# Dancing with the Stars, Season VIII **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066 "2009-02-09T15:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/121 "2009-04-21T14:32:57Z")
I do so like the point in the season, reached this week, when we no longer have to watch any painfully bad dancing. Gave all my votes to Ty last night, because it’ll be down to him and LT and I like Ty better. The costumes weren’t as interesting as I hoped, though the reactions of the pros were sometimes funny. (Heh. Poor Edyta.) (And Julianne didn’t seem to care much for hers either.) The idea of voting for a new pro for next season strikes me as fun – apparently this is going to be a process that will last the rest of the season, with one male and one female being eliminated the first week, then one person regardless of gender eliminated each of the following weeks until we have a winnah. (CBS is reruns tonight, so I’ll at least watch this week.) The group dance was just kind of silly, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way. Ty and whatsherface’s solo was a wee bit on the kinky side for me. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/122 "2009-04-21T15:08:12Z")
**twickster** - I want Ty to move on, but I know his time is limited. I looked it up last week. He broke his first bone when he was nine, and won a bull-riding competition despite the broken jaw. He’s had both knees replaced, which explains why he moves so stiffly. Besides, he’s sweet. StG ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/123 "2009-04-21T15:13:47Z")
Edyta’s dress was quite beautiful, though she obviously had issues with the floaty bit. But it’s not like her own costume designs don’t often feature floaty bits, so that’s hardly LT’s fault. I disliked Shawn’s costumes quite a lot, but the rest of them seemed fine. I would, perhaps, have preferred a more dramatic skirt on Melissa’s. I had really hoped to get more of a sense of the costume design process than we did, but I guess it was a busy week of performances with the group dance in there. I thought the group dance was a lot of fun. Silly, yes, but entertaining. Unfortunately it didn’t show Ty well, his solo was weird, and his timing in the larger group stuff was way, way off. He’s such a sweetie though, that if I voted, I’d definitely give him some votes. Out of curiousity, how many of y’all do actually vote? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/124 "2009-04-22T13:07:15Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > Out of curiousity, how many of y’all do actually vote? Enough of us to save Ty, apparently. 😉 LT seemed to take his departure in stride. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/125 "2009-04-28T00:27:00Z")
Ugh, Julianne is dressing like a tramp again. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/126 "2009-04-28T00:58:05Z")
Ty getting a spray tan is friggin’ hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/127 "2009-04-28T01:32:07Z")
I only picked up the show half way through, but Ty getting a spray tan was totally worth tuning in just for that. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/128 "2009-04-28T02:57:09Z")
I so have Ty crushies. StG ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/129 "2009-04-28T16:43:47Z")
Well, I can’t remember all of the dances off the top of my head, but I remember being wowed by Lil Kim’s dance. I felt sorry that Melissa’s dance wasn’t seen - seeing a practice that basically stepped through the moves was not enough. Chuck is really beginning to move like a dancer. I thought Shawn’s dance kind of bland, and Ty, as much as I love him, just is now outclassed. I hate to say it, but I’d rather see him go tonight than see Melissa eliminated because she didn’t perform. Although…there’s no saying that she’ll be sound enough to continue, so Ty might as well stay another week. StG ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/130 "2009-04-28T21:47:23Z")
Having now watched all the dances, my feeling is Shawn and Ty are probably the next due to go, with the obvious exception of Melissa being injured. Whether there’s enough sympathy voting to save her is hard to say. Shawn is adorable and has some skills but I don’t think she’s improving remarkably, whereas Ty really is, though he’s still not as good as she is. Chuck is probably then the next candidate for departure, even though he’s vastly improved he’s just not as good as Melissa, Gilles or Lil’ Kim. That leaves a Gilles, Melissa, Lil Kim finale, assuming Melissa makes it through this week. That her team dance team also underperformed certainly can’t be helping her, though. I’d really be happy to see Gilles go. Or maybe it’s Cheryl that I’m tired of, specifically her choreography, which I’m just not feeling. It all feels so frantic. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/131 "2009-04-28T22:16:01Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > …Ty, as much as I love him, just is now outclassed. I hate to say it, but I’d rather see him go tonight than see Melissa eliminated because she didn’t perform. Although…there’s no saying that she’ll be sound enough to continue, so Ty might as well stay another week. > > StG I gave them each three votes – we’ll see if that’s enough. > [@jacquilynne](#): > > I’d really be happy to see Gilles go. Or maybe it’s Cheryl that I’m tired of, specifically her choreography, which I’m just not feeling. It all feels so frantic. I think it’s Cheryl’s choreography (which I agree isn’t as good as, say, Derek’s) – I’m definitely not too tired of Gilles yet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/132 "2009-04-28T22:37:30Z")
I find Ty ridiculously adorable. I’d like him to come in 4th. (He’s not good enough for the finals, but he’s trying, he’s learning, and he’s got a great attitude about the whole thing). I also noticed some stuff in the tango (head & focus). I wonder if the other guys helped him. Having to use the rehearsal didn’t help Melissa, I think the jive would have been good for her. She could have used her cheerleader face (as opposed to her serious face which doesn’t really work). Usually, I like Cheryl’s choreography & I like watching Gilles do Cheryl’s choreography. But that was kind of weird in places. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/133 "2009-04-29T13:07:04Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I gave them each three votes – we’ll see if that’s enough. Apparently it was. I was surprised when I tuned in at 9:58 to see Chuck rather than Ty in the last two – I was even more surprised when Chuck was the one to go home. Though his attitude had improved somewhat over the season, it wasn’t enough to endear him to the fans, and that definitely came through. Loved how Tom had to try to corral him into saying the appropriate stuff at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/134 "2009-04-29T13:14:06Z")
Well, it was kind of obvious to those of us who watched the whole show. In the very beginning, Tom said something about “the most shocking vote-off of the season”, so when it came down to Chuck and Melissa, we knew it had to be Chuck. Ty needs to go! ---
**Author:** ![ZenDenizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/fbc32d/32.png) [@ZenDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/135 "2009-05-04T21:11:58Z")
So was LT the most uninteresting dancer on DWTS ever or what? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/136 "2009-05-04T22:08:31Z")
> [@ZenDenizen](#): > > So was LT the most uninteresting dancer on DWTS ever or what? Yeah. Neither very good nor bad; no personality; didn’t want to be there. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/137 "2009-05-05T00:24:21Z")
What’s been so much fun about this season is that there are two main male crushees among the male stars, and they’re so diametrically different – Gilles (standard sexy panther on the prowl), and Ty (not as good a dancer – I’m guessing tonight is his last night – but such a mensch, a gentleman, a hard worker). ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/138 "2009-05-05T13:32:23Z")
Well, I still have my Ty crushies (ending his rumba with his wife was so sweet!), but it’s plain to me that it’s time for him to go. He just doesn’t fit in with the people left. Then Shawn. She may be a sweetie and a tough competitor, but she’s just out-classed as far as dancing talent (which really surprises me). Of the three left, a lot will depend on the dances they’re asked to do. StG ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/139 "2009-05-06T06:01:08Z")
:: channelling _Strictly Ballroom_ :: Well, _that_ was unexpected! ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066/140 "2009-05-06T08:00:28Z")
Not just unexpected, completely inexplicable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-season-viii/485066.md?page=8)