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Bosses want Craig to replace Len on Panel
COTTONHEAT
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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/strictly_come_dancing/6201832/American-Dancing-With-The-Stars-bosses-want-Craig-Revel-Horwood.html
I think he would be brilliant on it
I think he would be brilliant on it
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1. The Americans hate negative comments so Craig's critiques would go down like a lead balloon with contestants and viewers (they I didn't like it when Carrie Ann Inaba made nasty comments in the past - and Craig is a million times worse than she ever was!)
2. Len was the only one on the panel who knew anything about ballroom dancing (unless of course they keep Julianne Hough on board as the Ballroom expert.
3. I'd hazard a guess that they would also have work visa issues with Craig as there are thousands of equally qualified American choreographers who could do the job just as well. They got away with using Len and Bruno at the beginning because the show was new and untested just like it was here. They have Maks who they could use - and if they want scathing comments from a ballroom expert who already has a green card/ citizenship - he would be ideal.
Could you give the gist of the article for those of us outside the paywall, please?
I doubt he'd be the right fit, so interested to see what TheSun headline is based on.^_^
CaroUK, I agree - the U.S. audience would lynch him for the kind of comments he makes here and the low marks, but I suppose that's mostly just panto anyway - so if he was briefed for a different role, I'm sure he could do it. Also don't think the ballroom thing is important anymore (unless they have a return to the basics next series as suggested by Louis Van Amstell). There's so little ballroom in the show these days and scant regard for proper technique anyway, I think Julianne has that covered
Agreed. But then again he says he's back this series, Len's last, and Len probably won't be missing as many shows, if any, because he won't be juggling Strictly as well, which suggests Louis is competing...
Here it is
CRAIG Revel Horwood is being lined up to replace Len Goodman on the US version of Strictly.
Bosses reckon a real-life pantomime villain like the Aussie could shake up Dancing With The Stars and attract new viewers.
Fellow judge Len, 70, quit the US show, saying the constant travelling was too demanding.
But it is now rumoured that show bosses think his Strictly colleague Craig, 49, could be the perfect replacement.
The choreographer could land a cool £2million if he agrees to live and work in LA.
And chiefs from US network ABC have asked him to travel across the pond in the coming weeks for an audition.
A DWTS insider said: “Craig has leapt into first place as the man to shake up Dancing With The Stars.
“Bosses feel that his pantomime villain approach could make him unmissable viewing.”
Show execs even think Craig could be as popular as straight-talking judge Simon Cowell. The source added: “They have seen Craig in action in the UK and love the drama he causes.
“Americans have been hooked on judges who speak their mind in past shows, like with Simon Cowell on American Idol.”
However Craig previously claimed he wouldn’t work in America — fearing his blunt comments to contestants could lead to him being gunned down.
Last year, he said: “In America I would probably be shot coming out of the studio.
“I don’t hold back, I tell people the truth and I don’t think people generally like that.”
The ballroom star also said he fears a spot on the US show could leave him unable to continue his theatre work.
He added: “Strictly is my Saturday job from September to Christmas. I do direct and choreograph musicals and that is my first love.
“But if I was doing that it would take up my entire year, all I would be doing is holding paddles from one to ten and I don’t find that interesting.”
Len and Strictly colleague Bruno Tonioli have balanced judging on both the UK and US versions of the show for a decade.
Sun is the one, after all, that claimed BBC offered Derek big bucks to join Strictly a few years back - which Derek promptly denied any knowledge of.
Sun has zero credibility here.
You say that, however it's normally correct a lot of the time when predicting the celebrities who will take part in the series... I reckon they could have some sort of insider. Whether or not this means the story about Craig is true or not is yet to be seen, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to shake things up, especially with the ratings not as high as they'd like. They don't need another ballroom expert since Julianne signed, so Craig is a decent fit for the show...
They predict a lot of which celebrities correctly? DWTS or SCD?
Len is a judge on Strictly - he also does DWTS.
Craig is a judge on Strictly
Len is quitting DWTS,
Therefore Craig must be replacing Len on DWTS
Strictly, although Craig going from Strictly to also do DWTS might be being mentioned within the BBC corridors, hence, however they know these things, might have been alerted.
