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30 responses to "DWTS Season 9 Ringers"

1. # Amanda commented on October 13th, 2009:

   First off being a dancer my self…I have to say dancers are athletes. I agree with you on Aaron it is the same reason why I want him to do well. For those that don’t know anything about him don’t realize he has been though a lot in his life…so it nice to see he has his life back on a good track. I completely agreed with the judges that he is trying too hard…he is forgetting to have fun. I will say whether or not you like those stars that do really well…if you don’t vote you can’t complain.

2. # Katrina commented on October 13th, 2009:

   While I understand where you’re coming from, I just have to say that it may not mean anything. The only one I have issues with is Donny because he was rumored to training with Anna T. However just because you have dance experience doesn’t mean anything. It means you’ll be able to feel the beat, pick of choreography, understand rhythm, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be good in Ballroom. As we saw last season, Len was always, always getting on Melissa’s case about her feet which were a result of her ballet training. Ballet can be very good for ballroom (in fact I think some of the Pros need to stick their celebs in a class or two), but years of Ballet training ingrains habits that can be hard to break.

3. # Tabitha commented on October 13th, 2009:

   I want to clarify something…I didn’t mean to imply that dancers are not athletes because I believe they are. I was just trying to differentiate between the athletes that are celebrities…if that makes any sense at all.

   Amanda I agree completely…if you don’t vote don’t complain!

4. # John commented on October 13th, 2009:

   Tabitha,
   Nice work. I loved the background you found on each of the ringers. Especially the Donny information about the training he’d done. Knowing Donny the way I do, I think that he was doing some ballroom training for his show and not necessarily DWTS. Although, I have this glaring image of Donny talking about the limited training time. In the interview Donny basically says, how can they stop me from training in my hotel room? He’s a competitor that likes to be successful so I wouldn’t be surprised if in the back of his mind his ballroom training for the show carried over a bit to this.

   All of this said, I’m guessing that one of these 3 will win based on their ringer status.

5. # YEAH, BABY! commented on October 13th, 2009:

   If there were no ringers, would you really watch a whole show of Ashley, Tom, Michael, Chuck, Mark, Kathy, Louie every week. You would not make it through the show. There has to be some good dancing in among the bad or the viewers will change the channel. Every season that I have been watching there are always some people who are better than others. There will always be ringers to bring in the viewers. Most people will not watch lousy dancing week after week if there is nothing good to watch in between. And as far as Donny being a ringer, the judges don’t think so. They have yet to give him deserving marks according to how they have judge the non-ringers. Last week Chuck gets all 6’s and Donny gets all 7’s. Please, I am tired of hearing all this talk about ringers! And yes, I do vote – FOR DONNY! Yeah, Baby!!!

6. # Katie commented on October 13th, 2009:

   i totally agree espcially about MYA she is a ringer and putting people like that on the show is not intersting, the show is all about the growth and fun they have during that journey!! And another thing, yes it should be some good and bad dancing celebrities although we wouldn’t watch it but by good it doesn’t have to mean almost Professional dancers like MYA and Donny!! exemple of people who got nothing to do with dancing and did amaaaaaazing on the show: Gilles marini, Brooke Burke, Kristi yamagushi, appolo ohno, shawn johnson… So by bringing people like that, that’s what makes me watch the show and enjoy it!!

7. # YEAH, BABY! commented on October 13th, 2009:

   If you are going to call Donny & Mya ringers for their dancing background then you have to included Kristi and Shawn it that category also. They have to learn choreography for for their sports. Plus I am sure they both probably have a taken ballet. So that gives them an advantage to the other dancers.

8. # Millz commented on October 13th, 2009:

   I agree that these three contestants are ringer, but getting Mya’s info off of Wikipedia does not make it official. Anyone could’ve put that info on there. But like someone said her being a dancer does not mean she will be great at every style of dance. Hell, that is why So you think you can dance even exists! However, Mya’s fanbase isn’t that huge so I don’t know if she can take the trophy. Donny has a huge fanbase which it what mostly determines the winner aside from good scores. And Aaron he has and advantage because of his performing and dancing talent I guess.

