DWTS Season 11 – Changes, As Per Usual
I saw this article a few days ago, but work has been such a nightmare that I’ve not had as much time to post random bits I find. Then I nearly forgot about it!! But then we were just discussing in the comments how every single season the producers feel this inexplicable need to tinker. Tinker, tinker, tinker. Pretty sure this comes from a press release, but The Examiner doesn’t provide a link – for that reason, take it with a tiny grain of salt…or hope it’s not true?? I dunno, some of these might be interesting. And at least by putting them out there NOW, no one can cry that their favorite is being conspired against. π From The Examiner:
Other than its new cast of diverse celebrities, ABC has announced even more changes for the new season of Dancing With the Stars. βWeβre trying to make the show more like a real ballroom dance competition,β says executive producer Conrad Green. So, how does ABC plan on shaking up a show that scored monster ratings last season? Hereβs a look at whatβs new for season eleven of Dancing With the Stars:
β’ Rock Night: This new themed night will feature classic rock and roll. All of the teams will dance to the tunes of classic rockers, like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Eagles, Elvis Pressley, Queen, Chicago and others.
β’ A Striped-down Acoustic Night: The audience will be seated on the dance floor to make it a more intimate setting.
β’ Instant Choreography Challenge: The couples will practice their assigned style of dance all week, but they wonβt get their music until 20 minutes before they have to go out and perform.
I think we all know where the “Acoustic Night” came from – I certainly hope they are compensating Derek and Chelsie appropriately. π I’m all for it – I think their Paso was very powerful for it’s stripped down feel. But can everyone pull it off??
Classic Rock?? No big deal. Now, the Choreography Challenge could either be interesting or a disaster. Some pros seem to ignore the music anyway, but others are very musical. It could negatively impact them.
ETA: Carrie Ann confirms the changes and adds an additional one (which I hate) on The Insider (Video on the site – Thanks to Jennifer):
In addition, Carrie Ann, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli will be joined by a fourth judge this season when some of the favorite contestants from the past will join the judging panel. No one is confirmed yet, but the “DWTS” judge says she would like to see Drew Lachey, Emmitt Smith and Jerry Springer, among others, return.
What do you all think??
these sound fun to me. i think it’s good they go for changes because the show can get boring very quickly, it’s old and highly regimented.
Just read: Carri Ann talks more about the changes and also talks about a 4th judge.
http://www.theinsider.com/news/3364531_Secrets_from_the_New_Season_of_Dancing_with_the_Stars
I don’t think the Choreo challenge will be all that difficult. The pro should be able to dance to anything, they do it in competition all the time, and if they have a strong lead, or back-lead as the case may be it should be fine. They will probably teach just at tempo, but with various songs in practice so the student doesn’t get dependent on the nuances of one piece of music.
Cheryl was interviewed by Billy Bush, and she named her competition at the end of this phoner :
http://www.billybushshow.com/b/Very-High-Heels/639461390839628459.html
I saw the Carri Ann thing too. I’m hoping the fourth judge either doesn’t give a score and just talks or is there for some sort of results show competition. If it’s an actual celeb guest judge every week I might go crazy.
Yeah, Amy, I don’t like that one either. Ick.
So according to Carrie Ann, the dances for acoustic week will be rumba and argentine tango. I think that would really work with those dances, so I’ll be looking forward to that week.
I want to know more about this 4th judge thing though. Carrie Ann said she doesn’t know who’s doing it yet, and the first show is in 3 days, so I’m guessing they’re not having an additional judge every week (maybe?). If it’s just every once in a while, I’d be okay with it, but I think the judges are fine as they are. Why change it?
I think the 4th judge thing sucks. π
Bleh to the changes, other than Rock Night. \m/
I get the “acoustic” part but how are they going to have room to dance if the audience is sitting on the dance floor? :/
Also, has anyone else been catching the videos that have been posted on the official DWTS Facebook page this week? I don’t know if there’s a way to embed them anywhere else but here’s a link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/dancingwiththestars?v=app_2392950137
Question: If they’re trying to make DWTS more like a “real” ballroom competition, then why the hell are they doing some of this wacky theme stuff? None of the ballroom competitions I’ve been to have had a “rock right” or “stripped down acoustic night”. The only thing that seems more like a real ballroom competition is the challenge where they get their music only 20 minutes prior to performing – no one ever knows what music is going to be playing during competition rounds, just that it’s going to have a certain beat.
