DWTS Australia

[*Lily]

On 7/17/2023 at 6:47 PM, *Lily said:

 

  Hide contents

The first 5 eliminations being guys and 5 women in the final? This is a dream IDF season

 

Lmaooo it’s so DWTS Australia-like for that 1 male celeb to end up winning.

[*Wallace]

Ahh for the first time this season, I didn't look at or through any spoilers as I want to be surprised on who wins. This is what I usually do for the finale of these shows (mainly for DWTS Australia & Ireland). I watched the show last night so I'll post my thoughts below.

 

Grand Finale Thoughts!

The "Last Dance" group performance with the Final 6 couples was really a lot of fun and entertaining! Great party way to kick off the show!

Emily & Lyu - Freestyle: Oooh they are gonna go big for their Freestyle with lots of lifts, which terrifies Emily. Oh I realized this is Lyu's second final so well done to him getting there 2 years in a row! Ooh with Lyu singing, it sounds like their Freestyle is to "Spice Up Your Life," which it is so yayy! Ooh wow this was a really fun and entertaining dance to kick off the show. Emily performed this amazingly and brought in so much fire and energy here. With the song, I was expecting some Latin fusion of styles in there, which there was - some Cha-Cha/Samba but mostly a lot of Salsa. I think I even spotted a little Quickstep or Charleston in there. There were lots of lifts in there I did feel like Emily threw it and gave it her all, maybe some parts got a bit messy as everything and the kitchen sink was thrown in there. But eh, it was still super fun and entertaining and it suited her personality so well. OMG Emily with her front and back wedgie comment. She's too much. Oooh the scores were 9/10/10/10 for a 39. Ooh amazing score. I was thinking she would have gotten more 9s but no complaints here.

Paulini & Igor - Freestyle: Oooh wow, theyh have the Cha-Cha, Salsa and Freestyle dances all within this dance. Omg Paulini's comments of dreaming of the routines while dreaming. I'm excited about this Freestyle as she showed such great potential in latin with her Samba. Oooh with them wearing gold, it totally makes sense for them dancing to "24K Magic." Paulini looks really gorgeous here. Whoa Paulini was sooo fierce and hot in this dance! She definitely redeemed herself from her Jive. This was a dance that had a great vibe and energy to it. She had the style, pizazz and class while dancing and performing this. I did see some good hip-hop sections but also some recognizable Salsa armwork and Cha-Cha content. She performed it so well and had is so natural in her rhythm. And her hip action was on point. Agreed with Sharna that she was just so into the dance. Ugh it was a shame about the little missed hand connection at the end (which Craig also mentioned), but it didn't spoil the routine for me. Gah sadly there were some negative comments in there but ughhh whattt at these scores, especially the 7s? Uhh I do not get. But she got a 7/7/8/8 for a 30. I was thinking she was going to get (and should have gotten) 8s and 9s, so oops I was off here.

Mary & Aric - Freestyle: Aww this dance she tells the story of her daughter, Jaime. Oooh they are doing a fusion dance of Contemporary and ballroom. I know she touched up on trying to have a baby for a decade, so it's touching how she's doing this dance for her. And it's also nice seeing this softer and vulnerable style from Mary as we haven't seen this from her. I think this could suit her really well. omg she's dancing to "Rise Up." I'm already crying! This was a really beautiful and emotional dance, as I was expecting it to be. Mary really poured her heart and emotion into the dance and felt each move she was dancing. She danced this dance beautifully too. I felt that this dance had a wide range of emotions from pain, hurt, to joy, bliss and happiness throughout. The fusion of Contemporary and ballroom was really nicely done. Though technically speaking, it may not have been as strong as it needed to be or quite all the way there (like with more stretched/extended legs), but it was still danced well overall. I get what Craig meant of the first half being disconnected technically but then it taking off on the second half. It was sweet how she hugged her daughter at the end of the dance. She got a 7/9/7/8 for a 31. The scores seem fair though I was also expecting higher scores before the comments.

