S22.E07: Week 7

[McManda]

Quote

Paige may be the most experienced female by a long shot, but let's not pretend that Jodie or Ginger have never danced a day in their lives.  Ginger was supposedly on her college dance team.

Still, there's a big difference between competing for 13 years and a college dance team, IMO, though both are dance experience. I'm not saying it doesn't make her entertaining, but it does take some of the gloss off when she's good at dancing. Of course she's good at dancing. She's done it for over half her life. People shouldn't be surprised.

I mostly blame the show for trying to hide that Paige is going to be good under her "I want to be girly, I'm just a fighter" edit. No, no she's not. She's girly and she's a dancer.

Edited May 3, 2016 by McManda

[smiley13]

Paige and Mark were fantastic!  They were far and away the best dance of the night no matter whether the judges gave Val the same score or not.

I was hoping Antonio would go so we would be rid of Sharna.  I would have rather Jodie had left over Kim.

[Mreid]

I STILL can not vote online. If the website doesnt work soon they probably will have a non elimination next week and then another double elimination the following week. This has happened before

[SophiaPehawkins]

That Team James Brown dance...wow. Honestly, it was so clean and fun. Total testament to Peta, Sharna, Lindsay, and Witney for putting together a very cohesive group dance. 

I think the right teams went home. It would have been devasting to lose Wanya. Besides Antonio, I think the best teams are left.

[RedFiat]

Maybe Paige is a ringer but that Jive was even better than Nicole and Derek because the focus on Paige as Tina Turner was really  impressive entertainment. She danced the jive as if Tina learned to dance the jive.  Her foot placement was so much more "proud Mary" than traditional jive, but Mark kept up all the whip turns, spins, windmill, chicken walks, flicka kicks, of a really good jive. I loved the little slower time and then back on in full measure. Considering that her background is not ballroom or latin, like say Riker Lynch, I thought Paige not only gave us great technique but she's now in the pocket, she's not jumping ahead of the beat. She's getting more comfortable with partner dancing and I think trusting Mark more.  I hope she doesn't go home. She's getting better as the season goes forward. 

[blaase]

16 minutes ago, McManda said:

Still, there's a big difference between competing for 13 years and a college dance team, IMO, though both are dance experience. I'm not saying it doesn't make her entertaining, but it does take some of the gloss off when she's good at dancing. Of course she's good at dancing. She's done it for over half her life. People shouldn't be surprised.

I mostly blame the show for trying to hide that Paige is going to be good under her "I want to be girly, I'm just a fighter" edit. No, no she's not. She's girly and she's a dancer.

Agreed if Paige wanted to stop MMA fighting she could easily train and be a pro dancer, the other celebs could never.

[RedFiat]

And as far as I know, there has been no hiding of her dance background. Unlike some performers in the past, her Wiki page clearly states her dance experience. 

[Uke]

Week 7 already. Here we go...

Jodie:  What an awkward song for a quickstep.  At one point Keo looked like he was high-step marching.  Little to no body contact. Jodie really committed to it though  Scores were a bit generous but I just feel like Jodie's been through alot and she needs some happy.

Kim:  First I was wondering why Sasha put her in black with dim lights. It was hard to see her. Then I realized the glow-in-the-dark trim on their clothes.  I think the effect didn't work very well.   The dance, as much as I could see, seemed fine. Nothing remarkable.  Scores seemed a little overly generous.  I wonder if it was a parting gift.

Nyle:  Tasting a bit of humble pie, is he?  I think he meant what he said last week.  During the first half of the dance his steps seemed stompy at times.  His posture is still wonky.  If he'd straighten up, I think his rear end would tuck in easier.  Once again, it all just seems too fast like he's racing through the dance.   It seemed he was playing the deaf card as the excuse for a number of things this week.  I hadn't notice him doing that in previous weeks.   I think Bruno gets caught up in the  10! excitement .  One 10 is overscored, two 10s, ridiculous. Either way, overscored.

So the score sheet showed 10-9-9.  I guess Nyle is guaranteed a 10 next week from Bruno?

