DWTS Season 21 Week 8: Inspire This!

This week on Dancing with the Stars was My Inspirational Hero, or My Favorite Icon, or something. (Lame). Andy chose Stevie Wonder, though he really brought it back around to his mom (even though the tear-jerking parents week was earlier in the season). This dance (to "Isn't She Lovely?") actually had further resonance since Allison had announced earlier that she's pregnant.

They ended up getting voted off this week. So I'm sure she's a superwoman, but nonetheless, I'm glad she could now rest up and not do these strenuous dances every week.

Carlos chose Marc Antony, who taught him salsa (sort of).

Apparently, he has never done a salsa in his life. He made a big deal out of this, saying it over and over again in his package. Which was pretty confusing to me, cause I know he has done about 1000 Viennese waltzes in his life... To say nothing of zipping around, doing Argentine tangos all day long. What you are talking about, man? You've never done ANY of these dances, right?

Dunno. Maybe he meant it because as a Latino, he should have done 1000 salsas. As Marc Antony said to him, "It's in your blood, man!" Once he whipped his shirt off, I believed him.

Also, the lifts Witney had in this were stunning, not the least because it looked like he was damn near dropping her a few times.

Our train hero chose a war hero, Chris Kyle (whom I choose to see as a murdering savage and have no respect for, but to each his own).

Alexa went all Biblical and chose David (of David and Goliath fame) as her hero. Alexa, at this point, is my favorite to win, but she does seem to have a lot of insecurities. But I just love everything about them. I love the grand scope of the execution of his dances. I love his choreography. I love the music he chooses (Mark Ballas always has the best music selections; Coldplay, and we know LA loves Coldplay). I loved the little kiltie thing he was wearing. I love Alexa, fighting through her own demons with every dance.

Yeah, this was my favorite dance of the night. Argentine tango to fight Biblical demons. Rock on, Mark and Alexa!

Nick veered us back into the emotional territory, with another stunning dance, this time picking his wife as his Inspirational Icon, and talking about how they've been trying to have a baby, and now she's pregnant. So Sharna did a fabulously choreographed contemporary dance which illuminated that. (The picture above is how it ends, with him patting her baby bump.)

There was also this emotional moment, after he pulled his wife out of the crowd, and brought her backstage. They learned the sex of their baby. Can you guess what it is?

So which one of these will be the Mirror Ball winner? Any guesses?

I am predicting that it's going to be one of these, but it for damn sure isn't going to be the "best dancer in the competition" (self-proclaimed).

What Ms. Tamar doesn't understand is that this competition is won on two things: 1. the scores of the judges and 2. the voting from the fans. So you can get all 10s consistently from the judges, if WE don't like you, you don't win. That's it. Valentin knows this, painfully, having seen the backlash from his brother Maks saying whatever he felt like it into a microphone seasons ago.

Because what the fans respect the most is what Valentin now oozes (way more than Maks ever did): GRACIOUSNESS. When he won the Mirror Ball finally, his first reaction was to face the camera (and the fans) and say: THANK YOU. Cause he knows.

But it was essential to backpedal this tremendous faux pas. So in their package, Val says something like: "I slept on it, thought about it, and yes, you are the best, cause all of my partners are the best."

But, dear Valentin, the point is: she shouldn't have said it, and once said, you can't take it back. You have to ride that humility train all the way to hoisting the Mirror Ball, or you don't win it. Simple as that.

I will say this. I believe that this season, because of other projects he's doing or whatever, Valentin is surely the best dancer in this competition. He has never been more electrifying to watch. If not for the Tamar meltdown, he could've been hoisting another Mirror Ball (IMHO).

But no, no, no. For me personally (don't know how many other fans), she lost me with that comment. Done.

Her Inspirational Icon was ostensibly her sister, Toni (Braxton), but she didn't really speak to that. The music they chose for their paso doble felt like a giant FU to the fans. Tough. I was born this way. (Lady Gaga's) Fine. You go keep your arrogance that you were born with. GOODBYE.

OK. I'll turn over my cards. Here who I think is actually going to win the Mirror Ball.

