S24.E01: Week 1

[Kira53]

1 hour ago, RedFiat said:

Horribly boring and predictable with little to no ballroom dancing. Ima going to skip this season, they've already determined the winner. 

Who do you think that is?  I think there are a few contenders.  The best dancer doesn't always win.  IMHO you need a good fan base, a pro with a fan base, and a good connection with your pro. I'm not sure who will win.

[Beyoncheyyy]

I hope they tone down the showmance of Sharna and Bonner. We get it they're both hot and single, but that's not what I'm here for. 

I feel bad for Witney, I still feel like she peaked too early as a pro with Alfonso. 

Lindsey doesn't get enough credit for how well she does with her partners. She's never had a truly outstanding celeb before, but she still makes them shine in their own way every season. 

I'm over the olympics coming in and stealing the show so my brain sort of shut off for those two. 

I thought the 5th harmony girl didn't get enough praise for doing a quickstep as the first contest on the first episode. 

I liked her, the baseball players attitude, Rashad's smile and Mr T was adorable. 

Charo was terrifying. 

[happyfeet]

Charo's dancing wasn't bad but she was super annoying.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Charo is too much like Gary Busey, it's just an uncomfortable experience watching her. I hope she's first out. She operating in her own little universe separate from Keo, separate from Tom and Erin, separate from the show as a whole.

Chris K. and Mr. T did so little "dancing" I'm not sure even the scores they got were really justified. I knew I was going to hate Erika Jayne having never seen RHOBH or listening to any of her dance songs....and sure enough, I did come away hating her. She can't get off my tv screen fast enough (and she can take Gleb far far away too). I seriously think America is not going to be amused. I think she'll be one of the first 3 to go.

Nick was a'ight, he didn't quite know what to do with his hands though. If I just judge Bonner on his dance tonight, he was solidly middle of the pack. Not anywhere near the best, but not anywhere near the worst either. The backlash that's happening may sink him earlier than I would've guessed though. Lindsay always gets a lot out of her partners....David seems to be that quintessential DWTS character like a Bill Engvall who's going go decently far on charm, likeability, and a decent understanding of the fundamentals (probably more so in the standard dances than the latin ones). I enjoyed Nancy and Artem, and Rashad and Emma a lot too. Rashad definitely made a nice first impression....important for a NFL'er who doesn't have much (if any) name recognition. Whoever said Simon is like a combo of Bindi and Laurie....spot on. Heather was fine for the ringiest ringer this side of Riker. But her just standing stone-faced while the judges gave her feedback is her biggest problem. I think she's going to be too much like Mya. You've gotta give the DWTS some bubbly, at least a little bubbliness to give a reason to care enough to vote for you. If Val would've just quit while he was ahead on that last comment about his scores taking a hit I would've liked him and Normani a touch more. She's more than capable, However she was always going to be scored down maybe two points by going 1st overall. If I was ranking them, she was solidly 3 or 4th (with Nancy/Artem) after Simone and Rashad I think.

[Emily-D]

11 minutes ago, Kira53 said:

Who do you think that is?  I think there are a few contenders.  The best dancer doesn't always win.  IMHO you need a good fan base, a pro with a fan base, and a good connection with your pro. I'm not sure who will win.

To be honest it's hard to see anyone other than Simone winning. She's got the dance ability, a pro that's never been to the finals so people wouldn't mind seeing do well and the fanbase being an American Gold Medalist. She has a strong back story as well which I'm sure we'll hear more about as the season goes on. Heather won't get the votes, I like Nancy but I don't think she's the one to take Artem to the finals, Rashad is good but doesn't have a great fanbase, especially compared to Simone. If David Ross could improve to the point where he can pick up 10s then I honestly think he could win, but I don't think he'll be able to. Which leaves only Normani, she has the fanbase and the dance ability but having Val as a partner may not help her, people may well be bored of him winning again.

[Uke]

1 hour ago, spanana said:

I think I'm definitely Team Rashad/Emma.  By far the ones that made me smile the most.

I'm of two minds on Simone.  I didn't enjoy her dance from the performance side as much as the judges did.  However all the Laurie and too many gymnasts backlash is not her fault.  If they don't stop mentioning Laurie every two seconds in future weeks, I will lose my mind (what is left of it).  This should be Simone's experience and not Laurie 2.0.  We have football players every season and nobody is complaining about Rashad.

The other difference to me on the Simone front is she has more competition this season.  Last season while I preferred James, it was clear Laurie was winning from day one.  Her only real competition was James and she came in with such a leg up in the fanbase department.  This season there are other ringers that I don't think it's entirely in the bag.  She's not so far and away above everyone else.  You've got Heather, the ringer of ringers.  You've got Normani with a huge fanbase and plenty of dance training.  You've got Rashad who is a natural mover and charming as heck.

Though I really think Heather could be a shock boot mid season.  Right now I'm thinking finals could be Normani, Rashad and Simone?  Normani is better IMO than what she showed tonight.  She wasn't bad and going first is always tough, but she should be good in the latin.

True that Laurie and too many gymnasts backlash is not her fault and this should be Simone's experience, but my issue is with not being judged.   Someone mentioned something about mixing Laurie with Bindi and you get Simone.  Well, neither Laurie nor Bindi were ever judged ("I can't stand how cute you are" is not a critique!) and were both gifted their trophies, IMO.  I'm not interested in seeing that again.  Now that may not happen this time seeing that tptb haven't seemed terribly invested in Sasha (certainly not like they were Derek or Val).  So we shall see in the coming weeks if Simone will be required to fight for it or if she, too, will be gifted.  But I do think Laurie would be doing Simone a favor by making herself scarce.  Seeing her on camera in the audience every week will just remind the viewers that a gymnast took home a MBT last season and do they want to vote for another gymnast to take the MBT this season.

