S24.E02: Week 2

[crowceilidh]

I am a Sharna fan, that is I wish her well always and I just plain like her.  I don't think she's perfect but I dislike the trashy label that sometimes gets thrown around about her and I'm not applying it to this comment.  Tonight's dress was gorgeous - the way it was weighted and bias cut to move in that Viennese waltz was a masterpiece of understanding fabric.  BUT, I wish she'd done two layers of fabric instead of just one.  It would have still been suggestive, but I think it also would have called to the elegance of the Viennese waltz even more successfully. 

[friendperidot]

I liked Nancy, Normani, Rashad. Chris was the right one to leave, but Charo and Erika would have been fine too. They must have been rushed to get the elimination in tonight because they only called out the "bottom" two as possible eliminations. Charo really got on my nerves with all of her back talk, it just needs to stop. I didn't pay much attention to Erika's dance after they started with the car on the dance floor. And with all "cop" roles that Gleb has done, he's starting to remind me of the Village People! Is he going to go construction worker or full out Indian Chief next? I didn't get to see Mr. T's dance and I wanted to, but had to untangle a puppy. Bonner has good posture, I didn't think the dance was bad, but I'm not seeing chemistry. I hardly noticed Nick, I was paying attention to how covered up Peta was and how pretty her gown was. And I guess Lindsay is now in the role of using fewer clothes to distract from the dancing. I didn't like David's dance at all, he seems like a nice person, and he's enthusiastic which counts for a lot. Simone just isn't feeling dance yet, I hope she will get there, but it's just not connecting to her yet. Heather, I wanted to like her, but I had to agree with Len about that breakaway part. I'm sorry Maks is hurt, hope he heals and is back soon. I rather like Maks. Len did have on his cranky pants tonight. I was ok with it, he's usually right.

[PBGamer89]

Len had a point but he said it rather mean and rudely. She was asked to be on the show and what is she gonna do? Turn down a paycheck and a chance to dance again?

Len always does this with females with experience. He did it with Mya, Nicole Scherzinger, Shawn in All Stars, and even more.

[gohawks]

11 hours ago, jennifer6973 said:

Loved Nancy and I loved David, so I used Maximum votes for both of them.

Len was a little snitty tonight.

I thought the Housewife lady was dancing a Tango the way she was dressed like a whore.

Normani gives me Mel B vibes and I hope she goes the way of Mel B.

Charo irritated me this week, she needs to calm down.

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.

Edited March 28, 2017 by gohawks

[NodakFan]

21 minutes ago, Stitsch said:

What is Heather supposed to do while Len goes on one of his rants? Bend over and take it? I didn't see her wave as disrespectful; she was responding to what was a veritable tirade that could've been much more respectful in nature itself. Yet, we blame the person being "constructively" criticized. 

It's funny cause she's getting critiqued for that and getting critiqued for not having a personality - when this is by definition a personality.

just cause some may not like her personality doesn't mean she doesn't have one 

[crowceilidh]

That's why Len is a dance judge on two massive shows.  He knows how to bring the water cooler talk.  He usually does it by being unnecessarily cantankerous with someone who doesn't deserve it (slamming a celeb for choreo etc).  Could have something to do with ratings too because he changes up when he does it.

ETA:  I wonder if there's a connection between his cantankerousness and whatever he's seen on the British show that week.  It is much more traditional than the American one (in a good way<grin>) and I imagine is more of a shock to his soul than to Bruno's.

Edited March 28, 2017 by crowceilidh

[kitcloudkicker]

32 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think Normani has talent and her dance was great, but hearing about all of this traveling that her and Val have to do? If this is for the entire season, then I do think she's going to burn out in the next few weeks. It may be working now because it's just starting, but I do think it'll affect her performance sooner or later, so I worry about her getting to the finals. She has the potential to, but this multitasking is going to be hard on her. I don't know if other celebrities have had the same intensity in their careers where they've had to perform multiple times while still doing the show. 

What I've heard is that it's for the first four weeks, and there's plenty of fodder to get rid of in that time period, so if she doesn't completely burn out she should be able to pull through. (I like her so happy to have her go the distance.) The travel really is insane though, even four weeks of it is going to be brutal. They only thing saving them is having it this early in the season, I think. And that Normani seems like a quick study.

Other celebs who have had as tough a schedule, there was Tamar (which did NOT end well) who had a pretty grueling performance schedule. In terms of traveling the distance they are, I remember Bethany Mota having an event in Australia, which Derek had to follow her to and even then they only got in about 6 hours of rehearsal across the whole week (which was rough for them but only for the one week.) 

[krawz555]

I'm so happy people are feeling the love for "the baseball guy" David. Or as us diehard Cub fans call him Grandpa Rossi.  That winning Cubs team is a young team and they all looked up to David who had been to the World Series before.  It has been said, that during the the 7th game of the World Series, game tied, in the 10th inning and a much needed rain delay...... in the locker room it was David who gave an inspiring speech to the Cubs who went back out there to win the championship!! All of Chicago love him and it's great to see him shining on this show!! He's a great guy!!!

