Dancing with the Stars: Icons Night
#dwts22
Season 22/Week 7
Crazy we are at week 7 already and tonight is double eliminations! The opening with the 360 degree cameras was what they filmed when I was at the show, it was a very cool experience. Tonight is Icons Week!
Jodie Sweetin & Keo Motsepe: Quickstep
Music: “For Once in My Life” by Stevie Wonder
Jodie has performed some seriously intense dances this season so far. I am looking forward to something more lighthearted. Jodie is trying to figure out what more they need to do to get higher scores. I think it’s also new to Keo. He is such a strong dancer and this is the furthest he has gone in a competition to date so they are figuring it out together.
Jodie and Keo should both be proud of their continued improvement. This season is so tough because it has a crazy amount of talented individuals participating. Jodie has consistently improved,
she brings a strong desire to do well and to learn and they are a real joy to watch. Absolutely loved their enthusiasm when their scores were announced.
Scores: 8-9-9 (26 out of 30)
Kim Fields & Sasha Farber: Samba
Music: “ABC” by Jackson 5
I keep saying it but, Kim and Sasha are seriously the cutest partnership and you can tell they have formed a genuine friendship. I love how Sasha likes to keep things light and wants to use last week’s scores to fuel their drive for this week. This will be a fun week for them as they are dancing to a Jackson 5 song and Kim is friends with Janet.
Kim and Sasha are just a joy to watch, I thought the dance was light, the set and wardrobe was creative. Kim is infectious with her energy. The judges all liked it and had good comments for them. Len said it was their best dance and I would agree! It lead to their highest score this season and Kim was beaming.
Scores: 9-9-9 (27 out of 30)
Nyle DiMarco & Peta Murgatroyd: Foxtrot
Music: “Beautiful Day” by U2
Nyle cau
ght a lot of flak last week because of his comment about Val being his biggest competition. He was able to clarify what he meant a bit more and he seemed to really take it to heart that people would be looking at him like he was cocky. I don’t think there is anything wrong with aspiring to be the best in whatever field it is you are in, it’s good to stay motivated by that.
Peta put together a beautiful, stripped down Foxtrot to remind everyone what an amazing dancer Nyle is. It was absolutely moving and graceful. I loved Peta’s overall look tonight too, that dress was gorgeous and the front braid was so pretty. It was such an elegant dance and Nyle continues to amaze everyone. The judges all liked it and I loved what Len said “others climb hills but, Nyle climbs mountains”.
Scores: 10-9-9 (28 out of 30) Yes there was another scoring issue, Bruno wrote down a 9 but, held up the 10 paddle.
Antonio Brown & Sharna Burgess: Tango
Music: “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones
I am so 
glad that Antonio decided to stay in Los Angeles this week and really put everything into rehearsals. They seem to be back on track and I am glad he is taking advantage of having an amazing coach on the show.
Sharna did an absolutely amazing, creative job with the chorography! I loved it! Antonio really seemed to get into the character and intensity of the dance. I thought it was a great job. Poor Sharna had a little wardrobe malfunction but, she handled it with her 
usual humor and grace. I did wonder why Tom couldn’t have whispered something to her rather than bringing it up in such a public manner. The judges all liked it but, they noticed a few mistakes.
Scores: 8-8-8 (24 out of 30)
Wanya Morris & Lindsay Arnold: Foxtrot
Music: “I Say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin
Wanya has los
t some serious weight since starting the show and I do really like his humble attitude. I never really care much for the packages that highlight the busy schedules because it always feels like they are trying to make an excuse. They all have really busy schedules, some are flying coast to coast each week, others are in training camps etc. What matters is do they find the time when it matters and put in the work when they can.
Their dance was cute, it was solid. I definitely think Wanya excels more at the Latin dances and I really think that is because he h
as such a big personality. He is very likeable and clearly works hard. I agreed with Carrie Ann that it was good but, she was wanting more. Wanya has the right attitude and you can tell he is very motivated.
Scores: 9-9-9 (27 out of 30)
Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy: Viennese Waltz
Music: “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston
Last w
eek’s scores and feedback had Ginger concerned and discouraged. Val dialed up the drive and intensity so he could help her have a breakout week. I personally love Val’s style, he wants what is best for his partner. When he said he always does this and doesn’t want to ruin the experience for her it made me sad in a way. Having a drive and a genuine care for your partner isn’t going to ruin the experience and Ginger is smart enough to see that. That is one of the things I have always admired about Val compared to some other pros on the show, you can tell he does everything out of pure love and care for his partner not for his own personal gain/credit etc.
Their dance was stunningly beautiful. Ginger absolutely embodied the character of the dance. You felt like your heart was right there on the dance floor with them. It was magical, graceful, powerful, romantic and absolutely perfect in every way. Ginger and Val shined so bright and I loved it so much I watched it back a few more times! The judges all LOVED it too! Val, I agree with Len, BRAVO on the beautiful chorography.
