Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), Fall 2009

Cafe Society
161

Very surprised Melissa or Irwin weren’t sent packing. Sounds like there will be some changes as of next week. Dance off’s? Will that give the judges a little more say in who actually leaves? Not sure what it actually entails. But getting rid of two contestants is a strange twist for the middle of the season rather that the beginning.

Also think Aaron is rather good. Had a couple of off weeks but he really has talent. Don’t understand the anti feelings from voters.

Kelly is just too young along with the Hobbit. They have no frame of reference for the styles of dance or the music. Kelly is constantly looking to Louis during her dance in a “is this right?” face and doesn’t seem to notice the audience at all.

Donny is really surprising me. He takes instruction quite well. He seems to turn in his toes at times during the dance which someone needs to point out to him.

How did you all like the MJ tribute? I guess the family has loosened up a bit because just a few months ago they wouldn’t let So you Think You Can Dance do the same type of thing on their show. Perhaps they will be able to in this current season.

162

This isn’t nearly as bad as some others that have occurred. The thing is, they got everyone who was really, really bad out early this season, except Michael (and he isn’t that bad). When you take out the two sure things (Donny and Mya), that leaves everyone else in an amorphous blob of good potential but erratic performance.

I mean, think about it. Assuming the voting audience was determined for whatever reason to save Michael, who could have been in the bottom two that wouldn’t have upset the judges? Melissa? She’s probably the worst of the bunch (except for Michael), but she topped the leader board last week. Mark? He’s got as much potential as Natalie. The Hobbit? I suspect he’s being kept alive by the middle-aged female demographic, out of sheer adorability. In any case, he has demonstrated real potential, as has Kelly.

My point is, Michael’s the only one left who is utterly hopeless. The judges would have been upset at anyone else’s departure. Natalie has everything you’d think you’d want in a dancer, but she never looked comfortable on the floor to me.

163

He has a bratty reputation among teens.

164

What’s UFC 2?

Yeah, but it’s one they’d structured the entire season around. Remember the huge field coming in? They announced at the beginning of the season there would be three double-elimination weeks, the first week one then two others later in the season. Because of Tom DeLay’s early (though not early enough for Oy!) departure, there’s only one mid-season double elimination – which will apparently be next week.

It’s conceivable that they tweaked the timing on it, but I doubt it – they’re just getting the field set up for Sweeps, which start week after next.

165

This was partially the judges fault, from TWOP, the scores from Monday night:

Donny and Kym: 29
Mya and Dmitri: 27
Mark and Lacey: 26
Aaron and Karina: 24
Kelly and Louis: 24
Joanna and Maks/Derek: 24
Melissa and Mark: 23
Natalie and Alec: 22
Louie and Chelsie: 22
Michael and Anna: 21

If they thought so much of Natalie and Alec, perhaps her score should have not been second from the bottom. That made her more vulnerable than some of the other competitors.

166

I’m fairly certain that those double-elimination weeks were put into place so that they could “absorb” any injuries without having to risk shortening the season or having a “results” show where no one is eliminated. Thus, they needed to have them a little later in the season so they could wait to see who couldn’t take it.

167

That makes sense.

168

Exactly. Carrie Anne was all over Twitter last night lamenting that the wrong contestant was sent home. But the scores definitely put Natalie in the danger zone. And if I were Kelly, Melissa, Joanna, Mark or Louie, who are all on Twitter (as are their pro-partners) I would’ve been offended. (Now, Carrie Anne was possibly backhandedly referring to Michael, who isn’t on Twitter that I’m aware of, but still.)

Natalie never had an emotional connection to the dances she was doing. She performed, she learned the steps and she had the technique down, but she was never, not once, enjoying herself the way that the other competitors (especially Melissa, Mark and Donny) clearly are. And that’s important to the audience. If it doesn’t seem like it’s a good time, we don’t want to see it.

Carrie Anne, Bruno and Len need to remember that we’re seeing things that they aren’t.

