In The Media: DWTS

[vavera4ka]

not to be petty... ok being totally petty. But few decades down the line, even with the movie, Nancy is the winner. The way she looks, the way she is perceived, and, hopefully, in this show too.

[Happy Belly]

20 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

I'm not sure if Red Sox fans still hold a grudge about him going to the Yankees.....but Yankee fans will be voting in full force.

Not this Yankee fan! I’m one of them that loathes any of those Boston people coming onto my team. Yeah I know. I take  this rivalry way too serious..lol

[spanana]

In a 4 week season, they aren't doing much. I know somebody said that maybe there would be less manipulation in a shorter season, but I think in some ways it lends itself to more.  Even the finalists are only going to get a chance to dance a handful of dance styles, so that can easily be having manipulated for and against people.  I suspect they will try to make them all do more than one dance a week but even still.  Usually in a regular season there is a lot of manipulation with timing of dances and particularly giving favored people a bunch of stuff they are good at down the homestretch, but by the end most celebs are forced to do almost every ballroom style at least once.  Here they can hand select the dances since most will never see a lot of the dances.  Some people could wind up with almost all ballrooms and no latin or vice versa.  Throw in a contemp or jazz and the person barely even needs to do ballroom.  Though I would hope they would shelve contemps/jazzes in the individual rounds if they are still going to do a freestyle.

[boyznkatz]

I agree that this short season leaves plenty of room for manipulation. With Jenna as a partner, how many contemporaries/jazz/fluffy crap is Adam going to get?

On the other hand, someone old and popular like Kareem might have a chance. If he can move at all, he might be the first senior citizen to win, especially with Lindsay as a partner.

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, Happy Belly said:

Not this Yankee fan! I’m one of them that loathes any of those Boston people coming onto my team. Yeah I know. I take  this rivalry way too serious..lol

I still own a Johnny Damon Yankee shirt!

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

I don't want to harsh your mellow or anything, but could it be a breast cancer awareness thing?  Just askin'...

It didn't sound like a Susan G. Komen thing, since those are promoted as unisex, and we've seen male athletes wear pink to support breast cancer awareness.  This sounds a ;pot more like gender-coding: Pink is for girls; blue is for boys.

[anonymiss]

I'm grossed out Adam went to Jenna. Does Val have that much influence to get her the favorite in her very first season?

[anonymiss]

22 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

I think Paige has been in the news because she recently revealed in her new book that she was raped at age 14 and bullied as a result. She did talk about the bullying on the show, but not the rape. Just curious, does dwts not allow people to talk about sexual assault or domestic violence? Her bully story makes a lot of sense now, but I admit I was scratching my head when she discussed it on the show.

I doubt DwtS has a rule about that. She didn't mention it until her book deal in the climate of #metoo. I don't know if she wanted to before but there would have been opportunity since she regularly participates in media and social media . (She attributes changing her last name because of this, leaving out reports that the family changed their name and moved after her brother was incarcerated for sexually abusing a minor.)

[spanana]

I do think it's a bit interesting...or weird I guess, that Meryl and Charlie have both come forward to post about Adam and publicly root for him and have said zero about Mirai.  Are they not on tour with her too?  I get they are under no obligation to do so, but is that not weird when all of you are on tour together and you are publicly coming out to support one and not the other?  I don't really think it's about Jenna.  Charlie has no relationship with her and Meryl did at one time, but they have barely acknowledged each other in years.

[Maya S]

1 hour ago, anonymiss said:

I'm grossed out Adam went to Jenna. Does Val have that much influence to get her the favorite in her very first season?

This is her second season, she was with Jake T. Austin in season 23.  

[anonymiss]

2 minutes ago, Maya S said:

This is her second season, she was with Jake T. Austin in season 23.  

Right, thanks. They were eliminated first so it feels like her first season.

[crowceilidh]

Quote

Usually in a regular season there is a lot of manipulation with timing of dances and particularly giving favored people a bunch of stuff they are good at down the homestretch, but by the end most celebs are forced to do almost every ballroom style at least once.  Here they can hand select the dances since most will never see a lot of the dances. 

Hmmm.  You're making me want to don my tinfoil hat.  I wonder what percentage of the contestants will do contemporary in a 4-week season?

Also, how many people will they be dropping each week?  I wonder if they'll try any different methods just to be experimental with this fruit fly of  a season (short, good for experiments, attracted to rotting sticky fruit?).