According to Globe Magazine, Goodman's exit has caused a rift among some of the "Dancing With the Stars," who all feel that they should be named head judge after he leaves. The magazine reports that judge Bruno Tonioli is threatening to quit the show if he isn't given Goodman's position. However, the "DWTS" producers are not even considering giving Tonioli the position as they allegedly have their sights set on [Maks] Chmerkovskiy, and they are reportedly planning to give him the head judge position.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/maksim-chmerkovskiy-to-replace-len-goodman-as-head-judge-on-dancing-with-the-stars-131693/#ixzz3N9CPxHRW
Maks? Head Judge? Not a bleedin' chance mate. Bruno, Julianne and Carrie Ann much, much more deserving! If that happens you know it's because Maks has demanded it! Being "feisty" isn't exactly hard! At least Len did it on principle (c/f the row over Kellie and Derek's Paso), Maks'd just do it because he is Maks and he's better than everyone else, regardless about what he actually sees in front of him!
More to the point, the first time he guest-judged, the ratings popped a lot - 3/10ths of a point in one week - which is a rare sudden jump. And when he judged, I thought he was dialed down and quite fair. This past season in India, Maks spent 3 weeks there judging as well (maybe that was a trial run that the BBC watched carefully?) He's gorgeous and I honestly think he can do it - better than Julianne, imo, because his personality has more "pop."
(I'm also one of those who believes the producers tell the judges what to say - and maybe even give them the skeleton of a "script" to follow and what numbers to score each contestant, unless there's a drastic change from the dress rehearsal, in which case I think they can vary a bit - but not much - maybe 1 point) If he's willing to follow their directions, what could go wrong? And heck, if something did 'go wrong', what could be better for ratings? Paula Abdul was a big hit with her weirdness.
I wouldn't credit Maks with any rare sudden jump. For one thing, it was the Week 10 semifinals when viewership typically increases. But more important, it was just an average week as far as ratings. Only the week before had a 1.7 rating; every other week had AT LEAST the same 2.0 they got when Maks was there. And 6 weeks out of 11 - half the shows - had BETTER than a 2.0.
The season before, Season 16, had a 6/10 ratings jump Week 10; Season 15 had a 3/10 ratings increase Week 10. Season 14 also had a 3/10 ratings increase Week 10.
So I am not seeing any reason to credit Maks with any ratings when it was no better than average. However, we were in the audience that night with a great view of Maks all night long and he not only looked great, but I thought he did a very good job judging, no matter what anyone else says. He was very respectful of the other dancers, very fair, and didn't even give his pal Tony a break as far as scores.
As far as the tinfoil hat theory that judges are told what to say and what numbers to give, we will have to agree to disagree. Why would they care? Why would anyone care? It's just a dance show, as Conrad said.
I actually think some of the other versions of the franchise could take some rigging lessons from the American one. Britain's never had an older winner - America had two 50-plussers, Jennifer and Donny Osmond. And I sure don't think that's because America is less youth-obsessed than other countries. Australia's had seven male winners in a row! (something I don't think the US show would ever let happen, certainly not with their "golden boy" system)
In a recent interview about Brendan's tour, "Cole describes the show as revealing "the real Brendan, who is more fun, naughty and cheeky away from Strictly, which is controlled and scripted". James Jordan tweets are full of rigging accusations. And I've heard it from other pros as well - from some in person (I've met 8 and had lessons from 3). So I'll be very hard to budge from my opinion.
Usually the mark of someone that's got it completely wrong, so hardly worth saying!
If this last season's finalists were so predictable then how come almost nobody predicted them?
LOL! So true. I suspect in her heart of hearts Elsa doesn't really believe it's scripted to the extent she claims, but more that it just feels good to her to believe that.
There have been entire books written on the mindset of conspiracy theorists. They don't like the unknown so a conspiracy is a comfortable way of explaining the unknown. It's a tidy way to tie up loose ends.
