Season 18 - Week 8

by **LadyMustang65** Fri May 02, 2014 11:55 am

So here's what we know about next Monday:

Amy and Derek – Argentine Tango
James and Peta – Viennese Waltz
Charlie and Sharna – Quickstep
Candace and Mark – Foxtrot
Danica and Val – Tango
Meryl and Maks – Rumba

I don't know about Amy and the AT. Lots of lifts, so that could be good because I would think that the sharpness and speed of a typical AT might be difficult for her to manage. Have no idea how James will do with the VW, but I think he's generally the weakest dancer left, so I'm not expecting anything except that the judges will over-praise and over-score it. Charlie should kill the Quickstep (I hope, I hope, I hope!). I expect a beautiful foxtrot from Candace and a great tango from Danica. Considering how steamy their foxtrot was, M/M's rumba could end up being hot hot hot! Should be a good night of dancing. Right now Amy and James are the weakest links left, and as long as they are the next two to leave (in any order), I'll be happy.

Now the other part of the evening is the "duo" dances. In an interview, Maks explained it as kind of a mini "team" dance where two couples dance together. In a blog entry, James said that the two couples dance together for 20 seconds, then the pros leave and the 2 celebs dance together for 20 seconds, and then the pros come back for the final 20 seconds of the 1-minute dance. It sounds as though the celebs picked the couple they wanted to work with, so we ended up with:

James/Amy – dancing jive
Charlie/Candace – dancing contemporary
Meryl/Danica – dancing samba

This should be very interesting. I find myself wishing that Meryl had picked Charlie, but perhaps the top 3 scorers weren't allowed to pick another of the top 3? Anyway, I expect Meryl and Danica to be great with the samba. I think they've both done the samba before? Maybe? I think that's what Meryl and Maks did during Disney Week; not sure if Danica did samba or salsa. Anyway, I think they'll be terrific. Charlie and Candace have both danced contemporary (again, I think that's what Charlie did Disney week and Candace started off with contemporary), and they both did very well with it, so I expect this dance also to be really good. The only question mark for me is James and Amy. We know Amy can jive, but she did it with Derek. Will she be able to do as well during the middle 20 seconds when he's not with her? Will James be able to partner her well enough or will she be able to dance solo that long? Not sure. I don't know if James has done jive before, but his feet are so heavy that I'm not expecting a whole lot from this dance. This is my two "weakest links" dancing together. So we'll see.

Anyhoo, I find myself generally really enjoying this season and looking forward to each week. This is no exception. Let the dancing begin!

by **SLA44** Fri May 02, 2014 12:19 pm

Thanks LadyMustang for all the great info and insight for Monday night's show. I am looking forward for the duo dance with Meryl and Danica. In fact I can't wait! I really would love to see a final between the two brothers.

by **LadyMustang65** Fri May 02, 2014 10:48 pm

Speculation is that Danica and Charlie are in trouble vote-wise, and that it will be one of those two who goes home on Monday. I hope and pray that the speculation is wrong. It would be a real travesty if either one of them goes home before the finale. Also, Len has speculated that he thinks either Amy or Charlie will be the winner. I'd be okay with a Charlie win, but I really don't want to see Amy win. Not because I don't like her, but simply because I can't see a win for her as being anything other than a "sympathy" win. She's a decent dancer and a likeable person, but her limitations should keep her from winning over dancers like Meryl, Charlie, Danica or Candace.

by **SLA44** Sat May 03, 2014 11:11 am

Drew Carey said that Amy would win without question when he was on GMA, I really do think that TPTB decide who the winner will be not the voting fans. I may not be watching DWST after this season unless Maks is back for another season. I didn't watch last season so it won't be a hardship for me not to watch it anymore. I think Maks is the reason a lot of people came back to watch this season. JMO

by Guest Sat May 03, 2014 12:08 pm

I'm not so sure Maks will be back next season. I got the idea he was back for this season only. I sure hope I am wrong. He seems to have matured and changed so much, not to mention he is eye candy and an excellent pro.

You might be right that the audience came back because of Maks and if he does not win and/or return they will be turned off.

However, Val is also an excellent pro, and I do like watching him dance. JMHO.

by **LadyMustang65** Sat May 03, 2014 1:06 pm

There has been some talk about Maks coming back as a judge, and he seems interested in doing that at some point, but he said right now he wants to dance while he still can. I'm hoping he'll be back just because I so enjoy watching him dance. Val is excellent, and I enjoy him as well, but there's just something about Maks when he's going full out like he is with Meryl that is just so mersmerizing. None of the others, imho, have that same quality of movement. Love it!

I'll be both surprised and disappointed if Amy wins. She's good, and I'm fine if she makes it to the semi-final really. Even the finale, I guess, if Danica's rib won't let her dance well enough to get there instead. But given her limitations, I think it would be obvious that a win for her was either a "pity" win or a "you're so inspirational" win. I suppose on this show either one is valid, but it would make for a very disappointing (to me anyway) finish when others are working just as hard as she is and dancing better.

