S24.E05: Week 5: Disney Night

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Given the huge chance Disney took with the new Josh Groban song in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, it was no shock whatsoever that it was the only one on this show which was fully tracked, not live.   I made a bet with myself this would be the song they chose to use, as well.  It's a good song, sung excellently and added to the movie, and to this episode of DWTS, in my opinion.

Normani was the chosen one this week as far as I could tell.  She might could have been actual B3, but I doubt it.  With the great song and dance choices production made for her, along with the added "jeopardy," she received a boost.  Deserved!

CAI can go jump in a lake and deduct a point on herself for leaving her feet.  Heather did a first rate job with the choreo and the music she was handed.  I am not even a fan of hers, but the criticisms by her and Len were out of line.

Ameriker got it right again.  I bet GMA ratings for the 2nd hour go down this morning! 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Lonesome Rhodes

[majormama]

18 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

I was surprised to really agree with Carrie-Ann about Heather. I thought Heather killed the character and performance, but yeah, there wasn't much dancing. I know it's sometimes hard with Disney week to really showcase dancing, but I thought it was stupid of Maks to basically make the dance all about character and nothing else. I kind of had to laugh though that this week Maks made sure to make his presence known and let everyone know he was choreographing this week. It must have chapped his hide that Alan got complimented on his choreo last week (still not sure if Alan choreographed it or Maks.)

Maks had major bitch face going on when Alan was being complimented last week. I'm sure it was the motivation for all the Alpha male chest pounding this week.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Dancing With The Stars Brings The Disney Magic

In their once-per-season celebration of corporate synergy, ABC forces the couples to complete a Disney-themed dance routine -- some with more success than others.

[realdancemom]

It's too bad that Rashad had contemporary last week not this week.  Now, his scores are lower than others since he had to do foxtrot while a lot of them got to do jazz and contemporary.  I hope he has enough fans to not get booted.  It should be Bonner next.

Bonner has improved since his Charleston.  He's still the worst dancer left but he doesn't seem like such a robot this week.

It was nice to see a different side of Erika.  They should have done that from the beginning and not make all the dances sexy.  She showed a little vulnerability in her package too.  She put a shell on during judging and at the end.  She didn't even thank Gleb but I think she was a little embarrassed and was trying to look strong.

Heather did well for what she was given.  The acting was great.  I agree with CAI that there should be more dance.  I don't agree that she fell out of turns.  It looked like she did in one of the turn sequences but that was part of the choreography.  They were going for humor and the next line was something about being gas-y.  The song was not the problem.  Maks just choreographed too literally.  

Nancy also had acting in her dance but there was enough dance content.  She needs to loosen up a little.  Her smile was frozen and it looked like she couldn't wait to get out of the last lift and be done.  She did a good job but not her best.

Nick really got into character and his beginning solo was great.  He had a little problem removing the skirt but otherwise, he handled the cane and other props well.

Normani did well.  I wouldn't have given a 10 because it did get a little sloppy/frantic looking at the end.  She is fierce and Mulan was perfect for her.

David kept up with Lindsay and the troupe.  His kicks weren't as high but then he probably would have lost timing.

The singer for Simone's dance is amazing.    Sasha's choreography is fine.  It doesn't have too much gymnastics moves.  The problem is that Simone didn't let her emotion through.  She dances like a gymnast.  With contemporary, you have to dance with a little abandon.  She needed to be more flowy.  She's too precise and everything is placed too perfectly.  Because of that, her dance felt more like jazz instead of contemporary. 

[majormama]

1 hour ago, realdancemom said:

The singer for Simone's dance is amazing.    Sasha's choreography is fine.  It doesn't have too much gymnastics moves.  The problem is that Simone didn't let her emotion through.  She dances like a gymnast.  With contemporary, you have to dance with a little abandon.  She needed to be more flowy.  She's too precise and everything is placed too perfectly.  Because of that, her dance felt more like jazz instead of contemporary. 

That's probably why I liked it, lol! I do not enjoy contemporary, ever. Even when done properly by pro contemporary dancers. This was the first time I watched a contemporary (or should I say "contemporary") and truly enjoyed it. But it was more like jazz, which I usually enjoy.

[truthaboutluv]

Quote

Heather's choreo really sucked. I think Maks has been disappointing ever since Meryl. 

