S24.E02: Week 2

[dcubed]

7 minutes ago, thesupremediva1 said:

But let's be real, if this woman was paired with Derek, the vitrol would be off the charts and there would be petitions - and I'd probably be signing them.

No truer words.  And I'd be signing them too!

[Lady Calypso]

So, I rewatched Heather's jive this morning, just to see what was the issue with her dance this week. I will say that she actually took Carrie Ann's criticism about having no personality in her dance from last week and she actually showed a lot of personality this week. She looked like she was having a blast. Not only that, but I change my mind about her jive. It was actually really good. I think it's tough to keep up a quick stepped dance like this jive, but Heather's energy was really up there. 

I still don't get Len's criticism now. She WAS jiving. She was jiving for at least 45 seconds. She only hip hopped for 10. Did he just block out the majority of her dance, or was he told to get harsh with his criticism and that's what he chose to focus on? 

Either way, I think the fact that she took her criticisms from last week and actually altered her performance to change it this week, it bodes well for her in future weeks. 

[Good Queen Jane]

24 minutes ago, dcubed said:

My mother and I were obsessed with those Olympics and I was in my 20's so I remember a lot about them and the incident.  First, she wasn't hit by Tonya (this isn't to you directly but to another commentator).  She was hit by someone hired by Tonya's husband, after the competition in Detroit (not during).  Nancy's parents were not well-off and skating is an extremely expensive sport (this was before they were allowed all the sponsorships they can get today).  She had worked extremely hard and as I recall, she really was fairly introverted/awkward.  What was missing was a killer attitude and confidence, like she wanted it too much and was so afraid to fail.  So she didn't skate with a confident attitude.  And I think she was genuinely pissed that Tonya still got to skate in the Olympics and that all the attention was on "poor scrappy Tonya" and "poor orphan Oksana" instead of the skating, and I don't really blame her for that.  Her reaction to getting the silver was complete disappointment mixed with anger...all those years of hard work, expense and practice ruined because of outside influences.  I still remember thinking that she wasn't the best skater but I could see how she felt her Olympic dreams were ruined by others. 

I was in Detroit for Nationals that year (1994). Although Nancy was not my favorite skater, I really did feel sorry for her. The year before at the Worlds in Prague, the American women skated horribly (Nancy as the highest finished 5th) and so for the first time for years there were only going to be 2 spots for women in the Olympics. Nancy got a lot of flack in the press for her poor performance (although it was as much the "fault" of the other two women's poor skates.) and you could tell she felt under a lot of pressure to redeem herself. Add that to the fact that Tonya had a triple Axel and that there was this 13 year old skater named Michelle Kwan poised to take over, Nancy must have thought her chance to win Olympic gold (and therefore a comfortable life) was really in jeopardy.

[Primetimer]

After showing off what they learned in the second week of dancing, one couple is sent home.

View the full article

[ClareWalks]

Charo is at a 10, and I need her to be at an 8. Just calm it a BIT. No need to scream at Bruno that his "English SUCKS," since lord knows Charo ain't exactly William Shakespeare. I kind of miss kooky Cuchi-cuchi Charo, this Charo just makes me wonder what drugs she is on.

[jackjill89]

35 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I was in Detroit for Nationals that year (1994). Although Nancy was not my favorite skater, I really did feel sorry for her. The year before at the Worlds in Prague, the American women skated horribly (Nancy as the highest finished 5th) and so for the first time for years there were only going to be 2 spots for women in the Olympics. Nancy got a lot of flack in the press for her poor performance (although it was as much the "fault" of the other two women's poor skates.) and you could tell she felt under a lot of pressure to redeem herself. Add that to the fact that Tonya had a triple Axel and that there was this 13 year old skater named Michelle Kwan poised to take over, Nancy must have thought her chance to win Olympic gold (and therefore a comfortable life) was really in jeopardy.

Daubed and Good Queen Jane-- ITA regarding Nancy. I actually spent some time with her through work during this whole thing. The pressure on her was immense. This was supposed to be "her" Olympics and she skated clean, but didn't win. Can you imagine all those years of training and your best isn't good enough? She has rough edges, and was snippy at times, but, she was also very, very kind to the members of our organization, and that's what I will remember about her. She didn't have to be and she was very cool about spending time with them. 

[thesupremediva1]

2 minutes ago, jackjill89 said:

This was supposed to be "her" Olympics and she skated clean, but didn't win. Can you imagine all those years of training and your best isn't good enough?

Nancy absolutely should have won the 1994 Olympics. I was frustrated for her, not only by the results, but by the fact that the USFSA painted her as this privileged ice princess who whined about BEING ASSAULTED and then made a bunch of money off her literal agony. They promoted her sob story and then maligned her for acting like a regular human.

Nancy came from a blue-collar background and was far more tomboy-ish than anyone would allow her to let on in her ice performances. She always had nice lines but was more athletic than artistic. She wasn't highly media trained. That all changed when the next American woman was forced to endure the fate described above. No one handled defeat more gracefully than Michelle Kwan. She and her coach saw what was done to Kerrigan and took special care to present a sweet and friendly face to the media at all times.

I'll always root for Nancy. The "whack heard round the world" brought me to figure skating at a very young age and I've been a die-hard fan ever since. She's getting all my votes once I get Bachelor Nick stabilized - I don't want her coming in second again!

[McManda]

2 hours ago, vibeology said:

Does anyone remember if Derek used to stand with Nastia and Sasha for judges' comments or if he just joined them for scores?

They kept Sharna up in the sky box last season when Jenna was filling in for her with James. 

