Administrator's Note:  Several members of our website had the opportunity to see Ballroom With A Twist in Northridge and Lancaster, CA on May 17-18.  Special thanks to Betsy and Kiki who bravely took on the challenge of writing a little something for us so that we could see BWAT through their eyes.  Enjoy!

Betsy
OK, here goes!! I hope there were other MacManiacs in the audience who can fill in the big gaps in this review.

First of all, my husband, two friends and I loved the show!  Tristan and Kym were beautiful and talented as usual, but the rest of the cast was superb as well.  Gina and Von’s singing was out of this world, especially since Gina looks like she is about to pop out her baby in the not too distant future!  Our favorite Irishman was having a lot of fun with the mike.  In fact, even my husband mentioned that Kym was hardly able to get a word in edgewise!!  It was obvious that he was thoroughly enjoying interacting with us!  Some of his quips really left us laughing, like when an audience member asked what was their favorite part of their jobs and Tristan answered "Having one"!!  When another audience member asked if the pros had any say in their celebrity, Tristan quipped "So you think I chose mine?"  He explained that it would probably make for boring TV if the pros were able to choose.  

He then went on to describe how when he came over to the U.S. for the first season as a pro, he went into the producer's office after having a big buildup about how great and well-known his star was, in fact, he said there was practically a drum roll on the producer's desk when they were about to give him the name.  Well, when they said "Nancy Grace,” he asked, "Who"?  They said, "Well, she is very well-known over here.  In fact she has her own TV show!"  He said "Well, we don't get American TV over in Ireland!" Then he went on to quickly mention Pamela and said "Well, that one was interesting to go home and tell the wife about!!  Probably a good thing we only lasted one week!!"

Honestly, he was so excited sometimes that I couldn't catch what he was saying with his accent, so I just sat there and enjoyed watching him have fun. The second time they came out to talk, they turned up the house lights and proceeded to have us all stand up.  Of course, many of us were reluctant.  Then they told us how recently they had been in Canada and how good the audience was there - so that got us up because we had to show that we were as good if not better at dancing in two square feet (in front of our chairs!) as the Canadians were.  By the end we were all laughing and making quite the fools of ourselves.  Tristan had us shimmy to our friends (while he demonstrated with Kym) and then told us to make a new friend and shimmy with them.  He was having a ball turning to the audience and showing his shimmy.  I definitely thought it was time for me to join all of you in the dungeon by the time he was done with shimmying and turning himself around in circles (he does have a cute backside!!).   Sorry I can't remember all the technical stuff - I certainly am no dance expert!  But it was such a fun time I would highly suggest everyone go if it comes near you!  


[For those of you unfamiliar with the dungeon, it's the imaginary place on this website where we send misbehaving MacManiacs.]

Kiki  W.
Ballroom With A Twist is unbelievable.

I could talk about each of the exquisite dances that Tristan did with Kym or I could talk about the other perfect performances or I could talk about the amazing vocal talents of Gina Glocksen-Ruzicka and Von Smith.  What I’m going to talk about is Tristan’s unbelievable talent, not just as a dancer and performer, because I think we all knew that, but each time I see BWAT I come away impressed with the ease at which he works an audience and has them in the palm of his hand.

This is my fifth BWAT show in which Tristan has played the role of performer and co-host.  Because I was traveling on business in California this past weekend, I was fortunate enough to get to see the show again.  Tristan is a natural.  Every show is different because Tristan depends on his audience to make the give-and-take segment extra special for everyone and to make every show unique.  He has a natural rapport with Kym much like he has with Anna, yet with Kym, it’s so relaxed and fun that you wish you could see him doing this every night. 

When he does the shimmy demonstration, the audience goes wild. When he talks, the audience goes wild. When he dances the audience goes wild, and when he talks to his audience it’s as though he is talking to each person there one-on-one, and we all feel like we are prt of BWAT.  He’s that good, and Kym is his perfect counterpart (much as Anna was in the shows I saw last summer).

