S23.E04: Week 3

[OnceSane]

Quote

The third week of performances.

[RedFiat]

Well Monday night will be interesting.  The show will only be an hour due to the Presidential debate, so they will be doing dance offs, per Just Jared  http://www.justjaredjr.com/2016/09/22/dancing-with-the-stars-season-23-week-three-face-offs-song-dance-list-revealed/

The 12 remaining celebrities find themselves pitted against each other in a quest to keep themselves immune from elimination.

Two couples will each be tasked with dancing the same dance style, but to different songs. After each couple dances, they will receive their scores from the judges, who will comment on the highs and lows of each dance for each Face Off. The couple with the highest score will find themselves immune from elimination, but the other couple will be in jeopardy. At the end of the night, the six low scoring couples will rely on the viewers’ votes to help save them, and one of those couples will be eliminated on Tuesday night’s results show.

Here are the Face-Off Pairings, and song and dance list:

Jive – Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko –  “Too Many Fish in the Sea” by Bette Midler VS Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds & Allison Holker – “Great Gosh A’Mighty” by Little Richard

Tango - Laurie Hernandez & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – Tango – “Into the Sunset” (Headhunterz Radio Edit) by Crystal Lake featuring Kifi VS Marilu Henner & Derek Hough – “Battle Cry” by Imagine Dragons

Cha Cha – James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess – Cha Cha – “Big Trouble” by Outasight VSRyan Lochte & Cheryl Burke – Cha Cha – “If It Ain’t Love” by Jason Derulo

Viennese Waltz – Calvin Johnson Jr. & Lindsay Arnold – Viennese Waltz – “Woman’s World” by BJ The Chicago Kid VS Terra Jolé & Sasha Farber – “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls

Salsa – Maureen McCormick & Artem Chigvintsev - “Tres Deseos” (“Three Wishes”) by Gloria Estefan VS Amber Rose & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - “Booty” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Iggy Azalea

Paso Doble – Vanilla Ice & Witney Carson – “Save Tonight” by Zayde Wølf VS Rick Perry &Emma Slater – “Tamacun” by Rodrigo Y Gabriela
 
In the elimination episode on Tuesday, September 27th, Florida Georgia Line will perform their number one hits “Cruise” and “H.O.L.Y.” and Fitz and The Tantrums will perform “HandClap,” from their self-titled album. 

At the end of the night, the second elimination of the season, based on combined viewer and judges’ scores from Monday, September 26th, will take place.

Dancing with the Stars airs on Monday, September 26th and Tuesday, September 27th @ 8PM ET/PT on ABC. 

[Uke]

I wonder if a producer's fave star (or pro) isn't getting the votes expected.  Six immunities is alot - I don't see how giving immunity will save time.  They will all still dance, get judged and get scored.  The only time they're saving is the transition between one couple  and another. Yes, 2 couples get judged at the same time but they'll all still get talked about.  I expect all the dances will be really short (or shorter than they've already been shortened). All the rehearsal packages will likely get moved to Tuesday.  The canon fodder will be clearly identified.  It just seems a little mean-spirited.

[CED9]

The way a couple of them described it, Uke, is that the judges are just scoring and not commenting. Also, saw on one of their Instagram snaps that dances are 1 minute and 10 seconds.

[Packerbrewerbadger]

I think this is stupid and not really fair.  But it does assure a lesser dancer ( and a non judge favorite ) will be eliminated .   I think this gives too much power to the judges. 

[boyznkatz]

This stinks of manipulation. Some of their favorites must not be getting enough votes...James and Terra perhaps? They are both overscored, yet TPTB seem to love them. I don't care for Lochte, but he is the worst dancer next to Rick Perry. They should have gotten each other. It's not right that they have no chance, even though both of them need to go.

[LennieBriscoe]

I think VI was way underscored.

[Fostersmom]

Just popping in to say, hot damn, Amber Rose is stunningly beautiful. I've never paid her much attention, but in her practice interview, I was blown away with how pretty she is. 

[mtlchick]

Maks and Amber is probably one of the most frustrating partnerships ever.  As in "why aren't you doing better than I know both of you can be?"

The best I can say about Rick Perry: at least he can follow the beat.  He's still horrible but it counts for something. 

Laurie's "I gotta pretend like I'm smelling a good quesadilla" is hilarious.  