[Alison]

2 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

A fiction author may not know how to write poetry, but they know proper grammar, spelling and punctuation and they know how to construct a sentence. A sitcom actor may not know how to perform for  live stage, but they know how to emote and memorize dialogue. So I'm sorry but I don't buy all this Heather isn't trained in ballroom stuff. She's a dancer so she has a huge advantage. But I think the producers' ploy of making her look sympathetic and out of her element with some nudging by the judges is working. Personally I wouldn't vote for her whether she was dancing with Maks, Alan or Yogi Bear. She's a professional dancer and doesn't belong on this show.

YES. This analogy is spot-on.

[Emily-D]

I actually kind of understood Nancy struggling to accept compliments. As an athlete she must have been criticised all of her working life non stop by her coaches in order to help her improve and become the best skater she could be. She was also in the public eye constantly so if she had a bad competition performance then she probably got criticised non stop by the media and press. People criticised her for how she came off during the Olympics, criticised her for her being attacked (how and why I don't know). Hell people are criticising her now on this thread. All of a sudden she's on DWTS, a very positive show with an excited pro who hasn't got to work with someone of her ability since joining the show and is showering her with praise. I'd find it difficult to handle as well if I were in her shoes. After being criticised and insulted all her working life she probably finds all the sudden compliments patronising and a little fake. I could be well wrong, this is just me guessing. Having only known Nancy by name coming into this and not her past, she's coming off very well on tv for the neutral viewer. 

[UYI]

1 hour ago, dcubed said:

My mother and I were obsessed with those Olympics and I was in my 20's so I remember a lot about them and the incident.  First, she wasn't hit by Tonya (this isn't to you directly but to another commentator).  She was hit by someone hired by Tonya's husband, after the competition in Detroit (not during).

Actually, it was on January 6th, 1994, right before the short program took place (I think the night before, actually). She wasn't able to skate either program because of her injury, and she got a medical bye to the Olympics. If you go to 3Axel1996's YouTube channel (the best figure skating channel ever IMO), you'll find a lot of videos surrounding the first several hours after Nancy's attack happened, including an interview with Nancy herself--she sat in the press box during the performances on both nights and watched from there. 

The guy who hit Nancy with the police baton is named Shane Stant. He was actually interviewed for Tonya's E! True Hollywood Story in 1999. IMO, it's even better than the 30 for 30 episode in many ways, because it was just a few years after the attack, and the emotions were still so raw on all sides.

[Alapaki]

9 hours ago, Venee said:

I guess I'm one of the oldest ones on here who remember Nancy Kerrigan from the Olympics and the scandal when Tonya Harding hit her in the leg during the competition?  Everyone felt sorry for Nancy, but her true personality seemed to come out after the Olympics and it seems she's cold as ice.  Sorry for the pun ;)  I don't believe for a minute her little ''Oh,I'm sooo nervous, I need to cry because I cant stand someone to complement little ol' me who can't be called GOOD.'' No, silly, do you think you won the gold metal by being rotten?!  I think she's trying to redeem her image.

I'm in that age cohort.  And I too am curious about Nancy.  I suppose it's possible that she's matured.  But I agree that she certainly does seem to be trying hard to sell "nice Nancy".  I'll be curious how she responds to criticism.  

Otherwise, I felt like the guys were over-scored last night.  But I wonder if that's a function of the lop-sided talent on the female side and TPTB's wanting to have at least some guys make it into the late-season.  

I was curious whether they'd address the Sharna/Bonnor situation from last week.  Interesting that they didn't.  But we did get an over-the-top-obvious close-up of them holding hands.  "Look, he's grabbing her hand, not her pussy!"  

I thought Nick wasn't half-bad last week.  This week, though, he looked really awkward and graceless.  I'm curious how far he'll make it.

Like someone said last week, that guy from the Cubs is going to be this season's Bill Engvall.

[Lovecat]

9 hours ago, stcroix said:

I feel sorry for [Len] to tell you the truth.  He's watched a show he started on go from people performing classic dances to snippits of classic dances hidden in sexy,modern dance.  I'd love to see the old show back.  I cant tell what dance they're actually doing the snippits of unless I catch what it is under their names at the first.  I used to like learning what moves to look for that went with each style.  Now it seems like a bunch of free style with (sometimes) enough actual proper dance moves thrown in to please the judges.  This show....

Same.  I miss the announcer with the lovely British accent that announced the names and dance style  I did love how everything he said sounded so classy.

Oh, Tom Bergeron, I see what you did there.  Sliding the phrase "hands down" [with a little twinkle in your eye] into your intro of bullrider guy and Sharna?  Cheeky monkey.

I'm calling it right now:  Next week Mr. T's going to dance to the theme from D.C. Cab, and then he'll have burned through all of his acting roles.  Otherwise, he's made a name for himself just being Mr. T.

I've given up on the premise of this show, really.  I do like to see someone with natural talent and no training work hard and do well, but mostly I just like to watch people dance, so I'm a-OK with HeMo being on my screen every week.  I've missed seeing her dance since GLEE ended.

[beverlyoc]

Did no one else catch Len's comment during judging to Nick (I think), something like "I heard you'll be back next week, so ..."?  I rewound twice because I thought I must have misheard.

[beverlyoc]

Did no one else catch Len's comment during judging to Nick (I think), something like "I heard you'll be back next week, so ..."?  I rewound twice because I thought I must have misheard.

[dcubed]

30 minutes ago, Alison said:

 

A fiction author may not know how to write poetry, but they know proper grammar, spelling and punctuation and they know how to construct a sentence. A sitcom actor may not know how to perform for  live stage, but they know how to emote and memorize dialogue.

