Dancing With the Stars Season 22- Week 9 (Semifinals) Breakdown [Bentley, Julia, and Angelina]

The Semifinals this week on Dancing With the Stars might just be the most talked about night of the season. Well, here’s what we think. Here are Julia’s, Bentley’s, and Angelina’s thoughts on the show!

[Order of the Judges’ Scores: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli]

Trio Dances

Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas, featuring Alan Bersten Highest Score From Round One

Samba: Hip Hip Chin Chin by Club Des Belugas

Judges’ Scores: 10, 10, 10 (30/30)

#PowRightInTheKisser 1(800)868-3410

This dance was amazing! Such a great way to start the show! Samba content is hard to nail, but Paige managed to. I also loved the storyline of this dance! The perfect score was definitely deserved!

I’m not sure if Alan showed his peacock feathers to Paige or not, but there must be at least some kind of flirt-mance between them! But in all seriousness, Paige absolutely knocked it out of the park with every dimension of the dance! She transitioned between Mark and Alan seamlessly, and just killed everything from the arms to the feet! This is one of the few dances I look at and think, would there be any reason to give this celebrity less than a ten? There wasn’t anything that could even be argued about in terms of her performance quality and technique, unless you are stuck in season one, and prohibit lifts in the Samba. I would say this was my favorite dance of the night, but Paige’s other dance, among a few others (the show was just so good!), are also in the running! Absolutely perfect.

I loved the energy brought by this dance. It was so fun there was such chemistry between Paige and Alan. I was so happy by the technique and the steps. There was a great story line which was easy to follow.

Julia’s Score: 10

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina’s Score: 10

Antonio Brown and Sharna Burgess, featuring Hayley Erbert

Argentine Tango: Mi Confesión by Gotan Project

Judges’ Scores: 9, 9, 9 (27/30) Lowest Score From Round One

#TeamBOOMin 1(800)868-3401

Antonio did well with this dance. However, it was pretty simple for Week 9 and he barely even moved until the end of it. He did great with what he was given to do, but unfortunately it wasn’t very much. He did improve though which was nice to see.

I digged this dance, even though it was simple, especially when it came to dancing with both Sharna and Hayley. There were too many pedestrian steps for an Argentine Tango, and not enough leg work. And I know the males can get away with not having as much footwork, but that is only when the male holds the frame and leads, which he lacked in about half the dance. The lifts were absolutely stunning, which were the highlight of the dance to me, along with Hayley expressing her true star quality on that dance floor! Of course I’ve seen Hayley in the troupe every week, but I didn’t really have a feel for her before this dance. She is not only spectacular as a center-stage girl, but she is phenomenal as a side dancer as well, which is arguably harder to pull off than being the center of attention. Anyway, Antonio has become tremendously cleaner in his entire body the last few weeks, and finally looks at least a little more natural on the floor. He had the sexy factor down, but his technique and timing could be just a smidgen better. But when it all comes down to it, he had superb Latin heat.

I liked the way Antonio fell right into character. The only thing I didn’t really like was that he wasn’t as fluid as I wanted him to be. He had a sort of lost expression on his face and moved a bit robotically in my opinion. As Carrie Ann said I would’ve liked to see his elongated arms.

Julia’s Score: 9

Bentley’s Score: 9

Angelina’s Score: 9

Wanyá Morris and Lindsay Arnold, featuring Witney Carson

Paso Doble: Explosive by David Garrett and Franck Heijden and Royal

Judges’ Scores: 10, 10, 10 (30/30) Highest Score From Round One

#TeamYayZee 1(800)868-3412

It seems that Witney and Lindsay choreographing a Paso Doble has become a tradition on this show, and tonight’s did not disappoint! Wanyá was on fire, and kept up with the ladies well! However, like Antonio’s Argentine Tango this dance took awhile to really get going. Once it did it was amazing, but for the first part it felt like Wanyá just wasn’t doing all that much.

This number had just enough content, just enough anger, and just enough shaping for me to be amazed. This Paso Doble might look simple at first glance, but the moves that Lindsay and Witney choreographed into the routine required more than just synchronization to pull off. Sure, it wasn’t jam-packed with content, but I like it better with the style that was portrayed Monday night. Witney is sublime when it comes to keeping track of her partners, so I think it was Lindsay’s best choice for this trio, even though she would have picked her anyway! Wanyá didn’t oversell it; he was himself, but just in a darker and more fiery tone.

I liked their dance a lot. I would’ve like to see Wanya move around a bit because for a big part of the dance it just seemed like he was standing around and just moving his upper body. Overall, I loved the fire and passion he brought.