[Uke]

Going to zip this off really quick before the debates start.

 

Babyface:  moved small, out of sync at the beginning, Alison overdancing as usual

Jana: kicks and flicks were a mess but I think Gleb was smarter to go with a cute rather than a straightup jive.

Agree with the judges that Jana did a little better but neither was very good.

 

Rick:  I think that was called a "walk-through", though it looked like he remembered all the steps.

Vanilla:  Stompy, alot of overdancing by Witney

Disagree with the judges, I thought Rick did marginally better.

 

James:  weird music for a cha cha but I guess that was good, it all looked a little forced..

Ryan:  He looked smooth but I didn't see any hip action.

What was that 8 for??? Anyway, disagree. I thought Ryan did better.

 

Terra:  That was actually a lovely performance. Nice arm extension. Is she unable to extend her legs? If she can, I'd like to see some focus on that.

Calvin:  Not sure if Calvin lifted her off the floor, I could see her straining to keep her feet down.  Nice but Terra's was more of an accomplishment.  Disagree with the judges again.

 

Amber:  Why did Maks put a wig on her? Her buzz cut looks great on her.  Again timid and small.  Didn't really look like a salsa.

Maureen:  Good job but did she get a little lost at the end? (please keep your body aches complaints off camera!)

Agree with the judges, Maureen did better (not great, but better than Amber)

 

Laurie: I hate those lasor lights, it looked like they had flashing green lights on their shoes.  Yes she can do the moves with precision but it felt like Val was dragging her for most of the dance.

Marilu:  She looked timid at times. Did I mention how I hate those lasor lights?

Toss up. I figured Laurie would get immunity.

[smiley13]

I am glad that Calvin and Maureen are safe, but disappointed that Ryan and Rick are not.  I knew Laurie would win hers.   And I almost forgot who the other pair was, but Jana was better than Babyface.  I really do not understand why they brought Allison back as a pro.

[bantering]

I think I like the 1 hr format better. 

[sinycalone]

Thought neither Jana nor Babyface were particularly good...but I guess Jana was hair better.

Vanilla better than Rick.

While Ryan has improved, James was much better.  They underscored James/Sharna IMO.

Were Calvin and partner in hold more than 5 seconds?  Much as I like him, I thought Terra had a better performance.

Agreed with the judes...Maureen was slightly better than Amber.

Disappointed in Laurie...but still deserved the higher scores.

I felt the judges were trying too hard to keep the scores fairly close in each face-off....not justified in most cases.

[truthaboutluv]

For the second week in a row I thought James and Marilu were underscored and Laurie overscored. I didn't see any lift with Laurie so I have no idea what Carrie Ann was talking about there (much as I adore him, I thought I saw an obvious lift in Calvin and Lindsay's dance and was shocked when lift police didn't mention it) but honestly, that Tango was not that great in my opinion. It looked like Val realized she could not nail the passion needed for the dance so they went with the strategy of just go as fast as possible and power through as quickly as possible so no one will notice the frame was not so great and there was little connection between the two.

Marilu's dance wasn't perfect either and it did look like she lost a bit of the intensity mid-way through the dance but her frame alone should have guaranteed at least a damn tie. And I continue to be baffled by James' scores. Yes, I wish Sharna had laid off all the grinding and added more Cha Cha walks and turns but that's not James' fault. I thought he had really good hip action, nice leg extensions, great posture...I don't get it. I'm already meh about the season as it is and this isn't helping.

Quote

I didn't miss the judge's comments this time around. It felt nice to have a tightly packaged hour full of content and not much faffing about. I'm sure they'll all speak at length during the results show tomorrow and I'll have to suffer through more of Bruno being Bruno.

It was the best part of the night for me and made think, "oh if only..." No judges rambling, no troupe (other than that mess that I would like to ignore and judging by his face, so did Tom) - oh it was a perfect show. Well other than the stupid scoring.

Edited September 27, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Callaphera]

Props to the costume/wardrobe department this week. I thought Emma's dress was absolutely gorgeous (I'm a sucker for black/white contrast) and Lindsay's dress looked beautiful on her. Also a shoutout to the hair and makeup department because that dark brown hair on Amber Rose looked great. I honestly didn't even recognize her for half the show until I put two and two together and realized that Maks hadn't suddenly gotten a new partner.

