October 22 DWTS

[DaveRocks]

That group dance was indeed a hot mess! But I LOVED it!

Apolo seemed off tonight -- like he wasn't really into it. And after the performance, he almost had a frown on his face. Hope everything is ok with him.

Lurved Shawn and Derek's dance. Best dance of the night.

[Spareoom]

I think it's hard for Apolo right now because he knows he's going to be one of the first "big stars" to go home. He was such a convincing winner his season, but he's just outclassed this time and after Kirstie, he's probably going home next. Which is a shame because he's such a good dancer, but that's all-stars for ya...even the best of the best have to go home.

From what I've been reading around the internet, Shawn has been getting a lot of lurve and Giles not so much. So I think it's safe to say that we know who wins the audience vote, but will the judges back off towards the end and let the viewers choose the winner? They seem to really want Giles to win and they're not afraid to pad the scores. Guess we'll see.

[BaileyCatts]

Kelly was so right when she made that comment about watching train-wrecks. That group number was both and at the same time. But even though it wasn't anywhere near dancing-wise as Shawn's group, I loved it. I guess they knew they weren't gonna match them dancing so might as well go big on entertainment.

I think poor Kirstie is the next to go. And then I agree Apolo will probably be next. I just hope that it does wind up with the 3 best dancers in the Finals.

[ArtisticFan]

Apolo seemed off tonight -- like he wasn't really into it. And after the performance, he almost had a frown on his face. Hope everything is ok with him.

Rumor has it that he had a stomach virus in the past few days. If that's true, I can see him feeling weak and struggling to remain up beat while trying to keep things down.

[liv]

Awww, poor Apolo. If true, he did well considering.

I didn't actually like gilles the first time around, and still don't like him that much. I just found his little towel number very funny and was laughing throughout. I'm only on the bandwagon for a very short trip.

I haven't watched this season that closely. My favourite number was Shawn from last week.

[AYS]

I am another who likes Gilles less this season, although I'll honest, I preferred Shawn back then too. He strikes me as a bit arrogant and a little more whiny this time around.

I hope Apolo hangs in there although I agree things aren't going as well for him this time around. There is a huge difference between Julianne and Karina in terms of partnering/choreo/etc. Julianne is a truly talented choreographer, like her brother. I think that's a lot of it.

[numbers123]

Last night's group dance was horrible.

I agree that Apolo or Kristie will go home. Other than Giles, no one could really manage the dance. However the peek at the crotch look was not necessary. As if Gangnam style isn't annoying enough - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6t7oowAsGs

[skatesindreams]

I'm ready for some great dancing next week, with fewer "gimmick" routines,

[pixie cut]

I'm ready for some great dancing next week, with fewer "gimmick" routines,

It's "country week," so some poor team will be doing the samba to "Deep in the Heart of Dixie" or something along those lines. Don't expect too much.

[skatesindreams]

Oh, dear...I spoke too soon.

[danceronice]

I hope Apolo hangs in there although I agree things aren't going as well for him this time around. There is a huge difference between Julianne and Karina in terms of partnering/choreo/etc. Julianne is a truly talented choreographer, like her brother. I think that's a lot of it.

Which is kind of funny, considering in the real world of ballroom, Julianne's nowhere near Karina in skill level. (Derek could have rivaled Karina's best partners if he'd applied himself, but he's more about TV now. And, okay, there's no one on the show who could hope to come near Riccardo and Yulia now anyway so it's probably for the best.) But Julianne could definitely do bubbly TV stuff better and adapt to less-skilled partners.

[Rogue]

Which is kind of funny, considering in the real world of ballroom, Julianne's nowhere near Karina in skill level. (Derek could have rivaled Karina's best partners if he'd applied himself, but he's more about TV now. And, okay, there's no one on the show who could hope to come near Riccardo and Yulia now anyway so it's probably for the best.) But Julianne could definitely do bubbly TV stuff better and adapt to less-skilled partners.

Good analysis. Point on.

[Cherub721]

I think Karina focuses more on improving the technical side of the dancing. She's trying to appeal more to Len than Bruno or Carri-Ann. I personally like her approach. Apolo's footwork in his quickstep was amazing, and the samba steps seemed to be a higher degree of difficulty than his samba with Julianne. He also had some of the most beautiful flowing arms I've seen from a celeb in his foxtrot (I was so pissed when Carri-Ann said she didn't like his arms). Karina hasn't broken the rules or done anything outside the scope of the assigned dance, because she knows they would be crucified for it. It really bothers me that he works so hard and dances so well and then someone like Emmit gets perfect scores just for doing basically the same things he did in his season. I totally disagree that Apolo has been outclassed, dancing-wise, by anyone else, especially not the other men (though Gilles is very good). I'm hoping he has a good fan vote and so the producers are scripting him to have a breakthrough towards the end of the season....

[orbitz]

I don't understand Cary Ann insisting that Derek & Shawn had a lift. Shawn jumped into Derek's arms on her own power, and he caught her. I wish someone would've made her explain her definition of a lift.

[jkl]

Country week huh? That could be painful. I fear we will get lots of cornball.

[pixie cut]

Country week huh? That could be painful. I fear we will get lots of cornball.

It was a mixed bag when they did it before. On the upside was Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas' samba to Party in the USA. On the definite downside was Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff trying to samba to Sweet Home Alabama.

[danceronice]

I don't understand Cary Ann insisting that Derek & Shawn had a lift. Shawn jumped into Derek's arms on her own power, and he caught her. I wish someone would've made her explain her definition of a lift.

Strictly speaking, unless he dropped her, it was a lift. It's not how you enter, it's really 'Can you do it on your own' (with a small dose of how high her foot comes off the floor, too.) And of course, what Carrie Anne feels like that day. (Even in real competitions, it can get fuzzy with things like drags, where the lady's feet are *technically* on the floor and often depends on what the judge is feeling like at the moment, or whether the invigilators call it. Though anything where both feet are off the floor and she's clearly not supporting herself will get you busted.)

[nursebetty]

I wonder why some of the couples spend so much time on the lifts? Like Max and Kristie, when the chances are it's not going to look very good and they waste valuable time that could have been used working of something that would look good.

[cruisin]

Strictly speaking, unless he dropped her, it was a lift. It's not how you enter, it's really 'Can you do it on your own' (with a small dose of how high her foot comes off the floor, too.) And of course, what Carrie Anne feels like that day. (Even in real competitions, it can get fuzzy with things like drags, where the lady's feet are *technically* on the floor and often depends on what the judge is feeling like at the moment, or whether the invigilators call it. Though anything where both feet are off the floor and she's clearly not supporting herself will get you busted.)

I'm not clear on why the "lift" was an issue. Other couples did lifts. Is it that the rhumba just shouldn't have one?

[pixie cut]

I'm not clear on why the "lift" was an issue. Other couples did lifts. Is it that the rhumba just shouldn't have one?

No lifts in the rumba. No lifts in most of the standard and Latin dances. Lifts are generally only allowed in dances like Argentine tango. Some weeks, like last week when they had the wide range of styles, it was declared that lifts were allowed. As the group dances were freestyles, those allowed lifts. As a general rule, no lifts on DWTS except in Argentine tango and freestyle. Carrie Ann is usually very fussy about it.