Reality Show Round-Up

A new year means new seasons of my three favorite reality shows – Survivor, The Amazing Race, and Dancing with the Stars. Survivor and The Amazing Race both premiered back in February so they are both fairly deep in the season while we are only just heading into Week 5 of Dancing with the Stars. While I have for the most part enjoyed this season of The Amazing Race and Dancing with the Stars so far, I cannot say the same for Survivor. This is the first season in a long time of the latter show, I am thinking of bailing on. So let’s get to it all.

Survivor

As I noted above, this season has been almost painful to get through and it especially disappointing coming off what was such a fantastic season with Second Chances. However, a combination of incredibly boring and uninteresting game play and boring or asshole personalities has made for an incredibly boring and infuriating season. This past week’s episode was especially disgusting and may be the thing that makes me throw in the towel on a season of Survivor for the first time in a very long time.

It all started when Scott and Jason, or as I like to refer to them “the asshole duo” were pissed about Nick’s being blindsided at the previous tribal council. This, of course, meant that the women, plus Joe, had decided to go for a women’s alliance, putting the two and Tai at the bottom. So like any mature gentlemen, they responded by hiding some of the tools at the camp, which was necessary for cooking. However, it didn’t end there because some of the women later had the audacity to be unperturbed by the petty and pathetic behavior and just make do with what tools they did have. So what does a mature and gentleman like Scott do, douse water all over the fire the women were using to cook at the time because how dare they not shrivel and beg for mercy at his feet after daring to go against him.

Here’s the thing, a player sabotaging camp life because they’re at the bottom or know they will be eliminated is not new. We saw Jane from Survivor: Nicaragua throw water onto the fire on her way to tribal council because she knew she was going to be eliminated that night. And I thought that was incredibly petty and childish on her part, just like I thought all the other people who did stuff like that were being petty and childish.

That said, what really bugged and frankly disturbed me about the behavior of those two assholes is that one, I already hated them to begin with so that just upped the annoyance but two, Scott especially is such a big guy, that the whole thing felt very menacing and threatening and it made me very, very uncomfortable. I was genuinely worried for these women when they were like, “whatever, we’ll still just do our thing” and good for them while Scott was sitting there getting more and more pissed off. Jason and Scott come across as big bullies throwing their weight around and it is disgusting to watch. Brandon Hantz was absolutely crazy and had no business being on the show in my opinion, but Jason and Scott are not crazy, they’re just bullies and assholes who get off on picking on people who they perceive are weaker than them and the only thing that would have saved this season is seeing one of their annoyingly smirking douche asses go home.

But alas, this is the season where we get the stupid super idol gimmick where two individuals with immunity idols can pair them together to make a super idol and wouldn’t you know it, Jason and Tai, the idiot aligned with the asshole duo both have idols. However, despite this power, one of the two could have still gone home had the six – Cydney, Aubry, Joe, Michelle, Julia, and Debbie – all stayed aligned and voted as a group. All they had to do was split the vote 3-3. The super idol could only be played once after the votes were read, for one person. So even if it was played for one that would leave a tie with the other asshole and whoever they and Tai voted for. A revote would only be done by the individuals who didn’t get votes, which would be a majority for the alliance of 6 and lo and behold either Jason or Scott is voted off.

Unfortunately, Julia decided her path to success lay with the assholes who she is certain she can beat in a final tribal council situation. Of course, she seems to miss the fact that she has to get there and for some reason seems to believe that they will bring her to the end over Tai I guess. In any case, her flipping to them made Aubry and company wary of the split vote plan and then Debbie’s refusal to see Julia as a snake resulted in her getting the boot. So the assholes are still there and still with the possibility of the super idol and they are naturally gloating and smirking about it. Yeah did I mention I really, really hate this season, because I do?

