Dancing with the Stars Most Memorable Week

 I watched Dancing with the Stars last night and then watched the dances again earlier today.

Last night the stars recalled their most memorable years and then danced to them, telling the story of that year and what it meant to them.

I'm just going to go on record as saying, no one should be sent home on most memorable year night - period.  These people pour their hearts out with their stories and then again on the dance floor, and then one couple is sent home.  It's heartbreaking to see that.  They should let the votes carry over to the next week and send TWO couples home then.  But not on most memorable year night.  It's just wrong.

SPOILER ALERT!!!  I'm going to talk about who went home so if you haven't watched and don't want to know, stop reading now!  SPOILER ALERT!!!

The last three couples standing were Mira Sorvino, Alyson Hannigan and Harry (whose last name I don't know).  They were also the three bottom scorers of the night with Harry at the bottom, Alyson three points higher and Mira one point higher than Alyson. 

I think I mentioned last week that I vote for Mira and Alyson and I did again last night.  (I also vote for Barry but he had a great dance and scored a 24 last night, which was two points higher than Mira.)

Something I've noticed over the years though, is that a man who can't dance can go further in the competition than he deserves because women do most of the voting and they'll vote for a cute male who can't dance before they vote for a woman who can dance.  And I think they did that last night because Harry wasn't the one who went home, even though he deserved to, based on the scores the judges gave him.

Mira was the one who went home last night.  The part that was hard for me was that her memorable year was the year her daughter was born - and her daughter joined her in the dance!  The judges talked about the humor in the dance (which I didn't pick up on - even the second time I watched it) and said how good and sweet it was, etc.  She got her best score yet with the dance.  I thought it was a good dance, deserving of better scores than it got but I hated seeing her go home on a dance that was essentially dedicated to her daughter and one in which that daughter participated in the dance.

I'll just say it again, no one should be sent home on most memorable year week!

Dancing with the Stars

 This season of Dancing with the Stars has had some controversy.  The first thing I heard about the controversy was that one of the contestants had some sort of scandal (I don't remember specifics - domestic abuse, sexual assault?  I really don't remember) that outraged people that he would be allowed on the show.  I don't know all the names but his first name is Adrian, I believe.  Anyway, there were posts online about how the professional should've declined to dance with him, etc. but it moved forward anyway.

Then came the scandal of one of the contestants (I believe his name is Matt something - from Veep) saying they were backing out because of the writer's strike.  The writer's came to an agreement right before the premiere so he danced on night one, and was promptly sent home.  I don't remember his dance and couldn't tell you who his partner was (Peta maybe?).  Then the rumblings online were that he was unfairly sent home because he had briefly walked out - that it was political.  Then that got put behind us.

I watched this past Tuesday's episode but, to be honest, it didn't get my full attention when it was on live.  I record it and decided not to delete it after watching it because I wanted to go back and watch the dances again to see what I had missed and what I thought about who went home.  

**SPOILER ALERT**  If you have not watched it yet and don't want to know who went home, stop reading now!  **SPOILER ALERT**

Adrian was sent home on Tuesday.  When I went back and watched the dancing for the night, his actually was one of the best of the night, in my opinion.  I believe his dance was the Viennese Waltz and it was so smooth and graceful and lovely to watch - and I say this as someone who has wanted him to go home since I heard about his "scandal" (that I can't remember exactly what it was).  I felt his scores were low for his performance (he got all 7s for a score of 21), but I also felt others got scores lower than they deserved too.  Anyway, there were at least 3 - maybe 4 or even 5 - people with lower scores than he got and he was in a three way tie with the score he had gotten, but he was the one sent home.  It kind of surprised me.  Even though I wanted him to go home, he didn't deserve to go home on that dance.  But I guess that's the nature of the show?

Anyway, I read an article today that Charity (I think she recently was the Bachelorette - I haven't watched that in years so can't say with a certainty) was dissatisfied with her scores from the other night - she felt she deserved higher scores (she got all 8s from the judges for a score of 24).  Her partner (Artem) said he felt the scores were good but said something to the effect that there wasn't any constructive criticism given so it's hard to know what to work on from here (I would have to go back and see what was said because I don't usually retain that after it's given, although Adrian did get great feedback from his dance - I believe Derek even stood up and applauded him . . . and then he went home, but I digress).  Thing is, historically, when contestants publicly complain about their scores, they don't typically last on the show much longer, with most going home the very next week.  The judges give their feedback based on the actual dance but the viewers' voting is a popularity contest and most viewers don't seem to like it when contestants think they're better than they may be and vote accordingly.  That said, I would be okay if she went home next week.

Last thing I will say, I've been voting for Mira Sorvino every week (her, Barry Williams and Alyson Hannigan have been getting my votes every week).  Last week she danced the rumba.  For me, the rumba is probably my least favorite dance because unless it's danced by two professionals, it - to me - looks clunky.  It's a slow and sensual dance.  Mira was dissatisfied with her scores (it was shown in her package before this week's dance - I didn't see anything else come out publicly) because she thought it had been her best dance so far.  For me, I felt that she got the steps and movements down well but the problem for me was that I didn't believe the "sensual" part of the dance, which is key and very important to the reception the dance gets, at least in my opinion.  For that reason, I didn't agree that it was her best dance.  She seemed to be concentrating on the steps and movements - which again, she did well - but lost a key component to the dance, again, in my opinion.  This week, however, she did very well, in my opinion.  I think she did a waltz (maybe the Viennese Waltz? can't remember for certain).  She was one of them that I thought deserved better scores (she was one that tied with Adrian - who went home).

In any event, that's my very limited recap of the show so far this season.  I still enjoy the show but feel like I know fewer and fewer of the contestants each season but can say with a certainty that I don't care for it when the contestants complain about the scores they get because I don't believe the judges skew the scores for particular contestants, even when I don't always agree with the scores they dole out.