Full Transcript for When You Wish Upon a Ballroom (DWTS S35 Ep 9 Recap)

it so early as to wake you and our producer Heather up. 00:06:15 Speaker 1: Thank you. But I always have my phone off. 00:06:17 Speaker 3: And then here comes our producer Heather, who's so sweet, and she just says, that's what she was going for, LOL, because it's Disney night. 00:06:24 Speaker 2: I know. 00:06:26 Speaker 3: I realize people listening don't know Heather as well as we do, but like I could hear her tone and her complete annoyance in that text message. Like Deanna, I can't believe we give you this job. 00:06:40 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Like that's the look she was going for. And it dawned on me. 00:06:44 Speaker 3: At that point, Trista, and I just like died laughing out loud. 00:06:49 Speaker 1: And I was like, oh yeah, right, right. Right. 00:06:52 Speaker 3: Because it was Disney night. And here I am just being a judgy bitch. 00:06:59 Speaker 1: Like, why can't they get her wardrobe together? Why is she wearing that black dress with those red gloves? And why does her hair look like that? Right. 00:07:08 Speaker 2: But her hair did not match Cruella de Vil for me. Like, I was just like, get it? They were trying to do something creative. But I'm like, just put a wig on her with half black, half white and be done with it. 00:07:18 Speaker 1: Well, right, because I think that the character has like curly, like big white hair. So maybe that's where it was thrown off for me. 00:07:25 Speaker 3: Plus- Alfonso doesn't dress up like he does not go with a theme ever. So I guess it just didn't click with me. It was also very early people. I've been up since 5 a.m. 00:07:35 Speaker 1: It was also very early. 00:07:37 Speaker 3: But it just did not click because we have talked about her wardrobe from the very beginning of this season. And sometimes it hits and sometimes it misses. 00:07:46 Speaker 1: And last night I was like, what? Why? She's so beautiful. What's with that outfit? And I literally made the connection. 00:07:53 Speaker 3: She looks like Cruella de Vil, but it did not dawn on me that she did it on purpose. 00:07:57 Speaker 1: Literally, you said it. You said it. It was so funny. 00:08:00 Speaker 2: Okay, second thing is the group numbers. So when you're watching that big group piece with all of the Broadway performances, with dancers from the shows, singers from the shows, performers, Newsies comes out and, you know, they have Carter's in there and like their troop is in there. And then the guys that are like in the show, in Newsies, they're performing. So the guy. 00:08:31 Speaker 1: Front and center, okay, is they're dancing full out. It is amazing. 00:08:36 Speaker 2: And I don't spot anything. Well, I'm on social media afterwards. And this thing pops up in my feed saying, Derek Hough commented on it and he's like, that was perfect. Like, what do you call it when you pick yourself up and keep going? 00:08:54 Speaker 1: Like he, recovery. 00:08:55 Speaker 2: Thank you, Heather. So perfect recovery. And I was like, wait, recovered. You guys, this guy fell. 00:09:01 Speaker 1: Down in the middle of the dance and made. 00:09:04 Speaker 2: It look like he, that was purposeful. Like it was part of the choreography. That right there is professionalism. That right there is, Talent, like to be able to make, and, and I feel I'm, I'm not the best dancer, but I have dancing in my past. And I'm like, I usually can spot like some things that are maybe off. 00:09:26 Speaker 1: This had no. 00:09:28 Speaker 2: Idea because he just totally covered it in the best way. Oh, and Heather said his shoe left a full skid mark. Oh my gosh, that is crazy. Like I didn't even, I didn't even catch it because he like, he fell, but he kicked his leg up in the air to kind of go along with the choreography that everybody else was doing. And it just looked like it was part of the choreography. So just another reason that I love this show is we get to see people with this level of talent and And people who fall down and get back up and they make it just look seamless. 00:10:02 Speaker 1: Yeah, I missed it all, Trista. I was right there with you. I missed it all. 00:10:05 Speaker 3: I literally like missed every bit of that. I thought it was an amazing dance. I bet that goes to show why I'm not the judge. 00:10:11 Speaker 1: Of the show. Like I literally was like, amazing, amazing, amazing. They are so talented. This is great. Same, same, same. Completely. Oh my gosh. 00:10:20 Speaker 2: I mean, I did too until afterwards. So anyway, kudos to that guy. I don't know your name, but you are a talent. And I bet something will come out of this. Okay, so moving on, you wanted to start, if you want to start us off with Amber and Pasha. 00:10:33 Speaker 3: Yeah, the night started with Amber and Pasha. And I am like, I catch myself, Trista, looking more and more forward to her dances. And maybe this is why people fall in love with this show is that I'm truly seeing the growth at this point. You know, I think I'm a slow burn. Like it takes me a lot to get hooked on a show. I need three or four episodes to really get into it. 00:10:56 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:10:58 Speaker 3: And what I've really loved most, there are the Jenna Dewans, there are Harry, the people who have done great from the get-go. But I really love to see the growth in people, the improvement, to see them taking the judges' notes and putting that into their dance. 00:11:15 Speaker 1: And I see that with Amber. 00:11:17 Speaker 3: I struggled with her from the beginning because I can tell that she is you know, a single, she does this and she's an ice skater. I said that from the get-go. She looks like she's on skates, right? Last night, she just was beautiful. Like she's really improving. I loved her outfit, the whole like Hercules vibe. 00:11:36 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? It felt like, I got it. I got it. You know what I mean? 00:11:40 Speaker 3: Behind the scenes, Amber was not one of the little girls who wanted to dress up as a