9. # Blake commented on October 13th, 2009:

   I agree that these three are probably the ringers, but I do not necessarily think they will be the top three. I hope not, anyways. I am not particularly keen on any of them and I think there’s a good chance that some other people would agree with me… Just sayin’!

10. # Phillipe commented on October 13th, 2009:

    Mya for me is the only ringer, that girl is a DANCER, she actually said during the rehearsal packege last night that she did the choreography with Dmitry , and Dmitry said that she was taking charge of the choreography ,i was really turn off by Sabrina questioning Mark jive choreography, wanting something harder but last night was the first time that the celeb actually helped in the choreography , that is scream RINGER for me.

11. # tamdayc commented on October 13th, 2009:

    This is so old. Get over it! Last year there was Shawn and Melissa. Before that we had Kristi, Mario Lopez, Joey Fatone, and so many others! What would the show have been without them? I for one cannot sit through a season of Chuck Liddells and Tucker Carlsons. If your favorite pro were paired with MYA would you even mention her background. Seriously…If Derek were paired with MYA, would you have written this article? I love watching Donny, MYA, and Aaron. I personally do not like Donny but his dancing is great and I want to see him on this show. ABC casts the celebrities and until you get a job as a producer, give it a rest.

12. # Rooster commented on October 13th, 2009:

    I’m getting the impression that many of you assume two things: 1) the point of the show is to be a competition, and 2) the competition should be “fair” and the winner matters in some way. I think both of these assumptions are absolutely false. I’ll explain both of them.

    1) I think that the show is a competition to get more viewers. If it were a bunch of celebrities dancing (mostly poorly) each week, why would anyone watch? Americans are (unfortunately overly) competitive, so competition format provides interest, structure, and suspense. This way people are curious about who goes and can vote for the winner. So if anyone “deserves” to win or lose, it’s totally immaterial because it’s a mechanism to get viewers, it has no other meaning.

    2) Since the show isn’t really a competition, there’s no sense of “fair” and “unfair,” there are just people who are more or less entertaining. The show is on its ninth season and has had some amazing dancers as we know, from athletes like Kristi Yamaguchi and Shawn Johnson to “celebrities” like Brooke Burke, Mario Lopez and Gilles Marini. It needs to have great dancers each time to keep viewership up, so the show can now taker fewer rather than more risks. To keep people interested, you need a combination of people who will do really well (“ringers”), and people who can’t do well but are charming, and people in the middle.

    It’s interesting though how many viewers are interested in the “fairness” of the competition, who seem to believe that there should be, or could be, something like a “level playing field,” as if the winner matters when really anticipating the winner is a way for people to tune in and once someone has won it’s irrelevant.

13. # Tabitha commented on October 13th, 2009:

    tamdayc…I believe you have me confused with Heidi. Don’t get me wrong…Derek is unbelievably hot and adorable but he isn’t my favorite. I would have written this post no matter what. I am a huge fan of Aaron the whole way but I included him in this list. And it doesn’t matter who Mya was paired with she would still be a ringer.

    Katie…I agree it’s fun to watch people grow as dancers. I loved watching Ty last season. Shawn was a ringer in the sense that she had a huge fanbase…but it was great to watch her grow as a dancer.

    And that’s what I want to see this season! I’m hoping that Melissa and Kelly will grow as dancers. Melissa showed some promise last night. I would also like to see Louie come out of his shell too!

14. # Tabitha commented on October 13th, 2009:

    And thank you John!

15. # Princess Heidi commented on October 14th, 2009:

    You don’t have to be a “ringer” to be good. Brooke was not a ringer. She had no real previous training and she had no fanbase. She just had natural talent. That does not make one a ringer. Having a huge fanbase and/or previous experience as a CHOREOGRAPHER and/or dancer Does make one a ringer. Deal with it. I don’t think I would call Helio a ringer either for that matter.

    Yes, I would watch the show if there were no ringers, based on the definitions we’ve described. That’s the whole point of the show.