But producers have come and gone every season and not one has ever alleged anything of the kind. Broadcast Standards & Practices aren't there just for show. They watch things like a hawk, as Randall Christensen, Cheryl Burke and others have reported.
That's one reason I would welcome Maks as judge. He's always been outspoken and tells it the way he sees it - even when he's wrong, as he was when he said at the start of Season 6 that a woman will never win DWTS again.
P.S. Just because someone is a pro on DWTS or Strictly doesn't mean they know Jack about how executive producers do their jobs or the information the EPs are privy to. They can gossip and speculate till the cows come home but that doesn't make it true. Basically, anyone who didn't win thinks it was rigged for others.
And even if I'm right, I've accepted it as a reasonable way to do business - with that much money on the line, you don't want to leave very much to chance. Robin Windsor yesterday did say that he believes the judges watch the dress rehearsal and he basically said he KNEW that they cast their scores 15 seconds before the dance is over. I really think that backs up some of my theories. But then, maybe he's lying - again, I can't prove it in a court of law, I've just got 100 such examples of offhand comments, or direct accusations (one of Maks' partners wrote that there was a memo that it was their week to go home so he threw a strop, knowing they'd like the publicity and adjust their storyboard to give them another week so the drama could play out - there's really no benefit for her to say that imo, other than it's true) -- and I think most of the claims are true (about the rigging.)
In any case, sometimes I "like" what they "allegedly" rig - when it favours my faves
Yes, Hope Solo wrote in her book that Maks told her the secret memo that went around (which wasn't that secret if he knew about it) had them going home that week.
I actually believed the excerpts of her book someone sent me about Maks treating her roughly and smacking her - there is ample videographic evidence of both the rough treatment and Maks' accepting "100% responsibility" afterwards - but if she is to be believed, it was Maks who told her about the secret memo going around.
My question would be WHY it would be necessary to send a memo around at all? There aren't that many key producers, and the whole thing sounds like someone's fevered imagination.
As Conrad said in his exit interview, "It'd be a much different show if I could control the destiny of everyone." But no matter, Elsa, I still enjoy your posts.
The thing I didn't understand about Hope's version of events is why if Maks and her never got and had a such a violent partnership why Maks would be bothered if they went out or not? I know Maks is competitive but he wasn't going to keep them in until the final no matter how many strops he threw
And in America, they get paid more every extra week they stay in. But I don't think that would be Maks' main goal, if this is true - it's an ego thing. Derek makes the final every time and has won 5 times - Maks wants to make the final every time (though he'd never won at that time). He also hand-picked Hope to be his partner and was very upset that it didn't work out. And to be fair, Ricki Lake was appalling that season (Derek's partner) and the judges over-praised her and ignored her errors. If it's still around, if you look up the youtube of her jive, well, it sucks (imo.) But to hear the judges, nobody got close to doing it right but her. Sheesh! Believe it or not, I was once a Derek fan, but the fakery to prop the guy just drove me to drink... Well, that and liking to drink :cool:
And again, if this is true, the celebrity she took the place of in the semifinal was Nancy Grace, Tristan's first partner, who was terrible, overweight, 52 (one of his younger partners
Anyway, they decided to do a tear-jerker week then and while the eventual winner J.R. was blown up in Afghanistan and still bore the terrible scars on his face and body from the disaster - and Nancy had premature twins and she and one of them nearly died when they were born - the young, beautiful Kristin's tear-jerker story was what a horrible bind she was in when she had to decide between going to university or becoming a star in Hollywood ;-)
Now that'll clear the field of a young "ringer" any day! Ah, America. If we can't rig 'em, NOBODY can! I'm pretty sure we're the only one of the franchise to have two over-50 winners, one male and one female (the latter partnered by his majesty Dreck of course) and her neck was broken or something the last couple weeks but did they let her bow out? - hell no - just bind her up and let Derek carry her around for a minute with lights flashing and the camera as far away from her feet as physically possible...
What me, bitter ?? :kitty::kitty::kitty:
I agree with you that Kristin's story paled in comparison to the others, especially JR and the premature twins and other's relatives dying, however she was not a good dancer and never the best of the season!