*Improving the Show*

[Pandora2]

I came to this thread with one idea and have already agreed with nearly everything on this page. Probably from the beginning, if I went back that far; really good ideas, IMO.

Specifically the suggestion that there be no "judges only" scores -- especially at this stage in the process -- and that they shouldn't sign anyone who makes a living doing what they will be asked to do on the show. There are professional and amateur definitions in athletics as a way of ensuring a level playing field. DWTS should follow the same guidelines if the premise is that clueless celebrities are learning a new skill.

I didn't enjoy watching Nicole because I'm not a dance fan by any stretch; I don't know enough and don't care to, and the pros do nothing for me. So personally, I tuned out all of her dances this season. Just not interested.

But, if they can't get past the idea of signing celebrities who are head & shoulders above the rest, perhaps they should implement a handicapping system of some sort. It's ridiculous to know on Day 1 who is going to win.

And also, in a perfect world, I would love some accountability on the scoring and the voting and how it all shakes out, because I'm not convinced everything is playing out the way they want us to believe. There is absolutely nothing preventing the show from anointing whoever they choose.

Finally, the ranking thing tonight was ridiculous. The judges admitted it was a difficult decision but they were forced to award an extra 2 points to a dance that was only marginally better. That could have been enough to determine the outcome, which is crazy at the end of a long season.

[karalott]

I'd make a few other suggestions: get rid of the ranking system. Tell the judges to keep their comments tactful. Saying 'you're the people's champion/not our champion' is better than saying 'you should win' when the other couple hasn't even danced yet. If you're going to have someone with Nicole's dance experience on, get people who can challenge them. I'd also say do away with the last dance that the judges score.

And this doesn't apply to tonight, but for the elimination results, I'd rather them go back to how they do it with everyone onstage. Not 'will you and you come forward' and all that in jeopardy crap.

[Love_Me]

If you want to improve the show I would say they need new judges. The way Carrie Ann acted this season and fawed over Nicole was off putting. IMO She and Kara must be BFF's.

[Pandora2]

If you want to improve the show I would say they need new judges. The way Carrie Ann acted this season and fawed over Nicole was off putting. IMO She and Kara must be BFF's.

Totally agree with that point also. I do love Bruno though.

[hikari]

This was mentioned over on Brooke's thread, but they need to interject more interest into the co-hosting position. It's not that I hate Brooke; I'm just bored and she's kind of redundant. More interesting to have the Celebruquarium and backstage interviews conducted by someone more cognizant in ballroom techniques. A former or current pro dancer from the stable, for instance. I think they could tag-team it and take turns. That would give the public a chance to see some favorite faces who were either eliminated early or not in the season's rotation.

Have some of the pros get together for a package and dish about what a real ballroom competition is like--they could do a segment about the judging, one about the costumes, the personality conflicts, etc.

I would like to see one target dance chosen to be performed by each couple on the same night. When all three of our finalists performed their ATs it was fascinating because they were all subtly different and we could do head-to-head comparisons. Prior to the competition each week, a pro pair should model what the dance should look like, with the steps broken down, and then performed to tempo.

Since our judges are so full of hot air, I'd like to see them put their money where their mouths are . . . let the judges get out there and perform something! Also a package of background on each judge so that we can see them doing their thing in their normal work environment. Len judging a ballroom competition, CA or Bruno choreographing a music video or Broadway show or whatever it is they do . . .

They should do like on Project Runway and have a rotating fourth chair for a visiting guest judge. Depending on the week's spotlighted dance, they could have luminaries of dance like Tommy Tune, Twyla Tharp, the incomparable Baryshnikov if they could get him.

They need to give serious thought toward the 'filler' acts during the Tuesday hour. They should, it goes without sayijng, be dance related. Therefore, college dance-off: good. Miley Cyrus in a cage: Bad. Very, very bad.

[norealityhere]

Maybe I am just DWTS'd out at this point!!
But, I didn't really enjoy it as much as I did in prior seasons.
Yes, they had a better cast than usual, but it seemed overly predictable and the back stories were too over the top.
But, what I disliked most this season was Carrie Ann's comment to Nicole about her being the best dancer ever.....
And, then, to have the judges hand victory to Nicole before Evan even got a chance to get on the dance floor was just off putting.

I do think some great comments / critiques have been made here.
Hopefully, they may incorporate some of them into the show next season.

