Dancing with the Stars Season 11 – The Campaigns
With each passing season, more and more campaigns spring up, clogging my tweetdeck. By campaigns I mean fan groups of certain celebrities lobbying in any way they think will help to get their favorite on the next season of DWTS. Sometimes this is with the blessing of the celebrity and sometimes the fans don’t seem to care if the celeb wants on the show or not.
The most prominent one that I’ve seen on twitter seems to be Martha Byrne – which is, frankly, a mystery to me. Okay, so Martha was one half of a super couple on As The World Turns – she played Lily as part of the Lily/Holden couple. I know this, yes, because I used to watch this soap. 🙂 I guess I’m surprised she has such dedicated fans. And I think she’d be good on the show too. Guess what? She’s totally up for it, from the sound of it, and may have been the instigator of the campaign.
Of course, another huge one is Johnny Weir – and he has Karina Schmirnoff campaigning for him.
Johnny Weir has been discussed as a contestant since the day that Evan was announced as a participant. The things I read made him sound a little bitter that Evan was chosen, but I think there is still room for Johnny and I think he would probably be delightful. Now, I’ve got no dog in this fight – I like both guys. Don’t spam me people. 🙂
The person who has surpassed Evan Lysacek levels of tweeting related to DWTS is this guy who is campaigning for Bern Nadette Stanis (Thelma from Good Times):
And you’re seeing only a tiny fraction of his commitment to his cause. 🙂 This guy is passionate. There’s even a facebook page. According to this page, she really wants to do it. I hope she’s successful. I HOPE this guy lays off the campaign a little bit because he’s killing my tweetdeck. 🙂
Hmmm…don’t know if this is really a campaign, per se, as much as an offhand comment – Debi Nova. Click the link and judge for yourself. 🙂
These are far from the only campaigns that I’ve seen for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars, but that’s going to have to do it for now. I’ll post more later – but by all means, if you know of one I haven’t mentioned, let me know!!
Celebs should be: Hulk or Brooke Hogan, Andrej Goleta,Pee Wee Herman, Jersey Shore kids, Stevie Nicks,Cyndi Lauper, the Donald,Weird Al Yankovic,Yanni,Ellen Degeneres, Portia, Cake Boss,Dawg the Bounty Hunter or his wife Beth, John Travolta,Paris Hilton, Smokey Robinson, John Stamous, Mary Kate & twin sister, most importantly Steve Wilkos. Then it will be a most interesting season!!! Thank you. Natalie
I would love to see Johnny on the show. Not really too sure about the rest as I don’t really know who they are.
Johnny, please! He is entertaining and has a personality. He is too polarizing to win but he would be a lot of fun to watch and I think he would have fun on the show too.
You know, the other day I randomly thought of someone I’d LOVE to see on the show. Nancy Wilson of Heart. She’s 56 but in great shape. They also have a new album coming out soon so it would be a great way to help promote it.
God that would be awesome.
Go Johnny Go! This will be a hoot if he’s on.
@ck410 Ooh. I love me some Heart. And Nancy does look FANTASTIC for her age – I daresay she’d make it a lot farther than Belinda Carlisle did.
@Natalie – You’ve got some good ones on your list (definitely wouldn’t mind seeing Weird Al), but it seems like a lot of the ones you’ve listed are either too famous (somehow, I don’t see the Donald dropping everything to hoof it for only $200k, and Travolta as well) or are beginning to become a bit of a reality TV cliche (Cyndi just did Celebrity Apprentice, and I want to say she was on some VH1 series).
Call me a party pooper, but I don’t really have any interest in seeing Johnny Weir on the show. I’m afraid he’d be a bit of an attention fiend like Donny was. I liked Evan because he came across as a pretty polite, likeable, inoffensive guy, and while I do appreciate people who rock the boat, I’m afraid Johnny would do a bit too much of it and alienate some of the more conservative viewers. And correct me if I’m wrong, but has there ever been an instance that a personal friend of one of the pros has actually made it onto the show? I can’t recall it ever happening before…then again, I can’t recall any of the pros ever campaigning to get a certain celeb on the show before, either.
