Season 21 - Week 5 - Switch-Up week

They have announced the pairings for next week's switch-up.  This is from People Magazine:

Switch-Up Week on Dancing with the Stars is always a time of mixed emotions for the contestants.

"I'm excited and terrified," Vine star Hayes Grier tells PEOPLE of the prospect of being paired with someone other than pro dancer Emma Slater, whom he has been working with since before the season 21 premiere last month.

But Switch-Up Week is here whether Grier likes it or not, and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal who is paired with whom:

Bindi Irwin partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy

Tamar Braxton partnered with Louis van Amstel

Paula Deen partnered with Mark Ballas

Alexa PenaVega partnered with Derek Hough

Carlos PenaVega partnered with Lindsay Arnold

Alek Skarlatos partnered with Emma Slater

Hayes Grier partnered with Allison Holker

Andy Grammer partnered with Sharna Burgess

Nick Carter partnered with Witney Carson


Former pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy will serve as a guest judge on the Switch-Up Week episode, which airs Monday at 8 p.m. (ET) on ABC.


I think it looks like some nice match-ups.  Should be interesting.

Thanks for the list of dances.  Seems like it should be a good show!

Yay, indeed!  


Overall, I thought this was a really good show that I enjoyed very much.  I thought it was crazy the way 10s were being thrown around, but what can you do? 

Tamar and Louis - Tamar is technically very good, but I didn't think this was her best dance.  She seemed to have some balance issues and was a bit "flail-ly" maybe?  It wasn't bad but it wasn't really good either.  Or I should say she wasn't consistent.  Some parts looked very good to me; others not so much.  She really does seem to have trouble emoting when she's dancing.  So far I think the Charleston she did with Val early on was her best dance.

Hayes and Allison - I don't think Allison did him any favors.  That was not a good dance.  I actually thought he was almost better than she was.  She was very flail-ly as well and not at all smooth.  It was a decent effort, and I thought Hayes did pretty well, but I wasn't crazy about Allison's choreography or the jerkiness of the dance as a whole.

Paula and Mark - Well, alrighty then.  < lol >  I don't really know what to think.  It was typical bizarre Mark choreography, but it was fun, and I enjoyed the creativeness.  It was also very slow for a jive, and if she did any kicks or flicks, I totally missed them.  I'm ready for her to go.

Alek and Emma - I really liked this one.  I thought Alek did a great job and was very smooth.  It was a pretty dance that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Really good job.  I wish he could stay with Emma.  Not that Witney isn't good because she is, but he seems to be more at ease when dancing with Emma.  Or maybe it was just a fluke.  But I think this was his best dance.

Bindi and Val - You know, I almost wish these two had been paired from the start.  This was a fantastic dance - I think she really inspired Val; the choreography was great.  And I really like the chemistry between these two better than between either Bindi  and Derek or Val and Tamar.  This was I think the best dance she's done.  I loved it.   When they first posted the scores, I thought she should have gotten at least one more 10.  This dance was every bit as good, if not better, than her contemporary last week.  Don't know why Bruno gave her a 10 for that one but only a 9 for this one.  But by the time the show was over, there was no doubt in my mind she should have scored higher for this dance.  If Carlos was worth a 39 and Alexa a 40, then Bindi was certainly worth more than a 37.  I went back and re-watched this just to make sure I wasn't misremembering, and it was just as good the second time around.  Honestly, this was my favorite dance of the night.  I loved the choreography, the music, the dancing, etc. 

Carlos and Lindsay - I wouldn't have given it 3 10s, but this was one of the best dances of the night.  Carlos really improved this week with Lindsay.  He did a great job, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This was, I thought, Carlos' best dance by a long shot.

Alexa and Derek - First off, I hate that skirt they had her in.  Boy was that ugly, and it hid her legs too much.  Aside from that, though, that was a really good dance.  That was definitely Alexa's best dance so far.  Can we get some of these switch ups to stay?  I have not lately been a fan of Derek's choreography, but I loved this.  That was great.  The bit in the middle where all 6 were together was very inventive.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  I'm not sure about a perfect 40, but I thought she was better than Carlos, so I guess it's okay.  But honestly, given the 39 for Carlos and a 40 for Alexa, Bindi was robbed.

Andy and Sharna - oh yeah.  He definitely improved with someone who can actually dance and teach ballroom.  For me that was his best dance and showed that he really has some potential.  Again makes me really wish some of these switch-ups could become permanent.