And YMMV, in my opinion his choreography with Meryl wasn't that great either. She was just really good at selling his mediocrity and the showmance helped. 

I think I may finally be getting to that point with this show. It's been a long run but yeah I'm officially bored. I was bored last week and I was bored this week. I still haven't seen most of the dances but of what I did see - Normani and Val were great but I agree with someone on her spotting. There were some moments I felt that she seemed slightly unsteady on her feet. Simone and Sasha continue to perform like two individuals on the floor and not like a pairing. Heather's dance was boring as all hell and so was Nancy's in my opinion. Nick's dance was adorable though I thought the 9's were a little high. However they've been underscoring him in my opinion, particularly in comparison to David and Bonner so whatever. Didn't see the other couples. 

Edited April 19, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[iMonrey]

Quote

 I thought it was stupid of Maks to basically make the dance all about character and nothing else.

Heather was given a horrible song to dance to. I like Frozen as much as the next person (except for everyone out there sick to death of it) but go and listen to that song sometime - it's nothing but expository monologue with an inconsistent tempo. Half of it is talking. It's not a duet so how do you interpret such a thing? It's not as if she got to pick her own song, and Maks did what he could with it. If they want better ballroom then they should skip gimmicks like "Disney Night" and pick music appropriate to dance to.

Quote

Bonner has improved since his Charleston.  He's still the worst dancer left but he doesn't seem like such a robot this week.

I think David is unquestionably the worst dancer left but the judges keep giving him praise and 8s because they want their first MLB player to make it to the finals. Bonner has a very good frame/posture. He's still a bit stiff but he's worlds better than David who just sort of shakes and shimmies and relies on charm.

[realdancemom]

32 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I think David is unquestionably the worst dancer left but the judges keep giving him praise and 8s because they want their first MLB player to make it to the finals. Bonner has a very good frame/posture. He's still a bit stiff but he's worlds better than David who just sort of shakes and shimmies and relies on charm.

You're right.  Bonner does have better frame/posture.  But I think David is going to stay and knock out a lot of better dancers.  I just don't enjoy watching Bonner because you can see him thinking when he dances.  At least, David looks like he's having fun.

[boyznkatz]

Bonner and Nick have improved quite a bit since the show started. To me, David doesn't look like he has improved much.  It's pretty obvious TPTB want him in the finals, though. Is he going to work for ESPN after the show is over?

I think Heather might be the "surprise" elimination this week. The judges act like she pissed in their cereal.

[Harmonyy]

1 hour ago, boyznkatz said:

Bonner and Nick have improved quite a bit since the show started. To me, David doesn't look like he has improved much.  It's pretty obvious TPTB want him in the finals, though. Is he going to work for ESPN after the show is over?

I think Heather might be the "surprise" elimination this week. The judges act like she pissed in their cereal.

I'd be pissed too if I saw a professional dancer acting like she can't dance! Ima need Miss Hetha to wake up boo and stop playing with this amateurs. Ive seen her on Glee and I know she can throw down. It's like they're a different person. Brittany on Glee had so much attitude and sass and charisma. Now she as bland as Nancy and David. Get it together.

[Lady Calypso]

18 minutes ago, Harmonyy said:

Brittany on Glee had so much attitude and sass and charisma.

Well, I don't know about that. Heather played Brittany with a monotone attitude about everything. Her dialogue had sass and attitude, but Heather played it opposite to that. 

[Toonces464]

4 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

And YMMV, in my opinion his choreography with Meryl wasn't that great either. She was just really good at selling his mediocrity and the showmance helped. 

I think I may finally getting to that point with this show. It's been a long run but yeah I'm officially bored. I was bored last week and I was bored this week. I still haven't seen most of the dances but of what I did see - Normani and Val were great but I agree with someone on her spotting. There were some moments I felt that she seemed slightly unsteady on her feet. Simone and Sasha continue to perform like two individuals on the floor and not like a pairing. Heather's dance was boring as all hell and so was Nancy's in my opinion. Nick's dance was adorable though I thought the 9's were a little high. However they've been underscoring him in my opinion, particularly in comparison to David and Bonner so whatever. Didn't see the couples. 

I thought it was just me. Maks and Meryl played the showmance to sell every dance they did and the shippers ate it up. I didn't enjoy that partnership, or that season, at all.

