Not true! I do not love Derek - I think he’s way over-hyped. He’s good, don’t get me wrong, and possibly one of the best for showcasing his partner with his choreography, but it really got under my skin last season how everyone was constantly pimping him and falling at his feet.
I am 100% in agreement. OK, 97% (Mark is a knob.)
Dwts ratings continue to slip. This is season 14 and really not that surprising. Ratings took a big nose dive after season 12 and its not gotten better. Season 13’s weak cast really hurt the show. 34% drop is pretty bad.
Maybe word will get out that this season has a great cast thats worth watching.
Finally saw it - that was a really strong first night.
I liked:
Maria & Derek
Donald (but not Peta - I don’t think her choreography was showing him off the way it should have)
William & Cheryl
Katherine & Mark - hopefully she has a fanbase and Mark doesn’t ruin it
Gladys & Tristan (that woman is 68 years old - not the best dance, but I really liked watching her)
Jaleel & Kym
I’m glad they get an automatic second week. And someone needs to turn down the volume on Maks’s spray tan.
Interesting first night - seemed to me like the worst of the dancers would be lower-middle of the pack in previous seasons. Nobody was outright embarrassing; there were no Master Ps, no Kenny Maynes, no Tucker Carlsons. If I had to make an early prediction on who’s going home first it would be Martina. In a way it’s a shame, because in any other season she would get to stick around for a few weeks, and we’d get to see if she improves and by how much. I don’t see that happening this time around.
BRAG TIME!! My wife and I have tickets to the finale! We won them at a charity auction. What was really cool was that it was just listed as tickets to the show. In the middle of the bidding (and surely to pump up the dollar figure), the auctioneer (who was Nick Kosovich) announced that the tickets would be for the finale. PLUS, we get a dance lesson with the Kosoviches. I’m more excited than any straight male has a right to be. 
Good for you, carlb! And good on you for being a happily straight guy willing to enjoy ballroom dance without fearing that somehow that will make his equipment shrivel and drop off or otherwise revoke his manly man privileges.
I finally got to watch the show. My husband said he doesn’t want to watch this year, so I was trying to work around him. Of course, this doesn’t stop him from making wise cracks when he passes through the room. (Melissa needs to watch her facial expressions while listening to the judges.) And then he sits down and watches it anyway.
I like everyone this year. I had actually heard of all of the stars except Katherine Jenkins and Roshon. Katherine is absolutely lovely. Roshon can move. Gavin is charming.
Almost all of them can actually dance. Excellent start.
Another one chiming in to say that this is the strongest field I can remember for this show. Think I’ll root for Jaleel, as he seemed the most surprising breakout of the group. Gladys and Martina may be the weakest so far, but no one really stunk up the joint.
Didn’t catch the live show, so have no idea what the first-week scores were. ABC, in its infinite wisdom, cut off the on-line replays just before the judges rendered their verdicts. Also sat in front of the TeeVee Tuesday patiently waiting for the results show, not realizing that there’s (apparently) none until next week. D’oh!
Word.
The top 4 contenders I think based on likability, fanbase and dancing is Jaleel, William, Donald and Maria. I think Kathryn while a high scorer just won’t be getting the needed votes, unless of course she gets points that will separate her from the pack.
Right now on the DWTS facebook page fans are going nuts for William, and I certainly see the attraction. Not only is he a very good looking guy, he’s got the Latino vote because he’s a household name in Latin America… it is literally like putting Brad Pitt on DWTS for the Latinos and there’s a nice sized fanbase in Miami and Puerto Rico, not to mention a pretty strong fanbase outside North America. As for dancing, I think William did very well for having half the practice time of everyone else. The Quickstep will tell us if he can hold it together.
Jaleel was a natural on the Foxtrot, even if the posture and the footwork were messy, but he’ll be right in the zone on the Jive, having Kym choreograph jives is a real treat. I suspect Kathryn has had lots of training, she’s been in the Royal Academy of Music and took Musical Theatre, similar to Nicole Scherzinger. There’s youtubes of her dancing, in Carmen and in a tap chorus line and she’s very credible on stage, so I am pretty sure she’ll rival Jaleel again.
Donald is just a great personality, he did get a little out of control in parts on his Cha Cha, and it became more club than ballroom. He should be better on the Quickstep, if he can get the posture better, he’s got quite a hunch.
Maria really stiffened up, and maybe she was over-rehearsed, because I think they’ll come back with a much better showing on the Quickstep. This next dance is definitely Derek’s forte, and she’ll benefit from his choreography.
The others are all middle dancers with Gavin and Martina and even Jack a little too stiff and need to loosen up. I am afraid for them this week, since they have to do Jive and over thinkers never do well at it, it’s a dance you just have to let go and let live. Rochon is a great little dancer, but the hip hop is really “part” of him, and that’s tough to let go of, but he might be okay on the Quickstep if he can maintain hold. Sherry is okay, and will probably get sympathy with weight issues and single mom stuff, but her line isn’t really as pleasing to watch. I think Gladys will be fine on the Quickstep, but I suspect it won’t be as “quick” as some of the others. Gladys got a little tripped up in spots on the Cha Cha and I don’t think Tristan will be over ambitious for the next dance. Melissa had a rough week but I think the Quickstep she’ll do better even though Maks isn’t the best at choreographing this dance.
I was under the impression that William was a really big Latino soap star. That doesn’t correspond to Brad Pitt - more like Susan Lucci. That said, I think your point about his being a household name for the Latino population is a good one, especially since, given his looks, he will appeal to the women who make up the majority of the fanbase for this show.
