Dancing With The Stars Season 14

[meesha1971]

Season 14 of Dancing With The Stars has opened with a bang! Seriously, that may have been the best premiere this show has ever had. Everyone was good. Not perfect of course, but nobody stood out as being really bad. They all did a really good job - especially for week 1.

Maria Menounos and Derek Hough - Not the best Cha-Cha, but it was pretty good. Maria is a bit stiff, which could have been due to nerves from this being their first dance - not to mention being the first out on the floor for the season. Derek compensated by dancing around her a lot so we'll have to see how well she does next week, but a good start.

Jack Wagner and Anna Trebunskaya - Very nice Foxtrot. Cute and fun - Jack is a performer so that's a plus. Anna played up the performance aspect of the routine. I think they were slightly overscored, but not by much - maybe a point or two.

Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd - I think the judges were right that Donald was putting too much energy into it. His Cha-Cha was a bit frantic in places, but again, that could be due to nerves. Donald has good rhythm and can move well.

Gavin DeGraw and Karina Smirnoff - Good Foxtrot overall, but there were a few stop and go moments. Could be nerves. Gavin jokes around a lot, but he actually seems a bit shy. I guess he's used to having that piano in front of him. We'll see if he can loosen up more for the jive next week.

Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower - This kid can move! I think he might be made of rubber. Too much hip hop in the routine - I knew Len would count off for that. Still, there's a lot of natural talent there for Chelsie to work with.

Sherri Shepherd and Val Chmerkovskiy - Sherri was having so much fun with this routine - it really added something to the performance. Not the best technique, but another good performer. And she's funny - I almost missed her scores because I was laughing so hard when she said she might have left a boob on the dance floor.

Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - Half-Pint's all grown up! Now I feel old. Maks put a lot of diffiulty in this routine and there was definitely no callico or gingham. They might have gotten higher scores if he'd choreographed something more simple. Still, Melissa did keep up with him and never missed a step so I think Maks is on the right track. Really, it was a good performance overall - just some awkward transitions. Again, I think nerves are a large part of it. It did look like Maks might have lost his balance at the beginning of the routine - for a second, I thought he was going to fall with her, but then he went into that dip and it was fine so I'm not sure.

William Levy and Cheryl Burke - Cheryl got another Latin hottie! Well, Cuban - but still. Great Cha Cha. A couple of stop and go moments, but nothing really major. The question is, how will he handle the ballroom dances?

Martina Navratilova and Tony Dovolani - Very nice and elegant. You could tell Martina was nervous, but she did a good job with the Foxtrot. It didn't stand out, but it was a good performance overall.

Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas - Gorgeous. Very fluid and smooth Foxtrot. Mark toned his performance down some and it really makes a difference. Can't wait to see what Katherine does next week.

Gladys Knight and Tristan MacManus - I can't believe Gladys Knight is 67! She was amazing. I wanted to jump up and start dancing with her. It was so sweet that all three of the Pips gave her a standing ovation. The Empress of Soul indeed.

Jaleel White and Kym Johnson - No sign of Steve Urkel here - thought Jaleel might have been channeling a bit of Stefan Urquelle because he was very smooth. They definitely saved the best for last tonight. Best Foxtrot of the night - and that's saying something because everyone did such a good job tonight.


Current standings based on tonight's scores -

.1. ----- Jaleel and Kym ----------- Foxtrot --------- 26
.1. ----- Katherine and Mark ------ Foxtrot --------- 26
.3. ----- William and Cheryl -------- Cha-Cha ------- 24
.4. ----- Roshon and Chelsie ----- Cha-Cha ------ 23
.4. ----- Jack and Anna ----------- Foxtrot --------- 23
.4. ----- Gladys and Tristan ------- Cha-Cha ------- 23
.4. ----- Sherri and Val ------------ Foxtrot --------- 23
.8. ----- Maria and Derek --------- Cha-Cha ------- 21
.8. ----- Donald and Peta --------- Cha-Cha ------- 21
10. ----- Melissa and Maks ------- Cha-Cha ------- 20
10. ----- Gavin and Karina -------- Foxtrot --------- 20
10. ----- Martina and Tony ------- Foxtrot --------- 20


There's no elimination this week so everyone will be back for week 2 and perform either the Quickstep or the Jive. It's extremely hard to predict who might go home first because everyone was really good tonight - nothing below a 20. Still, if I had to pick, I think Martina might go first. She wasn't bad, but she didn't really stand out either and I don't think she will have much of a fanbased in comparison to the others.

