 Switch Up partnerships hush-hush until the Monday, April 7 Week 4 live show.

[smiley13]

Is in show discussion acceptable here or are we supposed to wait until it is over?

[Charlie Baker]

It was a pretty entertaining show, even if none of the contestant dances really stood out. (Val and Meryl were my choice for the best.) The switching wasn't a train wreck and most of the rehearsal footage came off less contrived than usual.  (Except Tony playing jealous.) I really try to ignore the judging and the scoring, but James was quite overscored.  Amy and Nene somewhat.

The best number of the evening was Derek's Stars of Dance.  I am not a Derek worshipper nor hater, as I've said elsewhere.  But he can choreograph and the tech elements here enhanced the movement, including the slo-mo.

Then he almost negated it with that whatever it was he did with Nene.

I like Drew, hope he stays, but he might not.  I'd send Nene home before him. Candace may be lowest scored, but I'd bet she's got enough voters to get past that.

[galax-arena]

Val and Meryl were fantastic. It was the first time I was truly in Meryl's corner, although I'm not sure how much of that had to do with the fact that she wasn't with Maks, whom I dislike. Either way, loved loved loved their AT.

I wish Julianne would just go away. Did her Hollywood career flop that badly? (Yes. Yes it did.) She was such a fucking brat tonight, my god. To reiterate, I'm no fan of Maks, but I thought she was completely out of line in saying that he was just phoning it in. She was so imagining herself as some sort of Simon Cowell-like figure. ("I'm brutal Julianne!") Such a tryhard.

Bless Carrie Ann and Bruno for throwing shade at Derek by commenting on the amount of footwork that Mark gave Amy. Carrie Ann's comments in particular were beautiful and made me almost want to forgive all the other stupid shit she's said over the seasons. Almost. I'm sure I'll be annoyed with her again next week. :D

So next week they're dancing to Disney songs? If someone doesn't dance to "I'll Make a Man Out of You," I'm going to cut a bitch.

Edited April 8, 2014 by galax-arena

[msburg]

Wow.  Julianne really did her family duty tonight.  Did she really say Maks phoned it in?  I guess she had to undermine the guy with the ringer.  And she wasn't anywhere near as "tough" on anyone else the entire evening.

Meryl's dance was incredible.  That was ridiculously good.

Are Drew and Cheryl having problems we haven't been shown?  He seemed pretty quick to dismiss her tonight.

Really didn't like the choreo from Derek for Nene.  Is he really going tribal again?

And I could not believe that Carrie Ann unmasked the wizard tonight.  In judging Amy, she actually talked about how Derek masked his partners.  I've been talking about this for years -- about how he choreographed to dance over his partner's weaknesses.  I cannot believe she actually said it out loud!  And in a way that was more positive about Mark.

[crowceilidh]

Then he almost negated it with that whatever it was he did with Nene.

 

Bwahhaaahaaa. Too true.  I did love his Macy's Stars of Dance though.  That was wonderful.

I thought Candace and Tony suited each other quite well and felt they were a little underscored.

Witney did a pretty good routine for Drew; I am grudgingly impressed.

Except for the awkwardnesses of the switch up (Drew appearing to like Witney better than Cheryl and etc.), I greatly enjoyed watching the dancing - I thought it was pretty interesting.

[spanana]

Some of the pairings weren't trainwrecks, but there was so much awkwardness going on I could barely stand to watch.  Watch celeb compliment new pro while camera zooms in on old pro with a frozen smile on their face.   Erin interrogating people about babies.  I'm not even sure what I watched.

Sharna banning Cody's diaper pants from practice was the highlight of the show for me.

Does Julianne have it in her guest judging contract that she has to come after one pro each time she visits?  Last time Mark, this time Maks.  Val looked like he wanted to kill Julianne after her comments.

