October 15 Dancing with the Stars

[Cherub721]

Yeah, I'm no professional eye, but I didn't see anything insanely wrong with Apolo and Karina's dance. When she burst into tears afterwards I was like, wait, what? I thought she hurt herself. Celebs AND pros have had much worse mistakes and they covered them much better. I wonder if Karina thought if she played the sympathy vote it might keep them on the show a bit longer, but you run the risk of people getting annoyed.

Yeah I thought he had kicked her in the head or something. I mean Chelsie mistakes all the time and she doesn't cry. I think Karina was just disappointed in herself, but like Scott Hamilton always says.... "don't sell the mistake." I took her reaction as genuine. Apolo was so sweet to her.

[Veronika]

even my senile grandmother called to ask if kelly was banging val, she didnt phrase it quite like that but that was the gist.

LOL. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they are hooking up!

[Garden Kitty]

Loved Shawn tonight. She's so much more confident and comfortable than during her first season, and she really seems to bring out the nicer side of Derek.

I thought something had messed up with Apollo's mic, but I didn't see what the big error was. During JR's season he had to comfort Karina more than once and was the calm one when she was having a nervous fit, and now Apollo had to do the same thing for her. Even if she was just mad at herself, she should learn to at least appear more in control even if she's not really feeling it.

Kudos to Kelly for not carrying on about her toe, and Val was sweet carrying her everywhere. There definitely seems to be something going on there.

Sabrina may have done well with disco, but unfortunately, just like on SYTYCD, even very good disco is never going to have the emotional or overall impact of many other styles.

Based on performance alone tonight, I'd send Kirstie home. She started out very well, but there was just too little dancing during the end of the number. But I wouldn't be upset to see Bristol go either - her dance was not that hard and she still seems to be dancing by the numbers.

[LadyNit]

I hope Paula Abdul is not going to be back to judge.

[BaileyCatts]

Maybe it wasn't authentic and as crisp as a pro, but for never having heard of Bollywood, and only having 4 days to learn it, Gilles was pretty damn freaking good! I'd actually give him the win for tonight.

Shawn was perfect, but I almost expect her to be perfect every time anyway because she is such a great performer.

Kirstie and Maks were terrific! That was pretty damn good for her. I liked her's more than Sabrina and Bristol and Kelly.

And where did Karina even make a mistake? Is there a clip? I didn't even see a mistake so was it really that big a deal? When she busted out crying and just sat there and the camera panned away, I thought maybe she was hurt or something, because I sure never saw her make a mistake.

[Jimena]

She fell on a kick, right after Apolo took of his jacket because of the mike issue. She fell hard.

[Susan1]

I just think its so incredible how confident of a performer Shawn has become. Her first season, she was so awkward and shy and it took a lot to get her to loosen up. But she just rocked that mambo like she's been dancing her whole life! So happy for her.

I know absolutely nothing about the technical aspect of the dances. I just know what I like and I thought that was terrific. However, to you dance experts out there - there is a recap on our morning news after all the reality shows. They have an actual dance studio owner/instructor. He said something like how Shawn "broke on 1 instead of 2 through the whole dance" and there really wasn't much mambo? Len must not have been counting!

[ArtisticFan]

She fell on a kick, right after Apolo took of his jacket because of the mike issue. She fell hard.

From re-watching that portion, it appears that she was also hit by his mic pack when he was removing it. I'm not saying that was the blame. Just that it probably added to the confusion.

I'm not anti-Karina and her emotional display. I probably would have been the same way, as I know she is pretty hard on herself. I realize Tom and even the judges were concerned that she might be hurt. However, I almost felt like they were feeding into her emotional outburst. Tom asked if she was okay and she responded that she was disappointed and that she was fine physically. That should have been the cue to Carrie Ann to drop that and talk about the dance as a whole.

That doesn't mean I want them to ignore mistakes. I just don't think you need to harp on something that can't be changed. The judges should talk to Apolo about his arms or his foot placement. Karina knows she shouldn't fall. That's not a correction they need to continually point out.

Paula surprised me with coherent commentary, but honestly four judges are too many. Even with three we hear a lot of repetition. I wish the judges would coordinate who is going to say what in terms of the each dance. I'm sure there are moments where the pro and celeb know where they made the mistake. Hearing about it multiple times doesn't change that.

[skatesindreams]

I think that Gilles' "Bollywood" was much more difficult for him than the Mambo was for Shawn.

It's probably time for Bristol to go.
It's more likely that Kirstie will.
She hasn't made me root for her this season, as I did before.

[skatingfan5]

If anyone hasn't done so yet and wants to vote online for their favorite(s) -- or someone they'd like to stay a while longer but seems to be in jeopardy -- they still can do so for another hour (iirc). Here's the link to the main DWTS page.

[orbitz]

Shawn & Derek - WOW. Best dance ever on DWTS. Derek really is the best choreographer on the show, and I'm really glad he put Shawn's gymnastic skills to good use. If they were in the final two and they did this Mambo as their final dance then they would've walk away with the title for sure. Shawn looked like a grown up for the first time.

Gilles & Peta - The dance as a whole looked empty/disjointed to me. It was like Peta took a bunch of typical Bollywood moves and just threw them together. Gilles could pass for a legit Bollywood leading man. If the Hollywood career doesn't work out for him then he can relocate to Mumbai.