A technical writer knows proper grammar, spelling and punctuation but I probably wouldn't want to read their writing for entertainment :)

[bealled]

I don't really see Chris as a sore loser like a lot of others. I think he was just frustrated his situation/disability was not shown in the package from night one. I don't think he expected sympathy for it, but it would give voters an understanding of why his dancing was so off. I don't blame him for being annoyed about that. It may have allowed him to escape the first elimination.

Charo is really nutty but I find her kind of amusing. Is she just trying to be funny making jokes about Bruno's accent? I kind of think she is just playing up the crazy for television, but who knows.

Mr. T is amusing to watch. I feel like he is very focused so I enjoy watching him, even if he isn't very good. You can tell he is really trying.

Nancy I find okay. She is not bad, but I get a bit bored/underwhelmed by her. It is nice to see Artem so excited about the pairing though.

Simone was not as good this week. I think Sasha was pushing her a little too hard to be sexy. I guess the song choice didn't help. This is a typical reaction we see with the gymnasts though, in being uncomfortable expressing a sexy side. I think some of the moves could have been toned down to make Simone more comfortable. I feel it hurt her connection to the performance because she was probably overthinking and worrying about the sexy moves. I am not convinced Simone will necessarily be the winner unless she really starts doing good. There is some competition for her this season.

I really am liking Normani. Her and Val have a good chemistry. I think she's definitely one of the standout dancers.

I am a fan of Heather too. I don't really see the big deal over her hand flip. I took it as lighthearted. She definitely is a great dancer. I hope Maks can come back soon.

Bonner is really dull to me and his dancing is not good. I don't get the hype over his looks. His personality makes him a dud. I think the showmance with Sharna is really forced. I saw a little chemistry week one, but none this week. Their dance was overrated too. I think Sharna will play up the showmance though because it is probably their best bet at staying on the show for a while.

I'm rooting for Nick. He wasn't as good this week, but showed promise week one. He'll probably leave midpack but I hope he stays a while. I also really like him and Peta's pairing.

Rashad is the guy to beat in my opinion. I think he is a real dark horse with potential to go all the way. He has a great personality, nice pairing with Emma, and his moves seem good so far and he has the potential to be really good. I think he has a combo of factors to be a real underdog this season.

I like David but wasn't a fan of his dance last night. I can see him going far though just based on personality. He is a fun guy, and I always love Lindsay. I think he could maybe make the top 4 and beat someone in a surprise elimination.

[Guest]

I don't understand how Len gave Heather a freaking 6 because of a hip hop breakdown? It was two seconds out of the dance.

[Callaphera]

11 minutes ago, bealled said:

I don't really see Chris as a sore loser like a lot of others. I think he was just frustrated his situation/disability was not shown in the package from night one. I don't think he expected sympathy for it, but it would give voters an understanding of why his dancing was so off. I don't blame him for being annoyed about that. It may have allowed him to escape the first elimination.

Again, though, does it really matter whether they out and out show an x-ray of all the hardware in his back for the audience to "understand"? He said in the first week that he had broken his neck. He stood and moved like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. There was clearly something wrong with his body that caused him to be unable to move like the other contestants. Did it need to be spelled out and given tinkly music and tears in a package? All you had to do was look at the guy to know something was wrong. 

ETA: Full disclaimer: I don't like Chris Kattan. I never have. I don't find him funny in the least. More annoying than anything and he used to cause me to go flailing for the remote to change the channel whenever he'd show up in old SNL reruns (I call it the Will Ferrell Effect because the above goes double for him). So I'm not sorry to see him go and I may be biased because of my dislike of him. 

Edited March 28, 2017 by Callaphera

[boyznkatz]

I have to LOL about the gymnasts always complaining about being sexy when most of them end up posing practically nude in Sports Illustrated. Didn't Aly Raisman have the same complaints as Simone? At least Laurie was probably really as innocent as they portrayed her.

[1992austenlover]

32 minutes ago, beverlyoc said:

Did no one else catch Len's comment during judging to Nick (I think), something like "I heard you'll be back next week, so ..."?  I rewound twice because I thought I must have misheard.

He said "I hope you're back next week".

[jackjill89]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I see your point. I do think that Heather has a distinct advantage, but how about other ringers? Don't figure skaters such as Nancy or even Meryl and Charlie have some dance training themselves? They may not be professional dancers, but they certainly have to be graceful and know balance and movement when they competed on the ice. Normani has some dance training because of her singing group as well, right? I just decided to read up on her biography and they have their own professional choreographer and she's done her own videos. 

I totally get your point about Heather probably not belonging on this show and I agree in some capacity, in that she did start her career in dance and that's what has helped boost her into other roles such as acting. But I also believe that she was trained in jazz dance, which really is much different than ballroom and that not all dancers have the same qualifications and they all can't be good in all types of dance. For example, a country singer probably won't be able to perform a rap song without some training, or a rap singer wouldn't be able to sing classical. 

I guess I should have prefaced this post with I'm not a dancer or a professional and I've only started watching this show regularly, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about. 

To not have any "ringers" on this show at all, you'd have to exclude those with dance experience, those with competition experience (athletes) and those who perform regularly in front of a live audience and know how to take on a character. Basically, we'd have a bunch of completely lame dancers with no personality. Heather, who is a trained dancer, has a distinct advantage, even if it isn't in ballroom. But everyone brings something to the table.

Then, there are those who are so out of their element they just suck up one side and down the other and don't even have the personality or attitude to go anywhere (like Chris Kattan).

Bottom line is, this is as much of a personality competition as it is a dance competition. Less than stellar dancers have made it far, and really good dancers have been eliminated fairly early. People who I thought would be good going in are stiff and devoid of personality. Others have completely won me over with their hard work and positive attitude. The whole ringer talk is so old. Can't we just all get over it and enjoy the show? Heather will go out when she should -- she might be technically proficient, but it's her personality that will keep her or let her go. 

