DWTS S022 SEMIS: Stunning Trios and Super Steamy Dances

Alan, Paige and Mark do a samba Trio.

I have to admit. The trio dances are one of my favorite parts of the season on Dancing with the Stars. This semifinal kicked off with just a brilliant one, with Alan (who may or may not be dating Paige), Paige and Mark Ballas. She was the bird of paradise, they the peacocks in this stunning samba.

Every step was perfect to these eyes, and the judges concurred, giving this number a perfect score.

Sharna, Antonio and Hayley do an Argentine Tango.

I really liked Sharna and Antonio and Hayley's sexy Argentine tango, but the judges did not give it a perfect score. :-(

Wanya slipped last week on an errant bandana (really costing them the finals, IMHO), and this week, he was having NONE of that. His paso doble with Lindsay and Witney had no extraneous items in it, and the power and drive behind it gave them a perfect score from the judges. Beautiful stuff. Got a standing ovation from Len (no small feat, that).

Peta, Nyle and Jenna rock out a Trio during the Semi-finals.

Sorry, but I'm still on my anti-Nyle rant. I really don't like him as a competitor, and feel like Peta is the one doing all the magic in this combo. It was fun to see Jenna (who knows sign language) communicate with Nyle. But Nyle's footwork in this jive was off (according to the judges), and he did not get a perfect score for this trio.

Val, Ginger and Artem do a mean paso doble.

First, take a moment. A stormy paso doble with Val C and Artem. *swoon* Val's choreography, as always, stunning. However, for me, Ginger still can't get the concept of character down, and comes up with more constipated face than dramatic face. Her dancing is pretty amazing though. The judges believed that she "lost a lot of the shapes" because there was so much going on in the dance. So they received all 9s.

MICHE'S FAVORITES: TRIO ROUND
1. Mark, Alan and Paige (Samba)
2. Lindsay, Witney and Wanya (paso doble)
3. Val, Artem, Ginger (paso doble)
4. Sharna, Hayley and Antonio (Argentine tango)
5. Peta, Jenna and Nyle (jive)

Next up? Individual dances.

Before I even start writing about this, remember this is the girl who fights MMA, punches people in the face, for a living. She started the season by saying that she doesn't do much "girly" stuff. Now look at the photo again. And this dance... Holy moly.

To say this dance was HOT is a grand understatement. Mark Ballas (such a genius with choreography and concept) even borrowed (sorta) a trick from Derek Hough, where they danced with a table in between them, which only made the dance hotter.

Throughout the dance, they were taking articles of clothing off. And then there was this whole thing with the shirt, where he (as the choreographer) incorporated her taking it off of him (and wrapping it around them both) as part of the dance. Incredible stuff.

Whew! Hot in here, eh?

And now, a BOW to the genius of Mark Ballas. Wow, was that incredible.

(Got a little too steamy for Len's taste, but the other two judges liked it just fine.)

Man, I think all the other competitors can just sit down after that one dance...

Sharna and Antonio choose contemporary as their solo dance. Sharna does a really excellent job (usually) of incorporating who the star is into the final dances. It's just that after the work of art that Mark Ballas presented, this feels like going to a stadium named Citibank or something. The music was called "Standing in the Hall of Fame" and the images were all pictures of him playing football. I was not a fan of this dance.

The judges liked it, especially the lifts.

Charleston is a dance that they've only incorporated in the past few seasons, but man, I do love it when pros choose to use it.

It does make me sad to watch this now, though, cause Lindsay and Wanya really could've (in some ways should've) won this thing. Their dancing was just impeccable.

Then, there was this. Peta, doing every version of pushing the envelope this season with Nyle, in the semis decides to make a deaf man blind. (For a portion of the song, not the whole song.)

It got a perfect score from the judges. Blah blah. I'm so over Nyle. And, once again, credit for this dance goes to its choreographer, Peta, and her husband Maks. It wasn't Nyle "pushing his boundaries," it was Peta, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in dance (IMHO).

Last, Ginger and Val do a quickstep. There was some issues in both of Ginger's dances with her skirts being too bulky to dance with. It is the one consistent thing I have issue with the costumers about. Otherwise, they do great work. (Well, and other than that errant bandana which cost Wanya the finals last week.) Carrie Ann scored them down for Ginger getting snagged in her dress.

