Season 21 - Week 2

These dances will be shorter than The Minute Waltz!

Here's the ABC press release:

Dancing with the Stars Week 2: The Two-Night "Hometown Glory" Event
By Micheline Goldstein Sep 18, 2015

Dancing with the Stars is back for Week 2 of Season 21 with a two-night "Hometown Glory" event. With two nights of dancing and two eliminations, the couples are gearing up for one of the toughest weeks of the competition. For the "Hometown Glory" shows, each couple will dance two new dance styles to songs that remind the celebrity and pro dancer of the places that shaped who they are today. Live on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 8|7c, the pairs will dance to a song that commemorates the celebrity's hometown. At the end of the night, the couple with the lowest combined judges' score and viewer votes from Week 1 will be eliminated.



Live on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 9|8c, each remaining couple will dance another dance to a song that the pro dancer has chosen which reminds them of where they grew up. Another couple will be eliminated on the Tuesday night live show, based on the combined judges' and viewer votes from Monday's show.

So does one couple get the boot tonight and the other tomorrow?  My guess is Kim and Gary or maybe Paula.

It seems pretty clear that one couple will go each night.  They talk about tomorrow night's elimination being based on our votes tonight and judge's scores tomorrow.

From what I've seen, it looks like most folks are leaning towards Kim going tonight.  That's fine with me; she didn't impress last week at all.  I am worried about Victor, though.  With his short term memory issues, I can see this being really tough for him to do.  Gary may stick around for a while just because people may want to see how he reacts to the stress of doing the show.  Paula could be another who may be in trouble if people can't or won't overlook her past and don't vote for her.  I think Chaka just based on who she is will be around at least another week or two maybe.

Laugh of the night:  Bruno equating Kim to Lazarus.

Favorite dance:  Alek and Lindsay

Surprises:  Paula, Kim and Gary

I find I'm getting the feeling Victor is being pimped as a joke.  Don't like the humiliation factor.  The judges are stroking him with words but giving him the low scores his dances have deserved.

While Alexa's dance was good, something bothers me.  Don't know if it's her hip joints or a stiffness in her lower back.  It seems to throw things off a tad when I watch her.  Anyone else notice?  Given the black leopard nose, it shouldn't be too long before Mark goes searching through the Muppets' closets.  He's gearing up, folks.

Normally, I find it bothersome when dancers sing along to the music, but last night, there were some gaping mouths - fly catchers through the entire dance.

Considering the surprises this week, I believe the right person went home.

Despite the negative comments, I thought it was a good show.

Funny how different people see different things.  I thought Alek did the lifts pretty well for a celebrity, but that didn't really surprise me because he just looks physically strong and Lindsey probably weighs 100 pounds soaking wet.    But I didn't think he looked good in the rest of the dance.  His movement seemed kind of clunky and a tad bit stompy to me.  Maybe it's my natural dislike of contemporary coming through.  I still threw a few votes his way, but I was shocked at the scores.  I didn't think overall it was that good. 

I was shocked that Chaka was the first to go.  "Through the Fire" is one of my favorite songs, and when it comes on on the iPod, I usually play it three or four times before I move on.  She had a whole bunch of other hits as well, so I figured with DWTS skewing older, she'd be a lock to stay for a few more weeks at least.  We don't know whether Kim was in danger or not, do we?  Did Tom say those were the bottom 2 or just the ones 'in jeopardy?'  If those were the bottom 2, then Kim has a bigger fan base than I would have expected.

Paula did much better last night both in terms of dancing and in terms of not being obnoxious.  This show went a long way towards rehabilitating  Andy Dick's reputation - whoever said that was right - and it might do the same thing for Paula if she can continue to behave with some class.  I'd be okay with that - I love Louis, and it's so nice to have him back on the screen. 

Gary did much better last night as well, and I love Anna so I'd be okay with him making it past tonight so we can see Anna another week.  Victor cannot dance, but he just looks like he's having so much fun, you can't help but smile.  I don't know how much longer he'll go, but I'm glad he wasn't the first one out.  He just seems too nice for that. 