16. # Princess Heidi commented on October 14th, 2009:

    I do include Shawn and Kristi in the ringer group, absolutely. BOTH Kristi and Shawn were instantly named by people on the net as winners as soon as they were announced and before they even hit the dance floor. In fact, Kristi is the biggest ringer ever to hit this show, period. Now, I also agree that Brooke and Gilles are what the show is all about.

17. # Princess Heidi commented on October 14th, 2009:

    tamdayc – I really take issue with your tone. This is a blog where everyone gets to have a say and you don’t get to tell people to give it a rest. YOU give it a rest. And you know what? They will NEVER give Derek a ringer, but if they did I would call her a ringer then do a happy dance that he was finally given someone with a shot out of the gate. But a ringer is still a ringer. Just because you love Mya (and be sure that I read all over the net) doesn’t mean the rest of us have to shut up about her ringer status. Nor does producer status make you above reproach. Far from it. Why is it that DWTS ratings are down this season? Because of SYTYCD? Hardly. But it sure doesn’t speak well to the “producers”.

18. # Princess Heidi commented on October 14th, 2009:

    Rooster, you are off in one point – you don’t have to be a “ringer” to be a good dancer. Brooke and Gilles are examples of good dancers that were not ringers. Not only were they not ringers in a dancing sense, but neither had any fanbase to speak of coming in.

19. # Katrina commented on October 14th, 2009:

    I just want to make a point about Kristi and Shawn. I don’t consider them ringers. Athletes, yes but for the following, not ringers.

    Kristi has had very little dance training. She wasn’t allowed to do dance because she had issues with her legs and only figure skating helped. Yes she’s a great skater and beautiful on the Ice but it comes from a choreographer like Lori Nichol, or Sandra Bezic. Sarah Kawahara is the one that actually choreographed many of Kristi’s programs (she’s an Emmy winning one too). Not from any dance training the skater themselves have had. In Figure skating, United States figure skaters rarely have dance training. It was different in places like Russia, Ukraine, etc. So while yes Kristi probably had the ability to pick up choreography but so could probably any musician be able to pick up the beat and feeling of the dance.

    Shawn… while I love the girl, she has absolutely no dance training. Go watch her floor routines…She’s an Athlete, no more. She had gymnastics training and gymnastics training only since she was 4. Just like figure skating, United States gymnasts rarely, rarely have dance training. Their floor routines are done by a floor choreographer. Not a dance instructor. Now in places like the Old Soviet Block, some European countries, etc. do send their girls to ballet training but not in the US. So, again like Kristi, Shawn may have been able to pick up how to follow choreography but dance before DWTS? Not really…

    I still stand by my point in that just because you’re a dancer doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be good at ballroom. Dancing (and I speak from experience here) gives you habits (as do other sports ) that don’t neccessarily help you in the ballroom.

20. # Rooster commented on October 15th, 2009:

    I have no idea why we’re using the size of a celebrity’s fanbase to determine who “ringers” are. Of course everyone is going to have a different sized fan base. There is absolutely no way to standardize that. Why would you expect it?

    Heidi, I didn’t say all good dancers are “ringers,” I don’t believe the term is appropriate for the show because it implies that 1) competition matters and 2) competition is fair, and I’ve already proven those ideas to be false. I’m saying that the show has had so many good dancers that to keep ratings up it can’t take so many risks and needs people who will be good. If it gets a surprise that Gilles Marini, that’s great, but as the show continues and is ever closer to losing viewers due to its repetitive nature, it needs more guarantees that celebrities will dance well so people watch.

21. # Rooster commented on October 15th, 2009:

    Let me put this another way: do you guys really think that the producers could assemble a cast where everyone has the same (or an extremely similar) level of dance experience, showmanship, and fanbase? Do you think such a thing could happen when the producers are looking for a diverse cast and choosing some athletes, performers, and even politicians?
    Look, I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’m not understanding what you’re so concerned about.

22. # YEAH, BABY! commented on October 15th, 2009:

    Rooster, I totally agree with you.

    I don’t know what fanbase has to do with being a ringer. And there is not way to equalize all the things that make a celebrity a star.

