DWTS Season 11, Week 7 – The “Non-Elimination” Mystery
Well, this is very interesting indeed. First, we read this in People Magazine Online:
• A rep for DWTS announced backstage that next week’s competition will feature two teams, led by former DWTS champions. Contestants’ scores will be added together, and the team with the higher score will be free from elimination. Apolo Ohno will lead Jennifer Grey, Brandy and Kurt Warner. And Kristi Yamaguchi will work with Palin, Rick Fox and Kyle Massey.
But here is the ABC Press Release from Thursday:
By Tuesday evening’s end, one couple will be eliminated, as determined by a combination of the judges’ scores and viewers’ votes on dances performed on Monday’s performance show. Who among the six remaining teams will be next to leave the ballroom floor?
* BRANDY, actress and singer, and partner MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY.
* RICK FOX, former NBA champion and partner CHERYL BURKE.
* JENNIFER GREY, beloved film and television actress, DEREK HOUGH.
* KYLE MASSEY, television teen star, and partner LACEY SCHWIMMER.
* BRISTOL PALIN, teen advocate and Alaska’s first daughter, and partner MARK BALLAS.
* KURT WARNER, former pro-NFL quarterback, and partner ANNA TREBUNSKAYA.Hosted by Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”) and Brooke Burke (“Dancing with the Stars” Season 7 champion), the celebrities perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by renowned Ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.
Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the “Dancing with the Stars” performance shows. Wireless customers with AT&T may also text message their votes by texting the word “VOTE” to the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (message and data rates may apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast. Fans may cast the maximum limit of votes for each voting method.
So, who screwed the pooch here? Did People Magazine TOTALLY get it wrong, or did the producers change their mind after seeing a bit of an uproar over the idea?? Because it was not just people on this site who saw that and had the same reaction we did. In any case, it sounds like the team dances will be business as usual. I said this in the comments earlier in the week (comment #99):
Hmmm….I wouldn’t put so much stock in the way People reports it. It doesn’t quite make sense. Like WHAT scores are added together? Are they going to individually score each member of the team and then add those numbers up to get a total? Because that would be new. If they add the individual dance numbers up, why even have a group dance at all?? I think there is a piece missing here.
Really, kind of a crock of shit, but they’re just being more blatant about doing what they’ve always done – they use the group dances and the double scores, etc. as a way of thinning the herd.
Either way, it’s a VERY good example of why you shouldn’t just automatically believe what you read on the web. The bad thing is, if People screwed up then they should print a retraction, because they did some damage, IMO. I will still expect the judges to use the team dances to benefit Jennifer and Brandy, but People put a spotlight on the ability of the producers to mess around that some might not have realized before. Some people might believe that the producers changed their mind after they saw the uproar on the net. Not really a good thing to have out there.
Also interesting, when trying to find the original source of the “non-elimination” thing, I saw a blog from associated content that cracked that it seemed like dancing was no longer the emphasis of Dancing with the Stars. No sh*t, Sherlock. 
THAT, my friends, is a succinct statement of my problem with DWTS this season.
After all this, who will have time to think about next week’s dance performances? Because after this season’s distracting themes and the shocking ousting of Audrina Patridge, it’s starting to look like the dance is the least important part of “Dancing With the Stars”.
Wow, this is interesting. I don’t know what to make of it and I have yet to understand how tomorrow night will play out. Good job Heidi for seeing the mistake or change up…for whatever it is??
And I agree with Associated content. We want to see DANCING! I’m sick of the themes and everything else distracting from it. Tony and Audrina should still be in this thing.
The more I read what People wrote I’m starting to wonder if they are just totally sucktastic writers and wrote that paragraph badly – but that was SO bad, I find it hard to believe.
I agree that “it’s starting to look like the dance is the least important part of ‘Dancing With the Stars’.”
I also think that Audrina and Tony should still be there. Why doesn’t DWTS have a “judge’s save” like American Idol? I know, it would mess up their schedule – but it seems like they could have a double elimination the week after a couple is saved by the judges.
All of the extra crap TPTB have thrown in is making watching a lot less enjoyable for me. Please, please, please producers – stop all this nonsense!
The only thing that bothers me about a judges save, is that once it’s used, it’s gone, and there would be nothing to save one of the front runners, if things go badly.
So this past week, if they had a save, and saved Audrina, we could run the risk of losing both Brandy and Jennifer at once.
