Dancing with the Stars - Season 32

[taf2002]

People always say things like he/she didn't deserve to go home but do you think that dancers who don't get the votes deserve to stay? Viewers need to like their style (not just their dancing ability) enough to vote for them or they won't last. I find Barry very charming - he's not the best dancer but he keeps my attention. Lele didn't.

 

[Aceon6]

If the person is known solely for social media, chances are they’re not getting many votes. The show still skews family/older so those who have recognition from TV or movies tend to do better.

 

[Desperado]

I always love the group dances and Harry did do better in a group, as did Charity who seem to have been having more fun than I had see her have up to now.

I was especially impressed with Harry tossing Charity up and how trusting she was to go through with that move.

Honestly though, I would’ve been fine with either of them going home. Or Barry.

Alyson is getting better and I like her personality, so I’m happy she’s staying.

 

[screech]

Honestly though, I would’ve been fine with either of them going home. Or Barry.

Alyson is getting better and I like her personality, so I’m happy she’s staying.

IMO all the people who came in as good dancers are still good dancers, and those who came in weak are still weak, except for Alyson who has shown incredible improvement, and Barry who I find has regressed a bit.

But I don't think Barry is going anywhere. He has a huge amount of voters. I don't think it's Harry levels, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's one of the top vote-getters. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see either Harry or Barry make the finals (or at least the semi-finals).

 

[Desperado]

But I don't think Barry is going anywhere. He has a huge amount of voters. I don't think it's Harry levels, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's one of the top vote-getters. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see either Harry or Barry make the finals (or at least the semi-finals).

I know… sigh.

 

[Desperado]

Still liking Alyson. Still annoyed by Harry not being voted off.

Ariana and Pasha did not deserve that 39, her upper body posture was terrible.

Xochitl and Val were divine.

OMG - Barry’s salsaing in a wax chest was fabulous! Leaving on a high note.

 

[screech]

I agree that Ariana didn't deserve her 10s for that dance, but apparently we're in the minority. Carrie Ann has gotten a lot of negative comments (and even an article) about her not giving Ariana that 10. It's ridiculous! I normally don't like Carrie Ann but she was the only one I agreed with there. I found Ariana sloppy in her dance.

I do think, though, that Ariana will win the season. She's a good dancer, plus her show has a ton of fans, and she has the scorned woman/sympathy going for her (even though she's not bringing it up all that much).

 

[PeterG]

I'm glad they're doing a Taylor Swift night this week. It will give a nice boost to her career.

 

[vgerdes]

I'm glad they're doing a Taylor Swift night this week. It will give a nice boost to her career.

Yes, I'm sure it will.

But seriously, I enjoyed tonight's show. I thought all of them did well... yes, even Harry. He has improved vastly since the beginning of the season.

Spoiler

But it was time for him to go. It was pretty obvious when they gave the dance-off points to Alyson. I think he realized it too. He looked pretty resigned at the end.

 

[nickp]

Len is resting peacefully tonight up there knowing harry went home

 

[vgerdes]

Did anyone else catch Barry Williams in the audience? That was fun.

 

[screech]

So I read on Reddit that someone discovered that Harry follows Scooter Braun on social media. Scooter is the one who, somewhat controversially, bought Taylor's masters a few years ago. This information was posted in the Swiftie forums, to try to get the Swifties to come and vote for everyone but Harry last night. I don't know if that's how it worked exactly, but the desired result happened, and like Alfonso said, there were way more votes than the other episodes last night...

Overall I thought it was a decent episode. The Xochitl and Ariana relay was the best of the night to me. This week proved that Alyson is clearly better suited to ballroom than latin. Harry still wasn't great, but his jive was one of his less bad dances of the season. Charity still doesn't get 'into' the floor when she dances - she walks her dances instead of putting intention behind her moves. Nice to see a bounceback from Jason. And nice to see a good old fashioned pro dance.

 

[Aceon6]

Just relieved that Harry is gone. With all of the celebs having at least some sense of rhythm and movement, I hope the judges can just judge what they see.

 

[taf2002]

Alyson's 7s for her 1st dance was a joke. It was very telling that Mandy Moore (who knows more about dance than the other 3 put together) gave her an 8. Yes, she had one misstep but it was a blink of the eye, not distracting & I thought she deserved better.

