DWTS always seems so frenetic to me. Everything is done at ten times the pace; I find it jarring.
They use props quite a bit too, or at least I remember seeing a few used. Wasn't there an umbrella in one dance? It's all a bit showy really.
Generally a point on lifts. I do get excited about ones like the Flavia and Vincent one the other week in the group dance, but mostly I'm not crazy about them. I'd rather see spectacular dancing on the floor. I know they are difficult and holding frame in the air must be challenging, but I never understand what all the fuss with lifts is about. I agree in the AS they can be pretty impressive, but sometimes they look ungainly or are just thrown in to do a lift; not because they fit the choreography. It's why I was glad to see some decent showdances last year which had a lot of dance content, whereas in SCD4 I seem to remember just lift after lift. Yawn.