Meryl/Val were easily best of the night.   But dude was so stressed out it was radiating off of him.  It always amazes me when people think Val and Maks are similar because IMO they are polar opposites in many ways.   Val stresses over every little detail and Maks generally doesn't have a care in the world.

There was definitely some overscoring here and while I appreciate that Mark tried to get Amy moving, are they ever going to critique her?

[Bavct]

Wow - I think TPTB really missed the mark with not having Val with Meryl from the beginning.  That was amazing - their chemistry was off the charts compared to Maks/Meryl.  Poor Danica though, she was totally forgotten.

I have to say - Mark did a great job with Amy.  I think Derek acts like an overprotective brother and protects Amy during their dances but Mark let her shine, and she did.  I would have loved to see Derek with Candace because I thought Tony didn't do her justice at all.  Hell, Derek and NeNe looked like they were having a blast.

The rest was meh and I'm tired of the James/Peta garbage.  Go away.  And yes Sharna, that child needs to pull up his damn pants. 

I think Drew is done next week. 

I may be getting old but I've watched every season and I don't ever remember one, let alone 2 screw ups with his band. 

I want Harold Wheeler back. 

[TeeM]

 

Meryl/Val were easily best of the night.   But dude was so stressed out it was radiating off of him.  It always amazes me when people think Val and Maks are similar because IMO they are polar opposites in many ways.   Val stresses over every little detail and Maks generally doesn't have a care in the world.

 

I agree about Val and Maks being very different. I think even Maks has admitted that Val is much, much more intense about the work getting to show night, staying up late to choreograph and stressing out over every move. I think Maks seems to have the sense that everything will work out and doesn't get so hung up on the work during the week. I remember in that little clip they showed on the season with Zendaya where Maks was helping Val stretch and Val said something about how Maks was 2 hours late for practice. Val said their dad would be angry if he knew because their dad always stresses hard work. And Maks said "End result." I think Val puts emphasis on the work, Maks puts emphasis on the result. Totally different approaches. 

[OriginalCyn]

Julianne Hough needs to pull that 2X4 out of her ass and drop her "I'm such a mean hard-ass" schtick as she's about as tough as a marshmallow peep (IOW, epic FAIL on that attempt).  Apparently it's the House of Hough vs. the Brothers Chmerkovskiy -- the pot-shots she took at Maks for his and Danica's Jive were absolutely un-called for, and quite honestly, I think it was a blatant attempt to smear Maks (and by proxy, Meryl) as they are, at this point, the biggest threat to Derek bringing home another mirror ball.

Meryl and Val blew the roof off that place!!!  I'm hoping that seeing how she danced that AT will light a fire under Maks' arse and he'll dial it up a few more notches on the difficulty and wow factor -- she's more than capable of handling the choreography.

NeNe and Derek?  Were like a wrecking ball (in the NOT so good way) -- seriously, what the fucking fuck *was* that?!?!  And how did it score only one point lower than Charlie and Peta?  Speaking of, how is it that they (C/P) got dinged for doing a not-rhumba, yet Cody's not-jazz got a total pass a couple of weeks ago (as well as Candace, who did the same thing on one of her earlier dances?

I enjoyed Drew with Witney way more than with Cheryl -- she seemed to bring him more to life when he was on the floor.

Is Amy ever going to receive a critique without kid gloves?  Also, if I hear how she's "an inspiration" one more time, I"m going to put a prosthetic leg through my TV.

Candace seems to be regressing as the weeks go by -- does she have the fanbase to keep her in it? Also, [shallow] I hope I look as good as Lori Loughlin when I'm her age.[/shallow]

I. Do. Not. Get. This. Cody. Dude.  I don't think he's cute, I don't think he's a good dancer, and his voice is good, but ordinary.  Best part of his package/performance was Sharna ordering him to pull up his pants. 

