(But y'all know my feeling that they should raise the minimum age for this show to 21 and I stand by that, now more than ever)

I agree with this wholeheartedly; it might even be better for injury prevention. But tweens watch and love this show, so, not going to happen.

SYTYCD: I think that ultimately the pseudo all-stars concept is not working for me. If it was all-stars competing with each other, that might work, but this is just not interesting. Inevitably, the partnership is unbalanced in favor of the all-star who is not competing. And if I wanted to watch Dancing with the Stars, I would. There's no excitement of two people doing well in a style that is neither of theirs, especially ballroom, which had been so limited this season.

I have nothing saved to my dvr from this season and I'm not even bummed about it.

I'm saving the eps for a season dvd at the end, but I'm not as excited about these routines as I have been in seasons past. For me, the big stand out was Alex and Twitch's hiphop. But I agree that I much prefer pair-ups between contestants. Pairings such as Brandon and Janette, Jakob and ballroom-wife (whose name I can't remember offhand), Legacy and Kathryn, these are couples that brought out something in their partners that would not have been there otherwise. Even a failed pairing such as Jeanine and Chbeeb meant that, after they got rid of him, she emerged out of nowhere to surprise us midseason, which took the season in a new direction.

I agree with the above comments. Selfishly, I have really missed most of the "all-stars" we have seen this year (except Neil and Lauren) and I really am thrilled to see them on stage again.

But these all-stars likely wouldn't have fared very well in their own seasons if they were dancing with older, more experienced versions of themselves. The all-stars do overshadow the new contestants and it is a shame. It also makes me feel badly that the AS need to defend the current contestants when the judges say harsh things.

It's like the whole dynamic is not quite right.

Selfishly, I have really missed most of the "all-stars" we have seen this year (except Neil and Lauren) and I really am thrilled to see them on stage again.

Can you imagine if they were competing with each other?

What's weird for me is that having only watched one season previously, I have no idea who half the all-stars are. So it's been really odd to try to separate them from the contestants during performances, because up until a week or so ago I was still getting to know faces.

I haven`t watched last week and will probably not get to watch this week either but I really agree I dislike the format. I don`t think there`s the room for development that comes out of working and struggling together. I don`t think it needs to stay with the pairings and the portmanteaus and all that but I do think it needs to be contestants.
 
The injury factor is another biggie and I am unhappy about it. The comment on Broadway about the number of performances is not analagous because not only is it different routines but it`s different styles, quality of movement, muscles required, etc. Whole nother thing. The injury risk is inherently much higher and the choreographers wanting emmys isn`t helping matters any.

interview with Ashley. Note: this is not edited very well.

[link]

I am *kicking* myself for not sending in an audition tape for 24 Hour Restaurant Battle. My sister and I would have ROCKED this show!

Crap, did that start? When is it on, Jess?