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'Dancing With the Stars' pro Val Chmerkovskiy: I'd love to see Maks as a guest judge

"Dancing With the Stars" pro Valentin Chmerkovskiy will be blogging about his experiences and thoughts on his fifth quest for the mirror ball trophy on TODAY.com throughout the season. The 14-time US champion in dance is paired with former “Saved by the Bell” star Elizabeth Berkley.Thank you for your support and help and all your votes! I really appreciate you taking the time to take care of a
Image: Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Today

"Dancing With the Stars" pro Valentin Chmerkovskiy will be blogging about his experiences and thoughts on his fifth quest for the mirror ball trophy on TODAY.com throughout the season. The 14-time US champion in dance is paired with former “Saved by the Bell” star Elizabeth Berkley.

Image: Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Today

Thank you for your support and help and all your votes! I really appreciate you taking the time to take care of a stranger.

I’m very happy with the way we’ve been marked by the judges, and I’m very happy with the feedback we’ve been getting. We’re doing everything we can to please the audience and the judges at the same time, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do. We try our best. So far, so good!

I’m not really concerned that Julianne Hough is going to be a guest judge. As far as I’m concerned, Derek and Mark have relationships with Carrie Ann and Bruno and Len. So do we all in some way or another. Personally I think Julianne is a very honest and very professional person foremost — incredibly entertaining and has a lot of knowledge and a lot of experience. I would love to see what she has to say! I’m excited to have her as a guest judge.

I just feel that it would be cool to have my brother there as well. I would love to see Maks as a guest judge somewhere along the season. I think in general, he would be a great judge on the show, period. But every time that thought came up, the righteousness in me always said, “You know that’s never going to happen! I’m still on the show and the whole $#&^% cast is going to complain!”

My brother said to me that that was definitely a conversation that was had, and that it was something he would be very, very interested in doing. If the right people sit down and come up with the right plan and a common language, I think it could work out incredibly for the show.

I wish that we could get my brother there eventually, but not as my brother, but as Maks, somebody who would be an incredibly professional judge, a very refreshing voice, and a pretty cool, pretty fresh perspective. But Julianne! Very excited!

I like our judges. I really have nothing against them. They do a great job, period! But it’s been seven years. I think just like we’re changing dancers and certain stuff around obviously, but they stuck around because they invested themselves over time. The point is that dances don’t change. And when dances don’t change, comments are inevitably going to repeat themselves because, c’mon, it’s the same dances for 16 seasons. You’re bound to have some repetition and some monotony.

So personally I feel like it would be refreshing to just hear what somebody else thinks about the samba! Not because I don’t respect the opinion that I’m hearing, but it’s just a different energy.

By the way, congratulations to Derek on his Emmy win. It was very inspiring to see that happen. First of all, it’s very, very well deserved and earned, but also it opened the window for all of us, everybody on “Dancing With the Stars,” to finally be looked at and recognized. Derek is obviously one of a kind, but he’s a representation of all of us, and we’re all very proud of him.

Monday is Hollywood Night on “Dancing With the Stars.” Elizabeth and I are doing the foxtrot. I’m looking forward to it because I feel Elizabeth will really gel with the genre. It’s something she’s more comfortable with — there’s a lot of acting. Even though we’re obviously going to turn it up a notch, it’s going to be focused around the traditional foxtrot. I’m excited!