DwtS -- Weeks 1/2 performances
Mar. 17th, 2009 04:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arabianThis is a combo post about the first and second week of DwtS, I'm just concentrating on certain couples and skimming over the rest that bore me (or don't annoy me for whatever reason) ....
I'm basing my favorites on four different things now in this order:
1. The personalities of the celebrities.
2. My feelings about the pros.
3. Do they bore me?
4. How good they are -- by which I mean, if they're already slaying it, I'm annoyed. No, I don't want them to be god-awful horrible, but on the other hand, I don't want them to look like they've got it sewn up in the bag two weeks in.
So with that said, thoughts on the dancers/partners and the last two weeks.
1. Julianne/Chuck -- Let's get them out of the way. I love Julianne, I like Chuck, he seems sweet and he's cute. He has some natural talent, and I don't think they even remotely overdid the lovey-dovey stuff week one (I think there was one kiss, some hugs -- which happens with ALL of the pairs, and talk of being gf/bf, and their liking one another a lot, which we KNEW was gonna be there week one since they ARE dating, but that was it). This week, there wasn't much again. I thought their waltz was okay last week, but Julianne did one of her two worst flaws in choreographing. She was too frenetic. It worked with Apolo. He could keep up, and because he was close enough in height to her, it never looked like either was dragging the other around. With every other partner, when she choreographs so frenetically, it's just not good. That's what happened in the waltz. It had some lovely moments, but overall, should have been slowed down a bit and ... smoother.
This week? She did her other worst flaw: Dancing around her partner. And it bugged me, and it REALLY bugged me that the judges ragged on Chuck when it was Julianne's fault. She choreographed the routine that (a) wasn't a salsa, and (b) had Chuck do practically nothing. I agree with the judges when they said that Chuck HAS potential, and maybe because Julianne is his girlfriend it's hampering her truly seeing that. (There's a potential disadvantage right there I never even thought of it.) I mean, because she doesn't want him to get embarrassed she's trying to "protect" him by covering any flaws he may have as a non-dancer by non-showcasing him. In other words, she's not giving him the chance to grow and succeed as a dancer because she's not giving him a chance to fail as a dancer. She's too busy covering up his dancing just in case he doesn't have it in him to do a good job. It's frustrating. Still, if she can start treating him like someone she can teach without reservations, I do think he has potential. So I'm still holding out hope that they'll get a lot better.
Oh, and her costume tonight was HIDEOUS! (Last week, the waltz gown was gorgeous, though.)
2. Chelsie/Ty -- They're my favorite right now. Of course, I already love Chelsie from So You Think You Can Dance, and then I loved them (Ty so much!) in rehearsal last week. Alas, the Cha-Cha was HORRIBLE, I felt so bad for them, but what can you do? And then they came out tonight and *did so good.* I squeed and cheered and clapped. I was so proud of Ty, he was flying across that floor and looked so good!!! Woohoo!!! LOVE THEM!!!
3. Cheryl/Gilles -- Honestly, were it not for #2 and #4 of my why these favorites list, Gilles would probably be my favorite (okay, second) becaue I really, really, REALLY like him and he's HOT!, and he's a fun dancer. But, but, he's so good already, getting triple 9's the second week? It's frustrating. And, yeah, I'm gonna admit it. I don't like Cheryl. I just, I just don't. I can't explain it, she just rubs me the wrong way. People say that the Houghs get favoritism. Look at Cheryl and her partners and tell me on what planet she doesn't get extreme favoritism in the partners she's been handed. Except for one year, she's made it to the semi-finals I think. And here she goes with the gorgeous, charming, clearly talented dance-wise Gilles this time around. Well, we'll see what happens if I get over my Cheryl-issues and just enjoy him.
