The Value of the Professional Partner on DWTS
After my previous post where Debi Mazar commented on Maks’ choreography, I couldn’t help but start to think about the importance and value of the professional partner that you get on Dancing with the Stars.
Certainly the impact of the stars professional partner goes far beyond choreography. Other benefits (or detriments) that the professional brings are: fan base, teaching ability, personality (both on their own and with their partner), etc.
Think about your favorite couple or ones that have gone far in DWTS and you’ll see that many of the above factors played into the stars success. Take Ty Murray for example. I’m quite sure Ty would have been gone much sooner had he been paired with Karina instead of Chelsie. However, Karina was a good match with Mario Lopez. In similar fashion, Maks was great with Mel B, but I think Mel B would have just been odd paired with say Mark Ballas.
This season I think Joanna is lucky to have Derek. They seem to work well together, look great together and Derek pulls a lot out of Joanna. Plus, Derek’s playfulness is a stark contrast to Joanna’s previous TO incident. Louie and Chelsie are another great match. Could you really imagine Louie dancing with any of the other pros and see it fit as well as Chelsie?
On the opposite side, Michael and Anna D. just have never felt right together. However, Michael and Cheryle Burke would have been much more interesting. Probably because it would remind me of Cheryl and Emmitt and I liked that combo. Imagine if Natalie was with Derek instead of Alec. Would be much different story I think. How lame would Tony and Kelly have been?
So, what do you think of the importance of a pro partner? Are there other factors that a pro brings to the table that I haven’t mentioned?
P.S. We could also argue how important the celebrity is to the professional. I’ll leave that post to Heidi since she’s a pro at that.
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I agree, the pro can make you or break you,
Like Brooke she was a great dancer but if she had Tony or Jonathan shw would never had won dwts.
Like Lacey and Mark this season, there is something missing there, i fell like he would work better with Cheryl or Karina maybe,
Pros like Alec, Tony, Jonathan, Anna D. , they are nice people but
they are boring, (i can put Dmitry there too).
People vote for dance and the chemistry between the pair. Chemistry is the key for the sucsess, not only romantic chemistry on the dance floor ,but the overall chemistry, if they have actuall fun together or how much they enjoy each other company, is easy for people see this.
How far Helio would go without Julianne? i don’t think he would make to the finals.
Shawn is very popular but i don’t think she would do so great with other pro.
This can be said about all the winners or fan favorites couples.
Shawn would have been fun with Derek too. Just different. I think Natalie/Derek would have been fun too since they get along so swell but Alec/Joanna, not so much. Alec and Natalie are cute together though.
Helio would not have won with any other pro.
Philipe,
I almost added Lacey and Mark to my list too. The only reason I didn’t was that I thought Mark might have been blah with any pro.
Helio definitely benefited from Julianne. In fact, Julianne coming off Apolo was probably good for Helio as well.
I actually think Shawn was popular enough that she likely would have done well with a number of pros. However, can you imagine Shawn and say Maks dancing together. She would have given so many awkward stares it would have been unbearable.
John because of her age and height ,Mark was the only choice, Derek is taller than Mark and Shawn is smaller than Lil KIm, imagine how weird the frame would look.
But even with Shawn popularity, i don’t think that was the only reason for the winning ,she and Mark connect, their interviews togheter were really funny, yes she could had fun with Derek too,we would never know that but she and Mark worked and i think that really helped in the victory ( because in the end the difference was only 1%¨)
”In fact, Julianne coming off Apolo was probably good for Helio as well.”
totally agree, Apolo played a big part on Helio winning,and i think Emmitt got some help from the Drew and Cheryl fans too.
