I’m with DKW, I’m liking Jake – reasonably competent for a complete amateur, great work ethic, and having a whole hell of a lot of fun. I would love to see a season with no one but people like that, seriously – no ringers, no drama queens. (And, agree, no one over the age of 60, let alone significantly over the age of 60.) It’ll never happen, of course.
Kate – STFU and go home. Now. kthxbye.
Although I detested the “tribute” aspect of it, and despised the references to religion, I liked Niecy’s rumba and thought it was under-rated by the judges. But last night, everyone except Evan up until Chad seemed overly anxious and somewhat stiff (after competing for Gold on the Olympics, I don’t think this silly competition so much as pings Evan’s radar in terms of anxiety). Then both Chad and Pamela gave what seemed to me relaxed and graceful performances. She doesn’t appeal to me much personally, but Pamela seems to me to be the best non-ringer on the show this season; that is, not counting Evan and Nicole, she’s given the best overall performances.
I can’t quite stop holding The Bachelor’s reality program history against him, even though he seems to be an adequate contestant.
If Kate is so tired of living in the public eye, perhaps she should consider not living in the public eye. I certainly wish she’d stop doing whatever she does (I can’t call it dancing) on this show. Poor Tony, having to put up with her constant whining on top of her stunning lack of ability. He gave a great performance last night, (and I loved his costume) so at least he’s made enough progress with her that she’s not making him look horrible.
Did anyone else notice that 2 of the men slipped coming down the stairs on the left side of the stage at the opening? I’ll have to go back to tell you who - but there were definitely 2 at least. I only mention it because I agree that indeed everyone seemed a bit jangled - and I would have to think that wouldn’t help calm any nerves.
Zomg, Kate is so obnoxious. I didn’t even watch her dance because I couldn’t stand her whining in the package. Did you catch that she gets up every morning and READS THE NEWS to figure out what kind of day you are having? What kind of lesson for her kids is that - to let people who don’t know you decide what kind of attitude you are going to have. Someone, maybe one of the other stars, needs to sit her down and say - “Hey Muffin top! We are all actual REAL celebs (even if we are C or D-level) and we just ignore the paparazzi. So stfu already. You are no different than we are - and we don’t talk about it every week!”
I agree about Jake - he seems to be the Steve Guttenberg of the season - having fun even where he lacks the skill - and that’s good.
I think Nicole couldn’t stop giggling during her dance - because of Tom’s comment about Derek’s hand of love. And that threw her off. You could see them trying not to laugh in certain spots.
I think the thing to keep in mind about Niecy is that Louis is the one pulling out all these tributes. And I have to say, it’s a shame that he is trying to pull that gimmick, because that seems to say that he doesn’t think she can hack it otherwise. And I think that’s a disservice to her. I think he needs to find some other way for her to connect to the audience and the judges - like learning to dance. I love Niecy on her show “Clean House” and I don’t want her to go out the way she is headed.
I’m not so sure about a lot of the changes to the show’s format - I think they are trying to add too much flash to make up for the lackluster cast this season. Someone needs to have a sit down with the boys in the back office and set them straight.
I been talking with friends about the show. The question came up about female vs male amateurs.
The male dancer is expected to lead. Doesn’t that put the amateur men at a disadvantage? They have to steer the ship. If the dance jumps the rails then the lead dancer (male) has to get it back in the groove.
I’m new to this show. But, it seems like it’s a bit easier for the amateur women to follow the lead from a pro.
It won’t have any effect to speak of on the voting from home. Everyone’s scores are converted to percentages of the total points allotted, and then those percentages are added to the percentages of viewer votes to get a ranking. This gave the judges a little more granularity, which they promptly used to score everyone just as close together as they always do, or maybe closer.
Pamela 12.67%
Erin 10.51%
Kate 8.63%
Evan 14.02%
Niecy 9.70%
Chad 11.86%
Jake 10.24%
Nicole 13.48%
Aiden 8.89%
Kate should be able to make that up in Jon-hater votes easily. Tony said it on the show, “If you get eliminated, he wins.” That probably got her fans into a fine frenzy.