 

[Desperado]

I’m very happy Alyson and Sasha are sticking around, I think she can be even better than Tuesday’s dances.

It was nice to see Jason do the tango, something outside his wheelhouse, and his suit was gorgeous.

Charity should always dance in fringe pants; they seem to give her presence.

Can’t wait for next week.

 

[vgerdes]

Charity still doesn't get 'into' the floor when she dances - she walks her dances instead of putting intention behind her moves.

And even though she gets booed for it by the fans every time she says it, Carrie Ann actually has a point when she says Charity has a "blank face" thing going on sometimes. There's no emotion there. It's not 100% of the time, but it's often enough to be noticeable. It makes her moves look robotic. Technically, she's quite good. But I don't really enjoy watching her. I prefer Alyson, even though she obviously struggles with the technique aspect of the dances. I thought the judges were overly harsh on her during the solo dance section of this week's competition, especially when they gave her all 7's and Harry got a couple of 8's.

My favorite this week was Jason and Daniella. He REALLY brought it, and Daniella's choreography was gorgeous (for both dances). The perfect score was well deserved. If I have my way he'll be one of the final 2, and either Ariana or Xochitl will be the other. I think both women are pretty close technically, as the relay dance showed, and I like them both. Alyson has improved vastly, but not enough to win it all, IMO, though I hope Charity is the next to get the boot.

 

[screech]

One thing that bothers me about fans of this show - if you go on other forums and see people making valid critiques of Charity's performances, people automatically say it's because of racism, even if you compare her to Heidi from last year (also technically good, but no power or performance behind the good steps). As much as I love Alyson's attitude towards this show, I do think that either she or Charity will (and should) be the next to go.

My personal favourite is still Xochitl, and I agree with the judges when they said she's one of the best performers they've had on the show. I think Ariana will be in the top two and likely win. A lot of people are predicting that Xochitl will be a Zendaya repeat, especially since Val historically does not do all that great with freestyles. Though Xochitl has proven, yet again, that Val is at his best when he has a younger partner and can't rely on sexiness. I'll be interested to see what kind of freestyle Pasha brings, as he's never made it to the finals. And this year may be the first time we get spouses in the finals (Pasha and Daniella).

 

[screech]

I was stunned at the 'bottom two' and was hoping they'd randomly do what they actually ended up doing, because I had those two as the 'final two' of the season. Not sure why they decided to do 5 teams in the final this year, but it'll be a jam packed episode next week with 5 redo dances, 5 freestyles, a pro routine, Jason singing, eliminated stars dancing, and Julianne and Alfonso dancing (yay!). Since Alfonso said it'll air on all ABC affiliates, I'm wondering if the show will be 2.5 or 3 hours, to fill up programming time they can't fill due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

According to reddit, this is the first time that married pros have ever made the finale together (Daniella and Pasha). It's the first time Pasha gets to do a freestyle, and only the second time for Artem. I'm almost nervous for Xochitl, because Val's freestyles are usually underwhelming (this is his 9th finale).

This was the first week I felt Charity actually got 'into' the dances. It had nothing to do with her pasted on smile in the Quickstep, but she actually used her whole body and had power and intent in her movements. I did find her flat shoes in the quickstep distracting, though.
I felt Xochitl's samba lacked some oomph in it, but with the insane choreography that Val gave her, that's understandable. Her waltz was stunning though.
No idea how Carrie Ann gave Ariana and Alyson the same score on their jives, but Alyson's waltz was really nice. And that blue looked gorgeous on both her and Sasha. Also, cute of Sasha to mention that Julianne was in Footloose (though Alyson seemed confused, seemingly not realizing it was a remake).
Jason's dances were good, though his turtleneck in his Paso Doble made me think of either Andy Warhol or a 60s beatnik.
Ariana was, of course, fantastic.

 

[Desperado]

I’m not a fan of the 5 finalists as it reeks of gaming the system to avoid losing a favourite - Xochitl maybe?

I missed Charity’s first dance but I would’ve been fine with her going or Alyson as I think she’s reached her plateau.

Next week will be interesting.

 

[screech]

Apparently one of the producers tweeted pre-show that the elimination was going to be surprising, so it seems like the final 5 was planned. Apparently it's also confirmed that it will be a 3 hour finale, so it's likely they opted to keep 5 to fill up the time.