Julia’s Score: 9

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina’s Score: 9

Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd, featuring Jenna Johnson

Jive: Hit the Road Jack by Hermes House Band

Judges’ Scores: 9, 9, 9 (27/30) Lowest Score From Round One

#RedefiningDance 1(800)868-3409

This dance was fun but it also had an awkward vibe to it. Nyle just seemed uncomfortable for a lot of the routine. He did pretty well staying in sync and really nailing those kicks and flicks at first, but he sort of lost it about halfway through. I loved that they managed to incorporate lots of different ways for the three of them to dance together, though!

The concept was refreshing to see with the lack of cheeky performances this season, and Jenna is just the definition of cheeky! Despite some timing issues, Nyle handled the girls well, even if that meant getting milkshakes dumped at him in the end! His kicks and flicks were actually technically cool without being silly, which trying to make Jive steps not silly is extremely difficult! Even his basic link steps were that of a professional, making me nearly forgive about half of his mistakes. But there were just too many for me not to knock a point off, unfortunately. But hey, this is a new fun side of Nyle (his fun side did come out for Disney night, but that was a little more wild) is a refreshing side to see!

Though I have to agree that they lost sync at times in the dance and there were some missteps, this was a very hard dance. I found myself singing along and enjoying myself throughout!

Julia’s Score: 8

Bentley’s Score: 9

Angelina’s Score: 9

Ginger Zee and Valentin Chmerkovskiy, featuring Artem Chigvintsev

Paso Doble: Shot Me Down by David Guetta

Judges’ Scores: 9, 9, 9 (27/30) Lowest Score From Round One

#TeamGinAndJuice 1(800)868-3404

I thought this was a cool dance and Ginger definitely is getting pretty good with the more serious facial expressions. They spent the first half or so of the routine throwing her around, but when she actually started dancing she did a good job.

There is no doubt that Ginger can capture intensity effortlessly (as shown by her other dances), but it was a bit too hectic this time around. She needs to control her excitement more, especially transitioning between Val and Artem, but hey, it was still so freakin’ good! There were so many show-stopping dances in the trio round that I hate putting a fantastic dance like this at the bottom of my rankings, but that just shows how tight the competition is this season! Ginger was on fire, but maybe she should have tamed it to lessen the heat from Val and Artem!

I truly liked this dance. The theatrics were amazing and I loved hearing a song from the tour. There were some technique issues I noticed but a very aggressive performance that I loved!

Julia’s Score: 9

Bentley’s Score: 9

Angelina’s Score: 9

Julia’s Ranking of the Week 9 Trios

1. Paige & Mark with Alan

2. Wanya & Lindsay with Witney

3. Ginger & Val with Artem

4. Antonio & Sharna with Haley

5. Nyle & Peta with Jenna

Bentley’s Ranking of the Week 9 Trios

1. Paige & Mark with Alan

2. Wanyá & Lindsay with Witney

3. Antonio & Sharna with Hayley

4. Nyle & Peta with Jenna

5. Ginger & Val with Artem

Angelina’s Ranking of the Week 9 Trios

1.Paige & Mark with Alan

2. Ginger & Val with Artem

3. Wanya & Lindsay with Witney

4. Nyle & Peta with Jenna

5. Antonio and Sharna with Haley

Individual Dances

Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas

Argentine Tango: One Time by Marian Hill

Judges’ Scores: 10, 9, 10 (29/30)

#PowRightInTheKisser 1(800)868-3410

Paige was incredible in this dance! She hit every move wonderfully and I loved the part with the shirt spin! It was sensual but not sleazy, and she did a good job at playing the character. I also appreciated that this Argentine Tango was different from the kind we usually see. Usually they have a darkness and/or fire theme to them, but this one went a different route and told a story. I can’t remember another Argentine Tango that had clear “characters” in it so this one definitely captured my attention!

I know Paige was trying to be sexy for this dance, but she is just too adorable to be raunchily sexy (and I presume Len agrees)! But whatever, she nailed her character accurately.  Her connection with Mark was definitely sensual with a mix of business casual, which kind of reminds me of Tamar and Val’s Tango last season. And I loved the table scene as well, which reminded me of Amy and Derek’s Jazz two years ago in season 18. Paige’s legwork was so sharp and on point that it practically clicked into place. And now that we are approaching the finals this week, I think is time to reveal my pick for the win this season. Yup, you guessed it. . . Paige! She has impressed me and made me smile since week one, and has managed to become one of the most dynamic celebrities on this show in awhile! Take that, Paige’s haters! Is there anything that Paige isn’t good at?

I loved this dance. It was beautiful and I was so happy to see this side of Paige. The technique was stunning and every step was crisp and amazing. I was truly amazed because it showed how much progress and how far Paige has come.