[Morrigan]

13 hours ago, LexieLily said:

One of my first thoughts in reading the cast list today was that Tonya Harding not dance any dance to Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."

In this truncated season will they even do a Most Memorable Year Week? If she knows what is good for her Tonya won't do 1994, but then that will just be the big elephant in the room, JMO.

My memory's not the best but I swear I remember that when poor Monica Seles was booted first in 2008 on DWTS, they played "The First Cut is the Deepest"

ETA: Gotta love Tonya's lovely quote in USA Today: "Oh my God, I haven't been in anything skimpy in a really long time. I can't wait to lose 10 pounds," says Harding, who famously made her own skating outfits growing up. "I am open to (wearing) everything as long as the hoo-hoo is covered and my boobies don't pop out."

Edited April 14, 2018 by Morrigan

[SuprSuprElevated]

31 minutes ago, Morrigan said:

My memory's not the best but I swear I remember that when poor Monica Seles was booted first in 2008 on DWTS, they played "The First Cut is the Deepest"

ETA: Gotta love Tonya's lovely quote in USA Today: "Oh my God, I haven't been in anything skimpy in a really long time. I can't wait to lose 10 pounds," says Harding, who famously made her own skating outfits growing up. "I am open to (wearing) everything as long as the hoo-hoo is covered and my boobies don't pop out."

She's nothing if not classy.

[Emily-D]

Sharna is frustrating but popular. I had a look at the likes ranking on FB when they announced the pros and posted their individual photos. Sharna was way out in front with over 1k likes. Artem was second which didn’t surprise. He’s slowly cultivated a fanbase over the seasons and is probably the most popular male pro once you take away the Mark/Derek/Val hybrid. Lindsay was third then everyone else closely bunched behind. Unsurprisingly Keo and Gleb were at the bottom. Both are well past their sell by date and should have been dropped a while ago. IMO

[legaleagle53]

8 hours ago, Morrigan said:

My memory's not the best but I swear I remember that when poor Monica Seles was booted first in 2008 on DWTS, they played "The First Cut is the Deepest"

 

Yeah, I remember that and how horrified and outraged people were at the time that THAT was the one song they chose to send her off.  To be fair, though, that attack had happened years earlier, and I seriously doubt that anyone who doesn't remember the attack would have made the connection since in the context of Monica's elimination, the song title makes perfect sense.  She WAS the first one "cut," i.e., eliminated.

Edited April 14, 2018 by legaleagle53

[Toonces464]

6 hours ago, Emily-D said:

Sharna is frustrating but popular. I had a look at the likes ranking on FB when they announced the pros and posted their individual photos. Sharna was way out in front with over 1k likes. Artem was second which didn’t surprise. He’s slowly cultivated a fanbase over the seasons and is probably the most popular male pro once you take away the Mark/Derek/Val hybrid. Lindsay was third then everyone else closely bunched behind. Unsurprisingly Keo and Gleb were at the bottom. Both are well past their sell by date and should have been dropped a while ago. IMO

I run so hot and cold on Sharna. I loved her with Charlie and James but she also annoys me a great deal. I will say I like her a whole lot better since she's seemed to pull away from the C fam.

Artem I didn't like when he first started but now he's definitely my favorite of the male pros. And I couldn't agree more that the Keo and Gleb experiments should've been over a long time ago.

I mentioned this in another post, but the level of pros now compared to the old pros is, to me, a big part of why the show is going downhill. I didn't care for LVA and when I first started watching I couldn't stand Karina, but boy could they dance and I enjoyed watching it. It was also much more focused on the celebs and their relationships with their pros (in fact, that's what turned me around on Karina, her relationship with Ralph Macchio) but now it seems more focused on showmances and all the pros hooking up. Anna/Johnathan and Edyta/Alec being married was barely a footnote, where Maks/Peta, Emma/Sasha, Val/Jenna and, to a lower extent, Derek/Hayley, now seem to be agendas the show actively pushes. 

I think one thing we're going to find this season is that the show really lacks something when they don't have at least one or two of the long time pros on. I hope the show catches onto that and brings one or two of them back each season.  I'm not sure how much longer I want to watch this current lineup.

[Uke]

9 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

I think one thing we're going to find this season is that the show really lacks something when they don't have at least one or two of the long time pros on. I hope the show catches onto that and brings one or two of them back each season.  I'm not sure how much longer I want to watch this current lineup.

