D:WTF?

When the TV reality show Dancing with the Stars began, I enjoyed it. Well-known entertainers learned ballroom dancing, taught by professionals, and then performed on TV. Viewers voted, along with a panel of sympathetic judges who offered suggestions that could improve the authenticity of the performance, but accepted that these were amateurs just having fun. Some of the amateur dancers turned out to do quite well, while others just were there because everyone else said no -- except their agent.

This week, accompanied by far too much hoopla, the new season begins, with 16 celebrity contestants, none of whom wears the label "ordinary," paired with 16 professional dancers who are in their own competition: winning does not simply affirm one's professional ability, but it assures a very public, very lucrative entertainment career. The professionals mouth the words -- it's about the celebrity, not about me -- but they know it's all about with whom they are paired and how much the professional can dance around the incompetence of the celebrity partner.

I watched the first two parts, but I think I'm done with DWTS this season as the focus has morphed again into oneupmanship between the judges, the professional dancers, and the celebrities. Anyone who ties on the shoes and takes to the floor deserves if not outright courtesy, at least kindness. The past two nights have been filled with nasty, nasty comments about the person, as well as the performance. It has been building for a couple of seasons to this point, where the judges become the personality of the TV series, but it ruins the intent, as well as the outcome. Len, the head judge, finds nothing to praise, but lots to persecute; Carrie Ann's comments always have star-struck overtones; and the little gay guy is always pursing his lips and yelling, "hot, hot, hot!" The judges have defined their roles and apply them to the contestants, which definitely was not the initial concept for the show when it began years ago as a summer replacement.

Enlarging the cast has done nothing to improve the quality of the performances; as a matter of fact, several of the stars are obviously there because they have good agents, not because the talent wants this public humiliation: Ashley, Macy, and Chuck come immediately to mind. Others are athletes facing the end of a very short careerspan and looking for enough publicity to find them another job in a tight job market. Some are faded stars of yesterday, brought on-board to appeal to the senior demographic, providing those with failing memories and no contact with today's entertainment giants a chance to watch the show and identify with someone, anyone. After all, I may not know Ashley Hamilton, but his father is sitting in the audience, along with Ozzie Osbourne, Kelly's dad, and I do recognize those names.

The Stars are giving it their best and deserve acceptance and approval for doing so; however, the judges have hammered them -- personally and professionally. You do NOT tell the son of a major movie star from back in the day that his dancing is a performance only his father could love! You do NOT assume that an older print model can dance professionally after 4 short weeks of training! You do NOT grant a pass for the worst performance of the event on the excuse that one of the singers is on tour! But you DO allow the performers a chance to leave the show gracefully, to accept that no matter how hard they try, this performance venue is not their best showcase. There is no point to hammering the stars or in blaming the professional dancer for choreographing a routine tailored to the amateur, a performance routine that greatly displeased Len, who literally said, "shame on you" for adapting a professional routine to meet the needs of the celebrity dancer!

This is NOT what I want to see when I watch Dancing with the Stars! I want to see familiar faces doing something unfamiliar, something that each contestant has to learn to earn the trophy at the end. I want to see the judges accept the performances for what they are, not for what they should/could/would be if the amateurs were professionals. I want to enjoy that hour of dancing, not cringe in embarrassment from the unkind, snarky comments made by judges whose careers are far too long in the past to do the job in the present.

Thus, I no longer will engage in DWTS because, for me, it's become D:WTF?