Thanks to the wonders of technology, I watched the “Grand Final” of Strictly Come Dancing live yesterday. It was quite the interesting experience, to say the least. Most people know that the two are sister shows, with SCD being the predecessor of DWTS. That said, there are quite a few differences between the two shows – and a few similarities. Now, I’ve only seen three episodes, at most, and I’ll be going mainly on memory so let me know if I leave anything out.

The Similarities:

• The theme song – it was strange, to say the least, to hear that music pop up followed by all the British accents and the just different enough to be noticeable set.
• Len and Bruno – yep, Len and Bruno are ever present…but they are different too.  Or so it seems.
• The Live Band.
• The best dancer doesn’t always win…and that person’s fans claim they will never watch SCD ‘ever again’.  :-)
• Two host, one male and one female (although the male, Brucie, sang and dance on the final with one of the judges).
• Celebrities dance with professional partners.
• This season, the final two teams did a side-by-side Lindy Hop, similar to what our final three did but less complicated – one style instead of several.
• Pro-dances.

Here is one of the best (the best, in Len’s opinion) couples from this “series” (aka season in USA speak) – Ricky Whittle and his professional partner Natalie Lowe do the Quickstep during the final:

Here’s the guy who actually won (and I found him very enjoyable) – Chris Hollins and his professional partner Ola Fortuna (any relation to Brian?) doing the Charleston during the Final:

The Result?

There are quite a number of differences, some huge, between the two shows, including:

• They normally have *four* judges, and by the end of the season they had added a fifth, and controversial, judge.  That’s right – 50 possible points per dance! We could discuss how this waters down the impact of any single judge, but that’s a much longer, math-related, post.
• Len and Bruno are a similarity, but also a difference.  Bruno is still wild – it’s Len that is a bit different. He lets it rip with the British lingo much more than he does on DWTS. But, he’s also not the “mean” judge on SCD, as far as I could tell – the other guy, whose name I don’t remember, seemed to be worse.
• I haven’t done a ton or research on this, but I gathered from the message board ecstasy over the possibility of them getting Derek Hough (he says no), that the male pros ALWAYS wear tails for ballroom. The commentary on the message boards was that the dress and manner of the SCD pros is much more formal than that of DWTS – our guys almost never wear tails, whereas their guys always do.  Derek visited the show and his main comment on it was the “feel” of the show – very different.
• The scoring is COMPLETELY different on SCD than it is on DWTS.  On DWTS, they use a formula to give each couple percentages of the vote cast and percentages of the total judges points given out on a given night, then those two percentages are added together.  On SCD, each couple is simply given a rank based on the judges scoring and viewer votes. For example, if seven couples are dancing, the couple with the highest judges score is given a seven, and so on down the line.  The couple with the highest number of viewer votes is given a seven and so on down the line. Those two numbers are added together and the two couples with the lowest combined number do a dance off. As in DWTS, the judges decide who stay. In the event of a tie somewhere in the lineup, the couple with the higher viewer votes takes the higher position. Keep in mind, this is the standard, not just something they use during Mambo Marathons, etc.
• Voting is by telephone ONLY for SCD – this is a huge difference with, I would guess, a huge impact on the results. And it appears, from my limited research, that you have a relatively short period of time to vote. On the order of two hours.
• I don’t know if this is par for the course, but yesterday they aired the performance show live at 6:40 local time.  Each couple danced two dances. They open the phone lines at some point late in the show, and then have an hour break where they air another show. Then, at 8:40 they air the results show. The phone lines have been open the whole time. The couples dance two more dances, including a “show dance” (aka Freestyle in USA speak).  Then, about 15 minutes before the show is over, they close the phone lines and tally the results. And get this – the judges scores don’t count.

Now, I’m sure there are many more differences, large and small, between the two shows.  But I’ve outlined a few differences that I’m sure everyone can see would have a huge impact on DWTS if they changed to be the same as SCD.  Which is the biggest; the short voting period, phone only voting or the scoring…or the fact that in the final the judges scores don’t count? Good grief, they all seem huge to me.

I’ll let you guys thing about that for a few hours, while I come up with my thoughts on the impact on DWTS if we made it more like SCD. Would we still have a Donny Osmond? Would Gilles have won instead of Shawn?