[Beatrice]

1 hour ago, PBGamer89 said:

Anyone else catch on to how the four "frontrunner" women (Nancy, Normani, Heather, Simone) all got stuck with Ballroom dances, while every man except for David got Cha Cha?

Yep. They are definitely playing down how good the women are. Except Simone apparently. They'll be hyping her all season I have a feeling.

[Morrigan]

I thought the Bachelor was the best dancer among the men - and Bonner, to my eyes, was just awful, almost as bad as Chris, who looks like he's had a stroke or something. Bonner too, for that matter. There's something really odd about one of his arms, during his dance (and maybe during the crotch drop). He doesn't seem to have complete control over it - I think it's the left one. I really think that fall did more than break his neck, and that's bad enough, but he just doesn't seem all 'there' to me.

I expected to hate the footballer but I really liked him - I did like his dance, almost as much as Bachelor's - and I liked the self-revelation of being a chubby kid with asthma. And I like Lindsey a whole lot and hope the baseballer takes her a long way but he sure seems older than just-turned-40. Anyway, he's very likeable and ok on the dancefloor.

That Erika person is just gross. She looked like she could slap-a-b**** when her scores were revealed too. NOT a good look for the audience voters. Nancy was enthusiastic and cute, and I was surprised that I liked the first one up - Normani? I thought she was a better dancer tonight than Simone, actually, but it's looking like Simone is slated to win, though like Uke, I'm suspicious that the show will not prop her to the trophy like they do with Derek/Val-partners (and Maks w/Meryl.) Heather was so graceful - if her Latin's professional-quality like that slow dance, well, she could tear this up like Kristi Yamaguchi. But she is a little dull on the personality side - it's probably all down to what the producers have up their sleeves - I'm one of those who thinks they have the winner picked every season before it even starts. Wish I didn't feel that way but oh well... it's just a show.

[sinkwriter]

Quote

The ringer of all ringers was the Hough's cousin( I can never remember his name) because he actually competed in ballroom as a junior.  

His name was Riker, I think?

[crossover]

Simone - Too bad Sasha didn't get the gymnast last season.  Kinda torned because I want Sasha to win but a gymnast just won last season.  Because she is a gymnast, her arms didn't bother me.  If it were the second month and the arms aren't fixed, I'd have to drop her.  She did come into the competition with some advantages.  So surely she can work on the arms.

Rashad - This was my surprise contestant for the season.  Hopefully he can keep it up.  He looked like he was having fun.  That made it more enjoyable to watch him.  He's the best male so far.

Heather - Don't really have a problem with her competing.  There're so many things that go into picking the DWTS winner.  But, I really don't think Maks can showcase her.  Meryl had a built-in fanbase.  Heather was on the audition part of SYTYCD.  I THINK she only made it to the top 25 girls.  Ten made it to the competition. 
 
Normani - Think she was underscored.  Really liked the QS choreography and she performed well.  The connection wasn't quite there but she was first and it was a QS.  She was probably busy counting.

David - He's not natural when it comes to dance.  But you can tell that he and Lindsay worked really hard on the concept.  Lindsay choreographs so well to her partner.  And she must be a good teacher because you can see that they overachieve.  Hope he stays a while.

Nancy - It was a nice dance.  A little disappointed because she seemed choppy in parts.  She's known for her grace.  Maybe she was just nervous.  Afterall, she was second.

Charo - She is annoying.  But I thought she was underscored.  Have a feeling this will be her best dance.  Maybe she'll fool me.

Everyone else were ok, except Chris .  Hopefully, he's first out (sorry Wit).  I'm looking for Mr. T. as next, then Erika (Gleb is too sexually overt with his mood), Bonner and Nick are interchangeable.  Peta just had better choreography.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

"And now for our version of bull...Bruno." - Tom

This is arguably the greatest line in DWTS histoire!  This was during Bonner's jidge's panel.

Nick was sneaky smooth.  He could go a very long way with the right pro guidance.

I've always enjoyed, for more decades than I should mention, Charo and her South American shtick.  She happens to be very intelligent and a gifted guitarist.  I loved the OTT reactions to the jidges.  Sure, it was fake.  But, then again, it was a comedic display of what more than one past contestant really did feel!  I was most curious to see if anyone would see her as a ringer.  She had a stage show, with significant choreo, for years and years.  She'll do pretty well, as she did tonight, for any Latin dance.  She was definitely underscored in relation to Mr. T and Chris K.

Simone is the latest gymnast to demonstrate emotional immaturity.  Femininity is practically beaten out of them as they are molded into fierce competitors.  Then, one fine day, they are on to the rest of their lives without a clue as to how to handle potential love interests/relationships.  Good on her for handling the relatively difficulty choreo very well.  

She is a clear Finalist.  I think Nancy, Nick, and Rashad are real threats to go that far.   

[MsJamieDornan]

http://www.etonline.com/tv/213378_sharna_burgess_and_bonner_bolton_address_that_unintentional_viral_moment_on_dwts_premiere/   Here is the explanation.

[katha]

Well, that wasn't too bad for first week?