I can’t imagine what ABC was thinking by letting this gem get away for Season 18. Talent like that comes along rarely, and there are so many facets to his talent that you know that only great things like ahead for this man.

He’s brilliant, but it’s the kind of brilliance that we all wish we had.  He’s the real deal.

Administrator's Note: Season 18 of Dancing With the Stars has been a strange season for sure, and the absence of Tristan has been particularly noticeable. Lots of us decided to skip the season; some of us decided to focus on other things, and others just didn’t feel the attraction for the show with a Tristan-less season looming.  Others decided to watch – some liked it, some hated it, some were ambivalent.  This special post is from a website member, Annie D, who tells us her special reasons for continuing to watch DWTS and why none of it bothers her in the least.

MacManiacs.org is addictive……..I keep on reading about S18 even though I said I wouldn’t.  I can’t help it even if I don’t necessarily agree with the opinions of some who post about it. The site is so good that it is one of the very few I bother to look at. That being said, let me explain why I can’t get bent out of shape about a TV show.  This is what I have been dealing with for the past few weeks.

1)  My Dad is 95 years old and although he is doing fairly well he misses my Mom so much.  She passed away 18 months ago and they had been together for almost 70 years.  He lives a mile from us so we see him as often as possible.  My only sibling lives 10 hours away so she isn’t here that often.  I see my Dad starting to fail (as I saw it happen to Mom). It’s a constant worry.

2)  My older daughter is expecting a baby in September.  She and her husband found recently that it is a girl and they were ecstatic.  The very next day she got a phone call that one of the ultrasound images was a concern.  She had to wait 48 hours to have the ultrasound redone.  I’m sure you can understand that we went to hell and back before they got the results.  They went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in 24 hours.  In the end, the second scan showed that everything was fine.  We are all so grateful but we were all in shock for a few days.

3)  My younger daughter had a very serious cardiac condition as a baby but ultimately we were told that although there was some damage to her heart it was minor and shouldn’t cause her any problems.  She had been followed by a cardiologist at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children from 10 months to 18 years old. A couple of days before Mother’s Day she started feeling unwell and having chest pains (she is now 24 years old).  She went to the doctor who was very concerned given her history.  She was advised to go to the hospital to have some cardiac-specific tests done to rule out that she was having heart problems again.  So this is how I spent Mother’s Day.  I sat with her in the hospital waiting for these test results (tests that the ER doctor agreed were necessary).  I sat there thinking, “I am here waiting to find out if she has potentially suffered more cardiac damage."  Once again, someone was taking care of my children – everything was fine.  She had a condition called costochondritis which is not dangerous but can be very painful and can mimic the pain of (for example) a heart attack.

And that’s why I couldn’t give a flying rat’s ass about the stupidity and nonsense on a TV show.  I refuse to get upset about anything that has to do with entertainment because that’s all it is – entertainment.  I have so much else in my life to worry about.  DWTS is just fluff and no matter how ridiculous it is, I watch it and just enjoy the dancing.

The title is self-explanatory.  Now it's time to get down to business.  These are just a few of the important things that drive MacManiacs crazy.

1. Apparently the term “chillax” hits a nerve, so you probably don’t want to say that to a MacManiac. Otherwise, the expression MacLunatic might be more apropos than you think.

2. If you go to McDonalds because you crave a Frappé and the machine is down. Or if you go to McDonalds for the seasonal Shamrock Shake and the machine is down. That’s just not right. MacManiacs are supposed to be able to get sugary drinks whenever we want them.  It’s one of the basic food groups and a required frequent beverage consumption.

3. Not that this beverage thing is going to be a trend, but if you go to Starbucks for a Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino and they are out of cookie crumble, it just might set off a MacManiac.  This really has nothing to do with dancing other than all that sugar makes you want to Samba or Jive so we consider a DCCFWCC (double chocolate chip frappuccino with cookie crumble) to be dance inspiration.  Or false courage.

