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 prodancer 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.
Taking Hannah to Disneyland
My favorite part of the week was taking what Disney is all about — makin g dreams come true — and implementing that into my own life with one of my biggest fans in the world: Hannah. I took it upon myself to invite her family out to spend some time together since I couldn’t make it to her prom. I was just blown away—not only by her — but by the support she has from her family, friends, and community.
The best part was when we created our own prom moment on the dance floor of Dancing With the Stars (watch a video of our dance here). She put on her prom dress and I put on a suit and we came out to one of her favorite songs, “Amazing” from Big Time Rush, which I wrote for the band. We just started dancing and she was so composed and happy, and then I started singing the chorus and she just broke down and was giggling and laughing and let loose. It was nice seeing that moment — seeing the true Hannah that wasn’t trying to impress me or be cool in front of me was amazing.
Get ting the First Perfect Score
I think Hannah’s my good luck charm! That was the first time I got 40, so I might need to fly her back out if I don’t keep my scores up. Getting the first perfect score of the season was pretty surreal. It’s not something I expected, but I was very happy with the performance and to look up and see all tens was amazing.
Peta and I really stepped it up with this dance, and we were aggressive in some of the lifts and the physical things we wanted to accomplish. Honestly, we never had the dance run 100 percent correctly before that performance, so we were very nervous going into it. I was thinking we were either going to get everything and pull the lifts off and it would be a really high score, or we were going to slip and she was going to fall and it was going to be a low score.’
I’m glad I’m with Peta throughout this competition, we have a great camaraderie and we work well t ogether. This piece was the first time I was really able to contribute with ideas and movements because it wasn’t really a ballroom dance and it felt more natural, more comfortable for my body.
The most challenging part of that routine was that last lift. We had originally started with something that was far simpler and easier. It still looked good, but we wanted to challenge ourselves. Nobody has ever done that lift except for pro dancer Tony Dovolani, but in all 18 seasons no celebrity has ever done it. He came in and showed us that lift and said ‘hey, go ahead, use it, try it. Nobody’s ever done it because it’s so hard.’ We took that as a challenge and said ‘let’s go for it, go big or go home.’ We were able to make it look easy when we got it, but trust me, we don’t get that every single time.
Saying Goodbye to Cody Simpson
I was absolutely shocked when Cody was eliminated. He&rsqu o;s a friend of mine and he was texting me last night when he was in New York, saying ‘hey bud, I really think you’re going to go far. Congratulations, you deserve it.’ He’s someone who was in competition with me, and instead of being bitter or upset, he’s texting me ‘congratulations.’ He is such a good kid. I couldn’t imagine him going home, I’m still surprised, but I know he’s proud of what he’s done. He’s done a great job and it shows all of us that nobody is safe. This show is entirely subjective, we don’t know who’s voting for whom or for what reason, all we can do is try our best every week. It just reminds me that it’s my job to work and get high scores and do as good of a job as I can do to convince that audience to vote for me.
Now for some of your questions from Twitter:
@Peacelovefaithx asks: What’s it like getting to make peoples’ dr eams come true?
It’s pretty unreal. I think that it’s important for those of us who are lucky enough to work in entertainment to utilize that fame, for lack of a better word, to give back every once in a while. The way I look at it, I was going to go to Coachella, and I didn’t because I take this job seriously and I wanted to do the best that I can do, and I don’t think I could have done that and gone to listen to music for three days. The money I might have spent at Coachella was probably equivalent to the money it cost me to fly Hannah out here. And when I compare the two, there is no comparison. It just made me realize that people in my position should be doing things like this more often, because we can. All it takes is a little bit of our time, a little bit of money—all the things I think some of us pass by because we’re so consumed in our jobs. It’s good to take a minute away from all of that and give back.
@MissSAADELOVE asks: Where do you get ideas for the dances?
Peta had requested Frozen at the beginning of the season and I’m grateful she did. That’s such an amazing song and it really inspired us to have an emotionally-driven dance based on the movie and implementing a story that we wanted to tell. I listen to the music and I go to Peta and I say ‘what do you want to do with this?’ And we come together to create a story and create a dance based off that.
arielhimmelwright asks: Since it’s Disney night on Dancing With the Stars, do you have a favorite Disney character?
I really think it’s Simba. I was a big Lion King fan growing up. I still think it’s one of the best shows on Broadway, I’ve seen it in New York and L.A. Simba is just a cool character! I love that movie, so I’m a little jealous that Cody got that one, but I’m very happy with Frozen.
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. Don’t forget to vote for #TeamJeta until 8 p.m. ET tonight online at ABC.com & Facebook!
As an ending note, I want to give a shout out to all those who helped me create such a special, memorable weekend for both Hannah and myself. Thank you to the staff at the Hotel Wilshire (@kimpton) who made Hannah and her family feel at home throughout their stay in Los Angeles. Also, a big thanks to Hannah’s “Glam Squad”–Daniel Musto, Christine Redmon, Jason Hermiz, Adrianna Papell, and Onch Movement–who truly gave Hannah her well-deserved princess moment, complete with designer dress, custom jewelry, and a tiara to top it off. Lastly, I want to thank Hannah’s mother H ollie and sister Lili, one of the most supportive and loving families I’ve met and super fun to hang out with as well.
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