Official Dancing With the Stars: Season 18

[disneykidatheart]

Yes, she shimmied already at the beginning of the show, during the line up.

I feel bad for whoever gets paired with him next week. All they will learn is how to shimmy.

I think he has a lot of talent but he wastes it hiding his partners with shimmy moves. Seems like he doesn't have confidence in his partners.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Yes, she shimmied already at the beginning of the show, during the line up.

I feel bad for whoever gets paired with him next week. All they will learn is how to shimmy.

Which is why he needs to be paired with Meryl. I had hoped that Candace would make him stop with the shimmy. Meryl is my last hope. I'm hoping that she points out to him that she is a dancer and can do more than shimmy.

 

[Imzadi]

I think he has a lot of talent but he wastes it hiding his partners with shimmy moves. Seems like he doesn't have confidence in his partners.

I agree. That is just what I don't get? Mark's parents were (are?) professional ballroom dancers, who taught him and Derek & Julianne Hough when they were all younger. He had the same, if not more opportunities to learn everything that Derek & Julianne did. He and Derek are best friends.

Did he just give up when Derek turned out to be a better choreographer? Did he feel he couldn't compete with Derek on some levels? So now he just does slick gimmicks to cover what he's no longer willing to try to do?

Which is why he needs to be paired with Meryl. I had hoped that Candace would make him stop with the shimmy. Meryl is my last hope. I'm hoping that she points out to him that she is a dancer and can do more than shimmy.

Nooo! That would be such a wasted week for Meryl being given Mr. Shimmy. It's like he does stuff on the level of Las Vegas acts, instead of dances with real substance.

Everyone else will be learning next week with their new pro partners, except whoever (whomever?) get's Mark. o one should be handicapped that way. And Meryl really is a good dancer.

 

[okeydokey]

Have a smiley:

Thanks. I needed the happy dance.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I agree. That is just what I don't get? Mark's parents were (are?) professional ballroom dancers, who taught him and Derek & Julianne Hough when they were all younger. He had the same, if not more opportunities to learn everything that Derek & Julianne did. He and Derek are best friends.

Did he just give up when Derek turned out to be a better choreographer? Did he feel he couldn't compete with Derek on some levels? So now he just does slick gimmicks to cover what he's no longer willing to try to do?




Nooo! That would be such a wasted week for Meryl being given Mr. Shimmy. It's like he does stuff on the level of Las Vegas acts, instead of dances with real substance.

Everyone else will be learning next week with their new pro partners, except whoever (whomever?) get's Mark. o one should be handicapped that way. And Meryl really is a good dancer.

To the first part: Has anyone else noticed how he seems to be channeling Michael Jackson many times when he is dancing? Not really when he is choreographing and dancing with his partners on the show, but when he is dancing with the other pros, it really starts to come out. What's that about? He is the son of Corky and Shirley Ballas. He has won title after title with Julianne. He has been training and dancing since he could walk. He was just as good, if not better, than Julianne and Derek. What on earth happened?

To the second part: Which is just another reason I think she should be with Mark. She came in with a HUGE advantage. She can handle a week of not progressing because that week will still have her head and shoulders above everyone else. And, again, there is the chance that she will tell Mark that there will be no shimmying and he is to actually challenge her. With any hope, it will have the same effect as Julianne coming back and telling him that they are going to actually dance how they were trained to dance.

 

[disneykidatheart]

Well, I didn't think it was a gratuitous shimmy. It seemed to be caused by her dance moves rather than "let's fill eight seconds".

As for Mark, he is a mystery. Maybe that is the best he can be. Maybe Derek has more natural talent and drive for excellence. I know some people don't like Derek but I like how he challenges himself and the boundaries sometimes.

 

[Chuckers]

Mark is a show-boater... He's on the show for his exposure, not his partner's. Last season Julianne said something, while she was judging, about Mark upstaging her.

Funny thing is I can't look at Candace without thinking of Sarah Palin. ::Shudder:: I kept thinking "why I don't I like her?", now I know why. After figuring that out, I can like her now... and feel sorry she's paired with Mark.

 

[disneykidatheart]

Mark is a show-boater... He's on the show for his exposure, not his partner's. Last season Julianne said something, while she was judging, about Mark upstaging her.

Funny thing is I can't look at Candace without thinking of Sarah Palin. ::Shudder:: I kept thinking "why I don't I like her?", now I know why. After figuring that out, I can like her now... and feel sorry she's paired with Mark.

Seeing the shimmy channels Bristol Palin to me. That was the first season I really noticed how many of his dances include it.

 

[marybet]

I don't really understand why you all hate Mark's shimmy. I thought Candance's footwork needed some work. She didn't look relaxed, I just hope they don't stick her with Maks.

I hate switching, the only one I'd like to see with another partner is Charlie, I think he needs a better choreographer, so I'd pair him with Cheryl.

Maybe I missed it but they never said that there would not be another elimination tonight, perhaps Billy was going tonight anyway.

My favorite tonight was Meryl, I think her and Maks bring out the best in each other. I think Danica was my second favorite.

I don't know all that much about jazz dance but Cody just doesn't do anything for me, I guess you have to be in your teens to understand him.

When will we know what partners they get? Do we have to wait till next week or will it be on the website?

 

[KBoopaloo]

I have to say that tonight was my favorite episode of DWTS in a long, long time! I really enjoyed almost everyone's dance! Even NeNe didn't bother me too much. LOL

I do wonder how they are actually going to determine the switches. I think the fan voting is all a sham and they will put who they want with who they want regardless of the Twitter votes.

