The fact that Elisabetta scored near the top with the judges but still went home, seems to indicate that the great viewing public couldn’t stand her.
The actual one-legged contestant was a much better dancer than Chaz.
I just noticed that the first two kicked off took the two rookie professionals with them. Which caused me to wonder if the great viewing public is actually voting for the pro that they like the best.
Clearly I like some pros better than others, but I vote for the star. (I have never voted for a less-good team in favor of whoever Mark is dancing with, for instance.)
As a couple of people have observed upthread, however, there is definitely a learning curve on being a pro on this show: you need to learn to be able to choreograph to your partner’s skill level pretty much on the fly, and also know what you can and cannot get away with on technical stuff with the judges (e.g. Carrie Anne and her lift obsession.)
Lacey didn’t do too well her first couple of seasons, IIRC.
Only the Houghs took to it like fish to water. They had either done something along these lines before, or they are complete naturals.
Cheryl also “got it” pretty quickly.
Rob Kardashian says one married star is getting it on with his or her married partner: http://gaw.kr/r6VFPu
That tidbit will make tonight’s show more interesting to watch … Who’s married and who’s not? Derek and Mark aren’t among the pros, Carson probably isn’t the one, nor Chaz and Lacey … hm.
Tony and Anna are married (not to each other). Chynna is married; Carson is not (nor would he be likely to be getting it on with Anna in any case). I refuse to believe that Tony is sleeping with Chynna, though.
I would not be surprised if such a thing had happened at some point or other in the past, but I find it this season to be unlikely. There aren’t very many married pros.
Maybe he thinks that everyone wants their dirty laundry aired like his family. What a douche bag.
Heh, well, aceplace57 pretty much called it. I am properly ashamed that I couldn’t help cracking up a bit over, well…everyone else is bookending their semi-inevitable choice of rumba as paying tribute to events like broken marriages, alcoholism, deaths of loved ones and disfiguring injuries. Meanwhile, what’s the most important event in Kristin’s life? Graduating high school. Ah, innocence.
Very strong female contingent this season. Chynna, Hope, Kristin and Ricki are all deserving of making it to the semis, IMO. On the guy’s side, only JR really stands out at the moment, although I will admit that Carson had the most flat-out entertaining and (dare I say it) flamboyant routine of the evening.
I never pretend to be an expert on ballroom, but I have no clue what the judges saw in either Rob or David’s performances that was worthy of an eight. And sorry, Chaz seems way too limited to have a hope of going any further. I’ve got to think one of those three is toast this week.
I’m on the west coast, so I just finished watching Chaz.
But I just wanted to say I liked Rob’s dance far more than Chynna’s. I mean, I’m guessing she must have been more technically correct, but I didn’t really feel anything watching her dance. Watching Rob I was thinking that it was pretty good. Yeah, it could have flowed a little bit better, but I did enjoy it more.
Owing to various circumstances, I tuned in just as the scarred guy was starting his dance. I didn’t find it all that moving, just as a dance, although I did notice that he and Karina were not smiling (so I guess that makes it a serious dance).
Just for grins I turned off the sound until the remaining pairs started their dance to see if I could figure out the emotional content. Nope.
I think the judges should have to score it without the weepy (or in some cases, hilarious) back story. It’s a DANCING contest.
I’m glad they got this out of the way. “Emotional content week” makes me want to shoot everybody involved.
Why did David Arquette get 8s? He mostly stood there as a prop while his partner did most of the dancing. And did he really need to have his shirt open?
Anyway, I could see all 7s, but not 8s.
Yeah, there are good theme weeks (well, theoretically at least) and then there’s that. And it makes Carrie Ann even more useless as a judge because everything just touches her so deeply.
I have no idea what the judges saw in a lot of the dances. Liked Rob. That was nice. If I didn’t know Chynna had written the song, I’d swear she had no idea what it was about. Her dance and the song didn’t go together at all to me. She was emotional when the song wasn’t and the song went when she didn’t and it was just weird. Kristin looked like she forgot large chunks of that dance and looked like she was being yanked by Mark for half of it and just didn’t look very samba-y altogether. Tristan does a great job during the intro package and makes Nancy kind of likable. Ricki had no hip action. & Hope was doing something weird with her face that I think was supposed to read “sexy” but didn’t work, and just is kind of grace-free.
I tried to resist but those emotional stories were too compelling. I got wrapped up in all the emotion tonight.
I think the judges did too and many of the dances were over scored. These heart wrenching stories make any neutral judging almost impossible.
I thought J.R. wasn’t quite as good tonight. It looked like he was trying too hard and thinking too much. He was trying to force the dance a bit. It got in the way of just dancing and having a good time. It was still a very good effort and I deeply respect the sentiment behind the dance.
David Arquette was better this week. He was calmer and it showed in his dance. He was over scored a little. It was his best effort so far.
Chaz was just terrible again. He’s really not dancing. He mostly just stands there or walks a few steps. Lacey is trying her best to fake it by dancing around him.
