<p>Found it. Arquette.</p>
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<p>It was so clear that Hope responds to teachers who aren’t Maks. That’s not a good sign for Hope, since next week it’ll just be Max and her. She really did dance much better this week–as Len said, she seemed to be really enjoying herself.</p>
<p>I was surprised that David Arquette was the one to leave. Nancy Grace’s dance was terrible and she forgot giant pieces of it. She must have a bigger fan base than I had thought she had. Will it be enough to keep her going if she doesn’t nail her dances next week?</p>
<p>Great dancing tonight!</p>
<p>I hope Nancy Grace goes home. She is soooooo rude to Tristan…</p>
<p>I voted for Hope. She had a breakthroughh week, and I figured she needed it more than JR, whose frst dance was awesome.</p>
<p>JR is so good and so much fun to watch and has such a great attitude and is always so gracious about his competitors. He should win it all I think/hope.
Nancy Grace is so rude. I can’t believe she’s still here. Her dance last week was really terrible, what little she actually did of it. Her dances tonight were barely any better. I hope she finally goes home tomorrow.</p>
<p>Judges’ scoring really needs to be revised to include half points, to avoid as many ties. For example, there is no way Rob’s and Ricki’s first dances should have ended in a tie.</p>
<p>I actually liked Nancy’s Tango. Her lack of personality fits this dance perfectly. She didn’t even have to try to get into character on this one…</p>
<p>Glad to see JR get the first set of perfect scores of the season. </p>
<p>Was there a new hair, makeup, and wardrobe stylist tonight? The women looked fantastic, including Brooke and Carrie Ann. The lighting also seemed much improved.</p>
<p>^Brooke and Carrie Ann both new hair styles.</p>
<p>I agree about Nancy. She is just awful and so appealing to watch. I felt badly for Tristan for having to put up with her. She’s going to list all the reasons why she’s doing terribly and I’m supposed to feel sorry for her?</p>
<p>I thought Hope looked so cute in her first dance. Maks looks like he really <em>likes</em> her.</p>
<p>JR and his partner are destined to win. They have such personalities and happy smiles and truly enjoy themselves onstage. I didn’t think Ricki was all that spectacular. Maybe the judges gave them a good score just to keep up with JR. Rob is another one who has no beat or style.</p>
<p>In fact, the more I watch this show, the more I realize it’s all about the dancing professional. They dance around and swirl and swing their feet and the “star” just kinda stumps around them. I thought this especially with Maks and Derek.</p>
<p>The best contestants are the ones who end up dancing WITH their pro partners. The best pros know that they need to rein in their flashiness or else they will make their star partners look lame in comparison. When they forget (witness Cheryl Burke outdancing her partner Gilles Marini in the final years ago), the scores of the contestant suffer. It seemed to me that Derek outdanced Rikki in the jive and it hurt her scores.</p>
<p>Agree with YDS that the dancing was great tonight! But Nancy has to go–PLEASE! I thought she would have gone home last week, but obviously someone is voting for her multiple times. I wish Len hadn’t been so blunt about her needing to go, though…</p>
<p>Well, off to vote…</p>
<p>I can’t believe people will keep voting for Nancy at this point. I didn’t have a problem keeping her around until now because there obviously are tiers, and she deserved to be in that second tier for her spunk and age and growth. But she clearly doesn’t belong among the four dancers left, and America knows that. It’s only a matter of time before Hope and Rob are gone, but it would be a shame if one of them left before Nancy.</p>
<p>This week, kick out Nancy.
Next week, kick out Rob (or Hope, then Rob)
The week after, kick out Hope
Then it’ll be Rikki and JR.