[pennben]

I too am biased for David, his joy at doing this does seems infectious. I hope he lasts for awhile.

 Tiny edit though for the post above, Jason Heyward led the pre-10th inning rainout meeting/made the speech for the Cubs (I only note this because he had such an awful season, I don't want him to lose credit for this contribution to the team:)).

back to dancing!!:)

Edited March 28, 2017 by pennben

[heartsaperkin]

1 hour ago, TeeMo said:

 

 

 

- Lindsay and Emma are the MVP female pros on this show for always working to their partners' strengths and managing to give them the correct pep talks to get them to step up. I love Lindsay and David's partnership and I think Rashad is the best of the male dancers. 

 

- I am not sure why someone would sign up for this show while they are on a tour of Asia with their singing group 

What you said again and again!

[PhD-Purgatory15]

He was never going to be long for this show, but I wouldn't have minded Chris outlasting Charo who is still operating on her entirely different wavelength and Erika who doesn't seem capable of emitting any warmth or joy. The comment about people (or friends) missing the "old Chris" pre all the neck/back surgeries was rough.

Sometimes I think Sharna's willing to play up the showmance angle simply because she's literally the only female pro who can. Emma and Peta are with Sasha and Maks, and Witney and Lindsay both married relatively young. In no way did Bonner deserve 8s which makes me wonder if his vote totals were lower than what the producers were hoping coming out of last week.

Still impressed with Nancy who handled latin better than I thought she might (and had she gone somewhere in the middle of the order would've picked up maybe two 8s instead of all 7s), Rashad, David, Mr T. (who is trying his hardest), and Normani.

[Tvtimebomb]

2 hours ago, smiley13 said:

But those guys are Professionals and Heather is......oh never mind...............

I don't know why but this made me laugh so much.  Len deserved the hand wave as Heather didn't do the choreography....  I've seen some pretty big liberties taken with choreography over the years.  If Maks is going to throw in a little hip hop (which was quite good and pretty short) during a jive, then so be it.

I'm still a fan of HM and will continue to watch until she is gone.  I've watched so many poor dancers stick around because they have a huge fan base that it's nice to have someone who I enjoy watching dance.

I missed Nancy but wished I hadn't after reading the posts here.

Forth Harmony did pretty well, at least what I could see of it through the audiences arms that were blocking her.

I like David and predict he'll be around for a long time due to his fan base and not his dancing prowess.

Simon's flip was pretty great....

[WhosThatGirl]

I like Heather and I'm rooting for her. Everything else I'm kind of meh about.

Theres been stars who are ruder to the judges than she was tonight. These are the times when I sometimes miss the Tuesday night shows, it was always interesting to hear what the celebrities said right after they danced. Like I remember Kendra Wilskson getting a bad critique and then when she walked off the dance floor she said something mean about CA. I can't remember what but they played her reaction when she saw the footage.

Also I normally like Len and feel like for the most part he makes good points but he's been a jerk for these first two weeks. I don't know what's up with his attitude but even last week, premiere week he was in a mood. I think he wants to be done with this show. Or at least this version. Is he under a contract of some kind? 

I kind of wanted Charo to go, she's really annoying and I don't like Keo very much. But then Chris made his sore loser speech and I was like "boy bye".

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Mittengirl said:

I don't know anything about how choreography works, but is it possible that Maks had something else in mind for the middle of the dance, but had to scrap t when he got hurt?  Maybe something they hadn't nailed down yet, or maybe he hadn't choreo'd that part yet, so he just threw in something she could do by herself?  Did they say when in the week he got hurt?

I'm guessing this was what was intended all along. Max is a good dancer but a mediocre choreographer.

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I'm definitely disappointed with Heather's dance, and also her dismissing Len's comments. I mean, sure he was a bit harsh and I think he needed to call it out in a different way, but I think she needed to just listen in this case since he had a valid point.

I'm fine with the hand waving although I get why others are not.  However, I do think she listened to them.  She initially laughed but eventually hand waved the comments as he went on and on.  I kind of took it as an "oh well" because she wasn't the choreographer and there's not much she can do about Len hating that.  Max wasn't next to her. (And had he been, I have no doubt he would have jumped in because he loves to get butt hurt.)

I loved Charo's pre-package but she is annoying in front of the judges. 
 

Simone is a great dancer but I too think her style suffers a bit for having followed Laurie last season.  It feels too familiar. 

[simplyme]

1 hour ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

I'm pretty sure there's a middle ground between waving your hand dismissively at a critique and "bending over and taking it." Whether she likes it or not, she signed up for this and sometimes the critiques are going to be harsh. Just take the comments and then rant in private. Waving her hand dismissively just makes it look like she feels she's too good for critiquing. So, yeah, I do blame her.