I see by the comments that this is a timely article. I highly recommend clicking the link and reading the entire article. Some excerpts from Variety:

Live band gives ‘Dancing’ lift

It’s 9:15 a.m. on a Monday morning on Stage 46 at CBS Television City. Harold Wheeler, music director for ABC’s hit “Dancing With the Stars,” is already well into rehearsal with his 17-piece band and quartet of singers for that night’s live, two-hour show.
He calls out the 3/4-time, country-flavored “Only One Road.” Standing at his keyboard, headphones on, he conducts sans baton while actress Melissa Joan Hart and her pro partner Mark Ballas waltz around the floor while the stage’s mirrored ball spins slowly, showering the room with points of light.

This is the first time that Hart and Ballas have heard what the band will play. For the previous five days, they’ve been rehearsing to a cut-down version of the original 1994 Celine Dion track.

I guess I didn’t realize they were rehearsing with cut downs right up until Monday morning. That would be…stressful for the dancers, I think. The non-pros anyway. The entire article talks about Donny talking to Harold and getting the speed adjusted – and he’s a pro! That would be pretty darn difficult for non-musicians to do, I would think. Make communicating with Harold Wheeler more challenging.

“Music is the essence of everything,” says “Dancing With the Stars” head judge Len Goodman during a break. “Without good music you will never get good dancing. Harold Wheeler and our band are unsung heroes, and the singers are fantastic. Whatever is thrown at them, they can do. Lindy hop, hip-hop, swing, every genre of music, they cope brilliantly.”

In fact, the band consists of some of L.A.’s top studio musicians and singers. Trumpeters Rick Baptist and Warren Luening, saxophonist Dan Higgins, keyboard player Tom Ranier and drummer Ralph Humphrey are among the town’s first-call players. Vocalists Darryl Phinnessee (veteran of multiple Michael Jackson Jackson tours), Carmen Carter, Beverley Staunton and Antonio Sol are not just good singers, says Wheeler, “they’re great singers.”

I think the band is great – but from time to time the singers really butcher a song, sad to say. Of course, everyone has an off night or an off performance. I guess I also never really gave them (and the band as a whole) credit for having to perform multiple genres in a given week – that is challenging.

Senior producer Erin O’Brien creates a list of “well over 1,000 songs” that the staff attempts to clear with music publishers. “And out of every 100 songs,” she says, “I may not even hear back on half. Of the rest, I may end up getting denials on half. Some artists don’t agree to the fee, some prefer that their versions get heard, and some simply don’t do business with reality shows, period.”

When the celebrities are booked, “I ask all of my dancers for song ideas and suggestions,” she adds. “We tell them, ‘tell us anything you could ever possibly want to dance to.’ Not a lot of them end up working,” she concedes.

Once tunes are cleared for use, music editor Graham Jarvis – working in the U.K. and using the internet – decides whether they are appropriate for tangos or waltzes or any of the several categories, and then creates edited versions of the songs (anywhere from 60 to 100 seconds long). It is those versions that the dancers rehearse to, until the Monday morning sessions with the live band.

I find the whole “process” of making a list of songs through the final rehearsals with the live band to be absolutely fascinating. I guess I never thought about how much has to go into just the music portion of the program. Of course I knew the Pros gave ideas and they either got cleared for use or not, but the rest of it is new and interesting information!!

I think that I vote to keep the live band – it does add an element to the show that other shows don’t have – although I think American Idol how has live music (sometimes).

Many of you know that we’ve been doing our best to list all of the songs used on Dancing with the Stars. Hopefully you’ve found that useful. I see a lot of people visiting those pages, but rarely hear what people think about it.

Anyway, I always think it’s fun to look back at the music from the season of Dancing with the Stars and see which songs were the most popular. This isn’t scientific. It’s basically based on which songs got the most clicks. So, here’s the top 4 songs used on Dancing with the Stars season 9.

Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen (this blew all the other songs out of the water)
Would You…. ? – Touch & Go
Living on Video – Trans-X
They – Jem

Very interesting set of music. Thanks for stopping by all year for the DWTS music. Of course, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with the other rumors in the off season and be back for more DWTS music next season as well.