I don't put a lot of stock in predictions and on-line polls and such, but on one of the other boards, someone was saying that the host of AfterBuzz said that their DWTS facebook page has been pretty good at predicting the outcome each week. That page has Meryl far in the lead with James in second place and Amy in third. Poor Charlie is in 5th place behind Candace with Danica bringing up the rear. That shocks me to think that could be right as to where Charlie and Danica are - everyone seems to really like Danica, as near as I can tell, and she's a good dancer, so I can't see why she'd be in last place. Or why Charlie, who seems like the most personable, drama-free contestant you could want, is also near the bottom. Apparently a Bing research thing came back with similar results (I think the Bing thing was based on number of times people search for the names or watch dances on youtube or something - not really sure). But I'm not sure the on-line community really represents the viewership at large; I just can't believe those results. I guess we'll find out soon enough! Just hoping Charlie kills it on the Quickstep and in his duo dance and gets really great scores from the judges for a change. Then at least if they're right that he's low a vote-getter, he'll go out on a high note. Or get saved to dance into the finale.

It's hard to believe there's only 3 weeks left, and I'm wondering if they're going to do a double elimination at some point because they've got 6 couples left. If only one leaves on Monday night, that makes 5 couples in the semi-finals and potentially 4 couples in the finale. I guess there's precedent for that - didn't they have 4 couples in the finale the year Ali Raisman was on? Or did she leave right before the finale?

by **SLA44** Sat May 03, 2014 2:58 pm

I don't understand why Charlie is so low either but it seems like the judges have been kind of hard on him and I wonder if that is not influencing the voting on him. I also don't understand why Danica is so low - she is much better than that and her and Val look really good together.

I like Val too but no one can compare to Maks for me and it will be a sad day when he quits dancing. While I would like to see him as a judge in fact much prefer him to what we have has judges right now I love to watch him dance more.

by **SLA44** Tue May 06, 2014 1:11 am

I am very sad that Danica was eliminated tonight and that Meryl and Max are on the bottom. I cannot believe that the celebrity judge gave them an 8 on the Samba. That was ridiculous.

I agree with you LadyMustang that it is too bad that Meryl did not choose Charlie for the duo dance unless she was not allowed to but then I can see why she would pick Maks' brother. It's too bad that they did not do better on the duo dance but it was not as well in sync as the other two duos. Not a good night for my team. I look forward to your critique LadyMustang.

by **USN** Tue May 06, 2014 2:25 am

I agree, SLA. It was sad to see Danica eliminated. I was also sad to see the scores that were posted to night. I don't see how half the tens that were doled out were deserved, and I don't understand, once again, how the comments matched the scores.

I think the eight that Meryl received was the result of Maks' smart remark. He really needs to learn to keep quiet, whether it was justified or not. On the other hand, I thought it was funny what both he and Val said to her.

by **SLA44** Tue May 06, 2014 2:36 am

Yes I wish Maks wouldn't have said that too but I don't know the history with her and the brothers and I think there may be some but still to give Meryl an 8 and James a 10? No way was that right. Now Meryl and Maks are sitting at the bottom of the score board - SMH on that one. Heck I even pulled out my cell phone so I could get another 5 votes in for them tonight. It seems the scores have been all over the place this season. Well I will just have to hope for the best next week but I'm sure that Meryl and Maks will be in jeopardy.

by **USN** Tue May 06, 2014 2:53 am

I was thinking that there was either a history there, or they have watched the show, and don't like her tactics. Personally, I've never watched her show, and from what I've heard about her, I wouldn't want to.

Yes, the scores have been all over the board this season. I sure hope they don't get sent home next week.

What did you think of Amy's dance?

by **LadyMustang65** Tue May 06, 2014 11:03 am

So many mixed feelings about last night. I liked most of the dances but couldn't believe how much more whacked than usual the scoring was. While James seems like a nice enough guy, I cannot for the life of me figure out why he's getting the marks he is from the judges and why he is still there while Danica goes home. She's miles better than he is at the actual dancing, and she and Val have a great relationship, unlike the I-can't-see-the-supposed-chemistry-at-all relationship between James and Peta. There is no way on earth that James should have gotten 9s for that waltz. His posture was terrible, and so are his feet. I don’t know what he’s doing with them, but he never looks light and graceful on them. It always looks to me like he’s stomping or something.