Not only because Derek is arguably the best dancer in the competition, but also the most creative with those Freestyle dances. Part of me would like to see Sharna and Nick win (because Sharna has yet to win a Mirror Ball, and she's been doing stunning work all season, and last season, for that matter). But I think Bindi and Derek are going to pull it out because Bindi is so darn cute, she's the world's sweetheart and she also does all these punishing dances that Derek gives her, without missing a beat. She's been consistently amazing.

It's also kind of funny to me, how at the beginning, there may be one who stands out (and certainly Bindi did), but many seem equally good. But then, there are always things which derail people. Their own ego, their body, their schedule, whatever.

Break a leg, Bindi!

Oh, for this particular week, as soon as she said Grace Kelly was her Inspirational Icon, I knew which dance they were going to be dancing to. They did not disappoint.

MICHE'S FAVORITES FOR WEEK 8
1. Mark and Alexa (Argentine tango)
2. Carlos and Witney (salsa)
3. Bindi and Derek (foxtrot)
4. Val and Tamar (paso doble)

MICHE PICKS TO WIN THE MIRROR BALL
1. Bindi and Derek
2. Nick and Sharna
3. Carlos and Witney
4. Alek and Lindsay

So they had this other nonsense on this show. I really hate this crap. Some judges hooha, and you get extra points, blah blah.

This was a "Dance Off." I'll spare you all the boring, time-filler details. The only relevant detail is that the top couple (by judges' points) were given immunity and couldn't be voted off (also didn't have to participate in this lame dance-off thing). That couple was Nick and Sharna, but like last year (when Derek and his partner won it), they weren't in danger of being voted off anyway.

This was the best moment of the Dance Off, when Carlos spontaneously picked up his competitor, Bindi, and all were laughing. That, truly captures to me what Dancing with the Stars really is. Love this picture.

So, goodbye Allison. I love your dancing and choreography. I look forward to the day when you finally win the Mirror Ball. But this was not that time.
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DWTS Season 21 Week 7: Halloween Scares Up Some Ego, New Team Dance Champs

There are some truisms you can say about a Dancing with the Stars Halloween show. The cast really gets into it, someone plays Halloween pranks on everyone and Derek's team always, and I mean always, wins the Team Dance. (To be fair, last year, Val's team TIED with Derek's. So the record was still never broken.)

This year, we have NEW winners. More on all that in a moment.

The other significant thing about this show (very significant to me) was this statement. Take a guess at who said it. "I'm probably the best dancer in the competition." (It was one of the stars, not the Pros.)

If you guessed...

...Tamar Braxton, you'd be right.

Let me just say this about that. Rampant ego doesn't play well on reality TV. Unless you want all of America to hate you, you don't say a thing like that into the camera.

Val kinda (understandably) went ballistic when that little tidbit aired, but SHE DID SAY IT.

"The best dancer in the competition." :-0  Oh my, oh my. Dear, this is Week 6. There is a long way from here to there (and let me clue you now, she DOESN'T win the competition). Nor would she have.

Don't know about the rest of America, but what that little statement did for me was completely SUCK all the votes which would have gone to her and Val out of my phone-dialing hand.

Oh, another thing about ego, btw. She was on this ego high because they had gotten all 10s last week for their amazing Rhythm Nation recreation. When the judges were commenting on the dance, they said, "Excellent choreography!" And Tamar said, "Thank you." Last I checked, it was Val who was the choreographer here. (And an amazing choreographer at that. The only reason she's ANYWHERE in the competition is that Val is her partner.)

 Valentin is the reigning champion, a dancer in fine peak form, a stunning choreographer. He's a joy to watch and has an incredibly creative mind. Ms. Tamar is only along for the ride here.

And while I'm on my anti-Tamar rant, my other DWTS pet peeve is when stars sign up to do this show and they have ten other commitments as well. Oh, sorry, I have to go do this book tour. Oh, sorry, I'm touring with my band. Oh, sorry, I have to go co-host this daily talk show. WTF? Casting directors? Can't you get people who are out of work, who have the time and energy to devote to doing this show? WTF is up with these losers who try to do six things at once, then bitch on the show about how tired they are?