[dcubed]

1 minute ago, jackjill89 said:

Bottom line is, this is as much of a personality competition as it is a dance competition. Less than stellar dancers have made it far, and really good dancers have been eliminated fairly early. People who I thought would be good going in are stiff and devoid of personality. Others have completely won me over with their hard work and positive attitude. The whole ringer talk is so old. Can't we just all get over it and enjoy the show?

Amen!!!!!

[katha]

I've talked about it in Nancy's thread already, but I think so much time has passed and not many people really care about the finer points of figure skating melodrama, that the whole context of what went down in 1994 has been buried under a lot of unfortunate media narratives. Nancy was never the most graceful and expressive skater (though she always put in the effort to give polished performances) and she was always a headcase. The US figure skating establishment was spoiled with decades of ladies champions and was really hard on Nancy for her inconsistency. She placed well and won medals, but she also had meltdowns.

Then the insane pressure to deliver at the 1994 Olympics and she knew that would be her last chance to win something big and then convert that title into some decent earning opportunities. Figure skating is a very expensive sport, she's from a working class family and pre-94 the pro-circuit was around, but it wasn't super lucrative. Then she gets assaulted, her assault gets filmed, then she is relentlessly mocked on a national scale for her immediate reaction to that assault and for not being a "perfect victim" (whatever that is). Against all odds, she gets it together in time for the Olys (with the added stress of Harding being allowed to compete there) and delivers two strong performances. Loses gold to a technically inferior Baiul in a decision that is still seen as controversial. And all the while this unprecedented media circus is going on around her. She always seemed reserved and uncomfortable with the media and didn't have the PR training to prepare her for the reaction in 1994, nothing could have prepared her for that. So she gets further resentment and backlash for not winning and for not being the pwetty pwincess the US expects all its ladies skaters to be. Eeeek.

As for that stuff about compliments? Yeah, figure skating isn't exactly cute and fluffy. It's not so different from gymnastics in that regard, the kids who are on track to make a serious career for themselves get drilled from a very young age. And through her competition background she's probably got a habit of looking hypercritically at her performances and so she only sees that she's not as good as Artem, she's not as good as other contestants (past and present), I can well believe that she's used to focusing on mistakes she makes, not on things she does well.

[jennifer6973]

12 hours ago, gohawks said:

Normani and Mel B?  They are both part of a girl group , but their personalities are very different. Mel B was a wise-ass ballbuster ( i loved that about her) and Normani is sweet and a bit shy.

What I meant by that is choreography wise, it seems easy and I thought half of Mel B's dances were basic and boring like her Rumba.  I'm getting that vibe with Val's choreography for her.

[Raynedon]

Just now, stcroix said:

I don't think we're going to see much that isn't sexy out of Erica.  She seems to be embracing her 'Erica Jayne' character and is on the show to promote her hits she has under this title.  I've seen her on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and shes more normal as just plain Erica.  When she puts her concerts on and in her videos, shes this sexy, outrageous character she calls Erica Jayne.  So....

I guess I'm one of the oldest ones on here who remember Nancy Kerrigan from the Olympics and the scandal when Tonya Harding hit her in the leg during the competition?  Everyone felt sorry for Nancy, but her true personality seemed to come out after the Olympics and it seems she's cold as ice.  Sorry for the pun ;)  I don't believe for a minute her little ''Oh,I'm sooo nervous, I need to cry because I cant stand someone to complement little ol' me who can't be called GOOD.'' No, silly, do you think you won the gold metal by being rotten?!  I think she's trying to redeem her image.  You younger people will see a smiling demure woman trying soooo hard.  She's in perfect condition and still skates as a performer as lately as 2015 when she did a 15 city Halloween tour.  Not sure about last year.  It was amusing to hear either Carrie Ann or Julianne (they are interchangeable to me now and why do we need 4 judges?) telling Nancy how to hold her arms to look more graceful!  A gold winning Olympic ice skater who wouldn't know how to hold her arms gracefully.  This show.

I feel sorry for Lynn to tell you the truth.  He's watched a show he started on go from people performing classic dances to snippits of classic dances hidden in sexy,modern dance.  I'd love to see the old show back.  I cant tell what dance they're actually doing the snippits of unless I catch what it is under their names at the first.  I used to like learning what moves to look for that went with each style.  Now it seems like a bunch of free style with (sometimes) enough actual proper dance moves thrown in to please the judges.  This show....

I'm with you all the way on your comments!  (and I do remember watching the Nancy/Tonya Olympics!)   I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who would like the show to go back to it's original style of more classic dances.  The show seems to have lost it's original premise and I miss the classic techniques and learning about the dance styles, steps, etc.  

The episode last night felt like a mess.  It felt rushed to me, too much nonsense from Charo and Jullianne going on and on and on, and the multiple 'misses' w/Erin trying to make a joke, along with the dances being so short - I was glad when it was finally over.   

[Toonces464]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I see your point. I do think that Heather has a distinct advantage, but how about other ringers? Don't figure skaters such as Nancy or even Meryl and Charlie have some dance training themselves? They may not be professional dancers, but they certainly have to be graceful and know balance and movement when they competed on the ice. Normani has some dance training because of her singing group as well, right?

 

There's a difference in having some training in something and having it be something you studied for your whole life and have made into your career. For the record, I was not happy with Meryl and Charlie being on the show, especially right after the Olympics. Derek helped choreograph one of their routines for Pete's sake!