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.

2 hours ago, McManda said:

Plus Maks and Derek and Mark and Tony have been handwaving the rules and Lens comments for seasons. It's nothing new.

Apparently the rules don't specify how much content has to be of the assigned dance. Not that certain people follow the rules anyways. I didn't think Heather's jive was anywhere near the worst offender in terms of limited assigned dance content that we've seen, and I don't think Len is particularly reliable on having the same standard for everyone on that.  

[alrightokay]

16 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm fine with the hand waving although I get why others are not.  However, I do think she listened to them.  She initially laughed but eventually hand waved the comments as he went on and on.  I kind of took it as an "oh well" because she wasn't the choreographer and there's not much she can do about Len hating that.  Max wasn't next to her. (And had he been, I have no doubt he would have jumped in because he loves to get butt hurt.)

That's how I took it, too; I saw it as Heather not taking Len's words too personally.  That might look disrespectful to some people, but I thought she was trying to stay unfazed and positive after hearing a harsh critique.

[katha]

I thought Len was just his usual grumpy, inconsistent self about Heather's jive. The show does this on purpose to stir up controversy. Her dance had a lot of jive content, though it wasn't very flashy. I also thought it was interesting choreography, and very good for a Maks jive in particular. Jive tends to be his weakest dance as a choreographer (though not as a dancer, I think it would have looked more impressive if he was there performing it with Heather), but that was one of his better ones.

Also it's week two and they got a hip-hoppy song, so he took a risk to make Heather stand out. It was good strategy and he's going out of his own comfort zone to give Heather stuff that suits her, which is nice to see. I hope his injury isn't too severe, because so far what he's been doing with Heather is interesting and kinda unexpected tbh.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, PTVjones said:

I think it was right of Len to call out Heather, but not in the way he did it.

I imagine for most commercial hip hop/street jazz dancers that decide to go the entertainment route (not broadway or dance company), then doing back up for Beyonce is pretty much one of the most prestigious jobs you can get. Again, this is for dancers who CHOOSE to go the entertainment- non Broadway or dance company- route for a dance career. With that being said, if you have the training to get that kind of job and work on Glee for essentially her dancing, then she should have enough discipline in her training, and respect for the dance style she's been assigned, to remain loyal to what she's been assigned for that week. 

I think of Len would have framed it that way, it would have been more understandable. At the end of the day, Heather is a professional dancer and for Len to dismiss her experience, IMHO is a little rude. However, he's the judge and she's not so... this is what she signed up for, and there's at least one female contestant every year that gets a bad edit and a I guess it's her. 

Maks is the pro so it his job to create the routines that adhere to the style that has been assigned for the week. Heather is the celeb so her job is to do the choreography that she is given (unlike some of the celebs we've seen in the past whining during rehearsal about how they can't do it). Heather, true to being a dancer, had the discipline and respect to "remain loyal" to what she was given to do.

Furthermore, the dance break she did was exactly 10 seconds long. The intro where she walked out was 5 seconds long. That means the rest of the routine where she danced with Alan had 45 seconds of actual dancing which is a lot more than most of the other celebs did this week or last week.

If Len is going to call her out for 10 seconds of a dance break that wasn't jive, why didn't he call out David last week since his routine was 10 seconds of pretending to play baseball, 5 seconds of walking over to the judges, 10 seconds of half-assed non-quickstep "dancing," less than 30 seconds of quickstep, and then another 10 seconds of screwing around? Don't get me wrong - I like David, but if we're going to nitpick about people doing things in the routine other than the actual dance style they were assigned, then EVERYONE should be criticized. Oh, wait, you mean the celebs aren't actually responsible for making these choices about the choreography and content of the dances they're performing?

I mean, I am with Len about not liking the ridiculous amount of faffing about that happens in these routines, but he needs to direct those comments towards the pro dancers, not the celebs. In my opinion, it is not the celeb's place to argue with the pro about content or choreography (except in the case where it may aggravate an existing injury). The only thing that a celeb is responsible for is learning the choreography and performing the routine.

Since some people keep harping on the fact that Heather was a professional dancer, I would like to point out that professional dancers know better than to go on a job and start telling the choreographer to change things or make unsolicited "suggestions."

As for the idea that Heather should "have enough discipline in her training, and respect for the dance style she's been assigned, to remain loyal to what she's been assigned for that week," well, that's exactly what she did by performing the routine she was given. Now if she had decided that Maks gave her shit choreography and Alan was a shit partner and she knew better than both of them so she just said FUCK IT and started doing her own routine instead, then yes, I would agree that she was undisciplined, disrespectful, and unloyal. But the idea that her performance this week was any of those things is silly to me.