Bonner is creepy and he can go away now (he won't, of course...sigh). I thought Simone was good but overscored. I hated the song, didn't love the choreography and though she had a lot of content, she was also visibly tentative in places. Which is okay for first week, but Normani, Nancy and Heather got real scores for similar issues and it was just endless gushing for Simone. I hope she doesn't get the Bindi treatment, I like her and I don't want that beaten out of me with OTT manipulations.

Normani was unlucky to have to go first, that 6 was unnecessary. The choreo was tough for first week, very fast, though Val put in the little breaks to give her room to breathe (at least it looked strategic to me). But her crazy fanbase will just be riled up even more since they think she was underscored, so who cares.

Rashad was cool and good for Emma that she finally has someone with real potential! Seemed a bit overscored as well, but since he really comes in with zero dance experience...I guess it's okay if they are more lenient at first with candidates like that.

The two waltzes were my favourite dances of the night, lovely choreographies from both Artem and Maks. Nancy came across quite well, I thought. Introverted and snarky and self-depreciating, but she seemed genuinely excited to be on the show and very appreciative of it all. Danced really well, if a bit tentative. The question will be how she does in the latin category, but if she's decent there she could have a shot to go far. Not everyone likes her, but she's known to the main demo, on facebook and so on people were pretty interested in her since the announcement, the partnership with Artem looks good so far and she made a positive first impression (both with her dancing and personality wise). If she can keep that up, there's potential.

Heather got the expected "we're both judging you on a different scale since you're the biggest ringer this season and because we want to temp down on backlash for you", so 7s were okay in that context. I thought she had the best dance of the night, though. It was understated, but with interesting details and nuances. Where I could see problems for her is if they give her the Nastia Lukin "you're just so cold" edit, there's nothing to be done about that, though. If she's quiet and stoic, she's quiet and stoic.

Edited March 21, 2017 by katha

[zoeysmom]

7 minutes ago, katha said:

Well, that wasn't too bad for first week?

Bonner is creepy and he can go away now (he won't, of course...sigh). I thought Simone was good but overscored. I hated the song, didn't love the choreography and though she had a lot of content, she was also visibly tentative in places. Which is okay for first week, but Normani, Nancy and Heather got real scores for similar issues and it was just endless gushing for Simone. I hope she doesn't get the Bindi treatment, I like her and I don't want that beaten out of me with OTT manipulations.

Normani was unlucky to have to go first, that 6 was unnecessary. The choreo was tough for first week, very fast, though Val put in the little breaks to give her room to breath (at least it looked strategic to me). But her crazy fanbase will just be riled up even more since they think she was underscored, so who cares.

Rashad was cool and good for Emma that she finally has someone with real potential! Seemed a bit overscored as well, but since he really comes in with zero dance experience...I guess it's okay if they are more lenient at first with candidates like that.

The two waltzes were my favourite dances of the night, lovely choreographies from both Artem and Maks. Nancy came across quite well, I thought. Introverted and snarky and self-depreciating, but she seemed genuinely excited to be on the show and very appreciative of it all. Danced really well, if a bit tentative. The question will be how she does in the latin category, but if she's decent there she could have a shot to go far. Not everyone likes her, but she's known to the main demo, on facebook and so on people were pretty interested in her since the announcement, the partnership with Artem looks good so far and she made a positive first impression (both with her dancing and personality wise). If she can keep that up, there's potential.

Heather got the expected "we're both judging you on a different scale since you're the biggest ringer this season and because we want to temp down on backlash for you", so 7s were okay in that context. I thought she had the best dance of the night, though. It was understated, but with interesting details and nuances. Where I could see problems for her is if they give her the Nastia Lukin "you're just so cold" edit, there's nothing to be done about that, though. If she's quiet and stoic, she's quiet and stoic.

Erika Jayne has a professional choreographer attached to her hip, Mikey Minden of Dance Moms and Pussycat Dolls fame.  She also claims to have been performing all of her life as a singer dancer.  Shouldn't the same standard apply to her? 

[Morrigan]

I think ringerhood expires at age 40.

[renatae]

4 hours ago, Uke said:

Charo:  This woman is in her 60s?  LOL!  Time to switch to decaf! Does Keo rehearse with earplugs? She seemed horrified by the scores, which I did think were a bit low.  I would have given her all 6s, maybe one 7.

She has to be at least 70. I'd forgotten there was a controversy over her age. Sometime in the 70's she started disputing her immigration papers, which said she was born in 1941. She made various claims of different birth years, but finally settled on 1951 and somehow got a judge to agree with her. Her first TV appearances were by 1965 at the latest, and she was no 14 year old at the time. I was 16 and she was older than me, and I think they were saying then that she was about 20.

Anyway, I thought she was going to attack Bruno. She looked really angry, although I couldn't figure out why. He told her she was hot and seemed approving. She really was over the edge.

I missed the cowboy grope and had to replay, but that was definitely deliberate, as someone else has said. Hope that doesn't continue. I didn't sign up for that. Ugh.

[MsTree]

Charo, not only are you annoying, but cut the shtick!  For someone who's been in this country for 50+ years, your accent is overkill and downright stupid!  For that alone and your irritating ways, I hope you're the first to go.

[RedFiat]

2 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

http://www.etonline.com/tv/213378_sharna_burgess_and_bonner_bolton_address_that_unintentional_viral_moment_on_dwts_premiere/   Here is the explanation.

Yuck. He tried the pussy grab precisely so they could deny it and get all the freakin' press. The guy can't dance. Sharna please just stop being complicit in the whoring.  Despicable. 

