Dancing's Derek Hough: We Have Something "Potentially Dangerous" Planned

Hey everyone,
How's it going?
Thanks for your votes!
I'm super proud of Bethany. I thought she did a great job. It's tough going second-to-last on the first show. You spend the whole night waiting and watching everyone else go, but she handled her nerves well and I'm really happy with the way it went. I think you can see potential for growth for her. She actually has a really good frame and hopefully you'll see that on Monday.
We have the foxtrot this week. It's almost there. We have something fun planned that I've had in my mind for a while and now felt like the right time to do it. It involves using an instrument and we're going to have some cool effects on it. It's potentially dangerous, but it's cool when it's executed properly. I don't normally take these kinds of risks in Week 2, but I figured why not? Try something new.
The premiere felt crazy and it was crazy! I think they were going for a looser show, so you saw a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, like the PAs pulling people down to the floor. It's a lot of different than what I used to. There were little glitches unfortunately for people. I think it's going to be interesting if it continues this way. Everyone's trying to get a handle on it. I thought all the dances were very entertaining. Alfonso was great. People expect him to do well and I think he exceeded expectations. He and Witney are great together and they're going to be strong all season. I loved Betsey. She had that boa incident, but I loved watching her go out there and have a blast. Tommy just made me happy! That routine was just fun. I don't know if anyone can say what they were expecting from him, but I think it's safe to say we were all watching. I also loved seeing Jonathan's reaction and his eyes popping out of his head. He was just so in the moment and into the show. I love seeing people enjoy themselves and the whole experience. 
It sucks to see Lolo and Keo go, especially since it's his first season. I felt bad for Lolo. She tried to defend herself and that's hard to do on the show with little time. You want to be able to say something, but that's not always the best road to take. Unfortunately, someone always has to leave first.
I thought Julianne did great as well. Honestly, I couldn't even hear her speak half the time, but I could tell she was flirting with half the dudes! I think she was just excited. The critiques she gave about Bethany were spot-on and we're definitely keeping that in mind. I certainly don't treat her critiques with any more importance than I would the other judges'. The only time I don't pay too much to the critique is if they say something really negative but still give you an 8 or 9 or something or vice versa — you know, something that is not consistent. But for the most part, I try to take any comments to heart.
I am in Nashville right now shooting another episode. It's been awesome here and working with Hayden Panettiere. Can't wait for you all to see it!
See you Monday!
Derek