I think they will always have a spot for Mark and/or Derek if and when they are willing.  I just think both are moving on to other things. 

Mark seems more interested in Broadway acting roles and promoting/producing his wife's music.  (I do hope Mark returns to his own music soon!  He has such a beautiful mid-range voice and an unselfish way of composing lyrics.)  He had turned down S25 and apparently had something else in the works.  When that got postponed AND DWTS promised him Lindsey, he came back.  Now he on his bi-annual month-long vacation aka belated honeymoon.  

Derek has gone onto judging on World of Dance.  I don't know if his NBC contract restricts him from ABC/DWTS but I've no doubt DWTS would take him back for a season regardless of his jumping ship to NBC.

[legaleagle53]

About the only thing that disappoints me with this cast reveal is that they didn't give Adam a same-sex pro.  I'm currently watching the Italian version of DWTS, and the Italians have decided to follow the examples of Austria and Israel and have a same-sex male couple compete this year, and this pair is proving to be very popular with the Italian viewers.  I really don't understand why the US still refuses to go there, especially in 2018 when marriage equality is the law of the land and hardly anyone bats an eyelash at the concept of same-sex couples anymore.  Get with the program, DWTS US!

Edited April 15, 2018 by legaleagle53

[Toonces464]

8 hours ago, Uke said:

I think they will always have a spot for Mark and/or Derek if and when they are willing.  I just think both are moving on to other things. 

Mark seems more interested in Broadway acting roles and promoting/producing his wife's music.  (I do hope Mark returns to his own music soon!  He has such a beautiful mid-range voice and an unselfish way of composing lyrics.)  He had turned down S25 and apparently had something else in the works.  When that got postponed AND DWTS promised him Lindsey, he came back.  Now he on his bi-annual month-long vacation aka belated honeymoon.  

Derek has gone onto judging on World of Dance.  I don't know if his NBC contract restricts him from ABC/DWTS but I've no doubt DWTS would take him back for a season regardless of his jumping ship to NBC.

I think the same could be said of Cheryl. If she wants a spot and has time between her other projects, she'll be there. But there was such excitement when Maks returned the first time (until he wouldn't go away). Same with Edyta when she returned, but they gave her Geraldo and she was out the first week. I'd be excited if they said Karina was coming back for a season, or Tony, or Anna.

I know they cater to a younger audience now and the current lineup of pros have a different type of fan base who are very vocal about them. Back in the day, each pro had one fan site/Twitter and now these pros have tons of them, holdovers of the people who used to tweet at the troupe members and get retweets and responses about them going pro (Henry was the worst!). But I don't think this pro lineup is as appealing to people who have been watching a long time and (no offense to anyone) people over the age of about 25. I know none of my friends who used to watch the show religiously watch anymore because they don't give a damn about any of these pros and they miss trained champion ballroom dancers and true ballroom dances.

[boyznkatz]

2 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

About the only thing that disappoints me with this cast reveal is that they didn't give Adam a same-sex pro.  I'm currently watching the Italian version of DWTS, and the Italians have decided to follow the examples of Austria and Israel and have a same-sex male couple compete this year, and this pair is proving to be very popular with the Italian viewers.  I really don't understand why the US still refuses to go there, especially in 2018 when marriage equality is the law of the land and hardly anyone bats an eyelash at the concept of same-sex couples anymore.  Get with the program, DWTS US!

I don’t know if you live in the USA, but there is still a lot of homophobia here. Even in the supposedly liberal state of California. Yes, there is legally marriage equality, but a lot of Americans oppose it.

[legaleagle53]

22 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

I don’t know if you live in the USA, but there is still a lot of homophobia here. Even in the supposedly liberal state of California. Yes, there is legally marriage equality, but a lot of Americans oppose it.

I was born and raised in the US (and currently live in Arizona), and I don't care.  The homophobes need to get over it and accept reality.  So does DWTS, because that's the only way to eradicate homophobia by letting same-sex couples compete to show that the dynamic between same-sex couples can be just as strong as it is between opposite-sex couples.  If notoriously homophobic countries like Austria, Israel, and Italy can do it, so can we.

Edited April 15, 2018 by legaleagle53

[boyznkatz]

1 hour ago, legaleagle53 said:

I was born and raised in the US (and currently live in Arizona), and I don't care.  The homophobes need to get over it and accept reality.  So does DWTS, because that's the only way to eradicate homophobia by letting same-sex couples compete to show that the dynamic between same-sex couples can be just as strong as it is between opposite-sex couples.  If notoriously homophobic countries like Austria, Israel, and Italy can do it, so can we.

