Dancing's Derek Hough: We Didn't Break the Rules

Hey guys,
Thanks for your votes!
I thought this week went great. Amber and I are very pleased with our foxtrot. Len wasn't feeling it, but that's OK. When he was explaining his critique, I was nodding my head. I knew what he was getting at and I respect it. I told Amber that I didn't know if we had enough hold content, so she was prepared for it too. I did try putting in more holds, but it didn't feel right with the music we had. The song was so high energy. I'm not "blaming" the song, but when I choreograph, my first and foremost goal is to stay true to the music. You just didn't see the quick one-two-three counts. I wouldn't say I broke the rules because it's not like we didn't have any holds; there just wasn't enough. I thought it was a fun routine and Amber totally killed it.
I thought Tom revealing at the beginning of the show that a girl would be going home based on votes a massive slap in the face. The girls were like, "Yay! Time to dance!" Then it was like, "What? Oh, shoot." I think most people got nervous, Amber included. But I can see it both ways. You can get more nervous or you can use it to pump yourself up.
From a television standpoint, that announcement definitely made things more interesting. As a viewer, I would probably enjoy it because there was more jeopardy and everything seemed much more at stake. Who could it be? Who will step it up? I don't think they'll do it every week though because that would be too predictable. But now that the show's once a week, they're always trying to keep us on our toes with regard to the results.
We were all stunned when Christina and Mark left. Taking nothing away from Leah, but it was surprising with their score. It was a reminder that scores are important, but you've also got to connect with the audience. But it was a bummer. It's never fun to see anyone go home. Mark's my boy. I think it was very clear that he was upset, as he should be. We invest so much time, our blood, sweat and tears into the show. If people say they're OK with getting eliminated, they're lying! It's a terrible feeling, but unfortunately someone's got to go every week.
We have the samba this week and things are going well. The samba's a tough dance. It's fast, exhausting and requires a lot of stamina, but Amber's getting the bounce down and her knees are doing much better, which is great. The samba also really fits her personality, so she's really into it. She's going to shake her fun stuff!
Thanks for reading!
Derek