1 hour ago, dcubed said:

A technical writer knows proper grammar, spelling and punctuation but I probably wouldn't want to read their writing for entertainment :)

True but they'd still have better writing basic skills than a scientist.

[TeeMo]

2 hours ago, thesupremediva1 said:

Nancy absolutely should have won the 1994 Olympics. I was frustrated for her, not only by the results, but by the fact that the USFSA painted her as this privileged ice princess who whined about BEING ASSAULTED and then made a bunch of money off her literal agony. They promoted her sob story and then maligned her for acting like a regular human.

Nancy came from a blue-collar background and was far more tomboy-ish than anyone would allow her to let on in her ice performances. She always had nice lines but was more athletic than artistic. She wasn't highly media trained. That all changed when the next American woman was forced to endure the fate described above. No one handled defeat more gracefully than Michelle Kwan. She and her coach saw what was done to Kerrigan and took special care to present a sweet and friendly face to the media at all times.

I'll always root for Nancy. The "whack heard round the world" brought me to figure skating at a very young age and I've been a die-hard fan ever since. She's getting all my votes once I get Bachelor Nick stabilized - I don't want her coming in second again!

I live in the same suburban area as Nancy and I've encountered her quite a few times over the years in various public places and she has always been perfectly lovely and normal in those instances. I think she gets a bad rap.

[Toonces464]

59 minutes ago, heatherrrrz said:

I don't understand how Len gave Heather a freaking 6 because of a hip hop breakdown? It was two seconds out of the dance.

The same way he gave Erin a 7 for her Samba because Maks took his shirt off (something Len now seems to love). It's Len being Len.

[friendperidot]

Quote

TA: Full disclaimer: I don't like Chris Kattan. I never have. I don't find him funny in the least. More annoying than anything and he used to cause me to go flailing for the remote to change the channel whenever he'd show up in old SNL reruns (I call it the Will Ferrell Effect because the above goes double for him). So I'm not sorry to see him go and I may be biased because of my dislike of him. 

I haven't watched much SNL since the Joe Piscapo, Eddie Murphy Days, so I wasn't familiar with him, but I didn't care for him. He did do the miserable comic thing well during his clip. Just hope they don't decide that the next miserable comic who needs a redeeming show is Gilbert Gottfried. Can't stand him. 

Someone above commented about Simone having problems with the sexy part of the dance in part because she's petite and as a 4'11" person, that's true for many of us, we're treated like we're children for so much of our lives and we struggle to prove we're adults with adult feelings and it's difficult. She's also young and she's led a very sheltered, focused life. She may not have had a serious relationship and it's all a foreign concept as to how one is "sexy". As a very young looking, young man, maybe Sasha should give some thought to that. And to me, suddenly, this season, he's looking grown up! I think he's adorable, but I don't know that he would be happy about adorable from his contemporaries, I'm old enough to be his grandmother, so I can see the adorableness. I think Simone is adorable too.

[penbrat]

Enjoyed:   David, the football player, Normani and Heather.  

The rest were forgettable to me.   I hope that Charo is the next one to go, as her shtick is getting really old.  Already two episodes in and I am not yet motivated to vote for anyone.   Len was way more cranky than necessary, Tom continues to be the heart and soul of this show and I hope Maks is able to come back soon.

Edited March 28, 2017 by penbrat

[FilmTVGeek80]

34 minutes ago, jackjill89 said:

The whole ringer talk is so old. Can't we just all get over it and enjoy the show?

Not to sound rude or anything, but probably not - at least the getting over it part. It's also very easy for someone to make that request when it's not something that bothers them in the first place. For the most part, I'm okay with people coming on here that have some kind of dance training, as long as it's fairly limited or awhile before the show came on. I'm fine with ice skaters or gymnasts or someone like Jennifer Grey, who basically had some training in college and for a movie. But when you're a professional dancer like Nicole S. or Heather or an ice dancer like Meryl or had years and years of ballroom training like Paige or Riker, yeah it bothers me. I don't care how long the show goes on for.

11 hours ago, simplyme said:

If Len had been critiquing her dancing, that would be one thing. But he wasn't. He was ranting at Heather for the choreography, which is MAKS'S department. If Len wants different content, direct that criticism to Maks, the pro. Heather had every right to handwave away what Len said, imo. 

Had Len said it more politely (something like, "Since we already know you can dance hiphop, I was disappointed in the content. It needed much more jive.") instead of a personal attack for something she wasn't even in charge of, maybe she wouldn't have hand-waved it.

Then I have three words for Heather - Use. Your. Words. I know over the years on the forums, I've heard plenty of people complain about the judges criticizing celebs/or marking them down for their partner's choreography, but most of those people managed to handle it without being dismissive (at least to the judges' face.) And how was he "personally attacking" her? Calling out her professional dance background is a personal attack? Len has "attacked" people far worse than his criticism of Heather last night.

 

7 hours ago, renatae said:

I guess I'm old here too, because I remember Nancy well! (I'm 43 btw lol). Nancy actually lost the Olympic gold to Oksana Baiul! (it was close and I think Nancy stayed bitter) Nancy was a VERY inconsistent skater. She did well, but she is no Kristi Yamaguchi (who as we know won DWTS). My sister has a theory that Nancy low key used that wack to the knee to her full advantage, even her crying on the ground after the assault seemed staged , she had a whole speech going remember "WHYYYYYYY WHYYYY MEEEE WHYYY ANYONNEEE"  (such a strange response).  She's doing about how I would expect so far. Not the best but not the worst.

How is her screaming out "why!" after being physically assaulted a speech? Unless you think she was in on her attack her response was not staged.