Aside from that, I have no idea who James Hinchcliffe is but I support my fellow Canadian and he's surprisingly good and entertaining. Plus he's with Sharna and I love Sharna. 

I didn't miss the judge's comments this time around. It felt nice to have a tightly packaged hour full of content and not much faffing about. I'm sure they'll all speak at length during the results show tomorrow and I'll have to suffer through more of Bruno being Bruno.

[SpikeGal]

Can there be a debate every week? LOL! The show in my opinion was...vastly improved by not having the judges talk!

I can't believe I'm typing this, but...I actually think Rick was GOOD tonight! I never would have believed it, but he has the makings of being in this thing for a long time! True, he probably won't win,. but he's really improving, and it's obvious he's having a lot of fun! I really enjoyed his dance tonight!

 

Don;t worry. Laurie. I'm in my 30's and I still sleep with a stuffed Kirara my best friend gave me for my birthday! :)

Edited September 27, 2016 by SpikeGal

[smiley13]

It is a shame that James has Sharna.  He could have been good without her saddling him with her bump and grind routine. 

Amber's performance was a mess.  I find it humorous that the great Maks is not fairing so well with her.  Isn't this two dances now that they have put wigs on her?

[SpikeGal]

1 minute ago, smiley13 said:

It is a shame that James has Sharna.  He could have been good without her saddling him with her bump and grind routine. 

Amber's performance was a mess.  I find it humorous that the great Maks is not fairing so well with her.  Isn't this two dances now that they have put wigs on her?

I find it humerous that The Great Derek a.k.a. Golden Boy, is NOT getting the top of the Leader Board with Marilu. Guess he can't work his magic on somewhat older people after all! LOL!

[LexieLily]

Out of the six that are in jeopardy, I think it's between Rick/Ryan/Amber for elimination.

[truthaboutluv]

I honestly am trying to remember if Maks was always so "on the nose" in his performances. Okay, the producers give them Booty to dance to because of course they did. But Maks could have still delivered a traditional looking Salsa, complete with traditional Salsa costume, instead of that cheap looking J-Lo knockoff video performance they did tonight. 

[BW Manilowe]

4 minutes ago, Callaphera said:

Props to the costume/wardrobe department this week. I thought Emma's dress was absolutely gorgeous (I'm a sucker for black/white contrast) and Lindsay's dress looked beautiful on her. Also a shoutout to the hair and makeup department because that dark brown hair on Amber Rose looked great. I honestly didn't even recognize her for half the show until I put two and two together and realized that Maks hadn't suddenly gotten a new partner.

Aside from that, I have no idea who James Hinchcliffe is but I support my fellow Canadian and he's surprisingly good and entertaining. Plus he's with Sharna and I love Sharna. 

I didn't miss the judge's comments this time around. It felt nice to have a tightly packaged hour full of content and not much faffing about. I'm sure they'll all speak at length during the results show tomorrow and I'll have to suffer through more of Bruno being Bruno.

James Hinchcliffe is an IndyCar race driver. He almost died following a crash in practice for the Indianapolis 500 on May 18, 2015, but he came back to win the pole position at this year's Indianapolis 500.

[truthaboutluv]

10 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Out of the six that are in jeopardy, I think it's between Rick/Ryan/Amber for elimination.

My guess is Amber's going to get eliminated. Rick will probably be like Bristol Palin and overstay his welcome and I think while Ryan may not have the biggest fanbase, his fans are probably motivated voters, which is a big deal with the show. It's why the younger social media celebrities can go home early even if they have these huge followings, because these people don't vote. Or hey, maybe it'll be Marilu and Derek can have his earliest exit in the history of the show and the confetti can be thrown in celebration.

Edited September 27, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[LexieLily]

So they are full on going the showmance route with Jana and Gleb, aren't they? That's kind of gross considering they are both married.

[SpikeGal]

15 minutes ago, Callaphera said:

 

I didn't miss the judge's comments this time around. It felt nice to have a tightly packaged hour full of content and not much faffing about. I'm sure they'll all speak at length during the results show tomorrow and I'll have to suffer through more of Bruno being Bruno.

They should do this more often! Can there be a debate every week? LOL!

