2019 Dancing with the Stars Rankdown

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[*Wallace]

3 hours ago, *Chris said:

Not surprised at #20... Nervous to find out who is #19 :shiver: #BringBackShiver

Gahh yeah this.... I'm really nervous how the rest of the Top 19 is going to pane out. It's going to be VERY unpredictable. :shiver: 

 

1 hour ago, Solaris said:

least shocking 20th place ever.

True.  

[1234567890]

*me remembering I have 10 write-ups left to do*

[1234567890]

*me after doing eleven write-ups*

[aliasocfan]

[1234567890]

*me after doing twelve write-ups*

[Alex95]

19. Courtney Act

14.64

Chris - 4/20

Elliott - 11/20

Amanda - 13/20

Dee - 13/20

Anne - 14/20

Sola - 15/20

Victoria - 16/20

Stephy - 17/20

Lily - 19/20

Public - 19/20

Wildcards - 20/20

 

CHRIS

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Following her presence on Australian Idol, Courtney Act became an immediate sensation in Australia where she would later become a worldwide LGBTQ+ icon following her participation on RuPaul's Drag Race where she made it all the way to the Top 3 of the 6th season. From the moment I was introduced to Courtney Act, I was a fan and I was estactic when she was cast on the Australian version of Dancing With The Stars in 2019 following her win on Celebrity Big Brother UK. 

 

Courtney's presence on the show was groundbreaking! She is the first drag queen that I recall to ever appear on any Dancing With The Stars-franchise, if I am not mistaken. However, I do know that Courtney made history while on the show - their routine to "Toxic" was the first time that "two boys dancing together on Dancing With The Stars" which was the first time it ever happened on any version of the show. The routine was incredible, and they earned a total of 29 out of 30 which is incredible. 

 

While on the show, Courtney proved to be a star on the dance floor where she and her partner, Joshua, delivered outstanding and memorable routines, week after week; 

• Jive to "Feel It Still": Super fun routine with a colorful outfit - they scored a total of 23 out of 30.
• Cha Cha Cha to "Wannabe": A routine featuring Ginger Spice's iconic outfit. Another fun routine which scored 21 out of 30.
• Tango to "Real Men": This was the routine for most memorable year; One of my favourite routine of Courtney & Joshua - a super raw routine where Courtney de-drag themselves. It scored 25 out of 30, as their lines weren't as good as they should have been. 
• Samba to "La Isla Bonita": Never been the biggest fan of Samba. Really enjoyed the song choice, and the routine was fun but not a favorite of mine. They received a score of 24 out of 30, leading the pack since Week 1. 
• Quickstep to "I Won't Dance": A strong routine. It received a score of 26 of 30 - their best dance, thus far.
• Contemporary to "Creep":  Everything about this routine was perfect - the choreography, the concept, the dance, the choice of music... This is probably their best routine outside of their fusion dance to "Toxic".  It should have been a perfect score, and that's the tea. 
• Viennese Waltz to "If I Ain't Got You": This was a brilliant Viennese Waltz; especially loved Courtney's outfit for this dance. It was danced beautifully! 
• Jazz to "Bad Romance": Not my favorite as I couldn't stand the rendition of "Bad Romance" but it was a super fun routine. Earned them a score of 26! 
• Paso Doble to "Die Another Day": AMAZING! This routine snatched my wig when I first watched it - oh so good! It received a score of 28 out of 30 - another routine robbed a perfect score. 
• Samba to "Hip Hip Chin Chin": This was their redemption dance, and they certainly redeemed themselves. It was fun, and very samba - still not a favourite of mine. It got a score of 27 out of 30!
• Fusion (Foxtrot/Tango) to "Toxic": Iconic. Groundbreaking. Flawless... This routine was everything, and it was robbed of a perfect score where it received a 29 out of 30. 
• Quickstep to "I Won't Dance": This was their encore dance which I didn't necessarily agree with. But it was very theatrical, and an improvement where it felt more natural.
• Freestyle to "Make Me Feel": THIS IS WHAT FREESTYLE IS ALL ABOUT. One of my all time favourite! And they finally got a perfect score! 