 

[MLIS]

I thought it was kind that they announced Alyson was safe first, and didn't put her through the drawn out "surprise" announcement. Everyone seemed to feel she was most likely to go (and she is the weakest dancer of the remaining teams, although I have loved her attitude and determination), so it was sweet to see her get the moment of pure joy.

 

[taf2002]

I thought it was kind that they announced Alyson was safe first, and didn't put her through the drawn out "surprise" announcement. Everyone seemed to feel she was most likely to go (and she is the weakest dancer of the remaining teams, although I have loved her attitude and determination), so it was sweet to see her get the moment of pure joy.

She's certainly not perfect but I enjoyed her every time.

 

[vgerdes]

This was a highly enjoyable finale. I was a little disappointed that my favorites came in second, but overall the results went pretty much the way I expected. And I have to say Jason's new single was a lot of fun. I may have to download it.

 

[Desperado]

Loved Jason and Daniella’s freedance his lip syncing, not so much.

The winner was expected and a 3-hour show was too damn long and should return to 3 finalists.

It was lovely to see Witney again even if it was brief.

 

[vgerdes]

Loved Jason and Daniella’s freedance his lip syncing, not so much.

The winner was expected and a 3-hour show was too damn long and should return to 3 finalists.

It was lovely to see Witney again even if it was brief.

Jason's free dance was by far the best of the night -- and Derek apparently agreed, as he gave the performance an "11" even if the paddle said 10.

I really liked "I Feel Like Dancin'," even if it was lip synced.

The judges made it pretty obvious who they wanted to win. Did anyone else get perfect scores for all four dances? Make that REALLY obvious. Agreed that three hours was too long -- and it was utterly ridiculous that even though the main purpose of the finale is to crown a champion, they squeezed the announcement of the winner into the last minute of screen time, as the credits were rolling. Extremely poor time management.

 

[Aceon6]

I’m glad I relegated it to DVR. I’m guessing it will take me about 45 minutes to see the packages and dances.

 

[Desperado]

Agreed that three hours was too long -- and it was utterly ridiculous that even though the main purpose of the finale is to crown a champion, they squeezed the announcement of the winner into the last minute of screen time, as the credits were rolling. Extremely poor time management.

Especially since they spent the first 30 minutes as filler with annoying fake interviews, with a countdown clock to performances.

Hadn’t watched the finale live in forever (mostly due to the move to streaming only) and tuned in as a treat but I won’t do this again if they keep to this format but I doubt they will now that the writers and actors unions are signing new contracts.

 

[vgerdes]

Especially since they spent the first 30 minutes as filler with annoying fake interviews, with a countdown clock to performances.

Hadn’t watched the finale live in forever (mostly due to the move to streaming only) and tuned in as a treat but I won’t do this again if they keep to this format but I doubt they will now that the writers and actors unions are signing new contracts.

I tuned out the first half hour entirely. So annoying. And I agree that they probably won't do this again. I think streamers and networks alike are hurting for fresh content right now. They needed to stretch this finale out as much as they could.

 

[screech]

I loved the performance of Julianne, Alfonso, and past winners. Helio does not age. And everyone looked (and sounded) great. Jenna was one of the dancers in the number, so it would have been nice if they had Adam Rippon there for her...

I didn't hate the first half hour with the recap, though I wish they would do something like that earlier in the season. Providing that feedback on some of their dances.

I have no idea what Derek and Bruno saw (or didn't see) when Ariana did her redemption dance. She seemed like she forgot a lot of steps, was lacklustre, and it just was not good. If it wasn't the finale, I don't think that would have deserved higher than 8s. I'd have actually had Alyson higher than her in that round. Conversely, I don't know what Carrie Ann thought she saw in Charity's redemption dance, because I thought it was beautiful.

Jason had the best freestyle by far. Oh my goodness I was exhausted just watching that. Charity did some nice tricks (though I thought she kind of messed up on some) but it was a cheerleading routine and not a dance routine. I also didn't love Ariana's either. It did not showcase the best of her at all. Xochitl's was okay (one of Val's better freestyle offerings), and I liked that Alyson actually did a lot of dancing.

I just realized that for 2 of Val's 3 wins, he played violin on the music in their freestyle (the other was prerecorded, but it was him playing violin while Rumer Willis sung Toxic).

Disliked that Jason lip synched, but he blended right in with the pros in that routine.