Tony and whatsherface with all the kids?
I think it’s Maks’ fans that are keeping Melissa on the show. I don’t see a big half-pint fanbase, I could be wrong, I agree she’s not good, the whole season is overscored, because they have to live up to their hype, but she’s definitely low enough to go. She was a 47 but she leaped over Rochon who was 52 in the overall scores. 5 points isn’t insignificant. Maks’ fans have been very vocal about the shit shovelling his way this season and they don’t like it. He has been pretty quiet, which is a good thing. He only hurts himself when he opens his mouth, so now he’s got Melissa defending him. I think the show’s big mistake was hiring him back this season. But it is what it is. It’s turned into a pity Maks party and Melissa doesn’t care, she wants the airtime.
Moreover, I think their fans were more than disappointed at the outcome of the Team Dances and voted extra especially to keep Maks and Melissa. The judges have such a hate on for Maks they couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he actually choreographed a decent Paso Doble and it was the extravaganza the fans wanted. I suspect they would have at least tied the other team if it was Cheryl or Peta as the lead choreographer.
I’m not seeing Maks bias in either direction. He’s pretty much been behaving himself this season, and hasn’t butted heads with the judges at all that I recall. I find it hard to believe the judges marked the Paso down because he choreographed it, but who knows, they’ve done more than their share of goofy scoring over the years.
I think Melissa is still in it because of Maks’s fans votes, not because she has any particular fan base herself. And I think Roshon keeps getting bottom two because he lacks a fan base among the usual audience, and hasn’t been able to endear himself to a broader audience, as other young uns have over the years (Kyle, the Hobbit, Kelly Osbourne). He’s a good dancer, he just hasn’t clicked.
Glad to see Jaleel gone – he came across as skeevy as all hell, and I hope Kym gets a better partner next season.
As far as who does the matching, they’ve never made that public – but Derek has never been partnered with anyone who’s on the show just to fill out the roster; in fact, the earliest he’s been eliminated in week 7, with the unexpected Shannon Elizabeth loss in season 6. (His show history here.) Coincidence? I think not.
I don’t see the Mak hate. A few years ago the judges told him that his choreography was bad and he took offense. Other than that - they are talking about the stars, not the dancer.
It would not have to be just Mak’s fans voting, although there could be a lot of us out there. Perhaps there are a lot of older women who identify with Melissa now vs. remembering her from being a child star.
She has an amazing body for someone her age, but next week she should perhaps cover a little more of it.
((shrug) It’s only a rationale why the Maks fans are so adamant about keeping around one of his poorer partners. Maks did say in one of his blogs he thought it was because of him that Melissa was being held back. I don’t agree with him, but I think a lot of his fans do.
What did Tom say that got silenced out? It was to Len when they needed to give an answer to the New Kids on the Jive competition (which also seemed oddly scored, in exact opposite order of what I thought it should be). The audience roared. It wasn’t a bleep, it was cut out audio.
I really don’t see any judge’s meanness to Maks. And I am a BIG Maks fan, but come on. They haven’t said a thing to him that they haven’t been willing to say to anyone.
Frankly, if the judges have been overly harsh to anyone, it’s Roshon. That kid could NOT catch a break from them no matter WHAT he did until this last night. I think they realized they’re sandbagging the poor kid.
It surprises me that Melissa doesn’t seem to have the faintest idea how kind the judges and the audience have been towards her. Her sincere shock at the judges’ remarks about her dance was apparent. She evidently has no idea that she’s been, if not the worst, then certainly close to the worst dancer this season, from the first show onward. Better than Martina Navratilova, but that’s about it. She wasn’t painful to watch for the first few weeks, because there were several others who were at roughly the same level. But now it’s down to all competent dancers and Melissa.
The Dance Dual was MADE for Rochon. If anyone is sandbagged it’s the poor buggers that have to dual him. That’s why it’s there. Otherwise he would have been gone three weeks ago. He just doesn’t connect with this demographic, and still the show insists on pushing the Disney characters, I suppose so he can say he was top 6 and get on the Vegas DWTS. He’s only okay as a dancer, but he should stick to hip hop because the male needs physical strength in partner dancing. He barely made it through that Argentine Tango. And I’ve seen enough hip hop freestyles to know I’m not interested in his.