Leaving tonight? Antonio and, sadly, Wanya.

MICHE FAVORITES OF SINGLE DANCES: SEMIFINALS
1. Mark and Paige (Argentine tango)
2. Lindsay and Wanya (Charleston)
3. Val and Ginger (quickstep)
4. Peta and Nyle (Argentine tango)
5. Sharna and Antonio (contemporary)

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DWTS S22 Week 8: A Night of Breathtaking Dances, Groundbreaking Moments

There are moments, usually once the riff-raff is gone, and before the super competitive finals arrive, when the pro choreographers are able to strut some of their most artistic, and risky, stuff. Week 8 of Dancing with the Stars was such a week. We were graced with some literally breath-taking dances.

The full cast of Week 8

The above photo is funny, cause the pro dancers are still dressed from their (amazing) opening number (choreographed by Mandy Moore), and the stars are dressed in costume for their upcoming number. Quite an array ahead.

First up, Peta Murgatroyd and Nyle's paso doble.

One of the hallmarks of Dancing with the Stars is that it occasionally plays with color in camera. This bad photo from the TV shows the black and white stuff that happens (and is just stunning to watch).

And then, this section in the middle (Peta conceived, assisted by Maks), where the male dancers around Nyle dance without sound (so America could see what it's like for Nyle to dance every week). Incredible moment.

But let me just say this here and now. Much of what was given credit to Nyle this season was Peta's handiwork. This dance among them. Bravo to her, and to the other four male dancers who danced synchronistically in silence. Wow. Certainly one of the best moments of the season.

It ended with them putting her and him in a cage. Just stunning imagery.

Man, I love to watch Sharna dance. She and Antonio perform what he kept calling a "Vietnamese waltz" (*eyeroll*). How she created this beautiful choreography, after the previously stunning Viennese waltz she had just created (on Switch Up Week) blows my mind.

But she is just beautiful.

Photo of Sharna, not from this week

After their dance (and before their scores), we had this little blip of a thing. You know the things where the dancers show how to do some dance or another, takes a minute, boom, onto the next thing? The bumpers? Well, this particular one was choreographed by James Corden. I encourage you to seek it out (online or the link below).

Cause we had this:

and, of course, this:

Thank goodness Jenna, Hayley and Shannon are such good sports. It was pretty funny. The real choreography genius Mandy Moore is even in the video. (As well as Exec. Prod. Rob Wade.)

LOL Tom Bergeron is so perfect. Funny, funny stuff.

James Corden as choreographer

And then, back to the show!

Jodie and Keo Week 8. The photo says it all.

Next up, Jodie and Keo. Jodie (whom I love, and really wanted to win this competition) says in her package: "We're bringing in set design and props and troupe dancers to really highlight the great jive that we're doing." First of all, every single frame of this show already HAS "set design and props and troupe dancers." But when they bring it in for a dancer's individual dance, by and large, it means that you suck. And they are trying to cover that up with "set design and props and troupe dancers." You don't need all that hooha to "highlight" a great jive.

SEE Mark Ballas' great jive from last week. No props, no "set design," no troupe dancers. Yet, spectacular, and blew the roof off.

PRO TIP TO ASPIRING STAR DANCERS: All you EVER need is the dance. If you are good/great/wonderful, that is all you'll ever need. And if you suck, prepare to see a lot of other dancers around you. That is, truly, truly, how this show rolls. Jodie Sweetin was really in the clouds about what was really happening on this show, vis a vis her and Keo.

And, IMHO, it wasn't that SHE sucked, it was that her partner didn't really have what is needed in a pro. So, I felt bad when they were voted off later in this show.

"Holy DWTS" They do have a great prop department.

The judges scored this a perfect score (which made both Jodie and her mom happy), but it was too little too late.

To me, that was not a perfect score dance. The troupe dancers were essentially extraneous. The dance said nothing about the surroundings, the song was terrible. Ugh.

My kind of perfection is this.

This is a dance where everything: the minimal, but perfect sets; the lighting, the camerawork, the costumes, the snow blowing in at just the right moment, work perfectly in concert with the stunning dance that is being presented before us. Some dancers in this week were just trying to get their steps right. Mark Ballas had his partner EFFECTIVELY portraying being outside in freezing cold to a Demi Lovato song.