And today, something that’s been bothering me about the results last week, and I will sound like I am not totally clear, but I am thinking while I’m typing….
They put both Audrina and Jennifer in the Red Light Of Doom last week, with Audrina going home. No, Audrina should not have been there, and I was upset that she left, and she did deserve to stay.
But, she did. It very easily could have been Jennifer, even though Tom DID say that they “weren’t necessarily in the bottom 2.” But the producers did see fit to have the final showdown of the night, Audrina VS Jennifer. And, people are saying that Audrina shouldn’t have gone home, and that she deserved to stay. And I even said that myself.
Does it follow that by saying that Audrina shouldn’t have gone home, that it should have been Jennifer?
The fact is, that BOTH should still be here, Bristol is by far the weakest dancer, followed by Kyle and Rick and Kurt.
Maybe they were trying to even things out to make sure that the weaker dancers start going home?
But too many differences this season, they have it as a roller coaster every single week! How about being different and having a normal week?
Lori, no, I don’t think that’s what it means. I don’t even think that’s what Maks was saying and you know I criticize him all the time.
I think that the implication is very clear from everyone who says that – Bristol and Kyle. I have never thought they were referring to Jennifer. I would bet that most of them didn’t even think that Jennifer was in the bottom 2. She’s number 1 in Vegas for a pretty significant reason and that is she’s an actress from a very beloved movie – and she was number 1 for 3 out of the last 6 weeks. I would lay money that if I could get Maks off camera and ask him, “Dude, who were you talking about?” and he would go off on monkey suits and missing most of your steps just like a lot of people here.
Here’s why I think Jennifer was in the red light of doom. She missed the ending of her dance and was soundly criticized for it. So, for DRAMA, they put her and Audrina up there together so everyone is freaking out. And it works. It also serves to get people voting more for Jennifer. Of course, putting Bristol up there with Audrina and then sending Audrina home would be MUCH more immediately shocking – but do you really think they would risk an audience reaction like what would likely happen?? I dunno. Plus putting Bristol under the red light of doom also gets people voting for her more. And I think the judges, at least, would prefer she go home over Audrina and Jennifer (and Brandy, who could also be in trouble). Once they started being nicer to Kate, she was gone. I’m hoping for that to happen here too. I don’t think the producers care, most of the time, who actually wins, but even they have to be smart enough to realize that Bristol (or Kyle at this point) winning is not really good for the show.
Side note – I don’t know if any of you are watching Strictly Come Dancing, but they actually have a much worse situation on their hands with an older lady celeb who is just horrible but keeps hanging around. For that matter, X-Factor does too – they have a a crazy dude name Wagner sticking around instead of much better singers. It’s a weird phenomenon and it’s not just Bristol. Or Kate. Bristol dances MUCH better than this Ann woman from SCD.
I can’t imagine many people who think Audrina should have stayed think Jennifer should have left. There are several others who were weaker than both Audrina and Jen.
I also am unsure waht the fake bottom two really accomplishes. On the one hand, we don’t know as much about voting patterns. Kurt and Bristol are clearly doing well in that department, and Kyle seems to be getting votes as well. These are still the weaker dancers, so I don’t think they’ve been hurt by not having a real bottom two.
I think I would be okay with no bottom two if the show didn’t create this ‘in jeopardy’ garbage. The term has never been defined in any meaningful way and it looks like just another way to trick people who aren’t paying close attention. It just looks manipulative even though I think some of the choices are more about creating suspense than manipulating the outcome of the competition.
As for the judges save, I’m not a fan of the concept.
I think they just put Jennifer in the “bottom 2″ for added drama. It drew out the suspense, and that equals good TV…at least in television producer’s minds. It probably does have something to do with making sure the weaker dancers go home before the better dancers too. I don’t think it would be good for DWTS to have had three pretty strong dancers in the finale last season, and then have it come down to mediocre dancers this season. I know some people like to root for the underdog, but I highly doubt that anyone wants to watch a dancing show without any good dancing. Sometimes viewers just get lazy with the votes. I know I do, but I’d lose interest if the best dancers were eliminated.
I don’t think anyone is saying Audrina vs. Jennifer. We’re talking about Kurt, and Bristol or Kyle to a lesser degree.
Audrina was “victim” of harsh criticism and OK scores… which didn’t motivate powervoting. Meanwhile, Jennifer, Kurt brought powervoting because of criticisms and low scores. Bristol have the votes, and I don’t know where Kyle’s votes are coming from. I thought Kyle was going home for sure.
