"DWTS", Internet Fan Edition

Well, a new season of "Dancing With the Stars" has started.  And let me go ahead and admit that I am not a die-hard fan of the show.  I'm more of a side-line fan.  That means that I don't watch the show on TV, but the day after the show is aired I will look online to see how my favorite pros did the night before (I don't give a dern about the celebs), and then on the Thursday after the show I will look up their individual dances on YouTube.  The result is that I spend only about half an hour at most on my fandom each week versus however long the show is (I'm guessing at least an hour?).  I don't have to sit through the dances of the competitors that I'm not a fan of, and if I want to I can skip the judges comments and scores.  If a dance seems too risque or weird I can skip that, too.  But I do really enjoy the aspects of the show that I do follow.  Some of the dances are very, very beautiful.  You just have to find the right ones.  That is what I am a fan of, the dances that are pretty much just clean, elegant movement.  And of course I like some of the show's regulars.  The judges interactions with each other can be hilarious, and the interactions between my favorite pros and their students can be both funny and sweet.  (By the way, my fave pros are Val Chmerkovskiy, Maks Chmerkovskiy, Tristan MacManus, and Tony Dovolani.  I'm glad Maks and his snarky humor are back for this season, but I'm going to miss Tristan's lilting Irish accent.  :( )

I decided that in honor of Season 18 starting I would compile my top 10 favorite dances from the past seasons of DWTS.  They are categorized by the type of dance, ending with my all-time favorite at #1.  I hope you enjoy them!  :)

#10: Jive, Val and Zendaya, Season 16

So much energy! They could seriously be replacements for the Energizer Bunny.  And to such a spunky song, too!  You've just gotta love it.  :)

#9: Jive, Tony, Leah Remini and Henry Byalikov, Season 17

The dancing might not be that great in this one, but it's so much fun you hardly notice.  Their spoof of the judges is hilarious!  Tony could fill in for Bruno any time he wanted to and I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference.

#8: Tango, Val and Kelly Monaco, Season 15 (All Star Season)

This is a wonderful tango without any unnecessary "sexiness" or shock factor (and a great play on a classic story).  I love the song, too.

#7:  Paso Doble, Tony, Cheryl Burke, and William Levy, Season 14

Tony serves as the third member of this trio dance, and it is really cool.  I normally don't get in to the Paso Doble, but, c'mon, they're doing Zorro!  And they made the celeb, Levy, have to keep up with Tony's dancing, so seeing them face off is impressive. (The rehearsal bits before the dance are pretty funny, too). 

#6:  Hip Hop, Val and Zendaya, Season 16

Hip-hop isn't at all considered ballroom, but since Val was the student in this one, I decided to include it (and, in my opinion, he did great!)

#5: Quickstep, Maks and Brandy, Season 11

I don't understand why so many people get on Maks.  In the intro stuff to this dance, he is so cute and funny!  And the dance is really sweet, too.  Maks definitely knows his stuff, no matter what people think of him.

#4: Quickstep, Val and Kelly Monaco, Season 15 (All Star Season)

I think the quickstep would be so much fun to learn.  Hard, but fun.  And this one is so sweet and airy! 

#3: Quickstep, Maks and Anna Demidova, Season 6 or 7 (Pro Dance)

I know Anna is another pro, but it is really cool after watching the pros and their students perform a dance to see how two pros do it.  It is so smooth and so effortless!

#2: Foxtrot, Tristan and Gladys Knight, Season 14

Tristan's foxtrots are always so sweet and sentimental.  I think the reason he's gotten stuck with several older celeb partners is partly because of that approach.  He is always so gentle with them!  And I could seriously listen to him talk all day long. ;)  (Skip forward to the 3.15 mark for the actual dance.  This was the only clip I could find).

#1: Foxtrot, Val and Zendaya, Season 16

This is my favorite dance.  It is just - so - CUTE!  And graceful.  And fun.  I love the way they treated each other like a big brother/little sister (especially in the intro part of this clip).  It's from watching them interact that I first became a fan of Val.  :)


I hope one of the Chmerkovskiys win the show this year.  They've come so close time and time again, but never won it all (kind of like the Texas Rangers in recent years...yeah, you know I had to bring baseball into this somewhere. ;) )  While I like Tony as well, since he has already won once it's one of the brothers' turn to get the Mirror Ball.  Good luck this season, Val, Maks, and Tony!

UPDATE!!!!!!

Congrats to Maks and Meryl!!!!!!!  I'm so happy Maks has finally won after thirteen seasons of trying and not quite making it.  The two of them obviously had wonderful chemistry (maybe even better than Val and Zendaya?), and Meryl is obviously very talented AND seems like such a sweet person.  I only wish they had done the quickstep at some point this season.  One thing that I love about the vid above of the announcement is that as soon as they are pronounced the winners, Val and Tony are right behind them jumping up and down and congratulating them.  It's so sweet!  :)

(This is from the DTWS 10th Anniversary show, and in my opinion is their best dance).