I can't stand the fact that the public votes for the bottom 3 couples then the judges have to kick a male and female out based on that . The females last night did not deserve to go. THe way they did it last year was way better IMHO.

And why did they get rid of the 2 they did? The judges all said that was the best passe Doble (SP???) they have seen and they were suprised they were in the bottom 3 then they ax them? Makes no sense!!!

I thought that's how they got people out last year? And Erin wasn't good, her partner was. I had no problem with her going even though I liked her. And Ivan was trip, but he stood there half his performance. I think the judges chose well.

Who was everyone's favorites after tonight? I think Jessica and James really stepped it up tonight, their dance was really classy. I also liked Benji and Donyelle, but I don't think it was right for Nigel to bring up her weight...she didn't look that happy about it either.

I agree with Nigel, the crump/crunk (which one is it?) routine was a little slow compared to the people in Rize, but it was really entertaining and you could tell they were really into it.

Weight issues in the media...
 

I loved Donyelle and Benji also. However, the weight thing was bound to be brought up. Her dress looked like they took a regular short dress and added scraps of fabric to hide her legs. She danced beautifully and it is a great thing that she shows confidence with her weight, but even my sister and I were wondering if she was trying to hide herself. In our day and age, we truly need to stop advertising the size 0 actresses because it is only going to set our future daugthers up for trying to be that skinny whatever the cost is and having our sons believe that it is an unfavorable thing to be a thick woman. We have things that need to be resloved especially now that women such as Janet Jackson and Beyoncé think they need to lose even more weight to be seen by the public. Being voluptuous should not be seen as a crime. There are extremely beautiful women that are not even close to skinny i.e., Queen Latifah, Mo' nique and countless others. Even in the past women that were sought out and preferred by high class men were not the skinny women that exist now. Marylin Monroe was a size 14 and that is close to the average size that women wear now. There is a difference between being healthy and trying to be as skinny as possible and our society has crossed into the deadly border of wanting the extremely slim women even if the way they get to the weight is unhealthy for them.

I have NO idea how in the world I thought Ivan was cut last week over that foreign ballroom kid. I don't mean that rudely either, I just have NO clue what his name was...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the 1st guy who did the crump dancing. I can't remember his name, but he's a total fave of mine. Benji's also great.

Joy needs to go. I hope she doesn't get the votes just b/c she's cute. She was just totally awful to watch.

And I think Nigel brought up a good point, because so many dancers are stereotyped one way and asked to be that way. I mean it was a valid point, and he meant it nicely.

And I'm sure I'm going to get my head bitten off for saying this, so I apologize if I offend anyone now... a size 14 is the AVERAGE size of a woman, but that doesn't mean it's healthy. I'm by NO means saying I have anything against size 14 people either, I was a 12 for a few years myself, and even at 5'9" I was definitely not healthy like I am now. So I'm not saying you're fat at size 14, just not as healthy as you could be maybe...

I just don't think that Donyelle looks like she's that overweight, but I guess she's just bigger than all the rest of the girls on the show.

Joy and Dimitri are probably my least fave couple. Dimitri is really talented though, and Joy seems really sweet. I'm like Shane Sparks, I want to be nice to everyone!

Oh I totally agree. She's awesome. I LOVED LOVED LOVED her audition too.

I can't stand Joy. I just find her annoying. I hope she gets voted off. I don't think Donyelle is overweight in real life/real world, but there is a traditional image of dancers as tall, lean, thin, in shape, lithe, flexible, etc. and anyone who doesn't fit that image is going to have a harder time at auditions (though I didn't like how Nigel brought this topic up). The world of dancers is still like the world of models, the world of actresses, and the world of popstars. They are not representative of the average American woman. There may be some changes and some barriers being broken down, but when people hear the word dancer or model or actress or popstar, it still most often evokes the image of young, tall, thin, beautiful, feminine, leggy, busty, blonde, caucasian.

http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/mmdress.htm

Please don't think I'm trying to knock on you. A lot of people don't realize that Marilyn Monroe was NOT a size 14 or 16. It's a myth that keeps being perpetuated.

I'm absolutely addicted to this show! Thank God for DVR.

Donyalle (?sp) and Benji are my favorites! Especially after last week's hip hop performance. I cringed when Nigel brought up D's weight. I mean, if her weight was not an issue and she's a good dancer, why did he have to bring it up? The girl ain't even that big.

My next top fave was the crumpers.

I hope Dmitri does not get the boot today..he's adorable!

umm... ok
 

So technically that article proves my point though because they state she was a size 12 by our standards now, however, most women back then did not wear a size that would be as tight fitting as we do these days. Also, they stated that her weight varied according to her dieting patterns so technically on average although she may have been a 12 according to her measurements, she may have gone up a size seeing as the difference between a 12 and a 14 technically is only one size or she may have fit a size 14 better. So theoretically seeing as they state they do not have an actual account of what exact size she liked to wear and she was that close to a 14, they should state their spectulations as they have a right to do, but should not criticize people who believe she may have been a size 14 or even 16 (as they also in the article stated that the standards for clothing sizes have changed), especially when stations like MTV that did a segment on it promoted her as being that size (it was the clip when they were talking about her singing happy birthday to the president...). Also, as they state in British sizes today she would still be a 16. So really it doesn't matter... it still proves my point... she was of one of the sizes that today's world (in comparison to the size 0 women) would consider okay but still on the larger side especially at 5'5.5".

As a large-chested dancer in NYC, I can say "busty" is NOT a word you associate with dancers!!!! ;) Actually, most dancers aren't tall either. At 5'7" I was always on the very tall side of any audition I was at. The only time I saw other busty and tall women was at the Rockettes audition - minimum height is 5'6" for them.

All that said, weight is an issue in the dance world, but more and more it's becoming an issue in only the ballet companies. Even there I've seen some girls with chests big enough to be noticed from the balcony - though they are usually in the corps. Yes woman are usually on the thin side, but for modern companies I have seen plenty of women who are size 8s or 10s. There are even a few notable dancers here who are quite large for what most consider "ideal" for a dancer. Case in point, Alexandra Beller who was the rehearsal director for a company I did a few performance with. She's an amazing mover.
http://www.alexandrabellerdances.org/about/

http://www.alexandrabellerdances.org...abeller010.jpg

I wasn't trying to be snotty to you (as I specifically said) so no need for the "um....ok". I'm not the only person on here to have made the point about Marilyn Monroe. You can check through the threads. There are plenty of articles out there that talk about Marilyn Monroe not being a 14 or 16. But, you seem to have your sources too so that's fine. Just no need to be rude about.

Marilyn Monroe was fat and not hot. Broads of today are way hotter than her

Ok, let me kinda edit what i was saying. Busty is probably applied to the other industries (music, acting, modeling) rather than dancing. But for the rest of what I said, what I meant was that when the average American (who probably doesn't know much about dance), hears the words professional dancer, the first image that pops into their head is probably that of a stereotypical ballerina (very long, thin, lean, lithe body).