4. Now on to the more serious issues at hand. Have we mentioned that we are not happy that Tristan wasn't a DWTS pro for Season 18?  Not only wasn’t he a pro with a celebrity partner, he was the one pro who has (as someone said on our forum) picked up the dues tab for every other pro in DWTS history and deserved not only to be back but to be back with a contender.  It still rankles, and yes, we’re still pissed off, and we will probably be harping on it for a long time.  He could have filled any of the six male pro spots and filled them admirably and yet…

5. Guest judges. Tristan was right. In one interview we asked him what he thought about the possibility of guest judges, and he said that he didn’t see what purpose they would serve, particularly with the once a week show where time is at a premium.  He thought the idea of someone judging solely for the entertainment value might be the only workable solution.  Instead we got a hodgepodge bunch of judges that didn’t add anything, didn’t take away anything, and didn’t say anything of note.  Boring annoys us.

6. The rudeness that goes on all over  social media.  Wow.  There is some serious whining, bad-mouthing, foul-tempered cursing, and “holier than thou” crap that goes on every week, but it’s worse on show nights.  And it’s coming from some of the fan twitters.  It might be different if the whining and sour grapes went on behind closed doors but when you have followers who read that – and the followers might be from another fan base – well, that’s just bad form.

7. We admit that many of us aren’t watching Season 18 because, let’s face it, without Tristan MacManus the season is a bit of a dud in many respects, but we have captured enough of it, watched enough You Tube videos, and seen enough miscellaneous footage to know a crapload of manipulation and crazy-ass scoring when we see it.  We probably don’t need to explain. It’s smacked us all in the face many times by now.

8. When you pay good money for dance lessons because you’re pretty sure you’re going to wow Tristan when you take that private lesson with him….and you end up with 47 left feet to go along with the sweaty palms and sugar rush from having ice cream before (and after) your lesson with the Professor.

9. The very oddball assignment of dances on DWTS.  We’re all about mixing it up but Jazz and Contemporary taught by pros who may or may not know what Jazz and Contemporary are and then judged by judges who may or may not know what Jazz and Contemporary are is just flat out annoying. Then we get some celebrities getting to dance both Jazz and Contemporary because the pro presumably knows how to teach it – sort of (we have our doubts) - and then others get neither (Meryl and Maks for instance) because presumably Maks might not want to teach it or it might not be up Meryl’s alley or maybe the producers think it gives some advantages to certain pairs.

10. The way DWTS has gotten away from its winning formula and turned into a mess.  We despised Season 15 but this one is way worse. The scoring is inconsistent to the extreme, the technique of the performers seems to have been reduced to the bottom of the teaching curriculum so that we can have flash and flair.  How about holding the old frame and having consistently great posture and nice arms?

11. Ordering a black iced coffee at McDonalds and getting one with enough cream in it to harden one's arteries and make one’s ass bigger than a barn. This is how the conversation goes:

McD’s:  Do you want that with cream and sugar?
Me: No, I want it black.  No cream.  No sugar.
Me (looking at the light brown beverage): This has cream in it.
McD’s: Then why didn’t you say so before I made it?
Me:  I did.
McD’s:  “loud exasperated sigh.”

Annoying.

12.  Theme Weeks on DWTS are the definition of annoying.  Where shall we begin? They generally stink because there has been a trend to make those nights meaningless, frivolous, and ridiculous.  Latin Night should be all Latin Music.  American Icon Week should be American Icons.  Personal Stories week should be tossed and never be recycled again. Want to see the MacLunacy pendulum move to the danger zone? Bring back the most memorable year/personal stories drama-fest or ridiculous-fest that makes us think “this is the best they can do?”