Scores: 10-10-10 FIRST PERFECT SCORE OF THE SEASON!
Von Miller & Witney Carson: Salsa
Music: “A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley
I truly th
ink Von is finally relaxing and allowing people to truly see his personality. I found myself finally routing for him the last 3 weeks. This dance should be fun and I think it’s a great idea that Witney had to incorporate lifts and take advantage of Von’s strengths this week.
I thought he did a great job getting into character. Witney did a great job of putting together a dance that would fit the character, that was fun, dynamic, and you can tell Von is having fun in this competition. The judges all liked it over all, they felt it was a bit rough here and there but, overall good.
Scores: 8-8-8 (24 out of 30)
Paige VanZant & Mark Ballas: Jive
Music: “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner
Paige mentioned that it s
hook her confidence last week being in jeopardy. It made me sad to hear her doubting herself and if people liked her and are voting for her. Paige you are amazing, be confident! You are beautiful, talented, sweet and truly kind and that is why people are rooting for you!
Paige and Mark blew the roof off the studio with their absolutely AMAZING dance. The energy, content, fun factor was out of this world. They are a great partnership and I am enjoying Mark’s chorography this year. He is truly working towards all of Paige’s strengths and all I can say after tonight is WOW! That was so, so good! Judges all loved it. Len said it UFC-Under Full Control
Scores: 10-10-10 PERFECT SCORE!
Team Dances:
Men #teamJamesBrown
I thought their dance as good. I can’t say it had the wow factor but, it was a solid and fun performance. I absolutely noticed that when Nyle was slightly ahead of the music that everyone else just joined in and got in sync with him. He continued to impress me to not only do good with Peta but, in a group setting with so many moving parts it was great. They made a good team!
Scores: 9-9-10 (28 out of 30)
Women #teambeyonce
This will be an exciting team to watch. They are all super motivated. I thought it was overall good, it too was lacking the wow factor of past team dances but, it was solid. Loved the focus on girl power! The judges liked it but, commented on a few of the mistakes that they were able to see. Len was commenting this season is so hard because you just have no idea who will win this mirror ball.
Scores: 8-8-9 (25 out of 30)
Double Elimination Time:
In jeopardy this week are:
Wanya & Lindsay
Witney and Von
Kim and Sasha
We said goodbye to Kim/Sasha and Von/Witney. Both couples should walk away with their heads held high. They both improved each week and this season is filled with crazy talent. They will be missed. It’s sad to see Von go at a time I felt he truly was opening himself up more to the competition. I will miss the joy Kim has brought to the show each week.
Next week: The judges will team up the dancers and each will coach two couples and then the stars of each team will step away from their pros and dance together. From what I am seeing it looks like the match ups will be:
Carrie Ann: Antonio/Sharna and Paige/Mark
Len: Ginger/Val and Wanya/Lindsay
Bruno: Jodie/Keo and Nyle/Peta
Each group dance will be judged by the two remaining judges and America. Viewers can score celebrity performances alongside Len, Carrie Ann & Bruno, live, during the broadcast (EST/CDT). To be part of the judges’ table, viewers must visit abc.com to score performances. A combined overall viewer score for each performance will be counted alongside the judges’ score. Each viewer may score a performance once, and the scoring window for each couple is open for 2 minutes, 15 seconds, beginning at the start of each routine.
Also want to compliment the troupe each performance tonight was amazing! Great job!
#maksandval #ourwaytour
Just a reminder if you want to get tickets to the HOTTEST tour this summer go to: http://www.maksandvaltour.com/ I will be blogging on the show and their various amazing VIP Packages this summer! It kicks off in 6 short weeks!
VOTE by phone, Facebook and on abc.com to avoid future surprising eliminations.
Until next time,
Xoxoxo
Heather
d sport and more than likely just needed a few minutes to himself after the tough comments he received from the judges last week but, instead they made him come off like a spoiled sport/brat. Kim does have an injury, a stress fracture. Kim is tough and wants to work hard and put on a great dance.
g her up, it seemed to be a seamless routine, lots of energy, lots of smiling, fun, great footwork considering her injury, I didn’t see that is affected her and it was a great way to open the show! The judges all loved it, Carrie Ann felt it was missing a little bit of energy.
herself up over the scores last week. She is a very talented teacher and absolutely shouldn’t take that personally. This week Von seemed to be very much in the zone, the last two weeks he has been really turning it around in my eyes, he seems to be letting his guard down and I have found myself routing for him. It seems he is more in it to win it than he had been 
the first few weeks.
ition. Nothing was fractured so if she can tolerate it they would allow her to dance. Jodie and Keo work so hard and really enjoy their partnership.