Phil & Ash-Leigh - Freestyle: Oooh he's dancing to "Land of a 1000 Dances." This song is often used so much on dancing shows - with so many various styles. I feel like they could throw in everything in this dance. They are going to include some Motown inspired moves, which is in Phil's wheelhouse and comfort zone. Lol their rehearsals looked like a lot of fun with all those moves they were doing. Oh wow I feel like ethis was a dance Phil needed to show in his run as he never really had that let loose FUN dance. His Foxtrot was close but was still contained. He got to let loose, have fun and be very expressive. He handled all of those old school moves so well. But then the partnering work and especially the lifts were impressive. I especially loved those lifts where she ran to him, he threw her over his head and  then Ash-Leigh rotated back and he picked her up and she picked herself up? Hard to describe but it was fun. He had great rhythm and musicality. And yeah this dance was pure joy and fun. LOL Todd's "I think Ash-Leigh is trying to kill you" with all of the fast content she was throwing in there for him. Oh wow I'm kinda surprised Craig didn't give a 10 as I thought his 40 was incoming after all of those positive comments. But a 9/10/10/10 for a 39 is still amazing.

Christie & Craig - Freestyle: Oooh they are doing a freestyle to "Stairway to Heaven" with the usage of the stairs? This is interesting and I don't know what to make of it. But awww I loved Christie's comments of her's and Craig's (individual) kids watching the show and awww her saying they are gonna get married and this will be the photo for their wedding cake. Aww they are adorable though. Oooh I was hoping she would do a Contemporary stlyed Freestyle as I think that is a dance style that should suit her. But this had a darker more intense feel to it. Hmmm this is a really intriguing dance. I loved the raw, intense emotion that Christie poured into the dance. She was really into the dance and gave it her all. She danced it beautifully too... and technically she danced it very strongly. I wasn't really too crazy about the actual routine, particularly like the first half of it or so? Where there was a lot of walking around the staircase. I didn't really get that. But then I absolutely loved the section where the dance built up and she really threw every move with power and intensity. That was very powerful. They had some great partnering work in there too. I do get Todd's comments on wanting more light and shade, with more lighter moments in there as it did feel quite intense throughout. OMGG these scores are all over the place with a 8/10/8/10 for a total of 36. I was thinking of this getting 9s so those overall scores makes perfect sense to me, lol.

Virginia & Ian - Freestyle: Oooh so Virginia & Ian closes the show? I am not surprised. Let's just crown them already, lmaoo. lmaooo I loved Virigina's cracking up at them making it to the finals. OMG Ian thinking they had no chance when she first walked into rehearsals. They are so funny together. Ooh they are going to do some breaking gender roles with Virigina lifting Ian in this? Oooh "A Little Party Ain't Never Killed Nobody." Such a fun song choice! Wow this was a really fun, entertaining and showstopping routine. It had that cool but like club style Charleston feel but alot of fun jazz and theater elements. I loved how much energy and pizazz they had while dancing and performing this together. They also dance really well together, separately/side by side. Although Ian does really put a lot of energy into his dancing while Viriginia is more slick/cool with it. I loved the partnering work they were doing on the smaller stage. I  was loving how they switched up all of the gender role reversals in their dance. Oooh and check out Virigina doing those Matrix moves in there too! Then the death spiral into a split was a really cool way to close the dance. Another dance where they really threw everything into this, but by that same token, I do think Ian threw in too much for Virigina's capabilities as she did get tired by the end of it. Maybe he got too excited for how well she's been doing? But this was a lot of fun and entertaining. She got a 9/9/9/9 for a total of 36. Those are fair scores (though oops I was expecting her to get the perfect 40 before the dance happened).

