80’s theme tonight.
I think all the celebrities are old enough to remember high school and college in the 80’s. For them it’s just a nice bit of nostalgia. Heck, Ricki and Hairspray were iconic moments in the 80’s. Most of the pro dancers are really too young to remember them well.
That was a great decade. Lot better than the 90’s IMHO. Fashion in the 80’s was rad. 
A lot of the cast was on Dr. Phil today; apparently Robin is a huge fan. This explains the appearance of Dr. Phil in the audience last week.
Mark taught them to salsa – or tried to. Dr. Phil is, dear god, just awful. He has been asked to appear numerous times; just say no, Phil. Robin is clearly bucking for a spot herself; she would do okay with Corky Balas but would not be a serious contender.
The Bangles are a great start. They still sound really good. Finally, my music and my life is being celebrated. Lots of great memories. Anna is even rocking the side ponytail. Very common back then.
Great night. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face the entire two hours. There wasn’t a single dance that I’d call really bad. Tomorrows elimination will be unusually tough.
J.R. and David were the two brightest spots for me. J.R. looked almost like a pro out their with those awesome samba rolls. I liked the bad ass dance David and Kym did. Reminded me of some of the great dance videos on mtv in the 80’s.
Anna and Carson were fun. Anna started out like Olivia Newton John in Physical. Then changed to cheerleader. Granted the technique was totally missing. it was still a lot of fun.
I don’t understand the judges praise for Rob. I thought Nancy & Tristan’s rumba was much, much better. Considering she’s a middle-aged lady with twins and a husband. Her rumba was hotter than Rob & Cheryl’s. That’s sort of embarrassing for Rob. He should be able to sex it up with Cheryl.
Was Derek doing some Elvis Costello or David Bowie tonight? I guess more Bowie than Costello. He looked great. The dance sort of laid a turd. It was almost the weakest tonight.
I gave half my votes to JR, and the other half to David. Whoda thunk?
As an editor, I was deeply, deeply bothered by the fact that the sign over the stage said 80’s. (It should be '80s.)
Fun evening – the '80s was the end of my time listening to generally popular music. Lots of fond memories. “True” is such a pretty song, still!
Yeah, the Bangles still cut the mustard.
Most everyone seemed to come out swinging for the fences tonight. Chaz actually danced for about the first time since week One, and given that it was a samba yet, that’s saying something.
JR’s version was full of win, however.
Rob and Carson have plateau’d, IMO. I’m completely fed up with the latter’s “all camp, all the time” schtick. Try playing it at 8/10s just one time, fer cryin’ out loud.
Nancy continues to show a degree of technical skill, and a bit of performance. Too bad I continue to loath her.
I acknowledge my shallowness in advance, but I for one find Hope kinda hot in those haunted-house outfits like she wore tonight.
Ricki/Derek’s bit, with the abrupt breaks for, what was that, “Roger Rabbits”(?), well, just seemed all herky jerky.
Lastly, maybe I’m an outlier, but for me in tonight’s routine David too often did a lamppost impression while Kym danced around him. He’s still improving, though.
That was fun. I’m in my living room grinning and clapping. Weeks like this is why I love this show.
Hope - Len was right. She let too much loose it looked like Maks was kind of flinging her around like a rag doll. It was kind of scary to watch, I’m worried she’s going to get hurt or something. There’s something that she’s just not getting. Usually, when someone dances the way she does, I’ve thought it’s because they don’t have the strength, but she does, so I don’t know what it is.
Carson - I like watching Carson dance. He has so much fun. It’s infectious.
Nancy - was the opposite of Hope, where Hope let everything loose, Nancy was totally tightly controlled. There were a couple of places where I wanted to see her just throw herself into the movement, and she did it really carefully. But she did it pretty well.
JR - goes without saying.
Rob - I really liked his rumba. I have no idea how lizard boy was supposed to teach someone to be sexy, but apparently, it worked.
Chaz - improved again. That was a much better samba than I’d expected. It was great to see him go for it.
David - really nice tango.
