S01.E04: Halloween Night

[OnceSane]

Quote

The eight remaining celebrity kids don their scariest costumes as they prepare to treat the viewers to some spooky dances. Each couple will perform an Argentine tango, paso doble, jazz, jive, Charleston, or samba. At the end of the night, there will be an elimination.

Airs October 28, 2018.

[Callaphera]

Artem is freeeee! FREEEEE! 

Oh, and there was a show. But the most important thing is that Artem is freeeee! And so are we.

[backformore]

I'm glad to see the last of honey boo boo.

[BeeBop88]

Felt sorry for Honey Boo Boo tonight, but the kid can not dance. That little Jason is such a cutie pie. Did a real good job tonight. Loved Ariana. So remarkable that she is so mature for being 10 years old. The kid plays her cards right, her future will be very bright. And that other little girl, Sky. Such a sweetheart. Alan cracks me up. His laugh is so childlike, but so genuine too. He was so happy that his kiddos did so well. Rylee looks more and more like Lindsay's mini me. Dancing blood sure runs in the Arnold family. I liked Cheryl's team too. Mandla has the musicality, no doubt inherited by his dad, Stevie Wonder. Overall, the show tonight was fun to watch. Very talented group of kids.

[spanana]

The judges feedback to Ariana was such crap.  I know I shouldn't get annoyed over the TPTB meddling on these shows, but it definitely came off like the judges were given orders to knock Ariana down one peg tonight.  Otherwise how do you justify giving her 7's for a pretty good paso and then giving Alanna and Jason and others either the same scores or higher scores.  I think it also just bugs me in general to watch Adam attempt to give any sort of technical critiques on dances he knows nothing about and has never learned.   I also feel like they gave her nothing constructive.  Just told her it wasn't her best dance because her performance wasn't up to par, which IMO wasn't even true.   If they were given orders to knock her down, they should have at least done it nicely.  Girl looked pretty upset.

Not in relation to Ariana, but did Adam ever learn a jive? Like he made it sound like when talking to Sky?  Stop talking about dances you know nothing about.

Also Val really annoys me as a judge too because he will criticize content and technique, but he never says anything specific.  He will just tell them generally to work on technique, which means nothing to these kids.  Mandy is the only one of the judges giving any sort of constructive feedback in language the kids will understand.  With Val he either tells them that they are great or they need to work on their technique.  Or that they need more content.

Loved Sky and Miles routines.

Alan is winning me over here.  He is fabulous with the kids.  Mind you he has easily lovable kids that clearly love him, but he seems to be doing a good job of pushing Sky to her limits, but yet is still nurturing and giving her the reassurance and nurturing she needs, being you know, 10.   His adoration of his kids and vice versa seems very genuine.

Emma did a good job putting together her routine for Jason.  Jason isn't a natural dancer and he's not great, but he does have the ability to learn choreography and at least execute steps and do it with confidence.

Why did Gleb have Mack dressed as a cheerleader for two shows in a row?

Edited October 29, 2018 by spanana

[PumpkinLumpkin]

My favorite episode so far. Best dances tonight imo were Mandla and Brightyn and Sky and JT.

I'm glad Honey Boo Boo is gone.  Way overdue. Got tired of the hands on hips and making sassy faces. She can't dance at all.

Edited October 29, 2018 by PumpkinLumpkin

[Koalagirl]

8 minutes ago, PumpkinLumpkin said:

My favorite episode so far. Best dances tonight imo were Mandla and Brightyn and Sky and JT.

I'm glad Honey Boo Boo is gone.  Way overdue. Got tired of the hands on hips and making sassy faces. She can't dance at all.

Did anybody else notice they cut out the spelling bee kid's dance tonight? 

What do you mean they cut it out?  He danced first I think.  

[PhD-Purgatory15]

PumpkinLumpkin, did you have some sort of news break or local/regional sporting event cut into the show? Because we were able to see Akash just fine. They started the show with a mad scientist/Frankenstein Robot dance to "Weird Science" or something like that.

Honestly, I'd be okay if he went next. He doesn't really dance. He enthusiastically jumps up and down, and walks through pretty much all the other moves...