Edited April 8, 2014 by OriginalCyn

[Princess Sparkle]

I thought Julienne's little "You're just waiting to get back with Meryl" to be astoundingly rude, and completely disrespectful to both Maks and Danica. I actually think Maks thought he was doing her a solid with that routine, and I think most of the problems were not enough content (which has always been a problem with Maks) and the band starting early and throwing off the cues (not Danica or Maks's fault)

Speaking of which - if they can tell the band screwed up, they should tell the judges before they write down their scores so the contestant isn't judged unfairly. For bad miscues to happen twice in one night is awful.

I think Candice and Drew might be in trouble - I think they suffered the most with the partner switch. I completely forgot Candice's dance by the end of the episode, and damn near forgot Drew's.

Even though I think he'll be fine, Peta screwed Charlie with that "rhumba". I'm terrible at picking out when a dance isn't proper, but even I knew that wasn't a rhumba. He really looked like he didn't like that partnership; while Peta was trying to cozy up, he looked like he was standing straight up and down, and didn't want to engage with her at all. And while his scores weren't bad, he shouldn't be punished for Peta not choreographing the right dance.

[smiley13]

Interesting show tonight.  Julianne was very rude.  I am not a Maks fan, but that was really not necessary.  At least Mark was spared her petty behavior.

Candace was underscored.  I hated that they slammed Charlie for Peta's choreography just like they did to Candace on her rhumba.

James was very good once again.  And I loved that Sharna called out Cody on those ugly pants.

[Sparky]

I thought Meryl's AT with Val was techically great but lacked her amazing chemistry and connection with Maks. It definitely was the dance of the night, though. I loved the way Meryl ran to hug Maks in the middle of her interview with Erin! Those few seconds had more chemistry than her entire dance with Val. I look forward to seeing M&M reunited next week.

I sincerely hope that DWTS isn't going to waste precious air time on Derek explaining his creative process before MSOD each time they perform. The show's already abbreviated yet we had to take time to watch Derek rehearse? Oy.

NeNe's dance. Oh boy. That was NeNe flapping around while Derek outdanced her. What exactly did she learn this week? I guess Derek really can choreograph for anyone. He just can't do it well.

Amy danced more than she has but that's not saying much. She's still being overpraised, overscored and under critiqued. I do think that Mark did a better job with her than Derek has up to this point.

Charlie still looks too feminine when he dances. And he didn't have decent hip action tonight. He was vastly overscored.

I thought Drew's dance was really fun and he seemed to be having a great time. The camera constantly cutting to Cheryl as he was being critiqued was interesting. What were they expecting? I think all the pros wanted their partner to do well tonight and not only because they were being scored.

I was speechless at Julianne's nasty comment to Maks. It's one thing to judge a dance but quite another to judge his motives. Her comment was especially appalling considering that Maks had switched partners with his brother. She was beyond unprofessional but the incident will garner her some press, which was probably her goal. After years of watching the Houghs nothing they do for media attention surprises me.

[Texas Gal]

The face Nene was making in the background as they read off Meryl and Val's scores was GIVING ME LIFE.

[Tink]

I was rolling my eyes when Erin was trying to hook up one of the couples and saying something like she wants a DWTS marriage or baby -- I don't even remember who she was talking to or exactly what she said, other than it was so annoying! Why keep bringing that up? Also when she asked Meryl which brother she preferred -- luckily Meryl is at ease being interviewed and came up with a decent answer, but why put her on the spot like that?

[crowceilidh]

Over at DWTS fb, many people are angry about Julianne's comment to Maks.  I am NO JULIANNE FAN - I kinda loathe her, but tptb did pretty much pre-announce that she was going to be "the honest" one and lay it on the line, so I think she was just trying to fulfill her mandate.  Goes with the insane dark eyebrows too.

Looking at the Meryl narrative as it played out tonight, I believe we're being set up for a Meryl upset and Charlie win, which is too bad, as I think Meryl's a better dancer and performer than Charlie.