Nick and Witney - This was a good dance, but I kind of agree with Maks that it wasn't my cup of tea.  I love the paso, but this seemed too fast.  Not Witney's fault - that wasn't good music for a paso, imho.  Overall I thought he did a good job with it, though.

I thought Maks did a good job as a judge, but I would have liked him to have given more specific and constructive tips to the celebs.  I do like him, though, and he was looking quite handsome.  Didn't like that suit, though.

And my condolences to Tom Bergeron.  What a trooper to be able to do the show when his father had just passed away. 

They said something about next week being iconic dance week or something??  Are they doing another show where they recreate dances from previous seasons?  I didn't hear the explanation, if one was given, for what exactly they're doing next week.  Also, is there a double elimination next week since they skipped this week?  Or will they do a double later on?

I'm afraid I missed Nick's dance.  The tape in the wee hours got a late start and cut off the end of the program.

I agree about Alexa's ugly skirt, but that was her best dance by far.

Also, Carlos' best dance to date.

Bindi - God love her.  She just goes with the flow and pulls out flowers and unicorns.  Great dance.

As for Paula, I agree it's time for her to go.  But I've gotta applaud the energy that went into that dance.  No flicks and kicks, but I'm sure I would've had a heart attack just doing what she did.

I concur, SLA, that Tamar looked uncomfortable with Louis.  She seemed unsure, as if she were dancing with a stranger.

Alek is always a pleasure to watch.  Andy did much better with a new partner.

Nick???  Missed his performance.

So good to see Maks sitting there.

Thanks for the correction, SLA.  I have been mixing up Witney and Lindsay since they were on SYTYCD.  < lol >  I also didn't realize that Alek's scores were that low.  I think I must have been in the other room when they were announced.  For me that should have been his highest scoring dance of the season.  I figured he would have gotten a mix of 8s and maybe a 9.  I really liked that dance.  I did feel a bit bad for him, though, with all the pushing of the showmance with Emma.  He was a good sport about it, but I'm thinking he probably wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.  He doesn't strike me as someone who would be real comfortable with that kind of teasing in such a public setting. 

Singly - you didn't miss much really.  It was an okay paso but not great.  He performed it well enough, but the music didn't really fit for a paso, imho, and Nick didn't really get the "Spanish lines" down all that well.  And it was a very odd intro package that I don't think made either Nick or Witney look that good.

Hopefully they will lighten up next week.  For me anyway they've kind of crossed the line out of good taste.  Alek definitely should have gotten a few more 8s, maybe even all 8s.  That was a very nice dance.

Newto - I agree about the suit.  Didn't care for it at all.  But I did like his hair and beard.  I like him clean-shaven as well, but he does the 'scruffy' look well too. 

Agreed, SLA.  Now if we can just get Mark to give up the "man bun," I'll be a happy camper.  That is not a good look on anyone.  :\

Thanks for that link, SLA.  It was interesting, but also very predictable for them.  Of course Derek was the best.  Derek is always the best at everything for those guys.  And because Derek and Mark are best buds, Mark was second.  No surprise there.  And they've got Val all the way down at #6.  Why?  Because he got Bindi, Derek's partner, and Derek is so awesome that Bindi is so well trained that Val didn't have to do anything last week to be great.  The next two rankings both get dinged for having dancers that could dance and going overboard on the choreography, but Val gets no credit for NOT falling into that trap and going overboard with Bindi.  He made it just hard enough to be challenging and for the audience to know it was challenging but not so hard that she faltered.  Zero credit.  It would have been interesting to see where they would have ranked him if Maks hadn't given them that 10.  Would Val have been last for not being able to get a 10 with the incredible awesomeness that is Derek which naturally flowed over to his partner?  < lol >

Don't get me wrong - I think Derek is doing a great job this season with Bindi.  She's a definite top contender for the trophy this season, and I like her.  But the obvious favoritism at that site is a bit much.  I don't think there's been a worthy winner in the last several years anyway who wasn't Derek's partner.

So true, Lesallee.  I think the season I finally gave up that website was when they insisted Meryl Davis couldn't dance.  Maks' choreography was simplistic and boring, and Meryl had poor technique but she was a showman because of her skating career.  She was over-praised, over-scored and over-pimped, and the only reason she won was because TPTB had "promised" Maks the win if he came back for another season.  It was then that I truly realized that they're all nuts over there.