Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas - Season 6

[Miss_Griss]

Originally Posted by pinkberry30

Kristi is great. I think Mark's choreography does not do Kristi justice though. Kristi and Mark are not an exciting couple. It is all Kristi and I forget about Mark. He must know this because his costumes are so "look at me". I wish he would choreograph to showcase Kristi more than himself. Kristi and Louis would be more dynamic for me. Mark as a newbie is getting a gift of a win and I would prefer it to go to a pro like Louis who is more talented and deserves it. Not a newbie who could not take Sabrina to even week 7.

I'm confused by what you've said here.

It sounds like you're saying that when you watch, all you see is Kristi, and Mark fades into the background. You think that he dressing in an attention-getting way to try to draw attention back to him. If Kristi stands out more than Mark, isn't he already choreographing in a way that showcases Kristi?

Am I misunderstanding what you wrote, because I don't see what the problem is?

[Google]

 

[skyhigh79]

Sabrina and Mark not making it to the finals, has nothing to do with Mark's choreography, it had to do with Sabrina's fan base. Louis Choreography has never gotten him anywhere, the best partner he ever had, in terms of how long they lasted was Monique.

Julianne, Derek and Mark all trained with Mark's family and have great choreography skills.

I do agree that Mark tends to put in a few over the top sections that showcase his ability, but to be fair, the female pros do the same thing (edyta, karina, julianne). It seems the female celebs are disadvantaged from the start, because of the dances focusing on the female part of the dance.

[DancingDad]

Originally Posted by skyhigh79

Sabrina and Mark not making it to the finals, has nothing to do with Mark's choreography, it had to do with Sabrina's fan base. Louis Choreography has never gotten him anywhere, the best partner he ever had, in terms of how long they lasted was Monique.

Julianne, Derek and Mark all trained with Mark's family and have great choreography skills.

I do agree that Mark tends to put in a few over the top sections that showcase his ability, but to be fair, the female pros do the same thing (edyta, karina, julianne). It seems the female celebs are disadvantaged from the start, because of the dances focusing on the female part of the dance.

I think that Kristi is the first celebrity we've had an the show that can handle some of the more challenging steps. Traditionally (in this show) we've only seen the female pros do some of those steps while dancing around their male partners in order to distract the audience from the fact that their partner's couldn't dance. Even Sabrina never did some of the stuff Kristi is performing out there. What makes it even more amazing is that Kristi didn't even know any of these steps prior to the show.

Kristi has so much capability that Mark may have a tendency to push the boundries of the choreography more than what Len likes. And, while Kristi can do the moves, his advanced choreography may have been just a little too much for her to polish sufficiently in last week's show when they had to learn two dances in one week for the first time. Sometimes the added complexity can take the edge off the presentation because the focus becomes the technical aspect of the dance instead of the performance aspect.

I actually agreed with many of Len's comments about Kristi's dances last week although I wouldn't have marked her as low as an eight. Her dances were still superior to the other celebrities who got nines for crying out loud. Scoring Marissa higher than Kristi in the first round - rubbish.

[dougrayfan]

It seems the female celebs are disadvantaged from the start, because of the dances focusing on the female part of the dance.[/quote]

I agree with this, the male "stars" have somewhat of an advantage because dances are designed to showcase the female. I'm confused when the judges give high marks to male celebrities who essentially pose (Len even said this past week that Jason poses), do a few steps then pose again. The females, whether celebrities or pros have difficult complex footwork and are marked down because they don't show emotion or don't have the technical skills. When he was partnered with Monique Louis said that his choreography is complicated and difficult (I think Lisa Rena could attest to that as well), and he expects his celebrity partner to learn and perfect his choreography. That is what a good teacher does.

That sort of reminds me of Dick Button's coment about Evgenie Pleshenko (male figure skater to the non-skating fans), I believe at the last Olympics or maybe a World's-I'm paraphrasing here: jump, flap his arms, jump, jump, jump, flap his arms and final pose. Yet the guy wins most every competition he enters.

I think that some of the men who have won really didn't necessarily deserve to win because their choreography was not as difficult as the women's choreography is. I'm not saying all haven't deserved to win, but if I'm honest, several really didn't.

That being said, I KNOW this is really a popularity contest, and I think the most deserving dancers make it to the end with the most popular (and sometimes best) actually winning.

I'd love to see Kristi win, I'm a huge fan, but if she doesn't, she sure has made for an entertaining couple of months.

[Lois Lane]

Originally Posted by dougrayfan

I agree with this, the male "stars" have somewhat of an advantage because dances are designed to showcase the female.

Absolutely. The women have to do everything the men do--and more--backwards, and in heels! Len mentioned that Laila Ali had to do more difficult things than the men during her round (with Apollo etc.) and that it wasn't fair, but that's the nature of the sport/art of ballroom dancing.

With all this talk about Kristi being a "ringer," I wonder if the producers didn't invite her because they're hoping that a female will actually win again...and given how she is in such great shape and was such a great competitor as a figure skater, that she could be the female to win again. There aren't many non-dancing females who can do what Kristi does...she's young enough, in great shape enough and popular enough that she just might be able to do it. If it went solely by merit, she'd have that mirror ball. But since it's a popularity contest, we'll see if she's got enough fans to win. But she SHOULD win, just by her level of abilities.

