Season 17 - Week 8

Okay, it's even worse than I thought.  Apparently not only is Cher a judge, but they're all dancing to her songs.  Just.shoot.me.now.  Ugh.  So here's the dances they're doing this week:

Bill and Emma – Disco

Amber and Derek – Rumba (Song:  If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher)

Brant and Peta – Foxtrot

Elizabeth and Val – Jazz

Leah and Tony – V. Waltz

Jack and Cheryl – Tango

Corbin and Karina – Argentine Tango

Don't know what to think about this week.  Bill will probably not a technically good disco, but I'm thinking it could be a lot of fun.  There are a lot of Cher songs that would work for disco, so here's hoping they give him a good one.  Amber should do well with the rumba, but seriously - If I Could Turn Back Time?  That's not even close to being good music for a rumba, so I expect this will be practically unrecognizable (the song) in order for this to work.  Brant should do well with the foxtrot, but no Cher song springs immediately to mind that would work for that.  Jazz should be a good fit for Elizabeth, but why do I have this fear she'll get some really sucky song like Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves or something?  Viennese Waltz should fit Leah well, but again am having trouble coming up with a Cher song for that.  I don't think Jack will do that well with the tango, but I expect the judges to love it.  He is one of the dancers where I seem to be of a very different view than the judges.  I like Jack, but I just don't think he's as good a dancer as the judges seem to.  Corbin and the Argentine Tango should be spectacular, but again . . . a Cher song?  They may surprise me with the music, but I'm just kind of dreading it tonight. 

Also, apparently since the judges have not been able to get rid of Bill Engvall by hosing him in the scores while inflating everyone else, they are resorting to the dance-off again.  So unless viewer votes kept Bill away from the judges, I expect he'll be going home tonight.  Still no word on whether there will be a double elimination tonight or whether they will do as they did last year and have a 4-way finale instead of the usual 3 dancers.

Oh well.  I'll be watching no matter what! 

I don't know "Dark Lady," but I'm not crazy about any of the others for a tango.  But they're certainly no worse than Cheeseburger in Paradise!    I actually thought of "After All" for the waltz, and "The Way of Love" could work for a rumba, but that's not what they got.  They probably could do the foxtrot to "Kiss," but for me that's just wrong.  I think of the foxtrot as being more "elegant" and less "bouncy" than that song.  I do realize, though, that this is DWTS, and appropriate song choice is not their forte.  Sometimes I think it's more of an accident when they come up with something that really works well. 

Oh, most definitely, USN.    Actually most of these are better than a lot of what DWTS comes up!  And you were spot on on a few of them too.  Well done!

So last night wasn't the trainwreck I expected it to be, and most of the music choices were okay, if not really great.  But I'm sorry - Cher was absolutely useless as a judge.  I mean Carly Rae Jepsen on SYTYCD useless.  And it was pretty annoying how badly everyone seemed to be fawning over her all night.  On the other hand, I'll forgive a lot because of that "knee Bruno" comment.    And Chaz looked really good in the audience.

I didn't think any of the dancers were really at the top of their game either.  But I did enjoy Corbin, Elizabeth and Leah a lot.  Bill's disco was crazy, but so much fun.  Brant, Jack and Amber did well but I didn't think anyone was great.  I called it before the first person even danced that Amber would win immunity.  How sad was that?  I don't necessarily think it was because of Derek, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out they planned it that way to give her knee a rest.  I thought she did okay, but her rumba seemed more fierce than passionate to me.  And I have absolutely no idea why they needed to bring the other dancers out in their uniforms when they did absolutely nothing.  That seemed kind of silly.

I thought everyone actually did okay in the dance-off.  I would have picked Bill over Jack in the disco.  Jack seemed like he was off time.  I thought Elizabeth and Corbin were pretty evenly matched as were Brant and Leah.  Bill must really be pulling in an awful lot of votes but God love him he's having fun.  Can't deny that.  

And Cher should never wear that ridiculous feather hat again.  Oh my that was awful, although I did like the song she was singing.

So there are 6 couples left, and next week is the semi-final.  So there has to be a double elimination next week.  It would make no sense to try to cram 5 couples into the finals, and I haven't heard anything about them extending the season for another week.  At this point, I think Amber, Corbin and Elizabeth will be in the finals, but honestly, any one of the other three could be the fourth couple.  Bill is the worst dancer left, but he's one of the most fun to watch.  Leah and Jack are fairly evenly matched for dance level.  It should be interesting!  Wouldn't it be funny if Bill won it all? 

Yes, Cher was "useless" as a judge - all 9's and one 8, that I remember.  I didn't care for them "fawning over her all night," either.  I didn't care much for her singing, either - she just stood there and sang, without much expression at all.  It was like watching a statue sing.  That striped dress she wore for the opening was not flattering - and way too short for someone her age, even with her great legs.  When she was in the judges's box, it looked like she was wearing a coat over her dress.  I expected a lot more from her considering how they played up the promos.  The other two judges seemed uncomfortable around her, too - she was just so withdrawn.  It was good to see her, and she is looking great for her age, though. 

Bill does seem to be having fun.  I like him more each time I see him.  It would be incredibly funny if he won, but I don't think he will.

BlueMoon wrote:I didn't care much for her singing, either - she just stood there and sang, without much expression at all.  It was like watching a statue sing.  That striped dress she wore for the opening was not flattering - and way too short for someone her age, even with her great legs.  When she was in the judges's box, it looked like she was wearing a coat over her dress.  I expected a lot more from her considering how they played up the promos.  The other two judges seemed uncomfortable around her, too - she was just so withdrawn.  It was good to see her, and she is looking great for her age, though. 

I thought her voice has held up pretty well with age, but you're right - as a performer, she left a lot to be desired.  Although as far as expression goes, I'm not sure she can actually make any expressions any more.  It looks to me like she's had a lot of work done or botox or something.  Her lips barely moved when she talked, and she had this little smile on her face most of the evening like she couldn't completely close her mouth.  It was kind of weird.  But she's got a better body than I do, that's for sure.  She's kept herself in pretty good shape - something I can't say at all.  Unless you consider "round" a good shape. 

USN - you are so right on the rumba.  That was just a bad choice any way you look at it.  On the jazz, they said that was Elizabeth's choice.  She was originally given a different song, and I really wonder what that was.  But after Val had choreographed the number and they'd consulted with wardrobe, Elizabeth found out that Bang Bang was available, and for goodness knows what reason, that's her favorite song?????  So they asked to do that one instead.

Well, Elizabeth may have been off time on the jazz, but I thought it was great.

The tango served Jack's upper body stiffness quite well.  I thought his disco was ridiculous.  Too bad Bill "lost" Emma.  LOL.

For me, Amber didn't do much.

I think Corbin has been in the winning spot since he performed with Macy's.  No contest.

Not too impressed with Leah and thought Bill's disco was quite good and quite bad - if you know what I mean.

Gotta go.  Can't sit more than a minute or two.