At the end of the season, Courtney & Joshua were leading the pack with 392 points which is impressive. However, this was not enough for Courtney & Joshua to be crown the winning couple. They ended up in 2nd place, which should have been 1st place but we will accept first place. Anyway, I absolutely enjoyed Courtney & Joshua's partnership - it's probably one of my favourite partnership from recent years. They knew how to work together, and it showed in their routine. And now, here are some of my favourite routines of theirs;

 

 

 

ELLIOTT

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I’ve known Courtney for years, ever since the first season of Australian Idol where she was a competitor. (Just remember that Cosima would’ve won without her withdrawal :*) Since then, she was on RuPaul’s Drag Race, where I became a fan of hers, even if I did tend to agree with Michelle on some of her comments. But LOL at the shadiness of them filming a double crowning with Bianca and Adore, only to not turn around and film one with Courtney. THE SHADE OF IT ALL. Liked her on Celebrity Big Brother, and it was lovely seeing her beat the homophobe in the final vote.

 

But this is a DWTS/SCD rankdown, and I need to talk about her run as a runner-up. Flawless, tbh. She should’ve won. I watched her routines every week and it just seemed like SUCH a foregone conclusion to me that she was going to win. So naturally she got robbed in second. Whatever.

 

Her partner Jonathan Keefe, though? He could get it six ways til Saturday, and twice on Sunday. HELLO.

 

AMANDA

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Courtney Act was on season 16 of the Australian version of the show, and was criminally robbed of the win in favor of the mediocre white guy who had zero iconic or memorable routines the entire season. Courtney? Iconic every single week. Pushed boundaries with the help of the creative and genious choreography by her pro Josh Keefe. SLAYED everything. Delivered two super groundbreaking and impactful routines by ending the by taking off the drag outfit to reveal Shane and then dancing the Fusion as Shane and it being two guys dancing together in a routine. Delivered numerous other brilliant routines such as the Jive, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, Jazz, Paso Doble, and Freestyle - the last of which is the only perfect scoring dance of the season. Considering Craig was 1/3 of the judging panel and he's infamously stingy with 10's, it's amazing she got a perfect score. It's a shame that the far inferior dancer won instead of her, but Courtney goes down as an all-time great thanks to brilliant dancing and pushing the boundaries with endlessly creative and impactful routines.

 

DEE

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DUH. Of course Courtney Act would rank the highest of all the International contestants.

 

Is there a bit of bias because I have been a fan of Courtney Act for many years? Obvy. But I did happen to watch all of Courtney Act's performances in real time last year when she competed on the show, so that definitely helps with my decision to give her this ranking. Courtney Act is the only International contestant I was invested in during this Rankdown, so I am super pleased that she advanced to the finals  .

 

My love for her as a drag/queer artist only grew after her time on the sixteenth season of Dancing With The Stars Australia, the comeback season after a four-year hiatus. I was super excited to hear that she was part of the cast for many reasons. Most importantly though, this is definitely a very small step in the right direction for LGBTQIA+ visibility on a family program that is aired on a mainstream channel. Courtney Act definitely took a massive risk joining the show and becoming completely vulnerable to scrutiny, discrimination, and conversations surrounding her gender identity, personal life, motives, etc. 

 

Every small step towards inclusion is a brave step, and Courtney Act has my respect for forcing audiences in Australia to engage in a discourse about body politics, gender identity, drag as a valid art form, equal rights and representation for LGBTQIA+ individuals. On the show, she spoke about her motivation for joining the show and how she hoped that this would be a learning experience for all the viewers at home. Courtney Act is making space for others in the community, and that is also a big reason why she ranked the highest out of all the International contestants.

 

Now, on to her time on the show as a dancer. Courtney was partnered with Josh Keefe for the season, and he is very handsome. Not that this is important or anything. Safe to say that Courtney dominated the season, landing at the top of the leaderboard for nine out of the ten weeks of the competition. LOL. Courtney Act obviously demolished her competition, and I can say that with certainty, even if I did not watch the dances of her competitors. 

 

Courtney Act is a performer by both nature and career, so obviously her star power would shine through in every routine. But I was quite worried about how well she would fare as a dancer. No need to worry though, since she did so well in the competition. Every routine of hers is so so good. 

 

My favorite dances of hers though have to be her Tango on Most Memorable Year Night, Contemporary on Dance-Off Night, Trio Paso Doble, Foxtrot/Tango Fusion on Semifinals Night, and her Freestyle. 

 

Tango: Such a gorgeous routine that really dives into Courtney/Shane's journey with acceptance of her gender identity. The constant removal of clothing items, the extremely emotional performance delivered by Courtney, the ending images. Such a perfect routine, and the fact that it only received a 25 instead of a perfect 30 blows my ming.

