DWTS Season 12, Week 9 – Dancing by the (Bogus) Numbers
Well, I don’t know that there is much point to this post seeing as how the judges did their very best to make sure that Chelsea makes the finals and Ralph goes home. They went to extraordinarily nasty and ridiculous lengths to do it too. You know there is a problem when many Derek fans are now praying he doesn’t come back to the show – they’re outraged and he’s not even involved!!!
Ol’ Ralph must be getting some serious votes if they feel the need to take such drastic measures to make sure he goes home. You think he’s the weakest dancer?? SO WHAT?? The nature of this show has ALWAYS been equal parts judges scores and votes. That is no longer the case. If people don’t connect with you even though you are a good dancer and you go home? Tough CRAP. That’s the way it is – Lil’ Kim, Joanna, Jennie and a million more…all went home at least a week early. Them’s the breaks. The dancers have to foster a connection with the audience as well as they dance. The people have to like you well enough to vote for you…or at least not like someone else better. Tom Bergeron always says, “vote for your favorite”. People who watch and vote on this show have learned that if they want their favorite to stay, they have to vote like crazy, or what happened to Sabrina will happen to their favorite. But not this time. This time, if you vote for your favorite all night long it still might not matter because the judges have rigged it so that your votes have far less impact – and they don’t have the guts to call it a judges save. They tried and tried to string together a story of why it was necessary, and why this was a “good thing” – Yeah, tell that to Hines’ and Kirstie’s fans, in addition to Ralph’s fans. I’m sure they’ve very glad you took drastic measures to protect Chelsea. What will you do next week to make sure the best dancer (in your opinion) wins?? Do a winner takes all redemption dance where they are all dancing something different?? Why don’t you guys just be HONEST?
Anyway…
The Judges Scores and Percentages
Place | Celebrity | Score | Percentage |
1. | Chelsea | 73 | 31.06 |
2. | Hines | 60 | 25.53 |
3. | Kirstie | 54 | 22.98 |
4. | Ralph | 48 | 20.43 |
Anyone want to guess just how asinine the spread is between top and bottom?? I’ll give you a hint – 6 figures. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the only way to enures that Chelsea Kane – a perfectly lovely girl, I’m sure – makes the finals is to put such a spread between her and Ralph that he needs more than 106 THOUSAND votes per million votes cast to stay over her. If not for that ridiculous spread, it is easy to invision her getting eliminated by the voting blocks of Kirstie, Hines and Ralph. We’ve seen it happen before where someone’s not connecting and they get sent home, despite being the better dancer. That’s always been the nature of the show. Anyway, besides and act of god, what does Ralph need to stay? He needs ONE of the following to happen:
– He needs 25,540 more votes per million votes cast than Kirstie, OR;
– He needs 51,100 more votes per million votes cast than Hines, OR;
– He needs 106,400 more votes per million votes cast than Chelsea.
Ugh. I am thoroughly disgusted. I can barely bring myself to type out this post. And I don’t want to hear any more whining about how Chelsea is the best dancer. If you haven’t figured out by now that that is beside the point, there is no hope for you. Just spare me the theatrics cause you know if the shoe was on the other foot you’d be screaming bloody murder. You’re probably the same bunch that was saying last season that it’s about the “most improved” dancer. Um hmmm….not so much this time around, eh?
Anyway, it is my humble opinion that Ralph’s AT was just as good as Kirstie’s Paso and that the two extra points she got were a bit much. Ralph may not be the best dancer – but the underscoring was SO transparent. As was the over scoring – 10’s on Hines second dance and the perfect 30 for Chelsea? In what universe was that a 30?? Oh, the universe of mediocre dancing. I forgot. But you know what? I can handle them underscoring Ralph – the judges have always been idiots. But the commentary used to deliver those ridiculous scores?? SHAMEFUL and pathetic and disgusting. As was the tongue bath they gave to everyone else. I don’t know when I’ve seen such an obvious display designed to sway the audience vote away from Ralph along with scoring to make it happen.
Let’s say that an act of God happens and Ralph gets the votes – what happens to Kirstie? Well, she needs to pass Hines or Chelsea so one of them goes home instead of her. What votes does that take?
– She needs 25,550 more votes per million votes cast than Hines, OR;
– She needs 81,000 more votes per million votes cast than Chelsea.
She might be able to do that. But probably not. After that whole video with Hines and Kym and him crying (and me right along with him), I fully expect to see him doing a freestyle next week. What would it take for the most shocking elimination ever to happen on this show (and they don’t ordinarily shock me at all)?? ALL of the following would have to happen for Chelsea to be eliminated:
– Ralph gets 106,400 more votes per million votes cast than she does, AND;
– Kirstie gets 81,000 more votes per million votes cast than she does, AND;
– Hines gets 51,100 more votes per million votes cast than Chelsea does.
