S23.E06: Week 4

[OnceSane]

Quote

The fourth week of performances.

[RedFiat]

http://www.justjaredjr.com/tags/dancing-with-the-stars/

The Cirque is coming to Dancing With The Stars!

On next week’s episode, Cirque du Soleil will invade the ballroom floor on Monday (October 3rd).

Each couple will perform a dance inspired by a Cirque du Soleil show, while Cirque du Soleil acrobats, aerialists, dancers and fire stick performers perform alongside them.

The couples dance to such Cirque du Soleil shows as KÀ, Zumanity, KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities, PARAMOUR, Michael Jackson ONE, “O,” The Beatles LOVE, Mystère andLa Nouba. See the full list below:

Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds & Allison Holker – The Beatles LOVE

Marilu Henner & Derek Hough - KÀ – Paso Doble
Laurie Hernandez & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – Michael Jackson ONE
James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess – PARAMOUR
Calvin Johnson Jr. & Lindsay Arnold – KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities
Terra Jolé & Sasha Farber – “O” – Samba
Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko – The Beatles LOVE
Ryan Lochte & Cheryl Burke – ”O”
Maureen McCormick & Artem Chigvintsev – Mystère
Amber Rose & Maksim Chmerkovskiy – Zumanity
Vanilla Ice & Witney Carson – La Nouba

No couples will be eliminated on this episode.  

On the results show on Tuesday (October 4), DNCE will perform their new single, “Body Moves,” and there will be an all-male dance number in which the male pros of “Dancing with the Stars” perform to the song “Ain’t No Sunshine.” In addition, Derek will choreograph and dance to a special number.  

At the end of the night, the third elimination of the season, based on combined viewer and judges’ scores from October 3, will take place.

[Packerbrewerbadger]

I'm glad Len won't have sit thru this!  I'm not looking forward to it either.......

[McManda]

Laurie is Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, and apparently, the queen of the ballroom. ... and her closest competition gets a 25 (oh kidding, they had to give James a 28 so it looks like they've upbut given up on this competition already.) I'd be more excited for Laurie if I cared at all about this season anymore. But really, the way they're idolizing her is getting to Bindi-levels of annoying. 

My cable was sketchy throughout the show, so I got a lot of pixely, choppy dances, so that didn't help the already meh feeling that I had about the Cirque theme on top of the mostly indifference I feel towards these contestants. Plus, the troupe isn't enough? We need random Cirque dancers in all the routines?

Let's see ... everybody before Ryan was so choppy and pixely that I'll have to wait for videos online.

 I did feel bad for Babyface for screwing up. On one hand he seems like a really great and humble guy, but on the other he's got the short end of the stick partner wise. 

Ryan bores me. Ice seems to be getting better each week. James is my favorite by a mile. I love how he's basically up for anything and can neatly pull it off. 

Best part of the night: Sharna has resurrected the sparkly dress from her quickstep with Nick Carter except this time in red. It's slinky and glittery and looks like water and I wish I could pull off a dress like that. #actualJessicaRabbit 

[spanana]

Can we just fast forward to the finale?  James, Calvin and Laurie.  Calling it now.  The only way Laurie doesn't win is if she manages to hurt herself on tour.  Though while I'm glad Val didn't rely on Laurie's gymnastics this week and she is easily the best dancer, she also had the only non-ballroom assignment.  Which I'm sure was of zero coincidence.

Is anyone else on this show?  I like Ice.  Terra is doing pretty well.

Edited October 4, 2016 by spanana

[LexieLily]

Amber is a drama queen that I believe deliberately chose to misinterpret what she heard Julianne say and she can leave hopefully in this double elimination. I noticed that Peta wasn't too happy with Amber in the backstage footage from last week. Lol

[mtlchick]

Random thoughts!

 

I give credit to Amber for offering an apology.  I roll my eyes that Julianne didn't offer an apology or at least explain why she was "uncomfortable."  (I thought the dance last week was tame and weak of content but nothing major.)  But tonight?  I want to take up smoking after their number.  They FINALLY pulled off something that they should have been doing since week 1.

 

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.  Stop crying at EVERYTHING.  I would almost hold a Free Artem sign but it almost felt like Lea part 2.

Ryan is...improving.  Colour me (happily) surprised.  

Babyface is a nice guy but still horrible.  Colour me not surprised given his partner.  

Laurie's routine was great and 10 worthy but at the same time it's one of those "How badly can you actually screw this up with a contestant like her?"

James and Calvin are the ones battling for runner up right now with James having a slight edge.  

Finally a happy Sasha reminds me a lot of Chris Colfer. It only took me two years.

Edited October 4, 2016 by mtlchick

[Uke]

I love Cirque Du Soleil but it seems they were only there to distract. Anyway, here goes:

Calvin:  Wow! Very entertaining.  Great footwork and pretty much in sync and he always seemed in control.  Still a little hunched in the shoulders but otherwise, great job.  7? Nah, should have been all 8s and I wouldn't have minded one 9.  That was alot of footwork and challenging choreo.