Antonio:  I'm so turned off by this guy, I just want him gone.  But...the dance was pretty good.  I saw a few footwork errors.  Apparently he is putting in more rehearsal time.  The scores were fair.

Wanya:  Nice little show of committment from Wanya.  Very nice dance. If only he could lock down those shoulders.  I agree with the scores.

Ginger:  Was that a spinning lift? Odd how the camera closed in to not show her feet at just that moment.  A solid classic VW. Good job.  I don't think it was worthy of the 1st perfect score.  Employee bonus I guess.

Von:  Oh boy. I like Von but this was a really bad Elvis impersonation, with Witney overdancing for all she was worth.  I think that was supposed to be a salsa.  Von is such an awkward mover but he tries really hard.  The 8s were generous - I think they were for effort and being a good sport.

Paige:  My gosh that was 100% pure energy.  I think I might have seen 1 little bobble but she didn't lose her timing, and that was tough choreo, chock full of technique.   Agree with the score!

Team Dance-Men:  I think I held my breath for the whole dance. It just made me tense for some reason.  But they did well and stayed in sync.  I'm glad CAI mentioned how the guys adjusted to Nyle's pacing - I noticed it too.  The sync was right on but it seemed like really simple choreo.   I don't think it was 10-worthy.

Team Dance-Women:  This was confusing to me with all the song/tempo changes.  Much more difficult choreo but the sync was off a couple of times. Wow! Didn't expect 8s. I thought they'd get 3 9s to stay just under the men's team. 

So I guess the lesson here is, content and difficulty are not rewarded.  Keep it super simple and just stay in sync. I just disagree with that attitude.

So they used the team dance scores to equalize Paige, Ginger and Wanya at 55 points, put Nyle at the top of the leaderboard at 56 points. Interesting.  (Bringing up the rear is Jodie at 51 and Antonio at 52)

Wanya in jeopardy? Maybe his fans were getting a little lax on their voting?

Eliminations are beginning to get difficult. So long Kim & Von, it's been a pleasure.

[RedFiat]

4 minutes ago, blaase said:

Agreed if Paige wanted to stop MMA fighting she could easily train and be a pro dancer, the other celebs could never.

Well that is true of a lot of contestants in the past. The difference is those others like skaters, and  entertainers already incorporated dance into their day jobs.  There maybe elements of dance in MMA but not partner dancing. 

[crowceilidh]

Ok wow.  I am a big Val fan, but I hated that dance so much that I ffed through it.  So hammy and overdone and badly acted and jerky.  What the hell was everyone else (I mean the people on the live show) watching?  Val keeps pulling partners I can't stand.  It's annoying.

Edited May 3, 2016 by crowceilidh
Sounded rude to fellow posters.

[kayma]

I'm ready for Paige to go, which is a shame because she is clearly the best and Mark is doing a great job. That jive was great, but I find her so unlikeable. Most of what she says sounds so whiny to me. Maybe it's her inflections. 

I loved Ginger's dance and thought it was worthy of its score. I'm a sucker for a good waltz. 

I think Witney just never figured out what to do with Von. 

I've never been a big fan Nyle's. His comment last week didn't bother me at all, but I felt like this week he was making excuses. 

I know Antonio's been slacking and that he's not the best dancer, but I do still like him.

I'm still rooting for a Wanya win. He and Lindsay are perfect partners.

[McManda]

Quote

And as far as I know, there has been no hiding of her dance background. Unlike some performers in the past, her Wiki page clearly states her dance experience. 

So did Nicole's, and so did Jennifer Grey's and so did a bunch of others. It's not that it's not public information, it's that the show is going out of its way to not mention it. It's worse than someone like Nicole, who you might have been able to make the logical leap that she had dance training, or Jennifer Grey, who was older and hadn't danced in over twenty years, they're giving Paige the spin that she's just a fighter and longs to be girly. That sure seems like they're actively trying to hide her dance experience.