[RedFiat]

duplicate post

Edited March 21, 2017 by RedFiat

[RedFiat]

21 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

duplicate post 

Edited March 21, 2017 by RedFiat

[RedFiat]

6 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

19 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

The reason Simone will win is Len has already ignored her faults.  Rather than really judging he stayed on the script.  If he was being consistent he would have tied her score for the others who got a 7. He had no problem calling out the faults of those who got 6s and 7s.  That was some boring ass tango, same one we've been seeing for 5 seasons now. Move away from the strobes and laser beams, for the love of dance. Boring re-treads should not get a pass.  As far as technique goes, she didn't get called on it, but there wasn't a single heel lead in a dance of heel leads. What is up with that? So it makes sense they started with a tango, because if Len didn't call it it didn't happen, people don't watch for technique in a highly technical dance, they wait for Len to say so. On the other hand Len will call out Rashid because of his highly entertaining improvisational style within the cha cha because it's not technical cha cha. That's a big ol load of bullshit that just keeps people like free agent Rashid away from the mirrorball and Simone who probably has already inked another deal with ABC the producers fave to win. She has the envied fan base and week 1 catered to it. Same shit different season. The show always has had a very strong agenda, promotion of ABC  If I'm wrong, then the show's mandate has changed and it's no longer ABC's mission to make as much as they can for the corporation, and dance be damned, it's just a cute means to the end. BTW, the gym arms in the Tango doesn't bother me, it is sharp staccato, but it will be an eyesore in other dances.  

Edited March 21, 2017 by RedFiat

[smiley13]

1 hour ago, RedFiat said:

Yuck. He tried the pussy grab precisely so they could deny it and get all the freakin' press. The guy can't dance. Sharna please just stop being complicit in the whoring.  Despicable. 

Seems like something right in line with Sharna's usual behavior to me.  She gives off a trashy vibe all the time.  I wish the show would get rid of her.

[Emily-D]

The way I see it is that Sharna doesn't have any feelings for Bonner whatsoever but knows it's her best chance of staying in for a while considering Bonner can't dance. So she goes along with the "showmance storyline". She'll never speak to him again once their eliminated I bet.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Emily-D

[DEL901]

I thought it was funny when Peta said to Nick "you could do the best of all the bachelors" and he replied "that's setting the bar low" or something like that.

Surprised I liked Nancy.  Love Sasha so I have to like the gymnast too.

Chris Kattan, Charo and Mr. T are all foddor and should be gone soon.  Charo is the one I'm saddest about.  She's such a talents musician (classical guitar - one of the best in the world) but she seems to have lost her mind.  She was always the cuchi cuchi girl in North America, but now she just can't turn it off. 

[truthaboutluv]

10 hours ago, Beyoncheyyy said:

I feel bad for Witney

I don't. I feel like this is her punishment for coasting the last few seasons and being a mediocre Pro. Unlike Lindsay who since she became a Pro again, clearly fights for her spot by somehow making every person she's with shine, Witney just delivers lazy choreography and whines and of course reminds us all the time how incredibly dumb she is. 

10 hours ago, happyfeet said:

Charo's dancing wasn't bad but she was super annoying.

I feel like super annoying and Charo is kind of synonymous. Like I don't know that she's ever been anything else. The thing is, with giving her the Samba this week, which is kind of in line with her whole shtick, where can she really go from there? She did passable with that but I don't see Charo being sane long enough to do a proper VW or Quickstep, etc. 

10 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Nick was a'ight, he didn't quite know what to do with his hands though.

I saw some of their pre-season interviews and Peta said that was his biggest problem. That they're a bit long and he doesn't really know what to do with them, so they kind of just flop around.

9 hours ago, Morrigan said:

I thought the Bachelor was the best dancer among the men - and Bonner, to my eyes, was just awful,

I agree. There's no question that the women field is stacked this season and a woman will likely win. The men are clearly a lot weaker. However, I do think Nick and Rashad did pretty well. I felt Rashad, in the long history of football players on this show, got by largely on personality. His technique was okay and there was some good Cha Cha content in there but I thought Nick was better. I actually think Nick was a bit nitpicked by the judges but it almost felt in the vein of they can tell he does have potential to be better. 

As for Bonner, my friend called me talking about the hotness and I was so baffled. The show sure tried its best to convince me of all this heat and passion between him and Sharna but yeah, no... All I saw was an expressionless guy with zero hip movement. Right from their rehearsal package, when he was talking about all of this passion and heat that he and Sharna would bring on the dance floor, I just kept thinking that I would believe him more if his face actually had an expression beyond dead eyes. 

Normani's score was fair, only if you didn't compare it to say someone like Rashad. But I definitely saw the wide space between her and Val and so I was glad that Len mentioned it. That said, I imagine she'll only get better from here. Heather was low-balled and it was so obvious. I imagine it's to try and ward off some of the backlash against her by making it seem like she's not that big of a ringer or a sure thing in the competition, but that won't work. The people upset about her being there will be no matter what and low balling her will only annoy those rooting for her. 

Nancy Kerrigan bored me - sorry Artem. And by the end of the night I couldn't remember a single thing she did. I honestly cannot comment on Simone's dancing because I checked out once I noticed that I was about to see yet another EDM infused Tango, complete with spinning throbbing lights. I just can't with that anymore. Can we please go back to somewhat traditional Tango music? 

And finally, Chris Kattan's dancing might be one of the most batshit crazy things I've ever seen on this show and I've seen a lot of batshit crazy from this show.

Quote

I thought it was funny when Peta said to Nick "you could do the best of all the bachelors" and he replied "that's setting the bar low" or something like that.