I think Katherine will do better with the fans than you think she will, Andie. But it’s always a crapshoot with the audience, so I won’t be shocked if I’m wrong.
Chelsea did a very good job of smacking the “cool” out of Romeo in season 12, so much so that Romeo actually seemed to fall in love with ballroom. I think there’s a good chance she’ll be able to do the same with Roshon, who doesn’t have the nasty attitude Romeo started out with (he ended up going through what appeared to be a fundamental personality change in the course of the season, and hugely for the better. I hope it carried through to his real life.).
And I disagree with you about Maria. I think she was strictly middle-of-the-pack. She reminds me of Shannon Elizabeth. But I’m one of Derek’s fans, so I hope you’re right.
Thanks for your responses. I guess I should explain myself more. For me, Katherine is a very strong dancer no question about it, but she will have to contend with some formidable fan bases stateside, including Levy who has legions of American fans in the Latino community in Florida and Puerto Rico. If Katherine stays consistently top 3 throughout the competition she’ll go far. If she has one bad night I definitely see a Sabrina Bryan scenario.
My sense about Levy’s fanbase is it’s far beyond Lucci, who’s more famous for the number of times she didn’t win an emmy than for her acting. For a Latino to get recognized in the American mainstream is big to that community. Think more a Clooney when he was on ER, or Depp when he was on 21 Jump Street, who looks like Pitt when he was in Thelma and Louise, then you get a sense of the enormity of his popularity with latinos, since he’s apparently done some movie work as well. You just don’t get this kind of swooning for a tv star unless they’re in the Clooneyfied stratosphere.
To my eye, Romeo never really danced well, but that season had very few strong dancers outside the top 3. This season there’s at least 6 dancers who can easily contend for the top 3 without the ‘affect’ of unlearning another dance style. So I think Roshon has his work cut out for him. Not saying he can’t get there, but other fanbases may have something to say about it.
Yes, I agree Maria is more Shannon than Nicole that’s for sure, but I do think nerves were a factor in her stiff cha cha. But there’s a high likabilty about Maria that will probably score well with Americans who see her everyday on television. She is not as polarizing as Sherry Shepherd, for example who has been outspoken so may not have the same kind of support. I could be wrong, but people either love Sherry or really dislike her. Derek should be able to take Maria farther than Shannon. He says he doesn’t like the Cha Cha to choreograph but he really likes the Quickstep and it will sell Maria well. It was one of Shannon’s best dances, and like Maria I see Ballroom being a better fit for her.
Now I know that basing the show on the odds makers is problematic, but I think they may be onto something this season. Since everyone is doing well, fanbases are going to be extremely important. Here’s the next set of odds:
Jaleel White
11/4
William Levy
7/2
Donald Driver
4/1
Maria Menounos
13/2
Katherine Jenkins
15/2
Roshon Fegan
8/1
Gladys Knight
15/1
Jack Wagner
15/1
Melissa Gilbert
18/1
Sherri Shepherd
20/1
Gavin DeGraw
35/1
Martina Navratilova
50/1
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 (Times shown in Central Daylight Time)
These things change weekly, but there’s one thing that sticks out for me.
Despite the fact that Katherine Jenkins has scored 2 points higher than William, and 5 points higher than either Maria or Donald, her chances of winning are below these three who are more well known. She should be close to the top, not 5th. This is why for me, she is more vulnerable to a shocking elimination than some of the others.
The ratings right now are not only a result of last season being enh. The biggest loss in demographic is in the Under-30s who are all over on NBC watching “The Voice” which has huge ratings in that demo. ABC would do well in considering a move to another set of nights for DWTS, though I don’t know how that would work with Len & Bruno’s SCD commitments.
It’s highly doubtful ABC would move the night. Considering they have took 5 million viewers away from The Voice and won the night, they still win the timeslots easily. They have always struggled with the 18-32 demo, that’s pretty much always the case. When they were up against House it was the same thing. The younger audience just doesn’t watch DWTS. Advertisers have to realise that the 18-32 year olds aren’t necessarily the biggest buyers out there, in fact many would argue the older demo has more buying power.
Anyone know if Melissa Gilbert had a lot of plastic surgery? There’s a lot of comments about her looking like Joan Rivers in a red wig. It makes me sad seeing her with that mask like face. I knew half-pint grew up, but dang she didn’t have to look like this.
This article speculates Melissa had work done just before the new season started.
Being over 30 is in this business is particularly cruel to women. I don’t begrudge her wanting to get something done, if it helps her psychologically. In our eff’d up youth worship in the world today women would rather hear “she’s had work done” even if it’s not great instead of “she’s getting old” Not only is it a blow to the ego, it’s a significant shock to the pocketbook.
Andie, could you explain what those odds mean? I’m sorry, but I don’t gamble or follow gambling or know anyone who does, so I don’t understand how the numbers work or what they represent. I’m kind of like someone who has never played cards trying to understand the bidding and scoring for bridge (which I can play, and still would have trouble explaining to a novice).
Well, I am not a bookie, but I think what the betting odds mean is the amount of risk involved in placing a bet on a star to win. Right now the risk is minimal for Jaleel vs. Martina. Jaleel is the favorite so you can still win, if you bet on Jaleel, but the return isn’t high. However, it is better to place a bet on Jaleel when the odds against him are still in play, meaning that on the fraction the denominator is lower than the numerator. The higher the favorite the less risk involved, so they get ranked based on the probability of winning the season. So if you put down 4dollars on Jaleel, you would get in return 15 dollars (11 dollars profit plus your original bet of 4). But if you put 4 dollars on Martina, you could win 404 (400 dollars profit plus 4 dollars bet, because you multiply that number 50 x4 and add your original bet.