[Uke]

Interesting. Usually prepubescent dance training isn't considered much of an issue. Paige has never tried to hide the fact that her parents owned a dance studio and she trained until they sold the studio when she was 13.   She's very athletic and I'd guess that she's always been athletic which helps tremendously with competing on this show.  I'd bet most of the women who have ever been on this show have had some dance training, some more than others.   But so long as they are honest and don't hide it (or call it "choir"...Hi Ginger!), I don't see the problem.  

 

eta:  Listening now to All Access: Val says "...trying to teach a Viennese Waltz to someone who's never danced before".  That's what I object to. Though to his credit I suppose, he did mumble the last part.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Uke

[Clemgo3165]

Kim was not a happy camper. She wasn't the best dancer in town, by far, but I'll miss her personality.

[RedFiat]

On a not really but sorta related topic, remembering Witney and her light up dress as Cinderella,  tonight at the Met Gala Clare Danes stole the show in Zac Posen  

[PBGamer89]

Paige's Jive was easily the best dance of the season so far, possibly one of my favorite Jives i've seen in a long, long time.

I don't care if she has dance experience, she's not the biggest ringer ever (Hello Riker "competed in youth ballroom" Lynch), but she's excited to watch because she dances well and performs well and it's so nice to see Mark giving his best and enjoying his partner. She probably won't win because the agenda has been very "we want a male winner" but if she can manage 3rd or 2nd, i'll be very happy!

Ginger was good, but more like 28/29 good, not a perfect score good.

Von almost dropped Witney in one of the flip lifts and i'm glad he went home after that.

Kim was really surprised she left? I mean, she's good, but against Nyle, Paige, Wanya, Ginger? Really Kim?

[crowceilidh]

I thought Kim had a great night dance wise - she looked really really unhappy when they were planning to switch pros in the team dance and Witney's kiss with her after elimination was frosty in the extreme.

I thought the Beyonce dance was better than the Brown dance.

I loved the parts where Paige was channelling Tina in their dance - I wish there had been more of them.  The band really did a crappy job with that song.

[RedFiat]

29 minutes ago, Uke said:

Interesting. Usually prepubescent dance training isn't considered much of an issue. Paige has never tried to hide the fact that her parents owned a dance studio and she trained until they sold the studio when she was 13.   She's very athletic and I'd guess that she's always been athletic which helps tremendously with competing on this show.  I'd bet most of the women who have ever been on this show have had some dance training, some more than others.   But so long as they are honest and don't hide it (or call it "choir"...Hi Ginger!), I don't see the problem.  

Heh, it only ever seems to be a problem if they are good and competing against a favorite.  

[DancingD]

Uh, you don't get on a college dance team without a lot of training. It's extremely competitive. 

That said, absolutely loved Ginger tonight. Before this, she seemed way over promoted to me. Now I see what all the fuss was about. Gorgeous dance, best of the season.

Bruno is pretty confused I think. He called Witney, Lindsey. Will miss Von and his charmingly dorky personality.

[LotusFlower]

22 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

On a not really but sorta related topic, remembering Witney and her light up dress as Cinderella,  tonight at the Met Gala Clare Danes stole the show in Zac Posen  

The only thing I liked about Disney Night was Withey's dress - it was really stunning.  (I think the wardrobe dept. is incredible).  This Zac Posen dress is gorgeous.  Thanks for posting.

[simplyme]

15 minutes ago, PBGamer89 said:

16 minutes ago, PBGamer89 said:

Paige's Jive was easily the best dance of the season so far, possibly one of my favorite Jives i've seen in a long, long time.

Von almost dropped Witney in one of the flip lifts and i'm glad he went home after that.

Kim was really surprised she left? I mean, she's good, but against Nyle, Paige, Wanya, Ginger? Really Kim?

Argh.  I'm stuck in this double box.  Anyways.  Paige was fantastic, and many of my friends had a stupid number of years of dance lessons as children and couldn't do what she is doing.  (Also, I doubt she started dance lessons before she could walk.)

Had Von dropped Witney, I figure 50/50 chance it would have made her smarter.  She just phoned it in this season.