The Amazing Race

On the complete flipside, I have really enjoyed this season of The Amazing Race. Much was made about the gimmick of the season being all social media personalities (and a loved one), with many Amazing Race purists hating and rejecting the idea. However, to be honest, other than Tyler Oakley and Blair Fowler, none of the racers were really recognizable to me so it has been really easy to just view this as any other season.
We have thankfully been spared an annoying personality like Justin’s from last season but we do have the cliché engaged couple who argue for much of the race in Dana and Matt. This last episode saw a full meltdown from this team, to where at point Dana refused to get back in the vehicle to finish the leg. Shockingly though they still did not end up in the last place. To be honest, I’m not really sure what set the situation off and the editing was really weird in regards to it. Because the last thing we saw was they’re getting along just fine at the water park challenge and then suddenly they were arguing about directions in the car.

Here’s the thing, I’m sure Dana is probably a decent enough person in her ordinary life and the fact is this race can kick people’s butt and Matt so far has not bugged me, but watching all their drama and histrionics on Friday’s episode just made me hope that they will be eliminated very soon. Frankly they don’t bring much to the race as far as I’m concerned. Right now I’m rooting for Tyler/Korey because I think Tyler’s awesome and Burnie/Ashley and Zach/Rachel, both of whom are the anti-thesis of Dana/Matt in just being very even keel and very supportive of each other. Brodie/Kurt are probably the strongest teams but they annoy me, mostly because they are very, very, very LOUD and I find the constant bro-attitude tedious. So I would totally be up for their being a surprise elimination this season. I mean it probably won’t happen but I’d certainly enjoy it if did.

Dancing with the Stars

Season 22 of DWTS is well on the way and if it feels like there is something strange or like something is missing from this season, well it is probably because for the first time, since Season 12, Derek Hough is not a competing Pro. After his unprecedented sixth mirrorball win last season, Derek decided to take this season off to concentrate on other ventures, one of which includes a starring role on Broadway in 2017 in the Weinstein-produced revival of Singing in the Rain. While I personally feel like Derek’s talent and creativity is missed in the ballroom, the season has still had its share of wonderful moments.

Probably one of the most exciting things about this season is the lack of a clear front-runner. As fun as the last few seasons has been, the truth is it’s been obvious who the winner would be from like the first week or two. However, this season has a really strong field of good to really good celebrities. And some who may not be that great, have the threat of a large voting base, such as the football players. It is because of this strong group of celebrities that you had someone like Marla Maples go home last week, who was quite good. That said, Tony’s choreography really didn’t do much for her so I can certainly understand why she likely just got forgotten by the viewers and voters.

That said, while there is no clear frontrunner, after four weeks of dancing, I feel confident enough to make some predictions. If I were a betting woman, I place money on this season coming down to a battle between Nyle/Peta and Wanya/Lindsay and my money is on Nyle to edge out Wanya. Let’s face it, the show has been trying to have a winner with a disability for a while now. Amy came closest but there was the Meryl Davis train to contend with that season (oh and Maks’ 10-year journey to the mirrorball) and nothing was stopping it. With no clear and obvious ringer and super popular favorite this season, Nyle is just the type of contestant to pick up the casual voter as the season progresses. Barring something wonky, as in his technique stalling, which I can’t see happening because he clearly has very good natural rhythm, I think his combination of dance ability and personal story with being deaf, will be hard to beat. Also, Wanya seems a little too intense and he may overthink and psych himself out of the completion.

Other observations:

Spoilers: The spoilers for a Nyle v. Wanya battle could be Ginger/Val, Paige/Mark and any one of the football players. Ginger is okay, certainly not as great as the judges seem to be praising her in my opinion but she is bubbly and sweet and more importantly, works on Good Morning America, which means she probably has a whole fanbase of viewers who love watching her every morning. She also has Val as a Pro who is one of the most popular Pros with a steady fanbase of his own and finally, as noted, the judges seem to love her. Paige Van Zant is a really, really good dancer and she is paired with Mark who when given someone who can handle it, can come up with some truly brilliant choreography. The pair has been at the top or near the top of the leaderboard for the last two/three weeks. That said, I haven’t been getting a positive vibe towards Paige online. People seem to feel she’s cold and even think she may not like Mark. That does not bode well for her chances because you simply cannot win this show without having the viewer votes. Neither one of the football players this season – Antonio Brown and Superbowl MVP Von Miller – have particularly impressed me. However, season after season of this show has proven that they come with formidable fanbases so dance ability aside, it is never wise to count any of them out.