Julia’s Score: 10

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina’s Score: 10

Antonio Brown and Sharna Burgess Eliminated (Tied for 4th Place)

Contemporary: Hall of Fame by The Script

Judges’ Scores: 9, 9, 10 (28/30) Lowest Score From Round Two

#TeamBOOMin 1(800)868-3401

This dance was a good one, and I think we finally found Antonio’s strength as a dancer: Contemporary! (And more specifically, lifts!) He was a little awkward in some areas. Unfortunately for Antonio, it was too little too late for he and Sharna but I think this dance moved a lot of people tonight. I think this elimination was overdue by a few weeks, but was nice to finally get to know Antonio, and hopefully he took something away from his Dancing With the Stars experience.

Underscored. I sometimes think that Antonio is a bit overscored, but this Contemporary was for sure underscored! I didn’t see a single mistake, and I didn’t think it was awkward at all. I agree with Len in the fact that Antonio’s lifts in this dance were some of the best lifts ever seen on the show by a celebrity! I think that Antonio’s so-called overdue elimination was extended just for this single dance to show his true lovely character as well as his magnificent abilities as not only a dancer, but as a human being. This was the perfect ending to his DWTS fairytale.

This was a very moving dance. It was beautiful. I noticed he almost dropped Sharna and stumbled quite a bit. He could’ve been a bit more in character, but I was moved.

Julia’s Score: 9

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina’s Score: 9

Wanyá Morris and Lindsay Arnold Eliminated (Tied for 4th Place)

Charleston: Shame on Me by Avicii

Judges’ Scores: 10, 10, 10 (30/30) Highest Score From Round Two

#TeamYayZee 1(800)868-3412

Wanyá was so awesome! The Charleston was the perfect style for him! It was so much fun and fun is what this couple does best! This was one of the most intricately choreographed pieces of the season and Wanyá did a great job bringing it to life! It wasn’t exactly traditional but neither was the music so that wouldn’t be a fair expectation.

Lindsay is a genius. She has become one of my favorite choreographers in this era of Dancing With the Stars! I’ve never seen a Charleston blend Quickstep into a dance like in this dance before, let alone that creatively! Wanyá just beast-mode killed it from the moment he stepped off the pedestal, and managed to become both his own as well as one with Lindsay. His east coast style along with his stellar footwork makes for a routine that is only seen every so often on the show! I’m going to miss couple, but I guess with such tight competition, this kind of stuff has to happen! It’s a shame, but what can you do? You have to vote, people!

This was a very fun dance and the charleston is a very hard dance to get right but Wanya nailed it! His technique was great and he only stumbled about once which is very impressive!

Julia’s Score: 10

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina: 10

Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd

Argentine Tango: Unsteady by X Ambassadors

Judges’ Scores: 10, 10, 10 (30/30) Highest Score From Round Two

#RedefiningDance 1(800)868-3409

This dance was great! Argentine Tango is definitely one of Nyle’s strongest dances, as proven by both this dance and the one he was part of last week. He was awesome, especially in the blindfolded section, but his butt is still sticking out and he needs to fix that. Although I have to be honest….I’m kind of over Nyle. At the beginning of the season he was clearly an amazing dancer but he seems to have sort of plateaued ever since the Quickstep. He just hasn’t really stood out to me lately. I appreciated that they were treating Nyle as a regular person who just happened to be deaf in the beginning, but in the past few weeks they seem to have turned him into “inspiration porn” like they did with some of the show’s previous physically-challenged contestants. Nyle keeps saying he doesn’t see being deaf as a disadvantage and he’s just like any other contestant, yet he and Peta have now used gimmicks based on his inability to hear two weeks in a row, and I bet they pull something like that again next week as well. Don’t get me wrong, I still he’s by no means the worst contestant left, but I’ve been disappointed in the way he’s been presented lately.

I for one actually liked the blindfold. I like it when other contestants used a blindfold, and I liked it even more when Nyle used it. I don’t think the show has been exploiting Nyle’s deafness as well. Nyle has been deaf his entire life, and his story that he shares is something that he experiences everyday. He inspires we week after week, and his and Peta’s innovative dancing makes me realize what challenges Nyle goes through on a daily basis. This Argentine was the exact message that I think connected Nyle’s unique quality to just being human. He’s really found his place in dance, and it translates into refined and special movements when put into place. And I thank Nyle for that. I love that this couple is in the finals, and I can’t wait to see what their Freestyle has to offer!

Once again a beautiful dance presented by Nyle himself. He is definitely the one who has had to dance with the most determination and strength because he can’t hear the music but now not having sight for a bit was amazing on a whole other level. Even to just consider doing this shows his courage and I love his positive outlook on life and everything else. I will miss watching him dance after finals.