princess. And I got that. I was not a princess girl. That is not, I've never been that. My daughter Addison was really into Disney princesses and I struggled with it. Or like sitting down to play Barbies. Like maybe I lack imagination. I'm really unsure, but I wasn't a princess girl. So when she said that, I was like, yes, okay, connect with the rest of us girlies. 00:12:02 Speaker 1: In the whole world. Totally. Yes. I appreciated it. But then she named it. She said that the hero arc is more her style. And I get that. 00:12:12 Speaker 3: I'm so glad that she put that out there because then I could relate to this person. 00:12:16 Speaker 1: Totally. They're both playing Hercules. 00:12:20 Speaker 3: They will switch roles during the dance and Amber will have to lead. Whatever. I love the whole dance. I thought that they were so great. The song A Star is Born from Hercules and they did the quick step. I'm not sure that I could pick out the quick step, but I think that's just a personal problem, Trista. 00:12:35 Speaker 1: Because I don't know dance. You know what I mean? 00:12:38 Speaker 3: But I was so into this dance. I thought it was so beautiful. I love how they did the play on the two roles where she was softer, he was firm. 00:12:48 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Like vice versa. 00:12:50 Speaker 3: I really, really loved this dance. I thought this was one of her best yet. It was a great way to start off the show. I will say, like I.... 00:13:01 Speaker 2: As you're saying, I'm falling more and more in love with her as, as someone who will go to the end as the show progresses. And, um, you know, in the beginning, we talked a lot about her feet in this routine. I did notice her feet kind of, she did a great job in a lot of moment, like 90% of the dance. I felt like her feet were pointed, like there was energy through her feet. But like there were little times when like she did a spin and her feet were like flexed up. And it's just little things like that. And you know that when it's little things that you're looking at, that they're an incredible performer because you're not like, you know, noticing everything. So I loved her dance too. I love that she got to showcase how strong she is because holy guns. 00:13:49 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:13:50 Speaker 2: Like she's got some freaking guns on her. And I love that she was able... to showcase that strength. And she's also got the softness and everything else that's needed in this show, in this genre. But oh gosh, I love that she could show off her muscles. 00:14:07 Speaker 1: Because she's got a lot of them. A beautiful woman. 00:14:10 Speaker 3: I told you my takeaway from Dancing with the Stars is I need more abs and I need to work out more. That's my biggest takeaway. When she did that, I was like, oh, Girl. 00:14:17 Speaker 1: I started like looking at myself. I know, same. 00:14:21 Speaker 2: Okay, so what I will say is that Cynthia Erivo did shock me because usually the guest judges are the ones who give the higher scores. 00:14:30 Speaker 1: I'm so glad you said that because I struggled through the whole episode, Trista. 00:14:34 Speaker 3: I really wanted her to be handing out tens and she was kind of hardcore, but I guess it's also very fitting. 00:14:39 Speaker 1: Like she does Broadway. 00:14:41 Speaker 3: I'm not so sure that dance is her thing, but she's a phenomenal singer. Broadway, Wicked, you name it, she has done it. But I also was waiting for her to be more generous with those scores. 00:14:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I know. 00:14:57 Speaker 2: I was shocked that she gave the lowest score of the bunch when normally the guest judges are the ones giving the highest score of the bunch. So I was like, is this what we're in for the entire night? Is she going to be the one, kind of like Shirley Ballas, giving... and it's not like she gave a four, she gave an eight. 00:15:16 Speaker 1: But still. 00:15:17 Speaker 3: She gave very appropriate judge scores, but I'm with you, right? I expected her to be generous with her scoring. 00:15:24 Speaker 2: Right. 00:15:25 Speaker 1: I agree. 00:15:26 Speaker 2: And that just wasn't necessarily the case. So I was a little shocked on there, but it's okay. 00:15:32 Speaker 1: Okay. 00:15:32 Speaker 2: Moving on, we've got Maura and Mark. And as you know, Maura has been out the gate, somebody that I have loved to watch her progression, her abilities. Just from the very first show, I felt like, wow, she's going to be in the finale. It's kind of dying down for me because I feel like we're seeing more and more with these other people who are progressing later in the game, whereas she progressed really early. 00:16:03 Speaker 1: We're seeing a lot of her. 00:16:09 Speaker 2: Her, not inabilities, but she's not quite caught up yet to where the other pros are. And I think it's showing a little bit more. 00:16:18 Speaker 1: Well, we have. 00:16:18 Speaker 3: Discussed this multiple times. She did the slower dances really beautifully. She is very tall and thin. 00:16:25 Speaker 1: She looks elegant. 00:16:26 Speaker 3: I mean, she looks like a dancer. She's the body of a dancer, right? The movements with her long arms and her legs. She was stunning in some of those slower dances. and you and I and our producer, Heather have had this conversation. Like, would she be able to keep up in the faster ones? And I'm with you last night was a bit of a struggle, but yeah, same thing with Amber. 00:16:47 Speaker 1: I like love her. She's very funny. 00:16:51 Speaker 3: Like she has a great, and I realized they're not winning off of personalities, Trista, but like last night at the very end, when she is getting her scoring and she's. 00:17:00 Speaker 1: Like, I hated it. I hate the drive. I hate doing this. This is the worst, worst week ever. 00:17:04 Speaker 3: And she's like funny, you know, and Mark's like laughing at her and he's like, oh, here she goes again. Like she has personality and I'm down for