[Callaphera]

7 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

James Hinchcliffe is an IndyCar race driver. He almost died following a crash in practice for the Indianapolis 500 on May 18, 2015, but he came back to win the pole position at this year's Indianapolis 500.

Yeah, I understood that much (though not the crashing bit). Just not an Indy fan hence my "no idea who he is". If he was a hockey player or something like that, I would know him. But still, liking him in this show. Not enough to make me watch a car race, though. 

[smiley13]

I would only vote for this format if they get rid of the seemingly rigged "immunity" stuff.  They still could have just counted the scores normally.

[truthaboutluv]

2 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

So they are full on going the showmance route with Jana and Gleb, aren't they? That's kind of gross considering they are both married.

Wait, did I miss something? I did mention feeling uncomfortable with their backstage footage last week because it felt like the producers were skirting just this close to it, but I didn't notice anything tonight. Oh and Jana is actually separated - from her THIRD husband. So yes, she's been married three times at the age of 32. 

[McManda]

Amber is a surprisingly timid dancer. I wouldn't have guessed that just based on the fact that she seems so confident off the dance floor. 

I'm confused with some of the choices in music. It seems like the couple with the "traditional" music has an advantage. Like, Rick's paso to Tamacun was going to have an advantage over Ice's to Save Tonight. Just like Amber's salsa to Booty was going to have a hard time going up against Maureen's more traditional Tres Deseos. I actually preferred the more traditional dances over whatever was put together for the less traditional songs.

[SpikeGal]

5 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

 Rick will probably be like Bristol Palin and overstay his welcome and I think while Ryan may not have the biggest fanbase, his fans are probably motivated voters, which is a big deal with the show. It's why the younger social media celebrities can go home early even if they have these huge followings, because these people don't vote. Or hey, maybe it'll be Marilu and can Derek can have his earliest exit in the history of the show and the confetti can be thrown in celebration.

At least Rick is enjoying himself and having fun, unlike Bristol was. (what was that girl DOING up there every week?!)

Oh man, I would LOVE to see that!! And I hope to be the first one to throw the confetti! Ya should have stayed on Broadway, Derek!

[smiley13]

1 minute ago, truthaboutluv said:

Wait, did I miss something? I did mention feeling uncomfortable with their backstage footage last week because it felt like the producers were skirting just this close to it, but I didn't notice anything tonight. Oh and Jana is actually separated - from her THIRD husband. So yes, she's been married three times at the age of 32. 

I did not see anything inappropriate between them, but maybe I wasn't paying close attention.

[dirtydi]

I hate the jive.  Only a handful of celebrities (ex Lisa Rinna, Nicole S) pull it off.  Leave it to the pros.  I want Rick or Amber to go.  Throwing my votes to Babyface. One stiff dance shouldn't be the end. Amber should be moving better.  I am always surprised by her sloppiness.

[SanLynn]

Didn't there use to be a time on this show where there was a difference between an assisted jump and an actual lift? I'm almost sure I remember a time when there was. Maybe I imagined it. Or I'm confused and it was Ice Dancing..... In other news my brain is shot tonight clearly. LOL

That wasn't Laurie's best dance but IMO it was better than Marilu so I'm glad she got immunity.

Since she's not in danger most of my votes will go to Babyface. I really enjoyed him tonight.

Take away the immunity and keep the 1 hour format. It's much nicer to watch when I don't have to listen to the judges except for scoring.

And get rid of the two hour results show for pittie's sake!! I can't wait until that thing is gone and the "regular" Tuesday night line comes back. Hope that's next week!

Edited September 27, 2016 by SanLynn

[mrsmit7]

overall I liked the 1 hour format...solely because it meant less nonsensical judges yabbering

Jana vs Babyface: I expected more from both of them. Babyface was too timid and jana was just sloppy. didn't really care who won

Rick vs V. Ice: Both had Paso's for elementary kids, but I would have given it to Rick for Emma making it look like a identifiable paso. Witney overdanced V. Ice and I don't think he did much...still really like him though, so not mad with him getting immunity

James v Ryan: this was the most lopsided of match ups to begin with. James started off kinda stiff and suspect, but turned out being a pretty fun and good cha cha by the end, wouldn't have given it that 8 though. Ryan started off decent, but it went downhill from there with Cheryl just completing the dance while he stood still.