Now, I can see Hines doing it. Maybe even Kirstie. But Ralph?? There might not even be that many people voting on this show. What is much more possible is that Ralph nudges Kirstie out the door. Is it likely? I doubt it – but it’s certainly not out of the question. Ralph only needs 25,540 more votes than Kirstie and that’s similar to what he got last week. Yeah, sure, that was over Romeo which is a different story – but this week, in their quest to humiliate and eliminate Ralph, it’s entirely possible that they went WAY too far. Let me ask you a question – what often happens when the judges are extremely harsh, kick people when they’re down?? Sympathy votes. If you’re already a popular guy and they’ve coated Chelsea in Teflon, what are your fans going to do? Vote like hell.
And, just like in regular elections, it’s very often the independents that swing the election one way or another. Gee – I wonder who the sympathetic votes are going? My guess: Ralph and Hines, for different, obvious reasons. So…where does that leave Kirstie??
Trouble?? Maybe yes, maybe no. Who can say at this point? I’m going to state the obvious and say we’ve seen the last of Ralph. I so look forward to the smug satisfaction from the Wonder Trio. NOT. Maybe Ralph is far too classy for this show anyway. Now, I’m going to go buy some beer and start a mantra that goes something like “Please, Derek, don’t come back to this show…find another movie and keep your distance.” You deserve better. Hell, they all do.
Well put. Why bother participating when the producers throw in course corrections?
I’m not even sure why Kirstie and Maks are still in the show. To me, yes, she’s improved quite a bit, but even then isn’t nearly as good as the other three stars, especially Hines and Chelsea. I know you’re a fan of Ralph, and he’s pretty good, definitely better than Kirstie. I just don’t understand why she’s still around. As you point out, she’s misses steps, she isn’t staying with the beat, which has got to be the most basic thing in dance! Basically Maks makes her look good by wearing as little clothing as possible and appealing to the women out there.
Ladies…just because Maks looks good is no reason to keep Kirstie!
If I were a celebrity and they asked me to be on the show, I’d tell them, “Why should I? If I’m not the chosen one, you’ll make sure I leave. If I’m good, but not getting the votes, youll right it so I stay. No thanks.”
I know the odds of it happening are slim to none, but MAN – I’d love to see the looks of shock and horror on the judges’ faces if Ralph managed to stick around again this week. Cry me a river, Carrie Ann. Pick up that slack jaw, Bruno. Stop looking constipated, Len. You tried every trick in the book to secure your favorites’ spots in the finale – and the fans still pwned you. Wuh wuh WUHHHHH.
And as for Chelsea – sorry, but as sweet as she may be, and as good a dancer as she may be, she’s no more than a sacrificial lamb to me at this point. Her continued presence is a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the show now – manipulated scores, misconduct by the pros, and cheap ploys to draw in the coveted 18-to-whatever demographic. I can’t “separate the dancing from the politics” anymore – sorry. Sue me. If she wins – it may very well be the most hollow win in the history of DWTS, even if she’s the “best dancer this season”. Her win will still be tainted by the manipulation of the judges & TPTB.
@John Aldrich – Heidi already answered your question as to why Kirstie is still around. She’s relatable. Likeable. People enjoy her dancing. Some of us just like lookin’ at Maks… 😉
At least to me, the issue here is that DWTS is no longer a 50/50 deal, between the judges and the viewers/voters. It’s been changed into something else – we can vote, as long as we vote for the “right” people. “Right” in whose definition? And if you’re not going to listen to me when I vote for my favorites, then why would I hang around and continue to watch?
I wonder to what extent two perfect 30’s will blunt the sympathy vote for Hines & Kym?
Please don’t get me wrong – Kym is my favorite female pro. Love her. And she seems like the sweetest person God ever put on the face of the planet. Couple that with the Awesome Boobage (TM) and that Aussie accent, and I understand why my hubby literally drools every time she’s on the screen.
But I wonder…
The 15 pt save was so disappointing. I agree with this post that the nature of the show is people vote for who they like, if that doesn’t turn out to be the “best dancer”, that’s just how it goes. Now it’s just manipulation.
Ralph has been my favorite since day 1, the season will end on such a sour note if he doesn’t make it tonight, which as states the judges have made near impossible. I kinda wish he had gone last week at this point.
This is the first season I’ve tuned into since season 8, I guess I will go back to tuning out from now on.
Normally even if my favorite is voted out I still enjoy the last segment when they get to say a few words, I feel even that will be tainted now, though I have no doubt Ralph & Karina will still be classy.
I’m preparing for the worst, but maintaining a sliver of hope that I can jump up and down upon hearing the voters saved Ralph anyway!! What a sweet moment that could be…
P.S I love the “bogus numbers” title lol!
And I too feel that poor Chelsea is now in a position that any further accomplishments she gains are no longer to her credit, but tainted by manipulation.
And, Sally, my instant reaction to that, thanks to the antics of the past couple of days was… Oooh… maybe that’s why the judges overscored them a little, to blunt that sympathy vote. *kersigh* I want to smack everyone with an ounce of power over there for doing this to my show!!!
