Season 18 - Week Three

So here are the dances each couple got:

Charlie and Sharna – Jive

Danica and Val – Contemporary
James and Peta – Jive
Drew and Cheryl – Waltz
Amy and Derek – Contemporary
Candace and Mark – Jive
Meryl and Maks – Foxtrot
Billy Dee and Emma – Waltz
Cody and Witney – Jazz (Music: Surfboard by Cody Simpson)
NeNe And Tony – Rumba
 
My prediction is that there will be no elimination this week because of the switch-up and that's why they did the surprise double elimination last week.  I think Charlie will do great with the jive, Danica should do well with the contemporary (hope Val can choreograph something as great as the one he did for Zendaya), not sure James will be crisp and sharp enough in the jive but I expect him to do okay.  Drew should be able to handle a waltz just fine.  The flexed feet thing they do in contemporary should work well for Amy.  Candace may struggle with the jive, but I expect Meryl will kill the foxtrot.  BDW should be able to handle a waltz.  Have no clue how I think Cody will do with contemporary, and Nene should be okay, I think, with the rumba although I don't really expect it to be really good.  Should be interesting in any event.  This is Most Memorable Year week, which is why there is such a mix of dances - 2 jives, 2 contemporary, 2 waltz, a foxtrot and a rumba.

Here are some guesses and thoughts regarding the switch-up:

I predict that Derek's fans will have voted heavily to get him Meryl, and that those who dislike Maks may have voted heavily to pair him up with Nene hoping to be able to eliminate him next week.  I'd like to see Cheryl paired with Cody only because she did well with getting Rick Fox to stand up straight, and she might be able to help Cody do the same.  I hope poor Charlie does not get stuck with Peta - that would just be squicky - kind of like a barracuda paired with a goldfish.  I'd like to see Sharna paired with Drew.  She did such a phenomenal job with Andy Dick that I'd like to see what she could do with him. 

Oh well, since I didn't vote, I don't have a say in the matter, so I'll just have to wait like everybody else to see what happens.

Robin Roberts is the guest judge tonight.   She's a lovely woman but I don't expect her to have much to add to any critiques.

No one seems to really know for sure.  Even the pros seem very hazy on all the details.  I'm wondering if they won't do an elimination next week either and then have a second double elimination the week after?  That way everyone would have a chance to switch back.

CBS did say that the switch up won't be announced until tomorrow morning.  I think they said on GMA.  If two celebs get switched to the same partner, the one that got the most votes gets that partner and the other celeb gets second on their list.  So if say Candace and Amy both got the most votes to be partnered with Mark, but 90% of Candace's votes for to pair her with Mark and 80% of Amy's votes were to pair her with Mark, then Candace would be paired with Mark, and Amy would be paired with whoever she got the next highest number of votes to be paired with.  But I can see problems there because what if another celebrity got more votes to be paired with that partner than she did?  I'm guessing that other celeb would get the pairing, and Amy would move on to the third one on her list.  But I don't know for sure.  It all seems very un-thought-out.
 
The contemporary Val did with Kelly Monaco was beautiful.  It was very emotional and stirring.  His contemporary with Zendaya was the complete opposite - it was very light and breezy and fun, and it's one of my favorite contemporary dances ever.  I get a bit worn out from all the emotion in most contemporaries, so this one was just a breath of fresh air.

I think both Meryl and Charlie will do well.  The foxtrot is so elegant and classic and should fit right in with Meryl's ice dance training.  The jive is going to be completely different from anything he's done before, but I expect he will be up to it.  Even if he's not, I don't think he'll be going anywhere for a long time.  He's just too darn cute and likeable. 

Thanks for posting that press release.  I had heard that the new pairings were going to be announced on GMA yesterday, and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get any info on them.  Now it makes sense.  It'll be interesting to see if it stays secret until next Monday as most of the pros and celebs tend to tweet pictures of their rehearsals.  But I guess it's probably part of their contracts that they can't say anything.  Should be interesting!

I thought this week's show as pretty good.  I'm happy that BDW got to go out on his own terms, and it was his time.  He really seemed to be in pain last week.  Maks and Meryl were smoking in that foxtrot.  Loved it!  Charlie and Sharna were terrific in their jive, and I really liked Danica and Val's contemporary.  His contemporary with Zendaya is still my favorite, but he did another good job of choreographing a dance I usually dislike. 

Amy was beautiful, but all her dances seem the same to me.  I know she has limitations because of her prostethics, but it seems like Derek spends a lot of time carrying her or holding her or pulling/pushing her around.  I really admire her for doing this, and she's got some beautiful lines, but I find I enjoy dancing more when it covers more ground.  Not her fault, of course, and she deserves to stay around a while longer, but I don't really want to see her win.

Candace shows potential, but I agree with the judges that Mark needs to work more on her technique.  I think he's letting her down.  Drew was fine as was Nene.  Cody was okay - I thought he was the most over-scored.  James did well, too.  No one was terrible, and there's no one I really dislike, so I'm totally enjoying this season. 

I really like Erin Andrews as the co-host.  I was never one of those who hated Brooke, but Erin just seems much more natural and enthusiastic.  Which shouldn't surprise given her regular job - she's used to doing interviews under often-times difficult situations.  Robin Roberts even did a nice job as a guest judge.  At least she sounded like she was trying to say something relevant.  Good job all around.  (And the celebs' kids are adorable.)

As I understand it, the switches were made on Tuesday, and the new couples will dance on Monday, April 7.  I'm guessing there will be no elimination this Monday, and it sounds like the couples will go back to their original partnerships for the show on April 14.  Then I would think there would be an elimination as usual then.