We’re back again with the list of music from tonight’s DWTS season 9 performance music. Interesting songs. The freestyles always offer a nice little twist to the show. I’ll admit that I think that Dancing with the Stars swung for the fences on this season’s music. Some were big hits and some were big misses. You can see the full list of DWTS songs here. Now on to tonight’s music:

Kelly & Louis danced Argentine Tango to the song “Los Vino” —Otros Aires
Kelly & Louis danced Megamix to the song “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” —Frankie Valli/”Whenever, Wherever” —Shakira/”Maniac” —Michael Sembello
Kelly & Louis danced Freestyle to the song “I Will Survive” —Gloria Gaynor
Kelly & Louis danced Viennese Waltz to the song “Trouble” —Ray LaMontagne
Mýa & Dmitry danced Paso Doble to the song “We Will Rock You” —Queen
Mýa & Dmitry danced Megamix to the song “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” —Frankie Valli/”Whenever, Wherever” —Shakira/”Maniac” —Michael Sembello
Mýa & Dmitry danced Freestyle to the song “You Can’t Stop the Beat” —from Hairspray
Mýa & Dmitry danced Jive to the song “Would You…?” —Touch and Go
Donny & Kym danced Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “September” —Earth, Wind and Fire
Donny & Kym danced Megamix to the song “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” —Frankie Valli/”Whenever, Wherever” —Shakira/”Maniac” —Michael Sembello
Donny & Kym danced Freestyle to the song “Let The Good Times Roll” —Ray Charles
Donny & Kym danced Argentine Tango to the song “Tango a Pugliese” —Orquesta Color Tango de Roberto Alvarez

Time again for the list of music from the special guests on Dancing with the Stars.

Alicia Keys sang “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart” with the Alicia Keys’s dancers
Leona Lewis sang “Happy” with the Leona Lewis’ dancers
The Bee Gees sang “You Should Be Dancing” with Melissa Rycroft, Tony Dovolani, Chelsie Hightower, Cheryl Burke, and Artem Chigvinsev dancing

Also, looks like yesterday we had a real hit with the song Joanna and Derek danced a Viennese Waltz to: “Hallelujah” —Leonard Cohen. People absolutely love that song (and so they should). I’ll be posting a list of the top music from Dancing with the Stars soon and that one should be on the list.

On a side note, I was sad to see Derek and Joanna get sent home. Not that I was all that surprised. Joanna has a much smaller fan base than the others. What’s most disappointing about it for me is that Derek creates the most incredible freestyle dances. That will be a tremendous loss for the finale. The good part is that at the finale we get to see all of the dancers back on the show. With 16 dancers, that’s going to be a LOT of dances.

Wow, can you believe we’re down to the final 4? This is just amazing. This season went pretty quick for me. Sad to think that we’re so close to the end. Anyway, I’ll be posting a poll to vote who will be in the final 3 so don’t forget to vote for it. Also, you can check back at the previous weeks DWTS music as well.

Now, on to the music for Dancing with the Stars Week 9:
Donny and Kym danced a Tango to the song “Black & Gold” —Sam Sparro
Donny and Kym danced a Samba to the song “One Bad Apple” —The Osmonds
Donny and Kym danced a Jitterbug to the song “Jump Shout Boogie” —Barry Manilow
Joanna and Derek danced a Viennese Waltz to the song “Hallelujah” —Leonard Cohen
Joanna and Derek danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “Can’t Get You out of My Head” —Kylie Minogue
Joanna and Derek danced a Salsa to the song “La Luz Del Ritmo” —Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Kelly and Louis danced a Rumba to the song “Angels” —Robbie Williams
Kelly and Louis danced a Quickstep to the song “99 Red Balloons” —Nena
Kelly and Louis danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” —Cyndi Lauper
Mya and Dmitry danced a Waltz to the song “Amore e Musica” —Russell Watson
Mya and Dmitry danced a Salsa to the song “La Isla Bonita” —Madonna
Mya and Dmitry danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “Fire Burning” —Sean Kingston

Tonight’s another 2 hours of music from the Dancing with the Stars band. Below you’ll find the list of music from tonight’s show. You can find all the Dancing with the Stars music here.