Disappointment: My disappointments for a DWTS season is the couple and/or celebrity I expected a lot from and feel like it just hasn’t happened. This season, so far for me it has been Ginger/Val and Jodie/Keo. Ginger/Val may seem surprising to some since as noted, the judges clearly seem to love them. However, I personally have not been impressed and a big part of that has been the choreography. I don’t know what’s going on if maybe Val has hit a block this season as he’s been on the show for a number of seasons at this point but his choreography has simply not wowed and impressed me. It’s all been rather basic and borderline boring, to be honest. So while the judges may be impressed, so far I’m not and I really thought I would be. Jodie/Keo is really tough for me because I can see how badly Jodie wants this and wants to be there and how good she is but sadly, she turned out to be the guinea pig that proves Keo’s limitations as a Pro. Up until this point, many of his fans blamed his lack of success on the show on the celebrities he was given and their obvious lack of ability. While I don’t disagree that some of his celebrities weren’t great dancers, I think it was obvious that Keo was lacking as a Pro and this season is proving it so far. His choreography is simply not allowing Jodie to truly stand out of the pack and based on their two appearances “in jeopardy”, it is hurting her in the votes. That said, I can’t put it all on, Keo. I do think the judges have been unfairly picky and critical of Jodie at times, especially considering their gushing over Ginger who hasn’t been doing much better than Jodie. Their dismissiveness of her probably makes it easier for voters to forget about her as well.

I am excited to see how the season progresses and which couples are left standing in the end. The following are some of my favorite dances of the season so far.

Nyle/Peta – Rumba

 

Paige/Mark – Paso Doble

 

Wanya/Lindsay –  Salsa

 

Antonio/Sharna – Jazz

Reality Show Round-Up

The Amazing Race

And the season’s record of no team that survives a non-elimination leg, staying in the race in the next leg, continued this week. Matt and Ashley put up a valiant effort and they did manage to catch up to a few teams but in the end, it just wasn’t good enough, and they were ultimately eliminated.

Observations

1. Killer fatigue might have set in for Tyler and Laura, who while often a formidable team, made some very uncharacteristic sloppy errors in this leg. This ultimately cost them as they fell from first place to fourth by the end of this leg. However, they made up a lot of time with their tasks and still look very strong to win the whole thing.

2. There was some debate online about whether or not Tyler deliberately steered Matt and Ashley wrong when they showed up, trying to find the Mama’s detour. Some believed he really did believe the driver took Matt and Ashley to the wrong detour, since they showed up at the same point he and Laura were working on stacking the potatoes. I’m not so sure I believe that. Laura and Tyler had been delivered to the wrong detour themselves and knew where the starting point for the potato detour was and so he knew that wasn’t it. Still, I guess it’s possible he really was confused and ultimately, it was on Matt and Ashley to have calmed down a little and realize they were exactly where they needed to be. And there’s no telling if they might have survived the race if they had found the start of the Mama’s detour because racers seemed to move much quicker through it, versus the Papas detour.

3. Okay, show of hands – how many, after the season premiere, thought Mike and Rochelle would still be here at this point of the race, getting ready to race for a chance to be in the Final 3? Go ahead, I’ll wait… But this is really one of the awesome and simultaneously frustrating things about The Amazing Race. It’s not all about strength and skill and sometimes good old fashion luck plays a big role. Also, to Mike and Rochelle’s credit, they’ve personified the “slow and steady” mantra so far. So kudos to them. It is also worth noting that they are now the only pre-existing couple left in the race, with the other three all blind date couples.

