Can’t talk right now. Just going to shove the whole thing into a massive spoiler box. I’ll get back when I’m up to it.
[spoiler]Aw, man. Aw man, aw man. Remember what I said about no egregious eliminations? About how the voters finally seem to have move past knee-jerk bleeding heartness, and the judges finally were free to be brutal?
Well, throw that out. Throw all of it out. Along with one of the favorites.
That’s right, Audrina Partridge took the walk.
Okay…I knew the scoring was a bit screwy this week (no thanks to the incredibly awkward, forced theme…seriously, this season is looking like the dying days of WCW). I didn’t really expect Gray to get booted for one subpar performance. If you’re a contender and you’re beautiful, you’re entitled to one Archuletdown. If anything, it looked like a toss-up between Massey (the most uninspiring, generic performer remaining without fanatical Republican support) and Fox (really has hit the wall, and you can only flog “pretty good considering” so much). I know how countless contestants have been doomed by the voters foolishly thinking they were safe. That said, how in the world did a sexy, slim, leggy blonde score a 24 and not get enough votes to stay out of the very bottom?
My goodness. I’ll level with you guys. Forget another prediction blowing up in my face and me having to face the silent ridicule of Diogenes or Pepperlandgirl or whoever. I am disgusted right now. I am seriously, majorly ticked off over this result. Three reasons:
It reaffirms every single thing about reality TV that I find reprehensible. Last-man-standing format making best and second worst worth exactly the same. Coasting just above the waterline is rewarded. Shooting for the top is punished. Voters not getting behind contestants who look good and have a chance. Countless votes thrown to glurgy “inspirational”/“gutsy”/“feel-good” contestants who don’t have a prayer of winning. Ridiculous lady-or-tiger guessing game of whether the good contestant needs the votes or not. Figurehead judges with almost no control whatsoever. (Plus in this case, announcing the scores before the voting means the bleeding hearts know which ballet box to stuff.) Screwball themes combinined with constantly shuffling requirements turn every round into a massive crapshoot, with even the strongest favorite one lousy roll of the dice from disaster.
It proves that NOTHING has changed. Judges still have to walk on eggshells, stupid voting blocs still have tons of power, good contestants still get shunned just for being good, some complete scrub still gets carried week after week for no clear reason, and it’s still a flat-out miracle if the best man or woman wins.
Oh yeah…either Fox, Palin, Massey, Warner is now guaranteed to make the final. And doing two dances a week for the next three weeks, and most likely three more for the final. Keep in mind, too, that Gray, once a lock for the final, now looks very vulnerable, meaning there’s an outside chance that two of them are going to make it. Honestly, can you look at any one of them and tell me that you look forward to seeing them perform for the entire remainder of the show?
I just…the complete 180 this season just took…it’s incredible. Up until now, I was really enjoying this season. Now it looks like it’s one inch from a complete meltdown. It’s incredible.
(I tell you, if Palin wins, there’s going to be blood.)[/spoiler]
Audrina Partridge started dwts an unknown. Most people didn’t expect much. Then she surprised everyone and did great the first couple weeks. She seemed like a certain semi finalist. The wheels came off the past two weeks. The more she tried to project a character the worse it got.
IMHO the judges messed her up. She was better off focusing on technique. That bitch face she used in this weeks dance was terrible. Ironic because I think she’s a very nice girl. Not a deep thinker, but a very sincere and caring person.
Rick is also having “face” issues. His so called game face and extreme height is very Frankenstein like. This was the first week I didn’t give him a few votes.
If Brandy wins I’m going to be very unhappy. She seems like such a nasty, and anal personalty. She’s actually bossing Maks around. Telling him to “stop playing around”. :rolleyes: The guy was working the crowd trying to get her some votes. I hope she’s gone ASAP.
Kurt and Anna seemed to be stuck in neutral. they aren’t improving at all. I’m doubtful they’ll last much longer. I gave them most of my votes this week.
I kind of like the re-enactment gimmick – but shouldn’t the gender of the current star be the same as the gender of the re-enacting star? (Brandy and Max just did Gilles and Cheryl’s “Fever” foxtrot.)
I was wondering, they must have had to shuffle things quite a bit to avoid having Cheryl redo one of her dances, as it seemed like she was in most of the originals.