 

I agree, but this version doesn’t seem like the type to do that. As much as TPTB loves controversy I don’t see them rocking the boat for change.

I didn’t know Italy was homophobic. Wow.

Edited April 15, 2018 by boyznkatz

[legaleagle53]

6 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

I didn’t know Italy was homophobic. Wow.

 

Remember where the the largest Christian denomination is headquartered.  Even on the Italian DWTS, the male couple has been facing a bit of homophobia and controversy on the part of a couple of the judges (and incidentally, the pro half of this pair is straight and happily married -- as well as a respected three-time Italian DWTS champion).  So far, they've done Boogie (related to the Jive), Charleston, Cha-Cha, Salsa, Argentine Tango, and Paso Doble.  Guess which two dances got 0s from a couple of the male judges because it was a same-sex male couple.  The five-judge panel almost came to blows over it on more than one occasion, and one female judge and the third male judge on the panel even made a point of giving the pair a 10 as their way of counterbalancing what they saw as an un-called for homophobic insult.  The viewers, however, love these two men -- and the celeb's a pretty good dancer, too.  My favorite dances of theirs so far have been their Argentine Tango and their Paso Doble, with their Salsa in close third.

The show isn't geo-blocked, so anyone can watch it, and all of their dances except for last night's Paso Doble are up on YouTube (search for "Giovanni Ciacci and Raimondo Todaro").  If anyone's interested, please PM me and I'll send you a link to the actual show (but be warned -- it runs about three and a half hours long because there is a LOT of filler!).  If there's enough interest, I'll request a proper discussion forum so we don't wear out our welcome on THIS one.

Edited April 16, 2018 by legaleagle53

[blackwing]

I liked Mirai Nagasu until her bizarre interview that she didn't really care after bombing her individual competition, she just wanted to be on Dancing With the Stars.  I'm so sick of the blatant overexposure of Adam Rippon.  And no doubt the story about how the two of them sat on her roof eating In N Out and crying that they didn't make the 2014 Olympics helped a lot in getting them both on this show, it was probably a package deal, like Meryl White and that curly haired partner of hers.

I'm happy that Chris Mazdzer and Arike Ogunbawale made it.  Don't have an opinion about Tonya Harding... the woman made a really bad mistake and she will forever pay in the court of public opinion.  If they try to frame this competition as a "redemption" for her then my eyes will really roll.  Otherwise, I am really really hoping she does a dance to that infamous Jurassic Park soundtrack and complains about a broken shoelace.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.... puzzling.  He seems like a clear first-out to me.  He's like 2 or 3 feet taller than his partner, not even sure how this would work.

[Thadeeeyus]

19 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I liked Mirai Nagasu until her bizarre interview that she didn't really care after bombing her individual competition, she just wanted to be on Dancing With the Stars.  I'm so sick of the blatant overexposure of Adam Rippon.  And no doubt the story about how the two of them sat on her roof eating In N Out and crying that they didn't make the 2014 Olympics helped a lot in getting them both on this show, it was probably a package deal, like Meryl White and that curly haired partner of hers.

Liked +5! 

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

I do think it's a bit interesting...or weird I guess, that Meryl and Charlie have both come forward to post about Adam and publicly root for him and have said zero about Mirai. 

I think someone else dropped out and Mirai is a last minute replacement.

[EsEmi]

On 4/13/2018 at 6:10 PM, spanana said:

I do think it's a bit interesting...or weird I guess, that Meryl and Charlie have both come forward to post about Adam and publicly root for him and have said zero about Mirai.  Are they not on tour with her too?  I get they are under no obligation to do so, but is that not weird when all of you are on tour together and you are publicly coming out to support one and not the other?  I don't really think it's about Jenna.  Charlie has no relationship with her and Meryl did at one time, but they have barely acknowledged each other in years.

As a new fan of Adam Rippon following the Olympics, I've done a little lurking in various forums and social media platforms to get more background history on him and his fellow skaters.  They are a tight knit community with relationships going back 10-15 years.  Adam seems to be very loved, received an outpouring of support during the Olympics.  Everyone thrilled to see him accomplish his dream of being an Olympian, all eagerly sharing their pictures of him.  I did not see Mirai get this same support even then. 

