Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars Season 16 Week 10: It’s The Final Countdown!

This final was very weak to be honest. Probably one of the weakest I’ve seen ever. I thought one dance was amazing, one was very fun and the rest kind of just faded into the woodwork. So let’s get this started.

Redemption Dance

Jacoby & Karina- Jive (Score=27)- Jacoby looked so tired and over the competition tonight. I have no idea what was going on because he just did not have fun like normal. Tonight’s jive showed that because even it was technically better than his first, the energy and the fun were like 5 times lower in the second jive. So I didn’t like it as much as his first one. I do not think this deserved a 27 but honestly, none of the first round dances deserved the scores that they got.

Aly & Mark- Samba (Score=28)- This samba was actually a bit of a let down for me. Yes Aly was technically better this time around. However, this seemed to be a little inappropriate for Aly. She’s not a wild girl. And as a result, she did not seem to connect to it. And then, she still had missteps here and there.

Kellie and Derek- Quickstep (Score=30)- Truly, I did not know why the judges chose this dance for Kellie to do over. She almost got a perfect score so what more could she improve on? The only thing Carrie Ann wanted was a tiny bit more body contact which is stupid. Well anyway, I liked this dance better than her first quickstep. And the choreography was super hard, especially with all those rhythm changes. And she handled it well, but she a had a couple of missteps. And I saw them. She had the best routine of round 1 but I just saw the mistakes.

Zendaya & Val- Samba (Score=30)- So Carrie Ann came in to help Zendaya get stronger in her legs. THANK YOU! Finally she lets them know that the girl struggles with her balance and spotting turns and stuff. Well anyway, her turns were better, but something funky was going on with her legs. They weren’t moving very well at all. It seemed like her feet were sticking to the ground. Oh and she had a really big slip in the middle of her dance.

The Cha-cha Relay was the next round. This was fun but I actually don’t agree with the judges. I think Jacoby was better than Aly. Aly has super stiff hips. Kellie and Zendaya were so close that it was hard to tell who did better. Especially since they had two totally different takes on the cha cha. But I think Zendaya may have edged her out a little. Here’s how the judges ranked them:

4. Jacoby & Karina
3. Aly & Mark
2. Kellie & Derek
1. Zendaya & Val

Supersized Freestyle Round

Jacoby & Karina (Score=27)- So Jacoby’s routine was a love letter to NOLA. And boy was it that indeed. I got such a party feel from it. It was so tight and I loved all of it! This was my second favorite routine of the night. Even though it was messy, it was totally Jacoby. In a freestyle, you want to be drawn in by the dancer. And Jacoby did that for me. 

Aly & Mark (Score=30)- Agh! Aly did not seem to connect to this dance at all. I don’t know why Mark decided to bring in stripper poles. It doesn’t seem to fit with anything about Aly. And actually, it really resembled their Afro Jazz routine last week. She also stumbled coming out of a lift. Was it a good dance? Sure. Was it 30 worthy? No.

Kellie & Derek (Score=30)- This was probably the best freestyle ever done on this show. There was so much emotion in it. It was totaly beautiful. It showed Kellie as a dancer. It showed her journey. It did everything that a good freestyle should do. It showed off all of her strengths like her lines and flexibility. And can I just say that Derek is quite the dare devil. That lift where her legs are on his shoulders and they are spinning was incredible and scary looking. 

Zendaya & Val (Score=30)- This dance was good, don’t get me wrong. But it was not memorable at all. It was better than Val’s last freestyle attempt but in the end, it was overshadowed. Especially coming after an extremely emotional routine from Kellie and Derek. I really don’t have much more to say about it.

So that’s it. Personally, Kellie and Derek won the night for me. And based on that freestyle, and their season as a whole, those two should win. I don’t know how tomorrow will end up but I’m thinking that the two people I would have liked to see win, won’t. Still, everyone should vote! I know ABC’s site was down earlier, but it’s back up and running. Anyway, what are your thoughts?

Dancing with the Stars Season 16 Week 9: Semi Finals Say Whhaaaa???

So sorry about this being about an hour late. I had some chores to do around the house since I’m back home from college. So anyway, tonight was a lot better in terms of dancing than the past few weeks have been. But every single couple had at least one dance that was a problem. So let’s start.

Kellie & Derek- Argentine Tango (Score=30)- So this dance was absolutely flawless. I loved the silhouette part with the red backdrop at the beginning. And this dance showed how amazingly flexible Kellie is. I am so happy she got her first perfect score. Now maybe she’ll get the encore tomorrow as well. *fingers crossed*

Ingo & Kym- Samba (Score=24)- Ingo is without a doubt, the weakest dancer in the competition. He knows it, Kym knows it, everyone knows it. So I think that he gave his best effort in this dance. And I think it was his best Latin routine to date. He didn’t look quite as awkward with the hip action. That’s not to say that it wasn’t awkward, just less so than normal. But there were some timing issues. It wasn’t his best routine ever though. I think his strengths are the ballroom dances. But still a good effort.