[superdeluxe]

I was rolling my eyes when Erin was trying to hook up one of the couples and saying something like she wants a DWTS marriage or baby -- I don't even remember who she was talking to or exactly what she said, other than it was so annoying! Why keep bringing that up? Also when she asked Meryl which brother she preferred -- luckily Meryl is at ease being interviewed and came up with a decent answer, but why put her on the spot like that?

Because Erin Andrews has no class?  She'll give the excuse that because she's in sports that she has to ask those kind of questions, but we all the truth.  I'm sure those producers probably have something to do with those questions, too.

About Julianne's comment to Maks -- it's not like she was wrong.  His whole demeanor was like, "Just let me get through this so that I can get back to Meryl and that win that's promised to me."

[Uke]

There are two Week 4 threads. Does discussion of the dances go here or on the other thread?

[Lnmop]

Was that Jean Luc Picard in the audience?

[spanana]

About Julianne's comment to Maks -- it's not like she was wrong.  His whole demeanor was like, "Just let me get through this so that I can get back to Meryl and that win that's promised to me."

Except if there is one person in the world that Maks isn't going to intentionally screw over it's his own brother.  I don't think the routine Maks put together for Danica was very good, but I thought it was very Maks.   But I'm not so sure I'd go so far as to say he was phoning it in because again, Val is not only his brother but probably his best friend. 

[KerleyQ]

Candace was underscored.  I hated that they slammed Charlie for Peta's choreography just like they did to Candace on her rhumba.

 

I actually gave them a bit more leeway to slam Candace for the rhumba, because you have to wonder how much Mark's choreography was affected by her "some things are only for my husband" crap.  (Yes, honey, and no one is asking you to go out and fornicate on the dance floor).  If the rhumba didn't look like a rhumba because the star refused to go there, then I think it absolutely should be reflected in her critique and scores.  

From what we saw, though, Charlie had no such hang ups (and I'd be shocked if he did, given his background, I'm sure he gets that it's not about anything other than performing the character of the dance).  So if Peta failed to put together a proper rhumba, that's not because of his tying her hands. 

[Flick]

You can put me on the team that doesn't believe Maks would intentionally screw over Val by not putting the effort in with Danica.

I'm still cringing over Derek and NeNe's dance. What made him think that was a good idea? Has he been watching Coming to America on repeat? Haven't we already done the whole racial sensitivity thing with the Houghs in the last six months? There are so many places he could've gone with jazz so I can't for the life of me figure out why he went with the cultural appropriation route. As much as I dislike him, he's a great dancer and while I don't necessarily always like his smoke and mirrors choreography, he is a good choreographer... But how the heck did he think that was the best way to go?

[Jobo05]

J.Hough can pull that stick outta her ass and take several seats. That was totally uncalled for and completely unprofessional. Good on Maks for keeping his cool. He handled it extremely well, I thought. And I agree with what others have said here, Maks would never do that to his brother.

Meryl was awesome tonight and Val is a gem when it comes to choreograpy!

[Skycatcher]

To my surprise I really enjoyed the switch up.  I especially liked the insight as to how the pro influences the star's performances.  I liked seeing the difference in the way Marc and Derek guided Amy.  Val and Meryl - their AT was wonderful!  He really let her shine.  Generally good show. Julianne - meh.

 

 

There are so many places he (Derek/Nene) could've gone with jazz.......

Thanks.  I was wondering what genre their dance was supposed to be, besides another tribal rip-off.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Skycatcher

[RescueMom]

I rarely get that fired up when watching this show, because when it's all said and done, it's a TV show and I just don't care that much.  But twice last night I cussed out loud - at Julianne with her snotty remarks to Maks, and then right after at Len with his bitching at Charlie/Peta (it's fine if he is calling out that it wasn't a rhumba, but he didn't need to be such an asshole about it).  Good for Maks, Danica, Charlie, and Peta for keeping their mouths shut - Maks especially since it's not his strong suit.  And I loved that Sharna tried get on the air that she thought Peta did a great job.

