Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough - Season 10

[fluff]

I know a lot of peope aren't too keen on Derek, but I love to watch him dance.
For me, Derek is right up there with Louis as the best of the male pros (jmo) so to see Nicole able to match him virtually step for step was very impressive and certainly not something I expect to see after only a few weeks of training.
She's every inch the performer and it is hard to see how much progress she's going to be able to make during the course of the show.
How much better can she really get?
I know she still has to win Len over and as an untrained observer I do appreciate his comments, but even in these early stages it's hard to imagine her having difficulty with any of the dances.
Derek really loaded the choreography in their jive and she was equal to it.

None of the other stars - including Evan - seems to be having as easy a time learning and performing this stuff as Nicole is. Beyond perfecting the dance, I don't see that she's having to struggle at all. For me, that's just not what this show is about.

I agree.
I enjoyed watching her and think she's done a great job with both the dances so far, but I'd prefer to see people who have very little to no experience and watch them grow over the weeks.

[catzy]

Even though she is a ringer, at least she has a personality which is what Mya lacked. I also how she was cheering for the ones who were saved.

[nanarama]

Even though she is a ringer, at least she has a personality which is what Mya lacked. I also how she was cheering for the ones who were saved.

I have to agree with those comments.
I don't enjoy seeing such a lopsided contest and, even though Derek may be the best male pro, he still annoys me with his antics. But in no way has Nicole generated as many negative feelings for the most of us, as did Mya.

[karalott]

Even though she is a ringer, at least she has a personality which is what Mya lacked. I also how she was cheering for the ones who were saved.

I actually find her a little on the boring side, but with Derek as your partner, it's hard to tell whether she has a vibrant, entertaining personality or not I do detect a little attitude from her. I've noticed she's referenced her fellow PCD sitting in the audience, unless I misunderstood, so given the rumors that they had a nasty break up and fans blame her, I wonder if that's a cover for her.

MFWalkoff, I agree with your previous post and think it makes good points (one of the big ones as to why I gave up caring about AI so much). I feel like, as the seasons progressed, the producers may stick their hands in a little more to get the outcome they want (case in point this coming week: Aiden with the quick step, Kate with the paso, and Buzz with the waltz), so I'd have a little faith that the show might realize Kate winning isn't the most popular thing for their franchise and find a way to kick her off. So while fan voting can backfire and keep those they expect to go early around until the end, I think the judges can be just as guilty as aiding. I don't really think someone needs to get overscored if they didn't earn it just because the show thinks they're better TV than someone who didn't do as bad but got lower scores for some stupid reason. I do like Derek for his dancing but that's where it ends, and it's really tiring that he again has another excellent partner, probably his best dance wise, that no matter how hard he pushes the choreography, she'll likely have no problems. I'll give her an off week here and there, but probably nothing major. When they get to the group dance, I think it'll be hard to tell Nicole from the pros when they're all dancing side by side. It's just boring for me. Barring a shocking elimination, she's in the finals. I don't see how he can really teach her in anything like the other pros teach their celebs. What does she have to learn? And she's being judged just like the others who are struggling. Len will eventually come around (and quite honestly, I'm thinking he's the only one who knows/cares what he's talking about). CA is CA and Bruno seems to have gone off the deep end-and we're only in week 2.

[Cornfritter]

I was talking to my mom about the show the other night and she commented on the girl in the silver outfit and how good she was. I was trying to figure out who she was talking about and she said she wasn't sure if it was a pro or a celebrity. I realized it was Nicole. My mom isn't a pro, but she's also watched a lot of dancing - professional and amateur (mine) in her life - and for her to not be able to absolutely tell that Nicole wasn't a pro in the second week of competition is pretty bad.

I spent at least a dozen years in dance classes - ballet, tap, jazz, modern, etc. - and, if I was a celebrity, I would probably be called a ringer, even though I've never done any kind of ballroom. As far as I'm concerned, Nicole is even more of a ringer than Mya was. None of the other stars - including Evan - seems to be having as easy a time learning and performing this stuff as Nicole is. Beyond perfecting the dance, I don't see that she's having to struggle at all. For me, that's just not what this show is about.

Nicole's needs to improve her technique and footwork in ballroom dancing.

[itsyourmom]

To me, she looks modest during the judges' critiques. I like to watch her dance and see only a positive attitude from her on the show so far. I agree it is already difficult to distinguish that she is the non-pro.

[Love_Me]

Nicole's needs to improve her technique and footwork in ballroom dancing.

I agree and Bruno still gave her a 9. I found that a little odd.

[karalott]

In a night where I thought everyone was fairly boring, Nicole did give a really exciting performance. But that was it. It looked like two pros on Broadway. I just don't get any real enjoyment from her. Derek's ego seems to get bigger every season. I feel like there's a sense of entitlement coming from these two. She's the ringer, he's the uber popular pro that even the judges can't get enough of, so they're untouchable. I still wouldn't be surprised if they try and tone down Nicole's obvious ability to downplay any ringer rumors or give her a huge edge with the scores for a couple of weeks. At least until the others look like they're anywhere near her level.

[MFWalkoff]

I think Nicole is very talented, and this week her biggest stumbling block was...Derek! Derek decided early on that Nicole dances better when they are side-by-side rather than couples-dancing, so he puts lots of non-ballroom steps in their routines. It got ridiculous this week, and hopefully he will take the hit for it, and choreograph some more thoughtful routines, and play more of a teacher role with Nicole rather than step instructor. She really does have a lot to learn about ballroom dancing, but she won't learn if Derek keeps trying to design dances that cover up her flaws rather than show what she's learned.

She's really not a ringer to me; I think she has just as much to learn (and unlearn) as Evan does. I'm glad that someone in the cast has this much ability out of the gate, because watching an entire evening of mediocre to good-but-flawed performances can get kind of depressing.

[anders332]

I agree and Bruno still gave her a 9. I found that a little odd.

i didn't agree with the 9 but I didn't agree with the 6 either - I think Carrie Ann got it right with the 8 - but the overall score of 23 was fair.

I really really really love watchng her and Derek dance - ringer or not, when she steps on that dance floor we know we're going to see some great dancing. Maybe the Anything Goes wasn't the best thing to do, but her being scored for Derek's choreography is just wrong. Last night's dance would've been a great freestyle dance.

she needs to be in the F3 with Erin and Evan, but somehow I get the feeling she's going up gone before then. I hope I'm wrong.