Folks, it’s an entertainment show, not really a competition. Both Bristol and Kyle offer more entertainment value to the average watcher than Audrina did. Audrina may have been the better dancer, but honestly, to the majority of viewers, she was boring to watch and to listen to in her packages. The majority of viewers of this show aren’t people who know dance, they’re people who enjoy dance, enjoy reality shows, and enjoy whatever celebs might be their favorites. (Like Donny Osmond for example) Audrina just wasn’t good TV and that’s why she went home.
And I still think they’ve got something up their sleeves like a ‘no elimination this week, double elimination with combined scores next week’ scenario. It’s their 200th show week, after all. It’s GOT to be special.
Nah, they dumped Mario Barrett on the 100th “Special” episode back in 2008, they’ll have no trouble dumping another black guy Tuesday night. (:
Eviane, I think they have too much ‘special’ already this week. Six celebrity guest judges, recreating old routines, and returning winners as team capatains. With so much going on, it gets to the point where none of the celebs really matter. Everyone starts becoming bland when put next to the special guests and explosions. Besides, Tuesday will be 201 and not quite as ‘special’.
Reality shows really depend on casting and being able to root for and against people. I’ve thought for a while that DWTS had an advantage in that half of their cast is always new and exciting (the stars) and half are established parts of the show (the pros). The themes just make it hard to get to know the stars because there are so many distractions.
The competition is getting stranger by the week. Wish all the couples the best next week.
BTW, why is everyone grouping Kyle with Bristol, they are two totally different type of performers and personalities. Kyle has a very pleasant and outgoing personality. Bristol’s personality is nothing like his, she seems sweet but nothing like him.
Well, I guess we will see how the show will go tomorrow.
Eviane, I know that DWTS is an entertainment show. It’s just that I, for one, am entertained by the dancing, not all of the superfluous stuff that gets thrown in. I don’t get a lot of entertainment value from all of the cheesy “packages” that get aired before the dances, or the cuetsy faux commercials, or all of the other various ways the producers have chosen to burn up air time this season. I understand that people vote for celebrities that they like or identify with, and I definitely understand that there are celebs that over-stay their welcome (anyone remember Master P?). All of that being said, I’d still like to see the better couples dance, and the ones who aren’t so good (Bristol or Kyle) get eliminated.
This show is very disappointing. I’m calling it. Season 11 SUCKS!!! Premature Eliminations, RIDICULOUS theme nights, a somewhat boring cast, and very little focus on dancing. Did the producers not learn from Season 9? Overbloated cast, THE WORST Champion of all time (My opinion, deal with it), and double eliminations that really didn’t shock anyone. Season 10 was by far the best season ever. Even with the movie night/story night, for them to be somewhat successful must have made the producers think we need more themes. STICK TO THE DANCING PEOPLE!!!!
I like a LITTLE superfluous crap – but they’ve gone way overboard this season.
Dee, I think people lump Bristol and Kyle together because they are at about the same level in terms of technique. Personality has little to do with it. I think those two should be the next to go – we’re getting down to the wire and if Jennifer or Brandy goes instead of them…well, I’ll be unhappy, for one thing.
One would think the show were lagging, rather than a ratings champ. Let’s have celebrity judges, let’s have dozens of returning celebrities, let’s use previous favorite songs/dances, let’s have previous champs as team captions—all on the same show. Remember, to pick up a score card on the way in.
Man, Nathan. I can see your still ticked about Audrina’s elimination. As am I, Sorry.
Here what i think we can exprct tomorrow on a lighter note 
! A more confused judges table than ever esspecially since theres gonna be like, what? 30. of them…And Len, Carrie Ann, and Bruno will be high ” Not really a new thing tho…” The celebrity judges will just be so freakin lost it will be funny except for Kelly who will just give everyone 10s no matter what, Very little dancing, Me being ticked off that Audrina got kicked off when it was Kurt’s time to go ” Sorry Kurt 
“, Sarah Palin will make up a word, most likely to do with the NRA and more random shots of Jamie Lee Curtis than ever ” Is it bad that im hoping they’ll catch her off gaurd and get her while shes like pickin her nose or something? “, Mark Ballas and Lacey Schwimmer trying to get where ever theres a camera ” Speaking of which i miss Florky! ” and Kyle will just follow her around, ALOT of people, confusin, Sabrina Bryan will have a sress attack because shell be chasing down all the former dancers and crap, and one big hot mess, Brooke Burke will be more confused than ever, and Len will ounce again avoid getting hit in the face by like half an inch, and madness on the pure dwts website, Just one big train wreck all night! Thats my prediction. Its like watching a car gettin hit by a train, its terrible but you cant stop watching. Tomorrows gonna be so bad its good! 
