Season 19 - Week 10

Here's the CBS press release for the show:

“Episode 1910” – Five remaining couples advance to the Semi-Finals and perform two routines during plugged/unplugged, on “Dancing with the Stars,” MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17 (8:00-10:00 p.m. ET). The semi-finalists including Tommy Chong, Bethany Mota, Janel Parrish, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Sadie Robertson will perform to two different versions of the same song. In the first round of the competition, the couples will perform a Jazz, Quickstep, Samba, Paso Doble or Argentine Tango to an original or “plugged” version of their selected song. In round two of the competition, the couples will perform an Argentine Tango, Rumba, or Contemporary routine to an acoustic or “unplugged” version of that same song. Special musical guests will accompany the unplugged performances including singer Christina Grimmie, who will perform “Love Runs Out,” Time For Three, who will perform “Blame,” and YouTube sensation Noah Guthrie, who will perform his cover of “Problem.” At the end of the night, one couple will be eliminated and four couples will move on to the finals.

Couples will be dancing to the following “Plugged/Unplugged” songs:

Tommy Chong & Peta Murgatroyd - “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell and “unplugged” version by Hannah Peel
Bethany Mota & Derek Hough - “I Want You Back” by Jackson 5 and “unplugged” version by The Civil Wars
Janel Parrish & Valentin Chmerkovskiy - “Blame” by Calvin Harris, featuring a guest “unplugged” performance by Time For Three
Alfonso Ribeiro & Witney Carson - “Love Runs Out” by One Republic, featuring a guest “unplugged” performance by Christina Grimmie
Sadie Robertson & Mark Ballas - “Problem” by Ariana Grande, featuring guest “unplugged” performance by Noah Guthrie

Jonathan isn't saying anything that we don't already know, let's be realistic. There's  got to be a better way for voting to make sure the better dancers get into the semi-finals and so on. The panel of dancers with actual dancing experience need to be able to take the lead at this point. I don't think it's a matter of sour grapes....just keeping it real.

http://www.examiner.com/article/jonathan-bennett-slams-dwts-says-no-one-can-compete-against-an-empire

Just heard that Alfonso got hurt during rehearsals.  I think it was yesterday.  Not sure if he'll be able to compete tonight.  I didn't see the whole story - just the 'upcoming' plug on the news this morning.


Update:  apparently he injured his back in rehearsals earlier this week and is being treated.  He tweeted to his fans that he's working hard to be able to stay in the competition and to keep the prayers coming.  Guess we'll find out tonight!  I really hope he can continue.  He was and is one of my top 2 picks.  Janel is the other one.


Latest update is that it's looking good for Alfonso to be able to perform tonight. 

I really enjoyed this show, although I was left feeling a bit 'meh' about most of the dances.  Maybe because it's so close to the end I was expecting a bit more?

Val/Janel - I thought they were the clear winners for the night.  I loved both of their dances, and those lifts in the AT were amazing.  I thought they were crisp, clean, exciting . . . very much fun to watch.

Witney/Alfonso - my second favorites of the night.  It was clear that Alfonso could not dance full out, but that didn't stop him from trying.  Even injured, he dances better than most of the others.  And I love this partnership.  I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for him so he can dance full-out next week.

Derek/Bethany - I was a bit underwhelmed by them this week.  I thought the Samba with Sasha was cute and fun, but it didn't seem overly difficult for this being Week 10.  So I enjoyed it immensely but was left wanting more.  I think I would have liked the contemporary better without the frame - or if they'd ditched the frame earlier.  It felt kind of like it got in the way at times.  Bethany was quite graceful and struck some beautiful poses, but again it just felt a bit lacking.

Mark/Sadie - I did not think her  Quickstep was good at all, and I was amazed when Len mentioned speed because I thought it was on the slow side.  I also didn't care much for the hip hop, Charleston, shimmy stuff in it.  Her footwork wasn't really good either.  It wasn't bad, but I thought it was overscored.  Her AT with the guitar was another one where I felt like maybe they should have gotten rid of the prop earlier.  And I thought it was lacking the usual crispness and sharpness we see in the AT.  Again, it wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was as good as the judges did.  I kind of feel like maybe Sadie peaked a few weeks ago.  She certainly deserves to be in the finals, but at this point I would place her 4th.  I just don't see the same spark in her any more - maybe because she's putting too much pressure on herself?

Peta/Tommy - the jazz was just not good for me, but I did enjoy the rumba.  Very nice choreography on Peta's part.  He was fun, but I'm happy he was the one who left this week.  If any of the final 4 had been knocked out by him at this point, it would have been a joke. 

I am really looking forward to the finale next week and seeing what they come up with for freestyles.  Witney has hinted that there might be some tap in Alfonso's freestyle.  She has had some training in tap, and we know Alfonso taps, and this would be something we've never seen before.  I expect Derek's to be full of gimmicks, but I'm not sure what to expect from Val and Mark other than I expect Val's to be good and I never know what to expect from Mark - it could be good or it could be exceedingly strange and/or tacky (stripper poles anyone?). 