Terra vs Calvin: this was the first duel where I liked both of the dances, but I would give it to Calvin because I feel like he had more difficult choreo. I he really shines in ballroom.

Maureen vs Amber: I was rooting for Amber but she is just too freakin timid and small of a dancer, and I don't have much hope of a breakout week anymore. I mean if she couldn't break out with a salsa to big booty, she just cant. Maureen was surprisingly decent, she fell apart a little at the end, but all together did a simple but efficient salsa.

Laurie vs Marilu: Laurie had some moments of shoulder hunching that val will have to nip in the bud in the future, but I thought this was easily the best dance of the night (although not better than her cha cha). Ironically Marilu & Derek had more issues with their frame, when I thought it would be Laurie & Val, you could drive a truck between the two of them, and Marilu kept doing this strange thing with her neck that looked really weird. Overall I thought Marilu was decent, but I feel as if I keep expecting more from her and derek.

[Princt1]

Nice to finally find Derek, and always fun to see Max, riding horses that are difficult to whip into contention!

Great to follow a couple of fine choreographers and nice folks--Linds and Sash--who get to show us their talents once again!

[McManda]

17 minutes ago, SanLynn said:

Didn't there use to be a time on this show where there was a difference between an assisted jump and an actual lift? I'm almost sure I remember a time when there was.

It was defined in the show once as something that a dancer couldn't do on his/her own. Which I thought was a dumb distinction (who can drag themselves along the floor, for example), but it turns out it didn't matter anyway because Carrie Ann then took off a point for a lift that was basically Edyta doing a handstand in Cameron Mathison's lap. 

Basically a lift is whatever Carrie Ann feels like should be a lift on any particular day.

[spanana]

This season is weird.  Laurie is still bar none the best dancer even when she's not excellent. I'm still waiting for a real breakout moment from her.  I think she's capable of more than we've seen so far.  In another season she would have real competition, but this field is pretty weak that she can kind of coast on good and that is good enough.  Though I expect her breakout will be memorable year with some sort of contemporary.

At this rate I think it's going to be Laurie, Calvin and James in the finale.

Most even battle was probably Calvin versus Terra.  Amber is by far the biggest disappointment of the season for me.

Edited September 27, 2016 by spanana

[Ripley68]

Sharna and race car drivers chemistry was off the charts tonight.  Loved Emmas dress.  Amber is a really beautiful woman.  It looked like Whitney made some mistakes, not Vanilla Ice. I voted for Rick (I love that he wants to be there and is having fun), The little person (she really is a lovely dancer) and I forget who else.  I"m really horrible with names.  Amber is way too timid and really should be next to go, though I like both her and Max.

[MsJamieDornan]

Sharna looked messy tonight. I'm not sure how else to decribe it.

I really thought Amber would be a better dancer. I'm not impressed with Marilu either, I thought she would be able to move better than she has.

Edited September 27, 2016 by MsJamieDornan

[RemoteControl88]

3 hours ago, bantering said:

I think I like the 1 hr format better. 

I made us all realize how much "noise" is used to fill up the 2 hours. 

[RemoteControl88]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

So they are full on going the showmance route with Jana and Gleb, aren't they? That's kind of gross considering they are both married.

The choreographed boob grab by Gleb was vomit inducing.  Why are you trying to sex up a JIVE??? 

[missysays]

James continues to impress me week after week! The man intuitively understands what needs to be done in a dance and somehow is able to come out with it even when it's not natural to him. He is able to sense where he needs to be technically and also emotionally to make the performance spark. And above all- he somehow knows how to emotionally lead Sharna in the dances. I think he is the first celeb dance partner she's had who is her emotional equal. Plus, he's getting better technically each week. The couple turn that he had to do was so much smoother this week in comparison to week 1.  He's amazing and I love to watch their chemistry together.

I can see how Laurie won her matchup with Marilu but I'm not ready to give up on Marilu just yet. Last week in that Taxi foxtrot she made the most beautiful shapes- the way she angled her head, legs. Just gorgeous! And the music was soft and subtle enough that it allowed her room to breathe and show off her lines. This week the beginning of the dance in that spotlight was actually nice but then the music sped up and became too fast for her. Derek really needs to be smarter in selecting music for her and giving her pieces that allow her to show off what she does best- showing off her gorgeous posture and stretched legs. She's never going to place above Laurie if she's trying to fight her in the power and drive department. They need to be more strategic in their music and choreographic choices. Derek has the creativity to give Marilu intricate and interesting moves.