I'm also cracking up at the fact that so many people are referring to the dance break as hip hop. What she did was basically ten seconds of posing/arm movements with some hairography. It's more like the kind of choreography Britney Spears would have had in her pre K-Fed days.

Edited March 28, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[stcroix]

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....

[Venee]

12 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Maks is the pro so it his job to create the routines that adhere to the style that has been assigned for the week. Heather is the celeb so her job is to do the choreography that she is given (unlike some of the celebs we've seen in the past whining during rehearsal about how they can't do it). Heather, true to being a dancer, had the discipline and respect to "remain loyal" to what she was given to do.

Furthermore, the dance break she did was exactly 10 seconds long. The intro where she walked out was 5 seconds long. That means the rest of the routine where she danced with Alan had 45 seconds of actual dancing which is a lot more than most of the other celebs did this week or last week.

If Len is going to call her out for 10 seconds of a dance break that wasn't jive, why didn't he call out David last week since his routine was 10 seconds of pretending to play baseball, 5 seconds of walking over to the judges, 10 seconds of half-assed non-quickstep "dancing," less than 30 seconds of quickstep, and then another 10 seconds of screwing around? Don't get me wrong - I like David, but if we're going to nitpick about people doing things in the routine other than the actual dance style they were assigned, then EVERYONE should be criticized. Oh, wait, you mean the celebs aren't actually responsible for making these choices about the choreography and content of the dances they're performing?

I mean, I am with Len about not liking the ridiculous amount of faffing about that happens in these routines, but he needs to direct those comments towards the pro dancers, not the celebs. In my opinion, it is not the celeb's place to argue with the pro about content or choreography (except in the case where it may aggravate an existing injury). The only thing that a celeb is responsible for is learning the choreography and performing the routine.

Since some people keep harping on the fact that Heather was a professional dancer, I would like to point out that professional dancers know better than to go on a job and start telling the choreographer to change things or make unsolicited "suggestions."

As for the idea that Heather should "have enough discipline in her training, and respect for the dance style she's been assigned, to remain loyal to what she's been assigned for that week," well, that's exactly what she did by performing the routine she was given. Now if she had decided that Maks gave her shit choreography and Alan was a shit partner and she knew better than both of them so she just said FUCK IT and started doing her own routine instead, then yes, I would agree that she was undisciplined, disrespectful, and unloyal. But the idea that her performance this week was any of those things is silly to me.

I'm also cracking up at the fact that so many people are referring to the dance break as hip hop. What she did was basically ten seconds of posing/arm movements with some hairography. It's more like the kind of choreography Britney Spears would have had in her pre K-Fed days.

I was coming here to post exactly what you just said. THANK YOU! I couldn't have said it better myself especially the breakdown of the amount of Jive content! I'd also like to add that the scores for Rashad were ridiculous! I was sure the judges were going to ding it so hard. They gave it 8s! The heck were they watching? He look like a deer in the headlights, while his partner dragged him around the floor. The comment that he was leading her made me howl out loud! 

[Venee]

8 minutes 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....

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.

[MsJamieDornan]

21 minutes ago, stcroix said:

No, silly, do you think you won the gold metal by being rotten?

You do know she has never won a gold medal, right ?

[Mystery Author]

4 hours ago, Beyoncheyyy said:

Also, Len needs to get laid. 

That's what Mr. Author said!

Charo can't leave soon enough!

[crossover]

My Top 6 remain the same.  If Normani has any kind of fanbase, I think she can beat Simone and Heather.  I like her performance ability better.  She looks like she has more chemistry with Val than Simone does with Sasha or Heather does with Maks.  Maybe that will change later on?  This is the 2nd week where Nancy was just a little off.  With the female competition this season, I think that's enough to keep her from the finals.  Rashad continues to impress me.  He's still the best male this season, for me.  But he's not a super star football player so I don't know how big his fanbase is?  So far, he's good enough to make the F4.  In fact, he, Normani and Heather had my favorite routines this week.  And my 6th is David.  He doesn't have the natural/trained dance ability of the others.  But he has the personality, work ethic and attitude that make you root for him.  And, so far, Lindsay's choreography suits him.

Erika is a good dancer.  I just don't care for the feel of Gleb's choreography.  It's too "in your face" for ballroom.  Nick maybe a better dancer than Bonner but I have them about the same for DWTS purposes.  I THINK the rodeo crowd may pay off for Bonner which would offset the actual dancing.

MrT should be the next to go, if you go by performance.  I don't think he has a big enough fanbase to counter the scoring?  He has been pleasant though.  If Charo weren't so loud, I'd move her up.  I think she gets on a lot of people's nerves.  But she's the best 70-something they've had on the show.  She is about 70, right?

You hate to see anyone go but that's the game.  And Chris was by far the least appealing contestant.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

16 minutes ago, crossover said:

If Charo weren't so loud, I'd move her up.  I think she gets on a lot of people's nerves.  But she's the best 70-something they've had on the show.  She is about 70, right?