4. And because it needs to be reiterated every single week – Free Blair!!!

Survivor

And the pagonging continued this week with Shirin’s elimination. The episode was actually kind of boring and uneventful. Mike, bless his heart, attempted to inject some suspense and excitement in the tribal council by threatening to play his hidden immunity idol for Shirin, since the others couldn’t vote for him as he had won the immunity challenge. However, the alliance of six rightly called his bluff, or at least four of them did, and still voted out Shirin.

Observations

1. This week solidified Dan as one of the worse players but more importantly one of the most annoying. And what makes him so awful and annoying is that he’s that horrible player who not only does not realize how awful he is but actually thinks he’s amazing and quite possibly the smartest person in the game. It’s the level of grandiose delusion that makes it almost unbearable to watch. Although, I guess watching his inevitable ouster will be well worth it.

2. Once again, this episode solidified for me that there is no one left to really root for in this game, except Mike. And more and more, it’s looking like he’ll need a Hail Mary, to pull this off. These people are all just so unappealing – Carolyn has that annoyingly douchey smug look on her face every week, Tyler is a bore and has that creepy, shifty look, Will is useless and an a-hole after that blowup against Shirin, Rodney is well Rodney (nothing else needs to be said to sum up how annoying he is), Sierra is utterly useless and clearly just a convenient vote until she’s no longer needed and well I don’t need to repeat my feelings about Dan. I guess it may be exciting to see what happens when they finally have to start turning on each other but I just don’t care about any of these people enough to be particularly excited about that.

3. This season has been a complete and utter bust so far, largely because post-merge has been so uneventful. What truly makes a great season of Survivor in my opinion, is when after the merge, viewers can’t tell who is really aligned with whom and there are multiple blindsides, excellent use of immunity idols, clutch immunity challenge wins and more. We’ve had none of that this season. At the start it looked like Joe might have some crazy Ozzy like immunity run and ruin Rodney and company’s plans but that only lasted two episodes and then it was business as usual. Again, only a Mike win can save the season at this point.

4. Shirin’s complete and utter glee and excitement over having her torch snuffed by Jeff was pretty adorable and delightful. She is such an obvious and genuine Survivor fanatic. 

Dancing With the Stars

The ballroom’s first shocking elimination of the season took place this past Monday, with the exit of 14-year old Hunger Games star, Willow Shields. This was shocking to many because her scores had been consistently high for weeks and her exit meant consistent low scorer Chris Soules is still in the competition. Outrage spread online with some claiming there was a fix. However, I may be in the minority but I did not find Willow’s elimination particularly shocking.

Back when she scored a 39 for her Contemporary in Week 4, which I thought was way too high, I questioned the strength of her voting base and thought that maybe it wasn’t particularly large and that is why she was over-scored. However, I think there were other reasons behind Willow’s exit and why I don’t think her elimination was such a surprise.

• As a 14 year old, Willow’s fanbase, while on social media, is likely on Twitter and Tumblr, versus Facebook, which is the platform DWTS uses for voting. Also, I suspect that like Bethany Mota last season, while Willow had a decent sized online fanbase, they were either not motivated or interested in actually voting for her.
• The show’s demographic, mostly middle America/conservative, was unlikely to really get behind a contestant as young as Willow. Yes Sadie Robertson did well last season, but Sadie had the benefit of her family’s very popular reality show and the Christian/Middle America block who loved her “good girl” values.
• Finally, yes Willow is part of The Hunger Games movie franchise, which is huge and she does a great job in it, but as a fan of the movies (and books), I have to say that the franchise is really a vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence more than anyone else. She is really the one who has benefited the most and ultimately carries it. So in other words I don’t know that fans of the movie and book series were particularly invested in Willow’s journey on the show.

Observations

1. I have a theory that the judges are trying to lull Chris’ fans into a false sense of security so they won’t be as vigilant in their voting efforts and he can be eliminated this week. It is the only thing that makes sense to me for why they would spill the complete and utter bullshit they were saying after his very average to mediocre Foxtrot.