I was excited to see what Derek would choreograph for Nene, and I was one of those that went HUH?  I didn't like that at all.  I thought it was a bunch of Nene walking around and then putting her arms up and posing, and I know she is capable of more than that.  If anyone let down their star this week, it was Derek, and IMO that's not something he normally does.  I don't think it was intentional, but it still disappointed me.  And he needs to stop it with the "tribal" shit.

Mark can annoy the crap out of me at times (mostly when he has a young partner and feels the need to be EDGY!!), but his partners always love him and I can see why.  I thought he did a wonderful job of getting Amy to shine in a dance that I thought would be really tough for her.  Did anyone else raise their eyebrows a little over how many times he kissed her after the dance? Just me?

When Charlie first came out with his hair slicked down, I thought "what the hell is Peta doing?"  Then it made sense when they said he was doing the rhumba.  I get that it's hard to project sexy and smouldering with hair made of sunshine and puppies and rainbows.  My favorite line of the night was Charlie to Peta: "You mean James doesn't get to put his nose in your mouth?"

At the end of Candace's rehearsal package, was she channeling Baby from Dirty Dancing when she was acting all silly sexy in her jeans shorts and black tank? Because it totally reminded me of the scene where Baby is dancing across the bridge, then puts on her lipstick and makes a sexy pose.  I was wondering if it was intentional.

I didn't hate switch-up week.  I didn't like the voting drama, and I wish they had come up with a firm plan for how it would work right from the beginning, but I'd like to see them do a switch again (but planned out better).  I thought it was fun to see how supportive they all were with each other, and especially how much all of the "partner switch" pros didn't want to botch things up for either the star or their regular pro.  </ducks>

[Quickbeam]

I watch this show with my husband, a non-dance fan. His critique?: "I'd pay to watch that guy dance" about Charlie. He couldn't even remember the others but he was still talking about Charlie this morning. Was it a rhumba? No. But it was lovely to watch. I think the female pros get so excited when partnered with someone who can actually do lifts competently, they work them in any and everywhere. 

I'm no Mark fan but I thought he really brought it for Amy last night. He made her dance and she looked great. Nice work. 

[radishcake]

There are two Week 4 threads. Does discussion of the dances go here or on the other thread?

Just had an extra one. Sorry I removed it. :)

[Linderhill]

 

I'm tired of the James/Peta garbage.  Go away.  And yes Sharna, that child needs to pull up his damn pants.

A big YES to both of these.  Sharna getting on that boy constantly to pull up his pants and to no wear them again was my favorite part of the night.

I did have to laugh when Derek was talking about missing the Macy's dancing numbers because I can honestly says that I haven't at all.  I did enjoy Derek;s number then but kept thinking we really didn't need it.

[StayClassySD]

Had Erin not brought up James/Peta there probably wouldn't have been any mention of it. On this I blame the producers for making one date out to be a life long commitment. It appeared to me that even Peta found it uncomfortable when Erin said something.

[Good Queen Jane]

See what happens when you slick back Charlie's hair? DON'T TOUCH THE CURLS!  I agree that the dance wasn't a rhumba, but I don't see why the star should get dinged if his pro can't do the right choreography. Thank goodness everyone is going back to his/her original partners.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Good Queen Jane

[pumpkinspice]

I have so many thoughts about last night. Oh, where to even begin...

I thought Candace got hosed on her scores. Her quickstep looked great to me, and I felt terrible for Tony when those scores came up. He generally gets a lot of slack for not being a great choreographer, and I agree that he isn't on the level of a lot of the pros as far as choreo goes, but I saw nothing that warranted Candace getting lower than Cody, Drew, or a few others. Maybe because they went first? Anyway, I think her fan base can pull her through, I just felt bad for them both.