Looks like Audrina and Tony are kicking things off Monday night. Audrina just twittered their phone number. What does that mean?
You are correct – they’re dancing first. That’s fairly predictable, really. Audrina is pretty good, but not well known compared to some of the legends, so they’ll put her first and make an impact. I predict that Bristol will get the Kate spot – second to last I believe. The Hoff or Jennifer will be at the top of the second hour (Derek usually goes first or the top of the second hour too). Brandy will get the pimp spot.
I think Emmit Smith might be a possibility. I read somewhere that he tweeted Cheryl that he was in a dance studio again (refresher course on all the different dances and watching some correct technique?) …. along the lines of “imagine that!” Supposedly Cheryl tweeted back “I hope it’s one of my studios LOL”
Well, you don’ need that much place for argentine tango, so why not.
That idea of the 4th judge is not pleasing me at all, and it won’t help to make the show look like a real ballroom competition if they’re able to score the couples, plus they will certainly be biased regarding their former pro.
I don’t like the idea of the audience being on the floor either, that is just annoying for the dancers. As for the impromptu choreography, yes we did it in pro competitions all the time, but with recorded music chosen so that the phrasing was regular and suited to the dance. We were also both pros with years of dance training and experience, not a celebrity who has never danced ballroom before and their only knowledge of the dance is the routine. If something doesn’t fit and the pro has to adjust, it could really throw the celebrity. With some of the wacky music choices and ‘interesting’ speeds and rhythms they choose often, I have some real reservations about this. It could really backfire on the dancers.
I’m not sure what to think of the “acoustical” change. I hate acoustical and unplugged performances. We’ll see. But, I like when the music is “full out” and it matches the said dance.
The 4th judge doesn’t bother me though. Might be kind of fun.
A 4th judge per se doesn’t bother me, but I’m not sure I’m liking it being a previous contestant. I agree with Miss Pompon that they couldn’t help but be biased toward their Pro. Also, as I believe Emmit Smith once said – the celebs really don’t have time to learn how to dance ballroom; they barely have time to learn how to dance that particular routine. So how would they be qualified to judge another team – or the pros? Unless they’re only going to comment on the entertainment factor – representing the 94% of the viewing/voting audience that knows little about dance but votes based on other factors. I could more easily see one of the non-competing Pro dancers taking that position – and I agree Maks could do it – but it might mess with the brotherly spirit backstage if that judging Pro has a partner and is back on the dance floor the following season. It does sound just like the sort of tinkering DWTS likes to do – once again messing around with the scoring matrix. If it must be a past celebrity (after all, Brooke got a co-hosing job out of the deal) please let’s pray it’s not Marie Osmond. I don’t have anything against the woman – but I cannot see her behind that desk – yikes!
I was thinking about the scoring too. Last season, one episode, they gave separate scores for technical and artistic and I liked that. It seemed far more accurate, given the nature of the competition on the show. Wish they’d do that all the time.
I agree with Peach. It’s hard enough for a celeb to learn steps matched to one specific song. There could be dances falling apart all over the place with “instant choreography” (no time to link steps to specific musical cues). Hopefully, the songs will all be very typical to the particular dance. If some are weird and some aren’t, certain couples could be at a big disadvantage.
Kristi was a judge on that ice skating show ABC aired. It was a bomb but she did judge a show for the network already. I can see Kristi doing it. I am hoping Bristol leaves early so Mark will be out so we do not have to worry about her favoring her old partner. I doubt she would anyway but there would not accusations of it. I want a fourth judge who could be entertaining. I know who I do not want to see. Sabrina, Joey Lawrence, Niecy (way too bitter last year), Erin Andrews, Evan Lysacek, Mel (too strong of a chance of her favoring Maks), anyone who was eliminated week 1 of course!
mmc, I was originally thinking that pros who use the music the most (like Derek) would be at the biggest disadvantage – but then those pros are often the most clever. So, it’s really hard to say what kind of impact it will have. I’m more worried that we’ll get BORING, generic dances so that the pros can avoid having disjointed dances that don’t go with the music. If that makes any sense.