[CDC]

I'm glad that Alana (I refuse to call her by that ridiculous nickname) is gone because she had practically no content for any of her dances, and didn't even do what little content she had properly.  When other children have been eliminated before her, they seem upset and sad, but resigned. Alana seemed to be in complete shock that she could even possibly be eliminated!  It seemed like a total surprise to her, and from what I've seen I honestly think that she believed she was one of the best dancers out there.  The sad thing is, instead of using this as a learning experience, she'll likely head home to a bunch of enablers who blame everyone else for her elimination instead of accepting the fact that she was in a competition and didn't win because her performance was subpar.

[Miss Slay]

I wish there was a nicer way to vote the children off (I know there probably isn't) but it's sad to seem them cry.

I have no idea though how Alana's team got some of the same scores as Aryanna. 

[doLLish]

Adam is very bad at this judging thing. It’s actually painful to hear him try to come up with a critique. He never says anything of value. If this returns, he really needs to be replaced. Val isn’t great either. He comes off like a very smug asshole and for all of them it’s almost like they forget they’re dealing with kids.

Ariana and Artyon were way underscored. I didn’t see any of what the judges were talking about. I loved Sky and JT but their dance was on the same level as Ariana and Artyon but the critiques were way different. It’s very interesting. I also loved Miles and Mandla’s performances. The kid pros, especially the young ladies, blow me away week after week. The kid from Raven’s Home and the spelling bee kid are just so adorable. The right couple went home tonight.

I agree with the poster above. I don’t really like seeing the kids cry when they get eliminated but I can’t think of any other option for a show like this. Does anyone have alternate ideas? I remember back in the day on a show called American Juniors, where they were forming a singing group, they got voted IN to the group every week instead of getting voted out. So the kid who was voted in that week would no longer perform on the show and everyone would come back and perform again for another chance to get voted into the group. I don’t see how something like that could work in this instance, but I always appreciated that the show took the kids feelings into account when making the decision on how to handle eliminations.

[jaimesommers]

The judges seemed unnecessarily harsh with Ariana tonight. Can I just say how much I loved how Jordan reminded everyone that (appropriate and constructive) criticism is part of the competition but he still made sure to ask Ariana if she had fun? ❤️

[MsTree]

2 hours ago, CDC said:

Alana seemed to be in complete shock that she could even possibly be eliminated!  It seemed like a total surprise to her, and from what I've seen I honestly think that she believed she was one of the best dancers out there.  The sad thing is, instead of using this as a learning experience, she'll likely head home to a bunch of enablers who blame everyone else for her elimination instead of accepting the fact that she was in a competition and didn't win because her performance was subpar.

Totally agree, especially about her enablers. Alana is so used to winning pageants as a very young child, she was probably told she could win this too.

And Alana, you're 12 years old (almost a teenager), stop with the phony tears to gain sympathy. It's time to grow up!

[doLLish]

2 hours ago, jaimesommers said:

The judges seemed unnecessarily harsh with Ariana tonight. Can I just say how much I loved how Jordan reminded everyone that (appropriate and constructive) criticism is part of the competition but he still made sure to ask Ariana if she had fun? ❤️

Jordan really is the perfect host for the show. He’s so good with the kids.

[Koalagirl]

I think they overscored Alanna and critiqued Arianna that in order to tick off the voting audience so they would vote her off.  JMHO.

[kitcloudkicker]

9 hours ago, spanana said:

Not in relation to Ariana, but did Adam ever learn a jive? Like he made it sound like when talking to Sky?

He did actually, it was for a dance-off against Mirai (so easily forgettable.)

[spanana]

8 hours ago, MsTree said:

Totally agree, especially about her enablers. Alana is so used to winning pageants as a very young child, she was probably told she could win this too.

And Alana, you're 12 years old (almost a teenager), stop with the phony tears to gain sympathy. It's time to grow up!

Why is it okay when the other kids cry but not Alanna?  12 is still a kid.  Lots of 12 year olds, and kids older than that, cry.  She's a child.

[BeeBop88]

10 hours ago, jaimesommers said:

The judges seemed unnecessarily harsh with Ariana tonight. Can I just say how much I loved how Jordan reminded everyone that (appropriate and constructive) criticism is part of the competition but he still made sure to ask Ariana if she had fun? ❤️

I thought so too. Poor Ariana looked a bit taken aback by it. I thought she did a great job. She is only 10 years old and shows a lot of maturity. The only judge I like is Mandy Moore. And Adam Ripon can haul is butt out of his seat and leave at any time. If there is a 2nd season, I sure hope they don't bring him back. He is not an expert at ballroom/latin dances.