Maureen:  Artem had a couple snapchats this week expressing his frustration. Is he over all this? Or is she really that difficult?   I think she danced well.  Footwork, intensity, frame, etc. were all there but during judging, she really looked very very stressed.  I'll agree with the scores. Hated the "redbird" doing flips all during the dance.

Jana:  I'm not so sure I liked that - it seemed very repetitive. It was ok I guess. I did see 2 small stumbles.  This gal can dance but she's not letting go or she isn't fully committed or something isn't clicking, not sure what.  Scores are ok, maybe 1 point too high.

Marilu:  This started a little low energy, like she was going through the steps but had no feeling but she did  pick it up midway through.  At times it looked like Derek was dragging her through it.  Agree with the scores.  It seems like I've seen this choreo/theme from Derek before though I think Alan or Dennis throwing the flag at the end was different.

Amber:  It was nice that Amber apologized if she misunderstood Julianne. It would have been nice if Julianne had also apologized for saying something that sounded like shaming. But. That ain't gonna happen.  Anyway, Amber looked much more confident.  Agree with the scores.

Ryan:  Beautiful job and he looks so much more relaxed and happy. Underscored. Should have been all 8s.

Babyface:  That was odd. I guess the emphasis was to hit all the spotlights?  It sounded like Allison was blaming Babyface (and he was blaming himself).  But beyond the lights, the choreo was awful. If I didn't know it was a tango, I'm not sure I'd have been able to identify it.  Agree with the scores unfortunately.

Terra:  Good job! She really got the beat and that samba bounce going (which many stars over the seasons don't get).  A little hesitation here and there but overall a darn good job.  8s I agree with, the 9 was too much.

Laurie:  she nailed it but can't say the same for Val (he just doesn't have the funk).  I don't know what dance it was supposed to be but, yes, that was a perfect 10 dance. Good on Val for giving a shout out re the choreography.

Vanilla:  got distracted and missed it.

James:  When dancing with the troupe he was either slightly ahead or slightly behind.  Much better when just dancing with Sharna.  It was good but CAI and Julianne were really effusive in their praise.   Scores waaaay too high. I would have given all 8s or maybe one 9.

[sinycalone]

Yes, Laurie put on a great performance....but I felt like I was watching a music video not any kind of pairing of two dancers.

I saw no flaw in James' quickstep...he seemed to admit it, but it had to be something nearly invisible.  Loved the choreo -- and his total performance.  Sharna and he bring out the best in each other, IMO.

Calvin very good; Vanilla Ice and Ryan both improved a lot.  Thought they overscored Jana and Terra.  Amber was also improved...but it wasn't great;.

I think Babyface is the next to be eliminated.

[spanana]

6 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Amber is a drama queen that I believe deliberately chose to misinterpret what she heard Julianne say and she can leave hopefully in this double elimination. I noticed that Peta wasn't too happy with Amber in the backstage footage from last week. Lol

I disagree. I actually thought the show put Amber on the spot tonight in a very uncomfortable way.  It's almost like the show called Amber out while standing in front of Julianne, to the point that she had really no choice to apologize to save face.  It was a very weird moment all around.  It seemed like it was designed to make Amber look like a big old cry baby and Julianne of course had to offer up no explanation.  This is the same woman that thought blackface was okay only a few short years ago.  I'm not going to pretend like Jules always knows where to draw the line.

Do I think Amber maybe overreacted to the comment?  Maybe.  But her feelings are valid and she's not required to apologize for them on national television as if she did something wrong.

[peach]

I thought I was going to hate this theme, but ended up really enjoying it.

Laurie brought me 80's joy, and I didn't want it to end, so I think she deserved all the praise.

James blew me away, however!  Also, he kind of reminds me of a happy, dancing Rick Grimes.  Or like, Rick Grimes' brother.  lol

Ryan was better this week.  I agree with the comment that he was really dancing this time.

[LotusFlower]

Allison is horrible.  Yes, Babyface screwed up, but the pros are supposed to be positive and support their partners, and she instead had a stank face and acted as if it was a tragedy.  Derek, too, seemed pretty irritated (probably shocked he's not a front runner, for once), but it was mild compared to Allison.

[McManda]

I can't blame Babyface for the sucky dance. The whole thing looked like Allison just pulling him around to the spotlights.

Has she ever had to deal with a celeb that just ... wasn't a dancer, despite all his trying? Ryker was a gimme and Andy Grammer had potential she couldn't really tap into that well. 