Yeah that was funny but true. Although, while it's only been one dance, I can see that being the case. Because Sean, Farmer Chris and Jake were all pretty mediocre. 

Edited March 21, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[Primetimer]

It's the 400th episode, and the premiere of the 24th season, so why not celebrate with mythical creatures and extremely long hair extensions?

View the full article

[Lady Calypso]

So, I've kind of been peering at this show for a few years now, but mostly just the dance portions. Tonight's the first time where, during commercials for my other shows, I decided to tune in. I caught most of the dances and the scores portion, but I figure maybe this is the year I start watching more actively. Unlike other seasons that I've caught, this is one where the winner isn't clear right off the bat. 

Yeah, I wasn't getting what the fuss was with Sharna and Bonner. He seems like a creep, even during the dance. For me, he has no charm for me to get into him and Sharna's edited showmance. His voice was just so dull and honestly, he didn't seem like he was a good dancer at all. For most of his dance, he had his right hand in some awkward position by his stomach, as if he broke it, and Sharna seemed like she was leading him to his next steps. Plus, not impressed with half of the dance being hip thrusts. Nope, not getting any appeal at all from this guy, and I don't know anything about Sharna, but she didn't seem into it either. I highly doubt they're close off screen. 

I've seen Charo in more recent stuff, most specifically as doing some acting on a show that I watch, but that's the extent that I know of her. I guess I'm too young to know her as a legend. I'll look up a little bit about her, but she seems too hyperactive for me. I do enjoy that she has a lot of energy and she gave a lot in her dance, and I think she has potential for a few more weeks. But overall, I don't think she's all that great and don't want her making it too far, for my own sanity. That, and I don't know how she'll do on other types of dances where she can't use her hyperactivity to perform. 

So, I caught the hype about Laurie last season, but I actually remember Simone way better when I watched the Olympics last year. I think she'll go far, but I'm not really sure if she's a shoe-in to win. She's better than some of the others this season, but she's definitely on a more even playing field compared to Laurie last year (from what I recall), so at least she'll be judged more fairly, I'd hope. 

Heather's one that I know from Glee and as Beyonce's backup dancer. They did seem to tone down her first dance for the sole reason that they didn't want her to start off too strong. I still enjoyed her dance, although I'm not sure why Julianne was so focused on bringing up the point that Heather's not versed in ballroom. I think we'll see a lot more of Heather, but it's sad that I can't see her in the finale. This show is usually blatant enough where you can predict either the winner or one or two of the finalists. Heather, for me, isn't there yet. I don't know if she has the fanbase, but this season seems tough in terms of figuring out who will make it to the finale. 

I'm glad I don't watch The Bachelor, because I can stay ignorant of this Nick guy and whatever he's done on that show. Also, not great editing from Peta saying that she was surprised at how serious Nick was about getting the steps right, followed by him not acting seriously in any way possible. That being said, he wasn't all that bad. He had a funny line about wanting to aim higher than being the best Bachelor on the show, and he has potential in his dancing. It's just that his dancing this week was just stilted and awkward. He wasn't hitting all of the moves that he was supposed to. But I think he's got three or four weeks in him, probably a couple more with his fanbase (I assume he has a fanbase?). I think he's one of the better male dancers this season. 

I don't know sports at all, so I haven't watched most of those celebrities on this show. That being said, I caught both David and Rashad's dances and thought both were actually good. Rashad has a lot of potential in him, although I do think this first dance of his was weak in general. The lighting for his dance was distracting and I'm not particularly fond of the Bruno Mars song that was chosen, and the beginning of the dance was a tad off, but otherwise, I think he will probably get close to the finale, if not make it. 

As for David, he was much better than I thought. I'd really love to see him make it far. He actually had a lot of great moves in him. 

I'm a young adult, but groups such as Fifth Harmony are not my type. I know of the group, but knew nothing of Normani. She's a fine dancer, but not amazing enough for me to be wow'ed by her. 

I actually had to look up Nancy Kerrigan because she looked so familiar to me. I don't really know her from anything, but she seems like a sweetheart and she had my favourite dance of the night. 

As for Chris...I only caught his after interview portion and not his dance, not until I looked it up online to watch, but damn, he's weird. I didn't like his dance at all and I also don't know Witney well, but she seems like a sweet girl who probably deserved a better partner. She made the right choice in including extra dancers to try to distract from Chris' inability to dance. I mean, he tried, but I don't really want him making it another week, especially since everyone else has more potential.

Hey! It's Mr. T! I was very impressed with him. Ok, he wasn't great in any means, or even good, but he had the heart for it, and you could tell that being there meant a lot to him. I still don't want him to make it too far, since he isn't a very good dancer and he's very stiff, but I'd like to see him make it a little farther since he makes me happy.  

Erika? Please let her be out sooner rather than later. I may be annoyed by Charo, but Erika might be worse. I'm glad she owned her raunchiness, but she's going to get on my nerves. Plus, I'm hoping that all of her dances won't be like this first one. I don't really want her appeal to just be "sex", like she's trying to make it. 

My favourites are definitely Nancy, David, and Heather. I don't think they're all making it to the finale, since others seem to love Normani, Simone, and Rashad more (and two of them probably have the bigger fanbases), but I'll enjoy my three favourites for as long as I can.

My hope is that it goes Chris, Charo, Mr. T, Erika in that order. I only have Erika last because she's probably the best dancer of the four. 

[Skycatcher]

9 hours ago, PBGamer89 said:

........., while every man except for David got Cha Cha?