Season 14 is looking to be amazing. No predictions on who could win yet - at this point, any of them could. I love that.

[Fawkesfan1]

Yea I heard about his (Jaleel's) performance along with some of the others'... they really brought their all to the dance floor . I'll have to see if it's available to be see on On Demand. It sounds like it was worth the watch.

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by Fawkesfan1

Yea I heard about his (Jaleel's) performance along with some of the others'... they really brought their all to the dance floor . I'll have to see if it's available to be see on On Demand. It sounds like it was worth the watch.

It's available on On Demand here - thought it didn't show up until today. I watched it again.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by meesha1971

It's available on On Demand here - thought it didn't show up until today. I watched it again.

Lucky . It isn't where I'm at. Get stuck with shows like GCB and the like . Guess I'll have to try and catch it on hulu when I can.

[jordmundt6]

Nobody I was inspired to vote for, but there was no clear floor (the person or people who clearly don't get it and should be first off. No one looked like Kenny Mayne or the great and powerful Woz). Jaleel White and the opera singer (Katherine) had the best routines. I thought Maria was overscored to begin the night and that tended to push most of the scores toward 21, but everyone was giving honest effort and there's real potential. Sadly for me, Chelsie's young partner might be talented, but he comes off poorly in interviews and rehearsal video. Going in, I thought Tristan was getting hazed again as a new dancer, but Gladys Knight was better than I expected.

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Nobody I was inspired to vote for, but there was no clear floor (the person or people who clearly don't get it and should be first off. No one looked like Kenny Mayne or the great and powerful Woz). Jaleel White and the opera singer (Katherine) had the best routines. I thought Maria was overscored to begin the night and that tended to push most of the scores toward 21, but everyone was giving honest effort and there's real potential. Sadly for me, Chelsie's young partner might be talented, but he comes off poorly in interviews and rehearsal video. Going in, I thought Tristan was getting hazed again as a new dancer, but Gladys Knight was better than I expected.

There was some overscoring, but not by a whole lot really. A point or two here and there. Not uncommon for the premiere, but I guess it is more noticeable with a more even field of competitors. Without anyone like Kenny Mayne or Master P (worst ever) providing such stark contrasts of skill - or lack thereof - nobody really stands out. Jaleel and Katherine had the best routines, but only be a couple of points and there's only a six point spread between the top of the leaderboard and the bottom.

I agree about Roshon. He has a lot of potential as a dancer, but he does come across a bit arrogant and immature. He is young, but they've had younger celebrities before who handled themselves better in interviews and the rehearsal packages. Gladys was a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect her to be terrible or anything, but you can't really predict how well the older celebrities will do until you see them dance. I do think her dances will be more performance driven - but that can be a good thing.

[Fawkesfan1]

On Demand in my area finally got DWTS on it... so now I'm catching up... so far I've seen Martina and Tony's chacha... and it was pretty good. Looking forward to seeing the rest tonight.

[jordmundt6]

Martina was another pleasant surprise. I didn't think she did as well as they said she did (or scored she did) but it wasn't a disaster. Plus, she seems to be giving a very game effort. Cheryl's telenovela star has potential and seems to have a good sense of humor about himself in the clip packages and interviews. However, it feels like part of his scoring (so far) is his looks. This does tend to happen, but I'm hoping he earns a good spot and doesn't lean on vote-getting (read as "open-shirt," or "shirtless") outfits to stay around. Given how close everyone is, Derek might actually be in danger of being voted off early this year. That doesn't happen often.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Martina was another pleasant surprise. I didn't think she did as well as they said she did (or scored she did) but it wasn't a disaster. Plus, she seems to be giving a very game effort. Cheryl's telenovela star has potential and seems to have a good sense of humor about himself in the clip packages and interviews. However, it feels like part of his scoring (so far) is his looks. This does tend to happen, but I'm hoping he earns a good spot and doesn't lean on vote-getting (read as "open-shirt," or "shirtless") outfits to stay around. Given how close everyone is, Derek might actually be in danger of being voted off early this year. That doesn't happen often.

She did a better job than I think she'd do.