 

11 hours ago, CDC said:

I'm glad that Alana (I refuse to call her by that ridiculous nickname)

  My cousin acquired a beagle dog from a co-worker who could no longer afford to care for it. She renamed the dog Honey Boo Boo. No joke. I just call the dog Honey.

[Kid]

12 hours ago, spanana said:

With Val he either tells them that they are great or they need to work on their technique.  Or that they need more content.

I agree completely.  And why criticize the contestant, lack of content is the fault of the choreographer. And Adam, is just a complete waste of time.

11 hours ago, CDC said:

The sad thing is, instead of using this as a learning experience, she'll likely head home to a bunch of enablers who blame everyone else for her elimination instead of accepting the fact that she was in a competition and didn't win because her performance was subpar.

And her performance, in my opinion, was subpar, because of a total lack of effort on her part. She reminded me of Kate Gosselin when she did Dancing with the Stars. The kid thought that she was going to win based on her popularity and her shtick.  I am very pleased that she is finally gone.

Edited October 29, 2018 by Kid

[spanana]

31 minutes ago, Kid said:

I agree completely.  And why criticize the contestant, lack of content is the fault of the choreographer. And Adam, is just a complete waste of time.

Or Val will tell some kid to "work on his feet", which means nothing.  I guess he figures that is their mentors job and the kids won't understand technical detail, but if the show comes back and if Val comes back he needs to do some prep ahead of time of figuring out ways to break down viable critiques for kids. 

Even with the bull critiques all the judges leveled at Ariana, at least Mandy tried to come up with a legitimate reason to describe what she thought the problem was, even though in this case I think the music didn't allow for any sort of light/shade and they were performing the song.  Also Mandy at least scored her reasonably (8) while Val/Adam gave her 7's.  Val, it says something when you find yourself mostly agreeing with the judge who knows nothing about dance.

[Kid]

1 hour ago, spanana said:

Val, it says something when you find yourself mostly agreeing with the judge who knows nothing about dance.

I noticed that too. I had high expectations for Val as a judge.  Maybe Maks would been a better choice.

Edited October 29, 2018 by Kid

[Callaphera]

I'll say this about Honey Boo Boo (my heart is sweeter than bacon, chiiiile - sorry, the South Park episode with her always comes to mind when I think of her): she has an awful lot of self-confidence, which is amazing because so many kids her age are the opposite. There is, however, such a thing as believing your own hype.

Shit, Hell just froze over. I said something nice about Honey Boo Boo and I've been mocking her since she got her first cup of Go-Go Juice on Toddlers and Tiaras. 

[ellenr33]

I actually feel bad for Honey Boo Boo. Because for a while in her life she was all the hype. It's a hard concept to grasp that your being exploited. I hate for this girl that the trainwreck of her family was on TV. And I hate that she grew up not learning any healthy eating habits. I really hoped that she would stay on the show for a while because I want this poor girl to lose some weight. She's going into some rough years being the fat kid! 

[jcbrown]

1 hour ago, ellenr33 said:

I actually feel bad for Honey Boo Boo. Because for a while in her life she was all the hype. It's a hard concept to grasp that your being exploited. I hate for this girl that the trainwreck of her family was on TV. And I hate that she grew up not learning any healthy eating habits. I really hoped that she would stay on the show for a while because I want this poor girl to lose some weight. She's going into some rough years being the fat kid! 

I agree with all this and would add that I feel sorry for her that her mother is a disaster of a human. And yet Honey Boo Boo still annoys the crap out of me.

[WildFlower87]

They're really pimping out that Ariana Greenblatt aka Little Gamora so,so much. I wouldn't be shocked she wins this competition.

I'm glad that obnoxious Honey Boo Boo is gone. Kid thought she all that and a bag of chips. 

We're starting to dwindle down to the best teams. I think the next team to go is Akash or Raven's Home kid.

Edited October 31, 2018 by WildFlower87

[marykat71702]

I really like how Jordan interacts with the kids.

Alan, Sky, and JT's package made me tear up, but the effort that she put in showed. That was a fun dance.

I really enjoyed Mandla's and Miles'  dances.

I agree with the judges about Ariana's dance-it wasn't her best, but I still think she will be in the finals.