169

Re. the judges…no, they don’t see the things we do. Yes, they’re being just a wee bit unreasonable. The point is, they matter, and I don’t see them putting up with getting shut down indefinitely. It’s not any one thing (Master P was just a rookie mistake, easy to write off), it’s week after week of not having any real control. And of course, the constant booing doesn’t help either (seriously, I don’t think I could take nine minutes of that without wanting to punch someone).

There are changes in the air, and no one should be surprised in the slightest by that.

amarinth - It’s the title that matters; the trophy is just proof. It may not seem like much, but the people involved take this very seriously. It’s far from nothing.

If I were in Monaco’s position, I would’ve flat-out refused to do the dance-off. What, I shouldn’t have allowed to be carried to victory by my fanbase? Right, and Custer shouldn’t have gone to Little Big Horn. Too bad, so sad, Galahad, I won it fair and square, go cry to your mommy.

As for this week’s scores, again, it was largely a toss-up, and the judges know that the votes HAVE to be there. It’s not an easy situation to be in, knowing that a big score all too often leads to a voter backlash, but being too conservative can push a borderline contestant over the edge. The unfortunate reality is that no one ever knows for sure until the final result.

twickster - Ultimate Fighting Championship 2, by far the most bloody, vicious, chaotic MMA (uh, that’s mixed martial arts…gotta remind myself that not everyone here knows that) tournament on American soil ever. A few of these guys were absolutely destroyed, mainly because matches continued well past the point they’d be stopped in the modern UFC. John McCarthy, reffing his first tournament ever, had NO power whatsoever to start a fight, and he could only watch helplessly as the guys he was supposed to protect got brutalized. Afterward, he said point-blank that either he got the power to stop a fight or he was never doing this again. The early-UFC brass granted his demand, by far the smartest decision they ever made.

So the squeaky wheel…provided that it’s important enough and can’t be easily replaced…does indeed get the grease.

170

But these judges are fairly easily replaced. I certainly never heard of any of them before watching DtwS, and I would imagine few, if any, of the rest of the audience had either.

In Season 5, Sabrina Bryan, who had been consistently at the top of the leaderboard every week, was the sixth contestant to be eliminated. Not only were the judges upset, the other contestants had fits. And it wasn’t because she wasn’t popular with the voting audience; she was. It’s just that people assumed she was safe because she was at the top of the judges’ scores, and voted for other contestants to protect them instead. I think a fair number of people changed their voting after that, because nothing like that has happened since. But as far as I know, DwtS didn’t change their scoring at all.

Natalie had been solidly in the middle, and her scores from the judges left her very near the bottom this week. If the judges don’t like it, they can score differently, or they can leave the show. But the show could replace any of them in a heartbeat, and I doubt a single audience member would stop watching. They aren’t going to effect any change in the structure of the show.

171

Over Natalie being eliminated? A contestant who came in second from the bottom and has no built in fan base? That doesn’t even come close to warranting a change in structure.

However, the audience who liked her is now reminded that they should vote for the contestants who they like who are still in it. The only change I see coming is more votes.

172

Well, the same judging team has been in place more or less since the US show began, so a wholesale replacement would be at least noticeable, methinks. I will agree that it’s unlikely many viewers would reject the show if a different set of judges turned up, but I don’t think the subs I’ve seen so far (Michael Flatley and Baz Luhrman) have added much to the mix.

A bit of history, at no extra charge: DWtS is actually the US version of a British show called Strictly Come Dancing, which debuted in 2004. Both Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli began as judges on the British show, and continue, apparently, to pull judging duty on both versions, with the UK weekly competitions held on Saturday nights vs. Monday in the US. This suggests, I think, that the producers feel there is some value to their presence.

173

You long time viewers would know. . .

My husband has been watching since season one and has just informed me that Aaron is gonna break his partner’s record.

“What record?”
“The record of sleeping with your partner. No way she’s gonna get past the gay.”

So, does Karina really sleep with all her partners or is my hubby a salacious rumor followerer?