Julia’s Score: 9

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina’s Score: 10

Ginger Zee and Valentin Chmerkovskiy

Quickstep: Fire Under My Feet by Leona Lewis

Judges’ Scores: 9, 10, 10 (29/30)

#TeamGinAndJuice 1(800)868-3404

Ballroom is definitely Ginger’s strength and she proved it again with this dance! Her frame was great other than her shoulders at times, but she missed a jump and there was a bit more dancing out of hold than generally permitted, but there have literally been two Quicksteps this entire season that have actually followed the rules and most of the ones that didn’t still got high scores so I guess the judges just don’t care anymore? Also, I’m not sure why, but Ginger didn’t really stand out in this routine. Maybe because they had Leona Lewis stand on a platform right in the middle of the ballroom? So I didn’t find this routine particularly impressive, but it was still very good!

Ginger definitely had “fire under her feet” in this Quickstep! She has proven herself as a competitor in this competition, and has separated herself as more than just an ABC weatherwoman! In my opinion, Ginger is on the same level as Nyle and Paige, so the Mirror Ball Trophy is anyone’s for the taking! I didn’t quite see the mistake that Carrie Ann pointed out, but the camera angles in this dance weren’t exactly the best. Ginger is a leading woman, which is hard to portray yourself as when Val is right next you! Ginger has come a long way, which is why I applaud Val for saving his best choreography for later in the season to showcase Ginger’s improved dance persona!

I was definitely happy with the amount of dancing Ginger did in this performance. A quick step is always hard so I commend Ginger for doing such a great job! There were a few mistakes but she definitely has a large chance to win the mirror ball trophy!

Julia’s Score: 9

Bentley’s Score: 10

Angelina’s Score: 9

Julia’s Ranking of the Week 9 Individual Dances

1. Paige & Mark

2. Wanyá & Lindsay

3. Nyle & Peta

4. Ginger & Val

5. Antonio & Sharna

Bentley’s Ranking of the Week 9 Individual Dances

1. Paige & Mark

2. Wanyá and Lindsay

3. Antonio & Sharna

4. Ginger & Val

5. Nyle & Peta

Angelina’s Ranking of the Week 9 Individual Dances

1. Paige and Mark

2. Nyle & Peta

3. Wanya and Lindsay

4. Ginger & Val

5. Antonio & Sharna

Total Combined Scores From the Semifinals

Wanyá & Lindsay 30/30 + 30/30 = 60/60 ELIMINATED

Paige & Mark 30/30 + 29/30 = 59/60 FINALIST

Nyle & Peta 27/30 + 30/30 = 57/60 FINALIST

Ginger & Val 27/30 + 29/30 = 56/60 FINALIST

Antonio & Sharna 27/30 + 28/30 = 55/60 ELIMINATED

Other Thoughts About Week 9

- I’ve said it a thousand times before, and I’ll say it a thousand times more- I just love opening numbers that involve the celebrities, even when they are really simple. They are my favorite!

- Hoping for some really good full-length pro numbers next Tuesday!

- The Semifinals this season had such high competition that I have not seen on this show in years. This was my favorite night of season by far! I just realized I talked about a lot of favorites I have in this week’s blog. . .

- Just when I thought we were finally going to get through a season without a showmance...they sneak a last-minute one in there by playing up the Paige/Alan dating rumors. That was annoying. Paige recently said she was single on twitter-presumably in response to those rumors-but the show went there anyway. #DisappointedButNotSurprised

- Whether or not Paige feels anything towards Alan, Alan definitely feels a strong way towards Paige! Alan and Paige would be perfect together, especially because they both just come as adorable, even when they try to be sexy, LOL!

- Speaking of Paige, they mentioned that she had experience dancing when she was younger in one of her packages this week. I’m glad she was honest about it, but now I’m even more annoyed that Ginger’s package didn’t mention she was a member of her college’s dance team and that they’re still pretending she’s never done organized dancing of any kind before. I don’t have a problem with contestants on this show having previous dance experience, unless it’s extensive ballroom training like Riker Lynch and Danica McKellar had. I just don’t like when they try to hide it or even flat-out lie about it. #DisappointedButNotSurprised

- Of course, tonight was the night we got to hear everyone’s big emotional backstory. We were told more about Paige’s experience getting bullied and Antonio’s strained relationship with his father, and we also learned that Ginger had an eating disorder when she was younger. I was surprised by this and am glad she was able to get healthy again since I know anorexia is very serious, but her referring to it and other eating disorders as “a disease that you choose” on GMA the next morning was a very ignorant remark of her to make and didn’t sit well with me at all. #DisappointedAndActuallySurprised

- I get what you mean, but I think Ginger just misspoke (but who knows?). I think that saying that anorexia is “a disease you choose” meant that it’s not like cancer or diabetes that seems to come out of nowhere; anorexia is a disease that takes conscious decisions, whether external pressure is a factor or not. But yeah, anorexia is bad, and usually extremely difficult to control. That’s why I hate how DWTS makes such unrealistic expectations for young kids, which I briefly talked about last week.