It stunned me then, it stuns me now, how incredibly good this dance was.

Peta and Nyle's dance was incredible for its technical brilliance. To my eyes, this dance is every bit as difficult and as brilliant. To have an untrained dancer go from this (movement, warmth) to this (coldness, statues) in the course of one dance is nothing short of stunning.

Truly. Over and over, it is Mark Ballas who blows my mind the most on this show. I live to see his choreography and his vision. And it's incredible to me that he can create this magic on DWTS, on ABC. Especially after last week's blistering jive that they performed. This week, Viennese waltz. Brilliant and beautiful.

Astonishingly, this dance of perfection did not get a perfect score, while Jodie and Keo's mess did. Ah well.

Next, I have a bias about Ginger Zee, which I've mentioned in previous columns this season. She is too nice. She is always nice, always smiling ear to ear, and so far, when she's had to perform a rough character, it's WAY out of her scope and ability.

She and Val are doing an Argentine tango. The women in this dance is usually always surly and angry and in command, all things that Ginger Zee is not.

However, astonishingly, we get this.

This is what you get when you have an excellent teacher, who knows what's required and makes it happen. Ginger Zee doing a hot Argentine tango? I seriously never thought that could happen. Yet, here it is.

In the moment, I was totally swept away by it. Watching it back now, I can see how camera angles and lighting conceal how much she may've burst into smiles along the way. And the one close shot, she did look rather "constipated" (her word). So, in this instance, I think it was Val's choreography and the DWTS artistry which carried her through this one. (Don't go into acting anytime soon, Ms. Ginger...)

But the choreography, as always with Val Chmerkovskiy, was stunning. Perfect score. No surprise.

Wanya and Lindsay are also a couple that I really wanted to win. This number, from the start, looked like it was going to be great. However, notice what I said earlier. Notice the sets, the props, the extra troupe dancers... hm... Add to that an errant bandana which nearly causes one of the dancers to fall out (for which I blame the costume department, not either dancer). And their scores are less than great.

Sigh. Sad.

That moves us into the Judges Dances. I think this is the second or third time they've done this. And it's kind of a useless exercise, cause all the judges always give each other 10s. This time, they've added the component of "America gets to vote," by which they mean the East Coast of America. *sigh* So that adds some variety. (Except this year, "America" voted 9 for all three dances. They might as well not even be scoring.)

But all of these judges used to be in the dance field in one way or another, so it is interesting to see what they choose to have the dancers do. Mostly, they indulge themselves.

Then again, what we did have here was pretty ground-breaking TV. For a Disney company. For ABC. For Dancing with the Stars, this was pretty landmark. In Bruno's dance, women danced with women and men danced with men. In, you know, a sexual way. And I promise you, we have never seen anything like that on this show before. And probably never would, if it weren't Bruno choreographing.

BRUNO: Peta and Nyle, Keo and Jodie

Mind you, this was all an Argentine tango to Bizet's "Carmen," so it had a very classical feel about it, but still... the ground was shifting here.

Quite something.

Len, on the other hand, chose to head in a different direction.

LEN: Valentin and Ginger, Lindsay and Wanya

Note the Len Stonehenge mask.

Something about two beautiful women on an island, and these wayward sailors discover them, and that they are surrounding King Len, and then they all samba together. It was a fun palate-cleanser, after Bruno's steamy "Carmen."

CARRIE ANN: Sharna and Antonio, Mark and Paige

This was a stunning paso doble, to the music of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Each of these Judges' Dances had featured a segment where the two non-pros (stars) danced with each other. This one, to me, was the most effective, and truly showed how far each of these dancers had come.

VOTED OFF: Jodie and Keo :-(

MICHE FAVES WEEK 8
1. Mark and Paige (Viennese waltz)
2. Peta and Nyle (paso doble)
3. Val and Ginger (Argentine tango)
4. Lindsay and Wanya (jive)
5. Sharna and Antonio ("Vietnamese"/Viennese waltz)

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DWTS S22 Week 7 Mark and Paige Stop the Show on Icons Week

While it's true that Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Ginger Zee scored the FIRST perfect score in this evening for their amazing Viennese waltz, it's also true that Mark Ballas and Paige Vanzant scored the SECOND perfect score for this jive. (And these were the first perfect scores of Dancing with the Stars Season 22.) So, all in all, there was some stellar dancing going on in this episode.

