CarmenSandiego

Maybe it's because of their being in the Bottom 4 last week.

Yeah, I think that I might give him a pass on Samba because that's difficult -- I did a line Samba dance for Live To Dance With the Arc Stars, and the other girl doing it with me really struggled. And Disco is hard for a lot of people. Also, I think that Taylor was the one who wasn't versatile. Lex was reasonably versatile, though not as much as Koine, but Taylor wasn't versatile. I was really hoping that she would lose to Koine and when she came in third, I was relieved. But I can see why people here would be annoyed at Lex for being the chosen one.

Well, a lot of people on here seemed to dislike Lex, although that could just be because they were rooting for underdogs and Lex certainly wasn't an underdog. And the main reason why I didn't mind Lex winning was because I also thought that he deserved his win.

I must be one of the few here that actually tolerated Lex. Sure, I would rather have wanted Koine to win but I wasn't too upset with Lex winning, since at least Koine outlasted everyone else. I was prepared for a similar situation with Hannahlei and Jensen the next year, but I was delighted when Hannahlei won instead.

I'm not sure that it's the Arnold sisters who ensured that Carter was spared. I think that it was a combination of Thiago for whatever reason being unable to connect with the studio audience and his being one of three Contemporary dancers (the others being Keaton and Waverly).

Here's my power rankings after this week, beginning with the girls: 1. Essence -- she did an awesome Bollywood routine! She recovered nicely from her trip to the Bottom 4 in the first week. 2. Alexis -- had to place her here after her trip to the Bottom 4 this week. On the bright side, Thiago is gone and nobody else will have to deal with his performance skills problems. 3. Ralyn -- more memorable than Anna. 4. Anna -- despite never being in danger so far, I have to put her here. And now for the guys: 1. Keaton -- still the best guy. 2. Beau -- he's a real performer. 3. Carter -- despite being in danger twice, he's still the only Ballroom male dancer in the competition. 4. Waverly -- and that makes him cannon fodder, sad to say. Eliminated ones: 1. Jordan -- she was in the Bottom 4 again. 2. Thiago -- he was one of three male Contemporary dancers and had problems with performance skills in front of a studio audience. Just goes to show how vital performance skills are on this show.

I think that what we see on the TV screen is not always what a studio audience sees. As for Thiago, I think that part of the reason why he left, other than having a hard time connecting in such a way that the studio audience would vote for him, is because he's one of three Contemporary dancers, while Carter's the only male Ballroom dancer.

No surprise that Alexis survived since Jordan was in the Bottom 2 twice. I think that this week, she was brought down by her partner. Had she a different partner, she might not have gotten in the Bottom 4. But Thiago had problems with his performance skills, and in dancing, it doesn't matter if you're a great technical dancer if you can't be a fine performer. Thiago found that out the hard way.

I think that Thiago is in trouble. He's been in the Bottom 4 twice and he's one of three contemporary dancers. Alexis is okay, since this is her first time in the Bottom 2 (and hopefully her last). Adios, Jordan.

It probably didn't fit in with the theme. Anyway, I loved the Broadway routine more than the judges seemed to. But at least they didn't criticize Alexis.

Well, Keaton & Ralyn really attacked the African Jazz dance. Especially the acrobatic moves over each other's back! I think they really did it well. This is going to be hard for the studio audience.

Yeah, I loved Koine in her season. She was the one I voted for, but I liked Lex enough that I wasn't too upset when she lost to him.

Well, at least Jordan didn't have COVID-19. For having only three hours to rehearse, she and Beau did very well. Not perfect, but that's to be expected given the circumstances. Still, I'm not sure if the studio audience will vote for a Viennese waltz.

Essence & Waverly were very good in their Bollywood routine. I think that they did enough to survive this week, but I'm not 100% sure.

Carter & Anna's Salsa was good, but I didn't quite see as much sultriness from Anna as the judges did.

That's one thing that I probably agreed with you on.

Alexis & Carter are paired together? I hope that they had a great performance!

I didn't hate Lex, I just preferred Koine to him.

That might be a better thing for American idol. While studio audience voting would prevent me from voting for my favorites, it might also prevent mediocre contestants from getting far.

Week 2: Ralyn/Carter - Contemporary (Teddy Forance) - 7.0. Carter proved himself to be pretty good with performance skills. Alexis/Keaton - Cha-Cha (Daniella Karagach & Pasha Pashkov) - 8.5. Not quite as good as last week, but still the best. Virginia/Lord Finn - Contemporary (Jaci Royal) - 6.0. Virginia was much better, but Lord Finn couldn't keep up. Jordan/Waverly - Jazz (Dominique Kelley) - 5.5. I think the choreography might have been partly to blame. Anna/Beau - Contemporary (Talia Favia) - 7.5. Better than I thought it would be. Essence/Thiago - Hip-Hop (Mel Charlot) - 8.0. Great improvement over last week! Top 12 - Pop Jazz (Brian Friedman) - 6.5. I just wasn't as fond of the group routine, that's all.

After watching Jordan and Waverly a second time, I have to agree that the routine was one of the weakest ones this week. It's possible that the choreography was at least partly to blame, however.

Yeah, it's definitely a good sign for Alexis to be safe in the first two votes, but with her getting a new partner next week, she needs a partner she has chemistry with.

I wanted Hannahlei to win, so I was delighted with the outcome.

I think that Twitch would have agreed with you. I think that he tried to save the hip hop guy but the other two judges felt that the hip hop guy wouldn't improve enough, so they overruled him. Doesn't matter much to me.

Here's my power rankings of the remaining dancers, beginning with the girls: 1. Alexis -- best girl by a mile. 2. Anna -- she has yet to be in danger. 3. Ralyn -- so does she. 4. Essence -- she was in danger but she's a hip-hop dancer, so I think that will help her survive another week. 5. Jordan -- she needs to stand out more in order to survive next week. And now for the guys: 1. Keaton -- he was the best of the guys by a mile as well. 2. Beau -- he's the only other guy not to be in danger. 3. Thiago -- he recovered nicely but he needs to improve his performance skills in order to make the finale. 4. Carter -- he's been in danger, but he's the only ballroom guy left, so that might help him survive another week. 5. Waverly -- unless he recovers well next week, he's a goner. Keaton has done better and between him and Thiago, I think that the judges will save Thiago. And now for the eliminated dancers: 1. Virginia -- I was right. She was cannon fodder compared to Jordan, Anna and Ralyn. 2. Lord Finn -- what went wrong? Carter improved and he didn't, sadly.