Natalie's not back?? :-( She was my favorite both the seasons she was on.

I always find it interesting that you have some girls who are almost "lifers" on the squad and then you have some who are one year and done. Especially girls like Natalie and Candace who got so close one year and then finally made it.

Well if DCC is anything like the Cardinals, I understand why.

I knew a Cardinals cheerleader. Their tryouts were just as long as DCC (3 months). They then practice 2-3 times a week (at night) for like 2-3 hours. They then had to arrive at the stadium 3-4 hours prior to the game starting for practice. Then the personal appearances. At the time I knew someone on the team they were making a whooping like 100-150 (if even that much!) a game.

I mean it was an incredibly time consuming activity during football season and they got very little compensation for it.

I'm sure DC ladies get more because of how famous they are. Its kind of like teaching, you do it because you love it not for the financial rewards of it. And if you are financially strapped (or in some of the girls cases maybe going to college), you might not be able to "afford" the time required to do it.

OOOOOOH! Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks much!

Gonna go set my DVR right now!

YAY! i know someone that is trying out (or is it--tried out?) for the team. I don't know her well enough to ask her about it, so i'll just watch! lol. Plus the DCC website was down when I tried to look for the squad.

No, I'm pretty sure I read that too. I could almost swear that she is an ADPi-just like Nancy Grace.

I watched seasons 1 and 2 as marathons. I want more DCC now, not on Oct 20!!! (i will be out of the country for the next 2 saturdays)

I saw the commercial for the next episode and the people in charge did a background check and they asked one of the girls if that was her in the photograph. The girl was wearing I believe a yellow tube top and was partying. And if you've read my earlier post, I bet that they got Alexandra for that incident.

Oh, I can't wait for that.

I really don't think it's fair that Cassie Trammell made it to finals when she messed up in the dance to the point where she must've even thought she blew it and texted her mom to apologize. If I was a girl who was cut and I saw that, I know I'd be mad.

I do like the Alyssa girl a lot too, I hope she makes it.

But I do sort of remember Kelli saying that they do tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. She also stated that a lot of girls messed up that dance. So if you held them all to that "oh they messed up the dance, can't move them to finals", then barely anyone would have made finals.

I'm a cheer coach, obviously not the same as Dallas Cowboys, but during my tryouts every single girl who tried out messed up the dance somehow. What I was looking for (along with the other coaches) were when they messed up did they just stand there or attempt to recover? did they still have a smile on their face and kept going or did they have a look that said "oh shit I totally screwed this up"? There are a lot of factors in deciding who is going to be on a team (in the DCC case, who would advance to finals).

I know if I were Kelli, I would want to advance the girl who yeah messed up, but she kept dancing, caught back up, had a great personality, didn't let it effect her and had a smile on her face, over a girl who let it effect her and basically froze. I'd give the former the benefit of the doubt and would want to see more.

I know when they show Judy & Kelly (is that her name?) calling out the girls, some are shown out of order, but I could have SWORN the girl that I knew wasn't called for the final round. But I saw her on yesterday's --she was #50. I'm almost positive she made it to training camp (since when they called someone else's name, my girl's chair was empty) but we'll see next week. I don't think she made the team though or else she would have posted it on her myspace.

I agree with advancing the girls who had more of a "performer"'s attitude, where they may have messed up but played it off well, But Judy says her daughter didn't even do that. They do mention that one girl, Jordan (can't remember her last name), also messed up but kept going instead of just blanking or letting it affect her. I just don't think it's fair that Judy is involved in the judging process of her daughter's tryout, but at the same time I don't see another way they could go around it.

I was surprised Cassie made it - considering that her mother is the choreographer, I didn't think her dancing was outstanding, even if she hadn't forgotten the routine.

Which vets were cut? I think there were four, based on Sarah's comment that there were five left when they got to the final five training camp candidates, but then she got called.

I thought the same thing too...she just seems a bit out of place to me....oh well, I guess none of that really matters when you know (or you are related to) the right people...

And I could have sworn they showed Erica Jenkins and Abigail Klein (and others) crying while they said that several veterans were cut, but those girls weren't cut. (I cheated and checked.)