[Harmonyy]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

Well, I don't know about that. Heather played Brittany with a monotone attitude about everything. Her dialogue had sass and attitude, but Heather played it opposite to that. 

I'm not talking about her character. I'm saying when she performed and danced. She has not served an ounce of this. This is the Heather I was excited about. I'm waiting...

[iMonrey]

Quote

At least, David looks like he's having fun.

Bonner looked like he was having fun during the Wreck-It Ralph number. Although for the life of me I don't know why it was video-game based, but then I haven't seen the movie. 

[OnceSane]

5 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Bonner looked like he was having fun during the Wreck-It Ralph number. Although for the life of me I don't know why it was video-game based, but then I haven't seen the movie. 

Wreck-It Ralph is a movie about video game characters whose machines live in an arcade.

[DeeReynolds]

I don't usually have strong reactions to dances, but Normani gave me goosebumps. Incredible!

[sinycalone]

I think the reason Bonner appears to have "good frame" is that he can do rigid positions but cannot handle much else.

[babyhouseman]

On 4/18/2017 at 11:58 PM, lonestar said:

Telling contestants they're in jeopardy before they dance is bullish*t.

I have to admit seeing favorites declared safe early in the show is good. 

[Emily-D]

Assume they have a 5 couple semi final and a double elimination to decide the final three, I think David will definitely make it to that semi final at least. He'll beat out Nick, Bonner and at least one of Heather or Nancy but not necessarily in that order. He'll end up going in that semi final double elimination or finishing third in the final. Regarding next week's elimination, I honestly can't remember the last time it's been so open. You can make a serious case for Nick, Bonner, Heather or Nancy all leaving. Rashad ain't out of the woods either although you'd imagine he's built up a solid support base after last week which should keep him safe. If you forced me to narrow it down, I think it'll come down to either Bonner or Nancy leaving.

[luvthepros]

On 4/17/2017 at 11:54 PM, Kira53 said:

.......  I was totally bored by the intro and yes I too was annoyed by the "so you think you can dance" cute little boy that I don't remember the name of.

His name is JT.

[Alapaki]

Was it just my DVR, or did anyone else notice that when Nick described his childhood roller-skating picture as "Disney-on-Ice but with roller-skates" they appeared to blank-out the word "Disney"?  

I guess there's some copyright distinction between whoever licenses the Disney characters and songs to the show and the Disney-on-Ice franchise?

[Venee]

On 4/19/2017 at 3:54 PM, Harmonyy said:

I'd be pissed too if I saw a professional dancer acting like she can't dance! Ima need Miss Hetha to wake up boo and stop playing with this amateurs. Ive seen her on Glee and I know she can throw down. It's like they're a different person. Brittany on Glee had so much attitude and sass and charisma. Now she as bland as Nancy and David. Get it together.

Heather is woke, it's whomever is giving her routines meant for beginners that's asleep. If the show was serious about letting her loose, they would have given her "I Don't Dance" from Disney's Highschool Musical for Jazz instead of that craptastic routine from "Frozen".  Heather is doin the absolute most with what she's given.

[gohawks]

On 4/19/2017 at 2:44 PM, Toonces464 said:

I thought it was just me. Maks and Meryl played the showmance to sell every dance they did and the shippers ate it up. I didn't enjoy that partnership, or that season, at all.

I never fell for the showmance and frankly don't believe Maks or Meryl encouraged it. The only time Maks directly referred to any romance with Meryl, his tongue was firmly planted in his cheek.

The dances were often romantic with the almost kiss thing they did, but they never took that off the dance floor. I just always saw it as acting.

 

Did they ride it? Hell yeah! Did they actively encourauge it? I really believe the stans and the producers drove that showmance nonesense.

Edited April 21, 2017 by gohawks

[Toonces464]

28 minutes ago, gohawks said:

I never fell for the showmance and frankly don't believe Maks or Meryl encouraged it. The only time Maks directly referred to any romance with Meryl, his tongue was firmly planted in his cheek.

 

Did they ride it? Hell yeah! Did they actively encourage it? I really believe the stans and the producers drove that showmance nonesense.

I totally disagree. I think they both encouraged it and played it for all it was worth, particularly Maks who kept it going as long as he could ride it. 