Heidi said it all for me! This show is going down the tubes. What are producers thinking? They are ruining everything. They better shape things up for next year or it could seriously be in trouble.
*nervous for Kirstie or Ralph and trying to prepare myself for the worst.
Bravo, Heidi, Bravo! Probably the BEST article I’ve read on PureDWTS. And you did not hold back one bit in this article and I have to agree. Those pros are actual dancers. They competed in competitions from local to international. Then they get involved with the three stooges who happen to hold up phony paddles after each dances with one woman who believes in “Girl Power,” a Grandpa who can’t make up his mind who worships Mark Ballas but hate his choreography and a mid-50s malfunctioning jack in the box that chases Len away from the table! I’m sorry, I know that was very rude but I think it’s called for and I think many people here pretty much feels the same. The judges are just out of control this season and I’m unhappy about it. The producers are lucky Kym is on the show or I wouldn’t be watching, especially after this “winner take all” round. It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO obvious who the judges want winning. Are they going to spring up something like this again at the last minute during the finals? They better not. Might as well not vote at all next week if they do. If the judges or producers don’t like it if Chelsea is out, then that’s too bad. Maybe they need to start looking for a new show to work at.
The winner and the order in which everybody leaves. Was picked by ABC before the season even started. The votes aren’t what counts. It’s what ABC thinks will bring in the best ratings. This show has NEVER been fair. I so want Heins in the finale with Ralph and could care less if it’s Chelsea or Kirstie.
Who’s going home…..for me it would be between Ralph and Kirstie….and I’m leaning toward Ralph leaving.
Ralph may be a better dancer…hard to say… but he doesn’t make for good television. Other than his knee cyst, he has really no drama. He just seems to be a hard-working, normal, drama-free guy. At least according to the individual packages, he hasn’t disolved into tears, threatened to quit or done anything out of the ordinary.
Kirstie is just plain fun to watch. Her mouth is uncensored and it entertaining to watch her interact with Maks. No, I don’t think she will get the MBT….not really much of a chance there…but she does make for good TV….and ratings.
I would like to know when it was decided to have a winner take all Cha-Cha. If this was planned out before the show aired….then it was fair. However, if this just popped out to save Mark/Chelsea at the last minute….I’m gonna be pretty pissed.
Sounds like the producers dusted off an old set of ‘brass knuckles’ and therefore the judges got the job done!! Maybe pressure from above if you know what I mean.
But seriously, unless they pull some serious surprise manipulation next week, I dont see any chance that Chelsea has the fanbase of say Kirstie or Hines. So she may be toast..
Great article! As a longtime viewer of this show, I have NEVER been more disgusted. Such obvious manipulation. They are way out of line, in my opinion. How can they be so cruel to Ralph and Karina? It’s so wrong, and my heart really goes out to them.
I wonder who people were voting for yesterday. If I voted (I don’t) I would have given all of them to Ralph. But I’m probably biased cause I’ve liked him all season. I predicted at the beginning that it would be a Hines/Chelsea/Ralph final three, but Kirstie definitely has the wiggle room and the likability factor to stay ahead of Ralph. I think Ralph would make a better finals competitor and I’d prefer to see him there, but I do like Kirstie and I love Maks so that’d be okay too. I’m pretty sure Hines and Chelsea are both safe.
I think you summed everything up perfectly, Heidi.
It would make me so unbelievably happy if Ralph managed to get the votes and knock out someone else. I feel bad for Ralph for obvious reasons, but I also feel bad for Hines because the judges fawn over him and overscore him sometimes. It ticks me off and makes me not want to vote for him, even though I love him and Kym. I also feel bad for Chelsea because her partner is wacko (although his choreo didn’t drive me up a wall this week) and because so many people are put off by the safety net she is getting.
This season would’ve been a lot more fun and enjoyable if the judges would stick to CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM and TPTB didn’t try to rig things. Grr.
Everyone likes different dancers for different reasons. Everyone votes for who they vote for for reasons all there own. There is no “right” way to vote.
Some people think the best dancer should win, some claim the show is all about most improved…some change that view from one season to the next depending on who their favorite pro is dancing with instead of just admitting they always want their favorite pro to do well. 🙂
For those reasons, I don’t see any need to defend voting for Ralph or Kirstie over Hines or Chelsea. You like who you like.
Well, Patti, I can’t say I agree that it’s “fair” just because they may have planned it weeks ago. That actually doesn’t decrease the stupidity level for me at all. Especially not combined with the nastiness they spewed at Ralph and Karina.
The judges have said from week1 that Chelsea is a talented dancer with real potential. I don’t think they have wavered much over the season. Perhaps because the bloggers and MBs have harbored such venomous critiques of Mark and the constant comments such as “I’m not voting for her because I can’t stand Mark” served to move them to try to save her because they feel she is one of the best dancers left. She has done the work and danced the dances while working under a big black cloud. If she makes it through tonight then there won’t be anything they can do if her fan base is as small as many believe.
