Dancing's Derek Hough: I Hurt My Back

Hey everyone!
How are you? Thanks for your votes!
We've got two dances this week, so we're working hard! Or hardly working! We're doing the Argentine tango with Tony as our trio dance and the Viennese waltz as America's Choice. Bethany is looking great! It's also her birthday today! She's improved so much in the past two weeks. She just looks completely different. I'm really impressed. I get excited when I see her move. I'm like, "You look fantastic!" I'm not doing too hot on the other hand. I hurt my back during camera-blocking on Sunday and it's been a nuisance all week. Hopefully it's just a muscle thing and won't get any worse.
We're doing a post-apocalyptic Argentine tango. It sounds weird, but we have a cool concept for it, and Tony has some fun ideas too. For the Viennese waltz, I wanted to tell a story because I felt like we haven't done that a lot this season. But the song was so short that if we were to do that, there would be no dancing. So I tweaked it and now we start dancing straightaway. There's still a story, but it's subtle. It's not literal and in-your-face, but Bethany is really embodying the dance. It's a Viennese waltz, but it's caught in a moment. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise since Len doesn't like a lot of build-up anyway!
I know there's a lot of talk about Mark's comments about Len this week. I honestly think that Len has a role on the show. I don't think he doesn't appreciate creativity, but he's the old guy, the curmudgeon. We just need to know that and need to be prepared for that. I know that if I do something out-there, I have to be ready to be blasted by Len. A lot of times, I'm more surprised that he likes it! I think in recent seasons, he's liked more abstract dances because the show itself has developed and evolved. 
I got to do something awesome this week: Meet Oprah! Or Opes, as I called her. Yes, I can seriously call her that. I asked and she said yes and that the only other person who called her Opes was the great Maya Angelou. I was like, "Well, that's not bad company!" It was just a really great afternoon. Amy and I actually flew there by helicopter because I didn't want to get stuck in traffic heading back to rehearsal. We landed (no, she does not have a heli landing pad!), and she met up with us and drove us around her golf cart. It was amazing. She has an amazing gift that's disarming. You feel comfortable and safe, and she's so personable. We didn't dance, but we just talked about life, our careers, the future, the past, the present. It honestly really inspired me. It put me in the most amazing mood for the rest of the week. I'm here to tell you that the power of Oprah is real!
Thanks for reading! See you Monday!
Derek