DWTS International Rankdown

[*Chris]

Will post it shortly! 

[*Chris]

BRIAN JOUBERT

 

Most of you know him for his appearance in the Dancing With The Stars: Rankdown where it was revealed that he made some comments regarding a scandal in the French Skating Association. However, I know him for his work as a figure skater where I was a fan of his as well as his appearance on Danse avec les stars in 2014 - all of this despite some of the comments he made in the past, as I try to judge on their body of work on the show and not what they say outside of that or the sport. Anyway, on the show, Brian Joubert was easily one of the best of the season which should not be a surprise considering that figure skaters tend to do well, on these shows. He was partnered with Katrina Patchett, and they finished in 3rd place after delivering great routines throughout the season. Here's a quick overview of their routines;

 

• Week 1 - Contemporary (Every Breath You Take): A figure skater dancing a contemporary, the first week of the competition? I am shook! As expected, this routine was pretty much flawless - they received a score of 32 out of 40!
   
• Week 2 - Tango (Waka Waka): I never thought I would see a tango to Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) but here we were - it worked well and he showed that he can do more than just contemporary. There was intensity and some steamy moments with him dancing shirtless - no complaining from me. He ended up received a score of 32 which included 2 8's, a 9, and a 7 from Chris Marques who loves to underscore routines. 
   
• Week 3 - Ballet (Primavera):  This routine artistically was brilliant, but he struggled technically which is shocking as you would expect him to do well with it as a figure skater - it's without a doubt the routine he seemed to struggled the most with. Overall, it was a pleasure to watch him in this routine. Their score? It was a 33 for the artistic while they received a 26 for the technical.
   
• Week 4 - Jive (Video Games): The jive was to Video Games by Lana Del Rey but a cover of The Baseballs - I thought the cover was interesting as I love the original one, and I could never have imagined a jive to that song. They also had to do a boogie woogie pass in their routine. Overall, the jive was perfect - they nailed every aspect of it. And they got a score 31 for the technical and the artistic.
   
• Week 5 - Samba (Gasolina): This routine was hot, hot, hot! Was it his best? Not really as he seemed to hesitate during certain area of the dance. But my god, this routine was so hot - it reminded me of Jenna's routine with Joe. And the score for this routine was 34 for artistry and 31 for technical. 
   
• Week 6 - Rumba (A ma place): This rumba is probably one of my favourite of his - it was danced perfectly from artistry and technically. He was underscore for this routine - 35 for artistry and 32 for technical.
   
• Week 7 - Charleston/Samba (Les Limites): This wasn't his best dance, but was it his worst? Absolutely not. I find it ridiculous that Chris Marques had the guts to give it a 4 for the technical aspect - I truly cannot stand that judge. A score of 32 for artistic and a score of 25 for technical where everyone gave him a score of 7 instead of Chris. He landed in the bottom after this where he won the dance-off to Shake It Off.
   
• Week 8 - Waltz (Laisse-moi t'aimer): It was dance well, but at the end of the day, it was a basic waltz. Overall, the score was 64 where his technical was better than the artistic score.
   
• Week 8 - Tango (Tous les meme): This tango, in my opinion, was perfection! It could have received a perfect score - they were close to receiving one as they got 37 for artistry and 35 for technical - Chris was the lowest score for both of those.
   
• Week 9 - Paso Doble (Party Rock Anthem): Doing a Paso Doble with 3 people can be risky, but they nailed it. I wouldn't say this was his best routine but he held his own, and I really enjoyed it. A score of 34 for artistic with Chris giving it a 7 while other judges gave it a 9, and a score of 35 for technical.
   
• Week 9 - Foxtrot (Feel): My least favourite because it was a foxtrot. I don't know, I just don't connect with Foxtrot. Their overall score was 67 which was close to the Paso which I don't understand how.  They danced in the dance-off to Can't Hold Us and they survived!
   
• Week 10 - Rumba (J'oublierai ton nom): I really loved his first rumba but this one? It was technically perfect and enjoyed every aspect of it. I can't believe that it did not receive a perfect score or close to it - 38 for artistic and 34 for technical. 
   