NeNe's jazz...wtf was that? For all of Derek's brilliance, and while I don't like him much, I CAN recognize that he is a master at what he does, but that dance was just crap. He gets the least skilled dancer for the switch up and her gets to pull that out of his ass instead of having to teach her an actual ballroom dance. So, who gets the upper hand on this show? No, not Derek. Never Derek. Please. If anyone was phoning it in this week, it was him.

Speaking of, go back and crawl under your rock, Julianne, and take your ugly eyebrows with you. I couldn't even look at her last night without staring at the difference between her eyebrows and hair. I will be honest, I didn't like Danica's dance at all. She was running around too much. But what Julianne said was extremely rude and jut downright bitchy. I agree w the poster above who said the dance was very Maks. It was. He's known for doing a lot of "mucking about" or whatever Len says, and often gets reamed for it. I hate when he does it, because I think Maks is better than that. But did he do it just because it was switch week? I don't think so. And would he try and screw Val over? I'd bet a year's salary that's a big NO.

Val. And. Meryl. were awesome. All of the ladies in my department are talking about them this morning. I hope that dance will light a fire under Maks, choreo-wise.

Peta made Charlie seem skeevy. How do you even do that?

Loves Sharna telling Cody to pull his pants up. Sharna, I love you even more now.

Whitney and Drew were cute, I was a little bored by James/Cheryl.

Amy and mark. Mark schooled Derek, in my eyes, and I loved it. He had her moving on her own, covering the floor. It was wonderful. I really like Amy, and I wish she were with another dance partner. I loved how it was brought up that Derek choreographs to make himself hide his partner a lot of the time.

Macy's. the dance was pretty f ing cool. I do enjoy the Macy's dancing, but not if they are going to be "starring Derek Hough" every week.

Looking forward to Disney week next week. I love anything Disney. Please, Lord, let Maks and Meryl dress up as Aladdin and Jasmine. Hmm. Val and Danica as Beauty and the Beast. Candace as Cinderella. Amy as Merida. Okay okay I'll stop now. Haha.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Okay was it just me or didn't Mark do a big old LIFT with Amy? Which was pretty but again, took up a lot of time with her in the air so she didn't have to dance (and I'm not picking on her cos she has fake legs). 

There was one talking head where they interviewed Charlie and he was talking about being happy all the time and I swear his face channeled Honey Boo Boo. I rewound it and put on the mute and couldn't stop laughing. 

Is there anybody else that thought that NeNe could dance before she joined the show? (I know pole dancing doesn't count)I'm surprised how awkward she seems to be at times. 

[ari333]

Wow, just because something is true doesn't mean it should be said and I don't even know if it's true. I agree; What JH said to Maks was rude to him and especially to Danica. JH makes CAI look almost in the normal range. Also, I hated that peek-a-boo dress. Usually I kind of like those cutout dresses, but it wasn't working for me.

What the hell was that Cody twit doing in the mirror with his chest? He and his hair can go next.

It was awkward that they went on and on about Drew being so much better with Whitney and Drew's: "I'm not missing Cheryl as much as I thought." Although I took it that he was kidding since Cheryl chimed in that it was creepy, which I took as kidding around as well.

Why did Tom refer to the music mistake as a "track?" Isn't it live music?

Edited April 8, 2014 by ari333

[DancinCat]

...Len with his bitching at Charlie/Peta (it's fine if he is calling out that it wasn't a rhumba, but he didn't need to be such an asshole about it

After Len grumbled and chastised Peta and Charlie so much, I was braced for a "5" or "6" paddling. Then up came...gulp....an "8." The poor crowd didn't know whether to boo or not.

[ari333]

Bring Charlie's hair back.

I still think it blows that the score they get with another person this week effects who goes home next week.