    Katrina, if we go by what Heidi says about a huge fanbase, forget choreography, Shawn and Kristi are definitely ringers. Take away the fanbase, Shawn and Kristi are definitely ringers. Having to learn choreography for skating and performing gymnastic routines, gives them an advantage over someone who has never leaned a dance using choreography. So final analysis Shawn and Kristi are definitely ringers!

23. # Princess Heidi commented on October 15th, 2009:

    I think we’re discussing two different issues here, under the guise of one word – ringer. And no one is “concerned” about it – we’re disagreeing. Saying someone is concerned seems…I dunno, condescending or something.

    Ringer is a catch- all phrase, IMO, used to describe someone with an unfair advantage over everyone else, be it previous dance training, years of entertaining including dance or a hugemongous, passionate fanbase that overlaps almost completely with the demographic that votes for people on this show. And I absolutely agree with Rooster that it’s not a real competition nor is it “fair”. It’s not a real competition and it’s not fair BECAUSE of the people with advantages over everyone else. So, sure, it’s for entertainment value – that doesn’t mean people have to LIKE it. I would like it if they changed it up and stuck to the “C-list” celebs and maybe asked them to dance before signing them up to make sure they have someone with some talent. Most of the people on the show are there to get exposure – make them earn it.

    I would argue that part of the reason the ratings are going down is because there are no surprises anymore – everyone is on to the plot of how the show works. I saw an article the other day that said much the same thing, and I’ll post it later. When you know before the dancing even starts that Mya and Donny, and possibly Natalie and Aaron, are very likely to be in the top 5 at the very least, do you have a vested interest in watching and rooting for someone? Or do you get bored, like many here have said they are this season? After nine seasons, most viewers (even the casual ones) can look at the list of celebs and have a pretty good idea of who the top 6 will be and who will leave early. Occasionally, it doesn’t work and you get a Ty Murray who stays a long time, or a Sabrina Bryan who leaves before her time. When you see an obvious “ringer” like Donny Osmond, do you feel the need to watch the show and vote? Sure, lots and lots of people still do – but there is a ratings slump. I think they made it even worse this season by having so many couples – you will have fewer surprises because the unknown people will leave first because you don’t have time to grow to love them. Would Ty have lasted if he were on this season?

    So, I do think that Donny, Mya, Kristi and Shawn (at the very least, I’m sure there are others) are ringers in the sense that I describe above. There are degrees, of course – I think it’s very possible that Mya could be a shocking exit in the final four, and I don’t think that Donny has the fanbase that Kristi and Shawn do but it’s still massive. Most people called Shawn the winner of the show before the dancing even started – Gilles was a complete shock, and frankly, when Melissa joined up I called it a toss up. Not because of her ballet training but because she was just coming off a HUGE show which instilled a large, very passionate female fanbase where people thought she had been wronged by a man. Same people who vote for DWTS. So, even through those factors, Shawn still wins over a clearly superior dancer. Why? Huge fanbase, fresh off the Olympics. Kristi was even more so a ringer – skating is HUGE and she was extraordinarily popular. So, when you pick a Donny Osmond and a Joanna Krupa to be on the same show, is there any mystery, REALLY, who going to go the farthest (at least prior to the show starting)? One has a very successful Vegas show and the other is nearly completely unknown. Does it even matter in the slightest? If they are worried about people not wanting to watch sans the Donny’s of the world – make ALL of the celebs of the same stature, then see what happens. Get 8 Donny-types – put the excitement back in.

24. # YEAH, BABY! commented on October 15th, 2009:

    OK Ringer or not, it doesn’t bother me. I have voted for Shawn, Kristie, Joey, Melissa and many other ringers. I enjoy the show for two reasons. One I enjoy watching the better dancers (ringer or not). Second, I do enjoy watching the Gilles, Ty’s and Chuck’s go from no dancing to great improvement. This show can be about both. I’m just getting tired of all the ringer talk.

    Yes, I am tired of all this ringer talk because I AM a huge Donny fan! Yes, I am ONE of those “rabid fan base fans”!!