And finally, THANK YOU for commenting on Kim being surprised about going home.  I get being disappointed, but there is incredible competition this season.

[vibeology]

Paige was amazing and other stuff happened too, I guess. 

Shes incredible and she really managed to channel some serious Tina personality in that routine. I'm pissed that dance didn't get the first perfect score of the season. Mark, again, did a great job giving her moments in the choreography to shine. It's been a while since I've been that excited by a dance on this show. I just need this girl to reach the freestyle  I know it would be creative and intense  

The other stuff was fine. Ginger's dance was very pretty but not a 30. Nyle had a list of excuses this week after his dance and really hit that deaf card hard. What being deaf and having to hem a dress have to do with each other remains a mystery to me. Keo is still under serving Jodie and talking about himself. 

If it's going to be iconic song night, maybe the band should shut up and let us hear the original recordings. Say a Little Prayer was especially awful. 

[Uke]

17 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

Heh, it only ever seems to be a problem if they are good and competing against a favorite.  

LOL!!! yep!

[Callaphera]

5 minutes ago, vibeology said:

If it's going to be iconic song night, maybe the band should shut up and let us hear the original recordings. Say a Little Prayer was especially awful. 

This is a weekly complaint here. Mr. Callaphera likes to snark on the show when I watch it (he makes me sit through Pawn Stars, I make him sit through DwtS) but more often than not, he ends up snarking on what he calls "the worst band on television. Ever". I can't honestly say that I've ever liked a cover that the band has done. 

[simplyme]

4 minutes ago, vibeology said:

If it's going to be iconic song night, maybe the band should shut up and let us hear the original recordings. Say a Little Prayer was especially awful. 

Yes, it was.

When they announced that Val and Ginger would be dancing to an iconic Whitney Houston song, I groaned.  When they added "from The Bodyguard," SimplyMom said, "If it's "I Will Always Love You" we're turning it off.  I'm sick of that song and especially don't want to hear their generic house singer slaughter it."  Since it wasn't, we simply grimaced through it.

[dirtydi]

All my votes went to Wanya, just in case he was really in jeopardy.  That rendition of Paint it Black was horrible. I thought the way the announced who was going home was so rushed and awkward.  Ginger's dance did not deserve 10's and the Beyoncé group dance was so underwhelming.  You could hear the lack of enthusiasm in the audience.

[sandyskyblue]

2 minutes ago, dirtydi said:

All my votes went to Wanya, just in case he was really in jeopardy.  That rendition of Paint it Black was horrible. I thought the way the announced who was going home was so rushed and awkward.  Ginger's dance did not deserve 10's and the Beyoncé group dance was so underwhelming.  You could hear the lack of enthusiasm in the audience.

I started watching this show in its second season, some seasons were memorable, some not so much....tonite I realized that I don't give a fuck this time: paddlegate, a second time, with Nyle again, for crying out loud, really?? The show desperately seems to want us all to get on the Ginger train and I refuse, I love Val, but I want to make my own decisions, they are pushing too hard for her....too much maneuvering from TPTB....maybe by the next season in September, I will forget all this and watch again?

[RemoteControl88]

The running theme of everyone's packages this week were "we're tense...stressed out....and disappointed in our scores." I think that brought the energy down for the show overall. Anywho....the dancing:

Jodie & Keo - I am not enjoying Keo's choreo. Jodie dances well but I can't pin point what is missing and why I feel so "meh" about this partnership. 

Nyle & Peta - His bum was sticking out but I thought his upper half/frame was much better.  I was not a fan of all that pink on him though. Peta looked gorgeous. He looked like a stick of cotton candy.  Please know that I'm going straight to hell....but I cackled when Peta said..."Nyle is being super quiet this week..."

Antonio & Sharna - I have no idea how they danced. I couldn't see past the clouds of smoke....the flashlights shining directly into the camera...dark costumes with dark lighting. Too distracted by everything else to even notice the dance.

