I thought Chelsea was treated awfully, one of the top 3 or 4 ever in terms of consistency, she wasn't even allowed to speak (yet they had time for around 5 hours of crap).
Treated that badly that they introduced a new round - the knock out - to ensure she got 15 extra points and was guaranteed to get in to the final!
I think the American audience, much like that in the UK for SCD, have now taken a negative response to the judges blatant bias towards their favourite (never mind ABC allowing those "extra 15 points" for Chelsea to be added to the competition!!!).
I don't have a problem with the fact that Hines won, as none of them were great. Chelsea was a better dancer, but she was far from perfect. However, I do have a problem with the scores that Hines received. The judges are supposed to be impartial, and they clearly aren't. Yes, he had a sunny disposition and he seemed likeable, but they should take the technical aspects into account - that's what they're supposed to be there for!
Saying that someone was good technically when they clearly weren't or ignoring the technical aspects altogether is not acceptable. They seem to apply a different set of rules to each contestant. Hine's jive was technically bad, yet it received a high score. His Rumba lacked hip action and he barely did a thing, yet Carrie-Ann said that he had wonderful hip action. She also said he made it look effortless - that's because he didn't really do very much! He also flung his arms out and the whole dance looked a bit awkward to me.
People usually complain if there's a ringer, but this season had no ringer and it was really flat (for me anyway). Maybe a ringer actually encourages the others to raise their game. I don't know.
Treated that badly that they introduced a new round - the knock out - to ensure she got 15 extra points and was guaranteed to get in to the final!
I think the American audience, much like that in the UK for SCD, have now taken a negative response to the judges blatant bias towards their favourite (never mind ABC allowing those "extra 15 points" for Chelsea to be added to the competition!!!).
Well yes, I have to agree - the extra points was a farce (not helped by the fact that both Chelsea and Hines even did the exact same dance as they had done earlier, for the instant cha-cha-cha).
But what we can take from that is that clearly "TPTB" knew Chelsea was getting the least votes and that they would prefer her in the final to Ralph. It's impossible to know why this was or how happy with it the judges were. But the network and/or producers intent is clear. This situation doesn't change the fact that Hines was seemingly picked to win from an early point. If anything, this blatant manipulation of the show supports the argument that DWTS (perhaps strictly too) is run in a very cynical and calculating way and that fair competition is not possible.
Now, I realise that everyone will like different people and that we won't always agree with the winner or the judging. But having watched both shows for many seasons, it just seems that every year the level of apparent inconsistency with comments and scoring is too suspicious to be entirely honest. Add to that the extra points and clear favouritism shown towards Hines (he in particular had ridiculous scores), the perfect place on the order (last and after the worst dancer), a seemingly bigger budget for his freestyle (a live marching band? Giving everyone in the audience his flag thingy?) and for me the show starts to leave a bitter taste.
Regardless, does anyone agree that the freestyle has become over-hyped? For me, it should ideally incorporate multiple styles and show case what has been learnt. The occasional lift etc should be a bonus but instead people now expect nothing but and we end up with 90 seconds of crazed "air time" and "risks"...
I know what everyone is saying but in the end Hines &Kym made me smile throughout the show, I know he may not have had technical ability but isn't this an entertainment show, and he and Kym certainly did that. I would have liked Ralph in the final too. I also disagree that there was no ringer this year, I think it was Chelsie, that first dance she and Mark did was like a show dance and it seemed to highten Marks scence of expectancy. Will miss it and look forward to the new season, everyone have a good summer
I'm very frustrated that they pulled that 15-point scam to get Chelsea into the final. I was pulling for Ralph ever since Petra and Dmitry were booted. I do not understand why Hines was overscored so much, either (and Ralph got the opposite treatment.)
Maybe they were afraid his knee would act up and that would ruin the finale? That's my best guess anyway, but I'm really sad about the whole thing.
I don't know if anybody's even interested in our next DwtS season (to start I guess come September), but this was reported at Twop:
National Enquirer is reporting that Melissa Gilbert will be on next season. [she was on an American show called Little House on the Prairie with Michael Landon and I think she did some stuff since but I'm not familiar with it - but I do know who she is, which is pretty rare for me when it comes to this show, and I'm an American!]
