5/12 Show Discussion **Spoilers**

[ClosetRTWatcher]

I had to vote online this morning. I gave up on the constantly busy call-in lines last night!

I am rooting for Kristi to take it all. I loved her when she was figure skating, and she is nearly as good at this dancing gig! She is executing routines that have difficulty above and beyond any we have seen on this show in the past. I do find it a bit annoying that the judges are holding her to a completely different standard than other people on the show. However, I think they have to so that their scores all come out really close.

Jason also did a good job. If Edyta really left the floor on that spin then they should absolutely been called out on it.

Honestly, I don't really care who goes home between Cristian and Marissa. They both seem very nice, but I don't think either of them are at Kristi and Jason's level.

[Google]

 

[MHcarrollton]

We can all agree that Kristi is technically above the others, however I could have guessed this going in. If it is going to be on ability alone, than they need more competent dancers all the way around. I feel they have to go on improvement for the stars alone, and the choreography of the pros. Christian and Jason while not on Kristi's level, have improved through the weeks. Marissa is trying and to me her looks are what bother people, and that makes me . It is so obvious that Carrie is one of those women that feel ugly women to them should not exist. Every year there is one star that people deem not worthy, and by now we know that dancing ability alone will never be all that matters period. I just sit back and relax and enjoy the show.

[Lois Lane]

If this was an actual competition based solely on merit, the judges would go what they do in figure skating or gymnastics: grade not only on how well the routine was executed, but by level of difficulty. For instance, there are some gymnastics routines where the gymnast can NOT receive a perfect score of 10, even if they execute the routine flawlessly, if the degree of difficulty of their routine has been graded as 9.9. Conversely, a gymnast can make an error and still receive a 9.9 IF the level of difficulty in their routine was deemed a 10 to begin with.

If they were grading that way, Kristi and Mark would consistently receive higher scores than Jason, Marisa or Cristian, since their level of difficulty is so much more difficult than the others.

But...this isn't an actual competition. And Kristi and Mark are kind of screwed no matter what they do. If they do easier routines like everyone else, the judges will score them lower because they'll say Kristi isn't dancing to her potential. And when they do more dififcult routines--where flaws are more likely--they'll score them lower because of some imperfection.

It's a TV show and people will vote for their favorites, who may or may not be the most talented dancer. That's OK by me. It's just a show. Everyone knows that Kristi is technically the most proficient. Whether she has enough fans to make sure she wins is debatable. I sure hope she wins, but I'm not vested enough to vote, so what do I know?

[DancingDad]

Originally Posted by skyhigh79

Wow... the board jammed up earlier and I couldn't get back in.

It is really unbelieveable to me that they can score anyone higher than Kristi. Both my husband and I who have been involved with dance most of our lives are perplexed by how the judges can give Kristi a 9 and Cristian a 10. The level of difficulty and perfection that Kristi brings to each of her dances is amazing. I would agree that her emotionality or showmanship is not as strong as some, but I think she is a very private person, not a shameless promoter (marissa).or a Mr. machismo (cristian) or good sportmanship (jason) type of person. I really like Jason and Cristian, but it is their personality that keeps them close to Kristi, not their technique.

I'm beginning to think the scores are "massaged" to keep certain dancers in. Considering how much the subject of lifts has come up, for the judges to look the other way on Jason's and Edyta's lifts, well,that's just basically unfair. I'm glad they did, because I'd like to see them stick around, but if that had been Kristi? They'd have jumped all over her.

I really think there needs to be some standards for how they judge. In the real world they have a score sheet and it is broken into components such as difficulty, technique, choreography, expression, etc... In order to get a 10, you have to have full marks in all categories.

Next week we will see all 29 and 30's as they keep everyone close together so that fans make the final decision.

Really hope that Kristi, Jason and Cristian make it to the finals.

I agree with all of your comments (again). Regarding the judging system - see my post in last week's results show thread where I proposed a new judging system that gives less weight to the block voting fan groups.

I didn't think there were any truly outstanding dances this week. All of the celebrities have become more comfortable out there on the dance floor, but none seem to have time to truly polish the dances as they did earlier in the season when they only had one dance per week to perform. I have my doubts that we'll see another dance up to the level of Kristi & Mark's first jive (which I think was the highlight of the season so far).

From a results standpoint this week I agree that Kristi should stay on top with a small lead over Jason and Cristian. Marissa did look a little better on the dance floor this week, but she is clearly not in the same league as the other 3 contestants. I think she was overmarked and should have received 7s because of the lack of content in the dances.

It is time for Marissa to go home. Unfortuneately, I think that Jason will get the boot because of Marissa's idiot fangirls that don't understand what a real dance looks like and who vote 600 times each (a behavior promoted by Marissa - she posted this on her myspace). It will be a shame if that happens because Jason is one of the highlights of the show this season. Marissa could learn a thing or two about character from Jason.

[tango7]

Originally Posted by MHcarrollton

Marissa is trying and to me her looks are what bother people, and that makes me . It is so obvious that Carrie is one of those women that feel ugly women to them should not exist. Every year there is one star that people deem not worthy, and by now we know that dancing ability alone will never be all that matters period. I just sit back and relax and enjoy the show.

I don't know how long you've been watching the show, but that's not true. Actually Carrie ann has been overpraising and overscoring Marissa for several weeks. You can watch DWTS episodes again at abc.com.

And who said Marissa is ugly? She's not.

[Margaritaville]

I wasn't able to watch the show until this morning... and I have been trying to log into abc to vote for an hour now.... jammed up site!! I need to vote, dammit!

[momofc&h]

I agree with everyone about the judging. Len's really got it in for Kristi and Mark and it's SO frustrating!!! I think it's time for a woman to win again and Kristi is just the one to do it!

[DancingDad]

Originally Posted by Margaritaville

I wasn't able to watch the show until this morning... and I have been trying to log into abc to vote for an hour now.... jammed up site!! I need to vote, dammit!

I can't get in either. it's almost like a denial of service attack.

[tango7]

When Marissa did her foxtrot, Bruno criticized her for missing a jete, but she didn't look like she wanted to cry, and Bruno was more harsh than Carrie Ann was.

[Melsevene]

I thought the contestants were told, beginning last week, one lift per dance as long as it fit with the dance was allowed. Did that only pertain to last week's dances?