While I think they like Mirai, she seems a little detached from the group.  The rehearsals for Stars on Ice started 2 weeks ago and she appeared very low energy, uninterested, almost as if she was being forced to be there.  There were no pictures of her outside of the rink.  Everyone else was showing far more enthusiasm.   I was taken aback by this.  Maybe she was feeling down, thinking she had been overlooked for DWTS.  Now since Friday, she is appearing very happy, uploading pictures and videos, interacting with Adam.  It has been a complete turnaround.  Adam, on the other hand, has been with the group since the start, sharing breakfast and outings together, being silly on the bus, goofing around at practice, etc.  It seems easy to understand why they prefer him over her.  I think the final competition will ultimately be between Adam and Mirai, I could see either one taking the trophy.        

 

8 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

I don’t know if you live in the USA, but there is still a lot of homophobia here. Even in the supposedly liberal state of California. Yes, there is legally marriage equality, but a lot of Americans oppose it.

I live in Northern California and there's plenty of counties that are red around here.  I agree, we're definitely not as liberal as is thought.  I also spent the weekend on the DWTS facebook page, where I read many homophobic comments, there's also the belief that coming out as gay is a political statement, and a general dislike of Adam for declining to meet with the vice president.  It was quite an eye opener.  There was so much hatred that I don't think Adam is guaranteed to win.  I'm sure ABC must have considered a same-sex couple but realized the public is not ready for it.

[Victura]

2 hours ago, EsEmi said:

As a new fan of Adam Rippon following the Olympics, I've done a little lurking in various forums and social media platforms to get more background history on him and his fellow skaters.  They are a tight knit community with relationships going back 10-15 years.  Adam seems to be very loved, received an outpouring of support during the Olympics.  Everyone thrilled to see him accomplish his dream of being an Olympian, all eagerly sharing their pictures of him.  I did not see Mirai get this same support even then. 

While I think they like Mirai, she seems a little detached from the group.  The rehearsals for Stars on Ice started 2 weeks ago and she appeared very low energy, uninterested, almost as if she was being forced to be there.  There were no pictures of her outside of the rink.  Everyone else was showing far more enthusiasm.   I was taken aback by this.  Maybe she was feeling down, thinking she had been overlooked for DWTS.  Now since Friday, she is appearing very happy, uploading pictures and videos, interacting with Adam.  It has been a complete turnaround.  Adam, on the other hand, has been with the group since the start, sharing breakfast and outings together, being silly on the bus, goofing around at practice, etc.  It seems easy to understand why they prefer him over her.  I think the final competition will ultimately be between Adam and Mirai, I could see either one taking the trophy.        

 

As someone who is part of the skating community, trust me when I say that Mirai is absolutely beloved. She won Nationals at age 14 and essentially grew up in people's eyes and had a very endearing way of answering honestly to interviewers' questions when she was younger. (The one really funny example I can remember is when she made the Olympic team the first time and said she was excited about all the free stuff they were going to get.) There was a huge uproar when she won the bronze at Nationals in 2014 but was passed over for the Olympic team in favor of Ashley Wagner (who placed 4th) due to "body of work." Tons of people were thrilled when she got her redemption and went back to the Olympics this year.

Adam is also quite loved, but he was a little lucky to make it onto the Olympic team this time because he placed 4th at Nationals and Ross Miner (2nd) was bumped in his favor. This was a controversial decision by USFSA, but Adam did very well at all the competitions leading up to Nationals and had one bad competition.

I get the feeling that Mirai might've been a last minute replacement too and wouldn't think anything of Meryl and Charlie retweeting Adam. There was something else one of them retweeted that had them both.

[neem]

1 hour ago, Victura said:

Adam is also quite loved, but he was a little lucky to make it onto the Olympic team this time because he placed 4th at Nationals and Ross Miner (2nd) was bumped in his favor. 

Not to get too far off-topic, but actually the selection committee made it pretty clear that Adam was their pick #2 because he had the best GP results out of all the guys not named Nathan Chen. Ross was bumped off the Olympic team in favor of Vincent Zhou (3rd at Nats), who was behind Adam and Jason but ahead of Ross in terms of "body of work" criteria. 

 

8 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

I think someone else dropped out and Mirai is a last minute replacement.

Yeah I just remembered there was this: Manziel deemed 'too controversial' for 'DWTS: Athletes'

Edited April 16, 2018 by neem

[kayma]

I wish they had gotten a few more athletes from the Olympics from the lesser known sports. This would have been a great time for those who have day jobs to pick up some extra cash and show their stories. They really should have gone outside the box on this season. 

