DWTS's Missed Opportunity

This week was big for Dancing with the Stars for a couple of reasons. In a season that has been rather tame, Monday night was not only the strongest night all season but for the last few seasons as well. The dancing was terrific and the night overall was very emotional with multiple occasions where most of the audience was in tears. At one point, host Tom Bergeron was also in tears! Six of Monday night's right dances received perfect scores, something I don't think I've ever seen after watching for eleven seasons.

It was also a big week because it saw front runner Nastia Luikin and pro partner Derek Hough voted off the show. Luikin's last three dances (including her final one from last week) all received perfect scores from the judges. Fandom has been get vocally upset about this elimination, a bigger surprise than the mid-season elimination of Willow Shields. Many have voiced that Nastia should have made it to next week's finale while Noah Galloway (the Army vet missing one arm and one leg) should've been sent home.

Dancing with the Stars is no stranger to controversy when it comes to which stars stay and which are sent home. Conspiracy theories abound that it's all arbitrarily decided by the show's producers and not by fan votes as is advertised. I, however, believe that the producers don't directly choose who stays but merely "stack the deck".

I point to Season 18 when pro Max an partner Meryl won the Mirror Ball Trophy. Meryl certainly deserved to win and is a fantastic dancer. However, much of the season's narrative centered on Max who had been absent for several of the show's previous seasons and was regarded as the "Bad Boy of Dance". However, the entire season portrayed Max as having changed and gave him a much softer image. So the only resolution to the story crafted by the producers was for Max to finally win. I say Max and not Meryl because ultimately it was more about Max's journey that season than it was about Meryl's, which is the usual storyline. Max's image was changed to make him more appealing to voters, thus stacking the deck in his favor.

This season, however, the anger over Nastia's elimination has been focused on Noah. While Noah is certainly no great dancer, he's been inspirational and a fan favorite. But, the deck wasn't stacked in his favor so much as it was against Nastia in favor of Val, Max's brother. Nastia has never had the greatest image since her days as an Olympic gold medal winning gymnast, earning the nickname of "Nasty" Luikin. The early weeks of the season seemed to change that perspective and showed a softer side of her...until a few weeks ago when the tone of her video packages shifted negatively. She was shown as frustrated, irritable and not getting along with Derek. People started to see the hard-to-like Nastia they remembered. Derek has gone public to defend his partner by not only saying that those are brief moments that don't truly represent what really goes on, but saying that producers were intentionally pushing her buttons. As a result, people started to dislike Nastia.

Meanwhile, the video packages about Rumer Willis became more centered on Val and softening his image and making him more sympathetic. Val has always been more likable than brother Max, but has always fallen just shy of winning. From the beginning of this season, Rumer's talented dancing looked to change that until she stagnated and her scores dropped. That's when the narrative for Val and Nastia changed.

If the producers truly are stacking the deck, than they missed a huge opportunity for a wonderful finale. No offense to Noah, but this week should've been his last. That would've left Rumer, Nastia and Riker all competing for the Mirror Ball in what would've been easily the most competitive finale this show has likely ever seen. Any of these three could've won and deserved to win, something I can't say for any of the final three I've ever seem during my time watching this show. Instead, with Nastia gone the finale won't be quite so thrilling. While Noah touch's peoples hearts, he's not as talented a dancer as the other finalists. The producers would've had the most genuinely suspenseful finale this show would've ever seen. Instead, in order to help deliver a win to Val, they may have just stacked things against Nastia who likely would've won if she made it to next week.

Now, in case anyone is wondering, no, I don't think Nastia should've won. In fact, my wife and I both believe that Riker should win (even if Nastia had stayed) because he's the best dancer this season. However, that probably won't be the case.

My prediction? If the producers are stacking the deck, I believe that it's Val who will win...oh, and Rumer too.

Dancing with the Stars Isn't for Teenagers

Maggie and I have been fans of ABC's Dancing with the Stars for about five years now. We started watching during Season 10 and haven't missed an episode since...due mostly to DVR, without which we could not live. We've seen highs and we've seen lows but have always been able to enjoy the show. Oftentimes it's predictable; it was clear from the get-go last season that Alfonso would win. Occasionally it manages to surprise us, such as last night.

I must admit that this twentieth season of Dancing with the Stars has been surprisingly underwhelming. There are fewer strong dancers than in recent years and a number who just aren't very good. Their Disney Week was bland and last week's Spring Break Week was...ok. Early on I predicted that the finals would feature Nastia and Derek, Riker and Allison, and Rumer and Val. But there was a surprising wild card; Willow Shields (of The Hunger Games series) with professional Mark Ballis. At fourteen, she's the show's youngest competitor yet did surprisingly well. I thought that if anyone had a chance to upend the results, it would be here.

Last night, that came crashing to a halt.

In the most shocking elimination of the season, Willow was sent home. Everyone was astounded, especially the judges. Willow was in tears. It occurred to me as Maggie and I watched Willow crying in Mark's arms, surrounded by the rest of the consoling cast, that Dancing with the Stars had finally gone too young.

Dancing with the Stars has proven to be not only physically challenging but emotionally as well. It's overwhelming even for the most mature adult, including many of the professionals who have been dancing their entire lives. The show has featured teenagers before; last season's Sadie Robertson (17) finished third while season 16's Zendaya almost won it all, finishing second at age 16! Both these young ladies possessed a maturity  beyond their years that enabled them to endure the brutality of the competition that stretches across three months non-stop.

Young Willow, however, is not Sadie nor Zendaya. That's not a knock against her. She's a sweet young girl who displays both an incredible talent and determination that made her enjoyable to watch, even though Mark's high-creativity concepts slowly got in the way of the dances they performed. But at the end of the day, she's only fourteen and there's a striking difference between a fourteen-year-old and a sixteen- and seventeen-year-old. Fourteen-year-olds are still in a very delicate phase as the change emotionally and physically. They get overwhelmed enough as it is with their everyday lives with school and friends and even with their own families.

Because she's so young and still in that delicate phase of maturity, Willow wasn't prepared to endure the emotional roller coaster of Dancing with the Stars. In a couple years, sure, but the producers should've exercised better judgment before casting her, clearly trying to gain the youth viewership because of her attachment to the currently-hot Hunger Games series.

Dancing with the Stars is basically a popularity contest where one has to sell themselves both personally and in talent. The ones who have gone on to win have all been able to win the public not just because they could dance well but because they could get people behind them and like them. Willow did an excellent job week-in and week-out. She's clearly a wonderful young girl and had a shot to make it to the finale. She just didn't sell herself well enough to gain enough fan support to vote her through to the end. It devastated her more than it has anyone else Maggie and I have watched over the years. Teenagers dread rejection and this young girl got rejected on a very public and national level.

As we watched her cry, I turned to Maggie and said, "She's too young. Dancing with the Stars is not for fourteen-year-olds."