Well I think Johnny is a spark, and they’re going to need one after season 10. Will he win? I don’t really care about that, what I think will be enormously entertaining is the Johnny Weir show. We had the Kate Gosselin show and that was a downer. And we had the Osmond show and that was a downer because it wasn’t nostaglic it was a bore. I want to have fun watching the show, and Johnny is going to bring it. Outrageous Gays are a real chuckle, and let’s face it, there is a segment of the population who will love the show because he’s unashamed of his orientation. If Johnny is a good ballroom dancer icing on the cake!
Here’s my take on Jonny Weir. He’s in it to win it. I could be wrong in my recollections but I think he painted himself into a corner with his comments about a certain season 10 star’s abilities and how skating IS actually like dancing, afterall. Yes, he’d be a riot and probably a good dancer. But he also needs to do well and play it rather straight (sorry) on broadcast TV. What’s really funny and entertaining about him probably won’t translate well for a win.
(((shrug)))) Johnny was truthful about a skater and how closely the sport is related to dance. Evan isn’t completely innocent here, he didn’t have to be such an old queen either, commenting about who should be on a Stars On Ice Tour.
If Lance Bass can go on DWTS and kiss a girl and “like it” or Steve Gutenburg can do the Mango with Jonathan Roberts, there’s more than enough room for Johnny.
I don’t know if I see Disney and Johnny in the same sentence but I agree they have big shoes to fill after Season 10. I still would like to see an All-Star or Second Chances season so they can bring Evan and some other past folks back. I also think some of the skaters that were more popular in the 80s and 90s might have a good fan following: Brian Boitano, Kurt Browning, etc.
Anyway, there is a facebook campaign to bring “Nellie Oleson” aka Alison Arngrim of Little House On the Prairie fame to DWTS. Her book came out last week and she also does a comedy routine called Confessions of a Prairie B**ch. I saw both the comedy show and her book signing in NY last week. She is hilarious. I would love to see either her or Melissa Gilbert on the show. They are both very funny on twitter too.
I would love to see Derek Jeter do the show but the seasons always conflict with baseball season.
I’ve heard that Greg Louganis would really like to be on the show, and I’d love to see him. I imagine he’d be very elegant.
Andie:
Agreed. My point is that he’s on record slamming a previous star and saying that figure skating is like dancing – AND that he can do well because of this. I think it’s very possible that if he gets on, while loads of fun for many people, the criticism lobbed his way will be exhausting and distracting.
Greg Louganis has been rumored or has been campaigning for himself for two or three seasons now. You never know – sometimes it takes that long for something to go from rumor to reality. 🙂
Well, I see both Jay and Andie’s points – I think Johnny is right and Evan’s fans who claim he didn’t have an advantage are misguided. Clearly he did – not just enough of one. And I clearly remember groaning when reading the remarks that Evan made about the Stars on Ice thing – very bad idea there, Evan. At the same time, Johnny has painted himself into a corner. If he doesn’t do well, look out. But hell, it sure would be fun to watch either way. He could either win or completely demolish the Olympic Gold Medalist thing. 🙂
@Courtney – Exactly. She’d fill the “slightly older woman” spot but I’ve seen her move around onstage like a teenager. So she’s probably in great shape and I have a feeling she would have more stamina to keep up as opposed to a Susan Lucci, Jane Seymour, etc.
Plus I’m sure we’d get to see Cameron Crowe in the audience.
Eh, Johnny’s talk is like any other rivals, all the footballers are constantly comparing themselves to Emmit and trying to get a win but they so far have fallen short. Johnny might crash and burn or he could blow anything Evan did out of the water. Just because the difference is Johnny and Evan don’t like each other doesn’t make it less entertaining.
If you’re going to pick a wrestler I’de rather see Hulk Hogan instead of Chris, and Johnny Weir looks “weird” he resembles Edward Scissorhands!!!Come on, we need Weird Al Yankovic, PeeWee and one of the Jersey Shore Kids. Natalie
Andie:
Entertaining yes. OK on broadcast, maybe not. I think Johnny would be great for DWTS. I’m not ABC though and they’ve never put a trash-talking Liberace on before. BIG diff between him and trash-talking footballers or Joey Fatone. Big diff. That’s what may be his downfall for this venue – his personae is glittery and bitchy. But to win, he’d have to make some huge compromises in that approach and then we’d have Johnny doing something he swears he won’t do – compromise.