Wanya & Lindsey - It was charming. He's just SOOOO much better in the Latin dances that when he does ballroom It's not the same. Still a great dance though.

Ginger & Val - Her best dance of the season. Glad he pushed her...she needed it.  I would watch that again (and I haven't been inspired to do so for any of her other dances until this point).

Paige & Mark - I haven't been that excited about a jive since Zendaya and Val. It was that GOOD. They were out of sync during one side by side section but it wasn't too obvious. I think I really loved this dance because there was no crazy staging...or costumes...it was straight up jive and she killed it from start to finish. I'm glad they closed the show.

Team James Brown was super fun. They also had better music. Team Beyonce....the super slow section in the medley took the energy out of the routine for me. I appreciate the harder choreo for the ladies...but Team JB was fun to watch (and listen to).

Kim looked pissed off to be eliminated. Sasha should have warned her. IMO the only people who have a ticket to the finals is Wanya & Nyle. Nobody else should be shocked if they get the boot.

I was thinking that the football fans votes were cancelling each other out...but now that Antonio is on only footballer left.....he might go far.

Edited May 3, 2016 by RemoteControl88

[howmanywords]

When Kim said last week people were starting to see her as someone to watch out for I facepalmed so hard and figured she would be hit with a huge reality check when she got sent home..yep well there it was tonight. 

[babyhouseman]

I had trouble voting online, but I finally managed to vote.

I just want Paige in the finals because I want her in a freestyle with Mark. I love his creativity. 

[WhosThatGirl]

That was the first time a team dance got 8s in quite some time? Normally team dances are either in 9 and 10s, sometimes with a tie for both teams. I was surprised. The girls did underwhelm though but I can't say I expected the low score. 

I was also underwhelmed by the Ginger dance, but then I don't know- I'm not her biggest fan. Something about her just throws me off. I kind of feel the same way I felt about Bindi. Bindi who I'm sure is a lovely person but the way she was constantly praised on this show as the greatest thing ever just didn't sit right with me. It's how I feel about Ginger. 

I like Paige, though. And I like Nyle, but the fact that Bruno messed up his vote again is suspecting, I agree.

If I'm being honest, I don't know who is going to win this season or who the final three will probably most likely be. I can normally tell by this point in the show but I feel like this season is really different in that way and unpredictable. I don't really care this season. There is no one I activity do not like and no one who I am pushing to win. It's kind of a low energy season. Like, the past fall season at least I had the PenaVega married couple to laugh about it because they were SO DRAMATIC! and lasts year spring season was probably my favorite one, because I liked Rumer and it was always fun to come here and talk about that army guy remember when he asked his girlfriend to marry him like before he got his scores? Ugh. Good times. I'm just..so lukewarm on this season. I don't hate anything but I'm not in love with anything either. That's a problem, DWTS.

Edited May 3, 2016 by WhosThatGirl

[Kerri Johnson]

Damn, Carrie Ann was so disrespectful to Keo. I don't like him either but he's had a really rough season. I can't imagine Carrie Ann calling out Maks, Val or Derek that way. I thought tonight was the first night Jodie and Keo really connected and acted like a team.

I never cared much for Peta but I have really enjoyed her fierce devotion to Nyle this whole season.

Glad Von and Witney are gone. I like Witney a lot but she's been acting like a complete airhead this season. Von barely danced and never got critiqued, so it was his time to go. 

I feel differently about Paige after reading here last week about her years of dance experience.  I wish they had mentioned it on the show.

Antonio still seems upset about last week. He seemed a little cold towards Sharna.

[Mbeaker]

Interesting that both Tony & Karina, who were co-hosting All-Access, thought the women won the team dance when the prevailing sentiment online is the opposite. I'll have to watch the two dances again because, while Team Beyoncé had the more complex choreography, I didn't enjoy it much upon first viewing. 

[SophiaPehawkins]

I can see that the women had more complex choreography, but they didn't pull it off. They were obviously out of sync and there was also an obvious, at least to me, talent disparity when they danced. The men's team were smart to keep it simple and play up to all their strengths. I know that some people like it when team Beyoncé used that slow song in the middle, but I think it dragged the whole thing down. The men's team had a good energy about them.