Ricki - that was horrible music for a fox trot. And she did mess up the Roger Rabbit (I was also a teenager in the 80s. I remember learning to do that & the Running Man) and the whole dance didn’t really work.
Still - this was a good theme week. I’d like to see more of these and fewer dances to dead relatives.
As far as the Bangles are concerned I’m probably alone in this, but I thought that Susanna Hoffs’ voice didn’t sound very good.
As for the dances, I thought they all did pretty well. I didn’t really feel anything with Hope’s dance, and with Ricki’s dance was good…getting boring…good again…boring…
Anyway, I won’t be too thrilled to see anybody go, but since somebody has to go, I’ll pick Hope. To be honest, I’m worried about Carson getting voted off, so I gave him all of my votes.
I’m just about ready to give up on Hope. She has everything she needs to be a good dancer, but somehow she’s just not getting it together in quite the right way. She’s strong, she’s graceful, but it’s just not working.
Carson was the usual collection of extreme camp, very hard work, and no innate ability. Earlier on, I wanted him to try playing it straight for once, but I’ve come to realize that no matter how hard he works at it, he just doesn’t have the ability to look good in a straight dance. So he might as well camp it up.
Nancy is just about the nastiest piece of work I’ve ever seen on this show, unless they’re putting the packages together to make her look bad. I’ve never seen anyone so eager to deflect blame from themselves onto anyone handy. Nothing is ever her fault, at least according to her. And yet, somehow, she does listen, and puts on a pretty good dance for a woman of her age and pounds, so I’m beginning to think that her quickness to put the blame elsewhere is indication of a really severe insecurity. Hey, lady, here’s a clue: be a better person, stop doing what amounts to vigilante entertainment on a nightly basis, and maybe you’ll like yourself a bit better. Len was right; a more passionate rumba would have been uncomfortable for everyone involved, including the audience.
J.R. was great! That was everything a samba should be. Drawing on Hispanic roots to do a Brazilian dance doesn’t strike me as particularly useful. But whatever - it worked for him. Props to Karina for choreographing up to his ability.
Rob showed a little improvement, but he still seems to me to be more walking in rhythm than dancing, and he still has no idea of follow-through in his movements. It’s the arms that bug me. He still doesn’t seem to get that moving them from here to there is part of the dance; he just thinks ‘oh, my arm should be straight now!’ and straightens it.
But Chaz really bloomed. He actually danced. He was a light on his feet and seemed to be having a great time. I expected him to be in need of an ambulance after a samba, but he did just fine. I think Lacey’s bringing in her Dad did a lot for him, and was a very smart move. Chaz isn’t a dancer, and I don’t think he’ll ever be one, but he got pretty close to it last night.
David also suddenly started dancing. And looked damn near viable! Whatever it is Hope isn’t doing, David seems to have started doing it. And he looks as if he’s really learned it. Of all the contestants thus far, he seems the most changed by his time on the show, the only one who started out unable to dance a step and ending up dancing pretty well.
I think it was good for Derek to have a dance turn out to not be so well choreographed for once. A good dose of humility now and then is a healthy thing, and it does a young guy good to discover that even he can flop occasionally. Ricki still looked better than most of the others, and I doubt is in any danger, but I split my votes between her and JR in the hopes that neither of them will go home before the finals.
I feel the same way about Hope - she’s beautiful and strong and I really want her to do well, but this was easily her worst dance, in my opinion. She was really “noodly” and limp the whole time, it looked like Maks was dancing with a giant doll of her. I’ve kinda given up.
Oh, Carson. I love him, I WANT him to do well so badly, but oh my lord. This was AWFUL. PAINFUL to watch.
Nancy was just… stiff. There was no feeling to her at all. There could have been a sexy “Mrs. Robinson” thing going on in that rhumba, but no. Just… nothing. And watching her in rehearsal makes me want to punch something - poor Tristan getting stuck with such an ungrateful, unwilling partner. Still, she’s competent, if only just.
I was AMAZED by Chaz! Holy cow, go bro! He really moved out there, he had some nice precise work and was at the very least competent, unlike every other dance he’s done.