- Aaaaaand now to address the elephant in the room. The whole double elimination was BS. Well, except for Antonio leaving but that really should’ve happened a couple weeks ago so I guess it was BS he even made it this far, and that he managed to snag the #5 spot on the season leaderboard before being sent home. I am glad they didn’t do what they did last week again and waited until the end to reveal anyone’s status. However, they only left seventeen seconds to do a send-off for the two couples after they were eliminated. And this was the semi-finals. They could have cut some of the dramatic music in favor of a proper goodbye for Antonio and Wanyá.

- I’m happy Antonio is finally gone but I’m actually devastated about Wanyá’s elimination. I saw this result coming based on the running order (my initial prediction had been that Wanyá and Ginger would be leaving but as soon as I was told Ginger was going last I knew she’d be in the finals) and the way they were treated by the judges. Wanyá got wildly praised in comparison to everyone else and as soon as Carrie Ann ran down to hug him I knew it was already over for him. While Antonio didn’t quite reach that level of love from the judges, they were still very kind to him and as soon as I saw that 10 for his Contemporary I knew he was a goner for sure.

- However, just because an elimination was expected, it doesn’t mean it was deserved. And in Wanyá’s case it definitely wasn’t deserved. I get that he slipped last week but I’m disappointed that he somehow didn’t manage to build up a strong enough fanbase over the season to get through despite that snafu. He was humble, charismatic, and entertaining, and Lindsay was a good teacher for him and provided him with some awesome choreography to work with. There was seriously nothing more either of them could have done. I think I’ve made it clear I wanted the two eliminated Monday night to be Ginger-who I still don’t think it’s fair for them to have on the show-and Antonio. I think it was pretty obvious Nyle would be safe and I will say that if I had to choose between Wanyá and Paige to be in the finals with him I would have chosen the latter, since she’s the only contestant who has truly been consistently on the money all season. But honestly, Wanyá still deserved a spot in the finals more than the other three. Yes, even Nyle, who is fantastic and deserving of his spot in the finale but Wanyá has been the better dancer and overall performer so I’d honestly kick him out if it meant Wanyá could have a place there. Honestly, Wanyá’s elimination was Charlie White levels of wrong, and I’m sure it’s one we’ll continue hearing about for the next few years.

- I think tonight truly highlighted exactly why I think Wanyá and Lindsay deserved to stay over Ginger and Val. They’re both good dancers, but Wanyá is a bit more refined than Ginger, and he also knows how to really “sell” a dance, something that Ginger is rarely able to do. Also, Lindsay has been giving Wanyá top-notch choreography from the get-go, while Val didn’t really give Ginger anything special until Week 7 (and Lindsay is still producing better material than him on the whole). I don’t like to blame the celebrity for this, but this is a partnership competition and I think she might be shining more if Val had been giving her great choreography more often.

- Interesting take on things, Julia. The thing about this show is that fifty percent of the total combined scores rely on the celebrities’ dance abilities, and the other half is up to the viewers. Although it might seem disappointing to some, I can’t say whether or not an elimination is deserved or not. A person deserves to be eliminated if he or she does not have enough votes to stay in the competition, and that applies to everyone no matter what. It’s up to the viewers to vote for their favorites, and the public has spoken. Clearly the majority of viewers wanted Ginger in the game over Wanyá, and whether I agree with that or not, I can’t say that it was unjustified. The show is what it is. And that’s what it is. . . just a show. And personally, I think that all five of the semifinals had what it took to make it to the end, but it is all determined by the judges and the audience. Ginger, and sometimes even Antonio, had some breathtaking routines, and since the show goes on a week-by-week basis, the only thing that matters about improvements in dance quality is how the audience interprets that. Of course the way that celebrities are portrayed on the show is a whole different controversial topic, but I America makes its own decision in terms of voting each week. So what can you do? Vote. Besides that, it’s up to the rest of the public.

- The thing is it’s very possible Wanyá got more votes than Ginger last week so I don’t even think it’s safe to say the majority wanted her in over him. Since she was on top of the leaderboard everyone else had to get a certain number of votes MORE than she did in order to pass her in the combined totals, and Wanyá had the biggest spread to overcome because he was on the bottom of the leaderboard. I think he had to get just below 15 000 votes per million cast more than Ginger in order to overtake her. He might have technically gotten more than her, but he had to beat her out by at least that many votes in order to stay.

- I’m still predicting Nyle to take it all next week unless he flubs pretty badly. I think he’s won over the loyalty of more viewers than the remaining two ladies. If it wasn’t already clear based on my comments up to this point, I’m rooting for Paige just like Bentley (and am both SO surprised and SO happy that she is even a finalist) but unless Nyle does something really bad next week I’d be happy to see him win as well. But if Ginger somehow dominates both then maybe I’ll end up rooting for her in the end!