Jay makes a really good point about Johnny – he’s flamboyant and unapologetic about it…which makes him a definite broadcasting risk. I have a feeling the show would have to hire on additional personnel to man the censors, because Johnny is the type that’s gonna say or do whatever he wants, regardless of whether or not it’s going to incur a huge fine from the FCC for the show. And I agree about your contrast of “trash-talking Liberace” vs. trash-talking footballers/Fatones – let’s face it, a good chunk of the viewing audience is extremely close-minded & conservative, and they’re likely going to be more tolerant of obnoxious straight men than they are of gay ones…let alone outspoken gay ones. It’s unfortunate, yes; but for a show that is concerned with ratings, it wouldn’t surprise me if they passed over someone like Johnny in favor of someone more palatable & lower-risk, like Evan. And even when openly-gay Lance Bass was on the show, there was little to no mention of his sexual orientation, and he seemed to do his best not to “rock the boat”, so to speak (I almost think the faux-traumatic “I was the worst dancer in NSYNC!” bit was meant to distract some of the more conservativce viewers). While some of us might welcome the breath of fresh air (more like gust of fresh air, hehe) Johnny’s personality might bring to the show, having him on there is a risk I’m not sure the producers are ready to take.
While I agree with a lot of what you say, I have to say that no ones sexuality is “discussed” or “mentioned” on the show unless the people in question are stirring up a showmance – ala Cheryl and Chad. I don’t know why people think that when someone gay is on the show they (or the show) will feel the need to discuss it any more than any straight people feel the need to discuss it. I mean, there are gay men who are out and very flamboyant and those who just aren’t – but that’s not the same as discussing it. That’s just *being*. As for the audience – I dunno, part of me thinks that perhaps that conservative audience most likely assumes that all the male dancers ARE gay and yet they still watch the show. Or maybe they just don’t really care. I tend to think that the obnoxiously bigoted conservative types are a vocal minority in a conservative group that is much more “live and let live” than what you see portrayed by the news. Let’s face it – those folks are looking for the extremes all the time for ratings. And let’s not forget about Bruno – he’s pretty darn open and has made many questionable comments while on the show. And the ratings were UP this season, so he’s not had much impact.
Then again, I was surprised by the large surge in search terms like “Louis Van Amstel boyfriend” and just plain “Louis Van Amstel” that brought people to this site when Louis’ boyfriend was discussed on Ellen. People were actually stunned that he was gay – which surprised me because he’s not in the closet at all. So, I have to wonder if the largest segment of DWTS audience (women) just doesn’t care.
My apologies for being at risk of beating this to a pulp. But, perhaps, JW is a particular type of star that should be discussed. Please note that I think all the points being made are very good. But, 1. he’s not like anyone else in that he is a loose cannon (albeit a very funny one) who voluntarily wants to appear in a corporate/big business venue. And corporate only wants you if you can make money for them, not cost money. 2. I’m not sure viewers have an issue with gay so much as with a guy whose whole personae is shoving gender issues in your face and telling every emperor they have no clothes (Bruno controls when and where he is flamboyant – just picture the first time JW goes after him – and YES, I’d pay to see that.) 3. Johnny (and this is what’s intriguing me most) will have to compromise just like everyone else if he wants to win the MBT. What will he compromise and, if he compromises and still loses, what does he do with that?
Jay I definitely agree with you there – I think the biggest concern in casting Johnny may not be so much that he’s gay – but the fact he’s just a HUGE loose cannon. He’s like Cloris times 5 – and without the redeeming quality of being a cute little old lady & a Hollywood legend. And if he’s racking up fine after fine for the network for his outlandish behavior, then he isn’t making money for the “corporate” machine…and really, I don’t see him reigning in his behavior as part of the terms of his contract on the show. He’s completely unpredictable – and unpredictable is dangerous when you’re walking a fine line of propriety on a basic cable network like ABC. Those antics of his could be absolute gold on a premium network like HBO or Showtime (didn’t he have a reality show on one of them?) but on ABC…OY.
And Heidi, while I agree with your distinction of “being” gay and actually discussing your sexuality on-air, I’m not so sure Johnny is the type that’s going to be able to make that distinction – or want to. I could see him tossing a few saucy lines Bruno’s way while on the air that basically scream “I’M GAY!!!!”, or making some off-color comment about [insert male pro here] being shirtless or wanting to do the rumba with [insert male pro here]. I could be wrong about him, but from every TV appearance of his I’ve seen, he seems to let his flag fly loud & proud, and isn’t willing to scale it back for anyone.