se, the lifts were amazing and they both truly told the story in the movement. I absolutely loved it and I am glad this partnership is back together. Jodie should be proud of herself, every week she truly improves and tonight she was brilliant. The judges all thought they did a great job!
rted out with a challenge because their original song got pulled due to legal reasons which set them back a few days because Mark had to start over on choreography. I love their partnership. This dance will be fun too because Paige will be able to show off some of her athletic abilities.
d great musicality, and Paige brings out this really fun side to Mark. I think they are doing an absolutely fabulous job and I truly think we will see Paige in the finals, she performs each and every week brilliantly and you can tell how much fun she is having on the show. Great job! Judges all loved it!
gdance
felt he wasn’t as crisp, that his frame was broken and that there was a section where they were out of sync. Len had some good/poor comments. When he made the comment that he shouldn’t compare himself to Val that it will annoy people that was a bit harsh. I am not sure exactly what the judges were trying to accomplish tonight, perhaps to rein in the confidence or something? If Nyle is striving to be as good as Val it’s good to have goals like that, I say Dream Big!
ch a fun pair this season. Ginger is just very sweet and down to earth and truly enjoys every minute of being on this show. I don’t understand how she does it most days getting up so early for GMA, flying back and forth, spending time with her sweet baby and rehearsing but, that just shows how dedicated she is to it. She took some time off this week and staye
at were backing her up. Carrie Ann liked it but, was wanting to see a bit more and pointed out how rehearsed she always is. Bruno
one you want to root for each week because you can tell how hard he is working, how much he wants to improve and he is truly on such a tough season because the talent is just crazy this season. This will be a challenge since Karina had never done this style either.
ores last week, he truly is a class act. It’s going to be fun to see him dance to an NSYNC song since he and Joey are good friends. Lindsay is such a fantastic choreographer and she is really able to demonstrate it more and more each week.
oot. Wanya is so much fun to watch, he has insane charisma and like I said above a ton of class. They both should be very happy with their performance tonight. The judges, Lance and Joey all loved it!
with her partners. I felt his attitude was unwarranted. Maybe he needs to step it up and give the experience on the show that much more.
is week.
to: 
f an eye.
nd told us what section we were in etc. At that point they take your cell phones from you and you are given a card to pick them up after the show. After that you go through a metal detector and they check your belongings. Once you are set with that you are escorted into the studio to your section and then to your assigned seats. It was such a surreal experience walking into the studio. It was much smaller than it looks on TV. We were seated on the 2nd level, front row directly across from the judges table and the interview room was directly to my left. It was so exciting to actually be in the studio and to realize I would be able to see everything perfectly from where I was seated.
night. After the 2 or 3 songs ended they asked us to take our seats.
, I was beyond excited for the show to start. A few minutes later we were told to start yelling and clapping as loud as we could and the show started live. The opening number was absolutely amazing, full of energy and just flawless. One interesting thing I noticed right away is it’s absolutely impossible for you to hear what Tom and Erin are saying in the studio because it is so loud. When they are playing the packages that you see on TV they are running on two screens in the studio, one above the stairs to the main stage and then another in the back so their truly isn’t a bad seat in the house. On the 2nd level there was only 2 rows and I am pretty sure the 3rd level was the same. Another amazing thing that you see live is the set change outs. They truly hustle to get those sets torn down and the new ones in within minutes on commercial breaks, I can only ima
gine how much more complicated it is on Disney week.
is guest spot and I will say my opinion is he was hard on some because he knows they can do better. He has won the show, he knows what it takes along with all of his years of dance experience.
ne in their heads. The beauty and pure emotion of some of the dances are just that much more intense in the live audience. Nyle and Sharna’s dance for example had me in tears because you couldn’t help but, feel the emotion of every movement. It’s a bit different than watching it at home. The studio was actually a bit warm too which was a little surprising to me, I had always heard studios were more on the chilly side but, that’s probably for the safety of the pros/stars.
as done we all exited and got into this long line to get our cell phones back. For more on what I thought on the dances please check out my weekly blog.
at time on the show. Kim is so sweet and just radiates happiness. Nyle is even better looking in person, beyond handsome and Ginger is seriously the absolute nicest person. Her husband Ben is incredibly funny and they really are the cutest couple. I also saw Doug Flutie but, didn’t want to ask for a picture because he was with his friends and family at the time and already had quite a few people waiting for him. He seemed to be very kind to each person he was interacting with.
rgy to be a part of the audience. The dances are amazing on TV but, the emotion in person truly is palpable. I will never forget this amazing experience and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity.
time,
gic spark between she and Von this season and I think Wanya’s personality and skills will make for a fun match up. He reminds me so much of Alfonso with his charisma.