[RedFiat]

Wow James and Sharna was incredible!  All the freaking work he had to do.  What a gorgeous Quickstep.  Sharna looked ravishing! So glad he got a 10.  Well deserved. This guy is amazing. He has never danced, much less singing!  So he did a little bauble.  That was a show stopper, worthy of a Freestyle .  28

I expected Laurie and Val to do well she was born to it.  She will probably be on the tour.  Interestingly there was not a lot in the way of gymnastics, they left that to the side dancers.  So they did go full on jazz and she was very strong, I would have liked even a bit more commitment to the movement, some of her arm motions were not finished, but it was certainly in it's own class.  30 first perfect of the season

Terra and Sasha were awesome. That was a content rich Samba and she coped amazingly well.  That girl has amazing musicality. 24

I loved the choreography from Gleb for the Here Comes The Sun Foxtrot and I thought Jana did very well, again a lot of content to cope with. 23

I thought the Paso from Derek was a bit of a let down.  I thought there was too much reliance on flags and capes and not enough focus on the celebrity.  I can see why Marilu is frustrated.  Less is more. 21

The two Viennese Waltz were similar , but I thought Ice hit his marks stronger than Ryan.  I did like Cheryl's choreography better than Witney.  22

I felt for Babyface, I wished that Allison would edit the choreography more, that was just a lot of extraneous stuff  (spot lights) that he could not cope with. 18

I quite enjoyed the Argentine Tango from Maureen and Artem.  Again it is a bit careful, but everything was finished 24

Maks and Amber had an eye opening Argentine Tango, and I thought she did fairly well.  I would have appreciated more sharpness especially on the footwork. It looked hap hazard and lazy,  24

Calvin and Lindsay had a great fun dance, impressive lifts, but that was a swing, I did not see any Charleston.  23

Who is going home - probably Babyface, but I have no idea who is not pulling the vote because the scores are so similar.  

Edited October 4, 2016 by RedFiat

[Ripley68]

This is the first costume that Amber actually looked good in.  So many had their best dances tonight; Amber, Ryan, Ice.  Terra is doing awesome.  I think Allison screwed up Babyface.  She rushed him to the spotlight that first time and it was all downhill from there. They should have had a backup plan to have all the lights come up if they missed their first mark. She put way too much pressure on him. I think Calvin's partner messed up a couple of times too.  The car driver is doing fantastic!  The finale is going to be amazing!

[LizDC]

I didn't completely buy Julianne's "I was just judging the dance and only the dance" line to Amber.  Julianne's not going to sit there on live TV and admit that Amber's interpretation was correct so that was really the only thing she was going to say.  It would have been nice if she had apologized too. 

Anyway, as for the dances, I voted for Calvin tonight. 

[LotusFlower]

5 minutes ago, spanana said:

I disagree. I actually thought the show put Amber on the spot tonight in a very uncomfortable way.  It's almost like the show called Amber out while standing in front of Julianne, to the point that she had really no choice to apologize to save face.  It was a very weird moment all around.  It seemed like it was designed to make Amber look like a big old cry baby and Julianne of course had to offer up no explanation.  This is the same woman that thought blackface was okay only a few short years ago.  I'm not going to pretend like Jules always knows where to draw the line.

Do I think Amber maybe overreacted to the comment?  Maybe.  But her feelings are valid and she's not required to apologize for them on national television as if she did something wrong.

I couldn't agree more.  I wish Amber hadn't apologized, because it both diminished her very valid feelings about being sorta slut-shamed, and totally got Julianne off the hook.  

[truthaboutluv]

I am officially riding on the James train. I still won't vote because I never do but he's without question, my favorite celebrity this season. I am far more impressed with him than Laurie because while I expected Laurie to be good, I didn't have any expectations for James and he's just blown me away. He not only has technique but dude performs and the Pros can't really teach that. A person either has charm and charisma or they don't and man, does James have it. He is Sharna's best partner since Charlie White in my opinion and I think their partnership wins on the chemistry level. 

Laurie is good but I find myself just not wowed by her like I was with Shawn on both of her seasons and Nastia, even for all the "you're too cold, you don't connect" stuff they threw at Nastia. I don't know if it is Val's choreography not working for me because I felt his stuff was kind of lackluster last season too but something is just not grabbing me with them. I'm always left sort of "meh..." I saw the 30 coming and it was just whatever. Nothing in that dance made me go, "damn that was amazing..."

I continue to adore Calvin as well. He's not as good as James and won't win (though I'm not sure how hardcore his fans may be and he is consistently getting better) but boy do I enjoy watching him and Lindsay. Everything else just sort of blended together. I swear I was fighting to keep my eyes open at many points during the night, which is not a good sign. 

Few other comments - did Maks really say the problem with he and Amber's dance last week was that they held back with the sexiness and being true to who she is? Really, that was the problem? It wasn't the awful, cheesy, not-Salsa choreography and the horrible costume she was in? Okay then. 

I thought Artem did well to take this long to get frustrated with Maureen who no offense, from what we've seen looks to be an emotional headcase who has to be extremely exhausting to deal with for hours on end. 

I think tonight pretty much answered what's going on with Marilu and it's really not that surprising in my opinion - she's too in her head. Her genius that some were positive would be one more thing to add to her "ringerness", is actually working against her. Funny enough, I think someone did predict that might happen. She's overthinking everything and the more her scores suffer, the more she'll overthink and the more tense she'll be and she'll keep not delivering the way she can. And it's a pity because for the second week in a row, I think Derek's choreography was great and the dance would have been amazing if it had been delivered in the way he intended. 

