9/20 Show Discussion Thread **Spoilers**

[Brandy]

Thanks, bbnbama. I'd love to see Donny on the show, too. In fact I kind of thought he would be. Kind of a tease that they only show the stars hazily during a commercial break. Donny could be really good on the show - singing, if nothing else (he's probably considered a professional dancer of sorts). The show's just sorta waving at him from a distance is a puzzler.

I must have missed the commercial break last week. Well, actually, TiVo explains that one I guess.

[MissThing]

This is supposed to be a dancing competition, not a popularity contest.

In my opinion, this is supposed to be a combination of dancing competition and popularity contest. If it weren't, they could either get rid of the value of the judge's scores (a la American Idol, where there is no score from the judges), or the value of the audience votes (just making it a pure dancing competition).

If one insists on viewing this program as being purely a dancing competition, I think that there will always be a level of disagreement with the eliminations.

[Misty8723]

While Shanna truly deserved to be eliminated tonight, Willa didn't deserve to be in the bottom two. I felt bad for Willa being in the bottom two. It looked like she was on the verge of tears. I don't get why people either don't know Willa at all or totally hate her. This is supposed to be a dancing competition, not a popularity contest. Furthermore, why is Jerry still on the show? Jerry just stated that he no longer wants his fans to vote for him. Why vote for him when it is clearly obvious that he has given up and wants out of the show soon? I truly hope that next week will be Jerry's last because he is deadweight on the dance floor. George Hamilton from last season was way better at being entertaining than Jerry will ever be.

I do agree that Willa didn't deserve to be in the bottom 2. But I don't agree that's it's a dancing competition, not a personality contest. If it were just a dancing competition, we would have the eliminations done by the judges, with no input from the audience. Shows like this are always a popularity contest. At least they're weighting this one with some input from the judges. And even they aren't completely objective, if you ask me.

I would guess that the majority of us watching (and voting) don't know anything about the technical aspect of dancing. All we know is what we enjoy watching.

I personally haven't voted for anyone on this show, any season, and I don't see any motivation to begin voting. However, if I did vote, it would be for whoever entertained me or impressed me in some way. For example, I really have no idea who Joey Lawrence is (never watched Blossom, which I guess is what he's known for?), but he's impressed me both weeks. Same with Emmett. I don't follow the NFL, so I know the name, but that's about it. I would vote for those two over anyone else because they've impressed/entertained me the most. Unfortunately, you do get fan blocks that vote for a person regardless of how well they do, and keep someone in a competition long after they should have gone home.

[NFL1]

I love Emmett and this past show Monique really impressed me, though I hadn't ever heard of her before. I also really like Vivica from her various acting roles, and am impressed that she's kickin' it well as an over 40 dancer compared with the younger folks.

Monique's dance with Louie made me see what a great teacher/choreographer Louie must be - Lisa Rinna wasn't great early in the show last season and she came on so strong later on... Monique is starting the rise earlier than Lisa did.

[aname]

Willa will probably be gone next week, regardless of how well she dances. Evidently the fans vote for popularity more than skill. We saw this last season when Mr. P lasted so long, and Jerry Rice beat out the tall wrestler to land in second place. The worst of the women after Shanna is Sara Evans, followed by Vivica Fox (I think her Mambo was overrated). Jerry should go next but probably won't and next should be Harry Hamlin (even though I am a super Harry Hamlin fan and he is still hot), but he dances like a scared stick.

[Minney]

Willa will probably be gone next week, regardless of how well she dances. Evidently the fans vote for popularity more than skill. We saw this last season when Mr. P lasted so long, and Jerry Rice beat out the tall wrestler to land in second place. The worst of the women after Shanna is Sara Evans, followed by Vivica Fox (I think her Mambo was overrated). Jerry should go next but probably won't and next should be Harry Hamlin (even though I am a super Harry Hamlin fan and he is still hot), but he dances like a scared stick.

I agree with your statements and am disappointed that some better dancers will go home over a more popular personality. This is the first season I have watched this show and I am nervous about becoming too invested since I can see all sorts of examples where I'll be frustrated! Are the stars getting their scores based on being the best dancer of the night, or on doing their personal best (Jerry, Vivica...)?

[MissThing]

Are the stars getting their scores based on being the best dancer of the night, or on doing their personal best (Jerry, Vivica...)?

I don't even think the voting has much to do with personal best - in some cases, it's really just a fan thing. That was what happened with MisterP, who never did improve, last year. Some of these folks have huge fan bases (Emmitt, Jerry and Sarah spring to mind), and will continue past their rightful elimination week just based on blind loyal voting.

[artyjames]

Hey guys,
Have any of you heard that Vittorio is going to perform on the 9/27 show? He's
a really amazing Italian tenor so it'll be interesting how that fits the dancing they'll be doing. I work over at UMGD and you should really check him out.

[aname]

I don't even think the voting has much to do with personal best - in some cases, it's really just a fan thing. That was what happened with MisterP, who never did improve, last year. Some of these folks have huge fan bases (Emmitt, Jerry and Sarah spring to mind), and will continue past their rightful elimination week just based on blind loyal voting.

The only one of those three mentioned above who would probably deserve to stay is Emmet. The other two should go very soon (but probably won't). I'd hate to see someone like Sara win it just based on popularity. That would be a real shame.

[VanJagSol]

I don't think it's fair that it's a popularity contest. Jerry totally should have been the one to go. That's cool he asked for people not to vote for him but I really think that it's not so much that he wants to go as he knows he should have already been gone.