Since I’ve been voting, I’ve voted for my pros. Maks, Anna and Mark. And if it was an odd number, Maks always got the extra vote, up until the last um… 3 weeks of the competition? Then if Maks is still in, they all go to him and his partner. It’s been pretty easy for me since I’ve enjoyed their partnerships the past few years. I’ve been really lucky in that none of them have had a partner I’ve really disliked. Well, except for the latter part of Bristol which basically came at the time I traditionally throw all to Maks. And after Maks and Brandy got voted out, I didn’t vote at all. And the past two weeks, I’ve not been able to vote for Mark and Chelsea – I NEEDED to give all my votes to Kirstie and Maks.
@Fig – So, as you can surmise – last night, I gave all my votes to Kirstie and Maks.
Well said, Heidi 🙂
And I think it’s important that we emphasize that most of our issues stem not from the voters or the couples themselves – it’s with the judging. Is it Chelsea’s fault she was overscored? Of course not. The blame with that lies with the judges. And I’m not gonna fault anyone for voting for Kirstie – clearly she has a great deal of appeal, or else she wouldn’t have lasted this long. What I do take issue with is an outside entity (the judges, or TPTB) with an alterior motive taking those choices that viewers make and basically spitting on them, making them appear wrong or devaluing them by unfairly swaying the competition in another direction. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the blame for last season’s Bristol debacle lies more with the judges and their overscoring that it does with some overzealous viewers. And so what do TPTB do in an attempt to remedy that? They give the judges even MORE power to f*ck things up. It’s like giving a pyromaniac an industrial-size box of matches and telling them NOT to use it to set things on fire – it’s ludicrous.
Ok Carrie, so let me get this straight: it’s now OUR fault, as bloggers & commentors at PureDWTS, that the judges chose to manipulate the outcome of the competition in order combat our “venomous critiques”? Gee, didn’t realize we carried that much weight…I’m flattered 🙂 *eye roll* I hope you realize that you just stepped into a lion’s den, and are now throwing out some venom of your own. Not that it matters, because you’re missing the point anyway – our beef with Mark has nothing to do with this. Our big issue is with TPTB meddling with the scoring in order to diminish the viewers’ power in helping to chose who they want to see advance each week. Chelsea may be a great dancer, but if she doesn’t connect with the audience enough that they feel motivated to pick up the phone & vote for her – too bad. The viewers have spoken. Now, with this ridiculous 15 point cushion, she’s being forced upon us whether she has viewer support or not. I have a feeling you’d be changing your tune if it were Hines, Kirstie, or Ralph that got the 15 point boost and it were Chelsea in danger of being sent home…
Whatever the results are, it’s going to be hard for me to watch.
I’m with you on Derek not coming back! As much as I miss seeing him weekly, I’m glad he took this season off. My favorite season was season 10 because they had returned to a simpler format after the mess that was season 9. Since then they’ve been trying to mess with too much stuff, I assume for higher ratings and younger viewers. Run far, far away and never look back, Derek!
# Princess Heidi commented on May 17th, 2011: Well, Patti, I can’t say I agree that it’s “fair” just because they may have planned it weeks ago. That actually doesn’t decrease the stupidity level for me at all. Especially not combined with the nastiness they spewed at Ralph and Karina.
I won’t dispute the stupidity level at all! We are in total agreement there.
As I recall, before the show aired, Kendra was a front runner…well….at least until she danced. And who knew if Kirstie, Ralph or Hines could last through the first few weeks.
So, if this was set up before anything else was factored into it….then to me, it’s fair because no one knew who would make it to the finals.
However, if this winner take all thing was set up purely to push Chelsea/Mark into the finals…then it sucks.
To me, there was really no point in Kirstie/Maks having a dance off with Chelsea/Mark. There was absolutely no way Kirstie was going to beat Chelsea.
The black cloud’s name is Mark. 🙂 But thanks for giving us bloggers to much power and ability to sway public opinion – don’t know that I buy it, but if you want to give it, I will take it. Mwahahahahahaha….
Great post Heidi! It was almost scary how well you predicted the play-by-play of the cha-cha last night:) I can’t even believe the judges’ scores were unananimous, at least they could have been a little less obvious;) To me, this whole thing had shades of the final week redemption dance in Season 10 written all over it. That was the insurance for Nicole to get the MBT.
I really hope Ralph can pull off a miracle tonight. I had trouble voting online though last night–am hoping others didn’t have the same issue.
Just call it the Disney slot and be done with it. Actually, at this point, I just hope everyone concludes in good health and talking to each other.
Oh my gosh, it’s so refreshing to find this site and read your articles. I love how much you care about this show and how completely you report on it! 🙂
As far as Hines & Kym go, I have adored them since day 1, and even I know they were overscored last night – but the judges are people too, and the chances they were watching Kym instead of Hines during a lot of the dance is high. Weren’t all of us? Even if I weren’t fans of theirs I wouldn’t find that as obnoxious as the “Winner Take All” gimmick – they could have just as easily done it in 5-point increments (15 points for 1st, 10 points for 2nd, etc) and it would have still made it an Important Event without it being so wildly outside the spirit of the show. I totally think it saved Mark and Chelsea – not because of Chelsea, who has always seemed kind of harmless and sweet to me – but because of the way he was a jerk to Chelsea in rehearsals. It seems like the voters like to reward the partners that get along the best (except, you know, Maks).