[Callaphera]

3 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Amber is a drama queen that I believe deliberately chose to misinterpret what she heard Julianne say and she can leave hopefully in this double elimination. I noticed that Peta wasn't too happy with Amber in the backstage footage from last week. Lol

I disagree respectfully because mileage varies. I didn't think she was being a drama queen. I could see how she could come to that conclusion about Julianne's "it makes me uncomfortable" comment. Personally, I didn't like the booty shaking routine myself because it was 90% booty and 10% content. But I see how that comment could hurt her. I don't agree with the "look at the half naked women around here on a daily basis" because there's a difference between costumes for dance and shaking your thang like you're broke and the rent is due yesterday. That being said...

I really want to like Amber. I don't know why because all I know about her, I know from wasting time on TMZ when I have nothing better to do, but I want to like her. And I just can't. She's just there with no real personality or emotion. Her talking about Julianne's comments was the most fire and emotion I've seen in her. Her expression is the same in every dance, just kind of there again, and she's not as sharp as I figured her to be nor is she as graceful as I think she could be. Her comments after the dance are just basic. She never seems to be having a lot of fun but she also doesn't seem to be not having fun. 

I can watch the packages and dances that Ryan and James do and you can see bits of their personality (James more than Ryan). You can see the joking and the laughter and the fun in them. Laurie is young and she's got that Bindi Irwin ball of energy thing going on. Maureen is a freakin' basket case that needs constant reassurance. But I feel like I know them through the packages and dances. Amber, again, in just there.

Unrelated, I felt for Alison tonight. I know she's not a favourite around here but I've always liked her because despite not having the classic ballroom training, I feel like she does really well interpreting the dances and she comes up with some really innovative and interesting choreography sometimes. But girl looked like she was going to burst into tears after that dance. She's human and it showed after that. She was disappointed as fuck and she should be because the concept sounded interesting, it just wasn't realized the way it could have been. She was barely holding it together as they walked off stage. Poor thing. 

And Sharna looked bangin' tonight with the old school waves in her hair and the red dress. Damn.

[shoregirl]

I thought James was way overscored,  like they are trying to keep scores close . Didn't think the 10 was deserved . I'm just not feeling him the way others are. He'll probably get far but more because no one else besides Lauri and to a lesser extent Calvin are really good

Laurie  is amazing. Sure the judges were over enthusiastic but she's so talented. 

Calvin was good. I really like watching him dance. He has such Joy.

I find both Maureen and Marilyn are both annoying.

I think Babyface goes home and not sure of the second but I would like it to be Vanilla Ice because I really dislike him and he can't be gone soon enough for me. 

Would have it killed Julianne to just say "I'm sorry if you misinterpreted my comment" then continued the rest of her point?

Edited October 4, 2016 by shoregirl

[McManda]

2 minutes ago, LotusFlower said:

I couldn't agree more.  I wish Amber hadn't apologized, because it both diminished her very valid feelings about being sorta slut-shamed, and totally got Julianne off the hook.  

I kind of disagree. While I don't think Amber should have had to apologize on live TV, I do think there's something to be said for taking responsibility for your own feelings and reactions. 

Maybe she never said it, but I can help but think of the Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent". Amber needs to take a look at herself and figure out why her first reaction was to assume Julianne was shaming  her, intended or not. Because I don't think anyone BUT Amber took it that way, especially given that it's a pretty badly kept secret that most everyone on the show is super supportive of everyone else. 

The whole thing is odd, considering everyone assumed Amber was incredibly confident and self assured.

[spanana]

15 minutes ago, McManda said:

I kind of disagree. While I don't think Amber should have had to apologize on live TV, I do think there's something to be said for taking responsibility for your own feelings and reactions. 

Maybe she never said it, but I can help but think of the Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent". Amber needs to take a look at herself and figure out why her first reaction was to assume Julianne was shaming  her, intended or not. Because I don't think anyone BUT Amber took it that way, especially given that it's a pretty badly kept secret that most everyone on the show is super supportive of everyone else. 

The whole thing is odd, considering everyone assumed Amber was incredibly confident and self assured.

But I guess for me, what is to say that Amber hadn't taken responsibility for her own feelings and actions?  Plenty of celebs and pros have complained over something that a judge did or didn't say on a live show.  Nobody else was forced to stand there and talk about their feelings and then trot out an apology quite like Amber was.  To me tonight felt demeaning towards Amber and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she talks more on it after she's eliminated.  I'm not sure she was buying what the show was trying to sell by the look on her face.

Edited October 4, 2016 by spanana

[escape]

Laurie's gymnast training, which entails performing in front of the camera is an asset.  That's why I would love to see someone like James win.  This is totally outside of what he does professionally.  And this is what DWTS should be all about.  Hopefully, he will have the support that Helio Castroneves got.

[McManda]

7 minutes ago, spanana said:

To me tonight felt demeaning towards Amber and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she talks more on it after she's eliminated.  

I'd agree with this. I don't think it should have been brought up, nor should she have felt like she needed to apologize. That, imo, is the worst part of this, but if I'm making judgements on the whole issue I'd say she originally overreacted and made a big deal of something that wasn't a big deal. 

And honestly, if they hadn't brought it up tonight there's a good chance 90% of people would never know it happened. I heard nothing about it outside these forums, until EW ran an article about the apology before the show was even over. 

