Dancing With The Stars, Week 7

[Aceon6]

I don't think Maks has ever been paired with a partner who seemed so miserable. He had partners who weren't great -- Denise Richards and Debi Mazar -- but they were at least enthusiastic and they tried. Hope seems so hopeless and Maks clearly hasn't got a clue how to work with that. He's also getting slammed for his inability to work with Hope's lack of desire, and he really doesn't know how to work with that. I cannot even imagine these two trying to do a freestyle, which means beyond hoping Ricki and JR make the final, I have to hope that either KRob or Nancy joins them. What a crappy season this is.

Agree and disagree... Maks had high hopes and got someone who couldn't live up to them. You're told your blind date is one thing and something totally different shows up. Hope seems to have at least half a brain and I suspect she picked up on those cues. No way either of them is enjoying this.

[pixie cut]

Agree and disagree... Maks had high hopes and got someone who couldn't live up to them. You're told your blind date is one thing and something totally different shows up. Hope seems to have at least half a brain and I suspect she picked up on those cues. No way either of them is enjoying this.

I think they're both at fault. If a blind date sucks, you just don't go out again. This is a PAID job. So no matter how bad it is, it's the pro's job to suck it up and work with his partner. For this, Maks is over his head.

I think Hope is passive-aggressive. She expected this to be a snap. She is not very good with criticism. She doesn't know how to suck up her disappointment that this show is actually hard and sometimes you have to be humble.

Two storm systems crashing into each other and the viewers are the ones suffering.

[Cheylana]

I don't think there is "Ricki hate" on this board; it's just seems like she and "golden boy" are being overhyped for the win.

Agree. And while I agree that Derek is a fantastic dancer, choreographer and teacher, I find the show's obvious favoritism extremely off-putting. Is his dancing gift so far and away better than every other pro on this show? Not in my opinion.

Case in point: Mya was regularly lampooned and bashed as an eville ringer, both by the show and by Derek's then-partner Joanna (and he did nothing to slow down her nasty remarks). But the very next season when Derek was paired with an even more ringer-y ringer, the show went on and on about how Pussycat Doll was the Best! Dancer! Evah! and how it would be a travesty if she didn't win...even though she was whiny and far more unlikeable than Mya. I found that double-standard totally ridiculous. But what's more, to assure Derek of the win, they started poking fun at her closest competition (Evan); they called him a ringer(!), they poked fun at his monotone voice (granted, he's an easy mark on this one ), Carrie Ann told another competitor that he had "Evan Lysacek Syndrome" to plant the seed of Evan's vast inferiority in the viewers' minds, and to cap it off, showed misleading and unflattering footage in Evan's rehearsal package on finals night.

[orbitz]

Oh I miss Mya and Dimitry. They had some of the best/hottest numbers EVER on DWTS.

[danceronice]

Agree. And while I agree that Derek is a fantastic dancer, choreographer and teacher, I find the show's obvious favoritism extremely off-putting. Is his dancing gift so far and away better than every other pro on this show? Not in my opinion.

Case in point: Mya was regularly lampooned and bashed as an eville ringer, both by the show and by Derek's then-partner Joanna (and he did nothing to slow down her nasty remarks). But the very next season when Derek was paired with an even more ringer-y ringer, the show went on and on about how Pussycat Doll was the Best! Dancer! Evah! and how it would be a travesty if she didn't win...even though she was whiny and far more unlikeable than Mya. I found that double-standard totally ridiculous. But what's more, to assure Derek of the win, they started poking fun at her closest competition (Evan); they called him a ringer(!), they poked fun at his monotone voice (granted, he's an easy mark on this one ), Carrie Ann told another competitor that he had "Evan Lysacek Syndrome" to plant the seed of Evan's vast inferiority in the viewers' minds, and to cap it off, showed misleading and unflattering footage in Evan's rehearsal package on finals night.

Exactly. I am sure Derek is a nice person. He might be a really good teacher (I think I would probably rather have a lesson from him than Maks at the very least I probably wouldn't want to beat him to death with a baseball bat halfway through). But he DOES seem to be Producers' Pet and the Nicole season was just the icing on the cake. You're forgetting the worst part--when Len said (paraphrasing) after her last dance "There's the winner!" BEFORE EVAN AND WHOEVER WAS THIRD HAD EVEN DANCED YET. Forget telling Hope she's not so hot, THAT had to be the most backtalk-worthy thing the judges have ever come up with.