13. Super-sized dances should be illegal. Get rid of them for once and for all.  If they can’t find something for the troupe to do, then get rid of the troupe and let the pros take back their show. Honestly, the troupe’s role this season has gone from “why are they here” to “really, why are they here.”  Super-sized freestyles hit a nerve, but the way random dances have been tossed into random performances in a misguided effort to look like a weak imitation of Burn the Floor or Ballroom With a Twist….well, it makes us crazy. Really crazy.

14. Things that make our eyes bleed also make us crazy – such as the obsession certain pros have with showing off the goods. We’re not saying who, but let’s just say if we wanted to see all that or if we wanted to worry about whether or not a costume would reveal more than is permissible on what is supposed to be a family show, we could go to a strip club.  Since we’re not inclined to go to a strip club, just put the damn clothes back on, please, and we won’t go crazy.  Also, boys, keep those chests covered please. There is such a glare from those slick chests on open-shirt/take off the shirt night that we are facing retinal detachment.

15. Team Names.  Whatever happened to simple and classy? Some of this season’s names make us nauseous and in need of those little bags provided on airplanes.  For once ABC had the right idea.  Team Charlie, Team Diana, Team King of the Universe (oh wait, we mean Team Tristan or Team WhoeverHisPartnerWas SupposedToBeForSeason18).

16. The poor misguided souls who decided to use the Sam’s Club surplus of aluminum foil for the backdrop for this season’s cast photos.  We get annoyed with crap like that. How will we ever cover our Thanksgiving turkeys since DWTS used all the aluminum foil? (This observation was stolen from a forum member who first mentioned the problem.)

17. Fact. Very few pros even mentioned Tristan’s absence this season. What’s up with that? Pisses. Us. Off.  MacLunatics to the extreme.

18. Ringers. This is a common element of annoyance among my fellow MacLunatics.  If ABC wants ringers, fine. Have a season of ringers so that the scale is balanced.  Not Val’s fault, but seriously? Ringer after ringer after ringer after ringer.  If ABC wants old and young each season, fine.  Give the older celebrities to the pros who have never had them.  Peta, Val Derek, Mark…..  We’re not talking old being 35, 40, 45, or 50.  Talk to us when you’ve partnered somebody 70 years old.

19.  The fact that the MacLunatics aren’t on a rotation for the hosting spot alongside Tom.  (This was another forum member suggestion which we deem to be brilliant).  We would bring intelligence, wit, sarcasm, an abundance of snarkiness, and our collection of Tristan MacManus photos, videos, and t-shirts just for the occasion.  We’re classy like that.

Had enough yet? No worries.  We have a forum thread entitled “Centralized Venting” where we bitch about anything and everything and there are more than 275 comments and 3600 views of it already.  Yeah, we’re on a roll.

This is just the beginning.  Wait until we really get going.

BWAT in Kitchener was nothing short of amazing! The concept of the show works so well – the audience gets to see fantastic dancing and hear unbelievable music. We (my husband and I) have seen three BWAT shows since 2010 and each one has been just as good as the other. That being said this one was extra special because of Tristan and Kym. They did an outstanding job of being the hosts for the show and it is so obvious how much they enjoy it. They are very comfortable in this role and it makes for a relaxed atmosphere – nothing is forced or “scripted”. Tristan is a hoot and he loves to talk – how very Irish of him! 

In addition, we were of course treated to them dancing several dances, including a rumba done the way a rumba is supposed to be danced (hear that current DWTS dancers??). The other dancers are also SO GOOD! Every kind of dance style was covered – Paso Doble, Samba, Quickstep, Contemporary, etc.  The troupe included Brent Borbon, Anya Fuchs, Oksana Dmytrenko and several others (my brain is letting me down – I can’t remember all their names). As well, Legacy and Randi Lynn Strong from SYTYCD were in the show and all I can say is WOW! What a treat to see all of them. The singers were Gina Glocksen and Von Smith and the two of them sang everything live – no canned music, no lip-syncing - and they both have incredible voices. We were blown away by how good they were. What made this performance so memorable was the fact that the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra was on the stage with all the performers and they played ALL the music – again, no canned music at all. It was magical. It was special because all of the performers had huge smiles on their faces. It was so obvious how much they enjoyed performing for us (almost full house).  We had incredible seats – fourth row from the front, dead centre. We could see absolutely everything, including the sweat flying off the male dancers! Were they working hard? Oh, yes they were!

