Dancing with the Stars

heyang said:

The reason Derek and Mark and Juilanne (when she was at DWTS) always do so well is because they choreograph to enhance what their partners do well and hide what they don't do as well.... this builds confidence for the next week to ease the celeb into the next phase.

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I've always thought of DWTS as the Derek, Mark and Juilanne show. I am not a big fan of any of them.

I prefer SYTYCD, as well..... just because there shouldn't be any 'clunkers'. I have to admit there are some people who are probably kept longer on SYTYCD because of their potential. I can't recall the kid's name right now - I think it was season 2 - the 3rd maybe. He was great at freestyle hip hop, but horrible at all the other genres. THe judges kept him around a couple of extra weeks hoping that something would click with him and let a couple of stronger guys go, instead. Debbie Allen gave him a scholarship to his dance school..... I don't know how his training went, but last time I looked he was teaching hip hop at her school.

Compare to DWTS where some absolutely dreadful dancers are kept over better celeb dancers.

I think one sterling trait of SYTYCD is that the dance community is so passionate about showing the world how wonderful dance is (this includes the judges as well as the contestants) and that they're likewise passionate about finding and nurturing new talent. When you watch this show, it's like an education about all sorts of different dance styles. I never liked hip hop until I saw what it could do in the hands (or under the feet) of an expert. Now I enjoy a lot of it tremendously.

On the other hand, DWTS is a bunch of "civilians" coming into the dance world and finding out what they can do. They represent us, in a way, and many viewers love exactly that aspect of the show. You hear the eagerness in the voices of the celebrities as they find and express this new talent. To me, that's hugely appealing. Sometimes it leads to some clunky dancing, but sometimes it makes for a terrific performance--like that quickstep that Romeo did in a recent season, or Mario Lopez's phenomenal paso doble done to mariachi music. So I enjoy that show as well, for different reasons.

I can't dance to save my life, but I really don't find anything of ME in DWtS... it's just a list of "once were" stars who are willing to do anything to stay in the spotlight - granted there are some who I don't think are totally like that (Yamaguchi being one of them) but I dunno... it just does nothing for me.

I used to dance so dance in just about any form makes me happy. I usually head to the kitchen when they do the DWTS studio practice bits but I do like to see the finished product. Some really terrific numbers can emerge. Even if the dances don't quite do it, I like seeing the pros and guest dancers.
Overall, there is a sense of camaraderie that I enjoy. I have no time for the get-them-before-they-get-you reality shows like Survivor. I like to see good sportsmanship and fair play (especially like to see that in skating where it happens some of the time!) I don't really take the results too seriously as fan voting reasons can be peculiar (not always about the best dancers). SYTYCD and SYTYCDCanada were real eye-openers for me and I saw the new face of dance. I was impressed by how serious the judges and choreographers were about their work.
Back to DWTS! Bergeron is quite good; he's funny and can handle just about any situation. Burke I find useless and so was her predecessor. It would be nice if they could get someone who could bounce off his humour.
I did stop watching for 2 seasons when some skateboarder was on, dropped his partner and left her on the floor and walked off! I was yelling at the tv that no pairs skater would ever let his partner be in that situation. We've seen that happen now and then and skaters have rushed to assist. Anyway, rant aside, I do like to watch dance!

I agree that the camaraderie on this show is very appealing. (Like you, Scrufflet, I have no patience for the cutthroat shows like Survivor.) You can see how happy everyone is to be together backstage. Some of the celebrity contestants have a reborn look after a few weeks, especially the older ones who maybe thought that this kind of strenuous and skillful training would be beyond them. I remember contestants like Jane Seymour and Lisa Rinna who just glowed about their accomplishments after a few weeks. I also enjoy seeing the ingenuity of some of the pro partners, who are also going outside their comfort levels to deal with untaught dancers. Can you imagine the risks especially the women take, trusting their safety to guys who don't know how to grip for the more daring lifts? Man, Kym Johnson almost broke her neck. Even without the risk factor involved, the pros have to be really inventive in developing moves that look complex but that are doable by their partners, who may be of uncertain skill and strength. One of my favorite partnerings was Chelsie Hightower and Ty Murray, whose training couldn't have been more contrary for a dancer--rodeo bull riding! She had to figure out all sorts of ways to retrain his vocabulary of movement, and she succeeded in making him look really good. (The fact that he was completely motivated to train as hard as necessary was also very appealing.)

Then there are the various dancers with what might be considered unusual limitations for a dancer, including Marlee Matlin who is profoundly deaf, Heather Mills with her prosthetic leg, and several dancers who were considerably older than average. It's easy to forget that the latter group includes Kirstie Alley, who was sixty (or possibly a mere 59) when she competed. She gave it everything she had and then some, and it was truly inspiring.