I really don't like the cha cha on this show.  For the most part it seems that the guys just stand there or walk a few steps here or there while the pro dances her ass off around them with fancy footwork and a lot of skirt flipping. Why even bother scoring it?  Plus, to my very untrained eye, there's just not a lot of cha cha in their versions of this dance.

[Alapaki]

1 hour ago, smiley13 said:

Seems like something right in line with Sharna's usual behavior to me.  She gives off a trashy vibe all the time.  I wish the show would get rid of her.

It's completely predictable that TPTB's official public explanation would be that Bonner's hand just "slipped".  They're never going to admit that one of their "stars" attempted to sexually assault one of their pros during the taping of the show.

But I saw that live and my wife missed it so I replayed it for her.  When you watch in slo-mo, it's completely apparent that he's feeling his way down.

I mean, we've literally gone in four months from hearing an audio description, to actually seeing on live TV someone try to "grab 'em by the pussy".  It was disgusting.  Hopefully behind the scenes TPTB and Sharna lit into Bonner for his behavior.  Because it really is disturbing.

[StatMom]

Kind of a cute video with Rossy showing Lindsay around Wrigley Field.

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, RedFiat said:

The reason Simone will win is Len has already ignored her faults.  Rather than really judging he stayed on the script.  If he was being consistent he would have tied her score for the others who got a 7. He had no problem calling out the faults of those who got 6s and 7s.  That was some boring ass tango, same one we've been seeing for 5 seasons now. Move away from the strobes and laser beams, for the love of dance. Boring re-treads should not get a pass.  As far as technique goes, she didn't get called on it, but there wasn't a single heel lead in a dance of heel leads.

I don't know much about the Tango, but I said to my husband that she looked choppy (for lack of a better word).  I thought it was good, but didn't expect glowing reviews and 8s. 

Peta never looked more beautiful, imo, than she did last night with a little extra weight on her and covered up a bit more.

[Beatrice]

Bonner gave we weird/boring vibes before this incident which was disappointing because I always root for Sharna no matter her partner. The package was so over the top gross as well especially for the first week. Throwing my support behind Heater and Maks for this season instead. I feel the shocking elimination with her though. I really do like Normani but don't want to see Val win again. I just don't want another gymnast again, I'm tired of that story line but at least she'll produce some nice routines. Much rather a season of ringers than Chris/Mr. T's.

[Babalooie]

59 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

As for Chris...I only caught his after interview portion and not his dance, not until I looked it up online to watch, but damn, he's weird.

His brain is fried.      There are many incidents.  This is just one of them.   http://www.etonline.com/news/143337_Chris_Kattan_Arrested_for_DUI/

Edited March 21, 2017 by Babalooie
Capitals are important.

[simplyme]

Bonner came across like he had fallen on his head a lot even before he broke his neck. His attractiveness up and vanished once he opened his mouth. *sigh*

I don't know if The Grab was intentional. There is the possibility that he may still have repercussions from breaking his neck that they didn't get into, and he wasn't looking that way.

[thefog]

The show is SO lazy.  I can't believe they are trying to float yet another near death experience - with Sharma.  I also can't believe they went from someone as great as James Hinchcliffe to someone who isn't like Bonner Bolton.

Edited March 22, 2017 by escape

[lindsayz18]

Normani/Val- I have to agree with Len that it did take much to long to actually get into that quickstep hold. Overall it was an ok dance and performance, not something i would need to go back and watch though. It did hurt her by going first though. I have a feeling she will slay at the latin dances.

Nancy/Artem-Nice Choreo,  she did seem like she was rushing a bit and unsure at times. However, she has absolutely beautiful lines. Latin dances may be her downfall.

Chris/Witney-ok, No, just no! hes a weirdo who cant dance. Free Witney America! (i loved her outfit though)

Bonner/Sharna-I'm sick of showmances ever season. Also, i felt like there was very little cha cha cha in that number! 

Nick/Peta-this was ok, i wasnt wowed by it but he does have potential, i would like to see more.

Heather/Maks-It was absolutely beautiful, A gorgeous Viennese waltz from Maks. Cannot wait to see more from this pairing. Alot will depend on if maks can deliver choreography wise

David/Lindsay-this pairing surprised my the most, Wonderful choreography from Lindsay, sure it was slow in parts, however, it was a recognizable quickstep, he is so likeable as well, i voted for them!

Charo/Keo-I am surprised she remembered the steps and delivered a fun performance. However, she was over the top and it will get old very fast. I would be ok with her leaving week 2 or 3. Show-Stop trying to make keo happen! 

Erika/Gleb-I dont like her, I dont like him, that was no a salsa, and i really have no interest in watching this couple. bye felicia, sorry not sorry.

Rashad and Emma-Finally, they give a Capable partner to Emma, Best cha cha of the night! we'll see if he can do standard ballroom though. I threw some votes their way!

Mr T/Kym-sorry kym, its not you, its him. no wait, part of it was you, there was very little cha cha in that routine..but now i can understand why. Yikes!

Simone/Sasha-i love Sasha, i like simone but i felt like this was a bit hectic and there was no light and shade. it was all full out..just a one speed, generic tango from this couple. 

 

Overall, it wasnt a terrible premiere. I really want to see more from Rashad and emma, Heather and maks, and Nick and peta

Chris should be out first, he makes me so uncomfortable, however, i wouldnt be upset if charo left.