What did bug me a bit was having the non-pros who did the original versions cast votes, as this meant pretty much 10s for all, which made their vote pointless (yes, two bold 9s were handed out, but still).
As for the dances, Brandy’s seemed far and away the top of the night, and her best of the season so far. Jennifer was next, but whether any of the stuff in the package was ACTING or not, she seems at serious risk of running out of puff within the next couple weeks. Bristol and Kurt seem the weakest in both performance and technique, but at least Ms. Palin finally seems to be starting to develop a molecule of personality. Warner’s galumphing tango, OTOH, seemed clunky and robotic, and I completely missed whatever the judges seemed to think was good about it.
I was surprised and thrilled that all the dances were noticeably better tonight. It seemed like all the celebs (except Jennifer) set a personal best tonight. I especially liked the group dances.
Jenn did better than last week. But her personal best was week 2 or 3. Derek sure screwed up by over doing it in the early weeks. Now that the competition is tighter Jenn needs to up her game. IMHO she’s just too beat up and sore. Maybe she can tough it out and get 8’s and 9’s. That may be enough to get her in the semi-finals with Brandy.
I sure hope Jenn doesn’t drop out. There’s no one else to give Brandy any competition. I’d hate to see Brandy coast to a easy win.
I was afraid Jennifer would snap like a twig. Jesus, it just shouldn’t have to be that hard. I didn’t see sexy tango dominatrix face, I saw grit-your-teeth-and-make-it-though-this face.
Bristol pasted a slight smile on her otherwise vacant stare, but as usual, her technique was adequate.
Rick did good. Kurt not so much. Brandy was excellent.
One of the judges said that next week is the semi-finals. That doesn’t make sense, does it? It’s four couples in the semis, isn’t it? That makes it week after next.
I gave all my votes to Jennifer last night, in hopes of getting her to the finals. (Agree that Derek blew it by not realizing he was dealing with a 50-year-old woman and pacing the season a bit better. 'Twould be a shame for her if she got eliminated now, though.)
Weird that no one from Season Six showed up last night – well, other than Kristi, who was in other segments so didn’t stand up in the season-by-season intros. For those who can’t remember who was on when, here’s the Season Six info.
Kristi so totally dominated that Season that maybe no one else felt any desire to revisit the show. She was, IMHO, the best dancer to ever appear on DwtS, and certainly no one else that season came remotely close to equaling her. There was no contest.
No comments on Kyle? I adore him, but he performed near the beginning and I didn’t tune in until after 9. I was hoping I could read about how he did on here. Don’t let me down guys … please?
He was okay. They got a tango that Maks had done with Mel B, so he had to channel sheer testosterone … a bit of a stretch. He acquitted himself quite admirably.
Jennifer and her dad, Joel after last nights show. Joel was there for rehearsal and I guess the live taping. Weird that dwts is ignoring him. He’s a huge star in the world of theater. Maybe the show is afraid to make the connection between Joel and Jennifer? Reminding people her dad is a famous dancer might cost Jenn votes.
It’s nice finally seeing Joel and Jennifer together. He seems very proud of her. I’m sure his support means a lot to Jenn.
They did Skate with the Stars in Britain. I think several seasons.
I was hoping some of the dance pros from dwts would be on Skating with the Stars. It would be great seeing the hot shot dance pros stumbling around on the ice. It might even humble them a little bit to be the amateur for a change. They’ve had two pro ice skaters on dwts. Why not turn it around and have two pro dancers on Skating with the Stars? It would be fascinating to see if a pro dancer adjusted any quicker to skating. Remember Evan getting dizzy the first week dancing in rehearsal? But he did adjust to dancing without skates pretty quick.
On another board, a poster mentioned a classic meltdown moment with Derek. At the very least, that clip should have been nominated for most dramatic moment. IMHO it was probably better than the ones that showed on tonight’s results show.
Here it is.
I heard Derek got in trouble for it. It’s the first and only time I’ve heard anyone from the show say anything about the messed up judging. The judging on dwts certainly seems more tv drama oriented than objective. That makes me a bit uncomfortable considering that Len is a professional ballroom judge.
Anyway, I bet Derek is glad the show didn’t resurrect his meltdown for the most dramatic moment segment tonight.
but a very sincere and caring person.