Rankings:
Emily & Lyu - Freestyle
Phil & Ash-Leigh - Freestyle
Virginia & Ian - Freestyle
Christie & Craig - Freestyle
Paulini & Igor - Freestyle
Mary & Aric - Freestyle

Other Thoughts:
- Ooh it was great seeing the Tina the musical cast performing as the guest performers. They did "Nutbush City Limits" and "Proud Mary." This was a lot of fun!
- It was nice seeing all 14 couples return! And also a really nice recap of the season.
- The two couples making it to the Final two were: Emily & Lyu and Phil & Ash-Leigh.
- Oh wow, before the final I did not think Emily & Lyu had a shot of making it to the final two.... or well, no I thought it would be Phil/Ash-Leigh and Virigina/Ian, but Emily was my 3rd guess but I was certain on Phil and Viriginia. But based on the scores, Emily and Phil had the best dances of the night, imo. So I get them making the Final 2 here.
- Now that this Final 2 is announced, I'm thinking Phil & Ash-Leigh will win but I'm rooting for Emily & Lyu. And.... it's Phil & Ash-Leigh that wins! Lol of course the man wins against 5 female celebs... to be expected in Australia. I'm happy for them as Phil is a great dancer, Ash-Leigh is a great pro and think they are deserving winners. They had a lot of great routines and did manage to grow with each routine. Though with that said, I am sad for Emily & Lyu as they kinda started out as a darkhorse contender, then had that amazing Contemporary moment and other really great dances after that. I felt most invested in Emily's & Lyu's journey, so I'm sad they couldn't pull out the win. I thought they built up a lot of momentum to take it. Phil & Ash-Leigh are a wonderful partnership and are deserving nonetheless. Both couples had such nice and wonderful closing words about their journey and the show! All in all, it was a fun season. I'll try to figure out some post season rankings later on.
 

[Abe1818]

Its the way I though these freestyles were meant to be actual dances at first. None of them were really giving freestyle like Strictly 2022 although they were better than those Showdances..

 

Emily's gave Salsa

Paulini's gave Cha-Cha-Cha

Phil's was giving Jive

Christie and Mary gave contemporary

And Virginia was giving Jazz/Charleston

[Abe1818]

5 hours ago, *Wallace said:

 

 And.... it's Phil & Ash-Leigh that wins! Lol of course the man wins against 5 female celebs... to be expected in Australia. I'm happy for them as Phil is a great dancer, Ash-Leigh is a great pro and think they are deserving winners. They had a lot of great routines and did manage to grow with each routine. 

And this is why Christie deserved to go automatically through last week and his stiff self deserved to be shocking elimination against Pia so we could be guaranteed a female winner.❤  In all seriousness,good for Ash-Leigh after being robbed her first season! (Kylie was also robbed that season too.)

[*Wallace]

On 7/24/2023 at 1:09 PM, Abe1818 said:

And this is why Christie deserved to go automatically through last week and his stiff self deserved to be shocking elimination against Pia so we could be guaranteed a female winner.❤  In all seriousness,good for Ash-Leigh after being robbed her first season! (Kylie was also robbed that season too.)

lmaoo That wouldn't be fair dancing-wise.  Though then again some of these judges don't vote based on dancing in the dance-off.  

[*Wallace]

Oops, I forgot to post some post-season rankings earlier. I don't reallly know as ranking them are hard but here it goes.

 

 

Overall rankings

Favorites:
1. Emily & Lyu - As I mentioned, I just was really invested and loved her journey despite such a short season. She started off with a good but not perfect Samba, but then she was really killing it with her last 3 dances. Ugh I wish we could have seen a full season of Emily & Lyu as I think they had many more great dances to offer.
2. Paulini & Igor - Aww I wish Paulini could have been more of a frontrunner and had a bigger growth arc, but I think she could have with a longer season. But I've been a fan of hers for years so it was exciting seeing her on here and doing well. I enjoyed her run but can admit that Viriginia/Phil/Christie were stronger dancers.