4. Edyta/Lawrence -- Sigh, I love Edyta, but I find these two absolutely boring. Ah well.
5. Mark/Shawn -- Here's another who I think TRULY deserves the favoritism label (unlike Julianne!). His first season: Sabrina -- who everyone thought would win. Second season: Kristi who everyone thought would win, and she did. This season: Shawn, who everyone is predicting will win. {Yawn} Yeah, Shawn does very well, she's another #4, frustrating *and* boring. When they're getting 8's and 9's the first two weeks, where's seeing the progress? That's part of what is so fun. And I'm being honest here ... for me, ballroom dancing is romantic and sensual, and Shawn Johnson is not romantic or sensual looking. At all. I like her, I cried when she won her medals in the Olympics, but I just want her to be done when I see her on this.
6. Derek/Lil Kim -- So boring. I'm sorry, but so. boring.
7. Tony/Melissa -- I want to like her because of what the jerky Bachelor-dude did do (and if I ignore the fact that she actually was on the show The Bachelor), but she's SHINING, NEON-BRIGHT #4. She looks practically pro out there. I don't want to see two professionals dance in a competition where you have other celebs like Ty Murray -- who has NO experience and is really pushing himself and improving -- compete against former ballet-trained professional cheerleaders. It's not fair and it builds up a resentment. Period. Which is a shame because I like Tony and I do like her. Still ... yeah, frustrating.
8. Jonathan/Belinda -- I like Belinda Carlisle (and Jonathan), but the scary Botox look is scary. She's a horrible dancer, and the salsa tonight? She looked like she was dancing underwater. It was just ... sad.
9. Maks/Denise -- Oh, Maks, you're being adorable this go-around. Love you. Too bad Denise looks skinny-scary. She was awful last week, but did improve dramatically last week, so, who knows? She may really surprise. There was a big difference between the two weeks, so .... And it's Maks!!!
10. Karina/Steve -- Yeah, Karina, just accept it, they don't like you. Ah well. They're fun. That's, uh, about it.
11. Lacey/Steve-O -- I don't know what's gonna happen with his back, but he was meh last week and I wasn't impressed with the dress rehearsal, but that's not a great indicator, so who knows? All I do know is that Lacey needs to not wear such a skank-tastic outfit ever again. Technically, Julianne's was worst-looking, but the skank factor was so high on Lacey's that I hated hers more than Julianne's and after seeing Julianne's I didn't think that would be possible. Oh, Lacey.
12. Kym/David -- Yeah, he's pretty good. But, boring. And, too ... flamboyant?
ETA: 13. Dmitry/Holly -- Eep! I forgot them. I actually like Holly and I like Dmitry too. I think she was awful last week, but improved a lot, so maybe there's hope for her.
So, my favorites right now ...
1. Chelsie/Ty
2. Julianne/Chuck (come on! I'm me!)
A bit of a leap ...
3. Cheryl/Gilles (damn, I really like Gilles)
4. Tony/Melissa (she is sweet, and I heart Tony)
I'm basing my favorites on four different things now in this order:
1. The personalities of the celebrities.
2. My feelings about the pros.
3. Do they bore me?
4. How good they are -- by which I mean, if they're already slaying it, I'm annoyed. No, I don't want them to be god-awful horrible, but on the other hand, I don't want them to look like they've got it sewn up in the bag two weeks in.
So with that said, thoughts on the dancers/partners and the last two weeks.
1. Julianne/Chuck -- Let's get them out of the way. I love Julianne, I like Chuck, he seems sweet and he's cute. He has some natural talent, and I don't think they even remotely overdid the lovey-dovey stuff week one (I think there was one kiss, some hugs -- which happens with ALL of the pairs, and talk of being gf/bf, and their liking one another a lot, which we KNEW was gonna be there week one since they ARE dating, but that was it). This week, there wasn't much again. I thought their waltz was okay last week, but Julianne did one of her two worst flaws in choreographing. She was too frenetic. It worked with Apolo. He could keep up, and because he was close enough in height to her, it never looked like either was dragging the other around. With every other partner, when she choreographs so frenetically, it's just not good. That's what happened in the waltz. It had some lovely moments, but overall, should have been slowed down a bit and ... smoother.