Those two are my favorite so far.

Edited September 27, 2016 by missysays

[majormama]

My complaint with Witney's choreo has always been that she throws too much of a hip hop flavor into every single dance. I hate hip hop. Haaaaate it. Oddly, I didn't mind it with Alfonso who, one, was a "hip hop flavor" kind of guy and, two, had the talent to pull off the fusion really well. (Well enough that three of his dances are in my Top Ten Favorite Ever.) It hasn't fit well with her other partners. And even though Vanilla Ice is a rapper with hip hop background, he just doesn't have the talent for the fusion. While I don't think he'll ever be great, IMO he'd be better if she left out the hip hop moves and just taught him ballroom/latin.

Jana and Gleb's dance wasn't as straight up sex this time, but it was still plenty flirty. Him blowing kisses off stage, the boob grab, punishing him for his misdeeds....tacky.

That's all I got for now. May have more thoughts when I rewatch the dances tomorrow.

[stcroix]

LOVE this format and wish they would keep it!  Very tight show. Loved having just Tom being the host-- even tho I don't mind Erin, I think she gets too 'talky' at times when they're up on the upper level and drags the show down.  Just get to the scores.  And ANYTHING that keeps the judges remarks to a bare minimum is a win for me.  Much less audience screaming = win!  And looooove the traditional music and choreography that is more traditional and not just a lot of jazz-freestyle-whatever with a few of the actual dance moves thrown in.  I really was enjoying watching a few yrs back when I started to realize how much I was learning when watching the show and could identify the moves in the dances and even critique them!  That was fun.  I don't need to watch So You Think You Can Dance with a few real moves in to appease Len.  A good night  :)

[tearbender]

This is one of these weird seasons where I think the competition would be tighter if some of the pairings had been assigned differently. Laurie/Val, Rick/Emma, Ryan/Cheryl and Terra/Sasha are all just well matched, IMO. I suspect Derek is actually just fine with a midseason exit, hence the "surprise return" and Marilu. I think Vanilla Ice, Babyface and Amber have potential, but I've nearly given up hope of their pros helping them to improve their dancing.

I often find that a many Maks' partnerships suffer from high expectations. In some way, I think the show has constantly been trying to replicate the success he had with Laila Ali and Mel B., and to a lesser extent Kirstie Alley. On paper, Maks and Amber should be a great, fun pairing, but for the things they have in common, I wonder if Amber needs more of a nurturing partner than Maks is capable of being. The issue is if not Maks, then who would be best for Amber? Perhaps Tony if he was here this season but his choreography would probably still hold Amber back.

I wonder if there will be a four person finale this season? I see Laurie, Calvin and James as the Top 3, but the fourth slot is up in the air at this point.

[SpikeGal]

43 minutes ago, stcroix said:

LOVE this format and wish they would keep it!  Very tight show. Loved having just Tom being the host-- even tho I don't mind Erin, I think she gets too 'talky' at times when they're up on the upper level and drags the show down.  Just get to the scores.  And ANYTHING that keeps the judges remarks to a bare minimum is a win for me. 

AMEN!!

Geez...I didn't even know Erin was gone! LOL!

1 hour ago, RemoteControl88 said:

I made us all realize how much "noise" is used to fill up the 2 hours. 

Wait till tomorrow, my friend. They will MORE than make up for it. I plan to skip the first hour entirely. (learned my lesson the first time!)

[PBGamer89]

I think the face offs made people nervous and for some reason I think the level of dancing suffered because of it.

Laurie was the only real standout. Giving Jana the Jive while healing from a rib injury seemed cruel but I liked seeing a different, less sexy vibe from her.

I think the judges didn't give Amber enough credit for having her best dance. She actually had a few good basic Salsa in there. I hope she stays because Rick or Ryan need to go.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

OMG, is a hellacious Presidential debate what it took to get DWTS to finally rid us of the judges' constant hyperbole and useless "interviews" with Erin? I am dreading the results of this election, but I love that we got a one hour episode with basically just dancing and scores. I don't want the country to be subjected to Trumpy vs HRC every week but it damn if it didn't force DWTS to suck way less than usual. I also like the face off format so that we can compare how two contestants do in the same style. I agree that pairing them up and giving one couple immunity and putting the other in danger gives the judges too much power so I wouldn't want to see that every week. On the other hand, it lets people like me vote more strategically (this week I didn't use any votes on Laurie so I was able to give more votes to other contestants).