Mýa & Dmitry danced a Quickstep to the song “Baby Wants a Diamond Ring” —Squirrel Nut Zippers
Mýa & Dmitry danced a Samba to the song “Bad Girls” —Donna Summer
Aaron & Karina danced a Foxtrot to the song “Lucky” —Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
Aaron & Karina danced a Samba to the song “Two Princes” —Spin Doctors
Joanna & Derek danced a Quickstep to the song “Valerie” —Amy Winehouse
Joanna & Derek danced a Paso Doble to the song “Living on Video” —Trans-X
Kelly & Louis danced a Foxtrot to the song “Mama Do” —Pixie Lott
Kelly & Louis danced a Jive to the song “River Deep – Mountain High” —Ike & Tina Turner
Donny & Kym danced a Viennese Waltz to the song “You Don’t Know Me” —Michael Bublé
Donny & Kym danced a Paso Doble to the song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” —Dead or Alive

Oy! Ok, for the first time since I started doing these rankings, I have very few notes written in my handy dandy notebook – because I was actually transfixed for most of tonight’s show! This may have been the most entertained I’ve been all season – tonight was delightfully wacky, yet also refined (anyone catch the Hooters reference? ) – I found myself enjoying both the ballroom & Latin rounds.  Although I must point out that there was some definite music ditto-ing tonight – “You Spin Me Right Round” & ”Valerie” have both definitely been used in past seasons for a paso & a quickstep, respectively.  Could the “fabulous” Harold Wheeler be running out of stuff to play? Hmmmm…

1.) Donny & Kym – I can’t believe I am about to say what I’m about to say: I actually enjoyed both of Donny’s routines tonight (though definitely not for the same reasons lol!).  I must have a soft spot for well-executed, sincere waltzes/Viennese waltzes – because just as Michael Irvin won me over with his charming waltz 2 weeks ago, Donny won me over with his this week.  Very understated, calm, clean, and pretty.  Actually quite lovely to watch, especially since Donny wasn’t trying to yuk it up like he has in the past – if the Donny skeptics are anything like me, they may warm up to him after that number.  His paso had me rolling – it was really a hot mess, with the ridiculous costuming (anyone else think Donny’s pants a little more Napoleon Dynamite than Adam Ant?) and the tacky smoke machine/wind machine/cape interlude in the middle…I LOVED EVERY GAUDY SECOND OF IT.  This will not be a routine that is easily forgotten (even if some might want to…), and Donny & Kym had the definite boon of performing in the Money Spot (TM).  Who cares if they are tied for the lowest score??? They’ve got the fanbase and shock factor working in their favor…

2.) Derek & Joanna – These two would have likely overtaken Donny & Kym for the top spot on my rankings this week, if it weren’t for that chaotic, messy quickstep in the ballroom round.  Ai ai ai…it actually pained me to watch it, because I know that they can (and have) done much better.  The two of them were bobbing around out of sync like a whack-a-mole game at Chuck E Cheese.  Anymore, the quickstep seems to be becoming the “kiss of death” on DWTS, just like it has on SYTYCD…very hard to really “nail”.  But man – Joanna & Derek more than made up for it with the artistry, creativity, and execution of their futuristic paso.  Honestly, I think any other couple that drew “futuristic” as their decade would have crashed & burned – Derek is honestly on the cutting edge with his choreography & I would not be surprised if this robot paso garnered him an Emmy nomination for best choreography next year.  And Joanna was flawless on this one (dunno why Carrie Ann was yammering on about a “misstep”) – I was surprised she was able to nail the robotic, emotionless feel of the dance after being so emotionally invested in previous weeks.  That paso (and Heidi & her posse & their tireless campaign for votes for team DJ!) probably saved them this week, although I think they’re really starting to show they’re contenders for the trophy this season…

3.) Mya & Dmitry – What does it say when a couple gets the first perfect score of the season and I still have a hard time seeing them win the whole competition? Accusations of Derek favoritism aside (ahem), I still am feeling very little connection between these two, although I still stand by my claim that it is more Dmitry’s fault than Mya’s.  Empirical evidence: those who DVRed tonight’s show, I challenge you to rewatch their quickstep & count how many times they make eye contact with one another, and for how long, and with how much intensity.  They barely looked at each other – each step, while flawlessly executed, was aimed at connecting with the audience rather than each other.  Ditto to their samba (which I actually really enjoyed!) – it was as if they could have danced the entire routine alone and we wouldn’t have noticed that they were missing a partner (although the samba rolls were pure butter to watch ) Add to that the trouble of performing in the Crap Spot (TM), and all I’m left really remembering well is that Dmitry kinda reminds me of Paul Rudd’s character in Anchorman with his ’70s ’stache.  The perfect score likely saved them from the danger zone, but I’m not sure they will be so lucky next week…