[Princt1]

17 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

 

I find both Maureen and Marilyn are both annoying.

Two semi-old women need to vamoose as soon as possible and allow two young men to smile again!

[RedFiat]

26 minutes ago, LizDC said:

I didn't completely buy Julianne's "I was just judging the dance and only the dance" line to Amber.  Julianne's not going to sit there on live TV and admit that Amber's interpretation was correct so that was really the only thing she was going to say.  It would have been nice if she had apologized too. 

 

It would have been good for Julianne to apologize since she just put it out there that the dance made her uncomfortable.  If Amber is body conscience, then it is a difficult thing to cope with and rather than just lecturing about her point of view, it would have sent such a positive message to say  Amber, I apologize if my words hurt you, that was not the intent..... But it does not matter what these judges do or do not do, they never ever apologize. It is a part of the show that I pretty much hate because it just keeps the petty drama going. Interesting that Alicia Machado was in the audience. 

[RedFiat]

16 minutes ago, escape said:

Laurie's gymnast training, which entails performing in front of the camera is an asset.  That's why I would love to see someone like James win.  This is totally outside of what he does professionally.  And this is what DWTS should be all about.  Hopefully, he will have the support that Helio Castroneves got.

I would love that, but it is baked in that Hernandez will win. She is most likely on the Tour, and any support he would normally get from his Canadian fans is not available as Canadians cannot vote for the first time since season 10 .  Oh well, I watch with the realization that the season has already been decided.

Edited October 4, 2016 by RedFiat

[Emily-D]

Sound like a broken record but I'll say it again Laurie is going to win, with James second. Everything else is just a sideshow. Calvin will come in third, he was underscored due to going first. If his dance had been later on in the show he'd have got 9s. Double elimination and I think Babyface and Maureen will leave. Babyface because he was by far the worst and wasn't helped by Allison's reckless, way too ambitious choreography (also she didn't come off well afterwards IMO) and Maureen because the producers stuck her in the worst running order position and gave her a horrible VT which made her look really bad. They didn't even show them making up afterwards like they did with Jana and Gleb which I thought was unfair. Having said that I do think she's a fragile head case and probably a nightmare to deal with. Marilu is turning out to be really bad. Derek is giving her the choreography and staging to shine but she keeps messing up. I don't see this often with Derek's partners and it's actually quite satisfying to watch (evil cackle). I also really dislike Amber Rose, she just comes off as an attention seeker to me and she was also heavily overscored. I'm glad Julianne didn't directly apologise to her because she had nothing to apologise for.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Emily-D

[RedFiat]

Calvin may come in second over Hinch, especially if he has a good NFL fanbase following him.  At any rate,  I see those three and possibly Terra in there as the top 4. 

[Runningwild]

I don't know why Amber made such a big deal out of Julianne's comment. Seems like she knows she's not going to win so she tried to stir up drama so people would talk about her. Why should Julianne apologize for saying what she would say about anyone else in that situation? Does Amber want special treatment? Just seems to me like she's got a huge chip on her shoulder about something. I'll take Laurie and James any day. I hope those  two are in the finals. 

[SophiaPehawkins]

I don't always think being a gymnast translates into being a good performer. I think of Aly and Nastia who were technically solid dancers, but didn't have that showmanship I see in Laurie and James. She has a lot of natural energy, which combined with her ability to pick up choreography makes her a shoe-in for the final three if not the mirrorball. I say it every week, but I think the partnership with Val plays a factor, too. They have a natural chemistry on and off the dance floor. On a shallow note, Laurie's hair looked gorgeous in its natural curls. Giving me some Paula Abdul 80's flashbacks (in a good way!).

I think Amber was respectful and cordial in explaining her feelings and even offering up an apology in the event that she misunderstood Julianne's words. Julianne on the other hand couldn't even muster up an explanation let alone an apology. I think Amber has every right to feel however she wants. She's entitled to that and I think she handled the entire situation as best she could, being put on the spot and all.

It's weird seeing Derek struggle with Marilu. I figured she would be better, but it looked like Derek was dragging her around the dance floor. I don't think his choreography helped. It was too reminiscent of stuff he's done in the past; it didn't feel fresh. On that note, Babyface and Allison were a total mess. The blame I think is mostly on Allison. I just think her partners are at a disadvantage. She doesn't seem to have the ability to bring out the best in them. 

Oh! I was also impressed with Calvin and Lindsay. Football players can be hit or miss on this show, but he's committing to the dances and it's been fun to watch. Whoever mentioned him, James, and Laurie in the final three I think has it right. They're the best three dancers and most entertaining.

Edited October 4, 2016 by SophiaPehawkins
grammar

[cryptaknight]

I felt like Julianne's attitude was super stank during the whole Amber conversation. Even when the situation was mentioned before Amber and Maks' intro package, she did a snotty head nod sort of thing. It really rubbed me the wrong way. I'd love to know what made her "uncomfortable" and how else she thinks Amber and Maks should have danced to a song called Big Booty.

I was surprised the 10 paddles were pulled so soon. Laurie's dance was awesome, though. She's got this in the bag. I did enjoy James' dance, too. It was very Broadway, which was fitting.