I realize I feel about Paige the way I have past contestants like Nicole or even Bindi. They're technically sound, but I'm left feeling flat when they dance. I never get that extra "wow" factor. I sound like Carrie Ann, but I'm having a hard time putting it into words.

Edited May 3, 2016 by SophiaPehawkins
grammatical

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This made me feel really old, but when Tom reminded us that "Crazy in Love" was the first song ever used on DWTS during the first season, I already knew that. I totally remember Joey and Ashly's dance to that song!

I used to like Mandy Moore's early choreography on SYTYCD but I am tiring of the group routines she does on DWTS. I feel like they are all starting to look the same.

Why is Mark allowed to wear his stupid bandanas during the opening number? Does he really think that Bret Michaels look is a good thing? It's bad enough when he wears them during the dances with his celebs but someone needs to tell him he can't wear them during the group numbers. What if one of the female pros insisted on wearing a giant feather fascinator in every dance no matter how stupid it looked?

Erin Andrews looked terrible this week. Between the greasy slicked back hair and her basic mall dress, I was like giiiiiirl, the hair/makeup/wardrobe people must dislike you as much as I do.

I agree with Carrie Ann that Jodie seemed very light in her quickstep with Keo. She did seem much more at ease this week, despite her painful shoulders from the previous week. I love what a healthy body size/shape she has. It's always nice to see someone on the show who is obviously fit but doesn't wear a size 0.

I like Kim but she is delusional if she thinks her jive from last week deserved a 9. The judges were correct about it being low energy. Her samba this week was much better. Her energy was higher and her dancing was cleaner. The black light costumes and the backup dancers were both pointless though.

Interesting that neither Nyle nor Peta said that he was joking last week. All he said was that last week "wasn't me" and Peta said his words were taken out of context (what context would make what he said seem less cocky besides joking?). But at least he realized that he needs to watch what he says. Their foxtrot didn't impress me. I didn't think that routine deserved a 10 from Carrie Ann. I also wasn't a fan of his pink sequined costume, but I have a huge prejudice against pastel colors.

Was that lighting supposed to disguise Antonio's sloppy footwork? I'm glad that the judges mentioned it because it was pretty hard to ignore. Hated the Slytherin backup dancers during their tango.

Wanya and Lindsay's foxtrot was better than I thought it would be. His arms can sometimes get awkward and when he rushes his footwork, it can get sloppy. But he had some moments of looking really light. I think what really wins me over with his performances is that he always seems so effervescent when he's dancing. He's clearly having a good time which is important. As Jonathan said in Center Stage, I want to see the movement, not the effort behind it. On a shallow note, I thought this was the kind of set that I like. It fit the dance but it wasn't a humongous thing that became the focal point.

I didn't love Ginger's dance, but I still can't believe she had the lowest score last week. Her Janet Jackson dance was not the worst of the night. But three perfect scores tonight? Her dance wasn't THAT good.

Von and Witney's Elvis salsa was disappointing. The lifts were labored and his steps looked messy.

I was disappointed in Paige and Mark's jive. I thought she would kill it but her flicks felt lazy and there wasn't as much bounce as I expected. I respect that Mark gave her tough choreography though.

The main reason I enjoy the group celeb dances is that it's nice for the celebs to get to work together. I know it's difficult because they're all at different levels and they're not used to dealing with spacing/formations, but I like that they get to work together. The group hugs at the end make it seem worth it.

The skill level of the female celeb group is higher than the male celebs so I thought Team Beyonce had it in the bag, but their dance was just okay. I blame it on Val and Mark's crappy choreography. Team James Brown was hampered by the skill level of the male celebs, but the routine was better so props to the female pros for choreographing to the strengths of the male celebs and keeping the dance fun.