2. More ridiculous than the praise for Chris’ Foxtrot, were the scores for Noah’s Jazz. Listen, I have said repeatedly that I have a lot of respect for what Noah has been through and what he is even able to still do on the dance floor. And yes, the dance was fun and well put together but it was still a lot of posing and walking by Noah instead of dancing and in no way was it 10 worthy. It is complete lunacy in my opinion that Noah ended the night in second place, behind Nastia, in judges’ scores. And do not even get me started on his winning the Cha Cha dance off against Robert. Complete and utter nonsense in my opinion.

3. I have to say, this is the first time in a really long time, that I’m not really sure how the votes may play out. I absolutely believe that one of Chris or Robert will definitely be eliminated in the double elimination this Tuesday but I’m not positive both will, even though their scores make it seem very likely. I definitely think Riker might be in trouble – twice he’s been placed in jeopardy, he has a young fanbase much like Willow, the judges seem to be overscoring him a lot and Allison, his Pro, is very hit or miss with viewers. Rumer is really good but I’m not sure she really has that big of a fanbase even with who her parents are. Added to that is Val, her Pro, possibly starting to panic and overthink the choreography/dances as they get closer to the end, since he’s never won before. Nastia is really good and quite possibly has a decent fanbase of her own but she’s tied to Derek who is very love/hate in the fandom. But more importantly, Derek got injured last week and so she’s technically been competing with Sasha and so some Derek’s fans may not be sure if to vote for her because they aren’t sure if then Sasha gets the credit if she wins or Derek does. So all these factors make it likely that this may be a very surprising and unpredictable end to the season. Which may not necessarily be a bad thing as both Season 18 and Season 19 were fairly predictable with Meryl Davis and Alfonso Ribero’s wins, respectively.

Favorite Dances

Nastia/Sasha (and Derek I guess…) – Charleston 

This was by no means my favorite Charleston ever on the show and hardly even my favorite of Derek’s choreographed Charleston. I actually thought it needed a bit more Charleston elements but all that said, I loved it because it was just hella fun. It was fun, energetic and everyone, including Nastia (who has gotten called out so much for not connecting and being a little cold), looked like they were having a blast. Total win in my book…

Rumer/Val – Jive 

Like with Nastia’s Charleston, this wasn’t my favorite Jive and in fact, I found it a bit slow at points and not as energetic as I usually love Jive to be. That being said, what I loved about this number is that I finally felt like I did see a different side of Rumer.  She was cute and flirty throughout this number – no intensity, no bad ass, no fierceness – just light, flirty and cute. And it was beautiful.

Reality Show Round-Up

The Amazing Race

This week, the race moved to gorgeous and luxurious Monte Carlo, Monaco. This was actually a fairly decent leg. Yes, the tasks were not particularly challenging. In fact, one task in particular involved one team member finding a dozen roses and chocolates and bringing them back to their partner. Granted this was all done on foot and the racers had to know where they were going. However, the tasks were by no means difficult or incredibly challenging.

That said, this actually turned out to be a good thing, as it allowed all the teams to be neck in neck for much of the leg and therefore, make the outcome unpredictable. This was especially great because the last three or four legs have all had eliminations that were fairly obvious by the mid-point of the episode. For the first time in a while, I really did not know which team was going to come in last and be eliminated. It made for a very exciting last 15 minutes of the episode. In the end, it was blind date couple Jeff and Jackie, who were the last to reach the pit stop and were ultimately eliminated.

Observations

• After their elimination, Jackie, while emotional and disappointed about their loss, talked glowingly about Jeff and how happy she was to have met him on the race and basically states her wish that they will be in each other’s life forever. One glance at Jeff’s very, very silent expression made it clear he did not exactly feel the same. Seriously, it was a hilarious moment, though maybe not so much for Jackie. Especially, as she saw this episode along with the rest of us, when it aired.