[Desraelda]

I didn't get to see everyone dance because the Hulu broadcast kept pausing. So, I waited to watch it on the ABC site and it did the same thing.

What I saw was wonderful and I agree it was the best premiere that I can remember.

I love Chelsie, but she doesn't showcase her partners. Maybe Roshon can keep up with her.

Katherine was absolutely elegant and graceful and obviously made for the foxtrot. I hope she gets the quickstep next week and not the jive.

Jaleel was a wonderful surprise. I really enjoyed his foxtrot.

However well they did this week, next week will tell the tale. The Quickstep and the Jive are both difficult dances.

[meesha1971]

Well, the Quickstep and the Jive took their toll, but still a very high level of performances. I felt bad for Martina - the Jive is so difficult. I think she might have done better if she had been given the Cha-Cha for week 1 and the Quickstep for week 2. Jaleel slipped down a bit in scores, but I think the choreography was the biggest issue - not enough kicks and flicks in the routine. He still danced very well I thought. It does seem like William is being given higher scores for the "hotness factor", but he's not a bad dancer so we'll see how it goes.


Standings for week 2 with cumulative scores from week 1 -

.1. ----- Katherine and Mark --------- Jive ---------- 26 ----- 52
.2. ----- Roshon and Chelsie ----- Quickstep ------ 26 ----- 49
.2. ----- William and Cheryl -------- Quickstep ------ 25 ----- 49
.4. ----- Jaleel and Kym --------------- Jive ---------- 22 ----- 48
.5. ----- Maria and Derek --------- Quickstep ------- 25 ----- 46
.5. ----- Sherri and Val ---------------- Jive ---------- 23 ----- 46
.7. ----- Donald and Peta --------- Quickstep ------- 24 ----- 45
.8. ----- Jack and Anna --------------- Jive ----------- 21 ----- 44
.9. ----- Gladys and Tristan ------- Quickstep -------- 19 ----- 42
10. ----- Gavin and Karina ------------ Jive ----------- 21 ----- 41
11. ----- Melissa and Maks ------- Quickstep -------- 20 ----- 40
12. ----- Martina and Tony ----------- Jive ----------- 17 ----- 37

Spoiler: show

Martina and Tony were eliminated tonight. It's a shame because I think she did have some potential and could have gone at least a bit farther in other seasons, but everyone is good enough this season to make it a really close competition. The Jive just wasn't Martina's dance.

Next week will be "Personal Story/Most Memorable Year" week with the celebrities doing any unlearned dance. Personal Story week is usually dominated by the Rumba and it looks like that will continue this season. Gavin, Donald, and Maria have all revealed they will be doing the Rumba. William will be doing the Salsa. No idea on what dances the other celebrities will being doing yet.

[Desraelda]

I was a little surprised by this week's results. I thought Jack would last longer than this.

Katherine continues to shine and I'm still giving her all my votes. Donald was great, too. Roshon danced really well, but the music didn't work for a Samba. Jaleel had the same problem. The music was too jazzy for a Rumba.

I read that Jaleel went off on Kym when he stepped on her foot in rehearsal and she said ouch. He went ballistic. Complained to everyone about the stupid dancer they'd paired him up with and called her an idiot. Donald and Mark had to step in to calm him down.

[flimseycauldron]

I can't help it. I like Derek. On the first show I thought Maria was going to fail early but she's turned in some great performances. Derek ought to get someone like Gladys or Kirstie next year though or people might say the decks stacked in his favor.

You know I wanted to like Jaleel. (I mean really who didn't love Urkel?) But he has seemed somewhat arrogant since the premier. His "personal story" looked affected too. I'm not surprised that he did that to Kym. Very disrespectful.

[Desraelda]

Originally Posted by flimseycauldron

I can't help it. I like Derek. On the first show I thought Maria was going to fail early but she's turned in some great performances. Derek ought to get someone like Gladys or Kirstie next year though or people might say the decks stacked in his favor.

Everyone loves Derek and he's not just another pretty face. He's a gifted choreographer and teacher. That year he was off the show, it just wasn't the same.

You know I wanted to like Jaleel. (I mean really who didn't love Urkel?) But he has seemed somewhat arrogant since the premier. His "personal story" looked affected too. I'm not surprised that he did that to Kym. Very disrespectful.

