The Next Pro- Ep. 5

One word to describe this episode...Wow...but it may not be the way you think! Tune in to hear Daryl and Monise's thoughts as DWTS professional Daniella Karagach takes the floor as the guest judge for WOW moments! Do you agree with who goes home tonight? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of Real Talk with D. This has been our Dancing with the Stars recap. We are now on episode 5. I'm joined once again by my lovely wife.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Hi.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

And today we are going to be recapping the episode, which had a not so good ending for me anyway. I was really, I was really upset about it, but we will get there. This whole episode was about wow moments. So before we get started, last week we were talking about how we felt leading up to this episode and how I personally have never been a big fan of having contemporary dance on the show in general. It's not like contemporary started out with Dancing with the Stars in season one. It came in like season 16 or something like that the first time. And I don't know. What's your take on the wow moments and having contemporary and all that jazz?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

So, like contemporary is a style of dance, and I think for me it's just kind of an excuse because they just they they rely so heavily on themes now. And some themes are so niche that you kind of run out of things, so it's just like here's a jazz or contemporary for you to do something with. It's essentially like almost become another freestyle-esque type of thing. I love contemporary, I've done contemporary, I think it's a beautiful and very freeing and emotional style, but I do think it's kind of overdone on the show quite a bit. And I don't know, like the wow moments concept is a little like beyond it to me because they're essentially pushing lifts. You know, that's that's kind of what I've gotten. It's like, oh, create, but it's like wow moments aren't always lifts. Like Janna created a wow moment with uh Joey when they did the samba and they did played with the music. That was like all that went viral on TikTok, but the judges didn't design, you know, decide it went viral. Fans decided it went viral, and that was a wow moment, and that caught their attention. So I think it's very interesting that it's like the judges are judging it. So I don't know, I like I don't know how I feel about it.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yeah, I really feel like it's pushing too hard on this. Is you know what let me back up. This is this is where I feel a little conflicted. I completely understand what Daniela said when she when she comes on saying how these wow moments are what captures the audience. This is what goes viral on like TikTok and Instagram and all that jazz, but that also leads to more votes for them, which okay, I I completely understand that. I respect that. That's just how the show has grown over the years. I don't like that we rely so much on social media now to dictate everything, including the amount of votes that we get for um each of our stars and everything, but I understand it. But all that aside, I just feel like it sh it it everything just takes away now from the ballroom and Latin world. And maybe that's just me that feels that way because the whole the whole rest of the world seems to love this, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

I don't know. Yeah, I do feel like it takes away from it personally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

So, anyways, we open up the episode by reintroducing our judges once again to the six remaining um upcoming pros. And we also get introduced to guest star judge Daniela Katagosh, who is amazing. Yes, comes on doing a contemporary consisting of past wow moments, I guess, that have been done on the show.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

It's viral. They weren't wow, they were just viral moments.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Viral moments, yeah. I mean, they are pretty like wow moments. So, like you got the air walk, you got Val's knee walks, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

And then the leg pull.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

And then the Whitney's leg pull, that's right. But they are cool moments. We've never tried any of these moments. I've tried the knee walks, and those are tough, but they they are they are wow moments.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yeah, I'm trying to have I tried the week, yeah. No, someone tried to get me to try the airwalk, and I said no and I won't do it.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah. That's the thing. I this is if I was on this show, this would be the week that I would go because I I can't do any of this stuff. I remember one time I was working with a group and I tried to do a lift with somebody over my shoulder, and I got mad because it it wasn't being done properly, and I I kind of flipped out a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Sorry, I wasn't there, but I know what he's talking about. She is not gonna do anything to help you with that lift. I can tell you that much. Yeah, you were doing all the work, and that lift, the woman does half the work.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Well, I here's the thing. I don't like lifts in general, for me anyway. I think lifts are done really cool. I like I like the uh watching ballroom cabaret and things like that. I'm not a lift guy. I I don't like doing lifts. I'm more of a basic lift kind of guy, like one that you would see in for wedding couples, but lifts are not my thing. I think you can create just as beautiful of a dance without lifts.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

But what do I know? Maybe it's just my skinny arms that just can't comprehend lifts. But anyways, so Daniela comes out and presents the challenge to everybody, basically saying that they need to go and recreate a dance featuring one of the wow moments that she just did in her routine among their own wow woman that they will present to the judges. How do you feel about this particular challenge and this assignment? This is a key word for today. Did they understand the assignment?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

So just make a contemporary dance. Like, I I don't know. I I I'm not wasn't in love with chemistry theming last week. I'm just not in love with all these themes of like what it takes to be a pro and all that. And I'm like, and I'm still the best and the brightest. I'm like, really? This is the okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Oh, you're talking from the first episode.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

But it's you know, it's like if they're the best and the brightest, they already have these things.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