I love this site, but I want to comment on your use of Examiner stories. This is the WORSE place to find information about DWTS. This site is known to take from sources and not credit (this is a perfect example) and the writers there can make stuff up because there is no check/balance system like newspapers.
My two cents but this was obviously taken from The Insider w/o credit.
Looks like they all have their ‘first dance’ songs.
http://www.tmz.com/2010/09/17/dancing-with-the-stars-david-hasselhoff-song-list-sarah-palin-bristol-palin-songs-dances-audrina-patridge-the-situation/
Dont know if that is the official running order though.
Thanks Cameron, so Derek & Jennifer will dance on a soundtrack from Dirty Dancing, how original …
Great songs for the cha-cha-cha π
Cool Cam! THANKS! ‘m going to love “California Girls”! Gawd, I can’t wait for tomorrow night! A huge night for TV (HOUSE and Hawaii-Five-O premiere too, lol)
Oh the dude on Hawaii Five-O – Alex McLaughlin?? HOT!! Yeah, good thing I have a Tivo AND a DVR. π
Yeah, I expect the producers will continually give them Dirty Dancing music. I don’t think the pros got to pick any of their music last season – I wish they would change that aspect back.
DWTS Lover – no argument from me. I was rather annoyed to not see that story sourced, especially when I take pains to credit original sources for information AND only quote bits. There are other sites out there that take things I write VERBATIM and post it on their site with no link back. That is highly annoying. When I posted it, I had not seen the Insider, but was fairly certain (as I said in the post) that the info came from a press release or some such thing that wasn’t referenced.
Heidi – I agree with you about the music! It makes the pros’ jobs all that much harder not to be able to select their own music.
I’ve always hated that too. They should let the pros decide their music.
The pros did choose their own music, once upon a time. They knew they might not get what they chose, because it has to be cleared with the person who owns the right to the music, but I don’t think they have an option any more which really bites.
Derek/Jennifer are dancing 11th. – via Derek’s twitter
Of course I saw that. π I have a post in progress to show who’s dancing what and their order. I have to hope the rest tweet their number. I can’t believe Derek is on top of it – he’s usually the last to share. π
So then if Bristol really is dancing to “Mama told me not to come” it is not her choice? That bites! When I thought that she chose the song, I thought cool – you go girl! Now to think that it has been foisted upon her ….. not so cool. Especially since I keep hearing how shy she is. Someone’s idea of a (cruel) joke? It seems that I remember hearing Louis say in one of the interview links here something about we should remember the song Margaret (or they) chose for this first dance when we get to week 11, but being all secretative because he couldn’t reveal the song. The song they’re apparently dancing to is “We are The Champions”, which fits.
My TV section in the Sunday paper shows Tuesday to be a 2-hour elimination show? Bummer, if true. I really don’t like sending someone home after only 1 dance π
Linde, the way I understood it to work once upon a time was that the pros submitted a list of music they wanted for specific dances at the beginning of the season. The producers then have to “clear” the music with the owners. If it doesn’t clear, the producers choose alternative music (or I suppose the pro submit more than one song). The pros often didn’t get their way. The way it SEEMED to work last season (and this is going by the tweets of various pros, but particularly Derek) was that they never had a choice in their music.
There is video of a producer standing with Cheryl while she’s in hair playing songs on a laptop and you see her nixing songs – I think this is from season 9. The impression given was the song she wanted didn’t clear so they were playing her stuff from a list that DID clear and she had to pick from that list. I don’t honestly know how much control they actually have at this point, only that it seemed on more than one occasion last season that the pros were surprised at their music.
Speaking of 4th Judge. This tweet from Mel B. makes more sense now.
http://twitter.com/OfficialMelB/statuses/24160655657
Oh great, she’s not at ALL biased. And she’s been downright nasty in the past. Lovely. HATE this idea of guest judges – the ones we have are bad enough.
where is ebidya?