WWTBAM Bored

OK, they've rounded up the usual suspects and the new season has begun. So far I can't see any reason to think that Erin Andrews will do any better than Brooke as the cohost, or that the new bandleader will be any better than Harold Wheeler. I haven't heard why the changes were made, but it's probably money-related.

As to the stars, they've enlisted not one, not two, but 3 Olympians (one a Paralympian), not one but two child stars, and the obligatory older person, none other than Lando Calrissian himself. Throw in a former "romance" between one of the stars and his partner and the stage is set.

Poor Billy Dee - the years have not dealt kindly with him and after two hip replacements he doesn't look like he has the staying power. But I suspect he'll survive on the fan vote. Interestingly the Olympians got lower judges' vote totals than the child stars.

Anybody know what the deal is about switching partners this season .. like how it's gonna work and what not?

ahhh, Maxs is back.

I predict that he and Meryl will win, because that is the only way he would agree to return. Hell, they could have put him with Nyad, and she'd win, they wanted him back so badly.

a1mamacat wrote:ahhh, Maxs is back.

I predict that he and Meryl will win, because that is the only way he would agree to return. Hell, they could have put him with Nyad, and she'd win, they wanted him back so badly.

If that happens I will never watch this show again.

Oh, wait, I never watched it before.

earendel wrote: Poor Billy Dee - the years have not dealt kindly with him and after two hip replacements he doesn't look like he has the staying power. But I suspect he'll survive on the fan vote. Interestingly the Olympians got lower judges' vote totals than the child stars.

Well, you predicted the Billy Dee vote. Neither of the losers (did they do two because it is a short season?) was very good but it has to suck to go home before a 70 something with bilateral hip replacement.

wbtravis007 wrote:Anybody know what the deal is about switching partners this season .. like how it's gonna work and what not?

From USA Today:

And there was the big announcement about what the show is calling "The Switch Up." The stars will be switching their pro partners, as dictated by viewer Tweets.

To vote, viewers must tweet using the hashtag #DWTS plus the first name of the celebrity and the first name of the professional dancer. For example, to pair up celebrity Meryl Davis and professional dancer Derek Hough, the tweet would be: #DWTSMerylDerek (no spaces). Twitter voting for "The Switch Up" will close on March 31 at 11:59 p.m., ET. The new dance pairings will be revealed live on the April 7 show when they dance together for the first time.

Sean Avery Reveals Why He Was Eliminated on 'Dancing With the Stars'

Sean Avery wrote:I think we knew as of probably Monday last week that our fate was sealed. I had a conversation with Conrad, one of the producers, and I was upset at the package that they had brought in the week previous, and it was a very tacky attempt to show me as the bad boy of "DWTS." And I think in reality TV or some sort of competition, if you have a disagreement with the producers then generally that seals your fate quite early.

I thought Max owned the title of bad boy of DWTS.

Interesting.

Spoiler

Billy Dee is out because of a chronic back problem. Truthfully he should have been eliminated last week instead of one of the others, but fan votes speak loudly. That meant no one else had to be eliminated. What was odd was that Tom Bergeron kept talking like Billy Dee would not dance that night and implied that he would be back next week, but it was pretty obvious that he was gone. No surprise that Meryl and Maks had the best score - barring a huge shift in fan voting I expect her to at least make it to the final if not win it all. Her ice dancing partner Charlie isn't doing quite as well. Next week's switching partners should be interesting.

earendel wrote:Interesting.

Spoiler

Billy Dee is out because of a chronic back problem. Truthfully he should have been eliminated last week instead of one of the others, but fan votes speak loudly. That meant no one else had to be eliminated. What was odd was that Tom Bergeron kept talking like Billy Dee would not dance that night and implied that he would be back next week, but it was pretty obvious that he was gone. No surprise that Meryl and Maks had the best score - barring a huge shift in fan voting I expect her to at least make it to the final if not win it all. Her ice dancing partner Charlie isn't doing quite as well. Next week's switching partners should be interesting.

I thought Charlie did about as well as Meryl, not that I could ever be a judge of this stuff. He just got slightly less marks this particular evening. I think both of them likely have a shot at the finals. Which they should given they were far more skilled than most, if not all, of the others when they started. Which is a little unfortunate, if not particularly uncommon, because the ones who really make the biggest improvement over the course of the season will run the risk of getting left out. But there will always be ringers it seems.

And it could be tough this year with only 2 of the remaining 9 still relatively weak dancers (Drew and Nene) and Drew likely to go beyond his skill level on popularity vote. And Purdy seems like she will carry a lot of fan votes as well.

As remarkable as Purdy is it really doesn't seem like she has danced as much compared to others at the top of the leaderboard. She (understandably) needs her partner to help her with balance and Derek literally carried her much of the time in the last routine. I just watched it again just to be sure and she took very few independent steps through the entire routine. Probably the type of prosthetic feet she was using contributed to it more than the previous two dances. But I think she is fortunate to have Derek as a partner because he seems to be an excellent choreographer who has a real ability to create a routine that makes her look as active as possible while reducing the amount and complexity of steps she has to perform. But dances like a foxtrot, Tango or even a waltz might be more trouble. Time wil tell.

Last night's "switching partners" episode was interesting. It certainly answered tanstaffl's concern about Amy needing to have her partner's support - her salsa included some freestanding by her. It's hard to think that anyone other than Meryl will win this thing, but, of course, it isn't always the best dancer who wins - it's who has the most fans.

earendel wrote:Last night's "switching partners" episode was interesting. It certainly answered tanstaffl's concern about Amy needing to have her partner's support - her salsa included some freestanding by her. It's hard to think that anyone other than Meryl will win this thing, but, of course, it isn't always the best dancer who wins - it's who has the most fans.

I think she should have to work for this win, not be given it again...

a1mamacat wrote:

earendel wrote:Last night's "switching partners" episode was interesting. It certainly answered tanstaffl's concern about Amy needing to have her partner's support - her salsa included some freestanding by her. It's hard to think that anyone other than Meryl will win this thing, but, of course, it isn't always the best dancer who wins - it's who has the most fans.

I think she should have to work for this win, not be given it again...

From what I've seen, Meryl is quite the dancer - not surprising since ice dancing is her specialty. You're not still miffed over Sochi, are you?

Well, it's been two weeks since the last post in this thread. I guess no one had any comments.

I thought Disney week was quite good - I precalled most of the songs they used. I'm curious how they were able to insert the animations into the "live" show.

This week Drew Carey was eliminated. No surprise there. I'm still thinking Meryl has the best shot at winning, but Amy Purdy may pull it off, because of the support she gets for her courageous efforts.

And the mirror ball trophy goes to...

Spoiler

Vandal wrote:And the mirror ball trophy goes to...

Spoiler

And rightly so.

It was going to be given to her before they even started, due to Mak's contract....