This week? She did her other worst flaw: Dancing around her partner. And it bugged me, and it REALLY bugged me that the judges ragged on Chuck when it was Julianne's fault. She choreographed the routine that (a) wasn't a salsa, and (b) had Chuck do practically nothing. I agree with the judges when they said that Chuck HAS potential, and maybe because Julianne is his girlfriend it's hampering her truly seeing that. (There's a potential disadvantage right there I never even thought of it.) I mean, because she doesn't want him to get embarrassed she's trying to "protect" him by covering any flaws he may have as a non-dancer by non-showcasing him. In other words, she's not giving him the chance to grow and succeed as a dancer because she's not giving him a chance to fail as a dancer. She's too busy covering up his dancing just in case he doesn't have it in him to do a good job. It's frustrating. Still, if she can start treating him like someone she can teach without reservations, I do think he has potential. So I'm still holding out hope that they'll get a lot better.
Oh, and her costume tonight was HIDEOUS! (Last week, the waltz gown was gorgeous, though.)
2. Chelsie/Ty -- They're my favorite right now. Of course, I already love Chelsie from So You Think You Can Dance, and then I loved them (Ty so much!) in rehearsal last week. Alas, the Cha-Cha was HORRIBLE, I felt so bad for them, but what can you do? And then they came out tonight and *did so good.* I squeed and cheered and clapped. I was so proud of Ty, he was flying across that floor and looked so good!!! Woohoo!!! LOVE THEM!!!
3. Cheryl/Gilles -- Honestly, were it not for #2 and #4 of my why these favorites list, Gilles would probably be my favorite (okay, second) becaue I really, really, REALLY like him and he's HOT!, and he's a fun dancer. But, but, he's so good already, getting triple 9's the second week? It's frustrating. And, yeah, I'm gonna admit it. I don't like Cheryl. I just, I just don't. I can't explain it, she just rubs me the wrong way. People say that the Houghs get favoritism. Look at Cheryl and her partners and tell me on what planet she doesn't get extreme favoritism in the partners she's been handed. Except for one year, she's made it to the semi-finals I think. And here she goes with the gorgeous, charming, clearly talented dance-wise Gilles this time around. Well, we'll see what happens if I get over my Cheryl-issues and just enjoy him.
4. Edyta/Lawrence -- Sigh, I love Edyta, but I find these two absolutely boring. Ah well.
5. Mark/Shawn -- Here's another who I think TRULY deserves the favoritism label (unlike Julianne!). His first season: Sabrina -- who everyone thought would win. Second season: Kristi who everyone thought would win, and she did. This season: Shawn, who everyone is predicting will win. {Yawn} Yeah, Shawn does very well, she's another #4, frustrating *and* boring. When they're getting 8's and 9's the first two weeks, where's seeing the progress? That's part of what is so fun. And I'm being honest here ... for me, ballroom dancing is romantic and sensual, and Shawn Johnson is not romantic or sensual looking. At all. I like her, I cried when she won her medals in the Olympics, but I just want her to be done when I see her on this.
6. Derek/Lil Kim -- So boring. I'm sorry, but so. boring.
7. Tony/Melissa -- I want to like her because of what the jerky Bachelor-dude did do (and if I ignore the fact that she actually was on the show The Bachelor), but she's SHINING, NEON-BRIGHT #4. She looks practically pro out there. I don't want to see two professionals dance in a competition where you have other celebs like Ty Murray -- who has NO experience and is really pushing himself and improving -- compete against former ballet-trained professional cheerleaders. It's not fair and it builds up a resentment. Period. Which is a shame because I like Tony and I do like her. Still ... yeah, frustrating.
8. Jonathan/Belinda -- I like Belinda Carlisle (and Jonathan), but the scary Botox look is scary. She's a horrible dancer, and the salsa tonight? She looked like she was dancing underwater. It was just ... sad.