Yeah, that's pretty upsetting.

[lcbaseball22]

I was surprised that Donald won (over my fav Katherine and the ladies fav William who I thought would run away with the audience vote since I figure the majority of viewers are women) but he did turn out to be a pretty good dancer and his freestyle was awesome.

[jordmundt6]

Yes, but Katherine was consistently better through the compettion and better on that night. Never underestimate the voting power of football fans in America.

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Yes, but Katherine was consistently better through the compettion and better on that night. Never underestimate the voting power of football fans in America.

Katherine generally did better technically, but I felt her freestyle was lacking a bit. The choreography was good, but the lifts were a bit awkward and the energy just wasn't there. That might have been due to injuring her back before the finals.

And there is something to what Donald was saying in their rehearsal package - which Len also complained about with William. Katherine and William played it safe and did something predictable with their freestyles - or rather, their pro's did. That's not always a bad thing, but the competition was so close this season anything that made you stand out above the others was an advantage. Donald had a good strategy in doing something unpredictable - I certainly never expected him to do a country routine. And it was a great freestyle - watch some of those lifts in slow motion if you can. Amazing.

Anyone have any thoughts for the season 15 announcement? Bringing back past favorites could be interesting - and likely another season of close competition with good dancers. Who would you like to see come back?

[lcbaseball22]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Yes, but Katherine was consistently better through the compettion and better on that night. Never underestimate the voting power of football fans in America.

Well I know a number of football players have won or placed very well, but are there really that many football fans watching Dancing? Like I said, I figure the show mainly appeals to women...but then I suppose that's kinda reverting to old stereotypes that kept me from discovering the joy of dance until I was in college. If it has really pulled in that many sports oriented individuals that's pretty awesome. Afterall, many athletes have commented on how difficult it is, it's a sport in its own right (supposedly there is an attempt to approve ballroom dancing for the Olympics even) ,and I know for me personally I used to live and breath baseball, but dancing has replaced.

[Desraelda]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Yes, but Katherine was consistently better through the compettion and better on that night. Never underestimate the voting power of football fans in America.

Katherine was also more versatile, but I think Donald won it with his freestyle and the football vote. I definitely wanted Katherine to win from the very beginning.

[Goddess_Clio]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Yes, but Katherine was consistently better through the compettion and better on that night. Never underestimate the voting power of football fans in America.

Consistency means nothing. The attention span of the voting public who watch the show is, at most, twenty minutes and Donald had the primo last spot of the night and the most exciting free style which equals a win for him. Katherine, I agree, should have been the winner based on consistency, natural ability and learned technique but her freestyle was just so-so and it's the freestyle that wins it or loses it every year.

Originally Posted by meesha1971

Anyone have any thoughts for the season 15 announcement? Bringing back past favorites could be interesting - and likely another season of close competition with good dancers. Who would you like to see come back?

I'd like to see Nicole Scherzinger back, Gilles Marini back (oo-la-la!! ), Katherine Jenkins again, Apollo Ohno, Brooke Burke... I just realized that with the exception of Katherine and Gilles I've been listing the winners! Ricki Lake was fun to watch, I really wish John O'Hurley would do another season, he was fun, Kyle Massey was super fun and super high energy, Mel B was a handful and would be great to have back... I want the fun celebrities, the ones who ended up falling in love with dancing, the ones with good personalities. But I'll take Chloris Leachman as a returning celebrity if they kick Maks off the show!

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

Well I know a number of football players have won or placed very well, but are there really that many football fans watching Dancing? Like I said, I figure the show mainly appeals to women...but then I suppose that's kinda reverting to old stereotypes that kept me from discovering the joy of dance until I was in college.

My dad doesn't dance but he's a more avid watcher of the show than anyone else in my family. I also think that by having football players on the show it draws in the football audience and being a celebrity on the scale of a professional athlete means you have a built in fan base giving you their vote whereas the Katherine Jenkins and William Levys of the world need the charming pro partners to get them through the first couple weeks of the show so they can build a fan base.

Originally Posted by Desraelda

Katherine was also more versatile, but I think Donald won it with his freestyle and the football vote. I definitely wanted Katherine to win from the very beginning.

Donald's freestyle won him the mirror ball. After his routine I turned the TV off and thought, "Well, Donald just won, don't have to watch the results show tomorrow."