I don't care if celebs have previous dance experience. Just because they are trained in one style doesn't mean they will excel in another if they haven't done it before (which was the point of SYTYCD before they started getting all those cross trained contemporary dancers). Just because someone is good at soccer doesn't mean they'll be good at tennis, basketball, volleyball, baseball, football. And someone who knows how to play the flute won't necessarily be able to play the piano, violin, bagpipes, etc. Sure, they may have an initial advantage because they're coordinated enough to do the first thing but it doesn't always translate to being good at related areas (you should see some ballet dancers in hip hop class!).

I think Mark is an outstanding choreographer too, but Benji Schwimmer used to do that triple cartwheel often, including his audition, on SYTYCD way back on season two.  I don't know if Benji invented that move, but credit where credit is due.

As much as I love Benji, he didn't invent that move either. It's been done forever and it's pretty easy for anyone with even a small amount of dance/gymnastics training. If you can do a cartwheel, you can do a two person cartwheel. All it really takes is two people who can do cartwheels in the same direction. I've seen little kids teach themselves how to do it in a few minutes and then cartwheel across an entire field.
 

[scootypuffjr]

Thank you for the clarification.  I never get my thoughts right the first time when posting and if it was up to me, I'd keep editing forever.  I tried but then I got quoted, and it was too late. What I should have said is I doubt Benji invented that move, but I can say that Mark did not.

As a Steelers fan, I've been giving some votes to Antonio and some to Nyle.  But next week I think I'll split them between Nyle and Paige.  AB may be magic on the gridiron but not on the dance floor.   It won't count for much, but I won't give votes to someone who doesn't deserve them.

Eta - dang auto-correct!

Edited May 3, 2016 by scootypuffjr

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hee, I'm the same way with the edit button. In fact, I was trying to edit my post while you were posting (but for some reason, I couldn't save the changes). At this point, there are very few dance moves that are new! I remember when I was in high school, people used to get possessive about certain moves and I was like dude, you didn't invent that so calm down, people! With dance styles that are more codified like ballet, you can look back at older works and see that a certain move has existed for at least as long as that particular ballet has been around, but with things like a two person cartwheel, there's really no record so all you can do is troll youtube and see what you find - and even then, the bulk of what you would find for a move like that is most likely tutorials from the last 5-10 years. All I can offer is my personal experience and I know I've seen that move for decades. I have an old dance concert on VHS tape from 1991 with that double cartwheel but I know they weren't the first ones who I saw doing it either!

there's a big difference between competing for 13 years and a college dance team

While I agree that there's a difference and I concede that not everyone on a college dance team has to be a competition dancer, most college dance teams are pretty competitive to get on. I went to a D3 school that didn't even have a football team and our dance team did fouettes a la seconde and lots of things that required technical training.

ETA:

or call it "choir"...Hi Ginger!

Choir? Haha, I was in choir and I've never seen a choir dress in cropped gold sequin tops! In this Facebook post from last year, Ginger says she was on the Valparaiso dance team (and in the comments she specifies that she was on the Crusaderettes, which is the dance/pom team).

[scootypuffjr]

Heh.  I remember someone praising Michael Jackson for inventing moves that I knew Bob Fosse had done back in the day, and for all I know, he hadn't invented them either.  Nothing new under the sun, indeed - just new eyes to appreciate them, I guess.

[OakGoblinFly]

9 hours ago, blaase said:

Paige is just so much better than the other three female celebs and it showed badly.

And still I find that I can't warm up to her - I'm not surprised she's technically proficient and picks up choreography well/quickly, she does have years of dance training (albeit it NOT ballroom) which gives her a huge advantage.

 

I found her routine technically strong yet devoid of joy – I can’t quite figure out what it is about her that is a bit off-putting; I don’t actively dislike her nor do I find myself looking forward to her routines.

9 hours ago, RedFiat said:

And as far as I know, there has been no hiding of her dance background. Unlike some performers in the past, her Wiki page clearly states her dance experience. 

But the show never mentions her extensive dance background - much like they hid Riker's dance background.  

[OakGoblinFly]

8 hours ago, RedFiat said:

On a not really but sorta related topic, remembering Witney and her light up dress as Cinderella,  tonight at the Met Gala Clare Danes stole the show in Zac Posen  

Oh that is gorgeous - and she looks so regal.

