Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dancing - Shannen's ouster


Shannen Doherty and partner Mark Ballas on Monday on "Dancing with the Stars." / AP photo

The internet is abuzz with speculation since Shannen Doherty's unexpected elimination last night on "Dancing with the Stars."
What it came down during the broadcast to was three surprises, two within the first minute of the show:

1) Buzz Aldrin was safe

2) Pam Anderson was in the bottom two

3) Kate Gosselin survived, and was not in the bottom two

I would not call Shannen's elimination that much of a surprise and will explain why here. Let's go point by point.

1) Buzz got sympathy votes. He clearly cannot dance, but he's a sweet old guy and people felt sorry for him. I would contend a better way to show him support would be to let him off the show - he does not know what he is doing - but he wants to be there, so I don't think I am right about that.

2) Think about this. Do we really think "Dancing with the Stars" demographic and Pam Anderson's fanbase are the same? Maybe we did before last night, but they are obviously not. I thought Pammie laid it on a little thick for both dances - but showed more talent in her foxtrot. The judges loved her both times. America's housewives didn't want to watch her exude her Pam Anderson-ness any more. If she's going to survive, she's going to need some Maxim readers, stat.

3) In this contest, we vote FOR someone, not against him or her. If the voting was against, I still think Kate and her tantrums and hair extensions would be out for sure, but there are some people out there who look at Jon with his Ed Hardy shirts and skanky girlfriends and think it's a wash, they're both awful - so it looks like she squeaked by for now. Plus, we love the drama. The tabloids wouldn't keep putting her on the cover if we weren't buying. Remember, "Jon and Kate" only became a real hit after their marriage hit the skids.

And that's what did Shannen in, too - drama, or more precisely, a lack of it. She and her partner were all smiles, she was doing it for her dad, she was crying and grateful - she was the anti-Kate. People made their choice. They voted off the woman who talked about her dad and got along with her partner, and kept the one who treated her partner like one of her kids and caused him to walk off at one point during the second episode (a first, host Tom Bergeron chirpily said).

If it's something different than that, prove me wrong.

Anybody else worried about Evan Lysacek about now?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great analysis. I think your comments are spot on. You certainly have put a lot of thought into it and your insights will be a great help to me going forward.