Dancing With the Stars....My Results

I started this season of Dancing with the Stars the same as most everyone else, including the contestants, less than sure if this would work. They had names I hadn't heard of in decades and some names that no one had ever heard of. There were the required sports stars, the young dynamos, a rapper/r&b star, a woman with huge breast, and someone past their "prime".

I watched that first show with one hand on the remote just in case I was bored by the first hour and surprisingly I wasn't. Ralph was a delight, Chelsea was adorable, Romeo surprised (especially being the son of Master P and that disaster), and Kristie could actually move. Most of the others fell somewhere in the middle.

That became the story of this season; somewhere in the middle. It seemed like unlike past seasons where you had front runners like Kristy Yamaguchi, Nicole Scherzinger, Mel B, and Jennifer Grey; this season they all where evenly and sometimes uneventfully matched. Kristie had multiple problems, Ralph fizzled after such a wonderful start, and no matter what Chelsea and Mark did they just weren't getting the judges scores.

Then about the late middle of the season two emerged as real front runners. Mark started just letting Chelsea dance instead of interpreting the music and Hines found his Superbowl commitment. They both danced their hearts out week after week and traded the top spot on more than one occasion.

That is why when I turned on Dancing with the Stars last night to see who won (I'm out of town so I wasn't able to catch the whole show) I was almost floored to see Kristie and Maks standing there with Hines and Kim. Where the heck was Chelsea and Mark?

I know that more often than not these shows, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, boil down to who is more popular or who has the biggest fan base. Time and time again we have seen people with real talent or top scores end up being sent home without so much as a "we wish you well". Still shouldn't talent count for something?

Did I think Chelsea was going to win, no. Again though that had more to do with popularity than actual dancing. If we were going with dancing then I think it could have easily been a tie or Chelsea could have taken it. She had a fluidity and connection to the music that Hines sometimes lacked. Even with Marks sometimes out there choreography she still shined and more often than not had me confused between whether she deserved a 10 or a 9.

I am glad that Hines won. I really did like him and I thought that he had great personality on the dance floor. My issue is that although America likes to vote sometimes they have no idea what they should be voting for.

We all think we can drop it like it's hot or sing like Whitney and Mariah (in the shower if no where else) but that doesn't mean that we can or that we understand what it takes to really make it in either profession.

In my opinion, I think the better of the two remaining won. I'm not sure if I think the best dancer won but if it had been Kristie this post would have had a decidedly more hostile slant.

My only hope is that by the time next season comes around they have a better cast, they actually have a front runner, and that America listens to the judges. They have spent years in their chosen career. Even if you don't like what they say, respect it and let it guide your opinion. But as they say; to each his own. Congrats Hines and Kim.