DWTS Week 6: Maksim C FTW?

Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy do the perfect dance of the night. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

This was the dance of the night. Perfect scores all around. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First, it was Party Anthem Week. Which meant, basically, this.

Women of the troupe and Redfoo getting their party on. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor

...and this...

Sharna Burgess and Charlie White.

PARTY?!!!!??? GET IT?

This episode proved how hard ABC is trying to work to get younger viewers to this show. Lotsa EDM music and techno beats. Fun! When all else fails, throw in some Day-Glo®. Woo hoo!

Yeah. *eyeroll*

But in the midst of all of the neon and confetti, we also had this:

Candace Bure, Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Drew Carey. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

This photo, more than any other, expressed to me what this show is REALLY about. These, the Bottom Two couples, one certainly going home, have friends Mark Ballas and Cheryl Burke supporting each other, whatever the outcome. (It ended up being Cheryl Burke and Drew Carey departing.)

That, to me, represents the real Dancing with the Stars. It’s posited as a competition, but everyone lucky enough to be on it is a winner. Although some, heartbreakingly, go home sooner than others.

And we saw little glimpses into the jealousies behind the scenes. Some pro dancers having multiple Mirror Balls, others having one, others having none. Yet.

So let’s get back to the competition at hand.

We did have this.

Mark Ballas and Candace Cameron-Bure do a cha cha.

Candace Cameron-Bure, emboldened and electrified, finally GETS IT (in Week 6) that you do this as a character, not as yourself. And so, she’s able to let herself go more, and I have to say, the dance was better because of it. Not likely to save her to the end, but heck, I even voted for them again this week.

Not so with the emboldened in a negative way NeNe Leakes, who, after dancing with Derek, seems to have thrown rules out the window and wants to dance her own way every week. I predict she and Tony will be next to go. (Sad because I really do like Tony. He really does go the extra mile for his partner every week. At least it seems so from here.) But NeNe I’m really done with.

So now we’re down to the real final five contestants of the competition. Alphabetically: Derek, Maks, Peta, Sharna and Val. What these five do in the next weeks is what’s truly going to be interesting to watch.

Peta Murgatroyd and James Maslow, obviously having a lot of fun doing a quick step.

All of these five I just love watching, for differing reasons. Peta and James, for example, really look like they’re having fun out there.

Charlie and Sharna do too, but I really dread seeing him doing a Latin dance this week. Happy and fun are his forte. The serious “character” dancing doesn’t seem to come to him as easily.

Then we have what I hope are the three semi-finalists.

DEREK HOUGH AND AMY PURDY

Derek Hough and Amy Purdy doing a jive.

Derek creates magic with every dance. And Amy, besides having the sympathy card for her situation, also dances her butt off. They are formidable competitors. Still, Derek can’t (and shouldn’t) win EVERY season. And he just won last season.

VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY AND DANICA McKELLAR

Danica McKellar and Valentin Chmerkovskiy do a cha cha. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

Season after season, since he became a pro on this show, Valentin has presented us with (arguably) some of the best choreography on this show. Why he doesn’t yet have a Mirror Ball surpasses my mental abilities. He has certainly deserved one, IMHO. And could deserve one this time too.

But what I found most interesting, starting from this show in Week 6, is this.

MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY AND MERYL DAVIS

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Meryl Davis do a tango.

I want Maks to win this season. I sure didn’t think I’d be saying that at the beginning of the season. Sure, I was glad he was back and all, but still...

What is this ephemeral thing that causes people to win? What is it that pushes them to the top? Maks has been so close. He thought he should’ve won (and publicly said so) with Kirstie Alley. I thought he should’ve won with Erin Andrews.

But this time, this show, just before he goes on to do a mind-blowing, perfect-scoring tango, he talks very vulnerably about how much he wants to win, and how humiliating it is to have danced all these seasons and not yet won. And you know? He’s right.

Maybe Maks finally realizes that it was himself getting in his own way previously (with his arrogance), and that’s why he’s toning it down and actually becoming vulnerable on camera. No, I want this, he says to us. It’s certainly a strategy he hasn’t tried before. This time, it just might work.

When these two ice dancers with gold medals came on this show, it appeared certain that one of them would win this. After all, America loves them.

I am really hoping beyond hope that the one who wins is Meryl. With Maks, the chastened fallen hero, returned to vanquish and get that Mirror Ball finally. It would be a great ending to this season.

Artem Chigvintsev in the Macy’s Stars of Dance segment.

There was also this. Thank you again to Macy’s for letting these Stars of Dance segments return, and also to ABC for letting Derek Hough drive the creative on them.

Also, every week for several weeks now, they’ve been having guest judges. I haven’t been mentioning it (like last week’s Donny Osmond, this week’s RedFoo) because I mostly see it as a stunt thing. The DWTS judges are Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno, to my eyes.

What I am suspecting is happening is that Len is going to step down, and one of these “guest” judges will then take over his spot. So far this season I haven’t seen one I’d want in his place, though I suppose Donny Osmond comes close, cause he has seen a lot of dance over his career, and he was fair and honest in his judging. And certainly we need someone somber to keep the air in the room (between Carrie Ann and Bruno, sheesh). Julianne Hough is a little too mean (and not in the Len kind of way). Plus, I think someone with some distance from the participants would be better.

Robin Roberts? No, too easy on everyone. RedFoo? Heck no. Way too much wackiness in that scenario. Plus, he doesn’t really seem to know dance.

This week is Ricky Martin. Well, he does know dance, and Latin dance in particular, so we shall see.

Also coming up this week? The Team dances. In the history of Team dances, Derek’s team has always won, and I promise you, will win again. Bet me. (Also, in DWTS history, the losing team is always the one with someone going home. That will be true again tomorrow. Bet me on that too.)

