Dancing With The Stars, Week 9, Semi-Finals

[nubka]

Agree here, partially because I'm also getting sick of Ricki and her "humility". Case in point: "It's a MIRACLE I'm still on DWTS!!!"

Yeah, right honey, you've either been in the lead or near it from the start. It still comes off to me as "I know JR is a war hero, but don't forget about MEEEEEE!!!!" http://www.people.com/people/article...545886,00.html

I read the article and didn't get that impression at all.

[danceronice]

I read the article and didn't get that impression at all.

Meh. I agree with the TWOP recapper (who's a Derek fan but not so much Ricki) who is tired of her weight schtick and false modesty. Really, hon? You've been in the lead or close every week and you're still stunned? And the weight stuff is a little hard to take when you consider her earlier career she was all about accepting people at any size, etc. (And after Kirstie, and next to Chaz? Oh, please. Kirstie had a weight issue. Did Ricki even start out substantially heavier than Nancy? They look roughly the same size to me.)

Can we give Derek someone with a REAL problem next time (Shannon and "Don't hate because I'm beautiful" and Nicole not being like other people don't count)? Then the insecurities and "who-little-ol-me" will be easier to take.

[Cherub721]

FROM TWOP:

The anticipation builds and the competition continues for the two-hour Season Finale on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET), as the three finalists perform their favorite dance of the season. The two couples with the highest combined fan votes and judges' scores will then go on to perform the Instant Samba to determine who will reign as champions of "Dancing with the Stars" and take home the coveted mirror ball trophy. Also on Tuesday, each of this season's 12 couples returns to the dance floor for a special performance.

Should be good for JR. His original samba was underscored, but it really was so much better than Rob & Ricki's. He did really well with the instant dance last time and he "gets" Latin. The instant nature of the dance will make it obvious that Derek was just moving and posing Ricki during their "perfect 30" samba. If Ricki freezes up again like she did with the instant jive, it will leave a poor final impression.

Some people at TWOP are speculating this means the final 2 will be decided solely on the judges' votes. I hope not, and that the judges marks for these dances will be folded into the viewer votes as per usual.

[numbers123]

Some people at TWOP are speculating this means the final 2 will be decided solely on the judges' votes. I hope not, and that the judges marks for these dances will be folded into the viewer votes as per usual.

They instituted the instant or judge's dance several seasons ago when the winner that TPTB wanted didn't "naturally" occur with the the general voter's choice.

[BaileyCatts]

^^ which winner was that?

[danceronice]

^^ which winner was that?

Was that Nicole? Or the season before? With Nicole I seem to recall they just basically set it up so they could give one more score and swing it her way (with a lot of people figuring that meant Evan and Anna were KILLING her and Derek in the fan votes.)

Or was it the one before where they were so determined to get rid of the "ringer" Mya?

[Cherub721]

They instituted the instant or judge's dance several seasons ago when the winner that TPTB wanted didn't "naturally" occur with the the general voter's choice.

AFAIK they've always done it where the judge's votes on finale night counted towards the overall combination of score and judge's votes. They've never done a sudden death type situation where whoever the judges choose wins (they did do that for a few eliminations in the Aaron Carter season but not in the finale).

They can definitely use their scores to manipulate things, but only if the votes are extremely close between the couples.

[danceronice]

I don't think there originally were judges' scores on the actual LAST night, when the viewers could no longer vote. (And since we never know how close voting ACTUALLY is now, they can tweak that however they want--the judges at that point know what they have to do to get the winner that the producers want.)