So I yeah, I'm just and they were still not at teaching yet, and teaching is literally the biggest part of being a pro than anything else. So I don't know. I'm just I I think this personally is a little bit of a waste of time. I think it's like this is a fun concept, finding the next pro. But to me, it's just like, okay, so they have to come up with really interesting choreography. Like, does it have to be contemporary? Can't it like they're most of the time gonna spend in a ball or more Latin dance? Like, why can't it be creating a memorable cha cha?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Um if you guys didn't hear that, that was thunder and lightning crashing above our house. Ooh, fun.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Um, but you do understand what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Like, I do understand what you're saying, and you know, you can't you can create just as beautiful wow moments in a nice Viennese waltz or something like that. But it's yeah, no, I agree. I was not the biggest fan of this episode in general, regardless of who went home. I just like you, I just also think this is kind of a waste of time and a waste of an episode. We could be focusing on other things, but yeah, I agree. Yeah, so, anyways, we go back to our little schoolyard pick once again where Oh no, you missed them going to the zoo.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

We got to see adults at the zoo.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

The zoo. Well, it's not just any zoo, though. It's it's the Australian zoo.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

I love I'll watch a zoo special with Robert Irwin. Yeah. All day, any day. Like Disney Plus, do a zoo live stream with Robert Irwin.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

I'm watching this to see dances. Yeah. To see the dancers, to see dancing. Not this, not I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

I mean, I guess at the end of the day, they did use the zoo metaphors, like particularly AJ and Nina.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah, but yeah, and I almost sounded like they were more making fun of it than I was. They probably were, but No, I just like I was like, I don't need to this, I don't if I watch Love Island and Bachelor, which I really don't do anymore because it's just annoying now, I watch it for that. To see that, like ridiculous. I always say it's like so mean. I say, thank goodness I didn't have I never put myself through that, or I didn't lose my dignity enough to go do that. I'm watching this to see dancing. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

I'm 100% with you. And I just feel like it's we could easily make these episodes 30 minutes if they just cut out the drama and everything, but and I think that'd be fine.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yeah. 30 minutes. Here's the challenge, here's them in rehearsals, go, go, go. That's all I need.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Yeah, definitely. Well, yeah, so after a day at the zoo, um, we now get to the studio where we go back to our schoolyard pick, which was presented last week.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

I hate this. Yeah, I just I can't because it's you don't get to do a schoolyard pick on the show. You get an assignment and you dance with them. And it's like you said, it's that was it last week was the drama? It was for the drama. Okay. And I feel like it's again, it's just for the drama. And I'm like, like just assign them. They have to be able to create a row moment with whatever celebrity they get, they have to be able to have chemistry with whatever celebrity they get. So why why are we doing this?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yeah, because of course, you know, people like and nothing against them because I like them, but Alan and Nina and Adele are always gonna, you know, pick each other because they have that kind of connection, they have the chemistry and everything. And um, I do like that both AJ and Eric went for Selena because they both know that this is Selena's wheelhouse, and she even said that she's gonna be really good at this, but and that there's that she's excited to take a break from ballroom.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yes, let's revisit that. I'm sorry, but you're competing to be a pro on a show primarily around ballroom dancing. Why I think you're on the wrong show. Like, if you want to take a break from ballroom so badly, you're gonna be on a show where that's all you do 90% of the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Yes. Go on America's Got Talent or something, but like, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

I was just that that kind of flabbergasted me.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Well, okay, what I'm about to say might irritate some people, but I just I gotta get it out. It really seems like Selena has been on the hunt for number one. Now, I get it that this is a competitive show. Everybody's kind of out for the same goal, which is to literally become the next pro. But, you know, you look at people like Eric or Alan who are known for kind of taking care of their partners and making sure that they shine brightly and everything like that. But even so, it seems like Selena is just focused strictly on herself.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

And no one's gonna say that because everyone just loves, you know, loves her to death.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

She's a wonderful dancer.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Wonderful dancer. I agree with you. But it seems like her motives are not quite where they should be, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Yes, because as much as possible, like with this show, yes, you're competing for yourself, because in the end, you're you as a partner aren't gonna get on the show. It's gonna be you or yourself, but you have to get through these challenges together, otherwise you could be in danger. So, like you said, like when it was the group challenge, it was about like her. So, like these these things, it's you know, they're in the mindset of as oh, it's about them. Where it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need to think like as a partnership. My partnership needs to succeed, then I succeed too.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

So, anyways, AJ and Eric both pick Selena, which means nobody picks Nina.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

And Nina responds so maturely, like she's like a little hurt, but you know, it's okay. Um, Selina ends up going for Eric because they have they danced together last week, which in my opinion feel like it can be a disadvantage sometimes because then it's like, okay, you're just picking the same person.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

You know, dan I think they should have all danced with someone new.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Um, personally.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

I'm I'm with you, and I feel like it's it almost worked better in AJ and Nina's favor because they were really the underdogs of this episode. Neither one of them have trained in contemporary. You know, that you got four people here who are strictly ballroom, five, excuse me, five people who are strictly ballroom and Latin. And the only one who knows this kind of stuff is Selena. So yeah, let's switch things up a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Alan did say he has some contemporary. Oh, did he?