There was also some less than stellar. We had the team dances, first time I can remember without Derek, and they pretty much fell flat. The construct was men (stars) versus women (stars). It didn't work. In fact, they were probably the worst team dances I've ever seen on this show.

Also, it was a double elimination (always rough) but the right people went home.

So, an eventful evening. But let's start at the beginning, shall we?

This was the awesome opening number, choreographed by Mandy Moore.

First up, Keo and Jodie. I've expressed previously that I think Keo is holding Jodie back. That if she'd been with a different pro, she would've gone further in this competition. I still think that. It's also curious to me (since there are so many talented pros on this show) that Keo (and somewhat Sasha) are the only ones that I've heard the judges fault for their performance, or their choreography (lacking content), or missing a step.

In this dance, the judges said that their hold wasn't close enough ("lost body contact"--aka, points off), and that even though Keo missed a step, Jodie stayed on time and powered through it. :-0

I honestly hope that Keo sits out the next season, and is not in a pro slot. I do think he was put there before he was ready. And that the only reason Keo got as far as he did this season was because Jodie was so darn good. And they get decent scores on this evening, and don't go home.

Other couples were not so lucky. Sasha and Kim, for example. Sasha has also not been this far in the competition previously. And he and Kim were good partners together, I thought. I loved this Icons dance they did to the Jackson Five's "ABC." They did this whole black light thing with part of the dance which was also fun.

But Kim Fields did not take her parting very smoothly. She felt wronged by the judges' scores (last week), and said so in her package. Let's just get some perspective here, a moment.

By this point in the competition, let's say the last two weeks, the best dancers are left. But Kim Fields, try as hard as she might, was NEVER as good as say, Ginger Zee, or Paige Vanzant. Now whether that's because of sheer talent (or lack of it) or because the other two women had better partners? You decide.

It does seem to me, however, that both Keo and Sasha seem like backup dancers still, even though they are pros. They both proved this season that they don't seem to have a concept of how much content must be packed into each dance to get into the finals. They both seemed to think that if they just put forth a pretty dance, it would be fine.

And from this vantage point, it sure seems like Ginger and Paige (for example) not only have the steps down, but have the pointed toes and the facial expressions and everything else that's required for a champion. My main problem with Sasha is not that he doesn't have a lot of energy, he does, but that he doesn't seem to be that good of an actor. Dance is a big part of this, yes, but some of these dances (paso doble, for example) require a strong command of a different character than one who just constantly smiles.

These people who get to the top, into the finals, into the semifinals, KNOW what it takes to get there. Know that it's not just who dances better than anyone else. It's a LOT of factors: dance, acting, movement, precision, choreography, luck, America's votes.

Look at Val, for example. EVERY dance he does, even in Week 1, is created with beautiful (even stunning) choreography, which is packed with all the steps that Len and the other judges are looking for. As the competition moves along, he adds more steps that he knows are going to make the judges salivate. More nuance, more detail.

Sasha and Keo at this point couldn't even keep up with all the steps that were required in the dances. "Not good enough hold"? That's a rookie mistake. A pro on DWTS SHOULD NEVER get a judges' note like that. Nor a "lack of content" note. Kim Fields route to the exit started when she danced on the Switch Up with Keo and the judges said there was "no Viennese waltz content" in their dance. (And there wasn't.)

This is not a show where you just go out there and look pretty. They are looking for, and scoring, very specific things. And if you don't know what they are (pros), I suggest you go look them up. Cause if you, as the pro, don't know these things backwards and forwards, you are doing a great disservice to your partner.

Truly, at this point in the competition, not only do the people who are actually going to win the Mirror Ball have all their steps and content DOWN, they are now adding things like flips and splits and double cartwheels. But it STARTS with knowing what the judges are looking for, and perfecting that. Using it from Week 1.

Nyle and Peta dance to U2's "Beautiful Day"

Then, as if all that wasn't already going on, we also had this. When last we left this, you'll remember that in last week's package, Nyle said that he thought Val was "his greatest competition," to which the producers asked, "Val and Ginger?" and Nyle clarified to say, "No, Val." (Basically saying that he was beyond the competitors, and thought Val was his competition.)