 

3 hours ago, dcubed said:

I'm old enough to remember Nancy as well. I never cared for her skating that much. It always seemed to be missing something to me, a spark maybe, and I didn't like the way she reacted to getting the silver medal as opposed to gold. Also, on a truly shallow note, her teeth bother me immensely. 

I remember her having a sour attitude after losing and, I think, rolling her eyes because Oksana was crying or something. Probably not the best look, but I remember kind of liking the reaction because it wasn't fake or phony. It probably helps that I was a teen at the time, but I remember thinking I would have probably reacted the same way. But that was over twenty years ago. I'd like to think most people have grown and matured in that amount of time.

4 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

Personally I think Heather should have flipped Len off instead of hand-waving. I don't care for the way the show is treating her. They invited her to do the show, so they have no business criticizing her for being a ringer. If they don't want ringers, then don't invite them. If they bring them on, then don't be rude to them!

That would have been really smart of her to do. I guarantee she would have lost even more of the audience's sympathy. And the producers invited her to do the show. The judges have nothing to do with bringing her on and they're (well really only Len) the ones bringing that up in her critique. Again, other than Len, I don't think I've seen any of the judges criticize her for being a ringer. In fact, Julieanne has bent over backwards both weeks to say her being a professional dancer means nothing.

[Lamb18]

What is the correct way for a person to react after a violent physical assault?

[aamankwah]

12 hours ago, stcroix said:

I don't think we're going to see much that isn't sexy out of Erica.  She seems to be embracing her 'Erica Jayne' character and is on the show to promote her hits she has under this title.  I've seen her on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and shes more normal as just plain Erica.  When she puts her concerts on and in her videos, shes this sexy, outrageous character she calls Erica Jayne.  So....

I guess I'm one of the oldest ones on here who remember Nancy Kerrigan from the Olympics and the scandal when Tonya Harding hit her in the leg during the competition?  Everyone felt sorry for Nancy, but her true personality seemed to come out after the Olympics and it seems she's cold as ice.  Sorry for the pun ;)  I don't believe for a minute her little ''Oh,I'm sooo nervous, I need to cry because I cant stand someone to complement little ol' me who can't be called GOOD.'' No, silly, do you think you won the gold metal by being rotten?!  I think she's trying to redeem her image.  You younger people will see a smiling demure woman trying soooo hard.  She's in perfect condition and still skates as a performer as lately as 2015 when she did a 15 city Halloween tour.  Not sure about last year.  It was amusing to hear either Carrie Ann or Julianne (they are interchangeable to me now and why do we need 4 judges?) telling Nancy how to hold her arms to look more graceful!  A gold winning Olympic ice skater who wouldn't know how to hold her arms gracefully.  This show.

I feel sorry for Lynn to tell you the truth.  He's watched a show he started on go from people performing classic dances to snippits of classic dances hidden in sexy,modern dance.  I'd love to see the old show back.  I cant tell what dance they're actually doing the snippits of unless I catch what it is under their names at the first.  I used to like learning what moves to look for that went with each style.  Now it seems like a bunch of free style with (sometimes) enough actual proper dance moves thrown in to please the judges.  This show....

Actually it wasn't Tanya Harding who hit her it was Tanya's ex husband. And those moments where Nancy's "true personality" came out were taken completely out of context.

[thefog]

2 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

Bottom line is, this is as much of a personality competition as it is a dance competition. Less than stellar dancers have made it far, and really good dancers have been eliminated fairly early. People who I thought would be good going in are stiff and devoid of personality. Others have completely won me over with their hard work and positive attitude. The whole ringer talk is so old. Can't we just all get over it and enjoy the show? Heather will go out when she should -- she might be technically proficient, but it's her personality that will keep her or let her go. 

Unfortunately, for Heather she doesn't have the kind of personality that will endure her to audiences.  She did herself no favors when she claimed that the Jive was just like Hip Hop (subliminal message that she has a dance background).

[iMonrey]

I still feel like the judges are propping Rashad pretty hard. There were too many stiff, jerky movements in his Viennese waltz and he had the same stiffness doing turns in hold that Bonner did, but Bonner got called out on it and Rashad did not. They clearly want Rashad to go to the finals. 

For a show that uses Twitter like a cudgel I was kind of surprised they did not bring up last week's "crotch-gate" that went viral thanks to Twitter, except for some ambiguous clowning around between Bonner and Sharna before the roll-in package. I did think Bonner danced quite well aside from the above-mentioned stiffness in turns but the show is pushing the showmance waaaayyyyy too hard.

The fact that Nancy actually cried because Artem gave her a compliment and she "didn't like it" is weird. I get that she's not used to compliments from coaches but saying "I don't like it" is a strange reaction.

I hated Normani and Val's routine because I hate that staging thing they do when they surround the dance area with spectators waving their hands.

Finally, I hope people are not voting for Charo because they think crazy is entertaining. I'm sorry but I can barely look at the woman without cringing. Not only is her over-the-top behavior off putting but her face is horror-movie levels of scary. 

[BoogieBurns]

2 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

I have to LOL about the gymnasts always complaining about being sexy when most of them end up posing practically nude in Sports Illustrated. Didn't Aly Raisman have the same complaints as Simone? At least Laurie was probably really as innocent as they portrayed her.

By "practically nude" do you mean in their uniform? Because that's fully clothed. I doubt these girls are "faking" innocent regardless of their age. They are Olympic athletes who spend 10 hours a day in the gym at minimum and travel for competitions which leaves little time for dating. 

I think their feelings are valid regardless of how many other athletes in the same sport have already felt the same way. 