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Okay, I must have missed that. I also missed that Nina had musical theater background too.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Yeah, she's done some musical theater.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Yeah, so that I'm sure that helped a little bit. But anyway, so yes, AJ ended up with Nina, and we begin our rehearsals.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

And both of them handled it like AJ was like, you know, I'm sorry, I didn't, and she's like, no, I get it. I totally understand. We're here now together, let's move forward. Like it was a very mature adult, like this is we we gotta do it. It was nice to see with this show that just tries to create drama out of the most nonsense of things. It was great to see two people go, we're not gonna feed into that, which I appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah, for sure. Now you have someone like Adele as well who has claims that she has well, not claims, but obviously she's never done contemporary, she is grew up in the ballroom and Latin world.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Yeah, so you know, so I kind of went from the world of ballet to ballroom. Like I kind of I'm the opposite of Adele, I guess you could say. Um, and so I mean it is it is hard because but I mean it's something you have to expect. Like personally, if I knew I was going on this show and I didn't have contemporary experience or I didn't have ballroom, I would have tried to book myself one or two lessons and say, like, hey, I'm leaving in a week. Can you give me a quick rundown on some things I need to know so I know what I'm walking into? Um, but I don't know how much time they had. I'm assuming they had a little bit of time to know they before they were casted, but I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, if you I mean you would think that if you're gonna audition for a show like Dancing with the Stars, that even though I'm not a fan of it, you should learn everything that's on the show. Yeah, definitely jazz or contemporary. Or you know, ballroom, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

And actually like want to do ballroom.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Just a suggestion.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Exactly. So, anyways, as of right now, it seems like the couple that's bonding the most is Nina and AJ, because like I said, they're kind of on the same page. And using animal references, yes, using their animal references, koala, the python, which I'm not gonna lie, they have some pretty cool moves just looking at these rehearsals right now.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Um, but I'm I'm liking it. And what it seems to me though is that the dancers all do have the thing in mind, which is the wow moments are equal some kind of a crazy lift.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

And this is where I get a little conflicted because I feel like that is what the judges are sort of looking for, but at the same time, Daniela even said so herself that that's not all a wow moment is. Yeah. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 14:16

It's I because they just said something you haven't seen or something, but making it your own, like making it like special. So I mean, we see like a uh not Adele, what's her name? Nina does this like slide down, is like she goes down, down and up. That's not a lift, that's really insane core control, by the way. I tried doing something like that. It's really, really hard. Um, like going down, down, and that's not a lift, that's just you know, her strength and doing a we'll say a trick or something fun and different. And to me, that's really impressive because you have the ones where they go down and then they get kicked back up, but to go down, down, really, really, really hard. Um, so I I agree, and I, you know, they're gonna lean towards the lifts, unfortunately, because it's just like, wow, she's up in the air. That's so cool. And I think even Eric said it, he was like, a wow moment isn't spinning her on top of my finger in a circle. Like, he's like, that's a wow moment can be anything. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

That's what I wanted to bring up next, is Selena and Eric, because they do, they both do seem to have very different mindsets right now. Eric does exactly what you said, which is like it's not about like spinning the person on the finger, but creating something that someone's gonna remember. But Selena, considering that she's done this before, she almost feels obligated to create this huge moment of Eric like basically spinning her or yeah, spinning her on his finger. But it seems like she just can't find something that works, if that makes sense. It's almost as if they're not finding that connection with one another.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

That they had last week, yeah. And it could be just like a block in the choreography. I've choreographed where I'm like, I just I can't get through this next part, but that's where she needed to lean on her partner. And so Eric wanted to do like a moment of stillness is the wow, but it's like, okay, but then it needs to be like super emotional, or like a stillness in a really cool, like, way. But so it's like, you know, contemporary, it's like ballroom, right? So like rumba, for example. It's you have the super super fast thing, and then you slowly go into something, and then it snaps you into the next thing. You need that in contemporary as well. So, like slow, slow, slow, and then something quick and boom, and you hold and you go into you like ooze out the moment. Um, so that's really what they should be pushing for in there. I think she's just probably dealing with the block of not quite knowing what to do, and Eric's just like, let's do this, let's try this, or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yeah. It do you think that she spent too I don't know how to word this. Do you think that she was too focused on making it the best that you know she can be? And that's why she had a block, because she was trying to like just find that out of this world wow moment.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

