And the winner is…Bobby Bones? Dancing With the Stars, we need to talk.
Bones, a radio personality, won because of his following. That’s what Dancing With the Stars has always been about, it’s a popularity content. Sometimes the best dancer wins, but for the most part it’s about platforms, specifically celebrities with fans who are in the voting demographic for DWTS. Bones has just that.
Sure, Alexis Ren has millions of Instagram followers, but are they calling in and voting? Same for 17-year-old Milo Manheim and Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch, all of whom scored higher and were better dancers than Bones throughout the season.
After 27 seasons, it seems like it’s time for Dancing With the Stars to take a break. That being said, we’ve got a few ideas on how to spruce up the aging reality show.
Take a break and cut down the airings.
Ratings for the ABC dance competition dipped to new lows this year, cut DWTS down to one cycle a year, whether that’s in the fall, spring, summer or winter, depends on ABC’s programming needs. American Idol was gone for such a short time, but its return was met with higher ratings than the final season.
Cut down on season length.
In addition to ratings, star power also took a hit. Every outing E! News checks the popularity of the cast based on name recognition alone, this season the results were dismal. By limiting the time commitment, ABC could attract higher tier talent.
Add some new judges.
Look, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman are great at their jobs, and they’re predictable. An infusion of new judges would add some freshness to the aging series. Again, see what happened to American Idol.
Stop stacking the competition.
Dancing With the Stars is no stranger to seemingly stacking the competition with celebs who have dance experience (Tinashe, Manheim, Juan Pablo Di Pace this season), and viewers have gotten wise to that. Di Pace was sent home in a shocking elimination late in the competition after several perfect scores and Tinashe was booted early in the season. Sure, viewers don’t want to see a season full of bad and awkward dancers, but come on. Casting could be a little more discerning. If they really want to feature celebs who have a dance background…
Try another theme.
Dancing With the Stars: Pop Singers? They have some dance background, but aren’t expert dancers. Dancing With the Stars: TGIF Actors? Even better, 100 percent would watch.
Change the scoring.
Switching up how the scoring and how votes are counted would benefit the competition. It seems like the scores are arbitrary for the first half of the season because a 10 in the first week, even if deserved, isn’t necessarily great TV. DWTS has prided itself about being a journey for the contestants, with stars getting higher scores just for improving. Folks who have talent from the start don’t benefit the same way. Make home votes count more? Or less? We don’t have an answer here, but there’s a real imbalance here that needs to tweaked.
How would you improve Dancing With the Stars? Tell us on Twitter.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