I love watching her and Mark dance! I think they're adorable!

[SavhLaney]

Kristi gets on my nerves. I hope she exits before the finals.

[gonnerwife]

jason taylor is good as a football player because he has good footwork, great timing, and a terrific work ethic. some would call that an advantage. kristi is fortunate to have mark as her partner. in my opinion, he is the best dancer on the show. one or the other of the judges have complimented mark on his choreography almost every week of this season. the reason that mark and kristi have not seemed to have blazing chemistry is that most of us who saw him dance with sabrina last season is used to their real feelings for each other coming through in the dance. his mother, a famous dancer and teacher, commented that mark and sabrina's chemistry was unusual, that only once in a great while do you see a chemistry like theirs. and, it takes time to build a partnership. i thought that last monday for the first time, the chemistry between mark and kristi drew me in for both dances. they were terrific. on another board when someone had a problem with mark's facial expressions someone suggested watching his feet (i suggested hips) marks' expressions do not bother me--he is passionate about life, he is passionate about dance and that's part of expressing his emotions. years ago, when i began watching dance competitions all the pros exaggerated their emotions, so i'm used to seeing that. the dancers are paired together because of their height, looks, and personalities...not because of popularity or fanbases.

[pinkberry30]

I agree with dancing dad's post. Kristi is very good and can pull off the choreography, but Mark tends to put in too much. In doing so, I find that the choreography showcases him more than Kristi. Kristi will do the steps given to her perfectly of course, but Mark should give her more to do. If I see him do that spin down to his knee or his leaps in the air in another dance, or his spin move dropping Kristi on his leg (every single dance had that move), I will scream. He is looking a bit one-note. That cha cha was Sabrina's cha cha pretty much.

The only dance where the choreography I liked was the foxtrot and the rumba was a nice strategic dance. But no where near Laila/Maks or Jennie/Derek's rumba.

Mark is fine, but Louis is a far better choreography and dancer. Monique was no where near a dancer like Kristi. Mark is also popular but not up there as the more popular pros like the Houghs, Cheryl, Maks or Tony (who is very popular in the dance world). Kristi would win with any pro, obviously because she is so popular. I think Mark just needs to pull it in a little and not try to put so much into the dances.

When I said all Kristi, I did not mean the dancing. It is all Kristi because I am a Kristi fan and would look at her regardless. Yet I have never seen a pro put the more showy outfits on himself. If not for those outfits, I would be ignoring Mark. That is what I meant about him putting the attention on himself. He kinda blends in if not for those moments where he puts in moves for himself (the leaps, jumps, spins). He dances at times like what female pros do, but come on! He has Kristi. Female pros do that usually to hide their weak dancing partner while Mark has an amazing partner.

[Miss_Griss]

Originally Posted by pinkberry30

I agree with dancing dad's post. Kristi is very good and can pull off the choreography, but Mark tends to put in too much. In doing so, I find that the choreography showcases him more than Kristi. Kristi will do the steps given to her perfectly of course, but Mark should give her more to do. If I see him do that spin down to his knee or his leaps in the air in another dance, or his spin move dropping Kristi on his leg (every single dance had that move), I will scream. He is looking a bit one-note. That cha cha was Sabrina's cha cha pretty much.

The only dance where the choreography I liked was the foxtrot and the rumba was a nice strategic dance. But no where near Laila/Maks or Jennie/Derek's rumba.

Mark is fine, but Louis is a far better choreography and dancer. Monique was no where near a dancer like Kristi. Mark is also popular but not up there as the more popular pros like the Houghs, Cheryl, Maks or Tony (who is very popular in the dance world). Kristi would win with any pro, obviously because she is so popular. I think Mark just needs to pull it in a little and not try to put so much into the dances.

When I said all Kristi, I did not mean the dancing. It is all Kristi because I am a Kristi fan and would look at her regardless. Yet I have never seen a pro put the more showy outfits on himself. If not for those outfits, I would be ignoring Mark. That is what I meant about him putting the attention on himself. He kinda blends in if not for those moments where he puts in moves for himself (the leaps, jumps, spins). He dances at times like what female pros do, but come on! He has Kristi. Female pros do that usually to hide their weak dancing partner while Mark has an amazing partner.

Thanks for clarifying. I see what you mean. I'm not sure whether or not I agree, but I'll be watching it all more closely next week.

[skyhigh79]

I tend to disagree. Mark is a far better dancer and choreographer than Louie. Ever watch Louie's face when he is dancing... scary. He's way too intense. He went way overboard with the choreography for Monique and I think it stopped being fun for Monique.

Mark has every right and even duty to put in the special pieces of difficult choreography that showcase his talent, first off it gives Kristi a break and every one of the female pros is putting in tons of difficult stuff for themselves to cover up their partners flaws, so why shouldn't he do the same (not that Kristi has any flaws).

This is only Mark's second season on DWTS, last season he was gone before they even got to two dances per week, so it takes time to build a fan base. Mark and Derek are the future of DWTS.

The choreography that Mark gives Kristi is far more difficult than any of the the choreography that the male celebs are given. She just makes it look easy. It really isn't fair, but she's being judged as if she were a pro, rather than a celebrity. I'm hoping that Kristi wins the season, but we know that the best dancers don't always win. It will come down to fan base, unless one of the final two really messes up.