First, my confession: I’m an ex-professional ballroom, Latin and swing dancer and a diehard fan of my sport. Unlike many other pros I know, I actually watch Dancing with the Stars religiously. Lately, I’ve been disappointed as to how voting, scoring, etc has gone. From a professional standpoint, these stars have no training and are supposed to show their progress from week to week and grow in the competition; yet, those who show improvement in their dancing are voted off and those who are just popular stick around.
Take, for example, Kristi Yamaguchi, her past ice dancing gives an edge as that training is dance training which is unfair to the other competitors. Many times ice dancers take ballet and other forms of dance to help with their performances on the ice. Now, I’ll grant that dancing on ice skates is different from dancing in three inch heels, but it is still an advantage. Yes, Kristi is becoming a decent dancer; however her performances are mechanical and lack the emotion of the various dances. I honestly do not think she should be scoring as high as she is given all the relevant factors.
On the flip side of the coin, you have someone like Marissa Jaret Winokur. In my opinion, she is a prime example of what the competition is supposed to be all about. Granted, Marissa has experience on Broadway with group dancing and acting, but that is nothing like strict partner dancing like ballroom. Marissa is actually a good example of the type of person that would go into a studio for a lesson, someone with all the heart in the world, but no experience. She has improved weekly with her dancing, technique, stylization; as well as improving her nervousness in front of the live audience.
The problem that I keep coming up against is that the learning process and the process of becoming good are being replaced by popularity and the voting reflects this. I understand that people will vote for whom they are familiar with; those who are football fans will vote for Jason, those who are Olympics junkies will vote for Kristi, etc. The competition is not about football and the Olympics; it is about the process of learning a new sport and becoming good at it and entertaining the crowd. Essentially, gaining popularity for something you are not known for and, of course, gaining new viewers for the show’s ratings.
As a professional, it’s becoming almost mind numbing to see those who consistently improve, like Priscilla Presley, get voted off.