And we’re back! I guess I could’ve made an oh my god we’re back again joke but I mean, those are so overdone. What are the chances the show would be airing on a Tuesday this week? (ha!) That’s why this post was delayed and I’m sorry about that. I made sure I don’t work Mondays so I could enjoy Dancing With The Stars live and then they threw this snag in. But no worries, after this they’ll be back to Mondays every single week so this shouldn’t be a problem! Also minor apology for being busier than normal this week, I plan to have posts about the latest BSB podcast episode and Nick on Twitch coming soon.
So, let’s get on to what’s important – this week’s episode of DWTS!
AJ wasn’t first tonight and I saw that as a blessing. Being first and with a JIve seems to bring out the nerves. It brought them out in both Nick and AJ so I’m here for not having that happen again. That said having them earlier on the show is now a good thing cause voting takes place DURING the episode. Don’t forget that. I had to literally vote from work. I ducked into the back and took about five minutes to send my votes in. Priorities.
Can I just say they need to ditch the audience track? We know there’s no audience in there! This isn’t a sitcom and it’s weird hearing fake boos when someone gets a score on the lower end. It’s just awkward. Also, next week is Disney Week, AJ is going to be doing a Quickstep to Prince Ali. I’m so hyped it’s ridiculous. I felt so shafted Nick’s season didn’t have a Disney Week. At least we’re compensating with AJ.
On to tonight’s show. Nev is the dark horse of the season. Who the hell saw him coming? I sure as hell didn’t. Does he have dance experience? I legitimately want to know. Cause it seems like it. He did a Cha-Cha and honestly it was pretty freaking good. He’s definitely a front runner for us to keep an eye on so far. He ended up with 7, 7, 7 as his scores.
And Skai came next. It seemed like most of the people they consider to be ones to watch ended up in the first hour this week. This girl is adorable and she’s just so good. She had a stumble in the dance but the rest of it was solid so I stand by her being someone who will last a long time. She got a score of 15 all together. Oddly Johnny Weir? He’s not the strongest dancer I was anticipating. That’s the weird thing about this show. Sometimes the people you think will be great aren’t so much. He was better than last week He’s just not hitting as hard. So his score of 18 was a bit surprising as I think that’s a bit high but that’s just me.
Justina? Man…she’s going to be in the finals. I’ll say it now. Her Foxtrot was a different style than than week, she went from upbeat to smooth and handled both really well. She just killed it. But I’m noticing the ones who are so strong at the start aren’t always the winners. Why? People like a journey of growth and that’s what AJ is going to get here.
Now on to who matters, our Boy AJ! His package got me right in the feels, talking about Rochelle and what the song Ain’t That A Kick In The Head means to them. This week many of the songs had personal connections to the celebrities. It reminds me of Hometown Week during Nick’s season. I need to also hand it to Cheryl in that she choreographs to AJ’s insane amount of stage presence. He knows how to perform, it’s his biggest strength and she knows she uses it in such a great way without letting it be a crutch. His dance was smoother and AJ was so freaking confident this week.
As for his score? I disagreed. I’m sorry but 7, 6, 6 seems a bit low when Derek and Bruno gave Johnny and Nelly 6s too and they weren’t as smooth in their dancing. At least Carrie Ann had it right. I’m not saying the dance was perfect but it was definitely better than his Jive and leagues better than some of the people who got 18. So what the heck? But hey, it’s an improvement from last week!
Also AJ getting emotional while talking to Tyra about Rochelle was too much. Don’t go breaking my heart AJ! Hey, I managed another less cliche Backstreet pun! I feel accomplished now.
Moving on…
Kaitlyn, our Bachelorette contestant came out a stronger this week than she did last week. But I don’t know, I don’t find her that engaging? That might be a problem for her. I got bored and actually peeked in here to start typing my notes instead. She’s a decent dancer but I feel like she doesn’t sell the dance. I’m not saying she didn’t deserve her score, just her as a person I don’t find myself engaged to watch her dances like I do with say Nev or Skai. This could be a me thing though.
Now let’s talk about elimination.
The Judge’s Save is in play again this season! For those who don’t know, it means the voting determines the bottom two dancers but the judges save the person they think shouldn’t go home. This in theory fixes the problem of people voting for people who may not still deserve to be there. There’s been some, let’s say controversy in the past about this. The bottom two were Charles and Carole. As much as it kills me to admit it, Carole is slightly better so I get why Derek picked her and broke the tie on who to save. But man, I need her to go home. All the cat puns are killing me. Next week I’m sure she’ll be gone because her dance this week was terrible.
What’s important is that AJ was SAFE. I need to see him win. We all do!
This week the scores combined with last week and with the voting to determine who goes home. That meant the leaderboard was actually pretty interesting to see how it came about. Week Two tends to shake out who can hold strong and who came out strong because they had that extra time to learn before the show started.
Kaitlyn and Artem: 20 + 22 = 42
Justina and Sasha: 21 + 21 = 42
Nev and Jenna: 20 + 21 = 41
Jesse and Sharna: 18 + 20 = 38
AJ and Cheryl: 18 + 19 = 37
Skai and Alan: 21 + 15 = 36
Johnny and Britt: 18 + 18 = 36
Anne and Keo: 18 + 18 = 36
Jeannie and Brandon: 18 + 18 = 36
Monica and Val: 19 + 16 = 35
Vernon and Peta: 17 + 18 = 35
Nelly and Daniella: 16 + 18 = 34
Chrishell and Gleb: 13 + 18 = 31
Carole and Pasha: 13 + 16 = 29
Charles and Emma: 12 + 15 = 27 (Eliminated)
So that about wraps it up! Can’t wait to see AJ channel his inner Aladdin! And please make sure to vote during the show next week! Voting is SO important. Yes he’s in the Top Five but that makes it way too easy to get comfortable. Don’t get comfortable. Vote like he’s going home next week cause he might!
You’ve got this AJ!
The Dark Side 