James Maslow rose to fame as James Diamond on Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush. Now, after an international tour with his band from the show (also named Big Time Rush), he’s taking his performing career to the next level as a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars! Alongside pro dancer Peta Murgatroyd, Maslow will put his foxtrot, salsa, and cha cha skills to the test.
Every week this season, Maslow is blogging for Parade.com about his insider’s take on the drama before and after each performance. Read his blog every week at Parade.com/dwts.
You can also follow him on Twitter @jamesmaslow or check out his official Facebook page Facebook.com/JamesMaslow.
Last night’s jive felt really good! I was a little nervous beforehand because we were going first, which we found out right before as usual. It was a complicated dance, but we pulled it off. I like performing toward the beginning of the show, but it’s nice to have one or two dances ahead of you because you have time to warm up and focus and you don’t go straight from the opening number and the entrance to the performance like we did last night.
In the rehearsals leading up to last night I ended up not spraining, but slightly pulling some muscles in my hamstring. So there were a few rehearsals where I really wasn’t able to be that productive, which made learning this much choreography difficult in that short period of time. I was just happy I was able to do it in my performance.
We’ve got a couple more tricks left, but if I want to stay in this competition. I think I’ll need to do something new and exciting in order to get a 10 from the judges. I think it’s going to take a combination of really perfecting technique, performance, and difficult choreography. I think we had most of those factors last night, but obviously technique wasn’t perfect and I think that as the weeks go on I’m going to continue to get better and hopefully have something that moves the judges. And that might take a more emotional piece over a high-energy piece, they seem to really enjoy those.
All of the performances last night were moving–it was tough to watch a couple of them. There were some beautiful stories in there and I think it was nice to focus on my dance first. That was an advantage, I didn’t have to be that emotionally moved by performances and then go after that. There were some beautiful stories and I really think it’s an amazing cast. Amy Purdy’s story was really amazing, but even seeing Drew Carey’s piece, seeing Drew diet and talk about his family and his son, that was really moving as well.
I didn’t know Billy Dee Williams wasn’t dancing until last night when he kind of did that speech as we were all getting ready to go on. I didn’t really get an official goodbye, which I’m sad about, but I hope to talk to him again at one of the wrap parties or something. He’s really an extraordinary guy; he was very nice and had some amazing stories.
Going into the switch this week, for the most part I’m just going to try and do my best and hopefully have a conversation with whoever my dance partner is today and say, “look, I know this score doesn’t help you out, but please do your best to make it a killer dance.” And I think they will, because I don’t think they want to look bad ever, so that works to my advantage. Strategy is just to work as hard as I can and hopefully get what I need from them, and if not, work extra time on my own. I have no clue who I’m dancing with yet, or what the dance is, but I’ll tweet about it unless they tell us otherwise.
Now for some of your questions from Twitter!
@kendallujah asks: Do you bring [your dog] Fox to any DWTS rehearsals?
I’ve brought him to a couple, but for the most part he wants to be around me and play with me and that’s great except it’s tough when I’m dancing because I don’t want to step on him. I hate having to bring him and leave him in his bag, so I try not to bring him too often, but I do love him and when I miss him I’ll bring him with me.
@SaadePussparej asks: Who of the judges scares you the most?
I feel like Len, even though he’s been really nice to me, is probably the pickiest for technique. I’m not really a ballroom dancer and technique has proven to be difficult for me master in a short period of time, but I’ll do my best.
@jornalist13 asks: What’s more scary and exciting: to perform in front of your fans or to dance in front of judges?
It’s definitely more exciting to perform in front of my fans, I’m more concerned with what think than what the judges think to be honest. But I don’t think the fans are as harsh of critics as the judges, so it’s more nervewracking to be in front of the judges than the fans.
@Krisizzzzle asks: If the other three [Big Time Rush] members were on DWTS, who do you think would do the best?
I think Carlos, no offense to the other guys. Dancing has never been Logan’s strongest suit and Kendall can definitely move and do his thing, but Carlos has that vibe. He’s Latin, so I think that would help him with the dances I’m having a tough time with.
Check out my jive from last night:
Have any questions for me? Leave them in the comments section or tweet them #ParadeAsksJames and I’ll answer some of them in next week’s blog!