My prediction is that we see Aiden and Niecy red-lighted, and Niecy eliminated.
I was curious about the perception of Kate vs Jon…just based on tabloid covers, I thought Kate was the aggrieved party, and therefore would garner all the votes from fans of tabloids (and Jon & Kate + 8). But my daughter was a big fan of the show, and loathes her. She said she didn’t recognize her on DWTS because she smiles, which is something she never did on J&K+8; she just whined & snarled & browbeat her husband. According to my daughter.
You are absolutely correct about “real” pro-am competition. But this isn’t real, and the amateur men aren’t really leading. (Actually, I think Evan was leading a bit last night, but he’s the only one, and he wasn’t doing it for the whole routine either.) They’re running through their own steps as best they can, and the female pros are dancing madly around them trying to camouflage their faults. The pro men are doing the same to the amateur ladies, but the skills required of the amateur ladies are just harder than they are for the men. Jake and Niecy look like they are at very similar skill levels, but Jake’s dances look more impressive than Niecy’s because Chelsie is flashier-looking than Louis (to the untrained eye, at least - Louis is a more skilled dancer). Men can get away with standing rock still waiting to catch a woman in a crazy line (and these judges never seem to point it out) - the women have to do those lines.
ENugent - I would tend to disagree - Len will often bag on the female pros for not making their partners actually dance.
I think of last season with Chelsie - she would often try to flash her way around her partner while he did just made small walking motions.
Well, yes, when they don’t do anything. But they almost all still seem to have times when they just stand there and wait for their cue to “catch”. The only exceptions I can remember are Mario and Evan. You will never ever see one of the male pros just stand in place waiting - even if they’re “still”, they’re putting energy into the pose, moving into it almost imperceptibly. The male amateurs look like they’re having a little rest on the dance floor while the female pro does something.
And I can’t remember any instance in all ten seasons of a judge complaining that a male amateur was not leading. They’re not even expected to. But the women are expected to at least sort of follow.
Can I get a spoiler? We missed the kick-offing.
Here ya go.
…and Aiden takes the metaphorical gas pipe. Meaning, the Gosselin whine machine trudges on for another week.
I can hear Tony’s anguished scream from here. 
He has to teach Kate another dance.
[spoiler]Well, you were half right, anyway! 
[/spoiler]
Thanks, was Kate at least in the bottom 2?
Nope.
Actually, they said quite specifically that the last two were not necessarily the bottom two this week. So we don’t know who else was in the bottom two. They do that sometimes. It’s annoying.
I admit it, I gave all my votes to Niecy. I just think she has a chance if Louis will just stop doing tributes.
There wasn’t a lot of surprises tonight. Evan and Nicole Scherzinger did great as usual. Niecy improved from the past couple weeks. She seemed to have a lot of fun in tonights dance.
Erin and Pam are still stuck in the middle. They just aren’t improving.
Chad and Kates dance were the weakest. Tonight may have been Kate’s worst dance on the show.
Fingers crossed that Kate goes. I wouldn’t mind seeing Jake leave either.
All right, if Kate’s kids are not with her (she said something about a “visit”), and she’s involved in a custody fight (!), then where are those kids?
Not that I care, really. I just want her off the show. Badly.
Holy shit, she’s bad. And that whiny bit about “what are we, swimming?” Ewww!
PLEASE KICK KATE OFF!
How telling was it that the blackbord said “Tony <3’s Carrie Ann” not Kate? Because she’s obnoxious! I have to admit, I actually thought when Kate was smiling and all that - that maybe, just maybe, she had changed. Then her package came on and I was like, zomg, please kill her now.
bangs head on desk
For the first time, Pam didn’t look stoned on the dance floor. What a refreshing change. Here’s hoping they continue to let her dance earlier in the program.
Nicole’s dancing was more interesting to me than Evan’s.
Jake has nice legs - I can’t believe no one gave him a line about how bad it is when your dance partner wants you to put your pants back on.
I actually liked Erin’s dance this week.
I came in the house late and missed Niecy’s dance and Chad’s. Wished I could have seen Niecy’s - have to wait for hulu, I guess.