I love that Chris Mazdzer is on and wish they'd gotten one of the gold medal curlers, too. The young girl from speed skating would have been fun, too. The one who emigrated from Nigeria(?). Erin Hamlin, too. If they can do 3 figure skaters, why not two Lugers. The young snowboarding kid who won a gold. The two female cross country skiiers who won the gold from an incredible sprint at the end of the relay. A women's hockey player? That's just off the top of my head, so why couldn't casting find better options?

[legaleagle53]

11 minutes ago, kayma said:

I wish they had gotten a few more athletes from the Olympics from the lesser known sports. This would have been a great time for those who have day jobs to pick up some extra cash and show their stories. They really should have gone outside the box on this season. 

I love that Chris Mazdzer is on and wish they'd gotten one of the gold medal curlers, too. The young girl from speed skating would have been fun, too. The one who emigrated from Nigeria(?). Erin Hamlin, too. If they can do 3 figure skaters, why not two Lugers. The young snowboarding kid who won a gold. The two female cross country skiiers who won the gold from an incredible sprint at the end of the relay. A women's hockey player? That's just off the top of my head, so why couldn't casting find better options?

Because for most viewers who only watch the Olympics for those sports, the "lesser known" athletes from curling, speed skating, cross-country skiing, or women's hockey would be met with a blank stare and a "Who?" It's really very rarely that a relatively "unknown" celebrity actually grows the kind of sizeable fanbase that brings in the viewers and the votes.  It's why the show will always go for "bigger" names that bring their well-established fanbases with them.

Edited April 16, 2018 by legaleagle53

[neem]

Happy birthday to two of the contestants!

Famous birthdays for April 16: Mirai Nagasu, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[kayma]

59 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Because for most viewers who only watch the Olympics for those sports, the "lesser known" athletes from curling, speed skating, cross-country skiing, or women's hockey would be met with a blank stare and a "Who?" It's really very rarely that a relatively "unknown" celebrity actually grows the kind of sizeable fanbase that brings in the viewers and the votes.  It's why the show will always go for "bigger" names that bring their well-established fanbases with them.

I'd guess most of the stars these days are met with a blank stare and a who? At least those "unknown" athletes would be more fun (and more deserving) to watch than Tonya Harding. 

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, kayma said:

I love that Chris Mazdzer is on and wish they'd gotten one of the gold medal curlers, too.

They were talking about the cast on my local radio station this morning and the hosts were most excited about Chris being on. They think he's going to win the whole thing.

[boyznkatz]

Mirai is definitely going to be a ringer. Whether or not that translates into votes remains to be seen.

As for Meryl/Charlie supporting Adam more than Mirai, I think they just know Adam better. I know Meryl is a good friend of his.

[lavenderblue]

Yes, the slight eyebrow-raiser with Meryl and Charlie wasn't that they only tweeted about Adam and Jenna; it's more that they said this in doing so:

 

But it's probably down to the double Adam and Jenna factor. I suspect Mirai will prove the best ballroom dancer of the three skaters (Adam struggled for a long time as a skater with being comfortable in different styles before finding his niche; Mirai's performance side has faltered a bit as she worked on improving/upping her technical the last couple of seasons, but over the years she's been pretty adept at executing multiple genres) but she and Alan are certainly more understated performers than Adam or Jenna, so hard to say where it might get them in a short season.

[luvthepros]

Jenna has certainly trimmed down. Her legs look so shapely and extremely strong. Good for her. Hope she and Adam do well.

[boyznkatz]

6 hours ago, luvthepros said:

Jenna has certainly trimmed down. Her legs look so shapely and extremely strong. Good for her. Hope she and Adam do well.

They do seem to have the most chemistry. I would expect them to win.

[Uke]

On 4/16/2018 at 1:21 PM, lavenderblue said:

But it's probably down to the double Adam and Jenna factor. I suspect Mirai will prove the best ballroom dancer of the three skaters (Adam struggled for a long time as a skater with being comfortable in different styles before finding his niche; Mirai's performance side has faltered a bit as she worked on improving/upping her technical the last couple of seasons, but over the years she's been pretty adept at executing multiple genres) but she and Alan are certainly more understated performers than Adam or Jenna, so hard to say where it might get them in a short season.