• Week 10 - Jive (J'irai ou tu iras): I am bias when it comes to this jive as it's to one of my all-time favourite song from Celine - whoever will dance a jive to this song will receive praise form me, similar to Proud Mary. Anyway, I thought this jive was flawless and I am in love with it - the routine was underscored with Chris giving it a 7 for technical when it should at least been a 9. In the end, he should have gotten at least a 10 somewhere for this.
   

Overall, Brian Joubert was a brilliant dancer and contestant - I don't think he was ever met to win against Rayane or Nathalie who is now the president of the French Skating Association. He did escape elimination here and there, and he did deliver some memorable routines that were underscore. And now, here are some of my favourite of his;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And now, here's my guilty pleasure routine of his;

 

SAVING: AIDEN FOGARTY

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by *Chris

[*Wallace]

Great write-up on Brian Joubert there, @*Chris. I don't know him too well and heard of his drama but again don't know too much. But he seems like a really good dancer and I enjoyed the routines you posted of his. Will watch more of them later on.

 

#bless at the Jimmy and Aidan saves too.

[*Amanda]

@rpryor03 has Aled Jones vs. William Waiirua

[rpryor03]

ALED JONES

 

 

Aled Jones, a singer (a former choirboy - a man after my own heart!) and presenter, was fourth place on the second season of Strictly, where he was partnered with Lilia Kopylova. Now, while I don't remember much of his run, one of the suprising things from my wikipedia search was that he averaged third in scores and only got a score greater than 30 once. For comparison, Michelle (who was 3rd by averages) scored over 30 8 times and Kelvin scored 30 or below once. There's a discussion for us - overscoring? Is the coreography better? Or are they just getting better dancers? Overall, forgettable and fine.

 

Saved: William Waiirua

[*Amanda]

@*Wallace is next. He must nominate 4 male celebs and 4 female celebs.

[*Chris]

8 hours ago, *Wallace said:

Great write-up on Brian Joubert there, @*Chris. I don't know him too well and heard of his drama but again don't know too much. But he seems like a really good dancer and I enjoyed the routines you posted of his. Will watch more of them later on.

 

#bless at the Jimmy and Aidan saves too.

Thanks Wally! The drama, in my opinion, is not too much of a deal - I don't agree with what he said; everyone approach these things differently. Considering all of this happened after his appearance on DALS, I feel we have to focus more on it. But yes, he was a great dancer - just knew his time was limited in here so thought I would cut him to give him a good write-up.

And you're welcome!

[*Wallace]

40 minutes ago, *Chris said:

Thanks Wally! The drama, in my opinion, is not too much of a deal - I don't agree with what he said; everyone approach these things differently. Considering all of this happened after his appearance on DALS, I feel we have to focus more on it. But yes, he was a great dancer - just knew his time was limited in here so thought I would cut him to give him a good write-up.

And you're welcome!

That all makes sense.  And yeah I would like to focus on his run as a contestant as well.

 

 

[*Wallace]

 

NOMINATIONS:

Nikki Webster

Mat Rogers
Larry Emdur 

Ladji Doucouré

Sarah Lombardi 

Ingolf Luck

Jess Quinn

Claire King

[Stephhyy]

Cut Nikki, Save Mat

[Stephhyy]

Nikki Webster

Nikki Webster, is most famous for being the face of the Opening Ceremony at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After that she release her famous song, Strawberry Kisses. She was on the second season of Dancing with the Stars, the Australian version and was partnered with Sasha Farber (who is now a Pro in the American version). She came in 6^th out of 10 couples and averaged a 26.8 out of 40 (3^rd in averages). I don’t remember much of her run, but she had a promising start to her season topping the leaderboard in weeks 1 and 3. However, I think that because there was a famous footballer, a TV icon, a Home and Away hunk, and a hot chippie in that season, she go lost in the pack.

