Mark has an American dad and a British mother and was raised mostly in Britain. The British accent is his natural speech – it’s the American accent that comes and goes according to circumstance.
Both parents have been seen on DWTS – Corky had a couple of seasons as a pro, and Shirley shows up from time to time providing additional coaching.
(side note) Shirley won multiple world championships with both of her husbands. Since their break-up, she and Corky have kept Mark supplied with a wide array of official and less official step-parents.
This is the funniest routine I’ve ever seen on dwts. Tommy’s leg injury wouldn’t allow a strenuous dance. Peta knew a comedy routine played to Tommy’s strengths. The only thing better would be for Cheech to be in the seat next to Tommy. He’s been a lot of fun. I hope his leg allows him to actually dance in the semi final.
I gave Alfonso all my votes. I don’t think Sadie can win since I believe the final decision is pretty much made by the judges, on dancing. Obviously she’s being carried along by the Quacks. I did really love the Mario dance–actually, best freestyle finals night ever–but Sadie’s the weakest dancer. Lots of potential, but the others are just better.
It’s really going to be close.
Bethany - sorry to see her go before Sadie. But her timing was way off in the first dance (and there were a few transitions when she was just standing there). The freestyle was ok.
Sadie - I hate that stupid duck dance. Also, despite whatever the judges said, she doesn’t do it well. It looks like lack of strength or control or both, but it doesn’t work. The Mario dance was interesting choreography, but it doesn’t play to Sadie’s strengths (whatever they might be) and she didn’t dance it well, either.
Janel - Nice samba (some minor connection problems, but overall nice). For their freestyle - 500 miles is a joyful song, even slowed down, those lyrics are joyful. I can also of imagine it being performed as a stalker song. It definitely isn’t whatever they were dancing. (I had the same problem with Val’s “America” earlier this season. Nice dance. Didn’t work with the song. That’s really distracting for me.) It was also nice.
Alfonso - The jive was amazing. I rewound it and watched it again. Their freestyle was simply awesome. This was my favorite by a long shot. It got my votes.
OK, the Duck girl is very good for her age, but she doesn’t stand a chance against the more mature competitors. I’m guessing Alfonso (aka, Neil Degrasse Tyson) is going to win, but Janel still has a chance. I’m pretty sure they said that last night was the last time the audience got to vote.
(If someone told me 2 years ago I’d get hooked on this show, I would’ve said they were crazy. But what these folks have to do is ef’n HARD!!)
My daughter watched with me last night. She thought I was “cray” to watch it, but by the end she was rooting for dancers and wanted to know all their backstories. It’s over the top glam and sense of humor do draw you in. It’s the only reality show I can watch, even though it’s so fake.
Trivia: I just read an article that revealed that the Carlton Dance was based on Eddie Murphy’s White Man Dance and Courtney Cox’s moves in the “Dancing in the Dark” video. Now that I know that, I can see the connection…
Glad to hear they’ll have a dwts tour this time. Alfonzo said he plans to be on it. They are still trying to persuade Sadie. Janel is working, but is supposed to pop in occasionally.
Except for the fan base voting, I don’t think Sadie would’ve made it in to the top three. Bethany was much more polished and capable. But, half the score (no cite, just remembering what Erin said once) comes from fan voting, so Duck Dynasty must still be pretty big across the USA.
Don’t get me wrong, Sadie was good, very good. And fun to watch grow into her dancing. But, based on dancing proficiency, she should not have been in Top 3. YMMV!!! IMHO!!!
I was rooting for Carlton from the first ep, so Yippee!
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My view is that of the top four, Bethany deserved runner up and Sadie deserved third place.
I tried keeping a running total of the judges scores, and it looks like, of the top four, Janel would have gotten runner up, and Bethany would have come in third.
Duck girl should’ve been 3rd. I could have gone with either of the other 2 winning, but it doesn’t surprise me that Alfonso won. I thought Val and Janel should’ve ended their final dance with a huge, sloppy, wet kiss.
Just now caught up on the finale. Thank god Michael Waltrip got one more chance to act like an idiot on prime time television.
Here’s my take on the finals:
Bethany - she should have been in the top three, and would have been my choice to win. The mishap with the set was unfortunate, and had it happened to Val the Derek-haters would have been screaming bloody murder and claiming the fix was in. Bethany’s freestyle dance was the best of the bunch, so at least they went out on a high note.
Janel - very good dancer, deserved her spot in the top three, but I got really tired of the are they/aren’t they “showmance” stuff with her and Val
Sadie - I enjoyed most of her dances, but her technique almost always looked a little “loose” compared to her fellow finalists. She’s somewhat tall and gangly so it’s understandable, but she really should have worked harder on making her movements look sharper. I liked a lot of Mark’s choreography, but I thought the Mario Brothers routine was a little too cute and relied too much on the concept and props and didn’t feature enough actual dance. Sadie should not have gotten perfect 10s from the judges on this one.
Alfonso - a sentimental favorite for me since I grew up watching him first on Silver Spoons, and then on Fresh Prince. The problem I have is that he was too good right from the start, so that it was a little boring watching him come out and nail every routine every week. I know the show often has “ringers” (the ice dancers just last season, for example) but it seemed especially egregious in this case. Part of the draw of watching the show is the possibility of a celeb having a bad week and being in peril of elimination. Having someone like Alfonso in the competition just kinda puts a damper on the fun of wondering who’s going to win. Of course he was going to win–it was obvious from the first show of the season.
Looking forward to next season and hoping my favorite pros (Sharna and Emma) are back and they get some better partners than they had this time.