- I don’t think the scores for the Freestyles will really matter since for the past three seasons they’ve just given out perfect scores to everyone for that round and I don’t see that changing unless someone flubs big-time. So I think it will come down to the audience, who Mark seems to know how to please when he needs to, and for that reason I’m thinking he and Paige will most likely come in second. To be honest, Val has yet to produce a Freestyle that’s truly wowed me. Well actually, the one he did with Janel Parrish was pretty good, but it was Contemporary and I’m pretty sure Nyle and Peta are going to be going that route and if so it’d be foolish for Ginger and Val to do it too. And besides, that season was essentially Mark and Val competing for second place and Mark pulled out the Super Mario Bros. routine which ended up getting attention from a lot of people who were not regular viewers of DWTS. And wouldn’t you know it, Mark got second that season.

- Next week for night one of the finale, the couples will dance to a dance style they have performed to already to improve upon, and then it is the dances we have all been waiting for. . . the Freestyles! The Freestyles are usually fine, but I tend to remember the regular dances throughout the season a lot more. And I am also very glad that the couples are not redoing exact dances next week. . . Boring!

- There will also be another routine to contend with, which will consist of new routines of previous styles the couples have performed previously in the season. I think Nyle might get Rumba which makes me worried because that dance tends to be a weakness for Peta, but I could also see him possibly getting Quickstep or even Jive which both make me worried as well. It probably won’t matter what style Paige gets because she’s nailed all the ones she’s done but I can see her getting Rumba or Foxtrot. As for Ginger? They gave her Jazz. JAZZ. And not the Janet Jackson routine, either. It’s going to be like last season with all new routines for the redemption round. From what I’ve been hearing it sounds like it’s going to be a really fun routine that will likely appeal to my personal tastes, but I still don’t like that she gets to do Jazz for her redemption dance because that style is basically a free-pass. Now do you people realize Ginger might be being pimped?

- Alright, I do have to admit I see what you mean there. XD But you can’t blame Ginger for that, LOL!

- I don’t blame Ginger. I blame the network. ;)

[Playlist of the DWTS Season 22 Semifinals Dances]

What did you think of the Semifinals on DWTS? What was your favorite Trio dance from Monday night? Which individual dance did you like the most? Which celebrity's backstory do you think was the most heartfelt and touching? What did you think of Antonio & Sharna’s and Wanyá & Lindsay’s elimination during the Double Elimination Monday night? Who do you think will have the best Freestyle next week during night one of the Finale? And finally, who do you think will take it all, earning them the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy?

For more about Dancing With the Stars, follow the DWTS 2016 Twitter page at @DWTS2016. Also, follow Julia Delbel on Twitter at @juliadelbel and on Tumblr at forevertrueblue, follow Paul Bentley on Twitter at @TheBentleyNinja, and  follow Angelina Mikheeva on Twitter at @angelinarose42!

#DWTS #DWTS22

Julia's Thoughts on Jodie and Keo

Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed that this is the couple I'm writing about this week.



Jodie Sweetin and Keo Motsepe were eliminated from Dancing With the Stars Season 22 on Monday night, finishing the competition in sixth place. Jodie became the fifth female nostalgic figure to finish in this spot in the last six seasons, as Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Danica McKellar, Lea Thompson, and Alexa PenaVega all finished in that spot as well in recent seasons. You know what else these five women have in common? They were all eliminated before their time, at least in my eyes. But in this post I'm just going to focus on Jodie (and Keo).

At the end of last summer I'd noticed Jodie and Val followed each other on twitter and immediately thought "Jodie is doing DWTS this season and Val is her partner." (This was the season when Val's partner remained a mystery right up until the offical cast reveal on Good Morning America) It turned out she wasn't part of the cast that season (the twitter stuff turned out to be because of Val's Fuller House guest appearance with Maks) but in a hidden-camera video "interview" of sorts from a DWTS fan, Jodie revealed she very much wanted to be on the show, but couldn't at the time. And in that moment, I knew we would be seeing Jodie Sweetin on Season 22 of DWTS. It was perfect timing because of Fuller House's release shortly before the season's premiere, and I knew the show's producers would want to take advantage of that after how popular her co-star Candace Cameron Bure had proven to be.

In the months leading up to the cast announcement, I tried to figure out who Jodie's pro partner would be. She said she'd want Val in the aforementioned video, but I'd also heard her mention a couple other names in the past, and a lot of fans really seemed to be gunning for her to be with Artem. My personal guess was Val because they seemed to like each other and because of the whole Fuller House tie-in. I didn't see anyone guess that Keo would be her partner (though I did see a couple of hints in the days leading up to the reveal) but that is what happened. I was surprised at first and had no clue how this was going to go, but Jodie's GMA reveal made this partnership seem promising.