Lots of people over here seem upset at Bruno being inappropriate but I don't remember that and don't understand it. He's my favorite judge though I like them all.
I dont know if anyone was listening to Len on Desert Island Discs this week.
He picked "Pencil full of lead" by Paolo Nuttini as his first song, and said it was great for a quickstep.:D:D Karina and Ralph did their QS to this, and reprised it in the finals. I loved it.
At this moment I was shouting at the radio "Well you could have given the dance at least a 9, even though it was worth a 10":D
I thought there were lots of memorable dances this season. I adored Ralph and Karina......nice to see some other Ralph fans here as well:D:D
OT Len also picked "Fat Sam's Grand Slam" from Team Cola and said what a good dance it was...for my comments on this please see above:D
Comments
Treated that badly that they introduced a new round - the knock out - to ensure she got 15 extra points and was guaranteed to get in to the final!
I think the American audience, much like that in the UK for SCD, have now taken a negative response to the judges blatant bias towards their favourite (never mind ABC allowing those "extra 15 points" for Chelsea to be added to the competition!!!).
Saying that someone was good technically when they clearly weren't or ignoring the technical aspects altogether is not acceptable. They seem to apply a different set of rules to each contestant. Hine's jive was technically bad, yet it received a high score. His Rumba lacked hip action and he barely did a thing, yet Carrie-Ann said that he had wonderful hip action. She also said he made it look effortless - that's because he didn't really do very much! He also flung his arms out and the whole dance looked a bit awkward to me.
People usually complain if there's a ringer, but this season had no ringer and it was really flat (for me anyway). Maybe a ringer actually encourages the others to raise their game. I don't know.
Well yes, I have to agree - the extra points was a farce (not helped by the fact that both Chelsea and Hines even did the exact same dance as they had done earlier, for the instant cha-cha-cha).
But what we can take from that is that clearly "TPTB" knew Chelsea was getting the least votes and that they would prefer her in the final to Ralph. It's impossible to know why this was or how happy with it the judges were. But the network and/or producers intent is clear. This situation doesn't change the fact that Hines was seemingly picked to win from an early point. If anything, this blatant manipulation of the show supports the argument that DWTS (perhaps strictly too) is run in a very cynical and calculating way and that fair competition is not possible.
Now, I realise that everyone will like different people and that we won't always agree with the winner or the judging. But having watched both shows for many seasons, it just seems that every year the level of apparent inconsistency with comments and scoring is too suspicious to be entirely honest. Add to that the extra points and clear favouritism shown towards Hines (he in particular had ridiculous scores), the perfect place on the order (last and after the worst dancer), a seemingly bigger budget for his freestyle (a live marching band? Giving everyone in the audience his flag thingy?) and for me the show starts to leave a bitter taste.
Regardless, does anyone agree that the freestyle has become over-hyped? For me, it should ideally incorporate multiple styles and show case what has been learnt. The occasional lift etc should be a bonus but instead people now expect nothing but and we end up with 90 seconds of crazed "air time" and "risks"...
Maybe they were afraid his knee would act up and that would ruin the finale? That's my best guess anyway, but I'm really sad about the whole thing.
I don't know if anybody's even interested in our next DwtS season (to start I guess come September), but this was reported at Twop:
National Enquirer is reporting that Melissa Gilbert will be on next season. [she was on an American show called Little House on the Prairie with Michael Landon and I think she did some stuff since but I'm not familiar with it - but I do know who she is, which is pretty rare for me when it comes to this show, and I'm an American!]
Lots of people over here seem upset at Bruno being inappropriate but I don't remember that and don't understand it. He's my favorite judge though I like them all.
He picked "Pencil full of lead" by Paolo Nuttini as his first song, and said it was great for a quickstep.:D:D Karina and Ralph did their QS to this, and reprised it in the finals. I loved it.
At this moment I was shouting at the radio "Well you could have given the dance at least a 9, even though it was worth a 10":D
I thought there were lots of memorable dances this season. I adored Ralph and Karina......nice to see some other Ralph fans here as well:D:D
OT Len also picked "Fat Sam's Grand Slam" from Team Cola and said what a good dance it was...for my comments on this please see above:D