I really really hope that Ralph and Karina manage to get the sympathy votes!! I’ve enjoyed Maks and Kirstie’s antics, but I love Karina, and she deserves much better than she got last night.
I don’t think there’s a conspiracy going on. I believe the producers just wanted to raise the tension in the semis because otherwise it would have probably been pretty clear as to who would be leaving us (Chelsea&Mark). And they did raise the suspense even if it was in a awkward way. I would have liked it more if they just handed out another 10 to her but 15 really seals the deal and is too much.
Maybe Mark making an ass of himself this season also contributed to this extra points decision. As much as I don’t care for Chelsea’s personality it really isn’t fair that her result could be so heavily jeopardized by her partner.
I don’t like what they did but I don’t find it as outrageous as many seem to. They always tried to put more influence on the judges in the finale, now they only shifted that to the semis. And got some good old fashioned drama which is just what they wanted.
I am not a fan of what TPTB did with this dance either. Chelsea and Mark are my favorites. I am definitely in the minority, but I do believe with the scores given last night, Ralph could not overcome Chelsea. She does have a decent number of people voting for her or she wouldn’t have lasted this long. Ralph pulled it out last week because of sympathy votes and the fact is that sympathy votes went to Hines this week for the most part. I really LOVE Ralph. I think he is a far better dancer than Kirstie whom I do not enjoy at all. I am hoping by some twist of fate he does knock Kirstie out.
We the fans are supposed to have a say in who goes to the finals. They took part of our voice away. They claim it was to ensure that the best dancers don’t get sent home. IMO that is BS, otherwise why would CAI say …”the audience can’t save you now” when she was explaining the process. If the sole reason for having this ‘bake off” was to insure the best dancer goes on that remark would not be relavant. Instead I think she said out loud what we allready knew….it was a fix from the beginning. They wanted to get rid of Ralph & Karina and barring a miracle they will probably get their wish. My votes have always gone to Derek(I wouldn’t care if he was dancing with a broom stick) because I LIKE TO WATCH HIM DANCE. I could really care less if the “best” dancers continue I vote for the couple I enjoy watching. This season that has been Kirstie/Maks and Ralph/Karina. They aren’t the best, I know that, but I LIKE THEM. TPTB are trying to take my voice away and it makes me sad and angry.
Heather, you’ll have to refresh my memory on the Redemption dance that gave Nicole the MBT. As far as I recall there was nothing even remotely similar to this – that season they ALL got points and Nicole was not 25 points ahead of ANYONE. I seem to recall Evan, at least, on her tail the whole way and it was never out of the question that he could win. Erin never had a shot after that freestyle – it was horrible. In any case, they do redemption dances EVERY season and they either score them like normal or they rank them – I don’t have a problem either way they decide to go. In fact, I was wanting them to rank the contestants against each other for a long time before that, because the way they were scoring was just stupid – they were only scoring them against themselves, when they SHOULD be scored against the others by the time you get to the semi-finals. When you do it the way they were doing it, you end up with someone like Brandy only two points ahead of a Bristol type – ridiculous.
It is a VASTLY different thing to only give 15 points to one couple – hell, I could have lived with it a little easier if they had only given out 5 extra points. I would have still thought it sucked – but 15 points??? Ridiculous. If you don’t see the difference in the two scenarios, then I didn’t do a good job explaining it.
You know, sasa, it ISN’T fair to Chelsea that she would be penalized by Mark’s behavior – but at the same time, if they are trying to make it up to HER, it’s not fair to the other dancers and their partners. They not only didn’t act like assholes, but they worked just as hard. So, by trying to make it up to Chelsea, you are penalizing the other couples AND rewarding Mark.
Yeah, not so cool. As for them wanting drama?? Shortsighted and foolish. I’m actually questioning if I want to continue watching the show if Derek isn’t back and that thought never crossed my mind last season, nor did it when I found out he wouldn’t be around. But now?? Why should I bother if they’re going to continue this crap? And frankly, I can’t stand to watch the judges rip apart a sweet guy like Ralph, no matter the reason. Maybe I’ll just go to work full time on Pure X-Factor.
You can’t tell how many people Chelsea has voting for her based on the net, Michele – taking the temperature of the net, I would certainly disagree with you and we’ve seen people like Chelsea get eliminated early before. She’s young and not well known and doesn’t have the likability factor of Kyle. Plus, she’s never really been tested to see if she’s got voters – she’s not been low scorer in a very long time, she’s not had to make up votes to catch another dancer who was reasonably good.