Between Babyface/Allison and Jana/Gleb, I agree with the judges. Gleb gave Jana more jive content and she was slightly better than Babyface. Of course, you might not be able to tell since the camerawork during Jana's routine was so terrible. First we got completely blinded by the lights and then production decided that we needed to see closeups of Jana's frozen open mouthed expression. I guess Gleb was going for cutesie but slightly dirty with all of the fake boob grabbing and flipping up the back of her skirt at him, but it seemed in poor taste.

I don't know what to think about the Vanilla Ice/Rick Perry Texas boys bromance. I thought it was silly for Rick to say that if the military can keep going when they're injured then he can too. First of all, Rick is not in a combat situation so it's not necessary for him to keep going if he's hurt. Secondly, taking a break to make sure you aren't seriously injured is the smart thing to do. And thanks for showing us a slow motion close up of his ankle, DWTS! Emma's choreography was smart and used the music well. Yes, it was a lot of posing and slow walking, but it seemed pretty clear that if she had made it any more complicated, he wouldn't have been able to do the steps. At least with the dumbed down choreography, he was able to do the steps on the beat.

Oh, Witney. I am okay with Vanilla Ice now knowing what language paso doble is, but Witney? Come on, girl. Can someone please ban Vanilla Ice from wearing baseball caps as part of his costumes for the rest of the season? I didn't think that Witney's choreography was much better, but it was marginally better and had slightly more paso content so I gave the win to Vanilla Ice. I know Tom explained that in the event of a tie, Len would be the deciding vote but I think that should be based solely upon what score Len already gave. Letting him actually decide after the scores is like giving Len two votes.

James and Sharna's cha cha seemed like way too much wasted time for at least half of the routine. He has shown himself to be decently coordinated so I wish she would have given him more cha cha content. But compared to Ryan/Cheryl, James did way more cha cha. I went back and rewatched both routines and just watched the men's feet. Ryan's basically didn't move for the first 30 seconds. He stood and then he walked a few steps. In terms of execution, James was obviously much better than Ryan's stompy feet so I totally agreed with the judges (except for the fact that Len gave Ryan a 7 - WTF, Len?).

A+ to Sasha for choreographing a routine full of waltzing (instead of all the time wasting/posing that we get in too many routines) AND for starting the dancing almost right away. I know the bar is set really low for both of those things, but I appreciate the fact that he did that. The camera people, on the other hand, are still on my shit list. I don't think I'm asking for much when I want to see a contestant's feet while she's dancing. Framing the shot so that I can only see her from the knee up when she's wearing a long dress is just stupid. From what I could see, it looked like Terra did a good job with the material. Lindsay has the same problem that Allison has - she choreographs to showcase herself and show off her skills instead of her partner. I get the time wasting stuff when your partner is not a good dancer, but Calvin seemed okay enough that she didn't need to do that but she still did.

Every week, I expect Amber to come out and be a badass dancer with sass but every week I end up seeing what looks like a mediocre dance recital performance from a girl whose mom makes her take dance class but she doesn't mind because her friends are in class and dancing is okay (but if she quit dance, she would never regret it). She's the girl who mostly learns the choreography so she doesn't look totally lost, but she gets put in the back row of the formations because she has weak arms, no performance skills, and always looks like she's marking. This was definitely her best dance so far (which isn't saying much since it's only the third week).

Usually I base my votes entirely on the celeb's dance ability, but I have to admit that I want Maureen to stay partly because I like her, partly because I don't think she's the worst one left at this point, and partly because I want Artem to continue working with her. I loved him on SYTYCD and I really like his partnership with Maureen. It seems like he knows when to be tough with her and demand more from her as well as when to be gentle and more nurturing with her. Artem gave her a much more traditional salsa and I think she was okay. Her dance and performance skills are not at the level of Laurie or James so it's highly unlikely that she'll get to the finals, but I'd rather see her stay over Ryan, Rick, and Vanilla Ice.