Before the season started, I said Jodie was basically the ideal DWTS contestant and that any problems this couple would have would be Keo's fault. Looking back, I don't think that ended up being the case. Jodie was actually quite insecure for about half the season and while I think Keo did a good job keeping her relaxed, I think it showed in some of her performances, particularly her facial expressions during some of the more "intense" dances like the Tango and Paso Doble.

Keo got a lot of negative feedback this season and I'm glad it was addressed on the show, because I think a lot of it was unwarranted and downright rude. I do think this season highlighted which of the common criticisms directed at Keo were legitimate and which weren't really warranted, The biggest claims I've seen that didn't seem to ring true were "Keo doesn't know how to teach" and "Keo only focuses on himself and not his partner". I think Keo was a good instructor for Jodie, being kind, patient, and fun while still making sure she knew her steps and the technique to execute them correctly. I also think he did a good job teaching with Kim Fields in the Switch-Up, as I did see some improvement from her that week, And I don't think the people who made the second claim were watching the same show that I was, because Keo seemed to focus the dance on making his partner look good and his focus in the packages was on Jodie (or Kim) doing well. The only time I saw him put his own needs before his partner's was when he sort of abandoned Kim at the end of Switch-Up Week. That wasn't cool, but other pros have done the same thing and haven't been called out for it. I'm guessing the criticism about Keo being too self-centred was a sentiment that carried over from past seasons because I've been hearing that one ever since he joined the show back in Season 19. Maybe it was true then, but I didn't see it happen this time.

Another frequent comment I've been seeing about Keo is that he needs to work on his choreography skills or get outside help. I actually agree with this one, at least when it comes to the Standard Ballroom-style dances. He didn't put a lot of content into those and blatantly broke the rules for the Quickstep. So I would like to see him churn out better routines in those styles, or enlist the help of an outside choreographer like some other pros do (and some other pros should). Again, this is a criticism that applies to several DWTS pros, so I don't see why Keo should be getting more heat for this than anyone else, but I do think he is one of the ones that warrants it. I really liked most of his Latin routines though, especially the Jive! In fact, it was my favorite dance Jodie and Keo did all season!

I thought Jodie and Keo were going to be one of the "pimped" couples of the season. I didn't think they'd be pushed all the way to the win, but the producers really seemed to want to make Keo "happen" and giving him Jodie seemed like a clue that they were going to try to push for it this time. What ended up happening was sort of the opposite. I think they were underscored for most of the season (I don't think anything they did actually warranted a 6, for example) and were given packages that played up their struggles most weeks. I get that this show likes drama, but I don't even think they had one "fun" package all season.

Even though their packages weren't always a barrel of fun, I did appreciate that they didn't harp on about Jodie's recovery from her drug addiction every week. Last season it seemed like they were airing the contestants' sob stories every single week and after a little while it felt way too over-the-top. With Jodie, her troubled past was the focus for one week and then they moved on from it, which I greatly appreciated (though I do get the feeling we would have heard about it again if she had advanced to this week's semi-finals since they tend to do a package with interviews from the family and friends of the top four or five contestants). Despite what some of the packages showed, I do think Jodie and Keo enjoyed working together and had a lot of fun with the experience.

I think Jodie and Keo deserved to go a little further in the competition. I didn't quite see them as Final 3 material (in most seasons they would be, but this season is unusually competitive) but I think they should've stuck around for one more week. A lot of people were saying Jodie would have placed higher with another pro partner, but based on how the rest of the contestants this season have been doing and how seasons' past have played out I think sixth place (or close to it) was likely for her regardless of partner, with the likely exception of the person most of us expected her to be with (though not for the reasons you might think). But I'll get more into that when I do my "Thoughts On" post for said pro and his partner. Hopefully that'll be this coming week but I have a bad feeling they might make the finals, especially if the show decides to combine the Week 8 scores and votes with the Week 9 scores. I don't want the producers to do that, but I wouldn't put it past them seeing as how it would allow them to manipulate the results of the double elimination. Either way, it's out of our hands now.

And finally, there's the hot debate about whether or not Keo should be brought back as a pro for Season 23. This is basically a pointless discussion to have because that package last week all but confirmed he will be one again, but I'll touch on it anyway. If he takes the time to better himself over the hiatus since there is no tour until the winter (this will actually be Keo's first DWTS hiatus not spent on tour, and most of the show's best pros use their breaks from performing as a time to improve upon their skills and/or learn new ones) and gets outside help with the Standard Ballroom choreography, then I'm fine with Keo being a pro on Season 23. (But if I see his name on the roster and Sasha's is'nt there, I'm going to riot.)