Her legal birthday is 1951, which would make her 66, but there are conflicting stories about her age. She has said repeatedly that she was 16 when she graduated in 1967 (which lines up with the 1951 story) but her original passport from Spain, her naturalization papers, and documents from the town in Spain where she was born all list her birth in 1941 (which would make her 76). She has claimed her birthday as 1947, 1949, and 1951. When she married Xavier Cugat in 1966, one article said she was 20 and several others said she was 21 (which would put her birthdate at 1946 or 1947). She claims the reason for this is that her parents allowed her to lie about her age to seem older (because the man she was marrying was 66).

[renatae]

My goodness, Charo is a madwoman. I used to enjoy her in her youth, and she was always over the top, but amusing. I remember she once talked about her satin "shits" on a talk show, and everyone was howling with laughter, while she said, "What? What is so funny?" Now she tells Bruno his English "sucks." She is actually rather frightening.

Nancy not being able to take a compliment is just plain weird. I actually have always thought she was a narcissist.

Erika and her "I make no apologies and I'm fabulous" routine are obnoxious and boring. Enough already. She can leave any time.

Couldn't tell Heather from the pros in that segment. Yes, she's great. But a ringer, IMO. I liked that she took Len's hissy fit in stride. I didn't think she was being dismissive of him, but maybe I need to go back and rewatch. Nah, too lazy, had enough already.

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Her legal birthday is 1951, which would make her 66, but there are conflicting stories about her age. She has said repeatedly that she was 16 when she graduated in 1967 (which lines up with the 1951 story) but her original passport from Spain, her naturalization papers, and documents from the town in Spain where she was born all list her birth in 1941 (which would make her 76). She has claimed her birthday as 1947, 1949, and 1951. When she married Xavier Cugat in 1966, one article said she was 20 and several others said she was 21 (which would put her birthdate at 1946 or 1947). She claims the reason for this is that her parents allowed her to lie about her age to seem older (because the man she was marrying was 66).

She may have lied about her age in the beginning, but she is definitely lying now and she was definitely born before 1947. I remember being a teen and watching her on TV and she is definitely older than me, (born 1947) or she would have been only about 12 when she first started making appearances. No way she was born in 1951!

[renatae]

3 hours ago, Venee 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.

I thought I was maybe the only one in the world who thought this. You are right, she was very inconsistent, and there was just something about her that seemed odd, both in her reaction to the injury, even though I felt badly for her, and her choices off the ice. As I said earlier, she impresses me as somewhat narcissistic, but that's just me, I guess.

[lindsayz18]

Nancy/Artem-by the end of the night i had forgotten all about this so i had to watch it again this morning. The worst thing you can be in this competition is forgettable. Unfortuntely,thats where she falls. After Rewatching it, i thought she did alot better than i was expecting on latin dances. Scores were fair.

Erika/Gleb- I liked the dance, but not for a foxtrot. i just want to see something elegant from her without the sexy. She still grates on my nerves though

Charo/Keo-i love a good paso doble, i felt the whole dance was just her stomping in one place...and im already over her when shes getting scored. its not funny or cute. stop!

Bonner/Sharna-simple,beautiful and effective.

Heather/Maks-i must admit, this was a fun routine and i enjoyed it immensley. Len was a little rediculous with that 6! 

Simone/Sasha-this routine was full of content and fun. I appreciate that it was sexy without the raunchiness. Simone is so petite its hard to imagine her being sexy though. Because she is so petite she needs to open up bigger and make the moves larger.

Chris/Whitney-ok, the guy can not dance but this routine was one of my faves!..just straight up fun! He was the right elimination though.

Mr T/Kym-i missed this dance and had no urge to watch this morning so no comment.

David/Lindsay-fun performance, light on actual cha cha. i was expecting more with him getting the pimp spot.

Nick/Peta-first off, peta looked absolutely stunning and i loved that dress. That was a fully loaded foxtrot with alot of content, i agree, i think peta threw to much into that routine(which she has a habit of doing with partners). 

Normani/Val- I may have liked that cha cha...if i could have seen it. Im tired of seeing fans heads blocking the feet. She does have performance for days though.

Rashad/Emma-i love this pairing. They seem so comfortable with eachother and the viennese waltz was gorgeous and sexy without being raunchy! he didn't miss a beat, his frame was good. It is so wonderful to be able to see what emma can do with someone who is capable!

 

 

All in all, the right person went home, Charo needs to go soon. I continue to be impressed with Rashad and threw all of my votes to him tonight.

Len was extra grumpy tonight and i loved it lol

[Fishy]

I am NOT enjoying this season of DWTS very much so far.  There is too damn much production crap going on when the dancers are dancing - flashing lights, moving patterns, cameras circling the stage that literally make me dizzy - you can barely focus on the dancers dancing.  WTH is going on - toooo distracting. 