I mean, maybe, but it's also if you've I don't I don't know her experience. I know she's done commercial dance, so she's worked for people dancing. I know she's done Derrick Huff's tour where she's again worked for people dancing. I don't know her experience choreographing, right? So being a choreographer and being a dancer and artist are two very different things. As the dancer, you bring someone else's vision to life. You might add little like dynamics to it or say, Can I put my arm here? But being a choreographer, you have to come up with a vision and translate it. And not everything you do the first time is gonna work. But we know Nina has experience choreographing. She choreographs ballroom and Latin routines, sounds like she's done some musical theater. AJ's done it on a show before. Alan, as a pro and up front of stereo choreographing showcases, choreographed routines. Adele, don't know how much experience she has choreographing. We know she competes. Um, and then Eric, we know he's done some choreography. We looked at his resume, he's done quite a bit of things. So it's like she's a phenomenal day. I just don't know her experience choreographing things. And that's very different also if she's only choreographed like a solo out of competition for herself versus choreographing with a partner.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

I gotcha. Yeah, it and that's that kind of goes back to what I was saying, how it just kind of seems like she's dancing for herself. Yeah, if that makes sense, you know, and I think that's where she's losing it here. So yeah, well, with that being said, I say we waste no more time and we get to our performances. We're gonna start out with AJ and Nina. We'll be right back. All right, and after all the little drama parts that we completely skipped over, like Adele crying and AJ crying, we are moving into the performances, starting with AJ and Nina, which we just watched. Beautiful dance. Now, I have not the slightest idea what makes a good contemporary dance, so I'm gonna pass this over to you and you tell me was it a good dance or not?

SPEAKER_00 18:46

So I think it was really good. If we're gonna get really, really, really, really, really technical with contemporary, there were some transitions in hands, so it's like while contemporary can be open to like flexed feet or weird hands, it has to be an intentional choice. And I feel like sometimes they were forgotten about in the emotion, but I really, really enjoyed it. I felt like they described the song really well through the dance motions. They did the assignment or they understood the assignment as they said. I loved the koala move. I thought that was a really fun, unique move.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

I would actually be willing to try that.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

I know I was about to say, I think we were doing a showcase. I feel like that would work really well for a showcase.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

For ours, ours in particular. Yeah. No, I'm I'm with you. I'm willing to try that one.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

Like that, like I felt like that was really beautiful. I think it worked well. I I loved the, I mean, just okay, I'm gonna get like the the hands, the dynamic of like the hands reaching out and it's almost like not going through, being like, I'm only human, like there's so much like, and it's like you can't just even reach for it. It was just, I feel like it was well done. You could see them really feeling the dance. I loved the one where she went back, like because we saw it in rehearsal, seeing it performed, the core strength that takes, and then to arch your back up. I have sceliosis and my back doesn't always let me do all those things. That is so hard to do, and it was so beautifully done. And so, like, there was a couple wow moments, but they weren't all lifts, you know, and I think they did that really well because it doesn't seem like AJ's like an over-the-top, flip you over type of lift guy. He might be, I don't know. But they did a good job with it, creating something very memorable, doing their own wow moment and other wow moments. And I liked what they did with Daniela's airwalk, how he started from behind her, he moved her in front, and then she did it. I think it was a fun way to make it their own, but still incorporate it because they did, they didn't do the leg one, they did the other two, the knee walks and that. But I I think they did a great job. I think they worked well together. For everyone saying Nina's mean and rude, like I said, guys, she's European. Like she wasn't, and her and AJ worked well together and they showed that they don't get offended easily. Alan didn't get offended by her when she was doing things. It's just you you have to learn to communicate with people who communicate differently. And if you can't do that, then you can't be a pro on the show. You know, that's the thing. Like she was communicating in the way she does, and no one said, like, hey, that doesn't make sense to me, and then they like fuss at her later and make a drama about it. So it's like, okay, you have to say something to her in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Even what she said when they were talking to the judges and how like she was appreciated that AJ kind of let her in and everything, and you know, it's uh that was a nice moment. And Mark said he even loved hearing that too. So yeah, like it was nice to see a bit of a softer side, but like that's like like you said, that's just that's how it is, you know. Like that she she seems like a wonderful person. I don't know why everyone just constantly says she's horrible and mean and they want her to go home and everything. I don't let me put it this way I don't understand where all of this hate came from online.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

That's because people they're editing the show like this.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Yeah, but even so, I mean they're editing they may be editing the show, but I still like her. I do, and it's not the edit isn't working for me because I I really do like Nina a lot. I like her dancing. I think I think she would make a great coach. It'd be interesting to see next week. Yeah, but overall, I thought I thought it was a beautiful. Dance. Again, I don't really have too much to say about it other than the fact that apparently we're deciding a make or break on whether or not AJ takes his shirt off. That's what it seems to be.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

But so that's the other thing. It's like, I know he did it because Shirley made a comment about him taking his shirt off last week.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

And so I know he did it, but I'm just like, to me, it didn't fit fit in the dance. But I know he was like, I'm just gonna do it because Shirley told me to. Like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

The song was beautiful. I like that song in general, but I liked this version of it a lot.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

I did enjoy that quite a bit.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yeah. It's uh no, it was a really, really nice song. But, anyways, um, well, one more thing before we move on to the next dance. So I I know we've been bringing this up a little bit, but based off of the stuff we have been seeing online, and I know people just use social media to vent and complain and everything, and just because they're too afraid to show their face. But look at what we're doing. But it's with that being said, though, I mean, why there's a lot of people who actually did not like this dance. I mean, can you find any reasons why that would be?