 

Contemporary: I typically hate Contemporary routines on DWTS, but this might be one of my favorite Contemporary routines of the series. This is Courtney at her technical best in the competition, and she delivers another evocative and emotional performance. Another time Courtney was robbed of a perfect score.

 

Trio Paso Doble: Super fierce outfit. I'm curious if Courtney put herself into drag every performance night. Just a really fun routine.

 

Fusion: Truly phenomenal routine. Really special to watch Shane Jenek dance this sultry and technically great piece. A male-male Ballroom number on live television...on a family program. More of this please. Just a really special moment. Deserved a perfect score and not the 29 that it received. But of course Revel Horwood is good for seemingly nothing.

 

Freestyle: LOVE. THE SONG. THE STYLE. THE PERFORMANCE. THE OUTFITS. GENDER BENDING FUN. A RIGHTFUL PERFECT SCORE .

 

Courtney really deserved more perfect scores than she received. One is simply not enough. Her total final average for the season is a 26.13, which is over three points higher than the actual winner of the season. ROBBERY. I can only imagine how crushing it must have been for Courtney to lose the season. But I hope the reward of the experience was far greater than the disappointment of losing to a mediocre winner. ROBBERY. 

 

Courtney Act deserves all the praise for her time on the show, and she really provided a special journey that has never been provided by any other contestant in the history of the series. Thanks for brining her to the Rankdown, Chris!

 

ANNE

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She was in Series (Season?) 15 of the Australian version of the show. (lol that America had to come up with it’s own name) She made it all the way to 2nd place.  She is the first drag Queen to appear on the series. (at least to my knowledge) Her professional partner was Jack Keefe. From a very reliable source, all of her dances were creative and revolutionary. Courteney successfully topped the leader board during the first week.  Wait a second. Why did no one inform me she appeared in a Little Mix music video? I probably would have ranked her at #1 if I had previously known this. Slackers.  How did anyone overlook this?  Oh well, she’s in the top 20. Perhaps after some moving around, I will give her an even better ranking.

 

SOLA

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I ranked Courtney act 15th because I don’t want to write 100 words about.  I saw her first on Australian Idol, and I know more about that then I do about her dancing.  She was also on RuPauls Drag race, where she was runner up and was the winner of a season of Celebrity big brother UK.  She then become runner up on a recent season of Dancing with the Stars Australia.  Cool, hope you don’t win (sorry Chris).

 

VICTORIA

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The only reason why Courtney Act is the highest ranking international is because of my love for Chris because we all know Danny Mac would be the highest ranking international if left to my own devices. I am familiar with Courtney Act so that helps as well. Courtney Act is a famous Australian drag queen, entertainer, singer and reality television personality. I first came to know of Courtney from Rupaul’s Drag Race 6. I know I recently said I only watched seasons 1 through 3 but now I remember I watched this season because Adore Delano was on it. Bianca, Adore and Courtney were my favorites on that season, Courtney is stunning in drag. SICKENING. I watched Celebrity Big Brother Series 21 because she was on it and I loved loved her relationship with Andrew Brady. I did not however watch Courtney Act on Dancing with the Stars 16 (AU). She was partnered with Josh Keefe and came in second place. Peaking at her dances I see danced to “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. Good luck to Danny and Courtney for the internationals. Ashley, Alesha and Alexandra found left in a ditch.

 

STEPHY

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I get why people are so mad that Courtney didn’t win, but I think that the Australian public didn’t adjust to the situation, from when Courtney was Shane in rehearsals, so her being onstage as Courtney. Plus, the celeb who won had a bigger storyline (with their sister and all that, won’t go into that much detail), but in saying that, she had great routines, had a compelling storyline and represented the LGBTQ community well. I am also sure that other people will put her routines in their writeups, but a standout routine for me was the semi-final where she changes and shows her true self.

 

LILY

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I'm surprised myself that I'm placing Courtney here. She's one of my favorite Drag Race queens, I loved her on CBB, and was super excited for her to do DWTS Australia. But I love a lot of this top 20... and I came to the conclusion that, when it comes to their overall journeys on this show in particular, I've followed those from DWTS US and Strictly more closely and was more invested in a lot of those journeys. I watched Courtney's dances online every week and adored them all, but I guess since I didn't follow DWTS Australia as in-depth as the other shows I wasn't quite as invested. If an international contestant pulls off the win in this rankdown I would more likely root for a Strictly contestant.