• Blair and Hayley finally got along for one full leg. Which means we were finally spared an episode of Hayley’s screeching, yelling, sniping and constant bitching about Blair, all while he calmly just stares back at her, not reacting to her insanity. And what do you know – they actually won the leg. So maybe that will be the clue she finally needs to realize that being an obnoxious and unappealing shrew towards him is not the way to win this race. Of course, even while they were getting along, she still found time to get a dig in, comparing him to Pee Wee Herman in his suit during the dress up portion of the episode. And word from those who have seen the extra episode clips online, is that apparently she spent quite a bit of time bitching to Laura about how embarrassing and annoying Blair is. So let’s just say Hayley is still not winning any prizes for being a decent person. But as long as I don’t have to watch her bitterness and bitching during the episode, it’s all good. But still, it’s need to be reiterated #FreeBlair.

• Tyler, of the blind date team Laura/Tyler, really showed his douchiness this week. He’s been snarky before in other episodes, but it’s mostly just been mild comments. And I will admit this week’s wasn’t that bad, but something about his whole demeanor and his belittling of Rochelle and Mike’s chances really bothered me. I was thrilled to see them get knocked down so low and almost get eliminated after it looked like they got really, really lost on the way to pit stop. And Rochelle and Mike, that team he deems useless and completely pointless, came in third, after leaving their detour task in last place.

• Speaking of Rochelle and Mike, they get props this week for being smart and proactive at the airport. Knowing they were a few hours behind the other teams, having come in very late at the last pit stop, they decided to not just settle for the tickets they got when they first got to the airport, which would have gotten them to Monaco two hours after the other teams. Instead they asked around and went to the desk of the first flight out and asked if they could be put on standby and wouldn’t you know it, they got on and landed in Monaco along with Aly and Steve who were ahead of the others. Smart thinking and strategizing on their part.

Survivor

Well after last week’s awesome blindside, when Jenn played her idol just as she needed it, resulting in Kelly being eliminated, things went as predictably (and read boring) as expected. The former No Collars (excluding Will) and Shirin, remained down in the numbers and after Joe, who the majority really wants out, won individual immunity again, the former Blue Collars, along with Tyler and Carolyn, once again stayed together and voted Hali out. And so, it does look like this will go as expected, at least for the next few weeks. As soon as Joe loses individual immunity, he’s out, Jenn will soon be out as well and then of course Shirin. I feel like checking out and checking back in when things become somewhat interesting again.

Observations

• Based on media interviews Hali has given post-elimination, it seems she, along with Joe and Jenn, all believed that Will was still with them and that Shirin was the one who went against them in the votes. This is completely and utterly baffling to me based on what’s been shown in the episodes. And so it makes me question how much of Will’s game editing is not showing and why they’re not showing it. My guess is that he doesn’t come close to winning so they figure it’s not important. Because I imagine Will had to be doing some fairly good manipulating and lying to have these three so completely snowed to the fact that he’d long jumped ship on them.

• It’s a good thing Joe looks so strong in challenges because that’s the only prayer he has in this game because he is kind of an idiot – albeit a very, very pretty idiot. Joe’s play in this episode was honestly quite baffling. Mistake number 1 – sharing the hidden immunity idol clue with Tyler. This made zero sense to me, as Tyler had given Joe zero indication that he would side with him. Yes, Tyler saw him get the clue and Joe knew he saw him. But so what – immunity idol clues on rewards are no big secret anymore and Joe and his alliance are down in the numbers so I think everyone expected they’d be looking for idols. Tyler knowing Joe had the clue wouldn’t do diddly without him knowing what the clue says. Then mistake number 2 –  Mike creates a ridiculous dramatic performance of announcing Joe found the hidden immunity idol and Joe, despite this not being true, decides to sit back and stop looking. Who the hell stops looking for an immunity idol when you are down in the numbers and everyone is likely gunning for you? That just makes no sense. The only thing I can tell myself is that the editors just didn’t show him continuing to look for the idol because he didn’t find it.