I'm not so sure about a double Adam and Jenna factor.  I expect the judges will fawn over both Adam and Mirai but:

1) I was not impressed with Adam and the little dance game on GMA - he was fumbling, trying to copy what Sasha was doing and looking very awkward. It was clearly not rehearsed but I would have thought he'd be looser and easier in movement.

2) I confess to following Jenna on IG and they are both big on PDA - to the point that their team name apparently is now "we're just friends".  That rarely works once the season starts.  

Still, I'll wait till the first dances, but I'm still not inclined to put them in my top 3 just yet which are Artem/Jamie, Alan/Mirai, and leaning towards Sharna/Josh.  Plus, in the spirit of "everyone gets a trophy" which seems TPTB's theme lately (if that carries on with the new showrunner), I think they are more likely to push either Artem or Sharna for the next trophy awardee.

[truthaboutluv]

1 hour ago, Uke said:

2) I confess to following Jenna on IG and they are both big on PDA - to the point that their team name apparently is now "we're just friends".  That rarely works once the season starts.  

That rarely works for a straight celebrity and straight Pro trying to showmance their way to a win. However, I think Adam and Jenna's team name is meant to be ironic and their making fun of the usual romance rumors/showmance stuff that starts with the paring because Adam is very openly gay. Everyone knows nothing is actually going to happen there. I actually think their PDA and constant I Love You's is endearing them even more to their fans who just think they are most adorable and sweetest pair ever. 

[Uke]

48 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

That rarely works for a straight celebrity and straight Pro trying to showmance their way to a win. However, I think Adam and Jenna's team name is meant to be ironic and their making fun of the usual romance rumors/showmance stuff that starts with the paring because Adam is very openly gay. Everyone knows nothing is actually going to happen there. I actually think their PDA and constant I Love You's is endearing them even more to their fans who just think they are most adorable and sweetest pair ever. 

Yes, of course. I guess I should have said:  That rarely works with the general audience once the season starts.  Jenna's and probably Adam's fans will think anything and everything is the most adorable things evvverrrrr!  For everyone else, it becomes annoying after the pain sets in from constant eyerolls.

[BelleBrit]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 1:25 AM, Victura said:

 As someone who is part of the skating community, trust me when I say that Mirai is absolutely beloved. She won Nationals at age 14 and essentially grew up in people's eyes and had a very endearing way of answering honestly to interviewers' questions when she was younger. (The one really funny example I can remember is when she made the Olympic team the first time and said she was excited about all the free stuff they were going to get.) There was a huge uproar when she won the bronze at Nationals in 2014 but was passed over for the Olympic team in favor of Ashley Wagner (who placed 4th) due to "body of work." Tons of people were thrilled when she got her redemption and went back to the Olympics this year.

Adam is also quite loved, but he was a little lucky to make it onto the Olympic team this time because he placed 4th at Nationals and Ross Miner (2nd) was bumped in his favor. This was a controversial decision by USFSA, but Adam did very well at all the competitions leading up to Nationals and had one bad competition.

I get the feeling that Mirai might've been a last minute replacement too and wouldn't think anything of Meryl and Charlie retweeting Adam. There was something else one of them retweeted that had them both.

LOL, I know right...as someone who follows the skating community closely, I find it so interesting that people would think that Mirai seemed "low energy, uninterested" (post you are responding to) in being on Stars on Ice.  This is the first time that Mirai has gotten to do Stars on Ice since 2014 when she came in 3rd at Nationals (she usually does Mao Asada's tour  in Japan during the summers), since she had only come in 4th place the past few seasons at nationals. If anything, in the promotional interviews for the tour that I had seen, she seems really excited to be doing Stars on Ice compared to the others, because she doesn't usually get to do it.  Mirai is often criticized for not expressing herself enough during her competitive skates because she is so tense, whereas she is really able to show off her personality and have fun in her exhibition skates during the tours.  She also has a lot of history and friendships with people on the tour...I'm pretty sure that Meryl tweeted that she was "sloppy crying" after Mirai's team event skate, or something to that effect.  I do think that the skaters in general are all really proud of Adam and how outspoken he has been this year, and that he has seemingly skyrocketed to such fame.  I also wouldn't be surprised if Mirai rubbed some of the DWTS audience the wrong way, she has always been a bit unfiltered and sometimes it just comes off wrong.  Before her infamous "interview" after her Olympic individual free skate, she gave an interview after her short program where she started crying and said that she felt like she had disappointed her country, and I think that she didn't want to break down again after the free so she just kept rattling off and it came out odd...no one who has followed Mirai's journey over the last few years would ever think that she didn't take the individual event seriously, so it's just unfortunate. 