4.) Kelly & Louis – Kelly is the weakest dancer left in the competition, I will admit that – but she’s definitely improving, and she and Louis are still totally adorable.  Great to see sassy, confident Kelly in her foxtrot – she may not have had the greatest feet or arms or frame, but she was fun to watch and seemed to really nail the slinkiness of the foxtrot & looked fantastic doing it.  The jive was a little odd for me – loved seeing her in her element (the ’60s really seem to be her era), but the two of them seemed a bit more wrapped up in doing more ’60s moves than actual jive (and the jive they did was pretty mediocre), and they held onto the prop for a bit too long – and I HATE PROPS.  But oddly enough, they weren’t at the bottom of the scoreboard this week, and I cannot bring myself to hate them (just like I actually kinda missed walking Hallmark card Michael this week *sniff*).  They will likely be in the bottom 2, but I don’t see them getting sent home over Aaron…

5.) Aaron & Karina – Talk about TMI.  I didn’t really need to know that Aaron almost tossed his cookies on national television, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t mentioned it.  But honestly – that was probably just extra dirt on the coffin for Aaron.  These two have been skating on thin ice for weeks now, and I think they only slipped by last week based on Aaron’s jive prowess (if the knockout dance were a popularity contest, Mark would still be around instead of him).  His foxtrot felt a little too bouncy to me – as much as it pains me to say it, I agree with Carrie Ann that he does get a bit too “exuberant” and it throws off his technique.  Their samba was actually kinda cute (loved the song – I remember groovin’ to Spin Doctors in 4th grade!), but was a bit sloppy at times and isn’t nearly as memorable as any of the other Latin routines for me tonight.  They’re the only couple left that’s ever been in danger (and they’ve been in danger MULTIPLE times) and they’re also at the bottom of the scoreboard – oh, and if Twitter is any indicator, the only man in America that may be more hated than Aaron right now is Jon Gosselin.  If I were the gambling type, I’d put a decent bet down on Aaron going home tomorrow night, and then take my honey out to Outback with my winnings.

So this has probably been the easiest ranking I’ve done so far – probably because I’m darn near certain that Aaron’s number is up this week.  And if it isn’t – well, pigs must be flying on a snowy day in hell.  But feel free to argue with me…I will try and be more present in the comments section this week, since I have Wednesday off work.  Yay for floating holidays!!! Sound off, everyone…

The following is the list of music used on week 7 of DWTS. You find all of the DWTS music listed here.

Michael & Anna D. danced a Foxtrot to the song “Sunny Afternoon” —The Kinx
Donny & Kym danced a Quickstep to the song “Sing, Sing, Sing” —Louis Prima
Mark & Anna T. danced a Samba to the song “Switch” —Will Smith
Mýa & Dmitry danced a Foxtrot to the song “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby” —Diana Krall
Aaron & Karina danced a Jive to the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” —Twisted Sister
Kelly & Louis danced a Salsa to the song “Good Lovin’” —The Young Rascals
Joanna & Derek danced a Rumba to the song “The Look of Love” —Dusty Springfield
Aaron & Karina, Mark & Anna T., Michael & Anna D., and Mýa & Dmitry danced a Paso Doble to the song “I Hate Myself for Loving You” —Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Joanna & Derek, Kelly & Louis, and Donny & Kym danced a Tango to the song “You Give Love a Bad Name” —Bon Jovi

Mark Ballas and Derek Hough will be performing their new single “Move” on tomorrow night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars. The single is already available on iTunes .

What did you think about tonight’s results show on Dancing with the Stars? Did they send home the right person?

Here’s also some of the songs that were used on tonight’s episode of Dancing with the Stars.

Taylor Swift sand “Jump Then Fall” and “Love Story” with Cheryl Burke, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani, Jonathan Roberts, Edyta Śliwińska, and Anna Trebunskaya all dancing.

Tiempo Libre sang “Tu Conga Bach” with the Tiempo Libre dancers.

Next week, Backstreet Boys will be gracing the DWTS stage. That should be interesting.