For me that standouts were Tamar, Bindi, Alexa, Carlos and Nick. I'm not sure I thought any of them did better than they did last week, but I don't blame them either because of having to learn two dances the second week.  That's just so unfair to them really.  But it will start to separate the wheat from the chaff.  The best dancers will be able to do a credible, if not outstanding, job while the lesser dances with struggle with both.  I thought Bindi did well with the tango, but something seemed 'young' about her, so I didn't quite buy it.  But she did it well.  Nick had the slip.  Alexa and Carlos didn't seem to have quite the technique as last week but were fun to watch and did well.  Was anyone surprised that they got the same scores?  Anyone?  Yeah, didn't think so.  At least they were less obnoxious about the 'married couple' last night.  Tamar also did well, but it too was off just a bit from last week, I thought.  Nick had the slip but recovered well.   But I do think those are the top contenders right now. 

I think Andy would do better with a better pro.  I wish I could get behind Allison as a pro, because I thought she was amazing on SYTYCD, but I just don't like her as a pro on this show.  I just don't think she knows enough about ballroom to be able to teach it to someone else well.  I think Andy will get through on his fan base for a while, but I will be surprised if we see any real improvement in technique with Allison as his pro.

Hayes seemed quite awkward to me, so I was surprised at his scores and the judges' gushing.  He's a cute kid, he seems nice and polite, and who doesn't love a kid who loves his mother?  I think he'll be around for a while, but I suspect he'll do better with the more energetic dances, although Emma is a good teacher, so maybe she can smooth things out.

I hate that the show runs from 9 - 11 tonight.  We usually go to bed at 10.  Not sure yet whether I'll try to stay up to watch it all live or just tape the last half and watch later.  Does anyone know if we get to vote again tonight?  If so, I'll probably stay up so I can vote at least semi-intelligently (considering I don't really know that much about ballroom dancing but I do know what I like and think looks good). 

Well, I must say I enjoyed most all the dances last night.

I'm glad the judges finally validated my sense of something going on with Alexa's back.  I was beginning to think I was the only one who saw it.

It's so impressive to see such grace and fluidity in a non-dancer such as Alek.  He's enjoyable to watch.

Finally, watching Anna's face is much like seeing a captive maiden, particularly in last night's costume.  When Victor was eliminated, I found myself wondering if her expression of disappointment was because of his departure - or because Gary stayed.

I'm sorry to see Victor go.  He was a terrible dancer, but he was having so much fun.  At least he went out on a 'high' note.  I didn't see a whole lot of rumba in his dance, but it still seemed to me to be his best effort so far.

Absolutely loved Tamar's Charleston, but I generally enjoy a Charleston anyway, including Kirstie Alley's with Maks.  It's just such a fun dance.  This one was an updated Charleston, and it was fast, fun and furious.  My favorite dance of the night.  Nick redeemed himself - much better than Monday night.  I thought Hayes was much better as well.  As was Alek.  I wasn't crazy about the contemporary or jazz or whatever DWTS was calling it on Monday, but I did like his dance last night.  Very graceful. 

It was interesting to watch Mark pushing Alexa around last night.  At one point you can see him grab her hips and push them back and forth because she wasn't doing any of the hip action.  And when she did the Shirley Ballas move, you can see Mark having to push her leg back around in order for her to get out of the position.  Usually those things are done rather subtly, so maybe it was just that the camera was in the right (or wrong) spot so it was obvious. 

Carlos and Bindi also did very well last night.  Gary was down after Monday's night dance, but God love him, he was giving it his all.  lol  Paula, Kim and whoever I've forgotten all did okay.  I didn't think anyone was truly awful except maybe Gary, and even he had a couple of moments.

Next week is TV week, so that is usually fun.  I'm thinking maybe Gary will be next to go.

mustang, grabbing her hips and pushing her leg are a reflection of what I've observed with Alexa.  I can't help but wonder if she has hip or low back problems.

USN - I wondered about that as well.  I'm wondering if Allison choreographed the backward steps because he simply could not lift and hold her well enough without moving to get his balance.  It would make sense and would be clever of her to disguise that.

Singly - I hadn't noticed it before last night, but it just struck me as very obvious.  But no one else has said anything about it, so I was beginning to think I had imagined it.  Nice to know you and USN saw it as well, and I'm not crazy.  Well . . .  I may be crazy but just not on account of this.  < lol >

It will be interesting to see how everyone does next week.  Having to learn 2 dances in the second week was kind of a trial by fire.  I'm wondering if they will find it easier to pick up choreography now that they are going back to just one dance and will end up being more polished going forward.