Aly & Mark- Rumba (Score=30)- So let me preface this comment by saying that I like Aly. I know some of you don’t think so for some reason, but I do like her. But this dance was not perfect. First, I honestly thought you need to wear heels for ballroom/Latin dancing unless you are doing some tricks that could totally screw your legs up. Yet here, Aly was wearing flats. And in the past the judges, especially Len, have always made this an issue. Next, there was really no hip action at all. Honestly it felt more like a contemporary piece than a rumba. But I will say that her arms were beautiful. She moved gracefully and has improved a bunch but that’s it.

Jacoby & Karina- Argentine Tango (Score=30)- This dance was perfect. For the first time, I saw Jacoby’s feet were not pigeon toed. In fact, his technique was amazing. The mood was great. Everything about this dance was perfect like Kellie’s earlier. Both of the Tangos tonight were highlights.

Zendaya & Val- Quickstep (Score=25)- Woah. So actually, this was the first time I ever thought that one of Zendaya’s dances was a complete and total mess. I sort of liked the concept but there were just so many issues. It seemed way too rushed, her frame fell apart on so many occasions, she lost her footing a lot, and she seemed like she was being dragged around by Val. It just wasn’t good. And also, this is the third time this season that she hasn’t worn heels for a ballroom/Latin dance. And yet no one has said anything. Makes no sense to me.

Kellie & Derek- Flamenco (Score=28)- This dance was so good. I thought Kellie did a great job throughout and Derek was doing good with all that stomping. Everything was perfect until the end. At the end, Kellie lost so much steam and she just looked tired. I’m surprised she got through it as well as she did, because she looked beat about halfway through. You could tell that she went into autopilot mode at that point.

Ingo & Kym- Charleston (Score=27)- Well, I think the Charleston showed off Ingo’s personality very well. But the dancing just wasn’t that great. He was off time a lot and seemed to forget some of the choreography. I mean it had the potential to be a really great dance and his best dance yet. But it was riddled with mistakes. 

Aly & Mark- Afro Jazz (Score=29)- Well, this dance was alright. It again had the potential to be really good. But, Aly looked so tired. And she was really out of sync with Mark. I have no idea what Carrie Ann was watching because they were rarely in sync. Len’s score was the only maybe correct score and yet it wasn’t for the right reason. More partner interaction was his critique. Really Len? Really? Not every dance requires that.

Jacoby & Karina- Lindy Hop (Score=29)- This was the dancee that Karina had to go to the hospital for earlier. I’m really glad that she’s alright. Anyway this was my fave dance of the night. Although his feet got a little jumbled at the beginning, this dance was great. He had fun, Karina had fun, it just looked like fun. And that’s so infectious! It made me want to get up and dance with them!

Zendaya & Val- Hip-hop (Score=30)- So here we go. Zendaya had to bring in someone to teach Val how to do hip hop. Now was this dance great? Yes. Did she do a great job? Yes. Did it deserve a perfect score? Yes (on her part). Was I impressed? No. And here’s why. She is a hip hop dancer. She has danced it since she was eight and that is what Shake It Up is based on. I have watched the show and I know she can do hip-hop so that was no surprise. It was also no surprise that she outdanced Val and that he actually seemed to get a little out of sync with her. I think the producers of this show had no business picking hip hop as one of the twitter chosen styles. They should have done something like Bollywood, Bhangra, Hustle, Russian folk dance, Rock n roll, country two step, something that she was not familiar with. I don’t blame her at all for that. I blame the producers.

So with that said, the night had good dancing. But it was not close to an amazing night at all. It had the potential to be but everyone looks tired. I doubt they’ll do a bottom 2 tomorrow and there is no double elimination, so I’m banking on them putting Ingo, Zendaya and maybe Jacoby in jeopardy. With Ingo going home. What are your thoughts on the night?

Dancing with the Stars Season 16 Week 7 Recap: The Competition Gets A Little Saucy and Sexy

Hey everyone. It’s Latin Week and I have a lot to say about the night. And it’s not very good to say the least. So I’ll just get started.

Jacoby & Karina- Salsa (Score=27)- Jacoby is such a fun dancer to watch. He always performs the heck out of whatever he is dancing. And since he had salsa this week, he could really get into his natural groove. I liked the routine but like Len, I felt like there were too many lifts. He was also pigeon toed as always but I’m not going to comment on that for the rest of the season because he has stated that he will not change them. I mean they are his moneymakers. Anyway, I thought this score was a little high as his technique just was not that great.

Ingo & Kym- Rumba (Score=22)- Well I will say this about this routine. Ingo played his character really well. But the judges were right that Ingo’s arms were a little off in terms of musicality. And his hip action was a bit awkward. His score was low though compared to another dance that I’ll get to a little later on.

Kellie & Derek- Samba (Score=29)- So this samba was so chock full of content that it was ridiculous. And Kellie did everything perfectly. I couldn’t find anything wrong, but I sort of had to agree with Carrie Ann. At least tonight, I really thought Kellie just wasn’t there which was understandable, because of her schedule this week. Because I don’t think she’s lacked that quality any other week. It was the best dance of the night but I think a 27 would have been a good score.