LMAO I really don't know how to rank the Top 3 couples of Group 2 as I liked them all about the same.
3/4/5. Phil & Ash-Leigh - Phil had a great growth arc and I enjoyed his dances more and more as the season progressed. He and Ash-Leigh had a really good partnership and they were deserving winners. He also smoked all of the other male celebs this season.
3/4/5. Virginia & Ian - Viriginia was such a surprise as I didn't expect her to be such a great dancer. But I think her performing/partnership with Ian also really helped elevate this partnership.
3/4/5. Christie & Craig - I do feel like while the judges gave Christie good praise, that it did seem she did fall in the shadow of Virigina and Phil. She's gorgeous, a great dancer and likable.

Second tier (also quite difficult to rank)
6. Mary & Aric - Started off quite rough around the edges, but she did showcase really good growth. Her Paso came at the right time to get her into the final. She earned her finals spot but I did think she was the weakest dancer of the final, which isn't a bad thing considering the weaker dancers of the last two seasons finals were much weaker.
7. James & Natalie - James was the only other decent male dancer, though his was more of a surprise as swimmers can be hit or miss as dancers. But Natalie did a wonderful job and I felt James could have gotten even better and grown more out of his shell in a longer season.
8. Laura & Danil - Laura wasn't a great dancer but I found her really fun and likable. She had a mix of awkward dancers but her Foxtrot was a shining and very good moment. She kinda had a similar and different journey from her husband Matty J two years ago.
9. Sally & Mitch - Sally was a very solid dancer with solid dances. She started off good and stayed good. I think she just came off a little too competitive and lacked that fun personality that other celebs had. Maybe that caused a lack of connection for her lack of votes?
10. Pia & Declan - Pia was okay but also not a great dancer but was fairly likable. She had a nice Paso though her first two were decent but kinda awkward.

 

Lower tier:
11. Issa & Lily - Issa was a really fun, charming and likable guy. While he wasn't a very good dancer, he had a lot of joy and charm with how he performed his dances, which helped put him above the weaker male dancers.
12. Charlie & Ruby - I say he was my favorite of the really bad dancers (that is if you don't include Issa in that group. I found him to be really fun and funny personality-wise.
13. Matt & Jessica - Aww Matt. Again, another guy I found to be fun and funny. It's a shame he had an injury early on that hindered his dance. Though without that, I don't think he would have been that great. But I did kinda enjoy his Foxtrot.
14. Gavin & Megan - Nice guy but even though he lasted the 3 weeks, I already forgot about him and don't really remember him that well. He did seem shy/nervous and didn't have that fun/silly personality that the other weaker male dancers had.
 

[Abe1818]

56 minutes ago, *Wallace said:

lmaoo That wouldn't be fair dancing-wise.  Though then again some of these judges don't vote based on dancing in the dance-off.  

I mean Manu made finals over Renée and Anthony was saved over Bridie. Mark would probably be the most likely to save Pia in that B3 as I can see Sharna and Craig doing the right thing and saving Phil. And then Todd probably goes and rambles on and on about how he has to save the one who had fun and made him feel feelings he's never felt before and then makes the stupid decision to save Pia

Edited July 30, 2023 by Abe1818

[*Amanda]

Oh, I didn't know this got a new season over the summer.  I would very much like to watch it if anyone knows where to find the episodes!  (And also potentially do a Best Routine game if anyone would be interested).

 

Although, I'm seeing that it was 1 guy vs. 5 girls in the finale and the guy still won.  I know we joke that the US/British/Irish public hates females but Australia really does have all of them beat.  

[*Wallace]

10 minutes ago, *Amanda said:

Oh, I didn't know this got a new season over the summer.  I would very much like to watch it if anyone knows where to find the episodes!  (And also potentially do a Best Routine game if anyone would be interested).

 

Although, I'm seeing that it was 1 guy vs. 5 girls in the finale and the guy still won.  I know we joke that the US/British/Irish public hates females but Australia really does have all of them beat.  

Amanda catching up on all the threads!  