Akash is cute, but Camri bugs me.

 

The right person left tonight. Next to go should be either Jason or Mackenzie.

[MsTree]

14 hours ago, spanana said:

Why is it okay when the other kids cry but not Alanna?  12 is still a kid.  Lots of 12 year olds, and kids older than that, cry.  She's a child.

Just found out she's 13 (a teenager, not a child). Of course a kid can cry, but she was overacting a bit.

Most teens will shed a few tears and hug their friends for support. Alana just stood there rubbing her eyes like a little 6 year old.

[spanana]

11 hours ago, MsTree said:

Just found out she's 13 (a teenager, not a child). Of course a kid can cry, but she was overacting a bit.

Most teens will shed a few tears and hug their friends for support. Alana just stood there rubbing her eyes like a little 6 year old.

A teenager is still a child.  A child is anyone under 18 in my book.  I'm not going to mock a teen girl for crying. 

ETA: The area around 13 IMO is quite often the most formative and confusing time in a young girl's life.  Obviously not for everyone as every kid is different, but 13 is one of the roughest ages imaginable.

Edited October 30, 2018 by spanana

[BeeBop88]

Here are the ratings for Dancing with the Stars, Juniors:

Show                                                                             Adults 18-49  rating/share                                       Viewers (millions)

Dancing with the Stars: Juniors (ABC)                                     0.7/3                                                                       4.06

The show has lost approx. 1 million viewers since it's premiere in 1 month. Not Good. A bit of a sliver of hope is that the World Series ran opposite of this. Perhaps this caused the down tick of viewers. I think I remember reading where DWTS Jrs. won't be on next week for some reason. So we shall see where this leads.  

[TwopLurker]

Can any ballroom experts explain why Val said the jive is unflattering for female dancers? Is it a support garment issue? 

 

The That’s so Raven kid has buckets of charisma. 

[Bridget]

13 hours ago, spanana said:

A teenager is still a child.  A child is anyone under 18 in my book.  I'm not going to mock a teen girl for crying. 

ETA: The area around 13 IMO is quite often the most formative and confusing time in a young girl's life.  Obviously not for everyone as every kid is different, but 13 is one of the roughest ages imaginable.

 

As a middle school teacher, I can confirm this to be 100% accurate.

I’ve also taught high school, but the girls are the ones who really struggle with adolescence.

Most boys don’t care about pimples or bad hair days - they make a joke out of them.

For females (this is a true story), even a negative comment they read about themselves on their damn phones, just before class starts, can result in a sudden eruption of tears. Then that becomes two hours of them simply sitting in the counseling office because they’re too upset and that’s time lost learning. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but it’s also another reason most students don’t need phones at school - because that’s another way it interrupts the teaching and learning process.

Lastly, I wish I had 1/2 of Honey Boo Boo’s confidence! I’ve never seen an episode of anything she’s been on, but I really, really admire her self-esteem. I’m not down with the “I’m the best thing since sliced bread” attitude, but if one positive thing has emanated from her being on TV, I’m OK with that, especially when so many kids, both male and female (grades 7-10) suffer from body image issues.

I do wonder about her health though. I was initially on the “she should stick around and get more exercise” train, but after watching her stand in place and bounce up and down during her “dance” each week, there’s no way she would have really benefited from staying. I sincerely wonder if her weight did make it harder for her to move around, hence the default move?

Edited October 31, 2018 by Bridget

[MsTree]

Folks, no one is denying Alana her tears. She could have cried all night. What struck me as childish was the constant eye-rubbing (with two fists), usually done by a small child.

If there was an emoji for what I'm referring to, I'd put it here. Unfortunately, I don't have one.

[topanga]

On 10/29/2018 at 10:14 PM, marykat71702 said:

I really like how Jordan interacts with the kids.

Alan, Sky, and JT's package made me tear up, but the effort that she put in showed. That was a fun dance.

I really enjoyed Mandla's and Miles'  dances.

I agree with the judges about Ariana's dance-it wasn't her best, but I still think she will be in the finals.

Akash is cute, but Camri bugs me.

 

The right person left tonight. Next to go should be either Jason or Mackenzie.