 

PS: Look how young Sasha looks in this photo

 

SAVING: Mat Rogers

[*Lily]

Cut Ingolf

Save Larry

[*Lily]

Ingolf Luck

 

To be honest, I don't know too much about Ingolf, and wasn't going to cut him seeing as he won his season.. but then upon seeing his run on the show and being the fifth best scoring contestant of the season, I got the vibe that maybe he wasn't the most deserving winner. But I can't say that with certainty, of course. Lmao, upon searching for pics I found this one of him as Shrek and had to use it.  Wow but at 60 years old he is the oldest winner of Let's Dance Germany  

 

Lol so I think the Shrek dance was his Freestyle. It was really enjoyable and I'm sure a huge crowd-pleaser, which probably helped him get the win. It's literally a megamix of Shrek songs... one of the strangest things I've seen, on these shows  I watched just a few more of his routines... just as the website for the DWTS Germany links, while helpful, is kinda confusing to work around. These consisted of his Tango, another good routine where he really got into character and had pretty good technique, scoring a perfect 30 too. Then his finale Quickstep, where he had great, quick movement around the floor and good frame. And finally, I watched his Rumba... which I was expecting to be a mess, but also quite surprised me? It seems like I ended up on his best dances, of the ones I picked.  Ok credit where it's due, Ingolf surprised me here. I kinda pre-judged by the scores and ended up enjoying what I watched. I am curious though considering that even with how he did, there were four higher-scoring contestants overall.. so whether there was backlash for his win. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching Ingolf's dances!

 

Saving Larry Emdur

[*Amanda]

@*Chris & @rpryor03

 

Ladji Doucouré

Sarah Lombardi 

Jess Quinn

Claire King

[*Chris]

Save Ladji

Cut Claire

[*Chris]

CLAIRE KING

 

Claire King is known for her work as an actress, notably on Emmerdale which is a British soap opera  - other shows and movies to her credit includes Bad Girls, Safari School, Celebrity Big Brother, and Coronation Street; she appeared on most of those shows following her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2006. When she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, it was the 4th series and she was partnered with Brendan Cole - their partnership was a something with Brendan trying to do illegal lifts, week after week, to compete against the younger crowd. Let's just say that Brendan didn't have the best relationship with the judges! Let's take a look at some of their routines;

 

• Week 2 - Rumba (Show Me Heaven): I thought Claire looked elegant in it, but the routine was quite problematic with the illegal lifts. They would have gotten a better score if Brendan followed the rule but they instead received a score of 21 out of 40. 
   
• Week 3 - Jive (Nutbush City Limit):  This was a decent Jive - there was a bit of hesitant in her moves. But as a whole, the Jive was decent and that's what matters. It receives a score of 22 out of 40.
   
•  Week 4 - Foxtrot (Sweet Caroline): Not able to find any videos of the routine, but I doubt I would have enjoyed it because it's a Foxtrot. But this scored a 24 out of 40 but Arlene gave it a 4 so I am curious to why. 
   
• Week 5 - Salsa (Senorita):  I really wish I was able to find this routine because it seems that it was a hot mess! It seems that this routine was over the top and it was a bit raunchy as Brendan wanted to use her sexy image. In other words, the routine was more like a pole dancing - it scored a 21 and they survived. 
   
• Week 6 - American Smooth (Blue Moon): It seems that Brendan took this style seriously, and they got a score of 32 which is incredible.
   
• Week. 7 - Tango (Ole Guapa): A score of 29 so I am sure it was a decent routine. 
   
• Week 8 - Samba (I Love to Love): A score of 25; I am sure he probably made it over the top or something. it was their last routine.  

 

Overall, Claire King seems to be a mediocre dancer - she was the weakest out of the Top 6, and she deserved to leave when she did. It sucks that she was partnered with someone like Brendan but you can only do so much with the cards you dealt with. Anyway, she's not out of this rankdown!

 

SAVING: LADJI DOUCOURE

Edited May 18, 2020 by *Chris

[*Wallace]

I read up and saw that Ingolf was the older winner of Let's Dance Germany at 60.  That's crazy impressive and unheard of. I wonder if he's the oldest winner ever on a DWTS related series....I feel like he could be.

 

And omgg Claire King & Brendan was interesting. Besides, Brendan breaking all of the lift rules and ruining her scores, she was also portrayed as the cougar type with him. I think she was quite flirty with him and stuff? I can't really remember but thy were interesting from what i saw of them.  