I still have a soft spot for Vanilla Ice, so I hope he survives the double elimination tomorrow. Tom did say double elimination, right? My guesses would be Amber and Babyface but this show surprises me sometimes. I'd rather see Maureen, who annoys me with her freaking out and delicate nervousness (I liked her better when she was on Celebrity Fit Club, lol) or Marilu go, to be honest.

[peach]

9 minutes ago, Runningwild said:

I don't know why Amber made such a big deal out of Julianne's comment. Seems like she knows she's not going to win so she tried to stir up drama so people would talk about her. Why should Julianne apologize for saying what she would say about anyone else in that situation? Does Amber want special treatment? Just seems to me like she's got a huge chip on her shoulder about something. I'll take Laurie and James any day. I hope those  two are in the finals. 

Well, since Amber conveniently held her Slut Walk this past weekend, it was an amazing coincidence she just happened to feel slut-shamed by Julianne, when J was obviously just uncomfortable with how terribly awkward that dance was.   So this week she apologizes and gets overscored as a reward.  I agree it was her best dance but it still wasn't great.  But, hey, she got to own her sexuality or whatever we are pretending is edgy in the current year.

[Runningwild]

For those of you who want Julianne's side of the story:

 

http://www.etonline.com/news/199453_derek_hough_defends_sister_julianne_agaisnt_amber_rose_false_body_shaming_claim/

[vibeology]

I miss Mark. I was underwhelmed by a lot f the choices tonight and I know Mark would have had an interesting concept. 

Allison and Babyface were a disaster. That's the hardest I can remember seeing someone bite it in a while. But here's the thing, even if Babyface had been on time that concept was awful. The few times they found the light, I couldn't see his face and performance at all. Allison and the show need to be more cognizant of the fact that you have to  light white people and black people differently. A white person and a black person are not going to show up under the same harsh light and designing that concept set Babyface up for failure even if he had hit his spots. 

Laurie was amazing. James was amazing. Terra did a very good job with a dance that was probably very challenging. Calvin was underscored but that always seems to happen if you start the show. As long as those four are safe, I do care who goes home tomorrow. (Unless there's a switchup this year in which case I need Ryan and VI to stick around so I can try to pair up Ryan and Witney just so I can see that battle of the wits.)

[Callaphera]

11 minutes ago, vibeology said:

I miss Mark. I was underwhelmed by a lot f the choices tonight and I know Mark would have had an interesting concept. 

Really, I'd swap Maks for Mark in a second. He's what this season is missing. It's funny, I started out rolling my eyes at Mark way back when but the last couple seasons, I've loved what he comes up with and the different ways he makes his partners shine.

Also, he put Bristol Palin in a monkey suit. That'll never not make me laugh.

[FilmTVGeek80]

1 hour ago, spanana said:

I disagree. I actually thought the show put Amber on the spot tonight in a very uncomfortable way.  It's almost like the show called Amber out while standing in front of Julianne, to the point that she had really no choice to apologize to save face.  It was a very weird moment all around.  It seemed like it was designed to make Amber look like a big old cry baby and Julianne of course had to offer up no explanation.  This is the same woman that thought blackface was okay only a few short years ago.  I'm not going to pretend like Jules always knows where to draw the line.

Do I think Amber maybe overreacted to the comment?  Maybe.  But her feelings are valid and she's not required to apologize for them on national television as if she did something wrong.

 

 

What does Julieanne's blackface incident have to do with anything? Yeah, she has poor judgement sometimes, but that has nothing to do with her valid feeling that she was uncomfortable watching two people try and be sexy and falling flat on their face. I think Amber was being a big old cry baby. Of course, her feelings are valid, but her insecurities don't give her the right to basically shift the blame for how she thinks about herself onto someone else and try and make them the bad guy.

I probably should feel more empathy for Amber because I am a very, very self-conscious person. I'd probably never do something like DWTS. There have been times where I have been around other people and if they even vaguely look in my direction and I hear them laughing that I assume they must be laughing at me. But, you know, I don't march over to those people and try and demand an apology for my assumption they were laughing at me. You know who's the idiot in that scenario - me! There's a great chance if I were in Amber's shoes I would have made the same assumption she had about Julieanne's comment. What I wouldn't have done was gone nationally to chastise that person - without even talking to them about it - about how mean they were to me and how bad they made me feel. Amber's insecurities are her own to deal with, without making it out that Julieanne was body shaming her. She didn't need to apologize for her feelings, but about how she handled the situation, which is what she did.

I'm kind of at a loss to people thinking Julieanne owed her some sort of apology for the assumptions Amber chose to make. If people are talking about a "Sorry you misinterpreted me" kind of deal, that's not really an apology. That's more like a "sorry you were an idiot" kind of comment.

55 minutes ago, SophiaPehawkins said:

I think Amber was respectful and cordial in explaining her feelings and even offering up an apology in the event that she misunderstood Julianne's words. Julianne on the other hand couldn't even muster up an explanation let alone an apology. I think Amber has every right to feel however she wants. She's entitled to that and I think she handled the entire situation as best she could, being put on the spot and all.