[Koalagirl]

I guess I'm going to take the unpopular side and say that I like Erika though I wish she had been presented in a different light.  On Real Housewives she is actually one of the more likable women.  As Erika Gerardi she doesn't get involved in the rumor mill and a lot of the b.s. that goes on.  She is married to a very wealthy attorney  who is years older than her though she herself came from humble beginnings.  Her general demeanor is rather subdued and guarded.   Erika Jayne is her alter-ego and she has a huge gay following at her performances.  Unfortunately I can see that it doesn't appeal to the DWTS demographic.  I hope she gets to chance to show the Erika Gerardi side.

[LotusFlower]

45 minutes ago, Alapaki said:

It's completely predictable that TPTB's official public explanation would be that Bonner's hand just "slipped".  They're never going to admit that one of their "stars" attempted to sexually assault one of their pros during the taping of the show.

But I saw that live and my wife missed it so I replayed it for her.  When you watch in slo-mo, it's completely apparent that he's feeling his way down.

I mean, we've literally gone in four months from hearing an audio description, to actually seeing on live TV someone try to "grab 'em by the pussy".  It was disgusting.  Hopefully behind the scenes TPTB and Sharna lit into Bonner for his behavior.  Because it really is disturbing.

I couldn't agree more.  We saw someone grab 'em by the pussy on live tv, and it was gross.  And I didn't like how the ET article described it as a "steamy" moment.  No, it was a skeevy moment at best, if not sexual assault, and it's not ok to mischaracterize what he did.

[peachmangosteen]

12 minutes ago, Koalagirl said:

I guess I'm going to take the unpopular side and say that I like Erika though I wish she had been presented in a different light.  

I'll join you at at UO table. I'm disappointed they're going full Erika Jayne with her. I find Erika Jayne funny, but I wish she was just being herself, instead of her persona.

My faves were Nick, Rashad, and David. I find Nick inexplicably sexy. And I thought Rashad and David just looked like they were having a blast. Their energy is infectious. I also really enjoyed Nancy and Heather.

I don't particularly like Simone's personality and her dance was way too frenetic for me. She will win, which is disappointing, but at least it means Sasha will win.

I like Normani's personality a lot and I thought her dance was decent, but I am so completely over Val. He's still hot though lol.

Edited March 21, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[wanderingstar]

Rashad and Emma's dance had such joy, I want to watch it 10 more times. 

Everything else was kind of a blur.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Gillian Rosh

[DEL901]

For the young'uns who have never seen Chris Kattan before, you have to watch the movie "Night at the Roxbury" - it will TOTALLY explain the choreography.

[MooCat Pretzel]

I thought the final shot of the star dedicated to Florence Henderson was a classy touch.  I guess she is the first former contestant to pass away or is it because of how supportive she was of the show?  Either way--nice.  

Edited March 21, 2017 by MooCat Pretzel

[LadyMustang65]

For the most part, we really enjoyed the premiere of this season and are looking forward to the coming weeks.  We thought most of the celebs at least showed some promise (Chris K. being the real exception), and several seem like real contenders.

First to leave is a toss-up between Chris K and Erika Jayne.  We did not like either of these people.  Erika is probably the better dancer, but she was the more objectionable persona.  Don't want to see either of them again, though.  Ugh!

Mr. T surprised - he moved better than I expected, not that that's saying a lot.  And he seemed likeable.  Charo is OTT, but she's always been that.  She's another one who moved better than I expected.  Hopefully they'll find a way to reign her in a bit or she'll leave early just because she'll be too annoying. 

David Ross seems like a real nice guy, and he seems to have some potential.  But that had to be one of the slowest quicksteps ever.  I was not prepared for the high marks at all.  smh  Bonner and Nick did okay.  They both seem as though they could improve.  Not sure what to make of the backstage incident with Bonner.  I noticed it but hubby didn't.  I'm not convinced it was done deliberately - it almost looked as though he was trying to rest his arm on her waist and it slid - but the way she moved the hand made me wonder if he's kind of grabby in rehearsals.  I'll have to wait and see with him.  I'm not a fan of The Bachelor.  It's premise and the way it plays out makes me cringe, so I'm also not inclined to be kind to anyone who goes on that show.  But at first blush anyway he seems like a nice enough guy and potentially a better dancer than any of the others.  I know the bar's kind of low on that one.  <lol>

Rashad is definitely the stand-out of the guys for us.  He seems like a nice guy, he was definitely having a blast, and he's clearly got some natural rhythm and natural movement.  I think his dance was our favorite of the evening - not the best, but we outright enjoyed it the most.  This couple is our favorite of the men right now, with David & Lindsay a close second.

The women's field is much deeper.  Once you get rid of Erika and Charo, I think the others all did pretty well and potentially have the ability to be standing when we get to the finals.  Nancy Kerrigan is probably the weakest, simply because of her age.  Not sure she'll be able to do the latin dances that well.  But he waltz was very nice.  And I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked her.  I was not a fan of her attitude when she was a skater.  I still remember her complaining after she won her silver medal.  And I always thought she was kind of 'heavy' on the ice - she always seemed to 'clunk' down on the ice when she landed her jumps.  But she was graceful.  Anyway, I half-expected to find her a bit off-putting, but she seemed gracious, humble, hard-working and quite nice.  At this point I'm not expected her to be in the finals, but I'm thinking she'll make it to the later stages of the competition. 