h. I thought their dance was good, emotional, passionate, in character but, not much of it was done in hold. I personally have not learned this dance style yet in the lessons I have been taking but, going off what I have seen in past seasons and on the DWTS tours I was thinking that might be the biggest comment from the judges. Maks said it was a hard one that it was a great performance but, not a Viennese Waltz, lacking frame etc. Bruno thought they were on the money on the emotion of the dance and Carrie Ann loved it. Len agreed with Maks and he wanted to know why there wasn’t one step in hold. Maks reminded Keo of the height differences between him and Meryl Davis. My opinion is that Keo felt he was choreographing the best he could dealing with the height differences and I think he will continue to grow as a pro. Keo and Kim should be proud of a solid performance this week.
nts to go far in this competition and it is very evident in the hard work she demonstrates each and every week. I will miss seeing her and Val dancing together this week but, I think this partnership with Mark has some fun potential. Ginger’s husband, Ben is such a riot. I crack up each week with what they air in the packages from Ben. This week is a classic, Mark is like a glass of merlot and Val would be a dirty martini and then later Mark is the marrying type but, Val is more the Russian love slave. Too funny!
Season 1 I also am interested to see the stories that are portrayed in the packages each week. Often I take them with a grain of salt. This week there seemed to be a lot of emphasis on Antonio being late and not putting in the work. Over the seasons a lot of celebrities have had very challenging schedules but, still put in the work it’s part of the commitment to the show and if he truly is late all the time that is not only disrespectful to the experience but, to your partner as well.
ge’s dress tonight, it was beautiful! Paige is too cute and I bet it’s hard to channel your inner sexy for such an intimate dance in a room full of people with a new partner. I felt Sasha did a great job building that trust with Paige in this week. I LOVED their dance. It was beautiful, it told a story and had such elegance. Every week I am in awe of Paige that she can be such an tough fighter and yet so incredibly graceful. If I had to pick a top 3 today I would say for sure Paige will be in this for the long haul. She is beautiful inside and out and absolutely should be proud! Maks told her she is capable of winning but, was bothered by a lack of rumba content. Bruno and Carrie Ann really loved it! I thought Maks scored it too low, I understand his comments on the content but, the overall performance deserved at min straight 8’s at least.
Taking away nothing at all taking away from Witney. I have just been trying to put my finger on my thoughts on Von all season. Some partnerships have this amazing chemistry from the start, others it takes time to grow.
we are all in for seeing magic tonight.
loved it and said it was a total eclipse! Maks said best dance of the night & of the season and he still cannot figure out how it is possible for Nyle to perform so well. Bruno loved it. OMG seeing Nyle, Sharna and Peta all in tears too it was just so beautiful.
om 2 each week but, she needs a breakthrough to hopefully keep her in the competition and I know Val can do that. He is such a strong, amazing leader and I think he can help Jodie get out of her head a bit more this week.
be Doug, I do think he tries, I just think it’s not coming together for him to the point
ealthy and it shows, she looks fantastic. Tonight’s dance was sexy & hot for sure. I thought it was precise, she had great lines and had the character of the dance down. Seems Glen wanted more intensity or down and dirty based on his score/comments. Overall good feedback from the judges. Good job Marla & Tony!
w you, to root for you. I would say as an observer you have to put in more time/effort because in a way it still looks like you are still walking and not dancing. Dancing doesn’t come naturally to everyone but, you can do this! There were definitely some mistakes. I think the judges all gave her good feedback. She needs to take it as feedback, learn from it and improve for next week. They are trying to help her. Again, I will say she has one of the best pro’s in her corner, soak in all the effort Artem is offering you. You also cannot just walk off like that on live TV it comes off like you are being a diva. It’s understandable if you were upset or sad just hold it in for another few seconds vs. walking off on camera. Think of who is voting for you.
eally like Ginger, she is adorable and fun to watch. She is spunky and sweet and seriously is so fortunate to have Val as her partner. There was a minor slip up but she was good at not letting it get to her and not showing it on her face she just kept moving. That comes from Val’s great teaching ability, you just keep moving. Kudos to Val from Len on the content of the dance! She has such a bright light that shines and they will absolutely go far in this competition in my opinion. I liked what Carrie Ann said that sexiness is just owning your own unique beauty. Ginger you did great! Val fantastic job on the choreography. This was a fantastic performance, I think the scores were probably fair given a few small errors but, they should be happy with their performance!
This was my 3rd Dancing with the Stars tour and hands down the BEST one to date! The stage set up with fantastic, great music/dance selection and the cast was filled with not only great talent but, the kindest people.
I have been asked by several friends what were your favorite dances. That is just so hard to pick because they were all so good for different reasons. I think the ladies would all agree that the men of DWTS doing the Magic Mike dance to Pony was well let’s just say HOT, anyone else need a cold shower after? I took two videos if you want to check them out. This one I affectionately call Magic Val: 
The 2nd video I tried to capture more of the dancers, my seat was a tough angle. 