Since the title of the post is The Value of the Professional Partner on DWTS, i don’t think is a coincidence that Cheryl, Julianne, Mark and Derek are the most popular pros(there is maks too), and the past champs.
of course cheryl is not as popular as she used to be( Lacey and Chelsie this days), but she is still very popular(she made top 2 last season and top 3 on season 6)
I think the pro partners make a HUGE difference. Honestly, most of the reason I watch the show is because I really enjoy the pros, and their dancing. That especially stands for this season, with all of the lackluster stars there seems to be. Anyone remember when Ted Mcginely got kicked off? He was by far not the worst, and I think a lot of his exit had to do with his partner, Inna Brayer. I also agree that Helio would not have made it as far without Julianne. Or Adam Corolla. A celeb gets pretty lucky if they are paired with Derek, Julianne, Cheryl, Mark, or Lacey… (even though she has not been on that long). I also think Anna T. has a good fanbase. Her personality is fantastic!
Blake,
You really like Anna T.? She’s done better this season (maybe because she stayed longer), but she mostly just annoys me.
Haha, I don’t know what it is about her but I just like her. She rarely stays on long enough to enjoy her, so I am just glad that she is actually sticking around for a little while. (Prob not much longer though). I wish we could see her and Jonathan dance together more often, they were fantastic during the Patrick Swayze tribute.
As anyone reading your comments here would immediately see, there is an overwhelming preference among your commenters for the Ballas crowd and the SYTYCD crowd. Funny, because I would say quite the opposite. DWTS without Maks and Tony is like a silly tween show that belongs on at four in the afternoon. As far as I know the preponderance of viewers are also in the adult category, so I’m wondering how much this site’s opinion reflects the real world. I will admit that the Ballas crowd is also favored heavily by the producers. There seems to be an wholly unAmerican spirit of resentment toward talented immigrants even though they bring great skills to our culture. That is truly sad.
Jo Ann,
Interesting observations. If you look at Maks and Tony’s track record versus the other 2 crowds you mention I think you’ll see that it’s not just this website that has a preference for those groups. Also, DWTS does pretty well with the younger crowd as well as the older demographic.
Personally, I love Maks and many of the other international dancers. Edyta is likely my favorite dancer with Kym being another of my favorites. Certainly I won’t argue that there’s none of the resentment you talk about because the show is seen by 14 million people, but I don’t think the majority of people really care. I’ve never once in all the time I’ve covered the show see someone mention that they preferred or didn’t like someone because of where they came from. People who do follow that philosophy are truly sad. Beautiful dancing is beautiful regardless of your background.
” If you look at Maks and Tony’s track record versus the other 2 crowds you mention I think you’ll see that it’s not just this website that has a preference for those groups.”
Surely you don’t wholly attribute the Ballas crowd’s DWTS successes to their teaching and choreographic talent, do you? Do you not see the obvious bias in assignment of “winnable” stars to this group as a continuing part of the very bias I describe?
I will acknowledge however, that the phenomenon I find so distasteful is influenced by American preference for the splash, dash, and flash moves as opposed to the graceful and rigorous standards of ballroom. There’s lots of room for showmanship and creativity, but that group abandons the standards too often.
Again, I find this bent toward hip hop, gymnastics, and explicitly sexual thrusts a sad comment on my country’s lack of awareness of the beauty in dance and of good taste. It’s much the same as our abandonment of the Cronkite level of talent in favor of entertainment news. Very sad.
“Surely you don’t wholly attribute the Ballas crowd’s DWTS successes to their teaching and choreographic talent, do you? Do you not see the obvious bias in assignment of “winnable” stars to this group as a continuing part of the very bias I describe?”
Yes and No. Mark has most certainly been extraordinarily blessed in terms of being given partners with either extreme talent or extreme fanbases or both. Even Kim K has a huge fanbase – it just wasn’t a voting one and she was so not interested in dancing. But there is no “Ballas crowd” in the sense that you use the term. Derek? Jennie Garth, Shannon Elizabeth, Brooke Burke, Lil’ Kim and Joanna Krupa – explain to me how that shows any bias toward Derek whatsoever in terms of partnering? On the contrary, I would say that the producers were NOT favoring him in the slightest – of those, only Brooke was a natural talent and NONE of them had a real, large, voting fanbase. Hindsight is 20/20, but the revisionist history that Maks and Tony fans indulge in when it comes to Derek (and Julianne) is laughable in the extreme. Because he is a fantastic teacher (and celeb wrangler) and choreographer he took them much farther than either Tony or Maks would have. Be serious – there’s more than dance talent and choreography involved here – you have to be good with people and be able to choreograph for amateurs – I think that often leaves Maks and Tony out and that says NOTHING about their talent as dancers and choreographers. But it also doesn’t make them superior to Derek or Julianne.