Here is my prediction:

Nene/Maks
Val/Candace
Mark/Danica
Derek/Meryl
Charlie/Peta
Drew/Sharna
Cody/Cheryl
James/Witney
Amy/Tony

Here is what I would like to see:

Candace/Tony
Meryl/Val
Nene/Derek
Amy/Mark
Danica/Maks
Drew/Sharna
James/Witney
Charlie/Cheryl
Cody/Peta

Also to whoever said Charlie needs to be paired with a better choreographer, I totally agree! I think Sharna was great with Andy Dick but her dances with Charlie have been underwhelming (except the contemporary which I believe he made a lot of suggestions to). I think his talent and skill are wasted on somewhat uninspired dances.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

In the past, when someone had to leave the show due to injury or family issues, there was no elimination that week.

 

[Dancind]

Great show tonight, loved many of the performances. Amy's story and performance were very moving, Danica's a bit of a stretch. I like her though. Loved Charlie, that was so cute and full of personality. He moves like a dancer, of course, he is one!

Hoping for a Meryl & Derek routine. I'd like to see her dance in a less frantic style than the brothers Chmerkovsky. Maks will get her back, they do have a cute partnership. She has a handsome Russian boyfriend, so she must feel right at home with Maks.

 

[robinb]

I was sure they were going to hate Amy's foxtrot since it stopped dead in the middle for (it seemed) an eternity. At least the camera man stopped focusing on her feet but we got a huge close up of their faces instead. How about a full body shot most of the time?

 

[erin1715]

I don't know if it was just me or what, but Meryl and Maks' dance was HOT! Wow, that moment when they got so close to a kiss but paused for drama...yowza...either there is some major chemistry or she's a great actress! I'm going with the latter since she's an ice dancer and probably very good at faking the "attraction." But it was a little telling when Erin tried to ask both of them questions about that moment, and Meryl giggled like a school girl and Maks completely changed the subject. Loved it and love Maks!

 

[Dee77]

Anyone else think that Danica's flirtation with Val was a little desperate? Like when she brought up that she was called sexy or something to that effect..

 

[KBoopaloo]

I was sure they were going to hate Amy's foxtrot since it stopped dead in the middle for (it seemed) an eternity. At least the camera man stopped focusing on her feet but we got a huge close up of their faces instead. How about a full body shot most of the time?

The camera work this season has been TERRIBLE. I don't know if they got new cameramen when they got a new band but I keep noticing it. In the Maks and Meryl dance, I don't think we missed any dancing but in one of Drew's dances (maybe week 1?), it seemed like more than half the dance was shown only from the waist up! I kept saying "Can we see his feet? This is a dancing show!"

 

[Robinrs]

The camera work this season has been TERRIBLE. I don't know if they got new cameramen when they got a new band but I keep noticing it. In the Maks and Meryl dance, I don't think we missed any dancing but in one of Drew's dances (maybe week 1?), it seemed like more than half the dance was shown only from the waist up! I kept saying "Can we see his feet? This is a dancing show!"

It's the director who makes the decision as to what is shown on TV, not the camera person.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Does anyone know when we will hear who the new partnerships are? I'm guessing that the pros and stars already found out this morning since we could only tweet our choices until midnight last night, plus they would start practicing their dances today. I haven't heard anything, though.

 

[Chuckers]

It's the director who makes the decision as to what is shown on TV, not the camera person.

That's true, but this year I've noticed a lot of 'cameraman in the shot' pictures. It's been pretty bad. They finally "fix" the singers and now the camera work needs help.

 

[Imzadi]

I don't really understand why you all hate Mark's shimmy. I thought Candace's footwork needed some work. She didn't look relaxed,

You just made our point. Candace needs a lot of work in other areas. She can also probably shine, if Mark actually took the time to find what her strong points are. Derek & Cheryl do that with every single one of their partners.

Mark just likes to take the easy route. Put the girls in a lot of flashy fringe and make the shimmy for 8 seconds, so it looks like they do a lot of movement, when his choreography or work with his partners aren't very individualized, special or complicated. Dance move too complicated to take time to teach, no stick in an 8 beat shimmy instead.


I know a former, professional concert pianist I'll call Joe. Joe had a concert at Carnegie Hall once. He told me once that his brother was actually a better musician than he was. That playing piano came easily to his brother, who didn't practice his scales or technique the way he had to for several hours a day, to get to his brother's ease at playing.

But, in the end, it was his brother's undoing. Because playing came so easily, when it finally counted in the areas/levels he had to work hard at, he didn't. He couldn't appreciate the struggle. And he saw how much work it was for Joe to improve and he didn't want to put in that much effort. So he didn't make himself work hard to become exquisite at his craft, which may have made him at a world class level of musician. Eventually Joe surpassed him, having his Carnegie Hall concert and putting out a couple CDs.

I don't know, maybe Mark, being Corky & Shirley Ballas' child, maybe dancing genetically came very easily to Mark. And when he saw how much work Derek & Julianne had to put in, and keep putting in to improve and challenge themselves, Mark just didn't want to have to put in that much effort?

But, when it came time for the Olympics, Meryl & Charlie didn't call Mark, they called Derek. Yes, they wanted splashy show-stopping choreography, but they also wanted better. That is not Mark. That is Derek.