personality. Like when people have a good sense of humor, I think that makes them so much more attractive to me. So she made up for it with me, with her funny personality, but you're right. 00:17:22 Speaker 1: I could see the struggle. 00:17:24 Speaker 3: She named it in her behind the scenes stuff that it was really hard, but she also said it at the end. And then just as a viewer, I saw it too on the dance floor, Trista, like she just struggled with it. 00:17:35 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? 00:17:36 Speaker 3: Where we've seen her be so fluid and elegant in her dancing. 00:17:41 Speaker 1: It was not the case last night. 00:17:42 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:17:43 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true. 00:17:45 Speaker 2: And she did get all eights. I, I was a little shocked in that. I felt like maybe she would have gotten something a little bit lower. I'm glad because I love Mara, but I, I, I feel like they gave her good scores. I love that she said tinker hell. Like that is going. 00:18:04 Speaker 1: See, she's funny. 00:18:05 Speaker 2: That is going to be like, yeah, someone's going to use that for something. I just feel like her short dress like showed all her legs are gorgeous. 00:18:16 Speaker 1: But when you're dancing the jive, it is a very particular movement. It showed a lot of legs. 00:18:21 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. 00:18:22 Speaker 2: So she ended up with a score of 32 out of 40. I will say she is the perfect Tinkerbell. She looked the part completely, like transformed into Tinkerbell. 00:18:34 Speaker 3: What did our boy Bruno say? He said that it was a bit saucy. I like love him. I want to hang out with him. I want to go to dinner with him, Trista. I just want him to like entertain me and come over and hang out on my couch. 00:18:45 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's fun to be around. You don't even have to do anything. He just talks the whole time. Okay, so we started with Amber, and she was at a 34 out of 40, and Mara was next with a 32 out of 40. Next up was Tatiana and Jan, and... Oh, my gosh. 00:19:05 Speaker 1: Another one for me, Trista. 00:19:06 Speaker 3: She has improved consistently every week. 00:19:10 Speaker 1: She looks so good out there. And I love a good story. You know what I mean? The redemption part of it. 00:19:19 Speaker 3: She has improved every single week. And she looked phenomenal last night. 00:19:24 Speaker 1: She looked beautiful. 00:19:25 Speaker 2: I didn't necessarily. 00:19:30 Speaker 2: I wasn't drawn to Jan in the very beginning of the show, like just didn't know him. You're talking about personality. His personality has me rolling. 00:19:40 Speaker 1: Like I love Jan. 00:19:43 Speaker 2: And I feel like Tatiana, when you put him, this partnership, is amazing because I feel like they're like opposites like she's sweet and like you know kind and whatever and he's like whatever I'm gonna call it like it is and you're not on my you're on my DTM dead to me list you. 00:20:02 Speaker 1: Know like I love I love. 00:20:05 Speaker 2:

This partnership more and more um She did look beautiful. She got good scores. She got great scores. She got all eights and a nine from Carrie Ann. 00:20:16 Speaker 1: Which is great. 00:20:17 Speaker 2: That puts her above Mara, which is amazing. I will say she's still, it's the same. And the judges called this, they kind of gave her critiques, constructive criticism. Just the energy, like they were talking about the energy through her hands, like when she completes a movement through her hands. But I saw, I noticed it a lot in her feet. Like she just needs to actively point her feet. Like sometimes people will point their feet where they're not flexed. but they're not pointed. 00:20:48 Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean? They're just kind of there. And I feel like that's what... No, Trista, my feet are just there. My feet are just there. No, I have no clue what you're talking about. 00:20:59 Speaker 2: But when you're dancing, like your foot is here, you're flexed here, right? But she needs to be able to point them, like point them downward with like an arch in your foot, you know? And I feel like that that energy isn't in her feet. 00:21:15 Speaker 1: If I was a judge, I'm not a judge. It's okay. 00:21:18 Speaker 3: I'm over here pointing my feet, Trista, to see if I like know what it is you're talking about. 00:21:23 Speaker 1: Like, I don't have any clue. You don't understand. No. Okay. 00:21:28 Speaker 2: So anyway, so I just feel like, yes, she has improved so much and I'm thoroughly enjoying watching her process on the show and her growth. And her partnership and all of it. So I was very happy that she ended up with a 33 out of 40. 00:21:46 Speaker 1: Me too. Me too. 00:21:58 Speaker 3: Next up was Harry and Jenna. Trista, I was blown away. I was blown away. Harry is super excited to show elements of what Dick Van Dyke was. 00:22:08 Speaker 1: Capable of doing. And I believe. 00:22:10 Speaker 3: he nailed that. Their scores absolutely reflect this, but I would say this was the first time in the season that I was blown away, that I saw it. 00:22:25 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? The dancing. 00:22:28 Speaker 3: Jenna, from what I know and from what you have shared, she's an incredible pro. 00:22:33 Speaker 1: That showed last night. 00:22:36 Speaker 3: Their performance, to me, was like one of the best that I've ever seen. 00:22:40 Speaker 1: And not that I've... It was blown away. 00:22:43 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:22:44 Speaker 1: It was amazing. Yeah. It was amazing. And it was a little fast-paced, you know what I mean? 00:22:48 Speaker 3: To perform to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. 00:22:53 Speaker 1: One of my favorite songs. It was. 00:22:55 Speaker 3: I felt like I loved the little tidbits when they were doing... Again, my layman's terms here, so forgive me. 00:23:03 Speaker 1: When they were doing the little. 