It’s not if Chelsea has “a decent number of people voting for her” it’s if she has as many as Ralph, Kirstie and Hines. And I honestly don’t believe she does. Not even close. But, thanks to the judges we won’t find out. Her inclusion in the semi-final will always be in question, even if she manages to win the show. Why? Because she will be going up against a 60 year old woman and a football player in the freestyle round. How challenging. Only not.
“You know, sasa, it ISN’T fair to Chelsea that she would be penalized by Mark’s behavior – but at the same time, if they are trying to make it up to HER, it’s not fair to the other dancers and their partners. They not only didn’t act like assholes, but they worked just as hard. So, by trying to make it up to Chelsea, you are penalizing the other couples AND rewarding Mark.”
We’re all just guessing and speculating. My guess is that Chelsea really isn’t getting nearly as many votes as the other three plus she had to put up with Mark all season. I’m not saying what they did was fair (and the extra points added really were too high) but the situation wasn’t fair from the get-go and if we learned anything from seasons past it is that DWTS is NEVER 100% fair. That’s the nature of the beast. But I would have preferred to have the other three in the finals and I’m thinking that people like Brandy and Sabrina are now thinking: why couldn’t they have come up with this concept before?
Honestly, it was an experiment I don’t think they will repeat but I can’t be outraged about it because Chelsea really got a rough deal AND it’s bound to backfire on her in the finals which, if happens, could be unpleasant.
I’m also thinking (kinda hoping) that it’s Kirstie leaving tonight (if it can’t be Chelsea). I would feel for Maks if it happened again after last season but her dancing is by far the weakest of them all.
sasa, I agree. I don’t think Brandy and Sabrina are that much like Chelsea and I also don’t think that many fans of Chelsea’s would think that either. They’ll think she’s amazing but not like Brandy or Sabrina. Both have been in the music business. Chelsea hasn’t. Well not the same type of music business Sabrina and Brandy have been in.
I want to see Hines Ralph and Chelsea. These 3 are the most improved and they are the ones who should be contending for the MBT.
@Courtney – I’m going to (mildly) disagree with your post #21, on one point. When you said:
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the blame for last season’s Bristol debacle lies more with the judges and their overscoring that it does with some overzealous viewers. And so what do TPTB do in an attempt to remedy that? They give the judges even MORE power to f*ck things up. It’s like giving a pyromaniac an industrial-size box of matches and telling them NOT to use it to set things on fire – it’s ludicrous.”
I’ve mentioned before that my tin-foil hat may be on crooked, but I’ve come to believe that DWTS is actually a little like WWE wrestling – the outcomes are, to an extent, “cooked”. I’ve come to think that what we look at as “whacked-out judging” actually provides them cover to engineer (to the extent they can) who advances and who doesn’t. I don’t think this is Larry, Moe & Curly being deranged as much as they are puppets, given a script to follow – give “so-and-so” a boost, do the best you can to put “that one” at the bottom of the leader-board, and so on. It’s a combination of trying to generate conflict (viewer interest), and pander to a demographic.
And yeah, maybe I need a “DWTS time-out”. Like Evaine, I’m REALLY bummed and pissed off at what they’ve done to my show.
Good insights, Sally. I could see a difference this year with Ralph. Last season with Jennifer, she was put through some judge’s trauma and standing in spotlight of doom trauma, but the scores come back high as she deserved well before the end of the competition. Who know?
Unfortunately, I fear that we will be seeing the WTA dance for many seasons, because they will be getting the increase in votes, and definitely publicity. Isn’t that what drives them? Money.
It is “funny” that from season to season, things change from “who is the most improved,” to “the best dancer” when it suits their ratings and pocketbooks.
Am I upset about what has transpired this season? You bet. Will I stop watching? Nope. I’m stuck here for the long haul, until the producers and judges finally kill the whole thing.
Everyone take a deep breath and get ready for the show. One of our favorites may be leaving tonight and Im not looking forward to it.
Wasnt able to see the freestyle DWTS special we had weather advisories almost the entire hour. Heres hoping I get to see the results show.
I wonder if there is a way to write a letter or give feedback to the producers (or whoever is responsible for this crap, though I assume it is them)? I know it would be a long shot that anyone would get it or even care, but maybe it’s something to think about?? I’m desperate. 🙁
Now that Dear Ralph and Karina are gone and we are stuck with Chelsea and Mark. Whether we like it or not.
Whom do you girls think will get Ralphs votes? Maybe Kirstie?
I think that Chelsea will be the last one to get Ralph’s votes. I could be wrong though.
As for the producers and the judges – if the little bit I saw on twitter was a sampling of the whole, their twitter account got HAMMERED. I suspect neither Tom nor Brooke got off much easier and I think CAI is in hiding.
The show has totally jumped the shark for me…. Yes I voted for Bristol and voted Brandy off but that was my choice not some stuck up lame judge now that they’ve rigged the game for the judges favorite to win I see no point in watching dwts I hope that Ralph says something about all this.