9. Maks/Denise -- Oh, Maks, you're being adorable this go-around. Love you. Too bad Denise looks skinny-scary. She was awful last week, but did improve dramatically last week, so, who knows? She may really surprise. There was a big difference between the two weeks, so .... And it's Maks!!!
10. Karina/Steve -- Yeah, Karina, just accept it, they don't like you. Ah well. They're fun. That's, uh, about it.
11. Lacey/Steve-O -- I don't know what's gonna happen with his back, but he was meh last week and I wasn't impressed with the dress rehearsal, but that's not a great indicator, so who knows? All I do know is that Lacey needs to not wear such a skank-tastic outfit ever again. Technically, Julianne's was worst-looking, but the skank factor was so high on Lacey's that I hated hers more than Julianne's and after seeing Julianne's I didn't think that would be possible. Oh, Lacey.
12. Kym/David -- Yeah, he's pretty good. But, boring. And, too ... flamboyant?
ETA: 13. Dmitry/Holly -- Eep! I forgot them. I actually like Holly and I like Dmitry too. I think she was awful last week, but improved a lot, so maybe there's hope for her.
So, my favorites right now ...
1. Chelsie/Ty
2. Julianne/Chuck (come on! I'm me!)
A bit of a leap ...
3. Cheryl/Gilles (damn, I really like Gilles)
4. Tony/Melissa (she is sweet, and I heart Tony)
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-17 02:14 pm (UTC)By my count, this is the fourth time Cheryl has gotten a "good" partner (out of seven): Drew, Emmitt, Ian and now Gilles were/are "supposed" to be good. She got lucky with Cristian's sprained wrist, I think. But she has been to the semi-finals 4 out of 6 times.
Julianne and Cheryl have both been a combination of lucky and talented, I think. I guess while you could certainly make the argument that Cheryl has been favored, partner-wise, I believe Julianne has been favored, judges' comment-wise. Which...I guess pick your poison. ;p
I haven't loved Cheryl since she danced with Drew, and to a lesser extent, Emmitt, and I don't quite "get" Gilles. But I think Julianne and Chuck have a real natural chemistry, and you've pegged the flaws in her choreography very well. :)
(Still think she had better chemistry with Apolo...hee! :p )
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-17 07:20 pm (UTC)I think she had the best chemistry with Apolo too. Of course.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-17 07:33 pm (UTC)Oh, wow, really? He always seemed so middle-of-the-pack until that wrist thing, to me. ;p
I think she's so popular outside of the show -- featured in other places so much, that the idea that she's shown favoritism on the show
That's interesting...I never thought of that. I know she definitely has her own following. I also think she's somewhat a victim of the "young and cute" syndrome -- where she's judged (positively or negatively, depending on who's judging) based on her appearance. I know Len always seems to love what she does, but now that I think about it, Carrie Ann has always been fair (and even a little tough!) So, it probably all evens out.
(See, she should be dancing with Chuck and dating Apolo...I'm just sayin'... ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-17 08:12 pm (UTC)Oh, Len so does not always love what she does, Len is harder on her than Carrie-Ann. Bruno shows a slight favoritism for her, but neither Len nor Carrie-Ann do. Len harps on her a bit comparatively.
ETA: Because you are NOT Len.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-17 04:30 pm (UTC)But I do so agree with your re Shawn. The problem is she can't really portray sensual and I know teenage dancers. They can be sensual. But I don't see it from Shawn. But to me the top 3 are neon bright out there.
I think top 3 are Shawn, Gilles and Melissa. Top 2 Gilles and Melissa and it will come down to who choreo's the best. And I think Cheryl is a better choreographer. So my initial pick is Gilles to take it all. But Melissa is a strong upset pick - still she's far too much of a ringer for me.
Julliane to me will never be better than when she was with Apollo. They were a perfect pair.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-17 07:22 pm (UTC)I agree completely, but it doesn't make me not still enjoy her and hope that she gets a partner she can come close to capturing that magic with again because I do enjoy her dancing and I like her.