[Buggin]

I'll miss Kim and Sasha and Von and Witney's partnerships but they were probably the right ones to go, although I wouldn't have minded if Antonio had gone instead. It's nice that there are no real clunkers. I'm still rooting for Wanya and Jodie most but I actually enjoy all of them so I don't really care who wins. 

And yes...Keo needs to go. I love Jodie but I really don't like him as a partner for her and yearn for what could have been with Val or Artem or just about any of the other males. 

[smiley13]

I had to laugh at Ginger's attempt at a sexy face during the team dance.  She just can't pull that off.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Jodie, on the other hand, was pulling off sexy and fierce during the group dance!

[Primetimer]

Two routines, two perfect scores, and...two eliminations.

View the full article

[TeeMo]

Overall I am really enjoying this season quite a bit but this is the first season in a long time where I haven't gone back to watch any one dance more than once. Usually there are at least two or three performances every season that I want to watch again. I guess maybe I am enjoying the overall feel of this group of contestants rather than being super impressed by any one or two of them individually. 

Paige definitely had the dance of the night but I never remember she is on the show except for the actual time she is on my TV screen dancing. 

[boyznkatz]

Wow, Ginger must not be getting the votes to get a perfect 30. The only person that deserved a 30 was Paige. Clearly, the top three are Paige, Wanya and Nyle. The fact that they keep nitpicking Nyle and Wanya probably means that they are trying to propel their ABC employee into the finals. 

And WTH with Wanya being in jeopardy?

[Vinyasa]

Quote

I don't understand how Bruno does that twice to Nyle. I don't remember them messing up with the scoring at all in the past. There's something fishy there. 

How hard is to hold up the paddle with the number you just wrote down? That "scorecard" that Tom showed looked like something from the third grade. Why do I think we will see this happen again?

Other than that, Ginger remains annoying.

[stillbored]

I enjoyed Jodie's dance and had no idea that there was lack of body contact like there was supposed to be. I did laugh at Carrie Ann telling Keo he's the one that messed up the move. I still feel like her scores didn't reflect the commentary. Often it seems like they have nothing bad to say about it and scores are only 8's, but this time they had critiques and she got 2 9's and and 8. I feel that if Jodie had been partnered with Val or Mark she would be doing much better. And Keo definitely thinks it's all about him.

The Paige/Mark jive was absolutely amazing. The cartwheel - especially with Paige in heels - was very impressive. 

I preferred the girls dance over the guys and actually didn't even notice if they were out of sync. I actually thought that they would beat the boys since I feel like 3 of the girls are very strong dancers (i know Jodie doesn't always get the scores to show that, but I blame that on Keo)

I was sad to see Kim go. But she really did seem mad and shocked that she had been eliminated, which was surprising. She must know that she wasn't the best of the bunch. 

[beverlyoc]

I just want to say how irritated I am that the icon for "I say a little prayer for you" was Aretha Franklin.  Yes, she recorded it, but Dionne Warwick (for whom Burt Bacharach wrote the song in the first place) made it a hit two years before Aretha.  Dionne is an icon as well. 

Harumphing over.  

[anonymiss]

11 hours ago, Uke said:

Interesting. Usually prepubescent dance training isn't considered much of an issue. Paige has never tried to hide the fact that her parents owned a dance studio and she trained until they sold the studio when she was 13.   She's very athletic and I'd guess that she's always been athletic which helps tremendously with competing on this show.  I'd bet most of the women who have ever been on this show have had some dance training, some more than others.   But so long as they are honest and don't hide it (or call it "choir"...Hi Ginger!), I don't see the problem.  

Riker is my most egregious with the bold-faced covering up of his history of competition and nepotic claim to fame.

As for this season, Paige is definitely one of my favorite people to watch that's ever been on the show. And the last thing I'd expect anyone to believe is that she lacks "wow factor."

Edited May 3, 2016 by anonymiss