SPEAKER_00 23:01

I mean, part of it could be that they just don't like Nina and AJ. I think, like, you know, choreography is and dance is up to people's opinions, right? When you do art, art is subjective. Um, contemporary, if you're not just looking at the technique, if you're looking at a story, it's subjective. You can look at a rumba and go, it's good. They did the technique, they did the figures. That, you know, that's not subjective. You cannot like someone's styling and how they style the dance, but you can look and say, like, okay, they did the figures, they did the technique, they did the steps. Like, this is subjectively good based on the technique and rule book that we have. But you're gonna look at something contemporary, and it is subjective. It is like how it makes you feel. Did you connect with the dance? Did you like the artistic styling in it? So it is kind of hard. And I think there's right, if we don't like someone, we are automatically going to have a negative connotation with everything that they do. I have people that I'm not a big fan of, and just because I'm human, and I have to check myself because it's like almost everything they do is an immediate negative connotation in my head. And I have to say, wait, is it just because I just don't get along with that person? And that's why I think that because it could just be some accident. So I think that's people are just like, well, I don't like Nina, so I don't like the dance, or I don't like AJ, so I don't like the dance. So, like, that's unfortunately what's gonna happen. And you know, they're gonna have a positive connotation with someone they like. Oh, it's great. Like, even on dancing with the stars, right? We all knew Andy wasn't a great dancer, but people, he was the people's princess and he made them laugh. So everything he did, oh, but he improved this week, but he did this. It's like, yeah, no, he shouldn't be in the show. Hilaria Baldwin was not popular. She was a phenomenal, she was a good dancer, but she was not popular, but she had a negative connotation with everything that they did. People found issues with her, even though she was doing pure content in her dancing.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Yeah, I guess that makes sense to a point, but we will go ahead and move on. Okay. All right, next up, we got Alan and Adele. Stay tuned. All right, and we are back. We just watched Alan and Adele dance their contemporary, featuring some caveman walks and the Alan Copter, which were two very interesting moves. I do have a question too. Well, I'll ask this by the end of the episode, just don't let me forget. But um, again, I thought this was a really beautiful dance, but I clearly don't know contemporary. So let's hear what you have to say.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

So remember how we're talking about artists subjective and choreography subjective? And that's why like contemporary is so hard to judge on the show, and why like I think you and I have a problem with it sometimes is because it's not like they're judging it on a rule book of like, do you have spins? Do you have this? Do you have that? It's kind of like, oh, you made me feel something, or oh, you did this well, or whatever. I I am like the only person in the world who feels this from what I've read online. I wasn't the biggest fan of this dance.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

That's crazy to me.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

I like so Adele, first time doing contemporary, not gonna argue, she did a wonderful job. Yeah, but you could tell that, like, so for example, when I started doing ballroom, I was still in a contemporary lyrical dance class, and I did a ballroom arm somewhere, and I got chewed out. Really? I was chewed out. She was like, Monise, what is that arm? You need to, I was like, Oh, I'm so sorry, I've just gotten in the habit because of ballroom. And she goes, Yeah, well, if you're a good dancer, you need to be able to switch it on a dime.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

I was like, all right, okay. Like, and she was right. I have to be able to. And I'm not critiquing her, she had two days to do this, right? You could tell there was still some like ballroom arms, and she did the when she did the run into Alan, like it was a little chaotic with the arms, and it just and it didn't seem like it was like part of the story of the arm. It was the the run, it was just kind of like, oh, my arms are in a weird place. And there were elements in it that were very Latin ballroom influenced, which helped her. And then I didn't feel very wowed by the wow moments.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

You didn't like the Alancopter?

