Looking Ahead to the "Dancing with the Stars" Season 11 Semifinals

So here we are looking ahead at the ninth week of competition for the 11th season of Dancing With The Stars. We now have a group of dancers looking to catch the mirror ball trophy, that no one could have predicted would make it this far. For example Bristol Palin, who has never been in entertainment, was slated to be one of the first to go, and yet she's still hanging in there. The early favorite actress, Jennifer Grey has had some struggles along the way, and isn't favored to win it all as she once was. R&B singer Brandy and Disney star Kyle Massey have both come a long way and are real contenders. It's almost impossible to predict the winner.

Let's break down each team with their strengths and weaknesses to preview what this competition may look like Monday night.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas
"Teen Activist" Bristol Palin has come a long way over the last eight weeks. Many predicted that she'd be the first one to go, but here she is right in the thick of things. I'll admit, she has a very likable quality that forgives a lot of what she lacks in ability.
Strengths:
Mark Ballas. He's very good at bringing out the best in Palin and hiding a lot of flaws. Next to Tony Dovolani he is also probably the best technical dancer on the show.
Bristol's technique. Her footwork is the best on the show, and speaks to how good mark is as a teacher. What she does, she does technically correct.
Likability. These two are just so darn cute and likable! Even I have come around after having a pretty low opinion of them at the beginning. They're just like the "Little Engine That Could!"
Weaknesses:
Rhythm. Bristol has good timing, but not a whole lot of rhythm. She's very stiff and doesn't feel the music very well.
Posture. Bristol's strengths don't shine as well as they should because her poor posture is distracting. Her shoulders are very rounded and she seems like she's hunching over Mark.

But all in all, she should be proud for getting this far. She has come a long way. The most progress of anyone.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer
Another team that has improved a lot! The first week Kyle was up iat the top of the leader board, but struggled with the dances until getting his game back the last couple of weeks. Their Jive last week was one of the best dances. This team is high energy all the way, and some would have written them off weeks ago. But here they are in a real position to win it all.
Strengths:
Energy. They have a good energy that has kept them in the game this long. I think this is why their uptempo dances are always so much better than the slower ones.
Kyle. Kyle is so enigmatic, it's really hard not to find him irristably likable. He's like a goofy little brother you always want around to make you laugh.
Weaknesses:
Lacey's Choreography. She doesn't do enough to capitalize what Kyle does really well. It tends to be a focus on her dancing, instead of camoflauging Kyle's inexperience and accentuation the positive.
Costuming. The costuming for this team has been atrocious. Kyle's a hefty guy, and the costuming has him looking like an apple on toothpicks, next to Lacey's almost vulgar at times, costume. It comes off cartoonish, and it's hard to take them seriously sometimes.

Moms of the world love Kyle, so he's a real threat to win it all!

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough
From the very first episode, Jennifer Grey seemed like the clear favorite. She was heads and tails above the others as far as ability, but over the weeks she has shown some weaknesses as others have become stronger. She dances so well it's hard to believe she's actually 50 years old! However, no matter how many setbacks Jennifer and Derek have had, she has always been in contention.
Strengths:
Nostalgia. Dirty Dancing is a huge part of Pop Culture iconography and Jennifer Grey will always be "Baby", and with the death of Patrick Swayze last year, we all want to relive a little bit of the Baby and Johnny dancing magic.
Technique. Jennifer and Derek are great dancers, and you never hear the judges complain about issues with feet, holds, or pattern. Jennifer looks like a pro out there.
Weaknesses:
Jennifer's Timing. As the weeks have passed, you can really see how much Jennifer struggles with finding the beat of the music. It's especially apparent in the faster Latin Dances. Derek does a great job leading, but you can tell if you watch closely, that Jennifer is always behind the beat a bit waiting for Derek's lead. It's vaused mistakes before, so hopefully is can be fixed.
Lack of Chemistry: Derek and Jennifer are great together, but they don't have any chemistry! Yes there is a large age difference, but they seem very business like with one another.
Injuries. Jennifer has been pushing herself to the limit, and injuries have been plaguing her throughout the competition.

It's been hard to maintain the lead when you set the bar so high right from the beginning. But Jennifer's still in it to win it.

Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovsky
R&B singer Brandy, has had good weeks and not so great weeks, but she's been consistently near the top most of the season. She brings a different musicality to the competition, and has been at or near the top most weeks. When the season started, she was one that was clearly on her way to the finals.
Strengths:
Musicality. She has a great natural timing and rhythm that makes up for a lot of technique she lacks. She doesn't rely on Maks to lead her around the floor.
Upper Body. Brandy's arms and posture are the best in the competition and draw the eye up. Again, this is such an asset to her because what's going downstairs isn't a pretty sight.
Maks. I can't find one woman who watches this show that isn't head over heels in love with Maks. I really think he could just go out there and do the Electric Slide and it would get votes as long as he wore tight pants.
Weaknesses
Brandy's feet. If you are an astute observer, you can see that after Len pointed out how awful Brany's footwork was in the first week, she has only danced with monocromatic skin or tights colored shoes, and Maks has driected all choreography that emphasizes footwork away from the judges. She doesn't have very graceful feet, but she's so good at everything else you never notice.
Attitude. Both Brandy and Maks have a bit of an attitude that can be sort of off putting. He's combative, and she whines week after week about how hard it all is.

Brandy and Maks are probably the odds-on favorite to win this season. They've grown as a pair and continue to impress the judges. They seem to be peaking at just the right time.

So it'll be interesting to see how the competition goes come Monday night. One thing is for sure, this 11th season of Dancing With The Stars has been anything but predictable.