When all is said and done, I will be happy if either Alfonso or Janel wins.  I would be okay with a Bethany win (although not so much with another Derek win), but I would be disappointed with a Sadie win.  She seems like a sweet kid and early on in the season she had a spark to her, but I really think she's the least of the dancers left.

I liked Tommy's outlook and I like that even though he is older and his body wouldn't allow him to do certain things, at least he basically had the dances down and was not clumsy like Michael was...but it was definitely time for him to go.

I think Val and Janel's dances were really good but I did see what the judges were saying about their last dance. Her feet seemed a bit awkward at times. You couldn't tell as much during the dance but when they slowed it down for recaps I could see what they were talking about. It's not that big of a deal for me because I doubt I could ever do that stuff so I give her props for doing it.

Derek and Bethany's first dance struck me like that Desi and Lucy dance they did.  It was too busy and there didn't seem to be a lot of dancing in it but more play acting. I did love the contemporary...frame and all. It was beautiful.


I liked Mark and Sadie's dances but I think she would have been better off with a taller dancer than Mark considering she has such long legs. It almost seems at times that she is trying to compensate for him being shorter.


Witney and Alfonso danced very well but you can tell that because of his injuries that he isn't displaying as crisp of movements as what he did in the beginning. I can totally understand that as they are trying to get him through these dances without further injury. I give him props that he didn't drop out of the competition like others have in the past.


At this point I believe that the best dancers are left and I would be ok with any of them winning...however, I am leaning more towards Alfonso. For someone his age and sticking it out with the injuries and all and going up against 3 young girls, he is impressing me each week and that man can move! His tears are killing me and you can tell how much this means to him.

Hey, rkc - glad to see someone else here.  I was beginning to think I'd been abandoned.    I agree his tears killed me, and his attitude is just so impressive.  I'd love to see him win it.  Interesting comment about Sadie, and you may well be right.  That might be what makes her look so awkward at times.  I think Tony's the only real tall guy left.  Maks was 6'2" and could have worked well with Sadie.  Maybe not personality-wise but height-wise anyway.  I think all the rest except Tony are around Sadie's height.

My DWTS was moved to 1:30 am (football game), so I didn't get to watch until the following afternoon.  Just didn't get into it enough to take notes, but you guys have refreshed my memory somewhat.

I agree Sadie would have been better off with a taller partner.  The flats and low heels always stand out to me.  And while I was 6' (before age shrinkage), I see the gangliness and some awkward movement at times.  While Sadie has had some good performances, I don't think she's outdanced the other three finalists.  Mustang, you pointed out that she doesn't keep up with Mark (energy-wise?), but I view that as Mark's fault.  In the jive, when he's lifting his knees halfway to his chest, it's difficult to keep one's eyes on his partner.  To me, he's a showboat.

Janel and Val have been great together.  She's a talented dancer and I always enjoy their routines.  However, it's difficult to remember her face from week to week.  No "it" factor.

Same with Bethany, who has a real gift for portraying the emotion of the dance as well as the skills to perform the footwork.  No "it" factor.  I didn't get the frame prop for a few moments.  Then, it hit me.  The idea of trying to keep the girl in the photo and not leaving him.  At the end, she did, and exited the frame.

Alfonso...h-m-m.  As I sit here leaning against a heating pad, waiting for the morning thaw of my lower back and hip, I think it was unwise of him to continue with a back injury.  A back problem is nothing to mess with.  He could exacerbate this injury and end up with life-long pain.  I sympathized when I saw the tears, but my thought was:  Stupid decision.  He does have the "it" factor, but that mirror ball isn't worth chronic problems in his remaining life.  Bottom line, I'm just not all that drawn to him.

So sorry about the computer problems.  I've had to get my hard drive wiped of viruses - twice!  As rkc so eloquently states:  A pain in the ass.  Perhaps if they didn't make them so complicated to begin with.....

Glad to hear from everyone.  Are we all ready for tonight and tomorrow?

Tonight was entertaining.

Bethany - Jive - a little lackluster for me.

Sadie - Samba - I somehow managed to ignore Fidel and focused on Sadie.  Thought she did great.

Janel - Samba - I didn't see the fumble but I did notice the grimace of pain.  She was also great.

Alfonso - Jive - He was as good as one of the pros.  Fantastic job.

FREESTYLES:

Bethany - I don't know about this one.  Unimpressive for me.  Too much of that damned "hand" dancing again.  Derek seems to be stuck on it this season.

Sadie - For me, it was all about Mark and one of his outlandish costumes.  I understand he was Mario, but...  I had no idea why the audience and judges' had such a huge reaction to it.  But the guy in green interested me.  lol.  Who was that?

Janel - Fluid and seamless.  Beautiful lines.  Insane lifts.  And that drop ending!  It's the only one I watched twice.

Alfonso - Loved the swing portions and tap.  The rest of it:  Meh.

I think it's anyone's game now.  Personally, I don't think Sadie is on a par with the others.  She's good, but Alfonso and Janel are better.