You don't see folks on Survivor leaving in the middle because they have a book tour or have this obligation in Vegas or whatever.

I have NO sympathy for these folks, and totally vote them down whenever the bitching starts. So Ms. Tamar has a few black marks on my dance card from that. But, for me, Valentin Chmerkovskiy can do no wrong, I will vote for him many times in the future, but Tamar Braxton lost every vote from me, starting with this week. "Best dancer in the competition," my ass. (This week Tamar received 24 out of 30, one of the lowest scores.)

Ah, but let's get back to something positive. The truly best dancers of this week, my favorite of Week 6: Alexa and Mark. (Who did receive a perfect score of 30 from the judges.)

Alexa, is, for my money, at this point in the competition, the one I want to win. Mark Ballas is just a genius with choreography and costuming and story, and every week, I look forward to what they do.

This gorgeous paso doble homage to Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands was just beautiful and so well done. I love watching them, every time.

The person I truly believe is the best dancer in this competition, and very likely to win it is Bindi Irwin. It helps, of course, that her partner is Derek Hough, who can do no wrong with his dances.

But this was a very beautiful and well performed Argentine tango. And those kicks and flicks were kickin and flickin (from both participants). Really amazing. And they received a perfect score for the effort.

Or this...

Alexa's husband Carlos is not shabby in the dance department either. Another paso doble, to Carmina Burana, for gosh sakes! And his ego was the opposite, insisting that last week the judges "overscored" him. Julianne insisted she did not. Refreshing.

The gold standard, though was amazing paso that Mark and Alexa put forth, which was so stunningly good, so this one that Andy and Allison presented was... well, not that.

Where Mark and Alexa's lines were sharp and clear, these... um... ugh.

And Andy Grammar, too, in his package, was commenting about how everyone had pretty much written him off as a dancer at the beginning, and then they got all 10s and... well, NOW we can see... etc. Let's just take a moment to remind Mr. Grammar that they got 10s because the dance (from Singing in the Rain) was complex, involved a lot of props, and is more than the usual DWTS dance. And they performed it well. Still doesn't mean he's a great dancer, cause for the record, I don't think he is.

Turn on the table, then lift up the raincoats, then go up, then down these stairs, then jump on the first couch, then the second... etc. Lotsa steps and things to do.

So, he wasn't as blatant with his ego tripping as Tamar, but it was out there.

This paso doble received only 26 out of 30.

Another rampant ego was from our hero Alek, who went all ballistic because the judges gave him bad scores last week, when he "performed the steps perfectly." Luckily, they brought in Artem to show Alek a thing or two about what he's missing. And his dance this week was much better.

So enough about the petty squabbling about who's better among these fine dancers. Let's get to the important stuff: the Team Dances!

I loved this team dance, from Team Nightmare. Exquisitely done. Every person performed well. Great concept, great music, well done.

They also received a perfect score from the judges. (They performed first.)

Team Who Ya Gonna Call? didn't meet their high bar.

So, for the first time in ELEVEN seasons, Derek's team did not win the Team Dance!!!!

It was quite an evening, all in all.

I really want to echo Derek's stated sentiment, that all of the people who work on the costumes, hair and makeup for this show really deserve to be commended. These costumes and props and sets and everything going on here were just first-rate, the highest caliber.

Could have really done without all the smoke machine nonsense, but other than that, it was amazing.

Lastly, for the past two weeks, Leah Remini has replaced (as in stood in for, she's nowhere near as good) Erin Andrews as cohost. Mostly it's been good. (I can't imagine Erin being willing for Tom to sling her over his shoulder in a Dirty Dancing parody thing. Quite funny.) But I really wish someone could tell dear Ms. Leah to STOP hitting people in the face with a microphone. She did this the last time she cohosted, and it's not only annoying, it's abusive. She needs to STOP IT.

MICHE'S FAVORITE DANCES OF HALLOWEEN WEEK, Week 6
1. Alexa and Mark (paso doble)
2. Carlos and Witney (paso doble)
3. Bindi and Derek (Argentine tango)
4. Andy and Allison (paso doble)
5. Alek and Lindsay (Viennese waltz)

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