00:23:05 Speaker 3: actions and then it was showing on the screen behind them. Like all of that was on point. Every single thing that they did was timed and on point and done well. I love that little snippet of where they brought in the screen. It looked very Mary Poppins to me. Totally. 00:23:22 Speaker 2: And they were in sync when they were side by side, um, dancing with the other dancers. Wow. 00:23:27 Speaker 1: They were perfectly in sync. I literally have cold chills right now. Yeah, it was, it was really good. 00:23:34 Speaker 2: I will say, you know, I try to bring up like things that aren't just like, oh, that was amazing dance. That one is amazing dance. Because we can say that about every single dance. Amazing dances, right? This one obviously was, like you said, I think that one that people will remember for a really long time. 00:23:51 Speaker 1: Because it was that good. 00:23:54 Speaker 2: But in the end, and I am one of Jenna's biggest fans. I just feel like she is the consummate professional. She is so freaking talented. At the end, there was a part where she, it was, it was, the camera was zoomed in on her and her face, like usually she's performing and her face is just like, like. 00:24:15 Speaker 1: She's in the zone. 00:24:17 Speaker 2: And I just saw like what she looked like was that she was nervous and it took me out of the dance. Like normally you're in the dance and you are caught up in the character telling and the story, you know, all of that. 00:24:30 Speaker 3: I believe I know the point where you're talking about where he was on his knees and came in front of the camera. 00:24:36 Speaker 1: And she was about to do a spin. 00:24:38 Speaker 3: Yes, because I actually feel like the camera should have been pointed on him. 00:24:42 Speaker 2: Maybe that's why it was weird to her because maybe they did camera blocking. It was on him or something. Maybe that's why she was like, why are you on me? But I was like, this feels not right. Like she feels nervous or something. So it took me out of the dance. not focused on the dance, thinking about what's going on, right? And then there was a lift. When they lifted Jenna up at the end, the two guys lifted her up, it was like clumsy. 00:25:10 Speaker 1: She didn't go up perfectly. 00:25:12 Speaker 2: She kind of like, because one of the guys, maybe their shoulder gave out just a little. 00:25:17 Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean? It just was a clumsy lift. 00:25:20 Speaker 2: And I feel like if it was I don't know if it was anybody else they would have caught on. Maybe they just didn't see it based on where they were sitting. 00:25:31 Speaker 1: I don't know. 00:25:32 Speaker 2: I feel like Jenna probably also, she knows that that happened because it was happening to her, like the imbalance, if you will. And I bet if this wasn't a competition show and it wouldn't call out Harry, that she probably would have admitted it as well. The perfect score, yes, for most of the dance until the very, very end, I would say a thousand percent they deserved a perfect score. 00:26:00 Speaker 1:

But the two. 00:26:02 Speaker 2: Amber got called out for a little misstep or a mistake or whatever. 00:26:07 Speaker 1: And they gave her... I think she got all nines. Yeah. 00:26:11 Speaker 2: So all nines... No, two nines and two eights. So she got called out for a misstep, but... Harry and Jenna didn't. 00:26:19 Speaker 1: And maybe they just didn't see it. Maybe the judges just didn't see it. 00:26:22 Speaker 3: Because I think if I remember correctly, it was camera facing down the ballroom and the judges are off to the left. Is that correct? So maybe they just didn't see it. And because it was directly into camera, maybe that's why. 00:26:38 Speaker 1: Totally. And that's so valid. They could have not seen it. 00:26:42 Speaker 2: I just, it, it, it's frustrating when all these other dancers, like if I put myself in Amber's shoes, I would have been like, eh, but like, they didn't really lift Jenna like perfectly. 00:26:54 Speaker 1: And it was, I don't know. 00:26:56 Speaker 2: And we're seeing what the people in the ballroom aren't seeing because the camera is like in their face. 00:27:02 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? 00:27:03 Speaker 2: So, I don't know. I loved the dance. Like, bottom line, it was an all-time favorite of mine. It was incredible. Her choreography is incredible. His freaking toe touch. 00:27:16 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. It was perfect. What? It was perfect. 00:27:19 Speaker 3: I mean, even in my prime, Trista, I could not do that. Like, it was perfect. 00:27:25 Speaker 1: No kidding. He's a very talented human being. very talented. 00:27:30 Speaker 2: And I loved him doing jazz and like being able to bring, you know, this movie that was one of my favorites growing up to life. 00:27:40 Speaker 1: And, uh, yeah, it was amazing. 00:27:43 Speaker 3: Do you have him, you have Harry picked to go in your final, right? But you are still hanging on to Ezra as your winner. 00:27:50 Speaker 2: It's a really good question. Um, I think so, but I don't know, as we've gone on, I feel like Harry is definitely inching, inching up closer to that. 00:28:06 Speaker 1: And so is Jenna Dwan. 00:28:08 Speaker 2: And yes, from the beginning, like I said, I want to connect with her. I want to connect with her. I want to connect with her. Um, I'm thinking that more of that is going to be happening. And she is an incredible dancer. We'll get to it in a minute. But yes, Ezra will still be in the final. That is 100% sure in my mind. 00:28:29 Speaker 1: Do you still have him picked to win? Well, that's what I don't know. I don't know. 00:28:34 Speaker 3: Okay. I was wondering that because after Harry's dance last night and his. 00:28:37 Speaker 1: Perfect score, right? He got a 40 out of 40. I was kind of like, ooh. Yeah. I'm going off of you, Tristan. 00:28:43 Speaker 3: I'm picking whoever you pick because you know all. 00:28:46 Speaker 1: No, I don't. No, I don't. 00:28:47 Speaker 3: I kind of was like, he looks really good out there. And Jenna Dewan