Kristi did an interview and explained how the teams got decided. I know there was some debate and questions on how Brandy and Jen got to be on the same team on a different post.
“TVGuide.com: How’d you pick your team? I’m assuming you chose Mark.
Yamaguchi: Yes! We alternated with picks. Apolo won the coin toss, so he picked first and he picked Jennifer [Grey]. Then I knew I wanted Mark and Bristol [Palin], so I picked them. Apolo then picked Brandy and Maks [Chmerkovskiy]. I thought Rick [Fox] and Cheryl [Burke] had been doing great all season long, so they were my next pick. And then Apolo picked Kurt [Warner], and I got Kyle [Massey]. I love Kyle. He’s such a great performer and I think that’s going to bring a lot to the table, especially in the group dance.”
I hope the elimination thing is not true. No one deserves to be safe from elimination.
I hope not too Karla or last week’s elimination would not have been fair.
Nathan, I so understand how you feel.
About the overuse of themes this Season… If I’ve figured correctly, we’ve had only 2 weeks with NOTHING! except dancing. In the first 6 weeks, we’ve had …
Story Telling Week…
TV Theme Song Week…
“Acoustic” Week….
“Rock” Week….
And this week is another theme week for their anniversary, with all repeated songs.
Still to come is that Choreographers Challenge that was mentioned before the season began, where they give the music 20 minutes before they step on the stage to dance it.
Considering that we’ll have 3 weeks after this week, that will have to be next week, unless they are going to try to mess up the Semi-Finals! And who knows what kind of thing they’ll do to change up the Finals this year.
Princess Heidi – OK, I’ll agree with that – a little superfluous crap
. Here’s hoping that they hear our pleas and make the show less craptastic… 
Anyone thinking now that Bristol Palin will win the trophy this season?
Livia, not a chance!!
No, Livia, Bristol won’t win.
Sasa, yes, I think I’m following you now. And we’ve already started that, to a point. We did a Pros and Cons of the pros, plus the pros statistics back in the summer before the season started, and I know Courtney has more lined up. Why are the Eurpopean pros fairing more poorly? Well, my initial feel is that Americans, like Derek, are a bit more wild and less restricted in what they’re willing to do – and that appeals to an American audience. But that’s just off the cuff without thinking about it. Plus I’ve had Champagne.
I don’t know that I think it has anything to do with nationality – most Americans LOVE an accent. Tell you what, sasa, bring it up again once the season is over – we are always willing to take suggestions and go from there.
Okay, I do not understand the Bristol thing. She has had way too many saves. I think what is happening is she is getting underdog votes, and possibly some feel sorry for her and blah blah blah. BUT these dancers are supposed to be rated on how well they are dancing..not by sympathy votes. Bristol couldn’t hold a candle to Audrina nor to Rick and Cheryl..and yet they were eliminated and she is still TRYING to dance. I cringe every time I see her on the dance floor. She makes mega mistakes and has from the beginning, but yet she has stayed. She looks like a statue when she is on the floor. Either this program is rigged, or else there is a lot of people out there not being fair. JUDGE on how someone dances..not by feeling sorry for someone!!! By sympathy voting YOU are NOT being fair to the ones that are dancing their asses off. The other dancers have moved on to more daring moves, while Bristol does nothing but twirl around with a frozen face. She is terrible and she does not deserve to still be on that floor. I’m sorry but its the truth. Audrina and Rick should not have been eliminated before her, that is just unbelievable. Bristol needs to go home..and give the floor to the ones that really deserve it.
Janice, I don’t think it’s really the public’s fault, but the judges. Bristol only needed a little bit more than a percent more of the vote than Rick – that’s not exactly a difficult hurdle to overcome. The judges aren’t dealing in reality here – if they keep giving her passes, she will make it to the final. At some point they need to open their eyes and judge her just like they do Brandy and Jennifer. If either of them had danced the way she did on Monday, they would have gotten 5′s