 

Yeah this link has full episodes: https://southhemitv.com/category/dancing-with-the-stars-au/

 

It's a 7-episode season, and episodes are about 1 hour 10 minutes-1 hour 20 or so minutes long. So it should be a quick watch. I'll still have all of my notes of my thoughts of the routines so I could participate in the game for this.

 

@ the comments on the winning result. I get you on all of this.  At least with Ireland, they had 3 female winners in a row - and the overall stats are tied in male and female winners.  

[Abe1818]

Well in some sad news Season 12 Champion Johnny Ruffo has died of cancer

 

[*Wallace]

Awww nooo, that's so terribly sad. RIP Johnny.  

 

I'm glad he had his dancing moment comeback last year (after all he's gone through), which makes that moment even more special now.   I wish I could find video of it. But I enjoyed him on The X Factor Australia and (what I've seen of his from) DWTS Australia.

[Ariel1989]

On 11/10/2023 at 11:37 AM, *Wallace said:

Awww nooo, that's so terribly sad. RIP Johnny.  

 

I'm glad he had his dancing moment comeback last year (after all he's gone through), which makes that moment even more special now.   I wish I could find video of it. But I enjoyed him on The X Factor Australia and (what I've seen of his from) DWTS Australia.

Aric posted it on IG (his wife Masha was dancing with Johnny)

[*Wallace]

18 hours ago, Ariel1989 said:

Aric posted it on IG (his wife Masha was dancing with Johnny)

Aww thanks for posting this. This was such a special moment.  

[*Lily]

Samantha Jade on the new season!

 

https://7news.com.au/entertainment/dancing-with-the-stars/dancing-with-the-stars-line-up-revealed-for-2024-c-13604981

 

@Elliott @Solaris @*Wallace (& anyone else lmao I forget who likes who so I just looked at who ranked her high in the X Factor rankdown )

[*Lily]

I don't know anyone else in the cast (except Ant who I don't really like), but looking forward to seeing more from this season.

[Solaris]

Sammy 

[*Wallace]

OMG OMG OMG Samatha Jade has been on my DWTS Australia wishlist for YEARS!     Best news ever!  

 

I gave up hope of this happening just a few years ago as I never thought it was going to happen. I'm so shoook and over the moon.  Definitely and obviously rooting for her though. She's gonna slay!  

[*Wallace]

Ooh they have the whole cast listed

 

 

Dancing with the Stars 2024 full line-up

• Adam Dovile – Better Homes and Gardens DIY presenter

• Ant Middleton – SAS Australia Chief Instructor

• Ben Cousins – AFL legend and 7NEWS Sport presenter

• Hayden Quinn – Chef

• James Stewart – Home and Away Actor

• Julie Goodwin – Chef

• Lisa McCune – Actor

• Nadia Bartel – Fashion designer and model

• Nikki Osborne – Comedian

• Nova Peris – Olympian and former senator

• Samantha Jade – Singer

• Shane Crawford – AFL royalty

 

 

And the partnerships are announced too.

 

• Adam Dovile & Jessica Raffa

• Ant Middleton & Alexandra Vladimirov

• Ben Cousins & Siobhan Power

• Hayden Quinn & Lily Cornish

• James Stewart & Jorja Freeman

• Julie Goodwin & Andrey Gorbunov

• Lisa McCune & Ian Waite

• Nadia Bartel & Lyu Masuda

• Nikki Osborne & Aric Yegudkin

• Nova Peris & Craig Monley

• Samantha Jade & Gustavo Viglio

• Shane Crawford & Ash-Leigh Hunter

 

Yeah Samantha is the only one I know. But I feel like I heard Ben Cousins before. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and see who else I will be rooting for.

[Abe1818]

I have no clue in the world who Samantha Jade but Wally knows her so maybe I'll root for her if she's good. The only one I know from this line up is Ant lol

[taylorkat]

I'm definitely rooting for Samantha!

[Walker359718]

Hopefully, Samantha will win this season.  I'm also hoping that Nadia will (at least) stay for a long time.

Edited March 24 by Walker359718