After the show there was a meet and greet for a small group of the people who attended the show, including us! We had the chance to talk with Gina, Von, a few of the dancers, Kym and (of course) Tristan! What a guy. He embodies what we all want in the entertainers we are fans of – a down to earth, decent, funny, sweet, pleasant guy who doesn’t just talk nonsense. He immediately recognized us and gave me a bear hug. He looked so genuinely happy to see us it absolutely warmed our hearts. We stood and talked to him for several minutes and we could have kept on but we didn’t want to be selfish – there were other people who also wanted the chance to chat with him. All the performers we talked to were singing the praises of the orchestra and they all said how much they enjoyed having the opportunity to do the show together with the orchestra. It really was wonderful – what a great concept.

As for Tristan, my personal opinion is that there are some pros who should take lessons from Tristan on how to behave. Realistically, maybe he’s too good for DWTS. Who knows – maybe HE doesn’t want to be part of it…that would make me sad as I truly miss him on the show but I also want him to do what HE wants and what is good for him. He enjoys BWAT – that was clearly obvious. Let’s hope he does more of these shows so that more people in the U.S. and Canada have the chance to see what we – those crazy MacManiacs/MacLunatics – saw the minute he joined DWTS.

Sad the show is over!!

As most of you know, we traditionally do our pre-season awards, our mid-season awards, and our post-season awards but we do them whenever we feel like it.  This time, however, DWTS got away from us – probably because the magic was missing, and maybe because we just didn't feel like it.  You know what we’re talking about; there was no Tristan MacManus lighting up the stage, working his dance magic, and getting the MacManiacs all riled up.

So here you have it – our Season 18 awards.  It doesn't matter that the season has a couple of weeks to go.  We’re going with what we know, and our opinions are not likely to change.  By the way, some of the awards might seem a wee bit repetitive but that’s because we have such strong opinions that dual awards were necessary – often to the same person.  And here we go….

The 'Out Of Tea' Give the Girl a Parka Award –  This one goes to Peta.  Yes, Peta wore real clothes Week 8 but we don’t expect that trend to continue.  She has to have a severe case of frostbite by now – LA or not.  Yikes.  The sweatshirt that our friend Sarah (Out of Tea) was planning to send Peta just doesn’t seem like nearly enough.  Hence, we're sending a parka.

The Risky Business Award – The winner has to be James.  We’re not sure what that costume was a couple of weeks ago, but it highly resembled a diaper which is kind of like underwear so we give James the “slide across the floor in your tighty whities while pretending to be Tom Cruise” award.

The Cover It Up, Please Award – This goes to all of those male pros who have decided that we like their bare, waxed, shiny chests.  Apparently the men of DWTS also seem to think that we want to see them dance shirtless again and again.  Nope.  It’s old news.  It’s boring.  It’s not even hot any longer.  Besides, none of those guys have “The Chest”.   For more information on “The Chest” see our previous blog or just think “Tristan MacManus.”

The Dude, We Want Hair Like That Award – This goes to Charlie.   We cried when Sharna made him slick his hair back because Charlie’s hair was meant to be wild and free, curly and gorgeous.  It  works with any dance, any place, any time.

The Please No More Supersized Anything Award  – Supersized Freestyles are bad enough, and keep in mind that even McDonalds decided that supersized meals were a bad idea.  All of these extras thrown in for various dances seem more like filler, filler, and more filler.  It’s distracting us from the actual celebrity contestant….oh wait.  Was that the idea?  Tsk Tsk.  We’re supposed to be watching the celebrities dance not looking at a bunch of other random people clouding the issue.

