<p>I don’t even remember Donald Driver in the slightest. I don’t think Derek gets the best dancers, I think he’s the best choreographer and teacher. If I had to go on the show I’d want him as my pro, though I like Tony a lot too. Tony seems more encouraging, which I would need. Come to think of it they don’t really show his training style all that much. I don’t really know Derek’s personality beyond he works hard. It would be kind of cool to see the process a little more.</p>
<p>Donald Driver was a sort of wild card. He beat out that beautiful opera singer, Katherine Jenkins; her partner was Mark. You didn’t know who was gonna win. His trio dance with Peta and Karina was the first time a trio dance had been introduced on the show and their’s was the first out of the gate. They nailed it. Worth watching(less than 2 minutes long):</p>
<p><a href=“donald driver jive peta karina - YouTube”>donald driver jive peta karina - YouTube;
<p>This video makes a strong case for sex appeal. Those two professionals brought it to the dance floor because DD is all man. It made is a blast to watch. If you have sex appeal but tone it down to accomodate your partner, your scores may suffer. I don’t think it’s a reason to eliminate younger contestants, tho.</p>
<p>I don’t get the love for Peta. Too often she seems to go for the overly-sexualized routines. Derek is the best choreographer on the show, and I’d like to see him work with the dancers on SYTYCD. He has an amazing way of creating memorable visuals in his dances, and I do think he’s a good teacher. I also think he’s good at helping his partners avoid incapacitating injuries. That said, I think his partners sometimes get as far as they do mostly because people are voting for him, not the “star”. I’m sure that is true to some degree of all the pros, but I think most for Derek.</p>
<p>Witney has been a surprise to me this season – her choreography skills are a lot better than I’d expected. </p>
<p>Part of the reason I like Peta is because she wears her emotions on her sleeve. She always looks so worried at elimination events. </p>
<p>Imo, people vote for the celebrity and not the professional. It’s always nice when a professional that hasn’t won finally gets the mirror ball, but I would never ever vote for a bad dancer because I liked the professional. </p>
<p>I agree. I like Peta but never would have voted for her and Tommy past a point.</p>
<p>I knew of Donald Driver because he was a good long time Green Bay Packer regular. Just looked him up on Wikipedia- he was also a great high jumper, that may explain some of his dancing abilities in the video. I enjoyed that season.</p>
<p>I don’t remember Donald Driver at all. Do you remember who the other “stars” were that season? Maybe I didn’t watch that season, but I thought I had seen them all.</p>
<p>Some of the other contestants that season were Melissa Gilbert, Maria Menunous (really didn’t care for either of them) and Jaleel White aka Irkell on Family Matters. Also Gladys Knight and Martina Navratalova.</p>
<p>Thanks. I definitely missed that season.</p>
<p>I sure hope Sadie doesn’t win this! I really liked Janelle’s samba</p>
<p>I like how crisp Alphonso’s dance was . . . no crazy costumes and gimmicks</p>
<p>I don’t get the love for Sadie from the judges. I didn’t think either of those dances deserved a 10. Personally, I didn’t care for her freestyle. Seemed heavy on the free and short on the style. Just too disjointed for me.</p>
<p>Loved Janel’s dance. She looks like a pro out there. I want her and Val to make beautiful babies. </p>
<p>I loved Alfonso’s “Tonto, jump on it”!</p>
<p>I’m OK with Bethany going, I guess. Someone had to, and the judges keep upscoring Sadie so it wasn’t going to be her. I also just don’t like Mark always making it about him … “I’m the pro who breaks all the rules” or whatever he said. </p>
<p>Erin looked like she was wearing her mother’s hair.</p>
<p>Sadie’s freestyle, tho memorable, was too unusual for me, and I’m even a Mario fan. I was disappointed with Janel’s freestyle. She was all about ‘showing our love’ with Val (boring) and I think it should have been about knocking the socks off the audience with an entertaining routine. My favorite freestyle was Bethany’s. They knocked it out of the park. After that, Alfonso’s freestyle seemed a bit dated and I wasn’t wowed.</p>
<p>Ah, see I LOVED Val and Janel’s freestyle. It was all about the dance and not the gimmicks. AND I loved Alfonso’s because his also was all about the dance…and he was dancing with all those pros and looking great doing it. </p>
<p>Sadie, though adorable, is not as good a dancer as the other two. HOWEVER, she has never had dance or performing experience and, considering that, she is AMAZING. I’d be happy with any of those three winning. </p>
<p>I am pleased. </p>
<p>Ditto- good winner. It would have been horrible if fan votes gave a lesser scorer/dancer the win. I wish they would not give 50% of the scoring to fans- the ones who use the media more than many of us who have watched the show. Too bad Sadie has an external locus of control (thanking an external source that has no worldly cares for this) instead of developing herself through an internal sense of self… I hate it when people play a religion card…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This makes no sense to me. “External locus of control”?? Wow. The “religion card”, as you put it, has nothing to do with “control”. We are not puppets and what Sadie said was not meant to convey that at all. </p>
<p>I agree that it can get old when, for example, people who have just won some big football game jump up and thank God (as if God is not on the side of the other team). At least it can be interpreted that way…but that is NOT what is meant----we are taught that a thankful attitude is to be encouraged. And, in my life, I find that cultivating a thankful attitude…even (well, maybe I should say PARTICULARLY) in the face of adversity… is far better than letting myself complain and grump about things I don’t like. </p>
<p>This is pretty far off topic.</p>
<p>Back on: I like who won. Sadie was NOT the best dancer and I am sure she knew that and just was amazed that she got that far and loved every moment of it. </p>
<p>I ended up going to bed. I can’t stay up for a 2 hour thing that starts at 9pm. I’m not into the whole DD thing and Sadie was definitely not the best dancer but I liked her better than I thought I would. It seems that each season now they have one contestant for the God demographic and I feel like she was a good one. She was infectiously upbeat and pleasant to watch even when imperfect. I got so tired of the Bristol and Candace whining and carrying on. Sadie’s modesty thing - while definitely a ‘thing’ for a particular voting block - was less annoying. She just seems like a nicer person.</p>
<p>I’m glad Alfonso won though I voted for Janel this week. Alfonso always felt like a bit of a ringer, though his training was decades ago, and this has got to be tougher on him at 43 than Janel (26) or Sadie (17).</p>
<p>I agree about the way the dancers are geared to demographics. A conservative, an athlete, an old guy, etc …</p>