@Rory – Someone (Liz, I think) commented and provided a link on another post (The one about the Bonus Dance). You can go there and give some feedback. The more, the merrier. 🙂
I agree that this stuff has probably always been rigged to an extent, but the scoring Monday was a slap in the face to all the viewers. Would a possible Hines/Kirstie/Ralph final have been all that bad? I mean, wasn’t Bristol (who I liked, btw) in the *finals* last time? That wasn’t all about talent. Agree with whoever wrote about this being about keeping the show 18-25 or 34 or whatever the demographic is, but come on, it’s no secret that the older crowd watch this show too — really, come on, it’s on CBS. Plus my friends (who ARE 18-to-25 yr olds) really, really loved Cloris Leachman. Seriously. Especially the guys. Anyway I don’t think I can watch this show another season if they pull another stunt like this, it just seemed like a vulgar stunt to manipulate the scores so openly. And I’m sad because I feel like that takes something away from Chelsea too. Thank you for your post Heidi.
Am I the only one (okay, I’ve not read all the comments on this thread yet) who sees this as “Bristol, The Gift That Keeps On Giving”..especially to Mark? He got into the finals last year not because of her fans, but her mother’s, and while TPTB wont’ come right out and say it, now the underlying story is “We had to do this cha cha thing becuase last year you all whined about Bristol being in the finals despite being a truly awful and mostly unimproved dancer.” Both ways, Mark gets a free ride. And soirry, I’m one who agrees he dances as if HE is the one who is being judged, trying to out dance the other pros who understand that their job isn’t to show off themselves, but to showcase their partners.
I wonder where the idea of 15 points for the spread came from? Is it possible that the producers looked at vote totals and percentages that the four couples have gotten for the season (much as Heidi does), and deduced that 15 points (25% of 60) is what Chelsea and Mark needed to be safely above the vote totals of the other 3 – or only above Ralph and Karina? Were Ralph and Karina regularly getting 25% more votes than Chelsea and Mark?
Well, Ralph and Karina were eliminated. However, they walked out with their heads held high and Ralph was very classy with his farewell speech. They will be missed in the finals. It is a shame that things came down the way that they did. Hopefully, the reaction of the viewers will clue in the TPTB that we don’t like our show to be rigged. Let’s hope the next season is handled better or celebrities are not going to really want to be on the show. Greed can backfire and I hope the producers realize that before it’s too late.
I feel SORRY for everyone – stars, pros AND judges involved in this charade. They are ALL trying to do their roles with integrity within the script provided by the production team.
Reality shows are not REAL at all. The people involved in the show have to ACT within the confines of the directives from the producers. It’s ALL about the RATINGS. It must be incredibly stressful for the stars, pros and judges to maneuver through the politics.
I hope that Maks and Kirstie and Kym and Hines are final two. Despite Chelsie being technically the best dancer, she and Mark have never brought the most ENTERTAINING dances. Plus I don’t think that her fan base is anywhere NEAR as large as the others’s are.
Given Kirstie’s physical limitations and Hines’s athleticism and competitive experience, Hines and Kym must have the edge to win the MBT. But I am going to do my best to VOTE enough to get the win for Kirstie and Maks. And I’m hoping that all their other fans will be joining me!
So I’m predicting a MBT WIN for Kirstie and Maks!
Wow I mistyped that (@#47). ABC, not CBS. Sorry.
+++
(I guess conspiracy-theory people would say ABC owns Disney and Disney owns Chelsea but I don’t think that’s it.)
Side note, Bruno’s lines have been way too scripted this season. Takes the fun out of things.
@Claudia – By and large, I’m with you – I feel sorry for the stars and the pros. However, where the judges are concerned, I think they’ve completely jumped the shark. From where I sit, they have no integrity left; they’ve completed the “conversion to the dark side”. 😉
Haruna, I don’t think they would script a line for Bruno that could get them a fine from the FCC.
Bruno has no right to be pointing fingers about Playboy – or did you miss the little fact that he sunbathes on set in his speedo-like underwear. No lie. Then there’s the whole Elton John video, CAI dancing topless and kissing Madonna….yeah, not a lot of room for commentary on Playboy from this bunch. Especially not when Len comments on the women’s breasts every other week.
So for the coming week’s “judge’s choice” dance, do I understand right? Chelsea does a new samba (Week 5, 26 points, generally a memorable dance type); by comparison, Hines does a new quickstep (Week 2, 23 points, usually less memorable, difficult for him b/c of shoulder injuries, and maybe hard for Kym with her neck injury). This is from Wikipedia, but it says that these were announced during the results show so am thinking it’s true.
Yeah, I remember hearing that, mmc. Seems like they’re already trying to stack it in Chelsea’s favor. What happened to getting the couples to re-do a dance they didn’t do so well on before?? That’s the way they’ve done it past seasons. They’ll probably give Kirstie the Jive just to knock her out Ralph style.
