James Maslow's DWTS Blog: 'I Want to Get to the Finals So We Can Do Our Freestyle'
Thanks again @ParadeMagazine! #ParadeAsksJames to ask me a question in next week's blog! http://t.co/Pk7JeWGP5z
- James Maslow (@jamesmaslow) May 7, 2014
MAY 6, 2014 - 6:52 PM
Performing Two Dances
I didn’t know if I was going to like the Viennese waltz to begin with, but I think it’s one of my favorite dances. It was just graceful and felt timeless to me. Of all the dances that I’ve learned, it seemed the most knightly and a dance that I could dance at a wedding. And it did come a little easier than some other dances for whatever reason. It seemed to work for me.
Last week’s rehearsals were good. I think the package tried to play it up to be a really difficult week, but frankly, it wasn’t a more difficult week than the week before, in fact, it was maybe a little easier because I not only enjoyed our waltz, but also our jive with Amy and Derek. It was a lot of fun. And it was nice to see the guys from Big Time Rush. I really respect those guys, they’re like my family, and to have them come and support me and just have them be goofing around like we would on tour was a comfortable feeling.
That jive, I watched it back after the performance and it’s one of the cleanest dances I’ve ever done. I think that’s partially because we did keep some of the choreography simple. We did what looked good on Amy and on me and just attacked it and hit it. Since we were able to figure out the choreography relatively quickly, we were actually able to practice the dance more than I was able to practice my last team dance. And it was a nice difference from last time when we got the lowest team score. I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s nice to stand in front of the judges and get the positive feedback and comments.
Being in Jeopardy and Saying Goodbye to Danica and Val
I was sort of expecting to be in jeopardy because I was in the bottom of the leader board last week. Since I expected to be there, I didn’t think much about it by the time I was performing. Peta was definitely more nervous than me, and that’s not to say I wasn’t nervous at all-I definitely was-but she has a very tough time of hiding her facial expressions. I think partially because she was so nervous, it kind of forced me to be the stronger person in the situation. It helped me kind of laugh it off and smile a little bit.
I never had much time to converse with Danica. She was always very sweet, in fact, it turns out my old neighbor is her brother-in-law. It’s a strange family connection, but beyond that, she was really focused, and I’ve got to say, Val is the most enjoyable male performer to watch. All of them are talented, so at this point it’s completely subjective, but to me, he has the strongest lines and hits the strongest moves. I’m going to be bummed. I loved the choreography he put together.
Looking Ahead to the Next Two Weeks
There’s more pressure because there’s more dances to learn and the judges are going to be harder, so in that sense it’s going to be more stressful, but I just have to remember to have fun. I signed up for this to enjoy it and I’ve enjoyed almost every step along the way. I don’t want to let that stress take away from the experience and if we do that, I think it’s going to help us perform our best.
We’ve made it to the semifinals, which is amazing, so I just want to get through next week and get to the finals so we can do our freestyle. I now have a goal to get to the point where I’m doing a freestyle because I think that’s really a place where I can step up and impress the audience. I want to pull out any and every trick that I can use, so that might be some of the hip hop choreography that I’m more comfortable doing, it might be some flips I haven’t done yet on the show, whatever is unique that I can do that would help separate me from the other dances.
And now time for some of your questions from Facebook and Twitter:
@EricSaadeRu asks: What did you like the most about the duel dance with Amy and Derek?
First of all, I actually really enjoyed our song. It’s a song I wasn’t familiar with, but now I’m a fan. I also loved just how fun it was to work with Amy, it was a new challenge. With Peta, it’s hard enough for me to learn a dance from a professional dancer, but it almost took the pressure off because neither one of us is a professional dancer. Instead of having a dancer to try and match, we were both like, ‘you know what? We’re just going to have fun.’ And because of that it turned into the closest I’ve experienced of what it’s like to dance with another normal person.
@LoveLaughLogan asks: You danced the Viennese waltz better than most of the people over here in Vienna. Was it difficult for you?
Aww, that’s very sweet. I don’t know what to say. I try and give my best each time and the one frustrating comment I keep getting from the judges, I think it was Len, is to have straight legs. As far as I know, the entire dance is bent knees and throughout the entire dance I’m thinking to bend my knees, so it was a strange comment, but beyond that I need to work on a couple things, but I think it came naturally. I really enjoyed it.