 

 

I don't feel sorry for Amber being "put on the spot." She basically started this and it's nice that she was woman enough to admit that she jumped to conclusions.

 

1 hour ago, LotusFlower said:

I couldn't agree more.  I wish Amber hadn't apologized, because it both diminished her very valid feelings about being sorta slut-shamed, and totally got Julianne off the hook.  

 

 

She wasn't slut-shamed in any way. And got Julieanne off the hook for what, having an opinion?

Edited October 4, 2016 by FilmTVGeek80

[truthaboutluv]

Quote

I'd love to know what made her "uncomfortable" and how else she thinks Amber and Maks should have danced to a song called Big Booty.

She stated exactly what made her uncomfortable in her statement, in response to Amber's claim of being body-shamed - she, Julianne, thought Amber did not look comfortable in the dance and wasn't owning it and therefore it was uncomfortable for her to watch. And I'm sorry but that dance was uncomfortable last week and hell I'll say it, embarrassing at times to watch.

The "chemistry" was forced, Amber looked uncomfortable and tentative doing many of the moves and the whole thing was awkward. My sister who has never watched one episode of this show since it's been on, said she saw a clip of the dance when E! News was covering the story and her first thought was, "wasn't she a stripper because why does she seem so uncomfortable with her body?"

[FilmTVGeek80]

32 minutes ago, cryptaknight said:

I'd love to know what made her "uncomfortable" and how else she thinks Amber and Maks should have danced to a song called Big Booty.

I guess she could have directed their attention to Alfonso and Whitney's dance to the same song which looked nothing like Amber and Maks' trying too hard to be sexy version.

On to the actual dancing. I missed a huge chunk of the show, but I will definitely say that I feel like Terra/Calvin/James/Laurie will be the top 4 and I have no problems with that.

I felt so sorry for Babyface tonight. He was so funny and apologetic about it afterwards, but he must have been dying inside. It was sort of an interesting concept, but I think they put way too much pressure to get into the lights and that just screwed everything up.

I think Terra's a firecracker and I really, really enjoyed their performance. Some of the judges' comments still feel a tad too condescending, but I really like her and Sasha's partnership.

The two performances I will definitely watch again are Laurie and James'. Just both show stopping and such great fun! Like Tom said, James is such a surprise this season. His personality seems to be great - I always enjoy watching his and Sharna's intro package - the partnership between him and Sharna is great. They have wonderful chemistry! James really just has a lot of charm and like either Carrie Ann or Julieanne said he's not an actor but he always performs the character of the routine brilliantly. Like Bruno, I didn't see whatever the mistake was.

[LotusFlower]

5 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

She wasn't slut-shamed in any way. And got Julieanne off the hook for what, having an opinion?

That's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it, but I read Julianne's comment similar to Amber's feeling about it.  Amber, a former stripper with a huge ass, was dancing a provocative number and, well, kind of looking like a stripper, which made Julianne, who has a goody-goody reputation, uncomfortable.  Which is pretty ridiculous when you consider all the vampy and sexy Mandy Moore-choreographed numbers performed by all the female pros that make Tom blush.....yet don't make Julianne uncomfortable.  That's my take at least.

[CraftyHazel]

Calvin was underscored.  That was a very busy routine and he did it well.  He deserved a 9 as much as Terra did.

Speaking of Terra, I almost liked her tonight.  I can't seem to warm up to her, but tonight she was good!

I have a soft spot for Maureen, but she really needs to stop crying over every little thing.

Jana and Gleb, well, I'm a little biased in favor of this, because I love "Here Comes The Sun" so much, and they looked gorgeous.

Marilu, meh. I'm not sure why, but I just do not like her.

I actually really liked Amber's dance a lot tonight.

Ryan has improved considerably over even last week.  He actually danced! (When Bruno was giving his critique, did someone in the audience shout out "You're a cheater!"?  Because Ryan's a liar and a douche, but did he cheat at something?  I missed it if he did.)

Poor Babyface.   That was...not good.

Laurie sizzled tonight!  She actually put some sexuality into that, as opposed to just being cute Laurie. And her natural hair is gorgeous!

Vanilla Ice did well, considering his schedule.  I definitely can see improvement.

James, I really do love.  He's quite talented, and has personality and charm to spare.  Loved his dance tonight!

Edited October 4, 2016 by Marmiarmo
Because punctuation matters! And spelling is important.

[FilmTVGeek80]

3 minutes ago, LotusFlower said:

That's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it, but I read Julianne's comment similar to Amber's feeling about it.  Amber, a former stripper with a huge ass, was dancing a provocative number and, well, kind of looking like a stripper, which made Julianne, who has a goody-goody reputation, uncomfortable.  Which is pretty ridiculous when you consider all the vampy and sexy Mandy Moore-choreographed numbers performed by all the female pros that make Tom blush.....yet don't make Julianne uncomfortable.  That's my take at least.