[karalott]

Maybe I am just DWTS'd out at this point!!
But, I didn't really enjoy it as much as I did in prior seasons.
Yes, they had a better cast than usual, but it seemed overly predictable and the back stories were too over the top.
But, what I disliked most this season was Carrie Ann's comment to Nicole about her being the best dancer ever.....
And, then, to have the judges hand victory to Nicole before Evan even got a chance to get on the dance floor was just off putting.

I do think some great comments / critiques have been made here.
Hopefully, they may incorporate some of them into the show next season.

I couldn't get DWTS'd out, but I think it says something that this season had (reportedly) the lowest ratings ever, especially compared to last season. I feel like the show needs to stop being so predictable and not make it so easy for ringers. Ringers and Olympians, and everyone else has an uphill battle. It doesn't help that the same pros usually wind up going the furthest nearly every season. That would be my #1 suggestion, don't make it so predictable and level the playing field more. The judges need to get more consistant but I'm not expecting that to happen. The first couple of shows they usually behave themselves but after that, we get the token 'you've set the bar for the season'. I can see why the celebs seemed more gloom and doom at this finale. I can't even believe the judges really think nothing's wrong with continually propping one person up or saying they should win before the other couple even dances.

They need to give serious thought toward the 'filler' acts during the Tuesday hour. They should, it goes without sayijng, be dance related. Therefore, college dance-off: good. Miley Cyrus in a cage: Bad. Very, very bad.

I wish they'd take a page from Idol and next season scale the results show back to half an hour. I hope there's no overbloated premiere next season, either. I did like that they moved right along with the eliminations this season, instead of waiting until the last 2 seconds to get through 10 couples.

[moflan]

A comment on another thread in this forum got me to thinking....

What if they had a season - similar to Survivor All Stars - where they brought back all of the previous winners as the contestants. We'd see how each of these contestants compare to one another and we'd have to abandon any ringer arguments because they would all - presumably - be on even footing (although the amount of time that has lapsed since they last danced could have an impact on the overall stamina and performance.)

If bringing back the mirror ball trophy winners would be too challenging, how about bringing back semi-finalists to see how they rank against one another. One thing I can say about Nicole and Derek is that they raised the bar higher and some of the stars from this season may have done better than they would have otherwise if they weren't competing against N&D.

With the exception of Erin and Maks, I'd also like to see how they do working with a different pro / choreographer. To really mix it up, perhaps they could change up partners throughout the All-Star season as well and have you vote for the star, not the star and their pro partner.

[norealityhere]

I couldn't get DWTS'd out, but I think it says something that this season had (reportedly) the lowest ratings ever, especially compared to last season. I feel like the show needs to stop being so predictable and not make it so easy for ringers. Ringers and Olympians, and everyone else has an uphill battle. It doesn't help that the same pros usually wind up going the furthest nearly every season. That would be my #1 suggestion, don't make it so predictable and level the playing field more. The judges need to get more consistant but I'm not expecting that to happen. The first couple of shows they usually behave themselves but after that, we get the token 'you've set the bar for the season'. I can see why the celebs seemed more gloom and doom at this finale. I can't even believe the judges really think nothing's wrong with continually propping one person up or saying they should win before the other couple even dances.

Oh, it did?
I thought their ratings were higher this year. They kept saying every week how they were the #1 show?

[jadewarlock]

I've read comments about the Olympians and them being seen as "unfair," but I disagree to a point. There has been a majority of figure skaters and gymnasts, but Apolo Ohno is a speed skater and they had the one volleyball player. Neither sport has the fancy moves that you use in gymnastics or figure skating, which benefitted Shawn Johnson, Kristi Yamaguchi and Evan Lysechek.

So... here's where I'd change it up a bit - put in Olympians that are NOT from the artistry scoring groups, with the possible exception if we have a Rhythmic gymnast (only because we've had I think literally ONE gymnast in recent history and she just barely qualified to make the games).

I'd love to see the 4-man bobsled driver from this year compete or someone from another sport - if nothing else to show the versatility of the Olympics and put a handicap on the Olympians - as they wouldn't be skilled in the finer steps unless it's natural or they took dance as a kid (which a lot did - I even took ballroom in eighth grade. I admit though the most it's been useful to me is to lull babies to sleep ).