looks really good out there. 00:28:53 Speaker 1: But after seeing Harry's dance and getting his perfect score, I was like, he looks really good out there. Really good. 00:28:59 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I agree. 00:29:00 Speaker 3: I agree. 00:29:01 Speaker 1: I agree. Okay, moving on to Ezra and Danny. 00:29:04 Speaker 2: So last week was the week that I didn't get to see his... Oh, I don't even know that you know this because we didn't do... You weren't on the podcast last week. So in my time zone, or for DirecTV customers or whatever, that's the provider that I use... There was a 20 minute commercial, not one, but like multiple commercials, 20 minutes span of time where they had commercials where normally it's like four to five minutes. And I did not get to see Ezra or Jackson's dance. 00:29:39 Speaker 1: Oh that's so. 00:29:40 Speaker 2: Weird I know and I went on Google and I was like what's happening like is this just me no so many people. I don't know if it's hundreds, thousands, whatever, but we didn't get to see his dance. 00:29:53 Speaker 1: So I was super, super frustrated. 00:29:55 Speaker 2: I was very much looking forward to this week because I didn't get to see him dance last week. And You know, in the beginning of the season, Dani did say that she doesn't think they're going to do samba because he just has a really difficult time because his knee buckles or his prosthetic buckles. 00:30:17 Speaker 1: So I love just the. 00:30:18 Speaker 2: Fact that he is trying these things that are so difficult for him. 00:30:24 Speaker 1: He is the epitome of pushing the limits. 00:30:26 Speaker 3: Like he has proved... Week after week that he can do it. He has proved that week after week. 00:30:33 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:30:34 Speaker 1: And he did last night too. 00:30:35 Speaker 2: Yes. 00:30:36 Speaker 1: I mean, proved it so much. 00:30:38 Speaker 2: Like he, the fact that they weren't even going to do this genre of dance, samba, and he comes out there and proves that he is Prince Eric. and proves that he can do anything that he sets his mind to because he looked effortless out there. There were moments where I was like, wow, you, you can't even tell that he has a prosthetic. 00:31:01 Speaker 1: Like, and the fact that they showcase it. I love that. 00:31:05 Speaker 2: Like Danny put like his, his leg was up on her hip at the end and they were spinning around together, like showing everyone like, this is me and I love me. 00:31:16 Speaker 1: You know, I, uh, He exudes confidence. You know what I mean? He is a young man. He's a young adult man. 00:31:26 Speaker 3: And I would not say that I exuded that kind of confidence at that age. I think I was always a confident human being, but he like exudes male confidence on the dance floor. Like he's very masculine, but very confident in himself and his body and the way that it moves. 00:31:43 Speaker 1: And I'm with you. 00:31:44 Speaker 3: I absolutely love that they are pushing the limit every single week, and he does not disappoint. 00:31:52 Speaker 1: He does not disappoint, right? 00:31:55 Speaker 3: And Danny says, oh, if his hips can't move or his body can't move a certain way, nah, nah. He comes out and shows us that his hips don't lie, Trista. 00:32:06 Speaker 1: No, he's got everything and more. 00:32:08 Speaker 2: And I think the fact that Danny's dress got stuck on his prosthetic. I actually went back and watched it again for a second time because I just wanted to see what ended up happening. And her dress just ripped off because they were like, we're not letting this stop us. We're just going to keep dancing. And then the, like, whatever was draped down just ripped and they could continue dancing. 00:32:32 Speaker 1: Like, you. 00:32:33 Speaker 2: the professionalism right there to be able to do that and not get stuck up in the, in that moment of dread of like, Oh no, we're going to, we're going to, you know what I mean? 00:32:46 Speaker 3: Like to not get tripped up or like stumble at all. And I don't mean like physically, but like mentally too. Cause I imagine your thought process has to match your feet and your hands the whole time. And you don't see that they don't stumble at all. Not physically, not mentally. They look like a couple of professionals out there for sure. 00:33:03 Speaker 2: The fact that we had Michael James Scott performing it live from under the sea. 00:33:09 Speaker 1: Like, Just his voice. 00:33:11 Speaker 2: I don't know who that is, Trista. He's a huge Broadway performer. And I believe that he was last cast as the genie in Aladdin on Broadway. 00:33:21 Speaker 1: Oh, okay. 00:33:22 Speaker 2: But his voice, it sounds like Sebastian from the movie, like singing this song. 00:33:28 Speaker 1: But just, I don't know. I loved every single bit of it. I love that he like, she like went like this on his nose, you know, did a little boop. 00:33:38 Speaker 2: Like just they're, their older sister, younger brother relationship. I just, I think it's the sweetest thing. 00:33:45 Speaker 3: Yeah, I kind of expected him to get more 10s than he did. He got the one 10 from Derek. I realized that there were a couple little hiccups that could not be avoided, but he got the one 10 from Derek and then nines from everybody else. And Trista, I expected him to at least get one more 10. I thought he did a really good job. But listen, it's just me. 00:34:06 Speaker 1: What do I know? But at least if he could have gotten a 10 from Cynthia. 00:34:12 Speaker 2: Cynthia, I know that's part of my thing is like, Wait, this is when you should be giving better scores. 00:34:18 Speaker 1: I don't know. I agree. 1,000%. 00:34:23 Speaker 2: I'm like 10. Yes, he should have gotten way more 10s than just one. 00:34:26 Speaker 1: We are moving on to my. 00:34:35 Speaker 3: Girl, Julia. 00:34:35 Speaker 1: And listen up. 00:34:43 Speaker 3: I still just love her Trista the same. I feel, I think I feel the same about Julia as I do Tatiana.