 

Anyway - like I said, I love Courtney! It was super exciting to see DWTS Australia have their first same-sex pairing on the show upon its return, but also our first drag queen contestant (your turn next DWTS :*). Courtney was the frontrunner of her season for sure - she topped the leaderboard nine out of ten times and held by far the highest average score. I loved seeing how she was able to bring the glamour of Courtney to some routines but then others the vulnerability and sincerity of Shane. Some of my favorite dances of Courtney included: her opening Jive, her Tango, her Quickstep and her Freestyle. I wish she could have snatched the win in the end, but she was pipped to the post by Samuel Johnson, who while wasn't as strong a dancer, had an emotional back-story and a real journey. I love what Courtney brought to the show every week, and from what I've seen of DWTS Australia, she's my favorite contestant from there because I loved her before the show as well. I think making top 20 is an amazing accomplishment especially after that cycle where she was nominated every round. While I wish I could have rated her higher, I have so many favorites in this group and I think I'd rather a DWTS US or a Strictly contestant to win because I followed them much more. 

 

ALEX

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So I watched all her dances on YouTube and I was impressed. She was very good and clearly the best of the season. I didn't watch anything from the guy that beat her, but I doubt he deserved to lol. I loved watching her do it in and out of drag and the way she broke stereotypes and tradition. Having "two men" dance together was really cool to watch and I hope to see it on the US show one day. I will say I think her story is part of the reason she made it to this part. While she is great, she is not the best of the best or anything. I think everyone else in the top 20 was a stronger dancer than her. But that's nothing against her since it's not like I always want the strongest dancers in the end lol, just nit-picking. For those reasons I ranked her 16th.

 

FROGLENZEN

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I like Courtney, but no

 

WALLY

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Ugh this is super hard…. especially ranking these international contestants amongst the US contestants, which I’ve never done before. I do love 18 out of these 20 dances, and I knew Courtney would be on the lower end but placing her at 17th. I will say a very well done to Courtney making it through to the finals of this game - especially with that twist of having an International/bring into the game contestant nominated every round in a cycle. But yeah Courtney dominated Season 17 and while i did like Samuel, it was a shame Courtney didn’t win like she should have. My favorite dances from Courtney were her: Tango, Quickstep, Contemporary, Jazz (duet with Jimmy), Jazz, Paso Doble, Samba (Semi-finals version), Foxtrot/Tango Fusion (as Shane) and Freestyle.

 

[Elliott]

Homophobia at its finest. 

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*me after doing thirteen write-ups*

[*Amanda]

Courtney.  

 

I didn’t expect her to rank the lowest of all the internationals since everyone actually knows who she is compared to the Strictly celebs.  

[*Wallace]

5 minutes ago, *Amanda said:

Courtney.  

 

I didn’t expect her to rank the lowest of all the internationals since everyone actually knows who she is compared to the Strictly celebs.  

Ahh yeah, same to this. Although I'm fine with this as I do love the four Strictly contestants more.

 

But really well done to Courtney getting #19. She was outstanding on her season and had so many fantastic dances. Chris, especially did an amazing write-up for her.  

[FrogLenzen]

10 minutes ago, *Amanda said:

Courtney.  

 

I didn’t expect her to rank the lowest of all the internationals since everyone actually knows who she is compared to the Strictly celebs.  

I tried lmao. 

[1234567890]

Oh, wow. I thought Courtney would rank the highest of the internationals because of all the Drag Race fans but they didn't save it in the Television Rankdown so I am not shocked.

 

[vee_]

I-

[vee_]

*taking notes for tv rankdown and drag race rankdown and american idol rankdown*

[*Chris]

40 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Homophobia at its finest. 

This.

 

I am Bobo the fool for not tanking all the internationals. 

[vee_]

Queen of Australia!

[*Chris]

24 minutes ago, *Amanda said:

Courtney.  

 

I didn’t expect her to rank the lowest of all the internationals since everyone actually knows who she is compared to the Strictly celebs.  

I am surprised too. Should have tanked all of them... and the public  

[FrogLenzen]

1 minute ago, *Chris said:

Should have tanked all of them... and the public

I promise I did and this is not my faaaaaault!!! I shudder to think what the public rankings would have been if I wasn't included