 

15 hours ago, TwopLurker said:

The That’s so Raven kid has buckets of charisma

I agree about Jason—he’s a great kid. But he and Akash both “clump-clump” throughout their dances. You can practically see them counting the steps in their heads. And I’m not fauting them—they’re doing some tough dances, and parts of the choreography are very complex. 

—But it is different from Sky, who had a tough week learning her dance, but her final performance was seamless. 

—And I agree that the judges were unnecessarily harsh with Ariana. 

—And I still like Mackenzie. She’s obviously had more technical training then the other kids, and it shows. I don’t think she’s the best performer of the group, however. 

—Miles had my favorite dance of the night. That kid is so flexible and energetic, and his dancing has become much more precise over the weeks. 

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, topanga said:

Miles had my favorite dance of the night. That kid is so flexible and energetic, and his dancing has become much more precise over the weeks. 

He was my favorite too - a lot of recognizable samba content, some of which adults on the regular show never master! I think he's a cutie - not overly precocious, but still handles himself maturely. What a cool kid!

I think Arianna's score was bs. She and Skye are the front runners for me, with Miles coming up too. I love the way Brandon and Alan are handling them.

It was time for Alanna to go, but count me in the group that hates seeing the kids cry. It's natural to be disappointed at losing, and even tougher to have to do it on live national television.

I still like the judges, but Val is honestly the weakest one for me. Mandy is great, and Adam always has an encouraging word for the kids. Val either parrots what Mandy says or offers vague criticisms that the kids can't understand. Jordan is the the best.

[catrice2]

1 hour ago, Ilovepie said:

He was my favorite too - a lot of recognizable samba content, some of which adults on the regular show never master! I think he's a cutie - not overly precocious, but still handles himself maturely. What a cool kid!

I think Arianna's score was bs. She and Skye are the front runners for me, with Miles coming up too. I love the way Brandon and Alan are handling them.

It was time for Alanna to go, but count me in the group that hates seeing the kids cry. It's natural to be disappointed at losing, and even tougher to have to do it on live national television.

I still like the judges, but Val is honestly the weakest one for me. Mandy is great, and Adam always has an encouraging word for the kids. Val either parrots what Mandy says or offers vague criticisms that the kids can't understand. Jordan is the the best.

The dance was really cute.  He was my favorite as well, and I think Arianna's score was baffling as was her critique. 

[Ilovepie]

2 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

Arianna's score was baffling as was her critique. 

I think her critique was baffling because they were grasping at nothing to justify giving her the low score when she obviously should have had a higher one.  I'm not sure why the powers that be decided to do that to her, but I think it's really crappy they are pulling those type of shenanigans with little kids.....

[catrice2]

You know anything for ratings or drama with these shows...that or she is getting too close to whomever the chosen one is. 

[luvthepros]

On 10/30/2018 at 6:55 PM, BeeBop88 said:

Here are the ratings for Dancing with the Stars, Juniors:

Show                                                                             Adults 18-49  rating/share                                       Viewers (millions)

Dancing with the Stars: Juniors (ABC)                                     0.7/3                                                                       4.06

The show has lost approx. 1 million viewers since it's premiere in 1 month. Not Good. A bit of a sliver of hope is that the World Series ran opposite of this. Perhaps this caused the down tick of viewers. I think I remember reading where DWTS Jrs. won't be on next week for some reason. So we shall see where this leads.  

I don't really know how the ratings are figured these days. DVRs are in nearly every household in America. Do the ratings take into consideration that many households are watching a show on DVR at a time after the original broadcast? Do ratings only take into consideration those households that watch a TV show live so they are a captive audience for the ads? Only live watching of TV shows count?

[luvthepros]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:29 PM, TwopLurker said:

Can any ballroom experts explain why Val said the jive is unflattering for female dancers? Is it a support garment issue? 

 

I'm not an expert by any means but I do know what I enjoy watching when it comes to dance. I've been watching dance competitions for many years.....way back to the days when PBS aired professional ballroom competitions......... way back when Juliette Prowse was host to the competition held here in the US. Boy,, did I just give away my age!!!

I absolutely LOVE to watch females dance Jive. Karina with her pro partner, Slavik was a dream to watch. Shirley Ballas is another example of poetry in motion when she danced Jive. Jive has always been my absolute favorite dance of the Latin Ballroom dances and goes back all the way to the PBS ballroom competitions.

Bottom line.......I have no idea what Val meant by that comment.