It has been a long season for “Dancing with the Stars” fans, ending with the crowning of Mirror Ball champion Hannah Brown. She’s a worthy victor, especially compared to last year’s Bobby Bones debacle, but it still left much to be desired in terms of how we got there. Daniel Montgomery, Joyce Eng, Jeffrey Kare and Cordell Martin discuss how they would fix the show if and when it comes back for season 29. Watch their final video slugfest of the season above, and vote below for your favorite suggestion.
“There are so many things,” says Eng. She doesn’t think the scoring system will “ever be perfect,” but Brown’s victory does indicate that last year’s Bones upset “wasn’t really a fluke” because, as with Bones, it was primarily the fans and not the judges who ultimately put her in the winner’s circle. “But if they’re going to keep this voting system, they need to implement ‘three strikes and you’re out'” for contestants who land in the bottom two. That would have given James Van Der Beek a spot in the finale at the expense of Ally Brooke, whom the judges saved three times. If Van Der Beek had not been eliminated on his one off night, he very well might have still won.
Martin thinks “they should get rid of the nontraditional ballroom dances like jazz and contemporary. It’s overdone.” But he also suggests that the producers give the pros back “control of everything from the music selection, the choreography and the overall theme of each dance. I think we lost a lot of that this year. Maybe that’s why there weren’t as many connections with the dances.”
Kare suggests cutting out “contestants from ABC shows” like “The Bachelorette,” since the opportunities for cross-promotion makes the competition seem less impartial. And speaking of partisanship, Montgomery demands “no more political contestants! If anyone gets fired from the Trump administration between now and next season — including Donald Trump — do not cast them on this show.” Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer almost hijacked the season, sticking around for 9 out of the 11 weeks despite never showing any improvement thanks to conservative culture warriors voting for him at all costs.
What did you think of the season, and what would you do to make it better? Vote below.