00:34:51 Speaker 1: Like Julia has improved each week. 00:34:55 Speaker 3: And I also feel like she is connecting with the viewers and with the audience. Like I'm getting that from her, the way that she loves the show, her partner and dancing and how she's putting her whole. 00:35:04 Speaker 1: Heart into it. 00:35:05 Speaker 3: Um, I love that she's determined, you know what I mean? She's determined to prove the judges wrong this week. Uh, I don't want to spoil it for the listeners. So, so I'm just going to stop there, but I like love her and I would really like to see her go all of the way in this show. 00:35:25 Speaker 1: Um, I think I know what you're going to say, so I don't want to speak for you. I'm not sure. 00:35:31 Speaker 3: That she's on the same level and plane as some of the other dancers, but I do like the fact that she has improved every single week and she appears to be taking the judges' feedback and really putting that into her work and making an effort each week with her dancing. 00:35:52 Speaker 1: I don't know. Do you agree? Yeah. 00:35:54 Speaker 2: So it's really interesting to me. You love her. Heather loves her. Like, all these people love her from the movie, right? The movie that she dedicated to Heath Ledger. And so for you guys— Clearly. 00:36:09 Speaker 1: You did not watch it. That was your assignment. I didn't. But— Here's the deal. 00:36:15 Speaker 2: Even if I had watched it now, it will not be the same because it's nostalgic to you. 00:36:20 Speaker 1: Like you watched it way back. 00:36:22 Speaker 2: When and you fell in love with it and you fell in love with it with a group of people. 00:36:26 Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean? 00:36:26 Speaker 2: Like at the time that it was really popular. So you guys have this, you lift her up with your nostalgia. I just don't have that same thing. So what I feel like would be really interesting is like, take away that nostalgia and like how you feel at your core about Julia from. 00:36:48 Speaker 1: Just that movie. Do you know what I'm saying? 00:36:50 Speaker 2: And then from there, look at it. 00:36:52 Speaker 1: I will, I will give you this. Okay. 00:36:55 Speaker 3: From a very untrained dancer. Like I can like baby got back and that's about it. I will tell you, I know enough about the Paso that it should be very fierce and somewhat sexy and, right? Like very fierce. And that was lacking for me. I thought she did a good job. 00:37:18 Speaker 1: And hit the steps and the counts and whatever all the terms are, but it was missing that like pizzazz, that like in your face, like hard. 00:37:29 Speaker 3: Moves. 00:37:30 Speaker 1: I don't know that I'm using the wording right, but do you understand what I'm saying, Trista? For sure. Yeah, for sure. Powerful. Um, I just, I will say a couple things. 00:37:41 Speaker 2: Number one, the fact that she is hurt, that she is injured, you couldn't see it in the dance. Like, she pushed through, and I think kudos to her for that. Because clearly during rehearsals, she was in a lot of pain. Yeah. So I give her that. Like, in rehearsals, I was in so much pain. At the time, I had really bad back problems until I had back surgery later. 00:38:03 Speaker 1: So I get it. I get it. When you are in pain. 00:38:07 Speaker 2: And something like in your core, your ribs, your back, your whatever is hurting. It affects every single movement you do. And like you just said, Paso is a powerful dance. Like you want to be able to like really exude power. And when you've got an injury in your core, it's really hard to do that. So I give her huge kudos for like really not letting us in on her pain if she was feeling it at all, because I'm sure she was pumping with adrenaline, you know, so. That's what gets you through when you're performing. You just get over it. And she chose to get over it. And I think she did that really well. I wouldn't have known that she had an injury that she was dealing with if we hadn't have seen the package right before. Totally. I feel like I just don't see the joy from her as compared to other people. 00:39:01 Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's just like.... 00:39:05 Speaker 2: That she is injured and she's dealing with these things, or it's just her personality, which is not like, that's fine. 00:39:12 Speaker 1: Like, it's all good. 00:39:14 Speaker 2: Not everyone is like joyful and happy all the time. I just, it doesn't translate for me. And so I just haven't connected with her in that way. 00:39:23 Speaker 3: But I think you and I were just saying this with Ezra, like that whole, was it Ezra or Harry? And that whole connection, the physical, the mental, the emotional, every bit of it. 00:39:34 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? You see it in the professionals and they're professionals for a reason. They do this like the back of their hand. 00:39:41 Speaker 3: And maybe that's where we get to see the difference in some of these celebrities that come on the show is that, It must be work. I guess, Trista, this is what I'm coming to. It must be work to remember all of those things when you are doing this dance, right? The connection for the physical makes sure you're hitting one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. But you're also smiling. 00:40:02 Speaker 1: You're engaged. 00:40:02 Speaker 3: You're connecting with the audience, the mental, the emotional, every bit of it. It's like one fluid thing. And if one thing is lacking, then people see it. 00:40:11 Speaker 2: But if we're going to compare people apples to apples with their inability to dance before they started, right? They weren't dancers. Connor is a perfect example. He is very joyful, like all the time laughing, all the time, like having a great time. And I just don't see that from Julia. I will say also, like, I'm sure this is probably she didn't hear it. but I don't know if she was paying attention and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Julianne had her up in the skybox and her first question,