• The editing of this episode was a bit baffling. Typically, if the producers are showing someone bragging a bit too much and basically being absolutely awful, you have a feeling their comeuppance is coming. Also, when a player who has mostly been silent for much of the season is getting voted off, they suddenly get a few more Talking Heads and private interviews. That didn’t happen in this week’s episode. Hali, who was eliminated, was virtually invisible for much of the episode, while Dan got a lot of screen time, most of which consisted of being an obnoxious, condescending, grade A douchebag to Shirin. So when his name was being thrown around and Sierra hinted that she might be willing to flip, I really thought an epic blindside was coming. But alas, it was not so and thus, I’m left with another week of watching Dan the tool and Rodney the misogynistic idiot. Good times…

Dancing With the Stars

We’re already down to Week 4 of the competition and this week’s theme was Most Memorable Year, which featured the celebrities recounting the most memorable year of their lives. Let’s all grab the tissues. Since they started this theme, it’s basically really been “let me share my sob story” week. I will say there were a few more uplifting choices this year, such as Nastia Liukin picking 2008, the year she won the All Around gold medal in gymnastics at the Beijing Olympic Games, Willow Shields recounting the year she was cast in The Hunger Games and Riker Lynch recounting the year his band finally hit it big after years of struggling.

The dancing was okay but I have to say that only three dances were truly memorable for me – Nastia and Derek’s Argentine Tango, Robert and Kym’s Waltz and Willow and Mark’s Contemporary.

This was the first time that I really, really did not care for Riker’s performance. The bright red color of their costumes against the black/white checkboard background was quite distracting and Carrie Ann was right that it felt like he and Alison were almost battling each other in the dance rather than showing passion. Rumer was also disappointing to me with her Waltz, which I agreed with Anna Trebunskaya on the Afterbuzz show, that it felt very similar to their Foxtrot in Week 1. Based on Rumer’s package before the dance, I was expecting something soft and vulnerable and I didn’t see that. I saw the same fiery intensity I’ve been seeing since Week 1 and I think she runs the risk of becoming a bit one note.

In the end, Michael was eliminated and I can’t say I’m surprised. While football players have traditionally done well on this show, they’ve all been either legends of the sport with legions of fans or current star players on a winning team. Michael right now is not signed to any football team so he didn’t have the benefit of having fans of the team rally behind him. Coupled with this, last week his dance was not very good, he looked very uncomfortable and he danced in the middle of the show, which made it easy for voters to forget about him. As for who will be eliminated this week, well the competition is getting tougher and votes are really going to matter, but I think it may be the end of the line for Suzanne and deservedly so in my opinion.

Favorite Performances

Nastia/Derek – Argentine Tango

This was absolutely STUNNING. Nastia’s legs and those lines she creates with them are simply gorgeous and poetry in motion. And once again, Derek delivered on the choreography. That being said, I did get where Len was coming from in Nastia not fully embodying the character of the Argentine Tango woman. I thought he was a bit too snippy about it and the 8 was ridiculous but I as I said, I definitely think performance factor is what Nastia still needs to work on but girl is pretty damn close to perfection in my opinion.

Robert/Kym – Waltz

This was definitely a tearjerker. I thought Kym did a beautiful job with the choreography and I love Robert’s commitment to the show and how much he not only clearly loves being there but how much he clearly wants to learn and perfect the dances. That said, I thought the scores were a little high and a bit generous but it was a beautiful number.

Willow/Mark – Contemporary 

Oh this was a very interesting number for me. Let me just say as a fan of The Hunger Games (read all the books, seen all the movies), I thought Mark did a brilliant job with the choreography and the piece truly captured the story very well. And so as a performance piece in general, it was beautiful. What Willow did, she did well enough. However, there simply wasn’t enough for her to do in my opinion and she got lost in the number. So while I appreciated and even loved the performance, I thought she was grossly overscored with that near perfect score. And her being in jeopardy this week, makes me question whether or not she may not be getting as many viewer votes and so this is a way to keep her around. And don’t get me wrong. I like Willow and I think she has loads of potential, I just think she was way overscored for this dance.