SPEAKER_00 27:02

I feel like we've seen similar things to that all the time. We probably have, but I I don't, I just sorry. I'm this whole I feel so bad because they're both wonderful dancers. I mean, if we're looking factual, it was a it was a good routine. I just didn't feel wowed by it. I didn't feel like the caveman walks were very unique or different. I feel like we've seen elements of it. I feel like we've seen an Alan, it's called an Alan Copter here, but I feel like we've seen that neck move a few different times. And honestly, I feel like I've seen it in a more daring, unique way. So I just I feel bad, but this wouldn't have I wouldn't have been as wow. They're both wonderful dancers. I am not taking away from that. I just wasn't as subjectively to the dance. It's not my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Okay. All right. Well, that's where we disagree because I thought it was I thought it was beautiful. I really enjoyed it. I it's very clear that Shirley is rooting for Adele. Yeah. Based off of what she said, calling her one of the best female dancers to ever step foot on the floor, like in Dancing with the Stars, or strictly.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

That's a huge compliment in itself.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

I'm curious who she'd say is the best.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

In general.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Yeah, I want to ask her.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

You want to ask her. With that being said, everyone, we will go ahead and move on to the last dance of the evening. Selena and Eric. We'll be right back. All right. We are back from watching eight, not AJ. Who is this? Eric and Selena doing their dance. Now, I'm gonna say this. I I still thought it was a beautiful dance. Very, very nice dance. I this is where I feel a little conflicted though, because it's kind of what we were talking about earlier. How you know they're saying a wow moment doesn't have to be this, you know, crazy lift or anything like that. But yeah, it seems like that's what they were looking for. I know we were kind of hit on this a little bit in the beginning of this episode, but how did you feel about this dance?

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I I liked it. It was pretty. I agree with you. Mark's commentary, it was like, okay, but a wow moment's not supposed to be always a lift, so why are you talking about a lift with them? Um to me, I feel like Eric stood out in that dance, and I do I do agree. I expected more from Selena. She was very much talking about I'm the contemporary dancer, like this is this is where I thrive. Um I feel like there were a couple moments they could have like lengthened it or like pulled, like so. They did this really cool where she like leaned forward and he held her. I felt like that was too short. If they had stretched that out for a little bit, second, make it a little bit more dangerous, because she's strong, he's strong. He could have like leaned in, have her reach out more, and then spring into the next thing. I think that like I felt like some elements were a little rushed because you know they had a moment of stillness, but I think there needed to be more still that like launched you into something else personally. I still think it was a beautiful dance. I think Selena and Eric did a great job. I think Eric stood out to me more in this dance.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Okay, and I'm I'm curious why or what was missing from Selena. Like, did you want her to do like a big move or what what made Eric stand out more than Selena in this dance?

SPEAKER_00 30:05

I don't know if it's because, like, I mean, no offense to her, but she literally talked the whole episode, this is my thing, this is my thing, this is my thing. And I j I just I don't know. I just like she had pretty lines, but it was just I feel like Eric's emotion, Eric's the way he moved his body, I just connected more with. And like other things, like the knee walks, like they did slow knee walks. I feel like it would have been cool to do a few slow ones and then quicken it up or go into something fast. Um yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Cause you notice in the beginning of the dance, Selena has like a quick voiceover where she's like, I'm trusting Eric, you know, that we've that we're going with the like the slowness or the quietness or whatever, what whatever it was. So it's almost as if she's putting that like that. That was Eric's decision to roll with that. You know what I mean? Yeah. So I'm I'm curious, you know, if how do I word this? If people are gonna blame Eric for this.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Some people do.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Really? You've already seen it?

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Yeah, I've seen some of the stuff online. Like some people are saying, like, you know, it was kind of Eric. Why did Eric push it? I think people are just mad at the elimination in general tonight.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

So all right. Well, now comes the part that we hate the most, which is sending someone home. Which before we get to this, this is where it also gets me a little irritated. How come last week we did a couple, like we eliminated a couple, and tonight we're only eliminating a single? You know, shouldn't it have I think it should just be like singles each week, considering we don't have as many people as we do on Dancing with the Stars. Well, actually, no, we do, because it's 12. But that being said, like I double eliminations make sense on the actual show, Dancing with the Stars. For this, it it doesn't nothing really lines up to me why we're having double eliminations, like just randomly out of the blue, we're voting on a couple to go home.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

You know, it's like we shouldn't have chemistry.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

But it should be one or the other. It should be, you know, we're either gonna send a couple home each week or we're gonna send a single home each week. But it's almost as if like it's almost too scripted, if you want to put it that way, that we purposely sent a couple home last week so we can do a single this week. I don't know. I just none of this makes any sense.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Well, I mean, they need couples for these next ones, and then after this, they don't really need couples anymore. They can be independent. I know that's the way I look at it. And it I mean, it happens on like America's Got Talent. Sometimes only one goes home, sometimes like five go home. So it just kind of just depends on the week. And at least they let them know and it's not a surprise.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Yeah, that's true. All right. And sadly, we just lost Eric.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

I think that was really the wrong call.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

100% the wrong call. I I'm really upset about this one, and I uh, you know, I knew going into this podcast that we we lost him, but it just I guess even on a rewatch, I was like, Is it are we are they gonna switch? You know how you when you watch a movie, you kind of hope it ends differently sometimes, even though you're nightmare. Yep. That's that's what I was hoping for, but we we actually did lose Eric. I'm really mad because he was one of my front runners besides Alan. So I was I was really hurt by this one. Now, it really all came down to the big question, which was, you know, they wanted the wow moment. They apparently didn't get the wow moment, the judges, and so they asked, like, whose idea was it to go down the route that they did? And Eric spoke up basically saying, I take, what does he say, joined?