So there are all kinds of human stories in DWTS that add to the show's appeal for me. Oh, and one other one: the music is provided by a live orchestra and vocalists, I believe. This is huge for me. I'm always happy to see artisans get a chance to display their talents, and these days it's a real treat to watch music that isn't canned and processed through a machine.

One fantasy I had fun with was creating a roster for Dancing With Figure Skaters: all skaters paired up with the current pros. Essential? Kurt and Shae be in it. After that, I had fun planning pairings. You'd start with such a high potential talent-wise and imagine the spirit of competitiveness that would kick in!

oh, man, would that be a dynamite show!

Audiences would become acquainted with skaters and how charming they all are. The level of skill would be very high, which would make things extra inviting to viewers.

Definitely Kurt and Shae would be swell ambassadors for skating. And Stephane Lambiel! I'd also love to see Shizuka. And Yuka Sato, though her time is kind of spoken for right now. I'd also love to see Rory Flack Burghardt if she's still skating. She has such an easy, jazzy style. I'm deliberately staying away from skaters who are competing currently, though of course the temptation to suggest Meryl and Charlie and Tessa and Scott (each with a dance pro partner, of course) is overwhelming.

Kat Witt would be interesting paired with Maks (battle of the divas), Kurt with Cheryl, Shae with Derek, and yes, Stephane and Shizuka would be great. Splitting up a couple like Sale/Pel and pairing them with pros could be fun. Yes the urge to do V/M and D/W is obvious. Toss in a few singles like Johnny Weir (with the old wild Lacey Schwimmer, not the newer mainstream blone version). RFB is a good one; i'e always liked her. Chris Dean with?

I thought Len was being so critical with Melissa Gilbert and for some reason I think he does that to get to Maks. I keep saying they need professional people as judges.

Yeah, I thought Melissa and Maks were way undermarked. What's with that?

That's just wrong, Martina Navratilova getting the boot. Why couldn't people vote off that boring guy in the hat?

Just glad to see Melissa didn't get voted off.

Spun Silver said:

That's just wrong, Martina Navratilova getting the boot. Why couldn't people vote off that boring guy in the hat?

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Maybe because Martina looked kinda awkward and didn't seem to enjoy it as much as Gavin DeGraw. JMHO.

The 2nd week was kind of a let down for me. Most stayed 'level' or went down in points, which I agreed with the judges. Jaleel White definitely wasn't as good as he prior week. Definitely some poor posture was evident in many of the others as well. Oh, well, they are there to learn!

All my preferences changed this week. The kid who I originally thought was the best dancer did a vulgar Michael Jackson number. Jaleel White looked suave, but turned me off with his crocodile tears in the kiss & cry. The English girl looked awkward waltzing. Poor Melissa Gilbert! I can't believe they made her wear a bathing suit with fringe at her age. And I can't see what any of these routines have to do with their ostensible dances. The judges disagreed with me about all of these - just like in skating!

I voted twice for Donald and once for Gladys. They seem like class acts.

Spun Silver said:

Jaleel White looked suave, but turned me off with his crocodile tears in the kiss & cry.

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That was a turn off for me too and in a big major way.

At least Gavin DeGraw tears were held back to some degree...loved the tears in his dad's eyes.

Spun Silver said:

I voted twice for Donald and once for Gladys. They seem like class acts.

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Spun, I agree with you .... they both do seem very classy. Gladys just seems to be enjoying herself so much.

^ I loved the bits about Gavin's dad! Gavin made it sound as if he was long dead, so I was happy to see him alive and well in the audience.

As one who learned to ballroom-dance (a teeny tiny bit) in middle age, I am just floored by Gladys's smile! I'm sure I frowned most of the time because I was concentrating on my feet.

Happy that Gladys & Gavin didn't get the boot.

Happy that Melissa didn't get the boot.

So what's going on with Jaleel???? Did he cause a big problem or not???

Dee4707 said:

Happy that Gladys & Gavin didn't get the boot.

Happy that Melissa didn't get the boot.

So what's going on with Jaleel???? Did he cause a big problem or not???

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I read about that. It sounded awful, if true.

Everyone seems to be downplaying the Jaleel-Kym incident as related to stress - the mother of Jaleel's son came out with allegations, stress of learning to dance and stress of dealing with more media's than he's every had to before.

It's not the 1st fighting that's occurred and it might not even be the worst (assuming that nothing else happens during Jaleel's time on the show.)

http://ca.omg.yahoo.com/news/-dancing-with-the-stars--pros-vs--celebrities--the-top-5-feuds.html