In the end, I was happy with Jodie and Keo's DWTS journey. I was happy that Jodie finally got to be on the show and had a positive experience with it, and that Keo finally has a "family" in America! From what I gather he's been kind of following other pros around trying to figure things out since joining the show, but I hope this season has given him the confidence to be himself and not try to be another version of someone else!

Discussion: How Much Longer Will DWTS Last? [Bentley]

If you follow me on Twitter or read the DWTS 2016 Fan Blog, then you are probably a huge fan of Dancing With the Stars. DWTS has brought entertainment to our living rooms twice a year for nearly eleven years now. It makes you think. . . how much longer will this show actually last?

But let’s not jump too far. DWTS is a ratings powerhouse. Disney makes millions from this ABC show alone, and have already renewed it for a twenty-third season.This show has even been adapted into countless other versions of the program, airing in over fifty countries around the world.

However, not everything that glitters is gold. TV shows get canceled for a multitude of reasons, but the most prevalent reason, especially on channels such as ABC and FOX, is due to a lack of views. Dancing With the Stars has had a fair share of views, though, receiving a massive viewing audience of 24.14 million on the season 11 finale alone. The show still gets a fair amount of views, having 13.49 million viewers for the most recent season finale of the show, but the ratings drop practically every season. Dancing With the Stars has not seen a viewing count in the 20 millions since 2011, and it will probably never reach that number ever again.

And let’s be honest. Haven’t you ever talked about Dancing With the Stars with someone, and they reply saying, “you still watch that show? I didn’t even know they still made it anymore!” And every DWTS fan is aware that the show has become “that show with all the D-list celebrities,” which is true, even though the superfans don’t really care if the “celebrities” are famous or not. But most viewers of the show are not exactly what I would call superfans. But I digress. It is extremely hard and exceptionally expensive to get even B-list celebrities on the show, but I guess DWTS has enough money to burn, especially with the relatively low production costs. The biggest issue with getting celebrities on DWTS is that most of them just don’t want to do it. Most popular celebrities are way too busy to even consider going on the show, and others just do not care about getting on the dancer floor, which is why so many “has-been” celebrities and so-called “nobodies” are casted. It’s all because Dancing With the Stars has become the show that revives careers and make celebrities out of people that we have only heard of due to their association with more famous people.

But let’s pretend the show was able to Kim Kardashian and Barack Obama themselves on air. Then what? The show has to be able to keep everything interesting in order to keep new viewers’ interest. Sure, we superfans wouldn’t mind seeing just raw dancing, but even plain ballroom can get a bit repetitive overtime. DWTS has to spice things some more. We can already see the producers reusing songs, concepts, and challenges constantly, which really makes you think, are they running out of ideas? They can do the Switch-Up Challenge as many times as they want, but that gimmick wears off eventually.

But let’s look at the show compared to others. We see shows on channels such as CBS that have been on air since the early 2000s and still top the charts with their views, but even those shows have had drops in ratings. Or how about American Idol? The final season of American Idol had more than 13 million views for its series finale, and yet that was the last we saw of that show. So why did it end? Well first of all, in the eyes of the non-super fans, there’s only so much you can do with a singing competition, right? Same goes with dancing. But personally, I think the recurring factor in why reality competition shows like American Idol and Dancing With the Stars ends is because it departs too much from its original season. What did American Idol depart from? The original judging panel. Without a stable judging panel, there tends not to be as much common ground between seasons that people like.

We all know that Len Goodman isn’t sticking around on the judging panel permanently. And who knows if Julianne Hough will be back? Dancing With the Stars has lasted so long with its original three judges (with the exception of season 21), which kept the DWTS family somewhat “whole.” And some goes for the hosts, but I don’t think neither Tom nor Erin are going anywhere anytime soon. But even the professional dancers matter in terms of the audience’s attentiveness. With Derek gone this season on DWTS, I have been receiving constant tweets about how the show isn’t the same anymore without him. So now the question is. . . how many “Dereks” are left on the show?

Personally, I think Dancing With the Stars only has a few years left before some other show steals its spotlight. It’s not like shows such as Big Brother and Survivor where normal people get to do various things in unique situations. DWTS is just about dancing. Don’t get me wrong, I am obviously obsessed with Dancing WIth the Stars, but I don’t think the fanbase of the show is what it used to be. All that’s guaranteed now is the Autumn season this year.That’s it. But that doesn’t mean other versions of the show will end right away, or even that dance shows in general will fall off the face of the Earth. That doesn’t even mean that DWTS will end anytime soon. Who knows? Maybe the show will be around when America has its one hundredth president. Or maybe the show won’t able to find any celebrities to participate, so they will pack up their Latin heels.

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So what do you think? Let me know on Twitter at @TheBentleyNinja, and let me know. Also follow the DWTS 2016 Blog on Twitter at @DWTS2016 for more about Dancing WIth the Stars!