[KLovestoShop]

FYI, Len is no longer doing Strictly Come Dancing for the BBC.  He officially retired after the last season of Strictly.  

[DEL901]

10 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

Chris seemed really old and frail to me. I thought the accident must have happened recently. Something else must be going on. He seems like a miserable human being. 

Chris was born (according to IMDB in 1970.  That makes him, what, 47?  Mr. T was born in 1952.  That makes him 65.  Neither are good / talented, but one tries really hard and the other wants special consideration.

Edited March 28, 2017 by DEL901

[Meowwww]

5 hours ago, Venee 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.

I am old too!  46.  I remember those Olympics where she was so......unsportsmanlike?   Whyyyyy meeeeee indeed.  I have a hard time getting past that.  

[vibeology]

I enjoyed this episode more than last week. I think that comes from giving the talented ladies some upbeat numbers so we can get a better sense of just how capable each of them is going to end up being.

Nancy handled Latin much better that I ever expected. I do think she needs a bit more work. Dancing in heels and moving on skates are very different and I did agree that she had moments where she was unsteady, but I think that will get better with time.

Normani was a revelation as others have said. She just really excelled here where she was able to do a little more on her own and take advantage of the training and stage presence she already has. I think the show did try to hide her feet a little but with her travel schedule I get that she might not be as polished. She's still miles ahead of many of the contestants so I'm not going to hold that against her. I do wonder if the time changes and travel will hurt her in the long run. She'll be done traveling before they get to two dances a week, but that sort of travel takes time to recover from and I worry that she could burn out. Val too. He's doing the same travel and he has to choreograph and teach. I get why she had to do this particular season with all the 5H drama but I do worry.

So I didn't really like Simone. I can't complain about the steps, but her performance was off. A cha cha doesn't have to be "in your face sexy" but it would be nice if it didn't feel like a pro-am where a child is dancing with an adult. That's the vibe she gave off. It was cute and smiley and very up but she didn't seem to care that Sasha was dancing next to her. Someone else mentioned that sometimes her moves were like sticking a landing and I totally saw that too. I just need her to loosen up a little and be a bit less on. Maybe a bigger challenge like an Argentine Tango, Paso or Rumba is the sort of thing she needs to break out of her shell.

Heather, I think, is going to be in a tough spot all season. Last week, they criticized her for not showing personality. This week Maks adds some "hip hop" so Heather can have a moment to shine and they are criticized for it too. I wasn't bothered by the "hand wave" moment. I think she was trying to convey to the audience that the critique didn't bother her rather than dismiss Len's opinion. I didn't need the Hip Hop breakdown because I was getting personality throughout, but I get why it was there, just like why last week Ericka had her unicorn, Mr. T had the A-Team, Chris had the Roxbury, David had a baseball theme and Bonner had a country setup. These early weeks are all about letting the audience know who you are and what you're famous for. You can't exactly convey that in a V. Waltz so Maks added it here.

As for what happens the next few weeks/all season potentially, I have no idea what Alan is capable of so they might need to bring someone else in to either partner with Heather or help with choreography depending. The problem there is Heather is tall so the options are limited. I do hope Maks is okay. I've gone back and forth on Maks over the years but damn, you heard that snap and that had to have been very painful.

Charo needs to go. I don't think she's the worst dancer there but I cannot with her shtick. She was lovely talking to Keo about her history and her passion for dance and Spain. No reason to be a screeching banshee during the live show.

David took a huge step down for me. Nick got better, Rashad was about the same and Bonner is awful. Ericka was too much. I'm all for owning your sexuality, but don't tell me that's your only side. That's boring.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Now that I've finished watching the rest of the routines, I'm even more incensed about Len criticizing Heather for a ten second dance break that was basically just posing. Why didn't David get yelled at for his ten second dance break? Heather did more dancing in that ten seconds of arms and hair than Mr. T did in his entire routine.

* I was too annoyed to watch the judges' comments so for all I know, David and Mr. T did get criticized by the judges.

[dcubed]

10 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

Chris seemed really old and frail to me. I thought the accident must have happened recently. Something else must be going on. He seems like a miserable human being. 

He's been fighting addiction issues...was arrested for a DUI and had a strange incident on a plane.  I don't know if he's sober or not but by his behavior, I'd say probably not. 

[ramble]

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. 

Charo is complete fast forward material because of the annoying crazy. I am impressed by her fitness and shape at whatever age she is, but I can't deal with the level of crazy she brings. I don't find it entertaining.

Im enjoying the baseball player a lot. I like Mr. T's attitide, although I acknowledge he can't dance much. The football player is really pretty good. I can not stand the real housewife and am indifferent to another gymnast. The two "ringers" I'm sort of in a wait and see holding pattern on. Hmm, who else is there? Nick the Vile? Don't like him. The rodeo dude? Pfft, he seems boring to me, I don't get the sexy from him. Did I miss anyone else? If so I guess they haven't made much of an impression. 

