Dancing With The Stars Finale
February 27, 2006

by Phillip Stephens
contact: Phillip@theplace2dance.com | PhilTex44@aol.com

Dancing With The Stars, Season 2

The show ended differently than many people expected. I was pretty sure Stacy would not win, but must admit that I was somewhat surprised that Jerry Rice placed ahead of her.

If the show had been judged on talent alone, I feel that Stacy would have been first, Lisa 2nd, Drew 3rd, Giselle 4th, Tia 5th, Jerry 6th & then I’m not really sure. George could have been 6th or 7th. P Miller? Although he did provide a message to young folk that I was glad to hear, he didn’t live up to it himself and P Miller should have been eliminated before the show ever started. The Sports Caster was so spastic that he, too, should have been eliminated before the show started. (When I saw him again Sunday evening, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been to Starbucks once too often that day.) That leaves Tatum for 8th place. She could have placed higher; she just got all “poor little me-ish” and spent too much effort in the wrong place.

If the outcome of the show had been based on popularity alone, P Miller would probably have the trophy, or perhaps Jerry Rice. Of course, George Hamilton would have been a strong contender, too, but I suspect ol’ P Miller has a bigger fan base.

If the outcome of the show had been based on who improved the most, it would have been Stacy first, then a tie between Lisa and Jerry for 2nd, and Drew would have been 3rd. Stacy was so well poised and so well balanced from the onset that many people failed to notice how very much she did improve over the 8 weeks of the show. Every one of the stars – except P Miller and that over-caffeinated Sports Caster – improved. Those two were certainly not geldings; they were definitely “manly” enough – foolish enough? – to get out there. I just can’t imagine why.

The judges seemed “taken” by Drew from early on in the series. His timing was very good and he knew the choreography well enough to be where he needed to be when he needed to be there. And he put LOADS of energy into each performance. His leg lines were terrible. His footwork was bad. He had no hip action. He was stiff and he looked heavy most of the time. Other than for ending poses, he never finished an arm line. On the plus side, he has an endearing personality and a competitive spirit that is unquenchable, and he did, in the end, live up to the judges’ expectations.

A lot of folk have complained about the weekly results – who got eliminated when, that ol' P Miller lasted as long as he did, etc. – from the beginning. But the program was based on viewer participation, which means a popularity contest. In some ways, the results were just what they should be. If the decision were based solely on the last 3 performances of the 3 top contestants, Drew certainly deserved that trophy! His “Ride a Cowboy” routine was as close to flawless as could be expected in the short amount of time he and Cheryl had to work on it. He did, in the end, deserve to win. And, in truth, Jerry deserved 2nd place; that disco routine was fantastic! (Stacy & Tony performed as expected in the Jive; they were a MAJOR disappointment in the freestyle and they were not very spectacular in their final Samba)

I am SO VERY GLAD that this program got so many people watching – and involved with – dance. It is just terrific. I haven’t heard any recent statistics about this season, but did hear early on that over 30 million people were expected to watch each episode. If that estimate is accurate, it is something that is almost unbelievable! That amounts to over 10% of the US population all sitting down to watch a prime-time presentation of an elegant and rewarding activity that has for so many years been little known since the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers days.

Of course, nowadays they call it Dance SPORT in an effort to give it more appeal to the International Olympic Committee. Personally, I don’t consider dancing a sport any more than I consider ice skating – Olympic level or not – a sport. How changing the name will create this image of sport is beyond me. I do not picture an activity that can be done at virtually any age by folk from all walks of life and in various stages of physical fitness to be a sport. This is an activity that is so rewarding at every level that it just cannot be considered anything other than what it is: Art.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go out and play some baseball SPORT.
 

If you have comments about this article, please send them to Phillip Stephens via phillip@theplace2dance.com.