It was 11 p.m. when "DWTS" ended last night. I was tired, I was disgusted. So I decided to sleep before I posted …
And this morning, I'm still disgusted. The judges long ago went in the tank for Brooke Burke and Derek Hough, who won the disco-ball trophy, and nothing changed the last two nights, with all that best-ever stuff and Carrie Ann on the verge of tears after B&D's last dance and 88 out of a possible 90 points. I've watched every season of "DWTS" and I think there's an argument to be made that B&D were the weakest champions ever. Come on, was she remotely in a class with Kristi Yamaguchi? But one of the demands on a show like this is that the likely eventual champion must be praised to the skies, so that the process appears to have worked properly.
Still, Derek repeatedly covered up for Brooke's limitations. That is the pro dancer's job, but the judges let them get away with it, forgiving a lot of wooden work by Brooke. Then there's the cheating issue, brought up by my colleague Lynne Sherwin, when Brooke did a solo dance in a position where the judges could not clearly see what she did — and what she did wasn't that good anyway.
But beyond the endless efforts to make Brooke champion, let's look at the way Lance and Lacey were triangulated into an undeserved third-place finish.
Yes, Warren and Kym could be entertaining and endearing. Still, L&L were a far more accomplished couple than W&K. But the judges in the waning rounds kept those two couples' scores very close. And while they praised L&L to some degree, their comments established B&D as the technical best and W&K as the crowd-pleasing people's champs. (And grumpy, tech-minded Len gave them a 10 on Monday night, in defiance of almost everything he says to contestants — especially Lance — during the rest of the show.) That actively discouraged votes for L&L, since the two biggest reasons for votes hadbeen taken.
Why? Because, even though the show brought in Lacey to give the dancing some more youthful elements, the show (again, Len in particular) is very tradition-minded about dance and did not want to let too much choreographic heresy into the mix. Then it would be "So You Think You Can Dance." So it was increasingly structured to say "this far, Lance and Lacey, but no more." And it worked. In the end, it got a dancer who was traditional (and whose final dance was polite to the point of dullness).
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I don't think Brooke's dance was even that traditional–it was a combination of Broadway "razzle-dazzle" and striptease. It was well executed, but like you, I thought it was a foregone conclusion while watching them that they would win.
I think Lance & Lacey could've chosen better music and clothing–it was kind of bland and he's not that good a break-dancer. It was kind of a letdown compared to last week's performance.
Warren was pretty impressive–he put it all out there–his personality & charm.
I was thinking of her over the course of the season, and of ballroom-dancing traditions, where she seemed to repeatedly and eagerly play to the judges, especially Stuffy Len. And, as I said in Monday's post, I don't think Lance and Lacey closed the deal with their performance. But they were also forced to follow all that "best ever" nonsense about Brooke & Derek, and were still better than Warren & Kym.
I didn't cry for Lance and Lacey, simply because I thought it unfair for a professional dancer (I mean come on, Lance Bass did nothing but dance his whole career, didn't he?) to be included in this. But they did look the best to me.
The ringer issue has come up before with "DWTS." Joey Fatone, for one. And whether a figure skater like Kristi Yamaguchi had an unfair advantage because of the skills it requires. But once they're in the competition, the judging should be fair across the board.
Oh I absolutely agree on the merits of their dancing. Lance and Lacey were the most skilled couple, in my opinion. Granted, I have watched a grand total of 2 episodes of this show, and last night was one of them LOL…..