[RedFiat]

I have to say I am just not digging the show.  I watched the first half hour and then just had to switch to cable, I'm not very patient with all the advertising and frankly all the re-hashed attitudes and ideas from previous seasons. I could care less about the reality video packages beforehand,  So I am going back and watching on youtube the dances.  

Mr. T and Kym.. T has no extension whatsoever. He did better at keeping up with Kym this time, but he really didn't dance - I'd give it a 5 

Charo and Teo- That looked more like a comedy routine than a dance, I literally burst out laughing at the finale pose.  Maybe 5 

Boner and Sharna were just ridiculous, how long was that dance?  If you can call it that, no real technique, playing up the showmance angle. The

barf worthy. almost kissing bs took up 10 sec of a 60 sec routine. Shame on you Sharna.  6  i guess for the sex.

Simone and Sasha well she hit all the marks, not digging the choreography on the ground, but it was  to get into the cute flip, okay, not cha cha.. but the bigger fault  is she doesn't have a lot of fluidity.  Very stiff legs.  Now I understand why she didn't do a Waltz or a Foxtrot initially.  7 

Normani and Val a good cha cha but man, this girl dances wide, no crispness to her forward locks, turns a bit lazy.  Not sure why all the people around the stage, is this to not film her footwork?  8

Nancy and Artem - a  good cha cha, I thought Nancy did well conveying a cheeky cha cha..  a couple of baubles and a sloppy turn at the end, was it Artem's mike? but better than the scores reflected.  7.5

Eryka and Gleb - Are we are just going to have full on sex all the time? She seriously bugs.  I hated the concept, didn't like her Foxtrot, sloppy footwork, no heel leads...  6

Chris and Witney - Cute concept. Nailed the comedy - Monroe stuff gold. The dancing is still pretty stiff.  6

Heather and Maks (Paul) - for someone who is a pro dancer she did a lot of good, but I was not impressed with the execution of the flicka kicks section.  Then to do a 10 sec. hip hop Beyonce style break down in the middle of a fast jive seemed like a cop out. Why slow that tempo down to a crawl unless you have breathing issues? I doubt she does, so it was merely to showcase that she is a pro back up dancer? Eh, Maks does this kind of thing way too often.  I agree with Len.  6

David and Lindsay - this guy is so likable he's going to take the Cubbies all the way. But there's a thing called dancing. He really should invest in a bit of Cha Cha with that Bust a Move old school hip hop. I get it, they are appealing to the masses early, but this lack of technique is going to catch up to him eventually. 6 

Rashad and Emma - Here's a guy who can go all the way. Why? commitment to the dance. The dance. The dance. ... he is learning technique and being fairly successful at it. Yes, the heel leads went to flat footedness, and the hands have to be more graceful, but he can emote and he isn't throwing it away.  His scores were a tad generous but he's now the one to beat. 8

Nick and Peta - Oh dear. That was bad on so many levels. First of all the choreography did him no favors whatsoever. Some sort of contemporary hybird beginning and the first line of dance pass was a disaster, he lost timing, footwork probably the sloppiest so far, his bum stuck way out in hold. There just was nothing good about it.   5 is generous.

[Beatrice]

18 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I still feel like the judges are propping Rashad pretty hard. There were too many stiff, jerky movements in his Viennese waltz and he had the same stiffness doing turns in hold that Bonner did, but Bonner got called out on it and Rashad did not. They clearly want Rashad to go to the finals. 

 

They want his partner in the finals Emma. So it will be the fiancees against each other. I think Simone, Rashad and Normani are locks. The fourth spot is up for grabs.

[vavera4ka]

15 hours ago, RemoteControl88 said:

Nancy did very well in her cha cha. TBH I was expecting worse. But she needs to get a handle on her emotions. Crying because you got compliments? What is she going to do if Artem or the judges give her a tough critique? Is she going to make it? 

I think it's exactly the point. She is used to critique (which she uses to get better) and hate (which I hope she just lets fly over her head), but when someone is suddenly nice to her, and it's not her family or friend, it might throw her off. Especially since she thinks she sucks at this. I can KINDA relate. I started learning English when I was 5, so by the time I graduated at 17 I was able to hold my own, and my final exam was more of a free form conversation on a rather complex topic. I started German in 7th grade and I was pissed and frustrated that stuff I could say in one foreign language was universe away from another foreign language. I could logically understand it, but emotionally it was hard. On top of it, my final exam was singled out as one of the best in our class. I almost replied back wit "wtf are you smoking? that was horrible! did you hear what I heard?" LOL

So when Nancy feels like she sucks and someone tells her she did great, I can understand hesitation. Artem is exactly what she needs. I'm loving this partnership. they both enjoy each other's company, she is super excited and gives it her all. When Artem has a partner that is 100% in it inspires him and he does his best work. It seems that he doesn't care THAT much about the skill or talent level, as long as there's commitment. He's giddy and it's adorable lol And she'll get "Artem therapy": support, encouragement, and fun. TPTB did well by pairing those two, they are a joy to watch on and off the dancefloor.

Really liked the football guy.

Charo can go now... or better last year.

I'm afraid Gleb's taste level is somewhere around 4th basement level. Unicorns? lambo and sexy cop get out of ticket bedroom fantasy? what's next: plumber visit, or maybe "oooh I have no money and rent is due!", or Barbie and Ken...

As far as Heather's critique, I agree with both Len and Julianne. It is kinda a cheat that a hip hop dancer gets to fill the dance with her bread and butter (and caviar I guess lol). Same as people get on gymnasts' case when they use too much acro in their dances. But Julianne pointed out something I noticed too. Hip hop part was a 10. Cha cha? About 7 compared to hip hop (since she is scored on a curve, i'm not gonna compare her cha cha to others that night). So it was a good and a bad thing. Also I'm not sure how much of the dance was done after the injury. Maybe Maks was supposed to be more in the dance, but since it was Alan he decided to showcase Heather more.