All this conversation is exactly why Johnny would be good for DWTS. While we might want good dancing or no drama, the producers want ratings. Johnny brings conversation and I think Cloris and other celebs like Steve-O and even Macy Gray’s were question marks and not knowing what they might say on the air. Remember Macy Gray was beeped her first performance and I thought said the most out there comment in the history of the show after her first dance. Besides I think it depends on the partner. If you put Johnny with Lacey, I can just see drama all season long and both complaining about the judges. Put Johnny with Karina, Edyta or Anna, I think he will still be himself but quieter.
And there’s nothing wrong with it. I think the show would do well with him. He would be an ultimate “get”
The show is about ‘ratings’ after all, and Johnny, love him or hate him will be a ratings bonanza.
I can see a similarity between the discussions that happened when Adam Carolla was announced as a celebrity, and now, discussing Johnny Weir. At the time, AC was FAR outside the norm for the celebrities they picked, but I think it turned into a profitable experiment for them, since they tried to pick at least one (or two, or three) controversial figures to fill in the cast each season. I remember that Adam had said that they talked with him, and asked him to watch himself, and remember, he did say quite a few things that sat right on the edge…. But people came to like him. And, the censors kept their fingers on the buttons the whole time he was on, and HE wasn’t the one they bleeped, it was Julianne, saying “shoot.” Anyone remember that uproar, about what a horrible person Adam had to be, to get Julianne to swear on TV? Or the uproar when it was announced that they were pairing Julianne with Adam? It ended up being a good pairing, and they seemed to balance each other out.
Anyway, they COULD do the same with Johnny. From what I’ve seen, he would probably want to be with Karina, but if they’re already good friends, I don’t know if it would be a good idea. I do think they would need to pair him with someone much more “down,” to balance his “up.” Honestly, maybe Chelsie would be the best one to pair him with. Not saying anything against Chelsie, but Johnny personality seems to be wild and outrageous, while Chelsie’s is more down to earth, and settled.
It would definitely be something that they’d have to watch carefully. I’m sure they’ll sit him down and tell him how it’s going to be, just like they did with Adam. If he doesn’t like it, they’d simply sign another celebrity.
Johnny would be an awesome additin 2 da show 4 sure! As for Chris jehrico, thats is awesome too.
I’d be surprised if DWTS had another Ice Skater before season 13-14.
I don’t think that TPTB would have a problem handling Johnny Weir, at least not on the show itself.
JW is a professional and would play to win. Pissing off the producers, judges, and at home audience isn’t the way to win. He would know that.
I think that he’d let enough of his personality shine to capture the audience, but keep the more outrageous stuff in check. Ala Kelly Osborne.
Oh I hope he doesn’t stuff his personality for this show. Who cares about winning, it’s about ratings.
I hope he’s outrageous as he’s always been. That’s what makes him Johnny Weir.
And they seem to have an NFL football player on every year, so there’s no reason why a figure skater can’t be on more regularly.
Cori:
Respectfully, his personality is what has cost him dearly in figure skating. Yes, I know we can discuss the technical and artistic merits of his olympic performance re the new scoring but I think he started to go down in that subjective sport years earlier when he let his personality and views out. Has he learned that you must conform to win? He’s got to find a balance for DWTS.
And I still think he’s not like any earlier stars. Everyone else played it straight (so to speak), even when they made outrageous comments. Profanity is the least of it when you’ve got a guy who is a quick wit coming after you…When Courtney said he might say something about a shirtless pro, I’m thinking he’d wait for live TV and say something about a shirtless Bruno or Tom.
[…] it’s always fun to check out the DWTS Season 12 cast rumors and even the odd but interesting Dancing with the Stars Season 12 cast campaigns (part 2 even), sometimes it’s fun to just let it all go and make up our own wish list of […]
I was catching up on my other fav show, Deadliest Catch and heard that Sig Hansen is campaigning to be on the show and for some reason his wiki page (reliable minor) said that he was “confirmed” which I know can’t be true. Right?! Having said that. I would LOVE to see a guy who expects his crew to work 20+hours straight without sleep bust his butt to train for the viannese waltz.
[…] candidates this season: Johnny Weir fans (including Karina Smirnoff) have been tweeting like crazy trying to get him cast this season, […]