As the season winds down, I’d have to say that the changes that were made were pretty much all improvements. Before the season started, the changes were seen as last-ditch moves that would backfire. But overall they were a win.
The music has been better most of the time. The co-host has a grating voice but is overall an upgrade over Brooke. The 4th judge has cut down on Bruno’s excesses and made them more watchable. Yeah, they were cheerleaders 99% of the time (except for the dance mom judge who was excruciating), but it gave the 3 established judges less time, which made them be better. Getting rid of having the contestants sit next to the judges was good.
Having only 1 show a week has made it tighter - the second day’s show was always 99% filler and then the vote-off as the credits roll.
Even better, all the stars have been likeable and fun to watch.
Any comments about last night’s show? I can’t believe that Candice is still in. And for maybe the first time, I hope Maks wins. Normally I’m a huge Derek fan, but this year I just like Meryl’s dancing much more than Amy’s.
I agree. Meryl is by far the best dancer; Maks has paid his dues and learned to keep his mouth shut when appropriate; so they absolutely deserve to win.
(I couldn’t believe my ears when Carrie Ann said “You two should just get married.” A “did you really just say that??” moment)
It’s a travesty that Candance is still in. I hope this doesn’t mean she gets any higher than 3rd…
I completely don’t understand why Candace is still in…who the heck is her fan base? She’s only ok and she’s teamed with Mark (who is less obnoxious this year than in some year’s previous - but still Mark). I completely don’t get it. Their freestyle was blah, but based on the fact that they’re still there - someone must be voting for them for some unknown reason.
J&P’s freestyle was not to my tastes, but it was fine and better than Candace & Mark’s. I do think it was a mistake having him dance next to the pros because you could see the difference. Still, it was well choreographed and executed.
Maks keeps going to modern/contemporary when he ends up in the freestyle and I don’t think it’s his strength. I liked the dance, but I wonder what would happen if he did something else (latin fusion or something - I don’t know).
I liked the end of the Derek & Amy’s dance, but I also ended up wanting it to have even more aerial. Just the little bit at the end was nice, but I think it would have shown entirely to her strengths to get her up off the floor for a lot more of the dance.
I agreed with Len, that the aerial portion was unnecessary, and took a big chunk out of their actual dancing. And I think Derek has spent too much time this season getting Amy off the floor – lifting her, putting her on table tops, etc. Based on her awesome quickstep last week, she’s got nothing to hide with regards to footwork (and given that she doesn’t have feet, that’s incredible.)
Congrats to Maks and Meryl. It’s been a real joy seeing them challenge each other. Maks stepped up his choreography this season. He had no choice because Meryl is so talented.and deserved great routines.
Tony had a similar season with Melissa Rycroft. He got inspired and created much better choreography that helped them win the All Stars season.
Val is the only one left in that group still waiting for a win.
It was fun watching Amy Purdy. She did things that I never knew was possible on prosthetic limbs. Derek’s clever choreography disguised the moves she couldn’t do. Glad she did so well.
This is the first season I’ve gotten into this show (SO watches every time). This is due totally to Meryl. From watching her at Sochi to her being crowned Queen of the Dance Universe has been incredible. She has got the most incandescent smile and an amazing dancer as well. Kudos to everyone who participated this season.
I’ve watched the show for around 4-5 years, and this season was my favorite. Part of it was seeing Meryl and Machs’ incredible dances. Everyone seemed to be having more fun somehow.
At the end of the show everyone thanked an executive produce who is leaving - hope that doesn’t hurt the product. Len also said he may not be back - I"m sure they could find another cranky Brit, but I’d really miss him. Hope he stays.
No surprise that Meryl and Maks won. While she was definitely the best dancer among the stars and deserved to win, it sure seemed like the producers were doing everything they could to stack the deck in Maks’ favor to get him a mirror ball trophy. And Maks was doing his best Derek impersonation with his choreography and presentation this season.
Overall, this was one of the better seasons, with a high overall quality to the dancing. Meryl, Amy, Charlie, James, Candace, and Danica were all very good. The rest all seemed to give it their best, with only Billy Dee being a waste of space due to his health issues.
I still like the old format better, with a one-hour results show each week. I like some of the “filler” and everything seems too rushed now.