Behind the scenes of rehearsals at ABC Good Morning America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHSswcX6Ks4

There is a tiny 3 second bit of Artem I wearing a star wars outfit backing up Billy Dee.

Lol a meek and mild Maks, whatever next, worth watching, just to see how long that will last. He sounds like he is doing some heavy flirting with Meryl. Competition wise he knows he's got a good chance with herl!!! Yes the common thread, in all this is Maks, so how can he blame his previous partners.

Thanks Lili, well spotted 3 seconds of Artem, lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HbepmMN0Oo

https://twitter.com/AmyPurdyGurl/sta.../photo/1/large

http://www.mstarz.com/articles/27558...ne-tonight.htm

Amy and Derek interview.

http://www.ryanseacrest.com/2014/03/...medium=twitter

I am guessing that Emma Slater choreographed a Star Wars themed cha cha for Billy Dee and chose Artem and Sasha as backup dancers. It must be hard to dance in that outfit or explain it if there was another earthquake.

I wonder if any of the other couples are using the troupe for backup.

Oh, has there been an earthquake?! Afraid it has passed me by Hope not too serious....

Meryl & Maks def look very good but Maks is still Maks with the switch off once they have danced!
http://wotv4women.com/2014/03/17/ins...ith-the-stars/

I like seeing Karina & Maks still friends
http://instagram.com/p/lqLi8Yh4xs/

Looks like we get weekly blog again from Val - good news IMO
http://www.today.com/entertainment/d...nfl-2D79377543

Sounds like we know 1 guest judge already
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2blkcH2jzA

Radio interview - http://www.onwithmario.com/media/pod...ioli-24487026/

Dances from opening night

Just the dances and judging. Clips in reverse order - Jason Derulo and pros are the openiner. Seems like the dances are very short.

I won't have time till later on to go a-hunting, but if anyone finds a YT or Daily Motion source for the whole show uploaded (even if it's in segments) please could you post it?

https://twitter.com/EmmaSlaterDance/.../photo/1/large

Did she choose the theme or was it foisted on her, I wonder? I wonder if after she did such a good showing last season with thematic routines, it's now been decided by the powers that be that this is her thing and she always has to do that now.

Have a feeling she got lumbered with it, they seem to be really trading on Star Wars, that's all they showed in the training clip. Billy Dee looked a bit cheesed off with it. Think he struggled to even remember some of the steps, so expect they needed to add some kind of theme to distract the eye through the performance. Emma was working her butt off trying to breathe life into the routine.

Thought the band and a good proportion of the music choices were poor tbh. They've really pared down the musicians, it's almost like a tribute band now!!! Have they cut down the length of the dances too, they didn't seem to last very long.

Remember codebear?

http://www.youtube.com/user/Codebear4

I haven't had a chance to watch yet. I hope the band improves over the series, once they settle in. As for Emma and Billy Dee, I have a feeling they're not going to get very far in the competition, certainly not to the final like Emma did with Bill E last season.

Hey all. My thoughts on the show.

Thank goodness the reversed from last year. It was dreadful how the celebs sat near the judges and so tacky. So glad they did that. Erin was just a none entity like Brooke was TBH and not much difference. Except please Erin STFU about Maks being your partner we get it sweetie.

Nene Leakes - GODDESS DEVINE. Love her. She has personality and really supporting her this year. The Cha Cha was questionable. Not really much Cha Cha in the dance.

James Maslow - Stepford Husband this year I think. Emotionless and leaves me cold. Cringe at the VT. "......." He is hot though. Will probably make it to week 6 based on that. Also anyone else think his Foxtrot was weird??? The music choices for all the foxtrots where just bizarre. I thought so anyway.

Danica McKellar - A Maths girl so love her for that <333 As I love Maths. WTF was the playing up to the Candace drama. DWTS should just keep the personal stuff out of it and focus on the dancing. She was okay, slightly average for me though. Did not deserve 24 points IMO.

Sean Avery - Not to be harsh but I find him slightly creepy. Contemporary dance was not that great too. Just lifts which where done semi well. Not even compared to Charlies amazing performance it put his to shame.

Billy Dee - OMG such a hot mess I loved it. <333 Truly awful dancer. Bye Billy enjoy your last dance next week.

Meryl Davis - Did not connect with her as much as Charlie. However this girl is amazing. She was undermarked at 24. Those spins where amazing <333 Best Cha Cha of the lot this week.

Candace Cameron Bure - Slightly forgettable for me. No idea why Carrie Ann gave it a 9. She could improve though. Rumba next week with Mark could be slightly bad for her I think.

Cody Simpson - Liked this guy. Think he has potential. His legs and arms seems slightly floppy to me though. As for Whitney, she did not impress in the VT's. Just asking about his GF came across desperate and slightly OTT to me.

Drew Carey - Made me laugh and was surprising good in the Foxtrot and TBH was my fave foxtrot of the night. Think he could be Bill E for this series though. Getting voted in each week despite peaking in about week 6. He has Cheryl too which will give him more fan support.

Amy Purdy - Okay she was great, however please camera don't zoom in on the legs when she is dancing. It destroyed the illusion for me cause I completely forgot about it. Do think she might struggle soon though later on the series. How will she tackle the jive / quickstep.

Diana Nyad - I liked Diana, she was okay. Think she wont get far though and will be an early boot. Do think she was undermarked compared to some of the scores this week.

Charlie White - My fave of the night, really liked him and actually made me like a contemporary dance for the first time ever lol. Hope he does well.

Jimmy Kimmel predicts who will win. One of the things I miss most about Tuesday nites was the visit the eliminated couple made to his show for the burning of the capezios. He is the master of tongue-in-cheek.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuxvy4Rr13w

I liked Charlie and Meryl. Loved both of their dances.
Cody was not very good. He just annoyed me!

Thanks Lili

CAI's blog Interesting read, I thought.

Week 2 dances:
Sean & Karina - Salsa
Candace & Mark - Rumba
Drew & Cheryl - Jive
Meryl & Maks - Swing
NeNe & Tony - Jive
James & Peta - Salsa
Danica & Val - Samba
Diana & Henry - Cha-cha-cha
Amy & Derek - Swing
Cody & Witney - Tango
Charlie & Sharna - Tango
Billy Dee & Emma - Tango

Can someone tell me how the dances were chosen (some sort of surprise according to Erin)

I presume that they'll dance either jive or swing, but not both. Wonder if swing has been introduced to help out Amy (and a few of the others ). I'd have thought the kicks and flicks in a jive would be really tough on her.

There's an article about Amy's approach to DWTS, she's inspiring.

http://nypost.com/2014/03/18/billy-d...stop-watching/

http://www.people.com/people/article...798070,00.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...-premiere.html

No idea how the dances were chosen, at least they are ballroom and latin predominantly. Although after this week's mishmash in the routines, let's not get too excited, they seem to have diluted them down so much it's not always easy to decide what they are doing.

Someone said the routines were 1 minute duration, and with the 'faffing' about as Len would call it, there wasn't that much content in some of the routines. Let's hope as the weeks progress the duration of the dances will extend.

She certainly is. She brought a little tear to my eye