I thought the tango would be good for Carson. He’s got a talent for creating characters. He’ll never be a great dancer but tonight was a high point for him.
Derek and Ricki need to get a room. They were dry humping throughout their dance. Tony was getting a little to friendly with Chynna too. It’s supposed to be a romantic dance and not dirty dancing. There was definitely some wood out there tonight.
Did I hear correctly that Len will be dancing the twist on the results show? I’ve always hoped he’d dance for us.
I think he’s doing a good job transitioning from being entertaining but not technically correct, to be being technically correct, but in doing so losing some of his entertainment value.
If he can learn to be at ease dancing correctly he might achieve the right balance of technicality to please the judges and people who know how the dances are supposed to go, and entertainment for the rest of us who known very little about technique.
Yeah, I’m not a fan of forced sentimentality. However, I thought that JR and Karina nailed it. I think that they deserved the top spot. It almost reminded me of a Mia Michaels number (from So You Think You Can Dance).
The judges were very generous with their scores last night. I think most of them did “fine.”
David was most improved, IMO. He’s actually started to dance instead of just focus on the steps.
Ricki was fine, but 9’s? No.
Carson’s back story actually moved me the most. It’s not easy being the outcast. Loved how he lit up under the praise, but also noticed how he deflected the praise with humor.
Chynna did fine. It appears as if she’s danced ballet before, but other than that I don’t see why the judges were so enraptured. And she should get 5 points off for ruining her face. (Yeah, I know, I’m obsessed with the Botox thing.)
Chaz needs to go. He seems like a really nice chap and I think he’s done what he intended to do, which is to make people realize that a transgendered person is just another person. But, if the judges were honest, his scores should have been 5s.
Kristin did fine. It’s refreshing to see someone without all that baggage.
Nancy did fine.
Hope did fine, but I’m not sure that she’s capable of “feeling” the music. Maks at times dances too effeminately for my taste. (You know, with the hyper-arched back.)
Rob did fine, but he can go home, too, after his catty Tweets.
Finally, Brooke really, really, really needs to be replaced. Seriously, can’t they do better?
QFT.
Liked Rob’s – yanno, if he wasn’t a Kardashian, he’d be an okay kid – and Carson’s. Both are taking the competition seriously.
Off week for Nancy. She doesn’t have the time to devote to practice and it shows.
Chaz, thanks for your efforts, but it’s time to go home. Now. Please.
Looking forward to seeing Len dance tonight!
Oddly, although I typically hate the emotionally themed weeks, it didn’t especially bother me. Mostly because, with the exception of J.R., I was able to ignore it entirely.
I thought Rob was much improved, and ended his dance by (my) thinking ‘he might be a contender after all.’ Probably not, but still, Cheryl is doing very well with rather unpromising material. That being said, my favorite dance is the foxtrot, so I tend to be favorably taken by any contestant who dances it at all competently.
Kristin and Mark looked good, but there didn’t seem to me to be enough real samba in it. More like a dance ‘inspired by the samba.’
I thought Chynna’s lines were fluid and lovely. But then, last week, I didn’t think she looked overly safe; I thought she just made a difficult dance look effortless, which struck me as just right. And, yeah, Lisa, you are a bit obsessed with the botox thing.
I thought Nancy wasn’t as fluid as she has been in her two previous dances, and rejoiced. Just maybe we can get rid of her tonight!
David seems a sweet guy, but no dancer. He just doesn’t seem to get that arm movement is part of the dance. It’s like he thinks “OK, my arm should be out straight now” and puts it there. You can get away with that on fast dances, but not slow graceful ones like the rumba. I found the eights he got to be much inflated, unlike Rob’s, which I thought were merited.
Hope’s arm extensions are better than David’s, but she too doesn’t seem to get that they are part of the dance. She’s lovely, and more graceful than most atheletes, but I don’t think she’s a viable contender.
Technically, Carson’s tango was quite decent. But making it all about his lust for the shoes didn’t work for me. I wish Anna had had him go ahead and act as if he was really passionate about his partner. Other gay contestants have pulled it off, and married men who had no interest in their partners beyond dancing with them have done it well, so why not Carson? Camp should be a last resort for those who haven’t a prayer of actually dancing well.
J.R. was himself moved to tears by his own dance and the reception it got, and I will admit that it affected me too (part of it was the song itself, which I’d never heard - very touching). Technically, it may not have been quite as great as his earlier dances, but it was very skillfully done, and I don’t mind his nines.
I swear, everything Derek touches turns to gold. I would never have picked Ricki Lake as a contender, but it looks like she is one.
Chaz is just not a dancer, and given his injuries, should go home. But I’ll live with him another week if it’ll get rid of Nancy Grace.
And I too am looking forward to Len’s dancing. He was a champion Latin dancer in his day, and I’m guessing he’ll be quite good.
Just curious, why do you think she’s doing Botox? I just ask because when I look at her, she looks middle aged. She’s in her 40’s and it shows. If she is using Botox to look younger, it isn’t working.
Being a pro, and especially being the most critical of the three judges, he’d better dance well. 