I've also seen some people on Twitter "shipping" Mirai and Alan, but Mirai has had a serious boyfriend for about three years (or, if you believe The Skating Lesson, who usually has good sourcing, possibly engaged). But until the last year, she would never even show his face on her Instagram story...you would just see this random person's jacket in the background.  Only in the last year to year and a half would she actually show his face/acknowledge that she has a boyfriend, and still doesn't post about/with him constantly, so I think you can only surmise so much from someone's social media. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by BelleBrit

[boyznkatz]

5 hours ago, BelleBrit said:

I've also seen some people on Twitter "shipping" Mirai and Alan, but Mirai has had a serious boyfriend for about three years (or, if you believe The Skating Lesson, who usually has good sourcing, possibly engaged). But until the last year, she would never even show his face on her Instagram story...you would just see this random person's jacket in the background.  Only in the last year to year and a half would she actually show his face/acknowledge that she has a boyfriend, and still doesn't post about/with him constantly, so I think you can only surmise so much from someone's social media. 

 

Is that a figure skating thing? When Meryl and Charlie came on the show after the Olympics, only then did Charlie announce his engagement to Tanith Belbin. Even he openly admitted he didn't talk about her because of the Merlie shippers. Likewise Meryl never mentioned her boyfriend of several years whom she recently became engaged to either, even while showmancing Maks. Maybe Mirai will play along, maybe not, but I think Sharna and her partner are going to get most of the shippers this season. I think Jenna/Adam are going to be the most fun to watch because he's openly gay and they won't go that route.

Edited April 19, 2018 by boyznkatz

[crowceilidh]

Quote

 I think Jenna/Adam are going to be the most fun to watch because he's openly gay and they won't go that route.

Hmmm.  Jenna not showmancing?  I'll believe that when I see it.  I can't imagine his preferences will make any difference -- she was uncomfortably sexualized with her kid dancing partner(I think he was 13 at the time and she was 22) on SYTYCD (she reminds me of Gleb for her inability to "feel" what is appropriate and her inability to turn it off), 

[spanana]

Here is what is up with Alan and his scar/bandage on his neck.  Glad he caught the problem early:

http://people.com/health/dancing-with-the-stars-alan-bersten-reveals-he-needed-surgery-after-finding-a-tumor-in-his-neck/?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag&utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

Separately in a 4 week season, I think it is easy for the show to control who gets what dances since everyone will only do a handful of dances.  So I expect the show to keep Adam to the more showy latin dances where he can use his personality.  Or give him a contemp.  They will keep the people in their comfort zones that they want to keep in their comfort zones and the people they don't care about will get the things that aren't.

Edited April 19, 2018 by spanana

[boyznkatz]

I'm glad Alan got a ringer. He doesn't need to play the showmance angle, because Mirai should definitely be able to dance. 

Poor Sasha. I like him, but Harding needs to go asap. I heard someone is going on day one. Please let it be her!

[luvthepros]

2 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

I'm glad Alan got a ringer. He doesn't need to play the showmance angle, because Mirai should definitely be able to dance. 

Poor Sasha. I like him, but Harding needs to go asap. I heard someone is going on day one. Please let it be her!

Will the voting be done live, online with social media? This lets out the west coast if that is they way it will work. I can't imagine the elimination on day #1 would be the judge's call.

[legaleagle53]

12 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

Hmmm.  Jenna not showmancing?  I'll believe that when I see it.  I can't imagine his preferences will make any difference -- she was uncomfortably sexualized with her kid dancing partner(I think he was 13 at the time and she was 22) on SYTYCD (she reminds me of Gleb for her inability to "feel" what is appropriate and her inability to turn it off), 

Jenna's not an idiot.  Even she knows that nobody would buy a showmance with her and a man who (1) is openly gay and (2) has a boyfriend who will probably be in the studio audience cheering him on every week.

Edited April 20, 2018 by legaleagle53

[boyznkatz]

17 hours ago, luvthepros said:

Will the voting be done live, online with social media? This lets out the west coast if that is they way it will work. I can't imagine the elimination on day #1 would be the judge's call.

I imagine you can vote on Facebook. During the live show, they are letting people vote for a while after the dances, but I'm not sure how long. Are there two shows the first week?