Apolo & Karina - As a seasoned professional, Karina shouldn't have had that emotional outburst at the end of the dance and then in front of the judges. She should have been emotionally solid for her non-pro student at that moment. It was kind of cringe-worthy.

[danceronice]

but he's teaching her how to trust again!

Do we have a vomit emoticon? Because if not, we need one. I nearly lost my dinner during that video.

I'm not at all getting the love for Kelly's routine. It may be that I loathe contemporary no matter who's doing it (though I grudgingly respect when the people are clearly well-trained classically) but it was every contemporary cliche only without good technique.

They have an actual dance studio owner/instructor. He said something like how Shawn "broke on 1 instead of 2 through the whole dance" and there really wasn't much mambo?

I've never seen anyone on this show count mambo correctly except Tony (who's at this point I think the only pro who would really know bolero and mambo cold), though I've been at competitions where half the real teaching pros were breaking on 1 instead of 2 (in a mambo basic you initiate the movement on the two with a stationary change of weight on 1). Part of it is just laziness, part of it is unless they give you real mambo music instead of salsa or pop, it can be really hard to hear the two. A good mambo song to hear the difference would be "Johnny's Mambo" from Dirty Dancing or "Do You Only Wanna Dance" by Mya.

And no, there were a lot more tricks than actual mambo content, but their "quickstep" had even less actual quickstep content and except for Len no one dinged them for that, either. It was fast and she has very impressive flexibility.

I may have to start voting for Melissa....(I'm not voting so far.)

And I think the producers want either Kirstie or Bristol gone and don't care which--Kirstie just did NOT get flattering video or makeup in the rehearsal or actually performance and went first, Bristol didn't get a flattering rehearsal edit (but it cracks me up that with Mark doing what SHE wanted the judges loved it--no choreo that was beyond her abilities so she actually smiled and performed, no bunny suit. BUNNY SUIT? Boy clearly got his taste level from his father.)

I suspect it'll be Kirstie. I could see a 'shocking' elimination of Emmitt (did ANYONE like that besides the judges.) I HOPE that Apolo's not in danger.

[zaphyre14]

I thought the whole "bunny suit" byplay was Mark poking fun at Bristol for not knowing with a "hop" was and that the edit was basically showing how [strikethrough]dumb [/strikethough] silly she was being by taking him seriously. I didn't get that Mark ever intended to actually wear a bunny suit.

As for the dance, well, I'm not a dancer and there was nothing in that dance that I couldn't do. For someone who's supposed to be working hard at it with expert coaching and lots of practice time, that was just embarrassingly simple.

I can only hope that the VotefortheWorst people have transferred their votes to Kirstie this week. She wasn't good but she was fun to watch.

Karina was ridiculous in he histrionics. I also don't think that she's all that great as a choreographer. Even if she doesn't know hip-hop herself, certainly she has to have had some exposure to it somewhere, and in any case LA is bursting with hip-hop experts. Her first act after seeing the list of dances should have been to put several of them on speed-dial. She's just lucky that Apolo is as good as he is - and a little more up on pop culture.

I am so rooting for Shawn.

[mrr50]

kirstie looked like she was wearing bazooka bubble gum. A giant wad

[Simka]

Karina was ridiculous in he histrionics. I also don't think that she's all that great as a choreographer. Even if she doesn't know hip-hop herself, certainly she has to have had some exposure to it somewhere, and in any case LA is bursting with hip-hop experts. Her first act after seeing the list of dances should have been to put several of them on speed-dial. She's just lucky that Apolo is as good as he is - and a little more up on pop culture.

When Karina said she had "never done hip-hop in her life", I went to Youtube and watched her hip-hop freestyle with Mario. Guess that was so long ago it counts as "never in her life". Granted, she wasn't dressed hip-hop!

[Jimena]

When Karina said she had "never done hip-hop in her life", I went to Youtube and watched her hip-hop freestyle with Mario. Guess that was so long ago it counts as "never in her life". Granted, she wasn't dressed hip-hop!

And she was terrible in that freestyle. Terrible.

She's not trained in hip hop and she's bad at it.

[Alixana]

Karina/Apolo, Peta/Gilles, and Cheryl/Emmett had choreographic experts working with them. So no excuse for not being "authentic" except the celebrities' own limitations (and some of the music was awful .. those singers seem to be getting worse).

[Nan]

The three to watch for me last week became Shawn, Gilles and Apolo. Last night, Melissa became a serious threat and joined the group.

Shawn may have an edge with her youth (and stamina), but the other three are really impressive, too.

[orbitz]

It will all boil down to the popular vote. Apolo hasn't grab me this season. Melissa's performance ability was very good last night, but I'm still only luke wam to her. I think it'll be Shawn and Gilles for the final two, and Derek will win his record-setting 4th mirrored ball .

ETA: Shawn doesn't just have youth and stamina on her side; The girl can do complex choreography and do it convincingly. Gilles can to, but I haven't really been wowed by anything that he & Peta have done so far.

[PRlady]

I think it's Shawn, Apolo, Emmitt and either Melissa or Kelly in the final four. Kelly's whole maybe-romance with Val is constructed to get more attention for a pair that doesn't have built-in fans, and I bet it's working. They also look hot together.

The three athletes Do Not Like To Lose. I'm so impressed with how Shawn has figured out the demands of a new medium and she's about as determined to master it as she was to get a gold at the Olys. Apolo and Emmitt don't take competition lying down either....