SPEAKER_00 33:17

It was joined, we decided it together. And that's what people are upset because they're like, No, they didn't. I'm like, Well, technically, yes, they did.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Yeah, I mean, Selena could have fought against it. She didn't necessarily say, like, like, no, like, this is what this is what I'm gonna do, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

And she also, from what we saw, again, we're not in the rehearsal room, she didn't come up with an idea for it. So here's here's my issue with it. Um, we've we've obviously heard me say like I have issues because you know there's nothing wrong with her not being ballroom her whole life, but she doesn't have the experience to teach it. She's just recently gotten into ballroom, and for me that's a concern because you have to teach someone, so I'm excited to see what she can do next week. And it looks like she has quick step, which is I hate quick step with a passion. Um but she's again in the bottom two on a week. She said she thrives in. So she's in the bottom two for a group dance where she's like, This is where I do, this is my area, this is where I thrive in. And now she's in the bottom two for contemp a week we did contemporary, which again, she's like, This is my thing, this is my thing, I thrive here. So I'm kind of like, Why did and I guess they said Selena gave her because they were like, Oh, Selena's choreography was essentially better, but I'm like, they choreographed the routine together, so even though her steps were harder, it's because she does the contemporary steps and he's just learnt it. Like the elimination didn't make sense to me, and the reasoning didn't make sense personally. I know a lot of people online, I I just need everyone to like back off Nina. Like, I get she's not your favorite, but put your anger towards the jet, like it's not her fault because everyone's like, Nina has nine lives, like, why is she still there? Get her out. I'm like, okay, it's not her fault she's still there. Obviously, she's doing something right to still be there because none of you guys are masters in ballroom. So you can just kind of sit down and take your hate offline. It is not her fault she's still there. She's working just as hard as everyone else. So we can just, oh, let's take a deep breath together. Maybe we need to go outside and touch some grass, as we say nowadays. But it's, you know, to me, I'm frustrated because with the judges, because the the ruling didn't make sense.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

So it didn't make sense. Now, is this would have been Eric's first time in the bottom, wouldn't it? Yeah, that's that again doesn't make sense if this is his first time on the bottom. And like you said, she's been on the bottom a couple times now.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Well, I guess you could make that for Nina, because Nina's been in the bottom what? Because there was the group dance, but that was just like a more like we called you out, now you get another chance to redeem yourself. So we'd say she's been in the bottom twice. One with Benji and then with Alan, but Alan took the fall. He said it was my idea not to do Argentine tango.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

Yeah, it's I just I don't like it because, like you said, it's not like they performed poorly where it wasn't bad technique or something like that. It's literally because in the judge's eyes, they didn't follow the assignment. But I like what Mark said to Shirley when he was like, it could be, you know, open to interpretation, which I agree with, you know, while it may not have been a wow moment to them, it could be a wow moment to someone else. And why do you know I'm I'm kind of on board with Eric on this one going the silent route because why attempt to do a crazy lift when you might not perform it properly? When you might, you know, risk dropping her or something like that. That's a bigger risk.

SPEAKER_00 36:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

So do something that I know they say like step out of your comfort zone, you know, do be daring, be challenging, and everything like that. Okay, that's fine. But at the same time, you need to know your limits, you need to know your boundaries and everything, and you need to make sure that you keep your partner safe. So I I don't know. I'm I'm very upset about this one.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

Yeah, and they did some cool lifts. So it's like, I mean, if they were gonna do a cool, if they were gonna do lifts anyway, why not? Why didn't they just take one of those lifts and do something with it? You know, like that's my other thing. It's like that's where you kind of question it. And so people also online are mad that last week Nina and Alan didn't follow the brief and they didn't go home, it was Stephanie and Tristan. Well, last week the brief was chemistry and they were just assigned to dance. But Alan and Nina had better chemistry. Stephanie and Tristan didn't have any chemistry when they danced. And this week it was a wow moment. And while the dancing was great and they did the Canebary dance, they didn't do the wow moment. So, like, I I understand why it happened. I think people are just mad and looking for any reason to do it. Guys, this isn't even live. You can't reverse the decision at this point. Somebody's already won the show and is gonna be a pro on the show. Yeah. Sorry, it's already happened.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

So if we had to rank the three dances, no no, don't make me do that. I'm gonna make you do it. So, what how would you say? Because they're so different from each other, and this is just clearly your opinion, you know, and so I'm just I'm I I can give you mine. I would say my favorite of the night was the one that everyone hated, which was AJ and Nina. I would say that one was my favorite. I th I honestly I think I would just go in order that they were done. AJ and Nina, and then Alan and Adele, and then Selina and Eric. And it was really nothing against Selena and Eric's dance. I still thought it was a really, really beautiful dance. I felt like I just personally connected more with AJ and Nina's just because they they come from the same background as me, which is Balm and Latin. And this was brand new territory for them, and they still made it look very nice.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