Let’s look at Julianne. Apolo, Helio, Adam Carolla (oooohh there’s a ringer), Cody and Chuck Wicks – yeah, she was really favored with great partners. I think the only one that approaches ringer status based on fanbase is Apolo and he’s NOTHING compared to Kristi or Shawn.
Whether you like it or not, Jo Ann, Derek and Julianne are successful NOT because they were favored with great partners – they made the very most of what they were given. Now, those may have turned out better than what Maks and Tony were given but there was no way to tell that in advance. This preferential treatment is all in hindsight and sounds like sour grapes to me.
The pro’s definitely have a huge impact on how far the celeb goes.I have been watching since season 1 and Im sure that for others who have been watching since then they have picked their favorite pro’s and no matter who they get paired with they will vote.Yes Mark and Derek have become popular I like them too but I also like Tony and Maks.I would like to see them go far into the competion than they have.Of course if I remember correctly Tony and Stacy Kiebler went rather far together.They had good chemistry and Maks and Mel B did also.Whether or not the Mark,Derek,Julianne are the best pros out there I wouldn’t say that.All the pros are good or they wouldn’t be asked to do it.I think they have fan base no matter who they are paired with in some cases.I do think its unfair to have celebs who have dancing backgrounds or some type of training to be on it gives them an unfair advantage over someone who is purely and actor or athelete(of course alot of the athletes have done well).Bottom line YES the pro’s can make you or break you!
I think Heidi described well the ringer for a star issue.
I definitely think that the “Ballas Crowd” and “SYTYCD Crowd” are more flashy and use less standard ballroom movements than others. However, they also suffer in their scores from the judges when they do that.
However, I must admit that I watch DWTS for entertainment. So, a little bit of flash and dance is fine with me as long as it entertains me. If I want to watch the finer points of ballroom specifics, I’ll watch it on PBS (which I also love to watch).
As we watch American culture become more and more shallow and consumed with sex, drugs, and violence, it would follow that DWTS voters would prefer emphasis on the “entertainment” aspect of dance. While that is fully part of the ballroom dance arena, clearly it is possible to dance an entire number with new standard features. DWTS has drifted away from it’s premise and you folks like it that way. I get it. But I would suggest that your site name “Pure” DWTS needs changing. BTW, Derek and Mark B are totally great guys as far as I’m concerned. But I tire of their engineered successes whether based on uneducated voter bias or producer favoritism. [Note I don't refer to you by name since this is not personal, folks.]
Jo Ann,
I think it’s good that we can have different opinions and share opposing viewpoints. I find it interesting to hear your perspective on it.
I don’t think we should change the name. It is “Pure Dancing with the Stars” and not “Pure Ballroom Dancing.” Otherwise, we would change our name;-)
Doesn’t Derek Hough have a fan site? Or is this it?? Thanks for the dialog. We agree that we don’t agree, and you win of course.
Since we agree to disagree. We both win!
This isn’t a Derek Hough fan site. There is a Derek Hough fan site at: http://www.purederekhough.com that is associated in some ways with this site.
I noticed the similarity when it was mentioned above.
Of course, Maks has his own site http://www.maksimchmerkovskiy.com. Tony appears on myspace and http://www.ballroomdancechannel.com, both of course are active on facebook and twitter.
Saw the Rhythm Competition from Ohio State Ball today on PBS — what a spectacular display of talent — and fast and furious showdances as well, without unnecessary salacious moves. True beauty to watch!