[Alison]

I've gotta side with Len on all of this; there's too much stuff creeping in and diluting the actual ballroom choreography. If I want hop-hop or modern or whatever else they try to blend with the ballroom styles, I'll watch SYTYCD in the summer, thank you very much.

I have to laugh every time Heather insists that her dance experience is NOTHING like ballroom. She's used to learning choreography, used to 8-counts, is aware of how to hold her body, used to learning choreo in a short amount of time, etc. (The same goes for any others on the show with dance experience.) That gives her a huge leg up over the likes of anyone else on the show who hasn't had some type of dance in their background. Sure, I enjoy watching her, because I like watching good dancing, but I also like watching someone like David Ross learn to dance and become better as the weeks go on. That's what DWTS used to be about, and now we've got 5 out of the 12 competitors with a background in learning some kind of choreography, whether it be gymnastics, skating, or dancing.

[TeeMo]

It probably would have been worthwhile for Maks to come over and stand with Heather and Alan during the critique so Len could direct his choreography complaints directly to him. Does anyone remember if Derek used to stand with Nastia and Sasha for judges' comments or if he just joined them for scores?

[kitcloudkicker]

I'm not against the idea of a hip hop breakdown in Heather's dance, especially the way the music broke at that point, but I did feel like the way Maks choreographed it was really awkward and a bit jarring. The way Alan disappeared, Hayley and Brit popped up outta nowhere, and then ran off just made it feel like they launched into a completely different performance. There needed to be SOME sort of throughline. I imagine Maks choreographed himself out of it because he couldn't handle the hip hop, but maybe something as simple as having Hayley and Brit behind them jiving for like 5 seconds of the intro, so when they popped in for the breakdown it wasn't out of thin air? My brain was wanting some sort of storyline cohesion.

[wanderingstar]

Normani and Val and Rashad and Emma stood out to me in this round. And David and Lindsay were fun together.

Charo grates on my nerves, though.

[vibeology]

16 minutes ago, Alison said:

I have to laugh every time Heather insists that her dance experience is NOTHING like ballroom. She's used to learning choreography, used to 8-counts, is aware of how to hold her body, used to learning choreo in a short amount of time, etc. (The same goes for any others on the show with dance experience.) That gives her a huge leg up over the likes of anyone else on the show who hasn't had some type of dance in their background. Sure, I enjoy watching her, because I like watching good dancing, but I also like watching someone like David Ross learn to dance and become better as the weeks go on. That's what DWTS used to be about, and now we've got 5 out of the 12 competitors with a background in learning some kind of choreography, whether it be gymnastics, skating, or dancing.

I don't see Heather being the one to do this. Julianne has spent two critiques going on and on about how Heather isn't an experienced ballroom dancer and the skills are soooooo different. Heather straight up said in the package that she saw similarities between jive and hip hop dancing that made this dance a bit easier. Heather isn't at all hiding her experience or acting like it means nothing because she knows that's a crock of shit. Like you said, there are always going to be advantages if you have dance training and Heather's is extensive.

15 minutes ago, TeeMo said:

It probably would have been worthwhile for Maks to come over and stand with Heather and Alan during the critique so Len could direct his choreography complaints directly to him. Does anyone remember if Derek used to stand with Nastia and Sasha for judges' comments or if he just joined them for scores?

I'm assuming they didn't want to have Maks do stairs so they left him in the skybox. I suppose Tom could have just interviewed them and done the scores on the floor but sometimes this show makes choices I don't get.

[boyznkatz]

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!

So far Rashad, Normani, Heather, Nancy and Simone are the only ones I'm finding interesting. Nick, Mr. T and David are pleasant enough, but they can't dance.  I sure hope Charo is the next to go. Her making fun of Bruno's accent wasn't funny.

And geez, that tongue bath for Bonner was sooo obvious. Rashad's VW put him to shame.

[Toonces464]

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.

8 minutes ago, vibeology said:

I'm assuming they didn't want to have Maks do stairs so they left him in the skybox. I suppose Tom could have just interviewed them and done the scores on the floor but sometimes this show makes choices I don't get.

They needed Maks upstairs so Erin could interview him about the injury (though he really didn't say much). They handled it the same way when Alan filled in for Mark with Paige.

[dcubed]

8 hours ago, krawz555 said:

I'm so happy people are feeling the love for "the baseball guy" David. Or as us diehard Cub fans call him Grandpa Rossi.  That winning Cubs team is a young team and they all looked up to David who had been to the World Series before.  It has been said, that during the the 7th game of the World Series, game tied, in the 10th inning and a much needed rain delay...... in the locker room it was David who gave an inspiring speech to the Cubs who went back out there to win the championship!! All of Chicago love him and it's great to see him shining on this show!! He's a great guy!!!