I appreciate that Laurie and Val are aware of her age and trying to stay age appropriate. When the DWTS person said that her costume would be like lingerie, the look on her face combined with Val's crack ("Lingerie? That's French for trouble") made me glad that even though they aren't going to go overboard with keeping things age appropriate (unlike that Duck Dynasty chick who mentioned it every fucking week because her daddy wouldn't approve of this or that), they're still acknowledging it.

I hate those lasor lights, it looked like they had flashing green lights on their shoes.

Ha, I thought the same thing too! I actually wondered for the first few seconds if they had lights on their shoes (which reminded me of the shoes Prince had!). The camera work was terrible during Laurie's tango and I feel like it was because the camera people wanted to show off the lasers more than the dancers.

Marilu's tango was very elegant and restrained, but I can see why the judges have Laurie slightly higher scores.

Didn't there use to be a time on this show where there was a difference between an assisted jump and an actual lift? I'm almost sure I remember a time when there was.

It was defined in the show once as something that a dancer couldn't do on his/her own. Which I thought was a dumb distinction (who can drag themselves along the floor, for example), but it turns out it didn't matter anyway because Carrie Ann then took off a point for a lift that was basically Edyta doing a handstand in Cameron Mathison's lap. 

Basically a lift is whatever Carrie Ann feels like should be a lift on any particular day.

Over the years, Carrie Ann has defined a lift however it suits her when she wants to deduct a point. I remember she once said it was whenever both feet left the floor and I was like bitch, please, that's called a leap. And if that definition is to be followed, then a partner cartwheel could be considered a lift since both feet leave the floor. If you go by the definition that it's something a dancer couldn't do on his/her own, I guarantee you that Laurie can do a tour jete without anyone touching her because she has had similar leaps in her floor and beam routines.

[renatae]

I sure loved the break from all the lame interviews by Erin, especially, also the too-lengthy critiques by the judges, and even some of the "get to know the stars" intros to the dances. Wow - they actually can streamline when they want! It would be great if they would alternate formats like this with the regular format. I like getting to know the contestants, and I often learn things about them that makes them more likeable. I like to hear the judges to some extent, especially when their comments help me learn more about dance. But, boy, it just goes on and on so often that I get very impatient. Tonight was a breath of fresh air!

[Primetimer]

But the other time-saving measure has the judges giving scores without critiques, which are fairly meaningless.

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[OakGoblinFly]

I don't know what it is about this season, but I find my interest really waning.  I think it's the contestants; I don't find any of them truly engaging, and while a few are some what likable, I don't find myself actively rooting for them. 

 

I don't know what it is about the race car driver, to me he comes across as smarmy and a bit creepy.  I haven't enjoyed any of his dances nor do I like the person that is presented in the pre-dance packages.

 

Most of the dances were extremely underwhelming; also I think we can see who the powers that be want in the show based on who "won" the immunity (the exception being Maureen who I thought was vastly stronger (both in content and technique) than Amber Rose (which is a shame because she is such a lovely person).  And as an aside, how adorable was her outfit; sassy, lots of movement, and a gorgeous color.; I thought Maureen looked stunning last night and the most relaxed and comfortable since the competition began.

 

I 'm glad that Amber Rose finally appeared to enjoy herself in a routine; too bad the routine was not very good (I blame Maks).  

 

I loved Emma's dress - hated her routine.  I don't remember either of the Paso Doble routines.

 

I think Allison and Gleb let their celebrity partner down with terrible choreography; and what the heck was Jana wearing on her feet?  Those shoes made her look downright clunky (the rest of the outfit was adorable).

 

Did either male perform any Cha Cha Cha?  It looked like a lot of twirling, posing, and hip shaking by Sharna and Cheryl and very little actual dance by the men.  Color me surprised that race car drive beat swimmer.  NOT!! 

 

I thought Terra's waltz was lovely; I especially thought the parts where Sasha leaned town so their foreheads were touching was especially effective.  Calvin's dance appeared to be a bit more dramatic and flashy and I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Terra's (which I thought had a nice blend of content, flow, and just a little vulnerability).

 

The two tangos were the strongest dances of an overall weak night.  I'm glad that Lori was able to channel her "serious" side and thought she did well enough.  I really liked Derek's choreography more than I did Val's.  And holy cow, that opening move by Marilu!