Andy & Sharna- Rumba (Score=17)- Sigh. This was my favorite dance of the night. Andy can play a character and entertain us while dancing. And truly, I think I’m liking that more this season than I am actually liking technically perfect dancing. Sharna is doing an amazing job with the choreography for him. But he did lack hip action and his technique was not great. However, the fact that Carrie Ann gave him a 5 was terrible. I honestly don’t think he deserved that. And it’s weird because she did not call out a single lift last week. And yet she called out this one this week. She’s been very inconsistent with this rule and it really bugs me. So I think this score was low.

Aly & Mark- Salsa (Score=29)- Well. Mark hurt himself while trying to do a lift with Aly. So she had to rehearse with Henry the entire week. But Mark ended up dancing. So this dance was really fun. And there was a real naughty move that they put in. I was thrown off by that. But again, I don’t think this deserved tens. I think a 27/26 would have been fine because she did get out of sync with Mark when she got excited. She reigned it in but she still got off time. And someone needs to teach Mark how to dress her. Because right now, he is dressing her really old. Shawn was dressed better than that in her original season and she was a minor.

Sean & Peta- Rumba (Score=24)- Agh! Okay here we go. This dance was seriously overscored. I don’t care what the judges said, he was no better than Ingo. And I think Ingo deserved his score so they should have docked him two or three points. He was wooden and still got ahead of the music. Yes he had chemistry with people but that was about it. But I guess it’s easy to fool these judges so whatever. Oh and they had a lift which I was glad Carrie Ann pointed out. Because if she didn’t, I might have thrown a shoe at my TV.

Zendaya & Val- Paso Doble (Score=27)- So I think the judges gave Zendaya a good score here. She was in character and the dance was good. But she was looking down with her chin a lot during the routine. This sort of threw off some of her top lines. I couldn’t quite figure out that problem until the judges said it because it was off. That was the first problem. The second problem was that she still stumbles coming out of turns. I really need for Val to work on this because if he doesn’t, I don’t think she’ll ever deserve a 10. I’m saying this because I’m tall and I stumble a lot. So I know all the tricks to cover it up. So when she stumbles, I see it no matter what.

So that was round 1. Aly and Kellie are tied for 1st. So since this is the case, they did immunity based on who had the highest season point total. Which was Kellie. Which means Kellie is immune from elimination tomorrow and did not have to dance during the much dreaded dance off.  That’s fair. I knew it was either going to be Zendaya, Kellie or Aly so nothing is new there. So the dancers in the dance off got to choose their opponent and then their opponent chose the dance.

Round 2- The Dance Offs

Aly & Mark vs. Andy & Sharna- Cha-cha- So Mark told Aly to choose the weakest dancer left in the competition to go up against. Sigh oh well. I guess one of the front runners was going to have to do that anyway. So anyway, neither dance was that good which was to be expected since everyone had to prepare 4 dances. But I do think Aly rightfully won. So she gets 3 points added to her score.

Zendaya & Val vs. Jacoby & Karina- Jive- First off, the fact that Zendaya was in this cute orange dress with these white tennis shoes totally threw me off. I think this was a little harder to pick because it was more evenly matched. But I do think Zendaya won. Even though Jacoby was more fun to watch. So Zendaya got 3 points added to her score.

Ingo & Kym vs. Sean & Peta- Rumba- This was also a bit more evenly matched. But seeing them side by side, you could clearly see that Ingo is the better dancer. He moves much more naturally than Sean. And he was more convincing of his chemistry with Kym than Sean was with Peta. Anyway, Ingo won and got 3 points added to his score.

Our leaderboard now without Kellie (since she is immune and can’t be voted off anyway) goes like this:
Aly & Mark- 32
Zendaya & Val- 30
Jacoby & Karina- 27
Ingo & Kym- 25
Sean & Peta- 24
Andy & Sharna- 17

So I think we can all agree that this dance off was an attempt to get Andy out the competition. Seeing this spread, I can’t see otherwise. So I’ll say this. Carrie Ann needs to be slapped. Rarely did the judges score properly tonight. This immunity dance off thing is total crap. And I am not too happy with the producers of Dancing with the Stars right now. I’m usually not one to be negative about this show, but over the past 3 seasons, it’s been increasingly hard to do so. So I’ll just make my prediction now. I think Andy is going home with Sean in the bottom 2. And there is a slight chance Sean will be going home. But I think those two will be the bottom. Kellie and Derek fans, make sure you guys vote for other people (like maybe Andy lol). So how did you guys feel about tonight? And thoughts on the immunity dance off crap?

So we have info on the team dances

Team Samba to “Superstition”
Kellie & Derek
Aly & Mark
Sean & Peta
Andy & Sharna

Team Paso to “Higher Ground”
Zendaya & Val
Jacoby & Karina
Ingo & Kym
Victor & Lindsay

Hmmm it looks like team paso has the advantage here since they have the easier dance to do in a group. However, with Derek never having lost a team dance, team samba still has a chance. Also, Mark is with him and they are a formidable duo when it comes to choreography. And I think Sharna will be a great addition to that creativity. But team paso also has three really great choreographers in Val, Kym and Karina. So this will be one to watch. Who do you all think will win and why?