They did say last night that this was the final dance duel, right?
Right?
I don’t like it. I kind of like the idea of two stars dancing to the same piece of music so they could be compared, but this isn’t quite working. The way it’s filmed is distracting. Also, it seems like a fix. Yes, it’s disappointing if someone great ends up eliminated, but really, this is a popularity contest with dancing - not a dance contest. Also, it’s filmed so that it’s hard to watch both couples at once.
What I would like to see is a compulsory round. I know it wouldn’t happen (for most people, this would be boring television), but I think it would be interesting if an outside choreographer gave them a routine and all of the couples had to execute it. So we could see which person/couple did a better job doing the exact same thing.
Dance Duals are done. I hope they never come back. I don’t even think its “good television” since the split screen just makes it difficult to look at either team. I would love it if the show took itself a little more seriously, but then they’d lose the casual viewer, and network is all about ratings.
The duels themselves may not have been fun to watch - but I like the idea of better dancers remaining on the show.
Nothing is as frustrating as watching a really terrible dancer (coughB Palincough) that sticks around while more entertaining dancers are axed.
Yeah, agree – just seems odd that they’re only doing it for three weeks, and in the middle of the season, though.
This is not a serious dance show, so I’d much rather have people stay on who the fans want to see. I don’t want to see people have to humiliate themselves going through a damn dual just so the judges can throw them out. That’s harsh and unnecessary. It should be the fans making the decision on who “entertained” them the most. A dual is just some sadistic way to beat a celebrity dancer down. At least if they know they have fans, they’re entertaining to them, and as the competition wears on the poorer ones fade. There is only one winner. All the rest go home at some point.
It’s all about people getting more exposure to do other things. It’s not about the best dancer, it never was, nor should it be, because then you’d have to disclose who has actual dance training, who are liars about it, and that happens every year, and if people even belong in a beginner competiton.
A 21 year old hip hop dancer competing against a 68 year old is not a legitimate dance contest, ever.
I just wanted to add that propping a kid with dance dual wins after being in the bottom 2 3 times is not gaining the show more fans in the youth demographic, that’s a pipe dream this show tries to hang on to, and after 14 seasons they’ll never get that youth demo they want. If the show really wants to show case good dancing then find people who the demographic will vote for, don’t have some hair brained dual.
By doing the duals the show is alienating the larger fansbase demographic of ousting likable people such a 68 year old legend, or a pop singer or a tv star in an unseemly fashion.
I think the show is trying to find the right balance between leaving the selection process in the hands of the voters (popularity contest) and trying to ensure that good dancers advance and horrible dancers go home (dance contest). Adding the duel is, I think, a small but useful step in achieving that balance: it’s kind of a Hand of God that says to the audience, “ok, you’ve had your fun, but this guy really sucks and doesn’t deserve to last another week.”
And:
dual (adjective): describes anything involving 2 elements
duel (noun): a fight with 2 participants
It’s a “dance duel”
I disagree. If a Celebrity signs on to do this show, they must think about their fan base, not think one is going to materialize doing this show. If they don’t have one, they better be confident enough knowing that they are great at entertaining the fans through dancing. There is NOTHING for the celebrity to gain in doing the dance dual, except humiliation. Rochon going through that meat grinder has not done a lot for his confidence. He almost had a disaster on the Argentine Tango.
A dual duel.
So next week there’s a Ballroom and a Latin round and the Latin has a twist. A pro dancer is going to dance with the couples, for as little as 20% of the time or throughout the entire dance. Couples can chose from eliminated pros or the troupe
Confirmed as the Pro Partners so far
Tristan with Mark and Katherine - Cha Cha
Karina with Peta and Donald - Jive
Val with Maks and Melissa - Samba
Tony with ?
Anna is not dancing as per her twitter
Kym committed to dancing with Joey Fatone in Las Vegas
Unconfirmed Pros from the Troupe who may be dancing :
Sasha
Henry
Emma
Katherine hasn’t been quite as sharp the past couple weeks. I think fatigue is getting her. She’s still up there pretty high in the scores. Hopefully she’ll get a second wind going into the semis.
The three way dances are just… strange. I expect the two pros to dance better than usual. The natural competition of them both out there at once. We’ll see how it goes tonight.