174

I’ll let someone more knowledgeable on the backstories comment on Karina and partners, but as I recall she and Mario Lopez were an item, and she was with fellow pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy for a couple of years. On the other hand, if she ever did the dirty with Billy Ray Cyrus or Steve Wozniak, I don’t want to know about it.

Meanwhile, tonight seemed to be a bunch of relatively evenly matched but mediocre dances, riddled with technical errors. Even my darling Mya seemed a bit off. If I had to say, I’d pick Mark (the Chairman) for the jitterbug, and Joanna for the waltz. Kelly and Louie make the cutest couple in my book, but their jitterbug was way too conservative; I grant that maybe her bum foot was slowing her down. I thought for the first time Michael actually made a fairly decent job of it, and on a waltz of all things. Louie (the Hobbit) is still stepping through his routines rather than dancing, and for me he should be next to go.

I did really like the group ‘marathon’ format, and wouldn’t mind seeing bit more of that in future competitions.

175

That was a, um… interesting move Derek was making with Joanna at the end of the dance-off. :dubious:

176

yes. yes it was.

I like the idea of the dance off, but I think it would skewed in favor of the women. Not that following is easy, but I think it’s easier to follow than to lead for an unknown amount of time.

177

Hey, if a double-KO with one of the unfortunates decided by a sudden-death between second to last and third to last (can’t just cling to the bottom rung!), and the judges having full say in the pick…and ANOTHER ONE right after that…doesn’t qualify as a massive shakeup, I don’t know what does. The judges wielded a hammer, and it’s just been upgraded to a tank division. To me it’s plainly obvious that many, many people involved with the show have had enough of the free rides.

This should be a verrrrry interesting couple of weeks, and it’s going to answer a lot of questions. So you say that you really are that good and your fans aren’t carrying you, Michael? Survive the double-double and I’ll believe it. Think you’re a contender and not a lucky bastard who lucked out with the last-man-standing format, Aaron? Prove it in the double-double. You really think that playing hurt will result in anything other than a painful exit, Kelly? The double-double will vindicate or stomp you.

Ahhh. This is a GOOD thing, my friends. Hell, this is the most excited I’ve been about this show, well ever. Let the fireworks begin! :slight_smile:

As for this week (I watched up to the snowboarder’s performance), still not a whole lot of separation, and I can’t yet point to anyone as a rock-solid favorite. It’s pretty obvious that Len’s taken over the devil’s advocate role, but I didn’t see anything too egregious with the overall scores. Michael actually looked okay, even though the waltz is one of the less physically demanding dances, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the jiggerbugs, especially the one by the guy in the gray suit (Mark?). He was running and hopping and bounding and sliding and skipping, a demanding routine with the eyes of the world on him…and he was smiling. Entertaining the crowd and having fun doing this, what a concept!

So when do you think we’re going to get our first 30? I can’t even hazard a guess; the judges seem to have made it a point to be impossible to read.

178

Why Aaron thought people would be surprised he could dance a good waltz is beyond me. It’s perfect for his limitations. No foot-lifting so his mincy prancing was reduced to almost nothing and lots of posing for the poseur. That was the best dance I’ve seen from him.

Joanna also owned the waltz. She looked beautiful. Of course, NOW the judges notice her not moving.

Mya looked like she was on the Carol Burnett show doing a background routine. You couldn’t call it bad but it wasn’t very good.

Kelly’s jitterbug was unadventurous, bland and boring.

The Iron Chef was my favorite of the night. Loved his jitterbug.

I’d say Donny was great for a 50 year old but I actually liked The Hobbit’s jitterbug better.

Melissa faded into the background.
And how in the hell did the model win the mambo with that cocksucking move?

179

Argh, the Eagles were on Monday Night Football so DWTS got the shaft.

What’s the new scoring thing DKW’s going on about?

180

For the next two weeks there will be a double elimination. The bottom couple gets kicked and the next two bottom couples do a dance-off in which only the judges get to pick who goes.

This doesn’t really help dancers the judges want to stay, stay. It will get rid of dancers the judges don’t like. Also, it makes me have to watch the results show, something I rarely do.