(And I am STILL hung up on their using "Pussycat Doll" as a put-down this season. Now, if THAT had been when Maks snapped? I would be right there with him.)

[skatingfan5]

But he DOES seem to be Producers' Pet and the Nicole season was just the icing on the cake. You're forgetting the worst part--when Len said (paraphrasing) after her last dance "There's the winner!" BEFORE EVAN AND WHOEVER WAS THIRD HAD EVEN DANCED YET. Forget telling Hope she's not so hot, THAT had to be the most backtalk-worthy thing the judges have ever come up with. Now, if THAT had been when Maks snapped? I would be right there with him.)

Erin Andrews was the WHOEVER WAS THIRD star dancing with Maks.

[pixie cut]

Erin Andrews was the WHOEVER WAS THIRD star dancing with Maks.

They had already been announced as third and danced. Then Nicole and Derek danced and Len pronounced them the winners. Then Evan and Anna danced last.

[danceronice]

See, at THAT point, it would be totally understandable if Maks (or Anna, or Evan, or Erin) just snapped. If she was SO obviously the winner, why bother competing? Give her the mirror ball and be done with it.

[Cheylana]

You're forgetting the worst part--when Len said (paraphrasing) after her last dance "There's the winner!" BEFORE EVAN AND WHOEVER WAS THIRD HAD EVEN DANCED YET.

I was too angry about Evan & Anna's treatment to watch the finale, so I didn't see this, but I did hear about it and it bothered me.

[WindSpirit]

I finally watched the whole show a few days ago.

I had seen the infamous Maks pushing/manhandling Hope scene before on YouTube and it didn't seem so bad as I read many people describe it. It looked much worse in a better resolution, though. Hope was definitely teary. She should have kicked him in the nuts. I was so touched by the way Maks embraced Nancy after she was saved, but I can't get past that scene. His "machismo" and ego are so tiring.

As for their samba. It was bad, bad, bad. I don't know what they judges drunk before praising it. Maybe they were scared of Maks. Hope dances as if she had a wooden leg. And a broken hip. It was painful to watch.

Teddy from the troupe is cute and seems like fun, but his dancing is so below everyone's level it's not even funny.

I also watched Strictly. They also had a wardrobe malfunction. What a difference to Nancy's, though. No camera cuts. No "OMG 5 more millimeters of a boob more than usual, what about the children??" Although I felt sorry for the girl because she got super uncomfortable and even cried at the end. Why on earth do they put busty women in those skimpy tops? Anyway, I guess her partner, Pasha Kovalev was on SYTYCD or something, because people seem to know him here. It looks like he is Strictly's Tristan: new, cute, a sweetheart with an accent and a sense of humor. "Tara rara rara ram, tara rara rara ram... Good. Let's never do that again." Chelsee Healey & Pasha Kovalev Tango

Nancy & Tristan have tango and (insta) jive again this Monday. Hopefully they're going to get better music this time. And hopefully Tristan is finally going to listen to Nancy's advice, "If I screw up on the dance floor, rip your shirt off!"

[danceronice]

I had seen the infamous Maks pushing/manhandling Hope scene before on YouTube and it didn't seem so bad as I read many people describe it. It looked much worse in a better resolution, though. Hope was definitely teary. She should have kicked him in the nuts. )

I'm half convinced that the producers are score-manipulating to keep them in in the hopes she'll do exactly that. That, or punch him in the nose.

[WindSpirit]

I thought I saw a thread about Kelly Clarkson's new album but I can't find it. Since I heard her Mr. Know-It-All song on DWTS, I'm writing it here.

Couldn't get the song out of my head. I was planning to buy it alone but since Amazon charges the same $1.29 as iTunes for a song now, I listened to all samples and decided it'd be more worth it to buy the whole thing. And I'm so glad I did because I LOVE it.

Although I do prefer Kelly live. There are still some singers out there who can sing and don't need all that excessive production around their voice.

[KikiSashaFan]

I love the cd, I bought it the day it came out and still listen to it in my car everyday. A few of the tracks do sound a little over produced, but they still work. The only song I usually skip is the duet with the guy. Country music