[spanana]

Val is one of the best choreographers on this show and it's about damn time he got recognized for it.  I know he's received more recognition in recent seasons, but I mean outside of the show.  Though unlike Derek he mostly sticks to ballroom, so of course that is part of it.  Also part of why I love him is I could see his wheels turning last night.  He was so conflicted about the whole thing.  Putting aside that I think he was obviously pissed off about Julianne's comment, I think he was conflicted because he wanted to do right by Meryl, but at the same time didn't want to outshine the whole Meryl/Maks thing.  On top of which needing to be conscious of Danica's feelings since last night was probably the highest praise he's gotten all season.  I have to say I feel like Val has grown up a whole lot these last several seasons.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we had a "surprise" elimination of sorts next week because I also think viewers in general are confused about the voting.  The obvious people, like Meryl, will be safe.  But we haven't been given a clue as to the size of anybody's fanbase so I really have no idea.

Also since it was mentioned about the lift in Amy's dance, they had salsa, so lifts are allowed. 

[MortysCleaningLady]

How was Maks 'phoning it in' but Julianne's brother Derek wasn't?  Derek and Nene's routine had so many pieces of Amber's routine with Mark and Derek last season.  Then, Derek had Nene dressed like an Amazon warrioress and dance to a song with the line 'big girl' in it?  That was both phoning it in AND being a meanie!  Nene is tall and solid, but she is not a mutant; in fact, I think she's the most realistic body type up there!  Julianne underimpressed as a judge (and Robin Roberts ran fashion circles around her with last week's fabulous white pantsuit as compared to the chest cutout with the giant Grammy brooch).

My favorite moment of the night was when Sharna said to Cody,  "Pull up your pants and don't wear those to rehearsal with me again'. 

Personally, I think Drew is in trouble.  Nene will get a ton of votes from Derek's fans, this week.  Candice, for whom I did vote, was so drastically underscored that I think her voters will be out in force.

 

[Buggin]

How was Maks 'phoning it in' but Julianne's brother Derek wasn't?  Derek and Nene's routine had so many pieces of Amber's routine with Mark and Derek last season.  Then, Derek had Nene dressed like an Amazon warrioress and dance to a song with the line 'big girl' in it?  That was both phoning it in AND being a meanie!  Nene is tall and solid, but she is not a mutant; in fact, I think she's the most realistic body type up there!  Julianne underimpressed as a judge (and Robin Roberts ran fashion circles around her with last week's fabulous white pantsuit as compared to the chest cutout with the giant Grammy brooch).

My favorite moment of the night was when Sharna said to Cody,  "Pull up your pants and don't wear those to rehearsal with me again'. 

Personally, I think Drew is in trouble.  Nene will get a ton of votes from Derek's fans, this week.  Candice, for whom I did vote, was so drastically underscored that I think her voters will be out in force.

Agreed on Derek. I thought the dance was pretty awkward. He did what he had to do to get through but I would have liked to have seen him teach her a quickstep or something. I think his fans still voted for Amy, though, since they want her to continue on with Derek so NeNe might not be safe. 

Val and Meryl looked so great together. I wish they were partners instead of Maks and Meryl now. I also liked Witney better with Drew, Cheryl better with James, and Mark better with Amy. 

[MMLEsq]

Derek and NeNe's dance looked familiar.  Then I read EW's recap of last night's episode on their site this morning and they hit the nail on the head:  it was like a reenactment of the African Anteater Ritual dance from Can't Buy Me Love.

[galax-arena]

Let's look on the bright side: At least Derek didn't put on any "tribal" face paint this time.

[ari333]

Meryl and Val gave me chills. STUNNING. What was that song? Wow.

Why does JH judge and comment on the pros? Is that her job?

Was Val wearing diaper pants in the rehearsal clip? ODG, (Oh Dear God) tell me no.

[ari333]

So Candace has never heard the radio or seen a movie in which "make it rain" has been said? Interesting.

I will give Candace credit for having a lovely, natural face. She makes facial expressions like a real human (sans botox). Not knocking botox etc. I might get it some time, but it's refreshing and unusual to see in a celeb, or rather not see. She's naturally beautiful. However, her dancing seems to be going downhill, imo. Odd.