[rpryor03]

SARAH LOMBARDI

 

 

A singer best known for being the runner-up on Germany's version of American Idol, Sarah Lombardi was also the runner up on season 9 of Let's Dance, where she was partnered with Robert Beitsch. Like everyone else we're cutting right now, she was mediocre and robbed three of the members of the top five for some reason. She had some great highs, like her contemporaries and her Paso Doble, as well as some great lows (most of her dances, but especially her finale cha-cha-cha which score a 21. IN THE FINAL). So, yeah - I couldn't really tell you how that happened and she still managed to come in second (especially when the third placer had two perfect scores in the final).

 

Saved: Jess Quinn

[*Amanda]

@rpryor03 is nominating next. He must nominate all celebs from Strictly Come Dancing.

Edited May 19, 2020 by *Amanda

[rpryor03]

It's time to slay some recency bias.

 

Peter Andre
Helen George
Davood Ghadami
Vick Hope
Jonnie Peacock
Sunetra Sarker
Joe Sugg
Emma Weymouth

[*Wallace]

Ah a couple people I want to save. And cut too.  

 

Save Joe

Cut Jonnie

[*Wallace]

Jonnie Peacock

I had a few cut options in mind, but of the nominees, I do think Jonnie Peacock is a fair cut at this point. Jonnie was someone I was also considering nominating for my round, but was also kinda hoping Richard would put up as well so that all worked out there. Let’s talk about Jonnie now. 

 

Jonnie Peacock is the first Paralympian to have taken part on Strictly, as he competed on Strictly Come Dancing Series 15. Jonnie was partnered with the Queen, Oti Mabuse. He also outlasted other paralympians in Lauren Steadman and Will Bayley so well done to Jonnie achieving that. Jonnie’s disability was that he no legs, and I can’t really remember the backstory of that right now. His sport is participating in amputee sprinting. Let’s go over his run: 

 

Week 1: Waltz to “When I Need You” scoring a 20 (4/5/5/6)

Week 2: Jive to “Johnny B. Goode” scoring a 29 (6/7/8/8)

Week 3: Paso Doble to “The Raiders March” scoring a 26 (6/6/7/7)

Week 4: American Smooth to “Cry Me a River” scoring a 31 (7/8/8/8)

Week 5: Quickstep to “Part-Time Lover” scoring a 24 (7/8/9)

Week 6: Cha-Cha to “Troublemaker” scoring a 20 (4/6/5/5)

Week 7: Salsa to “Turn Me On” scoring a 27 (6/7/7/7)

Week 8: Foxtrot to “Someone Like You” scoring a 21 (4/5/6/6)

Week 9: Tango to “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” scoring a 26 (6/7/6/7)

 

I thought Oti did a wonderful job with Jonnie. She’s a genius choreographer but really got to utilize his disability in a great way and crafted some great routines that he executed well on the start of the season. I do think Jonnie started off stronger than where he finished. My favorite dances from him were his Jive, American Smooth and Quickstep. He erally surprised me in a great way on those dances. He noticeably struggled a lot at around Week 6 until the end of his run and never recovered to his best, sadly. And also I remember finding his Salsa really overscored and his Foxtrot quite underscored. Jonnie did well making it this far and again this is a fair spot for him to go.

 

Here’s some of Jonnie’s dances:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saving: Joe Sugg

 

[*Amanda]

@*Chris @*Lily @Stephhyy

 

Peter Andre
Helen George
Davood Ghadami
Vick Hope
Sunetra Sarker
Emma Weymouth

[*Lily]

Save Emma

Cut Sunetra

[*Lily]

Sunetra Sarker

 

Sunetra was on Series 12 of Strictly, in 2014. I liked her well enough, but she was kinda unmemorable in the season as a whole. As well as this, the partnership of her and Brendan seemed a bit of a weird match IMO. But they did well enough together. Ballroom was definitely where she was strongest, often scoring her best for routines such as the American Smooth, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot and Waltz. There was kinda a theme there, she usually scored around the 30 mark for those routines and would then drop a couple points for her Latin numbers. Her journey was pretty consistent but I do feel looking back it was lacking a breakout dance, or a memorable moment. She finished seventh in the season, which was a fair placement, considering the top 6 of this season was made up of all good dancers.

 

Saving Emma Weymouth