Yes, definitely no eliminations next week – I guess because they can only do a one-hour show on Monday (debate at 9 PM), so they can’t have everyone dance Monday and do an elimination on Tuesday.
Presumably that’s why they did the double elimination last week, to get the numbers to work out.
Thank god. Now we don’t have to watch the condescending “good job, buddy, you tried real hard and you look good!” judge-gushing that they do with Bristol. It’s like they were trying SO hard not to be “mean” and rile up her base that they ended up looking like they were handing out stickers to a cranky 5 year old.
Gilles, Melissa and Shawn are my picks for the finals.
Melissa is steadily building a fan base with her outstanding dances. She’s so much fun to watch and Tony is just beaming all the time.
Gilles may implode before the finals. His desperate me, me, I gotta win attitude is turning off fans on other discussion boards. He better chill out and relax a little or he could lose his fan votes.
I think it’s a real mistake to count Sabrina out of the final. She’s a fantastic dancer, and Louis is really a fantastic choreographer - the two of them are very crisp and sharp, and she’s the fan’s insert into the lineup.
If Sabrina does a great job on the slower dances than she may win over more fans. One of the criticisms I often read is her really hard attacking style. She rarely mixes it up with softer movements. Dance is like music. There should be quieter moments that build to a climax.
Louis and Sabrina achieved that in the quickstep. It’s the most controlled that I’ve ever seen her. They have the slow waltz (not the V. Waltz) next week. I’m hoping that Louis will convince her o relax and not attack the dance.
The slow dances are where Melissa and Sabrina have a chance to out shine Shawn. Shawn had trouble her season showing any emotion in the slow dances. She’s got the Rumba next week. We’ll see if Derek goes traditional or whether he violates all the rules with illegal tricks. I know that I’m getting tired of the gymnastic show. Shawn has to dance properly to win.
Personally, I’m relieved to see it. I don’t like the guy, and while he’s a good dancer, his personality is too offputting to make him good-looking to me. I do hope he doesn’t take Val with him - Val seems like a sweetheart.
He’s got one really good point though: “Essentially, 80% of our job is to give somebody another push in their career. Or we make them into likable characters. But at the end of the day, they go off and they better themselves. I loved doing it. But to be honest with you, at 32, I am at what-about-me time.’”
That’s not unfair, I’ve wondered if they ever feel a bit like vehicles for other people.
The betting odds have been fairly consistent over the seasons, and fanbases are what this show is about. I think Helio and Drew were earlier eliminations not because of their dancing, but because people who would be a fan of Helio any other season parked their vote with Apolo this time. Similarly with Drew, although he was a bit of a dickwad in his attitude, there were two other former partners of Cheryl who people decided was worth the vote more than he was. I also think that’s a major reason behind Palin’s early departure, there are two other former partners of Mark that are getting the vote over her. Now those Mark voters have seemingly narrowed their vote to Shawn.
I’d be happy with a win from Emmitt, Kelly or Apolo. To me, these three have shown the most dramatic improvements over their season in dancing. Melissa too, but she seems to have soft support and may not get to be a factor.
Just heard Melissa Rycroft was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with head and neck injuries suffered during camera blocking for tomorrow night’s show. No word so far on the extent of her injuries or whether she’ll be able to dance tomorrow night.
Scary stuff! Here’s hoping it’s not serious and that she’ll be okay!
E Online reported she’s been released, but there’s no word if she is cleared to dance. Kym Johnson back in season 12 was cleared the same day as well, but there was no way she could have danced the next day, her injury happened on the Friday prior to the Monday show and there was a scramble to modify dances, and possibly Cheryl step in if she couldn’t do it. On the Monday she was heavily sedated but got through it. And she’s a pro dancer. Melissa is a new mom and in great shape, but she doesn’t dance for a living. This is very scary. Apparently it happened during the blocking for the group dance, so I’m really against unneccessary gymnastics. In a real ballroom competition tricks are banned.
If you’re a professional dancer - how else are you going to become a regular on the highest rated show on TV? They get a ton of exposure on the show. So I don’t think that’s it’s a one-sided prospect at all.
I need to rewatch tonight. For some reason I just wasn’t that drawn into the show. The dances were ok, but didn’t have the excitement factor we’ve seen on All Stars.
The group freestyle dance with Call Me Maybe was well done. Glad Melissa was able to dance ok. Thankfully she didn’t have any lifts except being a human jumping rope.
Kelly and Val’s Samba was just okay, but the over-wrought sexuality is getting a bit much.
Gilles and Peta had the song and the look, but I failed to see any actual Rumba. No sliding doors, no cucaracha, just a lot of emoting.
Kirstie did a respectable job on the Quickstep, nothing earth shattering
Emmitt’s Samba was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. the guy has terrific latin rhythm
I really wasn’t a fan of that cheerleading routine. I say that as a former cheerleader, the tricks were messy and the dancing was secondary (again this is Derek’s mo this season) to the tricks. The men’s outfits were hideous. football pants, really? they look like they belong in a gay bathhouse.
Actually, I thought it was remarkably good technically, at least for Kirstie. I was surprised she didn’t go for more comedy in the dancing, but surprised in a good way. I don’t think her fans will like it, but I thought it really was one of her best dances.