[katha]

5 hours ago, gohawks said:

I never fell for the showmance and frankly don't believe Maks or Meryl encouraged it. The only time Maks directly referred to any romance with Meryl, his tongue was firmly planted in his cheek.

The dances were often romantic with the almost kiss thing they did, but they never took that off the dance floor. I just always saw it as acting.

 

Did they ride it? Hell yeah! Did they actively encourauge it? I really believe the stans and the producers drove that showmance nonesense.

Honestly, I thought Maks' bit about Boris and Oleg was one of the funniest things on DWTS ever. It was a perfect parody of the whole obsessed shipper mindset. Yeah, sure, they rode the showmance for votes, but IMO it was also pretty clear that it wasn't that serious. Maks had basically turned it into a comedy routine by the end of the season. Also really, really disagree that the dances weren't fantastic. That ballroom tango is one of my fave dances on the show ever, and stuff like the swing, foxtrot, waltz and AT (smartly completely different from Val's, I love the relaxed feel it has) were also super awesome. Everything else was also good and interesting, I found it hugely enjoyable to watch what he produced that season and honestly hadn't believed he had it in him. Mostly how consistent he was, no trainwreck in sight.

[realdancemom]

9 hours ago, katha said:

Honestly, I thought Maks' bit about Boris and Oleg was one of the funniest things on DWTS ever. It was a perfect parody of the whole obsessed shipper mindset. Yeah, sure, they rode the showmance for votes, but IMO it was also pretty clear that it wasn't that serious. Maks had basically turned it into a comedy routine by the end of the season. Also really, really disagree that the dances weren't fantastic. That ballroom tango is one of my fave dances on the show ever, and stuff like the swing, foxtrot, waltz and AT (smartly completely different from Val's, I love the relaxed feel it has) were also super awesome. Everything else was also good and interesting, I found it hugely enjoyable to watch what he produced that season and honestly hadn't believed he had it in him. Mostly how consistent he was, no trainwreck in sight.

Love the Boris and Oleg parody.  You can tell that he wasn't being serious and was just playing along.  It was really funny.  I love a lot of Maks and Meryl's dances too.  Didn't like their freestyle.  I liked their rumba better which did look like a contemporary instead of a rumba.

[boyznkatz]

Not to mention Meryl has been dating her coach's son for years, and Maks was probably dating Peta at the time? Anyone remember Tommy Chong's "smells like Maks" comment? LOL

[SunnyBeBe]

On 4/18/2017 at 11:06 AM, Jeffurry said:

I had never seen Erika before this show. My partner had never seen her before last night. He thought she seemed sweet and shy. I wonder if sweet and shy Erika would have gone further.

Good point.  I guess the show wanted Erika Jayne and not Erica Girardi.  I think the latter would have fared better, but, for the show to get on its high horse about her being too provocative......lol ...THAT was funny.  I mean, it's pretty titallating and has been from day one.  I do love Disney night and my FAVORITE DONNY Osmond (What a treat), but, the show just doesn't do it for me the way it used to. 

[Gasme]

Normani's dance was amazing, deserved all 10's

[Linderhill]

Quote

I'm surprised so many folks (including the judges) liked Nick's dance so much. I hated it. Of course, I have seen every single phase of Nick's Bachelor(ette) "journey" and find him kind of repulsive, so that probably colored my perception ;)

I never watch any of the Bachelor (or Bachelorette) shows so I don't know him from Adam I just couldn't stand that routine he did.  I couldn't figure out what everyone was raving about and was amazed at the inflated scores.  

I did enjoy the Josh Groban version of the that song and I've never seen Moana, Mulan (or Lion King for that matter) so I'm more of an old school Disney song gal.  They never do Lady and the Tramp or many of the old standards that I remember.

[skyways]

Spoiler

The singer for Simone's dance is amazing.    Sasha's choreography is fine.  It doesn't have too much gymnastics moves.  The problem is that Simone didn't let her emotion through.  She dances like a gymnast.  With contemporary, you have to dance with a little abandon.  She needed to be more flowy.  She's too precise and everything is placed too perfectly.  Because of that, her dance felt more like jazz instead of contemporary

 

I used to enjoy having gymnasts on the show but not any more. Everything you said is true and even though Shawn Johnson won, she was the exact same way in her first season (and ruined dances for me like Samba and Rhumba). But she was miles better in her second appearance where she was now more like a dancer-smooth and feminine.