The Who Are They Again Award  – Unfortunately, this is going to the troupe.  We kind of forgot about them.  Even with our beloved Sasha in the mix, we still can't remember who is in and who is out.  Ah, we think back to when the troupe made a statement back in the day….like in Season 12....

The We’re So Confused Award – This goes to the MacManiacs (MacLunatics).  We still don't get it. Nothing that has happened this season has convinced us that all of the pro choices were the right ones. Tristan MacManus should have been - and deserved to be - dancing every week. 

Guest Judge Award – None of them.   Unless your name is Tristan MacManus, Anna Trebunskaya, Dmitry Chaplin, Chelsie Hightower, or Louis Van Amstel, we’re not interested.  Julianne is great, but she’s not really knocking our socks off as a judge, and she is just too close to some of the pros (Derek and Mark, for instance).  Robin Roberts was a sweetheart, but she's not a dancer with the right kind of expertise.  Ricky Martin would be fun as a contestant, but he doesn’t need to be judging.  Abby Lee Miller?  We’re not even going there (even though she made some valid comments Week 8 of this season, like ‘em or not).  Bring back much-loved pros, which would also mean their fans might consider watching again.

Oopsies, Did She Really Say That Award – Abby Lee Miller who unintentionally (or intentionally) mentioned that she saw dress rehearsal which makes us think the judges have watched dress rehearsals more than once which means somebody is telling a big fat fib and we don’t think it’s ALM. 

The We Hate the Word Showmance Award – Gawd, these things make us want to leap tall bridges without a safety net.  Peta and James? Maks and Meryl?  We don’t care.  We hate the word, we hate the idea, and we just want to see dancing without any speculation of the backstory.  Therefore this award has multiple winners:  Peta and whoever she happens to be dancing with, Val and whoever he happens to be dancing with, and Maks and most of his “whoever he happens to be dancing with.”  Enough already.

The Most Overused Word Award – To all those people on social media who insist that we must love one, love them all because Tony, Maks, and Val have the Dance With Me connection and are therefore “family.”  I can’t even call my own family my family anymore because the term has been so overused. 

The No More Ringers For You, Please Award – Where shall we begin?  Val. Val. Val.

The It’s Time For Her to Have Another Heartthrob Award  – We want to see Cheryl Burke get another sexy Latin heartthrob as her partner. Might we suggest Nicholas Gonzalez?

The Whatever Happened to Dancing With your Shirt On Award – Tony Dovolani for doing the Chippendales thing almost every week – and we really don’t need to see it, but he’s not the only one. Sigh.  Boys, put your shirts back on and keep the mystery alive.  Any pro or troupe member who has bared the waxed chest this season gets the award.  A supersized one.

The Please Put On Your Good Sport Face Instead Of Your Woe Is Me, We’re Gonna Be Eliminated In Week 8 Boo Hoo Face Award – To Peta.  No explanation needed.

The Give the Pro An AARP Member Award – Val. Derek. Mark. Peta.  Come on.  They are pros and can deal with it.  The casting is so predictable that we predicted it before the pairings were announced.  

The How About You Mix It Up A Little Bit Award - To ABC.  We love Macy's Stars of Dance, and we don't mind Derek choreographing for it occasionally but seriously? There are plenty of marvelous pros who can bring something new and exciting to the table.  No way should one pro have creative control and choreograph for the entire season.  Alternative titles for this award:  Excessive Face Time Award, Let's Spread the Wealth Around Award, Give the Other Pros the Chance To Earn the Title of Emmy Winning Choreographer Award, Let Somebody Else Reap the Rewards Award, etc.

WTF Award – To ABC.  It still makes no sense why Tristan isn’t dancing every week. Dumbest. Move. Ever.

Perseverance Award – To the MacManiacs and MacLunatics for not having a meltdown.  Yet.