My family thinks I'm a horrid person because I am not on the Amy bandwagon. They are all completely sucked into the "oh my gosh, she gets out of bed in the morning, isn't that amazing?" mindset. She is great at striking poses and being lifted. I get that. We've known that since the first week. We also know from her dance with Mark and bits of her jive with Derek that she can actually move across the floor. So it bugs the crap out of me that every single dance of hers makes me claustrophobic. It's like the dance floor shrinks down to 2' x 2' and Derek carries Amy around as much as he can and only lets her move her feet carefully and while he is in complete control of her body. It reminds me of his time with Maria M, and I despise it just as much. Amy is a beautiful woman, and she seems like a really nice person, but I only voted for her the first week and the week she did her jive. The rest of the time I'm usually just annoyed because she is being over-scored and treated like a hothouse flower when she's an Olympic athlete and anything but! I know I'm probably going to hell because at this point I want her gone before the finale. I really fear that if she gets to the finale, it's all over for the rest who have been working so hard and really dancing their butts off. And that's a shame. And no way did that AT deserve a perfect score. She spent a full 20 seconds in the middle of the routine sitting on the stool while moving her arms of having Derek move her. The lifts and poses were beautiful but that's all it was and not a lot of dancing. Most of her "dancing" was just walking rather than dancing. I know she has limitations, and it's ok to kind of grade her on a curve, but that was way beyond a curve. There were lots of pretty poses in that dance last night but that was about it. It just didn't deserve a perfect score, especially given the obvious mess up with the stool. They gave Charlie 9s for a dropped cane but Amy gets 10s for a botched trick with the stool? There should not be a different standard for her.

I loved Meryl and Mak's rumba, but I agreed with the scores because, like Charlie's with Peta, I felt it was as much contemporary as rumba (although I liked this choreography a whole lot more than Peta's). Still, for me that's a good thing, because I usually despise the rumba. This one had me captivated. That 8 from ALM was ridiculous. I also thoroughly enjoyed Candace's foxtrot. Again, not terribly foxtrotty, but it was fun, and for the first time in a long time, she really looked like she was enjoying herself, and it was so much fun.

Loved Charlie's quickstep. To me it seemed like he was back to the young man I fell in love with the first week, and it was such a joy to see. I was so happy they gave him the 40. I didn't think they would when I saw that he was first out of the gate. I was afraid they'd hold back a bit, and I'm glad they didn't.

I thought the dance duos were fun. Meryl/Danica were the weakest, I think, although I still enjoyed it immensely, but the music was awful. I think they could have done a much better job with better music. How adorable is Val/Maks’ grandmother? And I loved the whole “she loves him best” thing. That was great. I thought James and Amy did well, but I wasn't as wowed by it as the judges were. Charlie and Candace were terrific together; for me they were the highlight of that segment. They worked so well together and seemed to be having so much fun.

ALM should never have been asked to be a guest judge. I don't know what TPTB were thinking. I expected that at least her comments would be more meaningful than the other judges, but it wasn’t so. Hated her flirting with the guys, and a 10 for James? No way . . . just no way. I was so glad that Maks made that comment about not listening to her, and I loved that Derek was front and center in the background clapping madly for that comment. And honestly an 8 for their dance was beyond idiotic, so she kind of deserved that diss. Derek's face when he was being judged by her was funny too. Kind of like "what's that awful smell?" He was more subtle than Maks, but he could be since what everyone was thinking had already been said. From everything I’ve heard, none of the pros like her or approve of her style of teaching kids. They call it abusive, and they did not want her on the show.

Anyway, I honestly have no idea what I think is going to happen anymore. I have no idea why the judges are propping up James so horrifically. I have no idea why the judges this late in the game and after talking about how they have to judge her fairly are still treating Amy like she'll have a nervous breakdown if they point out that she's not quite up to the others. I have no idea what they'll do with Charlie and Meryl over the next week. I feel like the only one that really was appropriately judged this week was Candace. Everyone else was all over the place. At this point I could go for either Charlie or Meryl to win. I could even accept a Candace win, as she's really shown improvement. An Amy win will disappoint me no end, and a James win would seriously disgust me.

by **LadyMustang65** Tue May 06, 2014 12:23 pm

I forgot to mention that perhaps my favorite part of the show was during Meryl/Maks' rehearsal footage. They're doing that hug, and Meryl starts patting Maks' back. He tells her she can't pet him. She says she can. He says well, you can but you shouldn't. She says yes I should. He gives up and says okay fine. That just struck me a really funny and adorable for some reason.

by **SLA44** Tue May 06, 2014 7:14 pm

That was funny LadyMustang but I really cracked up when she a softie and called him a teddy bear and his reaction to that was just too funny. I really like them together and I just saw this fan video of them and so I am going to put it on here for anyone else that likes them:

by **LadyMustang65** Sun May 11, 2014 2:43 pm

Great video! Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy their partnership. Surprisingly (because I'm not usually a fan), I am enjoying the partnership of Mark and Candace. There is a lot of talk about how Meryl has "tamed" Maks, but I think Candace has done an even more remarkable job of humanizing Mark and making him seem really likeable, sweet and goofy.

by Sponsored content

Season 18 - Week 8

Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8

Re: Season 18 - Week 8