    I just wish people would just give the dancers the credit they deserve for dancing a good dance. Donny & Mya dance great every week and all they get for their great dancing is everyone calling them a ringer! They put in just as many hours of dancing each week (and maybe more – that’s why they are better) as everyone else.

    Donny & Mya won’t win even if they make it to the finals.

    Do you think Shawn won, not because of her huge fan base but because the producers picked her to win so there would be more talk about the show? I do. Gilles was a very heavy favorite to win. If he won, that probably would have been it for the talk about the show. But because Shawn won there was more talk longer after the show. Donny & Mya will make it to the finals but will not win so that there will be more buzz about the show especially because the ratings are down. So I don’t think we need to worry about ringer or not. The producers will pick who they want to win. Have you ever noticed that they never, ever tell you how many votes each dancer actually gets. How do we know they finish where they do? Chuck went home this week because everyone thought it would be Michael. Makes for more conversation about the show. If Michael went home there would be no particular buzz because it was expected.

    I think we can quit worrying about ringers!

25. # Tabitha commented on October 15th, 2009:

    I agree Heidi…people aren’t watching because they can pretty much pick the top 3 out of these 10 couples left (although I really, really hope there are some surprises). I fell in love with this show so I’ll watch no matter what but casual viewers aren’t going to waste their time…especially if they don’t care about anyone on the show and it’s hard to get to that point with the short dances and intro clips.

    I have a question for you all. I think I heard a while ago that Alfonso Riberia (have no clue if that is spelled right ) was not allowed on the show because of his dance background…what makes him different then Mya?

26. # Phillipe commented on October 15th, 2009:

    Heidi i see your point but if put only people like Joanna, Gilles and Brooke the show should change the name , before dwts i’ve never heard of Joanna,Gilles or Brooke, if they are ”what the show is all about” so is hard to say that the show is call dancing with the stars, like i posted in pure derek hough, People don’t even care about Joanna in the interviews,Derek is a bigger celebrity that she is.

    ringer or not ,what i don’t like is people like MYa and Sabrina that in show 1 already look like pro dancers, Mya is never gonna dance bad because like Sabrina she is a dancer,IMO there is a big difference when you have a lot of dancing training like Mya and Sabrina from people like Kristi and Shawn, they were never training in dancing even if the sport look similar to dance.

27. # Rooster commented on October 15th, 2009:

    What I meant was, you seem to want there to be a level playing field among the contestants; you want celebrities to have a similar dance background and fanbase. So I think you are invested in the idea of the show being a fair competition.

    My idea is that as far as this show is concerned, there is no such thing as fairness (so the show can’t be unfair, so there cannot be “ringers”) and the show itself is aware of the flimsiness of its pretense to competition, as they always make fun of the mirrorball trophy, what you “win.”

    I think we can both agree that the show is very entertaining as it is (even if you prefer past seasons, which people always do). I know that I watch a lot and enjoy all the info on this website.

28. # Princess Heidi commented on October 15th, 2009:

    Well, Phillipe, they didn’t care about joanna this week because Derek took his shirt off – that pretty much trumped MJH’s 9 point leap too. But Derek has been really good this season about letting Joanna do the talking – he only really jumps in when the conversation seems to stall. But when one of the hot male pros who is not known for see-through shirts or shirts open to the navel takes his shirt completely off and does a dance like the Lambada, it’s going to get noticed. You saw the video about Mark and Melissa wanting to sabotage Derek – they weren’t thrilled either. I was.

29. # Phillipe commented on October 15th, 2009:

    Heidi i’m not saying that this is Derek fault, i’m just saying that in general people care more about him than Joanna (IMO), he is more famous than her, like Julianne and Chuck last season.I think this is the reason that Derek got Joanna and Brooke, they are not very famous so they need a pro that can help with the votes.

    You really believe that Mark want to sabotage Derek because of his shirt off stealing the attention, they were joking and answering Marie stupid question.

30. # Princess Heidi commented on October 15th, 2009:

    Erm, Phillipe, I’ve been known to joke a time or two myself. This was one of those times.