Carmen Butler, Leah Mullinax, Michelle Mozek, Andrea Rogers, and Kelly Jo Stauffacher were cut from last year's team.

side note: Carmen, Leah, and Michelle as well as Alex Benvenuto landed on their feet. they're now apart of the Dallas Mavericks Dance Team.

She doesn't really have a dance background, at least based on that footage they showed. She cheered for Cheer Athletics, which is a really hard-core all-star cheerleading program. I mean, she may have done a dance team or something too, but the stuff they were showing - tumbling, flipping basket tosses, etc. - was SO not DCC. (PS - she would have made an outstanding college cheerleader...)

But... with her mom as choreographer, she knew what the DCC were looking for, and could prepare accordingly. Maybe she was better than the bit we saw of her showed. You know how wonderful reality TV editing can be. :p

what is DCC?

Simple reason Cassie made it to training camp, regardless of her talent--- politics. If Judy's kid doesn't make the team, she'd quit.

How are so many of these women only between 10 to 15% body fat? It doesn't seem possible to me. I think the average female bodybuilder/fitness competitor is between like 12 to 15% which is supposedly what the average DCC is. Except with female fitness competitors, you can see the separation between the grooves in their abdominals and the striations in their quads which you don't see with the DCCs. I would've guessed that the average DCC is between 17 to 20%. I'm not sure why they'd make up something like that though since it promotes an unhealthy body image for the viewers. Also, I think most women stop menstruating around 15% but I could be wrong.

I was disturbed by the last episode because of the big deal that was made with the % of body fat. There is a problem with eating disorders in this country already and this episode excerbated (not sure if I spelled that right) the "ideal, perfect body". I found it quite sad at the end when Erika was pulled in and was told that she was too fat!!!!!:mad::confused::eek: OMG I would KILL to have Erika's body!!!!!!!! I understand that they have an "image" but come on, with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders being world famous you think they could use their "power" to promote "healthy" body images instead of "unrealistic" body images.

I definately lost some respect for Kelli (who I have been told is an ADPi, don't know if this is true or not) and Judy.

I was flipping back and forth between that and the World Series so maybe I heard this wrong, but did Kelli say Nicole didn't know what division the Cowboys played in?? Seriously??? After three years with the team? Even if you don't pay enough attention to the team surely that would have sunk in somehow.

You heard correctly - apparently Nicole missed the Division question.

I was a little shocked by the body fat ratio measuring, too, but apparently they do it every year (they used some other kind of machine last year). I thought their physical look would be more important than a pre-determined fat ratio. They showed two girls with (OMG!!!!) around a 20% reading, and I would love to have the figure of either of them. I realize they're older, but Judy doesn't look particularly fit, and neither does Kitty - especially for dancers. Kelli looks good, but obviously has it all lifted and tucked with a complete Spanx undergarment wardrobe.

But none of those 3 have to fit into the DCC outfit anymore. I understand the weight issue, but I disagree with the idea that it "promotes eating disorders." Especially with the veterans, they know what it takes to fit into the outfit, and if they resort to having an eating disorder that is on them, it isn't the fault of the DCC program.

Shoot i'd love to have any of those girls bodies, but I can see where Kelli and the others get their distorted views from. The idea people get of the those girls are the idea they get of the DCC, and by association their idea of Kelli & the team. So if someone looks at a girl and thinks she's heavier or that she has "rolls" in the outfit, that will reflect poorly on the DCC. I'm not saying its right, but I know it happens.

Yeah, like it or not, they're in a very "looks based" business. Like I said before, it's easy for people to say "how awful", but those people probably don't have to wear white booty shorts to work or a shirt that barely qualifies as one.

All this "fat talk" reminds me of the time our rush advisor (from somewhere in the Midwest) told us The Weight Story. The story was of her weight gain during the summer and of her sisters confronting her about it in the weeks before rush starts. They urge her to lose the weight immediately, "for the sake of your sisters..." Of course she complied and lost the weight and she says "I felt great about it." This is from the late-80's era and several years after the highly-publicized death of Karen Carpenter, so it's not like people weren't aware of eating disorders. Anyway I'm sure you're all remembering similar counseling from rush advisors in years past...