 

And that's your take on it and that might be Amber's take on it, but that doesn't automatically mean that was what Julieanne meant by it. There are plenty of reasons she could have been uncomfortable - including the reasoning she gave. So there was no "being let off the hook." By the way, we don't know what Julieanne's opinion is on those sexy professional female pro numbers, we've never gotten a behind the scenes look at the judges' reacting to those.

[LotusFlower]

8 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

And that's your take on it and that might be Amber's take on it, but that doesn't automatically mean that was what Julieanne meant by it. There are plenty of reasons she could have been uncomfortable - including the reasoning she gave. So there was no "being let off the hook." 

But she didn't give a reason.  She didn't say what made her uncomfortable.  That's what I meant by being left off the hook 

[FilmTVGeek80]

5 minutes ago, LotusFlower said:

But she didn't give a reason.  She didn't say what made her uncomfortable.  That's what I meant by being left off the hook 

She gave a reason when Amber first accused her of body shaming her. Plus, since she didn't do anything wrong there's nothing to be let off the hook for.

[bybrandy]

6 minutes ago, LotusFlower said:

But she didn't give a reason.  She didn't say what made her uncomfortable.  That's what I meant by being left off the hook 

I just don't understand why Julianne couldn't have said something like, "I'm sorry I made my comments about your dance in a way that made you feel that way."  Or something.  She could have said she was only responding to the quality of the dance but also met Amber halfway on the apology.   

I don't like Amber and I thought her dance last week was super awkward.  But I thought the comments from Julianne on the replay night were a little uncomfortable in their frankness compared to what the other judges were saying.  I am totally willing to assume that Julianne didn't intend to slut shame Amber.  But on the flip side if I made those comments and watched the clip back, I could totally hear what Amber heard.  So, I think Julianne saying, "I understand how you felt the way that you did, and I need you to know that I would never speak to anything other than the quality of your dance, but I'm so sorry that my wording left that open to interpretation..." would have been more than fair.

[JenMcSnark]

I'll put my two cents in... When I heard about this, I saw Amber's point because saying 'I feel uncomfortable' doesn't seem to fit when talking about a dance.

I have felt each week that Amber dances very small.  She actually looks like she's doing a run-through in her head while making little baby motions with her arms and legs as if she's trying to commit everything to memory.  Even her booty-shaking last week seemed like practice to me.  

So, I get Julianne and Bruno saying that she wasn't getting into it or whatever and that it wasn't really a salsa, but why would that make you uncomfortable again? 

Seems to me like it did kind of fit with their conversation, but it also seemed like it was possibly a weirdly edited comment that she may have made about Amber's booty.  But really, only the editors, Julianne, and/or Bruno know the truth.  

Also, what was yelled when Bruno was talking to Ryan and Cheryl?  I couldn't understand it.

[LotusFlower]

13 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

She gave a reason when Amber first accused her of body shaming her. Plus, since she didn't do anything wrong there's nothing to be let off the hook for.

What was the reason she gave?

[truthaboutluv]

This was Julianne's response to Amber saying she was body shamed, in its entirety:

Quote

 

Hough denied it and told E! News, "To be clear, that was a produced package, not live coverage and they can put those sound bites anywhere."

"My 'uncomfortable' comment was about the fact that I felt like I wanted more out of the performance -- when someone is doing a hot, sexy dance like that without the right amount of energy that is required, it can be uncomfortable to watch," Hough said. "Trust me, I'm all for a sexy booty dance!! We all know that!! And any kind of body shaming goes against everything I believe in."

 

And for the record, considering the level of second hand embarrassment I had watching that dance, I think uncomfortable was a fair word to use to describe it. 

Edited October 4, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Uke]

2 hours ago, spanana said:

I disagree. I actually thought the show put Amber on the spot tonight in a very uncomfortable way.  It's almost like the show called Amber out while standing in front of Julianne, to the point that she had really no choice to apologize to save face.  It was a very weird moment all around.  It seemed like it was designed to make Amber look like a big old cry baby and Julianne of course had to offer up no explanation.  This is the same woman that thought blackface was okay only a few short years ago.  I'm not going to pretend like Jules always knows where to draw the line.

Do I think Amber maybe overreacted to the comment?  Maybe.  But her feelings are valid and she's not required to apologize for them on national television as if she did something wrong.

I agree Amber was put on the spot to apologize for her feelings (or expressing her feelings). So when Julianne started to stand up, I think she expected to hug it out.  But Amber wasn't having it so Julianne (half standing, half bending over the table) just clapped a few times and sat back down.

[Padma]

I'll have to catch most of it tomorrow, but I did see Amber & Julianne, a situation I was only roughly aware of. I think Amber was entitled to her feelings, shouldn't have been pressured to apologize, maybe could have met halfway with Julianne saying sorry if she misunderstood...I only judge dance as dance...blahblah.   But, whatever the conten t of their exchange, what I didn't like was Julianne's bitch face. Really, she had a very haughty expression while listening to Amber that I'd never seen before. Kind of gave me a feeling when she isn't trying to make a good impression, she might have a very unpleasant, entitled side. So in that moment, I kind of sympathized with Amber because trying to apologize when someone's staring at you like that isn't pleasant, with cameras rolling.