[vibeology]

20 minutes ago, escape said:

Unfortunately, for Heather she doesn't have the kind of personality that will endure her to audiences.  She did herself no favors when she claimed that the Jive was just like Hip Hop (subliminal message that she has a dance background).

See I find Heather incredibly endearing and I like that she owned up to the fact that aspects of the jive were familiar to her because of her background. If you're going to be a ringer, be honest about it. (It certainly is more likeable than Riker and Julianne squinting at each other acting like "I think we're cousins, right?" and outright ignoring his competitive teen ballroom career.) No point in hiding your well known experience.

The idea that she's closed off or not personable doesn't really work for me. She gives personality in spades, it's just a wry and quiet humor mixed with professionalism when she's in the studio because she's worked in studios for years. Even the way she reacted to Maks' injury was on point to me. She stopped, gave him space, checked in with him but stayed calm and didn't freak out. She knows that dancers can hurt themselves and she trusted that he could judge what needed to happen next.

2 minutes ago, vavera4ka said:

I'm afraid Gleb's taste level is somewhere around 4th basement level. Unicorns? lambo and sexy cop get out of ticket bedroom fantasy? what's next: plumber visit, or maybe "oooh I have no money and rent is due!", or Barbie and Ken...

The Unicorn is apparently Ericka's thing, but I'm putting the random cop story all on Gleb. He didn't exactly display a high taste level with Jana last year and now Ericka has been all sex two weeks in a row. I don't mind sexy or raunchy but you've got to have something else too for balance. They can't sex up Disney week and I do think they'll make it that far. (Next week is Vegas week, then Memorable Year, then Disney and Mr. T and Charo are probably going to go before her.) I really do wonder how Gleb would handle that.

[dleighg]

27 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I hated Normani and Val's routine because I hate that staging thing they do when they surround the dance area with spectators waving their hands.

 

I wasn't even sure they were still in the same venue (I half wondered whether they were conning us and they'd filmed the routine in Japan) since it looked so different with people surrounding them and waving their hands.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I'm afraid Gleb's taste level is somewhere around 4th basement level. Unicorns? lambo and sexy cop get out of ticket bedroom fantasy? what's next: plumber visit, or maybe "oooh I have no money and rent is due!", or Barbie and Ken...

LOL. I can't be the only one who thinks Gleb looks tailor-made for gay porn.

[RedFiat]

Gleb is definitely the king of no taste, but Eryka is also guiding her image and she wants to be the no excuses sex goddess.  I don't think it will be a stretch to guess their Vegas routine will be raunch overload..  They are so predictable.  It was that Foxtrot that made me turn the channel. 

[McManda]

44 minutes ago, BoogieBurns said:

By "practically nude" do you mean in their uniform? Because that's fully clothed.

Nope, Aly Raisman went on to pose for Sport's Illustrated's Bodies issue, where sports figures are photographed doing their sport nude. 

(Vaguely NSFW? Everything's covered but she's naked.)

[kitcloudkicker]

12 minutes ago, McManda said:

Nope, Aly Raisman went on to pose for Sport's Illustrated's Bodies issue, where sports figures are photographed doing their sport nude. 

(Vaguely NSFW? Everything's covered but she's naked.)

There is a difference between being nude and being sexy. The Bodies issue is more about showcasing the power and beauty of the human form, not a sexual thing. 

[boyznkatz]

13 minutes ago, McManda said:

Nope, Aly Raisman went on to pose for Sport's Illustrated's Bodies issue, where sports figures are photographed doing their sport nude. 

(Vaguely NSFW? Everything's covered but she's naked.)

Yes, and Aly and Simone both posed recently in barely-there bikinis. I am not accusing them of being sluts, but I have to roll my eyes at anyone who poses like that and claims they are "shy."

[smiley13]

38 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

LOL. I can't be the only one who thinks Gleb looks tailor-made for gay porn.

No, for me that has always been Maks.

[Sister Havana]

I really liked Nancy again last night and thought she was underscored again - that's the disadvantage of going first or second, I think. 

Nick is the best of the Bachelors to be on the show. (I know, I know, that's a low bar!) I like his partnership with Peta too. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous! 

I liked Val and Normani's dance. I just wish I could have seen more of it and less of the heads and arms of people in the audience. What was with those camera angles? I'm also impressed that she was able to do that just a couple hours after getting off a flight from Japan.  I'm generally exhausted after a flight, and that isn't even taking jet lag into account! 

I continue to love David. Granted, as a Cubs fan, I am biased.  : ) I didn't see a lot of cha cha content in the dance, but it was fun and you could tell he was having a blast doing it. 

[calipiano81]

Personally, I wish we could just skip ahead in the competition and just have all of the ladies (minus Charo) and Rashad. Maybe Nick too.

While I agree that it is important to show you are working hard, have enthusiasm and a good attitude, those are not enough for me to be entertained. I need to see at least a resemblance of good, proper dancing. 

I really like the pairing of Nancy and Artem. I think she has all the goods necessary to do well; she just needs to get stronger and gain more confidence. I thought Artem gave her a good cha cha routine.

For me, Normani/Val had the strongest and most complete dance of the night. She showed the 3 C's -- content, control, and comfort -- on stage.

I am generally a fan of Lindsay's choreography, but I feel like she should also be called out for the extraneous stuff she puts in dances, like she did in both David's quickstep last week and the cha cha this week. I know David isn't a professional dancer like Heather, but he still should be expected to do the assigned dance.