Normani, Heather and Simone are, I think, the top 3.  I agreed with Len that the quickstep took too long to set up, but once they got into it, I thought she did very well.  She seems like a hard worker who wants to learn, so I expect her to get better with Val.  Heather is a beautiful dancer, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do with Maks.  The fact that she's a ringer may keep her from ultimately winning, but then again it might not.  We've seen ringers win, and we've seen ringers done in at the end by fans wanting to reward a non-dancer who came a long way.  She played one of our favorite characters on Glee, so we've got a soft spot for her.  If Maks can really bring it with the choreography (and he's unfortunately inconsistent in that department), I could see her winning it all.  I know a lot of folks seem to think Simone is a shoe-in, but I'm not convinced.  I like her, and she certainly did well (although not as well as the judges thought) with her tango.  I'm a bit worried about this pairing.  I generally like Sasha's choreography, and he did some really wonderful dances with Terra.  But he was always throwing in backflips and such when he was in the troupe, and my worry is that, unlike Val, he will attempt to use Simone's gymnastics ability a lot.  Val rarely went there with Laurie, and I think Sasha needs to do the same with Simone.  It'll also be interesting to see how Simone does with some of the other dances.  Laurie was always considered the best dancer of the team, while Simone was always a powerhouse.  That won't necessarily lend itself to her being able to do some of the 'looser' dances like salsa or samba or cha cha, though.  And with Laurie having just won, there is a certain segment of the audience that won't want to see another gymnast win.  So we'll see.

My early prediction for semi-finals:  Normani, Heather, Simone, Rashad and one of David, Nick or Nancy.

[katha]

38 minutes ago, Koalagirl said:

I guess I'm going to take the unpopular side and say that I like Erika though I wish she had been presented in a different light.  On Real Housewives she is actually one of the more likable women.  As Erika Gerardi she doesn't get involved in the rumor mill and a lot of the b.s. that goes on.  She is married to a very wealthy attorney  who is years older than her though she herself came from humble beginnings.  Her general demeanor is rather subdued and guarded.   Erika Jayne is her alter-ego and she has a huge gay following at her performances.  Unfortunately I can see that it doesn't appeal to the DWTS demographic.  I hope she gets to chance to show the Erika Gerardi side.

Last season I didn't like Gleb's programs for Jana, and what he did in the first week for Erika was one big WTH moment as well. I don't know her at all, but it's clear that she's got some performance ability, Gleb just managed to drown it in sexy unicorns or whatever. There's a way to make camp like that work, but that wasn't it IMO.

[TroopinFairy]

Maybe this will explain a few things. I watched it online last night and I feel like it was unintentional but, these are my feelings on the subject. 

http://people.com/tv/bonner-bolton-explains-groping-sharna-burgess-dancing-with-the-stars-premiere/

[truthaboutluv]

30 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

For the young'uns who have never seen Chris Kattan before, you have to watch the movie "Night at the Roxbury" - it will TOTALLY explain the choreography.

I know the Chris Kattan "Night at the Roxbury" sketch, which is why, like Carrie Ann said, I knew the beginning of the dance was meant to be bad dancing based on the character. But I still thought the entire thing was batshit crazy. Like Bruno said, it was completely awesome if you didn't expect to see anything resembling a Cha Cha.

Edited March 21, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[lindsayz18]

The opening number was very lackluster this year. That is all.

[sekay87]

I am not ordinarily someone who complains about people with a dance background coming on here, but I do think it's ridiculous that Heather Morris gets to be a contestant. She's not just someone who had to learn dance as part of a bigger profession, like Simone Biles for example, but she is a professional dancer and was before going on Glee. She was hired on Glee initially to teach the choreography to Beyonce's Single Ladies to the cast and wound up becoming a character on the show. She's phenomenal, don't get me wrong, but it really irritates me that they're allowing someone who looks almost as good as the pros on the show to compete against the likes of a David Ross or Rashad Jennings, both of whom are not dancers but did a great job on their first routine. I'm bummed because she's obviously going to be either the winner or a finalist and her journey won't be as fun to watch because she's so awesome out of the gate.

[sekay87]

  1 hour ago, Koalagirl said:

I guess I'm going to take the unpopular side and say that I like Erika though I wish she had been presented in a different light.  

I'll join you at at UO table. I'm disappointed they're going full Erika Jayne with her. I find Erika Jayne funny, but I wish she was just being herself, instead of her persona.

My faves were Nick, Rashad, and David. I find Nick inexplicably sexy. And I thought Rashad and David just looked like they were having a blast. Their energy is infectious. I also really enjoyed Nancy and Heather.

I don't particularly like Simone's personality and her dance was way too frenetic for me. She will win, which is disappointing, but at least it means Sasha will win.

I like Normani's personality a lot and I thought her dance was decent, but I am so completely over Val. He's still hot though lol.

I'm with the two of you! I watch RHOBH and I LOVE Erika. There's so much more to her than a raunchy alter-ego. It makes me sad they don't show more of that side of her!

[LotusFlower]

3 minutes ago, TroopinFairy said:

Maybe this will explain a few things. I watched it online last night and I feel like it was unintentional but, these are my feelings on the subject. 

http://people.com/tv/bonner-bolton-explains-groping-sharna-burgess-dancing-with-the-stars-premiere/

Yet another article calling it "steamy."  I think they're making it worse by talking about it in the context of their alleged chemistry.  Bonner actually said that he was distracted by how beautiful Sharna is.  Um, what?  That's sexist and offensive language right there.  If he doesn't know how to deal with his attraction to Sharna without grabbing her pussy, then he's got bigger problems than not knowing how to dance.  And Sharna (or the show) shouldn't be complicit in contextualizing the grab in this way, either.  Not cool.