Rob and David both looked good out there. Better than past dances, above competent, entertaining.
Ricki and Derek were okay… on a level with Rob and David. I didn’t see any major screwup, but it wasn’t that great. It was just okay.
JR was AMAZING, and nuff said about that.
Someone should have shot the band, or at least the vocalists. Gawd, stop ruining my adolescence with your incompetence!!
I so hope JR wins this silly thing.
Hope seems so miserable this week. Even in the after show interviews she was so negative. Maks and Hope just aren’t connecting in rehearsal.
I think she’ll be relieved to go home tonight. I don’t see her improving next week.
They need Tyce Diorio
I read (in People?) that Maks hand-picked Hope for his partner. And I can picture him watching her play goalie and being totally attracted to her, and thinking that all he has to do is to channel that fiery spirit into dance… And then along came Hope. She doesn’t have an “x” factor on the dance floor, which is odd because she has it in spades on the soccer field. Worse, she doesn’t seem to respect Maks as a teacher. I think perhaps she’s just too young and immature for the show.
Chaz, on the other hand…wow! Wonderful to see. I’m glad he stuck with it. He seems to be enjoying himself and has allowed himself to be vulnerable. Awesome.
David, I just don’t know what turned him around. Part of me wonders if his behavior might have been fueled by drugs because it was much more, er, effervescent than in prior weeks. I really hope not because he seems like a nice guy. Oh, and I think he needed to lose a few pounds at first, but now he’s beginning to look a little too gaunt.
I agree about Nancy. She’s wound too tight, which doesn’t work on a dance show. She needs to start feeling the music and just relaxing, which I think is completely contrary to her nature. The Irish teacher has a lot of patience to work with her.
Carson is cute as a button but it’s time to go.
Rob is boring as hell. Sorry.
JR is heads and shoulders better than anyone else. He’s got a very humble and endearing personality to boot. The fact that he is still around, ahead of Chynna Phillips, is a testament to his all around niceness.
Ricki - yeah, I agree. That dance was just odd. But I still see her and JR in the finals.
Did somebody call that dance the Running Rabbit? I might have been falling asleep at the time but I thought it was either the Roger Rabbit or the Running Man, but like I said, I was maybe not too alert.
Hope. Oh my god. I can’t put my finger on anything she does that’s terrible, she’s just not fun to watch for some reason.
Chaz had a moment, but overall…
Carson got my votes because he may well be in jeopardy after that dance. It had potential, and he’s a great entertainer but just not a very good dancer.
Rob bores me.
David, for some reason, I just don’t like.
Here’s who could go home, in the order I would prefer: Hope, Rob, David, Chaz. Nancy should be in there somewhere, I forgot about her–I always forget about her–
I am so grateful that I don’t watch Nancy Grace so seeing her on the dance floor doesn’t bother me. The only time I see her on TV is when she’s being made fun of on “The Soup”.
I’ve wondered if the Irish dancer got stuck with Nancy because he’s the new kid.
JR is great, and I really just like David Arquette. Carson does nothing for me - he’s too much. I’d like him to just dance seriously. Nancy tries, but doesn’t seem to relax - she reminds me of Bristol Palin. HOpe is hard to watch. Chaz actually danced this week, but he still doesn’t impress me.
StG
I think Carson camps it up, at least partly, because, try as he might, he just can’t get the technicality down* so he probably figures that if he can’t score with the judges, he’ll at least score with the viewing public.
*I know little to nothing about how well somebody does technically or not, so I’m just going by what the judges and some of you are saying about his being technically deficient.
So Carson is gone. He was definitely one of the weaker dancers, but I’d rather Nancy or Chaz have gone before him. He was much more entertaining than either of them.
Plus I loooves me some Anna Trebunskaya! I think for the rest of the season they should have Anna just standing around in the background in that cheerleader outfit. I’ll be in my bunk.
He got the farthest of any of the newbie pros.
He’s done a good job – hope they bring him back. Plus that accent … swoon