This week, Peta (who also knows what it takes to win this competition) tried to walk all that back, by saying that Nyle's comments were "taken out of context." No, no, they weren't. They played the entire thing. They played the incredulous producers, and Nyle repeating his comments, to explain further. They weren't out of context at all.

And she tried to use the old trope that "I want you to aspire to be as good as a professional," which is the same nonsense Val used last season when Tamar got all uppity and arrogant, saying she was better than everyone else.

Whatever. He said it. It cannot be unsaid. I refuse to vote for him further, no matter what dances you come up with.

Thankfully, we then had a fabulous bumper (Jazz Funk... have they ever danced that on this show?) to Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" that Tom Bergeron noted was the first ever dance on DWTS. Thank you, Jenna, Shannon and Hayley for that. Quite wonderful. Great palate cleanser.

Sharna gives herself a 10 after pulling up her corset from her wardrobe malfunction.

And we go right from that sexy time into Sharna's first ever wardrobe malfunction. The East Coast feed may've gotten it live, but sadly, by the time it aired on the West Coast, said nipple had been airbrushed. :-(

I thought it was a great tango before that (to the Rolling Stones). Sharna, at least, knows that although Antonio has a million-dollar smile, in a tango or paso, it doesn't work. Antonio, to his credit, put forth a somber, darker mood in this dance. He calls it, "a different side of 'Business Is Boomin.' " Maybe you can't teach a football player how to act, but if you can at least get him to project a different mood, it's halfway there. Great work by Sharna.

As Tom directs them to leave, he says, "Go up to the Skybox, it's warmer up there." Heh. We love you, Tom Bergeron.

This was a beautiful, sweet dance. Nice costumes, great choreography by Lindsay. However, I take issue with the fact that it's "Icons Week," with people doing songs by their favorite "Icon," and this was introduced as from Aretha Franklin. In point of fact, this song was written for Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. So, if you're going to focus on an Icon, at least pick the person who actually wrote the song, and/or made it a hit. C'mon. So much perfection in this show, and they get sloppy with something like this? Ugh. (Also, they are dancing to NEITHER the Dionne Warwick version, nor the Aretha Franklin version. I think it's the show's singers who sang it.)

Next up? Ginger and Val.

First, she's wearing this gorgeous dress that is low cut in the back, and the opening shot is of her back. It looks like she's wearing Spanx or something, pulled up really high (like halfway up her back). Very strange. (A night of weird wardrobe problems, it seems.) Anyway, to the sublime.

They did this opening sequence with mirrors all around. Just stunning. Worked amazing for the Viennese waltz, where it's all about turning and rotating. And these Chmerkovskiy brothers sure know their way around a Viennese waltz. Valentin's choreography just continues to take my breath away. He had this move at the end, where he is swirling her by holding her back. Just amazing. Stunning. There aren't enough adjectives. They received a perfect score, and deservedly so.

I hope others are taking note of the wonderful steps that were in this dance.

Then, we had this one. I'm not sure, but in the package, both of them seemed to say they didn't know who Elvis Presley was. Witney: "He was the King of Rock, right?" *eyeroll* Seems to me like people shouldn't be doing an "Icon" unless it's an icon who means something to them. But whatever. I'll let this photo speak for what the dance was.

Von ends up getting booted on this show (one half of the double elimination), and I was glad. He wasn't even doing the level of what Antonio was doing, to say nothing of the competitors above that.

And finally, another sublime dance.

Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" is always a butt-shaker, but if you coulda seen the amazing jive that Mark Ballas choreographed to this song! Wow.

They had a triple cartwheel, where Paige does a cartwheel, then Mark does one on top of that, then Paige again, so they are like a spinning wheel for three revolutions...they had planned that for their salsa, but Mark hurt his back, so they brought it out for this one. Wowza.

Certainly one of the best versions of "Proud Mary" I've ever seen. Deserved its perfect score.

And then, too soon, the sublime is over, and we have this.

The men stars dance to James Brown.

The women dance to Beyonce.

The less said about all that, the better. Except to note that there was another wardrobe malfunction in this dance, with some of the women losing their skirts at the wrong moment.

MICHE'S FAVORITES OF WEEK 7
1. Mark and Paige (jive)
2. Val and Ginger (Viennese waltz)
3. Sharna and Antonio (tango)
4. Lindsay and Wanya (foxtrot)
5. Sasha and Kim (samba)

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