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DWTS Week 3: Gut-Wrencher Overload

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Meryl Davis. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

There is a week in Dancing with the Stars (usually early on) where you get to know the “stars” a little better. They dance to a “special year” in their lives, usually dedicate the song to someone, and many tears are shed. (Well, in good years, that’s what happens.) Some years, like last, we had celebs whose greatest life-changing moment was “booking Glee.” (Who shall remain nameless... AHEM.)

It depends, I would suppose, on the people who populate the dance floor, and what they’ve gone through in their lives. Soldiers/war heroes always have a good story for this evening. Self-absorbed celebrities, well, not so much.

In Season 18, we have “My Special Year” in Week 3. I shed tears watching it this year, I admit it. It was a special week.

It was also unusual for me. There were basically 10 couples left (one of whom, Billy Dee Williams, voluntarily dropped out, “on doctor’s orders”; to which I say, THANK YOU, Doctor!). So there was no elimination on this night. Not even much hooha about Billy Dee leaving (also, thank you, producers).

FIVE of the couples who danced on this night BLEW ME AWAY. FIVE! So much so that I can’t even name a TOP choice. Or even rank them in any way. I don’t think that’s ever happened, as long as I’ve been writing about this.

So, let me get the other three out of the way first.

The stunningly beautiful Cheryl Burke and Drew Carey.

Tony and NeNe and Cheryl and Drew did nice dances. I enjoyed them. They just didn’t blow me away like the other five.

And, it kills me, cause I really love Mark Ballas and his dancing so much, but the whole prude thing crossed Candace Cameron off the list for me. I don’t even care about them as a couple anymore.

Oh, and the kids (Cody whatever and Witney) danced to some Surfboard song of his. Yawn...

Now let’s get to the good...no, GREAT stuff.

Kicking off the evening with a bang was Peta Murgatroyd and James Maslow. Their dance was amazing.

And, I said it in a Tweet at the time, but I’ll say it again: the music, especially for this number, is 1000% better than it’s ever been. How nice to have up-to-date songs to dance to!

Peta Murgatroyd and James Maslow. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

Man, this song was just such a bouncy blast to watch. So much fun.

And while we’re on the subject of fun songs, Sharna Burgess and Charlie White, got out of the somber tango mood they were in last week, and played to Charlie’s strengths. Remember when I said last week that he was good at the smiling thing? Well, here you go.

Charlie White and Sharna Burgess dance to “Happy.” Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

If ever there was a song tailor-made for Charlie White to dance to, it’s Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.” Oh, you know? That song you can’t get out of your head? Yeah. That one. Smiley-faces all over the stage too. Way happy. Way fun.

I think it’s true of Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, and now Valetin Chmerkovskiy, that whoever they dance with, they make them look so much better because they are so talented as choreographers. Honestly, for season after season now (since he’s been a pro), Val has really taken my breath away with how stunning his choreography is. Danica McKellar is one very lucky woman, and this was one amazing dance (on Val’s birthday!).

Valentin Chmerkovskiy (on his birthday!) with Danica McKellar. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

Such a wonderful dance. Amazing, incredible choreography. A joy to watch.

But it was his brother, Maksim, who continues to astonish and amaze with the depth of emotion he brings to the dance each week.

There is always a ”will they or won’t they?” thing teased with various couples during the show. Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t. As far as the dance, it really doesn’t matter. But there was an almost-kiss held for a really long time in this dance, which might have been powerful if it hadn’t been so carefully choreographed that it was so perfectly placed for the camera.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Meryl Davis.

Remember that this was the guy who was giving Charlie White lessons in how to be a “bad boy” last week. So do with all that information what you will. Whatever it was, it was a helluva dance.

But really, the most gut-wrenching dance, the one that had me (and probably a lot of America) in tears, was Derek Hough and Amy Purdy’s dance.

It’s a pretty big deal, likely a very difficult technical challenge, to choose to dance with a woman with no legs. A woman who has overcome her challenges so much that she just medalled at the ParaOlympics. Yet, still, has no legs from the knees down.

This contemporary dance that Derek created was just stunning to watch, a poem about Amy not being able to walk, yet wanting to and how, with the help of her father (who was in the audience, and to whom she dedicated the song), she was able to. Such a beautiful and amazing dance. There truly are no words.

Derek Hough and Amy Purdy dance contemporary. Courtesy of ABC/Adam Taylor.

Amy Purdy and Derek Hough

It is a dance that won’t soon be forgotten. An incredible week this time, indeed.

Oh, but let’s end on a Happy note...

Seriously. Don’t you just love DWTS’ set designers? Wow.

Next week, we get the guest judging of Miss Julianne Hough (Derek’s sister). She was (I thought) a bit unprofessionally mean to Mark Ballas last time. I hope we have none of that this time around. No need to be catty here. But then, this is also the woman who wore that racist outfit for Halloween, so maybe she doesn’t have the best judgment at all?

We shall see.

Robin Roberts was a guest judge this time, but come on. She’s gonna like everything. Please.

I like the three judges we have (Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno). These other ones just mess up the place, and cause the judging comments to run longer. Blech. But I suppose that dancers who actually know dance are better than talk show hosts, in the scheme of things.

Oh, and we also have this big “Switch” thing next week. I suspect that they were going to have it for all season, and the pros complained, so it’s only going to be one week of a Switch.

Truthfully, I don’t know how they can do it at all. These celebrities require so much coddling and hand-holding, why switch that off to someone else? Ugh.

At LEAST, we know that Mark Ballas will be paired with someone who is OK with this whole dance concept. I hope they do something really steamy and unclothed! Take that, Candace! heh

(Now who’s catty?) ;-)

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