her only question to her was, uh, how is your rib feeling? And she said nothing about her ribs. She's like, Oh, we're having the best time. And I love Ezra and all these things. 00:40:54 Speaker 1: And I was like, maybe she just didn't hear it. I would imagine it's pretty loud in there. 00:40:59 Speaker 3: Right. 00:40:59 Speaker 1: I'm, I mean, you're up in the sky. I don't know. I feel like, like, I don't know. So I don't know. 00:41:07 Speaker 2: It just was like, Hmm. I don't know if she didn't hear it or it just was weird. It was weird to me. And I wanted to hear it. like what was, if her rib was still hurting her, you know, like because that would give me even more fuel to like root for her. 00:41:24 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Because like I just said. 00:41:25 Speaker 3: Well, I also saw when she turned, you can see that she's been doing some cupping. So like clearly she's taking care of herself and her body because I saw when she turned on her back, And I have done cupping in the past and I like love. 00:41:36 Speaker 1: All of those things. 00:41:37 Speaker 3: The cupping, the, I saw the marks on her back from where the blood pools, the toxins trying to come out. 00:41:43 Speaker 1: So I thought, oh, at least she's taking care of herself. You know what I mean? Like I can see that. I'm not sure if any, whatever. 00:41:48 Speaker 2: I'm not sure. No, I could, I could, but I also noticed on Tatiana, she had like kinesio tape on, on her leg. And I'm wondering if she's dealing with something like, I'm sure all of them are. 00:41:58 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:41:59 Speaker 2: This is the time when it gets, when you're doing two dances every week, Holy cow. Like I never got to that week. They didn't do it. 00:42:07 Speaker 1: But anyway. Okay. 00:42:08 Speaker 2: So we're moving on to Jenna and Val. She is the perfect Disney princess. For her to be Beauty and the Beast. 00:42:17 Speaker 1: Wow. It was so good. It was perfect. I loved. 00:42:22 Speaker 2: We're talking about the connection with her and like, just bring me into your life. Let me know some more things about you instead of just that you're an actress, right? 00:42:31 Speaker 1: I want to know more. 00:42:33 Speaker 2: And we got to meet her fiance and hear his story. 00:42:37 Speaker 3: I'm really surprised that they waited until this late in the show. We all know she's married and she has the daughter with Channing and then she has the baby. 00:42:46 Speaker 1: We know this. Well, she's not married. Whatever, partners. Okay, got it. Yes. 00:42:53 Speaker 3: I'm surprised they waited this late in the show. To introduce us to that side of her. That's the point that I'm getting at. 00:43:01 Speaker 1: Yes, I agree. We've seen him in the audience. So now we're getting it. 00:43:05 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:43:05 Speaker 1: Every night. 00:43:06 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:43:06 Speaker 1: Every week. We've seen her older daughter in the audience. We've seen it. For sure. He's been there. 00:43:12 Speaker 2: But I love now that we actually get to hear from him. We get to see their love for each other. We get to see something that is part of her life that she doesn't share with the world. You know, maybe not as much as her acting career or her dancing career. You know, like I loved that. I've been craving it and we finally got it. And she finally got a perfect score. And it was so well-deserved. It was beautiful. It was an amazing dance. Another one of those ones where it's going to be very hard to forget. Like it's an unforgettable dance. 00:43:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. 00:43:47 Speaker 3: A thousand percent, I'm right there with you. 40 out of 40. I loved every bit of that. I walk away with those two memorable dances last night. Like those are ingrained in my head. 00:43:55 Speaker 1: Totally. She looks beautiful. 00:43:57 Speaker 3: I agree. 00:43:58 Speaker 1: Beautiful. She was perfect. 00:44:00 Speaker 2: And honestly, no thoughts of the drama of what happened with Val. 00:44:05 Speaker 1: Like, it's gone. Oh, I can't say the same. 00:44:08 Speaker 3: You can't. Literally, as soon as they came out, I was like, oh, but remember what he said? Like, it was on the forefront of my mind. And I don't know if that's just because I'm hyper aware now because now I'm like, oh, will they not win. 00:44:18 Speaker 1: Because of his little tissy fit, you know? But like, I did. I thought it when they came out. I was like, well, there's the bad boy. He's back. You know, I just had this like little mental, but... They're phenomenal. They're phenomenal. Phenomenal. I hope it's not that. 00:44:32 Speaker 3: I hope it does not stop them from really doing well or possibly winning the competition because of what happened. 00:44:40 Speaker 1: But I can't help that it is now in the back of my mind, would that hold them back? I don't think so. 00:44:46 Speaker 2: I think she'll be in the final for sure. Okay, so Connor and Riley are next. So they're coming off of a huge high, okay, where at Halloween week, they got a score of all scores. 00:45:09 Speaker 1: It was amazing. 00:45:10 Speaker 2: It was a huge high of the night. So I'm, of course, thinking, okay, they're up. Are they going to come down? Are they going to get knocked off their pedestal? Which I feel like always happens. Although it didn't happen to Harry this week when he got two perfect scores back to back. 00:45:23 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:45:24 Speaker 2: But he is feeling really confident. And I think that he got his first 10s last week. 00:45:29 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:45:30 Speaker 2: So he was feeling really confident coming into this show. And I feel like that was so... well-deserved. 00:45:42 Speaker 1: He should be feeling really confident. 00:45:44 Speaker 2: And I do love, like we just said, his joy for the show, his personality, his humor. It is something that I need in this show. I don't want it to all be dramatics. And yeah, a lot of people are fun, but he is really funny. So I love

getting to see someone who is just funny. 00:46:05 Speaker 1: They're like a cute treat every week. 00:46:06 Speaker 2: They're so cute. 00:46:07 Speaker 1: Is what they are. 00:46:07 Speaker 3: They're like a cute treat every week. And Connor's listening to the people. He wore his fake facial hair again last night. Like I noticed it and I was so glad that Derek Hough made a comment on it too. 00:46:19 Speaker 1: He was like, oh, there he is. 00:46:20 Speaker 3: He's, what did he say? King of the faux facial hair. Like he's back, you know? Like I like love that because he has such a baby face, even though he is not a baby, but whatever. It was really great. He's our cute treat of the week. 00:46:33 Speaker 1: He is. 00:46:34 Speaker 2: And I will say in their dance, if I didn't know that she had a boyfriend, there would be no convincing me that they were not dating. I agree. They are very convincing that like, and this was a very like romantic dance from Tangled, you know, like very romantic. And it's a couple dance, you know, they're going to... be wanting to tell the story of this beautiful couple. 