I love David too but the inspiring speech was given by Jason Heyward (ex-Cardinal) according to Cubs management and the press that overheard the speech.  David's main roll was to catch for Jon Lester (as they played together in Boston) and to mentor the younger players, for which he did an amazing job). 

From Fox Sports:

And that’s where some magic happened. Heyward’s message, via MLB.com:

“I told them I love them. I told them I'm proud of the way they overcame everything together. I told them everyone has to look in the mirror, and know everyone contributed to this season and to where we are at this point. I said, 'I don't know how it's going to happen, how we're going to do it, but let's go out and try to get a W.'”

Kris Bryant, who got the assist on the final out, offered some additional insight:

“It was the best thing for us. We all got together in the weight room, we all supported each other. [Aroldis] Chapman was a little upset. That guy works his butt off. Jason Heyward led the way, talking us up, getting us ready, and you saw what we did there.”

What they did there was score two runs in the top of the 10th to take an 8-6 lead, then held on for an 8-7 win that gave the franchise its first World Series title since 1908.

Credit Heyward, whose most valuable contribution to the Cubs this postseason might have come from his mouth and his heart — not his bat and his glove.

[Lady Calypso]

5 minutes 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.

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. 

[dcubed]

44 minutes ago, ramble 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. 

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. 

[Quickbeam]

Nancy will forever be those sappy Olympic "moments" with her mother watching her skate on a  big screen because she is vision impaired. It was like Queen for a Day already. 

I am Team Heather. Was surprised she didn't get the edit of "wow, you needed to change up partners midweek, that's hard". I thought she danced well; Jive always looks funny to me with taller dancers. 

[Beatrice]

5 minutes 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. 

I think you're on the right track. She has a toolbox that helps in learning ballroom but that doesn't necessarily mean she will be good at it. I happen to think she is clearly good at it and that is what people are having a problem with. Which I totally get and that's valid. Heather being on the show is letting all the others with dance training, Normani, Simone and Nancy fly under the radar and avoid that criticism. Those four happen to be my favorites to watch so I don't mind they have experience.

[Archery]

7 hours ago, stcroix said:

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.

Figure skaters (and, to a certain extent, gymnasts) position their arms for balance, aerodynamics, and momentum.  That's different from holding your arms to form a dancing "shape" that looks graceful. 

[thesupremediva1]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Gawd, Bonner is going to get far, isn't he? He's just not that great. I'd rather Nick than him.

Seriously! He's going the way of Alek and Noah Galloway - overhyped from the start. I haven't seen a showmance pushed so hard since Maks and Meryl. However, make no mistake, M&M won because Meryl Davis is a fairy queen of the utmost talent and highest work ethic. I don't think Bonner will go higher than top 4, but he'll outlast plenty of contestants who dance better than him. I honestly think Sharna could have chemistry with a lamp post. She's my favorite pro who hasn't won yet, but this is not the guy I'm rooting for her to take the Mirrorball with.

Keo deserves hazard pay. I'm hoping Charro goes next week. She's a whackadoodle and her segments give me headaches. I needed lavender oil before her scores were announced.

I'm going to throw all my votes to Nick and Peta this week because I'm afraid he's getting lost in the pack, and I think he's got a solid work ethic and attitude. Their partnership is really growing on me.

Nancy Kerrigan hasn't aged at all. All that good clean figure skating living has paid off. I'd love to see her make top 3. She and Artem are my favorite partnership of the season, and I love how tickled Artem is to have her on his arm. They deserved higher scores relative to what the later couples received. 

I want to like Simone, and I am in awe of her gymnastics talent, but she's no Laurie in terms of personality. I find her stiff and think she'll be a Charlie White shock boot before the finale. Shame, because I adore Sasha and wanted him to have a shot at the finals this year. I also don't think there's any way a second member of the Final Five is winning two years in a row.

Which brings me to the two main ringers... Val's partner is super likable but mostly, for me, because she's with Val, and I'm an unapologetic Val lover. Val made Tamar Braxton sympathetic. They'll probably make the finals, and that's cool with me because I'll get a full season of Val's dancing, but she's not as great as they made her out to be tonight.

Heather Morris is as much of a ringer as it gets, but I don't mind all that much because I find her likable and... she (was) with Maks. And I think a ringer brings out the best in Maks. 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.

I'm not sad that Len called her out on that dance break. BUT, she and/or Maks could have responded by saying that they asked for personality last week, and this was a good way to have viewers get a sense of who she is early in the competition. I think she was unsure of how to respond, and so it came off a bit flippant. I don't get any nasty vibes from her, and she and Maks seem to get along really well. I hope he gets better for at least the second half of the season.

Anyone notice Jojo's Chad in the audience last night? What was that about?! They should hire him as security for Charro. 

Edited March 28, 2017 by thesupremediva1