I'm gonna go with AJ and Nina's well. I'm I'm judging this off of the quality of dancing and following the brief. And I just like I connected really emotionally, like I love that song, Human. I connect emotionally with it overall, and um, I feel like they did it well, they followed the brief well. And then if we're also going off dancing, and what I liked, I would put Selena and Eric and Adele and Allen in last. I just like it's per for me. Adele and Allen didn't follow the brief. Like for me, because I didn't get a wow moment from their dance.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

So it's it's just so interesting that you know they to you they didn't follow the brief, but to the judges, I mean, they're like praising Adele as like the best dancer ever. So it's just it's that's why like this compet this particular episode, contest, competition, whatever you want to call it, makes zero sense.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

Because it's just all about opinions at this point.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Yeah. Like I said, like I I'm just mad Eric went home. I think he was great. I think he'd make a wonderful pro. I would have loved to see him in the teaching challenge because I think he really would have excelled in that. And so it's killing me he didn't get there. And I think he deserved it. But yeah, I was just like, ugh, it's just hard.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

No, it's hard. I I was very upset. I almost just stayed quiet this whole podcast because I didn't want to talk about this because I was very, very mad. But I guess I'm rooting for Alan all the way now. So we will see how it goes. Now, the the next or the next episode next week, we obviously are bringing in your favorite pro and dance idol. Whitney Carson is coming in, and we are finally, finally getting into a teaching episode.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

The fundamental part. Why are we waiting till now? It's fundamental, and we have five people left.

SPEAKER_01 40:19

Oh, it's it gets even better. Remember how last week I called it was gonna be super fans? I was sort of correct, but influencers. It's social media influencers.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

Like that, and they're just people who've like commented on Dancing with the Stars over the years or posted about it. And I'm like, just call it dancing with influence. Like, don't call it dancing with super fans. Like, do you know what they could have done with it? Do you know if they said, you know, you want to you love dancing with the stars, you want to be involved in a project, send in a video of why you love it. And I get it, they wouldn't want to wanted to go through millions and millions and millions of things, but that's why we have AI. Just pick six random ones, you know, five random ones, whatever, and then send them in. Like, ooh, like this aggravates me because it's like to so to me personally, like if you get an influencing as your job, kudos to you, man. You just get to post videos online. But to me, like it just like I follow a few online. Like, if it's like, oh, I want to know recipes, or like I I didn't, I don't follow it to follow their life. I follow them to get like a fun recipe or something like that. And I end up just honestly disassociating from their content in general. I I find them very out of a lot of the time, very out of touch influencers. It's like, you know, you're like, what are you doing? Like, I post fun videos. I'm not trying to be an influencer or anything. I mean, if I could earn money off of it, why not? It's a fun side income. But I I just think this is like so out of touch. I like they they'll probably get views because people will want to see their favorite influencer, but I just feel like it's so out of touch personally.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

We'll get more into this next week, but I I think you also kind of hit on why they chose influencers, is because they will get more views that way. They will get more popularity, they will, you know, get their name out there a little bit more. Not the influencers, but the actual show itself, you know, because everybody loves dancing with the stars, but this is gonna really rack it up when they start seeing stuff like this, you know. But I agree with you. I do think that they should have had some kind of contest saying, like, hey, would you want to be a guest on the next pro? Send in, you know, a video of you doing a quick dance or something like that, or why we should pick you. But no, I'm I'm fully on board with that. But we will see how it goes next week. Yeah. And my last question that I didn't want to forget asking you was out of all of the wow moments that we saw tonight, do you think any of these are gonna actually go viral?

SPEAKER_00 42:35

No, none of them will go viral.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Not even like the um koala walks, or not the koala walks, I'm sorry, caveman walks or the koala hug or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 42:43

I don't think so because people are not connecting with the show. It doesn't feel real and authentic like dancing with the stars. It feels so staged and drama-driven. It feels like a weird bachelor Love Island type esque thing. And so, like, I don't think because people aren't connecting with it, they're just getting frustrated with the concept, concept of it.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

Cool. All right, everybody. Well, we will go ahead and wrap it up there for today. Overall verdict of the episode. We no, no, we didn't really care for it that much. We love Daniela, we love her to death. Always she's amazing, but she deserves better than this episode. So we will see how next week goes. When we finally get to the episode that we've been dying for, we get to see everybody teach. So we will see how it goes from here. Until then, everybody, thanks so much for tuning in. Make sure to follow us on our socials. Uh, you can find us on Instagram at Real Talk with D. Make sure to tune into Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. And until then, we will see you on the dance floor.