[Princess Sparkle]

Meryl and Val gave me chills. STUNNING. What was that song? Wow.

 

It was "Too Close" by Alex Clare

[ali59]

I really wish Cody had been paired with a more mature dancer from the beginning.  He seems to walk all over Whitney.  I loved that Sharna called him out about the pants.  I'm wondering though, were his performance pants still a little low cut in the crotch or am I just over sensitive about it now?

[ari333]

It was "Too Close" by Alex Clare

Thank you! Do you happen to know the bit of the song that was playing when they came back from commercial right before they had that little thing where James and Charlie did the switch dance move to change from Peta to Cheryl? It has a heavy horn line and that's about all they played. It's making me crazy that I can't think of the song. TIA. It wasn't a couples' dance song, but a play-in from the commercial.

I used to flove Julianne when she was a dancer. Now I can't wait 'til she shuts her piehole. "Tucking pelvis" sounded scripted to me

I actually liked CAI's dress. So there's that.

[Sparky]

How was Maks 'phoning it in' but Julianne's brother Derek wasn't? Derek and Nene's routine had so many pieces of Amber's routine with Mark and Derek last season. Then, Derek had Nene dressed like an Amazon warrioress and dance to a song with the line 'big girl' in it? That was both phoning it in AND being a meanie! Nene is tall and solid, but she is not a mutant; in fact, I think she's the most realistic body type up there!

THIS is exactly what I thought after seeing the mess that was NeNe's dance! Maks gets nastiness in spite of the fact that his partner had to dance without her music track, Derek gets a tongue bath for having his partner flap around like Big Bird. Someone phoned it in last night alright, but it wasn't Maks.

[Sparky]

I forgot to mention that Derek's fans are trying to distance him from Julianne on social media. She certainly got the publicity she seemed to crave from her comment to Maks but I doubt it's the kind she expected. She didn't do herself any PR favors last night.

[ari333]

I have a soft spot for Drew, so he'd have to become a colossal asshat for me not to love him. Having said that... heh [/Tom] his dance was not a 9 in any universe. It was cute; it was fun and joyful, but it was no 9.

I liked the MSoD performance. Who were the other shirtless dudes? I saw Derek. The men were like the plethora of blondes. Hard to tell them apart with that camera work (for me.)

Edited April 8, 2014 by ari333

[anniebell]

Highlights for me:  Val and Meryl (Val clearly showing who has the most creative talent in the family) and Sharna's "pull up your pants" stance! Thank you Sharna!

I think the switch up highlighted who would have been better off with different partners;  Drew, Cody, Amy and Meryl most definitely.  I must admit I enjoyed Nene & Derek's dance. Impressed that with two music screw-ups both people powered through (Danica & Nene). 

As to Julianne's Maks slam, she should have just stated the dance lacked content.  Maks' problem is too much messing about in his dances.

Is perhaps Candace in danger of going home next week?  Her dance was forgettable.

[Iseut]

I loved so much what judgey Julianne said about Mark last time, and it was true and he really should have taken it as constructive criticism (but of course he got whiny and defensive). She and the show took that (probably) organic moment and the hype it created and completely ruined it by trying to  come up with something "edgy" for her to say again with another polarizing pro, and it was horrible, not constructive, rude to the pro and the contestant, and completely flopped. Shut up Julianne and shut up show.

Gah, Derek and Mark sitting there with their stupid little hats. Shut up hats.

Drew's dance was fun, but he was overscored. So was the Big Time Rush kid who (and this time judgy Julianne was correct and constructive, though still kinda rude) kept sticking his butt out.

At first I was glad to see that Charlie's hair was slicked back, but the fact that his hair and outfit was so matchy-matchy with Peta's made it look like a weirdly sexy twin brother-sister dance and it creeped me out.