00:46:59 Speaker 1: And they convinced me wholeheartedly. 00:47:01 Speaker 3: Yeah, they did great. They have great chemistry, the two of them. They're very cutie patooties. They got a 32 out of 40 Trista, which I felt was very fitting. 00:47:09 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. 00:47:10 Speaker 2: It was. 00:47:11 Speaker 1: Him getting eights back to eights. 00:47:13 Speaker 2: It's funny because they were actually really excited to get eights. And I felt like last week they got an amazing score. And I'm always ready for people to be like, Oh, well, okay. Like, I'm back down to eights. 00:47:28 Speaker 1: But they were so excited. 00:47:29 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. 00:47:30 Speaker 1: They're thrilled. It was great. 00:47:33 Speaker 2: Yes. 00:47:33 Speaker 1: I think that's what makes them, you know what I mean, our cutie treats of the week. I think that's what makes them. They're joyful, happy, and free all the time. All the time. 00:47:41 Speaker 2: Okay, so group dances. We have two teams. We've got Slaytopia and we've got Team Wildcats. And Slaytopia started with Tatiana because she had the lowest scores, so she was... made the captain and she got to choose her teams. I thought it was really interesting that she chose Maura first. I don't know if they have like a good friendship or whatever, but it was interesting because she didn't choose like the people who are the highest scorers, like Jenna and Harry and Ezra. Like she didn't choose one of them. I just felt like it was very, that was very interesting strategically. 00:48:18 Speaker 1: Yeah. It almost felt like the teams were off balanced a bit. Very much so. Yeah. Very much so. 00:48:24 Speaker 2: It ended up with all of the high scorers on, except for Amber maybe, on one team, Team Wildcats, and then Maura, Tatiana, Julia, and Amber, and then Alfonso on Slaytopia. 00:48:36 Speaker 1: I liked Slaytopia, but Team Wildcats... all day. Like, uh, they crushed. 00:48:42 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:48:43 Speaker 3: It was like, honestly, you couldn't even compare Trista. Like, like they were good. 00:48:47 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? 00:48:48 Speaker 3: Uh, Slaytopia, they were good, but like the Wildcats, they were really good. 00:48:54 Speaker 1: Like really, really good. Holy cow. 00:48:55 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:48:56 Speaker 1: Uh, so good. 00:48:58 Speaker 2: Like it truly looked like they were doing a group number, starting out dancing with the stars and they. 00:49:03 Speaker 1: Were all professionals. Yep. I absolutely agree. 00:49:06 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:49:07 Speaker 1: It was really good. Okay, so we get down to the last two. 00:49:11 Speaker 3: Mara and Mark. 00:49:14 Speaker 1: I have to plug my ears right now. Okay. 00:49:20 Speaker 2: Mara and Mark and Julia and Ezra. I mean, you had to know that it was coming at some point. 00:49:26 Speaker 1: I knew it was coming at some point. 00:49:28 Speaker 3: And if I'm being honest right now, I thought Connor would go first. I thought Connor would go first. But we know after the final two are on stage, Mara and Mark and Julia and Ezra, Joya Stiles and Ezra are eliminated. And I think I just wasn't ready for it. I think if it were me, which it's not, right? I expected Connor to go first. 00:49:53 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:49:53 Speaker 2: And I did expect Connor. Remember I said Connor and Jackson, I think it was two weeks ago where I thought that they would go home. 00:50:01 Speaker 1: Maybe it was three weeks ago. 00:50:03 Speaker 2: So I was thinking that, but the more that the show has gone on, Connor has just stepped up to the plate. Riley has really showed up with incredible choreography and, and they've blown me away. And so they've won me over. Um, I feel like Julia, just the, the level was kind of stagnant. She hadn't done as much in terms of growth physically, um, As I feel like Connor has done. So I know it makes you very sad, but you had, like I just said, you had to know that it was coming at some point. 00:50:41 Speaker 1: And you're right. 00:50:42 Speaker 3: If I'm removing that nostalgia piece, if I can make that disconnection for myself, right? Connor has improved. Julia got fours last week. Connor did not. So if you're looking at it from the outside as like a competition, maybe it feels it's just. 00:50:56 Speaker 1: My little heart, right? It's just my little heart. 00:50:59 Speaker 3: I'm going to have to go and just follow her on social media to keep my life in line. Maybe this will help to do a remake or a reboot of this movie and Heather and I can go together because you have to catch up, Trista. 00:51:15 Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm going to. Oh, man. Sorry. It's fine. 00:51:23 Speaker 2: It's fine. 00:51:23 Speaker 1: Everything is going to be fine. Julia is going to be fine. 00:51:26 Speaker 3: She's going to get all the acting gigs that she could possibly want. And we get to see Connor for another week. 00:51:31 Speaker 1: And you know what? 00:51:32 Speaker 3: He really does do a good job on the dance floor and the connection between the two of them. And maybe that's the piece that I'm really trying to drive home right now is I feel it from him emotionally, his personality, and And her, I just love because of who she is. 00:51:47 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? 00:51:47 Speaker 3: And I don't get that drive from her when she's on the dance floor. I believe she has improved. I think she's doing a great job. But I get the connection from him. He is connecting with the audience. 00:51:57 Speaker 1: Totally. Agreed. And he's all over social media and she is not. Yeah. 00:52:01 Speaker 2: So I think in today's day and age, you have to be that. You have to be interacting with your fans and putting out content. And if you're not, I feel like you are not going to get the scores. It's just plain and simple. It's how today's day and age, that's how people are voting. If they see you on social media the whole week leading up to it, you're in their minds. And I don't think she's been doing that. 00:52:27 Speaker 1: Long live Julia Stiles. All right. 00:52:33 Speaker 2: Well, thank you, everybody, for listening to another episode of The Most Dramatic Dance Floor Ever with Trista and Deanna. We're very excited that you were here with us. Please continue to tune in and follow Almost Famous Podcast on Instagram. 00:52:47 Speaker 1: Thanks, guys. Bye, y'all.