JR wins.</p>
<p>i’ll second that lima!!</p>
<p>Weighing in…</p>
<p>I barely ever watch TV. Last spring, my now 25 year old daughter was home for a short stint and turned me onto this show (it was the final weeks of it). So, this season, I am watching it for the first time. She calls me on Wednesdays to compare thoughts (we are on different coasts). </p>
<p>My thoughts on the remaining dancers and last night, etc…</p>
<p>I have to say that JR and Rikki both have what is often called “the it factor” as performers. They have stage presence and a natural ability when it comes to dancing and performing that none of the others remaining have. It is not something you can teach. If everyone had equal skill at technique, the ones with the “it factor” would still be better as performers. Both of them have a natural flair with the dancing even if not trained as dancers. Rikki has been excellent the whole season. JR has been amazing. The only week where he was not at his prime was last week. Last night he truly was spectacular. For most of the season, it has seemed that JR will win it (and I’d be happy about that) but Rikki is surely a close second. </p>
<p>As far as Rob goes, I have to give him kudos on his improvement each week. Early in the season I thought he was one of the worst dancers and was shocked when he stayed in it early on. But he has gotten better. Last night was his best so far in my opinion. He did a good job on both of his dances. That said, he has no natural ability as a performer. From the get go, I have found him to be really stiff. I realize it is an accomplishment for him to even learn the choreography but he just doesn’t look natural doing it. He’s better but just doesn’t have the “it factor.”</p>
<p>Nancy…I think she has improved over the season and given her age and body, has done pretty well. Last week, I thought she was the weakest and I thought she’d go and should have before David Arquette (who REALLY improved and was fun to watch). I did not like her tango this week as she just didn’t have the stage presence to make it sharp. Howver, I thought her jive was a big improvement over last week’s jive she had done. And I thought Len’s comment that she had to go was uncalled for. Yes, she is the one I’d vote off this week if I could. I’m guessing her longevity is somewhat due to the public voting which can be a popularity contest and she has a TV show with a large following whereas Hope or Rob, for example, were kinda unknown in terms of “stardom.” </p>
<p>Hope…I think she has hugely improved these past two weeks. In fact last week and this week, I thought she was quite good! The earlier dynamics between her and Maks likely didn’t help, but for whatever reason, she has gotten pretty good and I’m glad she is still in it. </p>
<p>I have never voted but if I did at this moment (and I realize there is more dancing to come!)…I’d eliminate in this order: Nancy, Rob, Hope, Rikki, JR (winner).</p>
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<p>Perhaps the voters think that it keeps her away from her sordid regular programming. In this so-called dancing show, you do not have to listen to her. :)</p>
<p>Bye, bye, Nancy. Totally agree with ellenmope about the pros who overdance their partners. Mark Ballas is the worst at it and has been called out by Len a couple of times for it. Derek has a tendency to do so when he has a weaker partner or when he doesn’t know what to do choreographically. The foxtrot was when it happened this season.</p>
<p>Karina has done it many times in the past and so did Edyta. I think it shows a lack of imagination on the part of the female pros when they have a really bad partner. It just makes the partner look worse. The worst male example was Mark Ballas with Kim Kardashian. She was way out of her element and he just made her look even more out of place by overdancing. </p>
<p>Karina is lucky to have JR as a partner. He has natural rhythm and dance ability and is a bonafide hero. They will win.</p>
<p>^I hated Mark Ballas’s spats. What’s with that? Eh! Of course, the idea is to watch his feet, but they just looked stupid. I also disliked seeing Maks or David Arquette dance without a shirt or with their shirt open. Yuck! Sweaty bodies trying to impress us with their muscled stomachs. No thank you. To me, that was so distracting; I just wanted to watch them dance.</p>
<p>One more person will be voted off and then the remaining 3 will dance 2 nights in the finals. </p>
<p>The problem with Maks and Hope in the finals is that Maks is just terrible at choreographing a freestyle dance and I’ve always felt that the contestant who nails the freestyle often wins. He was in the finals with Mel B and Erin Andrews–just terrible! (Who can forget the “wrestling on the bed” dance?) </p>
<p>Derek, on the other hand, can really do wonderful choreography on the freestyle dance.</p>
<p>I don’t think it will matter who the third person is in the finals–it’s a fight between JR and Rikki.</p>
<p>I wish there could have been one or two more couples that could have been close in ability to the top two. It’s been the J.R. v Ricki competition almost from week one. They’ve never really been seriously challenged all season long. I’m not sure how the usual “hype”, leading up to the finale, can even include a third and fourth couple. The drop-off is just too significant.</p>
<p>Remember voting is fan based; the best dancer doesn’t always win.</p>
<p>I couldn’t remember some of the past winners, so I checked here:
[Dancing</a> with the Stars (U.S. TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_with_the_Stars_(U.S._TV_series)]Dancing”>Dancing with the Stars (American TV series) - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Where is everyone? Personally, I can’t believe how much Rob has improved. He’s like a different person.</p>