Heidi, agree about Bruno’s comment this week — that sure was unscripted, as in it was all him, altho I’m sure HE planned it out of spite because he seems to hate Ralph — but all season he’s been soooo scripted, like he’s not even trying to pretend his comments are a genuine response to the performance he just watched. Obviuously, the cat’s out of the bag (especially a la Paula Abdul) that they draft these critiques ahead of time, but usually the judges are at least supposed to try to sell that they’re saying something they came up with in response to what they saw, and CAI gets bonus points because she actually shows real, in-the-moment reactions. Bruno’s become a bad caricature of his already caricatured self. He use to be kind of funny but now I just don’t listen. :/
Heidi, in Season 10 there was a Judges Choice, the freestyle, the favorite dance and then only after Erin and Maks were eliminated, there was a dance-off. IIRC, all 3 couples did the Argentine tango for the favorite dance with Nicole coming out on top of the rankings. I believe this was scored as a ranking not regular scoring. Though all 3 had danced well that night and scored perfect 30s previously. The dance-off was after viewer votes. I agree it is not the same as what happened to Ralph but the tactic of using the dance-off and of changing the rules each season to me just seems like a similar way to try to sway the competition towards a particular couple. This is not the way the Season 11 finale went down–all 3 couples were part of all final dances.
What I’m saying, Heather, is that that final dance had little to no impact on the outcome – by the math. NOTHING like what went down this season. They didn’t hand it to Nicole – they did, however, rank them as I would expect actual judges to do. If they decide to do ranking, then of course not everyone can get a perfect 30 even if they got one before. Were they all equal? No. Erin’s was far simpler than Nicoles, beside that one jump – but one jump doesn’t a dance make. I don’t actually remember Evan’s but a two point difference (if it was 2 points) is not going to make a huge difference either.
I don’t think there is a single thing unfair about that if both or all couples are getting points. If Erin is already eliminated after two dances by viewer votes and judges, a final dance isn’t going to help her, since she was already down in score AND she was far from the best dancer that season anyway. It’s not like she was robbed – she was the least talented dancer of the 3. Evan, however, always had a chance to make up the difference in scores between him and Nicole with votes. Nicole was not just handed 15 points to ensure that she won the show. This past week, that simply wasn’t the case. IF they had done something similar to last season, where one couple got 15, the next couple 13 and so on down the line – then that’s a different story. It’s more fair (yes, I know the show is never fair, but there are LIMITS) AND it still lets the viewers have a chance to decide.
In all the past seasons, all the minor tweaks they did to the dancing and scoring – as annoying as they were, and as much as I disliked the constant changing, they never REALLY have the ability to force a serious change on the outcome. If Evan was that popular, he still could have won (frankly, I think Nicole won it on her final Jive – that was amazing, where as Evan did…QS?? Some really odd choice). Kyle was not so many points behind that it was impossible either. This week? Impossible. All the tinkering that has gone on in the past has always kept it 50/50 – and the judges are entitled to score them how they see fit even if we think it’s ridiculous. The viewers get their say too. Usually. *Not this week.* I always got the impression that past winners were at least as popular as the scores they were receiving, so while my favorites (Lil’ Kim, Joanna, etc.) may get underscored occassionally and bumped out too early, I never felt like it was “wrong”. Ty was hugely popular so he beat out Lil’ Kim who was a better dancer. Kelly was very popular so she beat out Joanna…Donny beat Mya who was a far better dancer…in MOST cases, those who advance or win always SEEM like they could or should win. I don’t think that’s the case this week.
I was unable tp vote for Ralph and karina by any method. There was a constant busy signal, my texts came up as undeliverable too. They said go to abc.com to vote and the voting info was not there. I fond it by old wb pages. Did anyone els have trouble? And the WTA was a way to nullify viewers votes so the judge’s favorites would be in the finals. Ralph is much Bette than Hines. Ralph had complicated foot work. Heins hardly moves his feet!He does a bunch of poses. And their explanation for the WTA so t whapened to brandy and audrina didnt happen again was saying that the
viewers got it wrong and the judges wouldn’t le hat happen again. Viewers keep the show on not judges ! It’s rigged. Brandy as a whining sulking
bitch who deserved to loose and apparently even after that she must have
thrown a diva fit for the WTA to be implemented. I’m hating this show for the last two seasons especially.
Carrie Ann has tweeted about the WTA dance in the last hour or so…
“IN all due respect – I do believe in everyone’s opinion- that’s the spirit of the show….the Show actually created the WTA cha cha —con’t”
“because so many of our viewers and friends were upset when people went home. Our show’s producers were really trying to listen to your…”
“comments and implement something to help. They were not trying to take away your right to vote…and your power…it’s not for that.”
“I do read your comments – and I think about them – if they are not silly – You make good points here – some of you. And I think you should”
“write to the show to voice your concerns…I’m not a producer unfortunately. They do listen and try to improve our show always…”
“So, voice your opinion to them, because your opinion is important. The producer’s were really trying to listen to your previous comments..”
“I think you make some good suggestions here – please write to DWTS and let them know what you feel – they are always trying to improve…”
“Thanks for your comments. <3 And remember, each one of us sees the world slightly differently… and that's okay."