Yes, DWTS fans, Joanna and Derek did go home last night. And yes, it was because of their lack of popularity among voting viewers. But that doesn't mean the show is rigged or that Americans are stupid. (Not saying Americans aren't stupid, just that there are better examples of said stupidity than DWTS voting patterns.)As on every DWTS in-season Wednesday, the infowebs are abuzz with contradictory shouts of glee and foul play. The familiar cries of past seasons repeat ad nauseam, "_____ has too much dancing experience to be on DWTS" and "This proves DWTS is a popularity contest, not a dancing contest!" Of course, nearly every complaint is followed by some form of, "I will never watch DWTS again!" (Funny how that refrain is heard year after year, yet the ratings don't quite reflect those threats.)
I take a different approach. Yes, some "stars" have more dancing experience than others. Yes, DWTS is at least 50% a popularity contest (by design). But, I know that going in. For me, DWTS is a chance to see a bunch of ballroom dancing newbies get swathed in sequins and fringe so they can hit the dance floor with the dual goal of impressing the judges with their new ballroom knowledge and winning the hearts (read: votes) of the viewers.
Whether a couple stays or goes is equally decided by the judges scores and the viewers votes (except in the case of a dance off, which gives the judges final say). But exactly how does that 50/50 scoring/voting thing work? How does a 24 out of 30 point judges score get added to the number of viewers votes?
Those apple- and orange-esque figures first get mashed into percentages. The total number of viewers votes cast are added up and divided out to show what percentage of the total votes each couple earned. Same deal for the judges scores. It's pretty basic math (the kind that most American kids should be taught by middle school).
From the DWTS website:
For example if couple A, B and C receive 38, 26 and 14 points from the judges, we calculate what share these points represent of the total awarded by the judges on the night. In this case the judges gave 78 points in total, and each couples' share of 78 points breaks down as follows: 38= 48.72% of78, 26= 33.33% of 78, 14= 17.95% of 78. Let's suppose that when the public votes are tallied, each couple has the following shares: A= 20%, B=40%, C=40%. To determine who's eliminated we combine these two shares for the total:
Couple A: 20+48.72%= 68.72%
Couple B: 40+33.33%= 73.33%
Couple C: 40+17.95%= 57.95%
In this case, the bottom two couples would be A and C, and C would be eliminated.
Yes, DWTS is half popularity contest. The judges make it more about dancing technique, both in actual execution and in a couple's dancing improvements (or setbacks), but the viewers are free to vote for whomever they want to see stay in the competition. Some vote for the "better" dancer, some vote for the most entertaining, and other vote strictly out of loyalty to a star for their pre-DWTS achievements. It's just the nature of the show.
To keep their outrage in check, every DWTS fan should remember that the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy may not necessarily go to the best dancer. It will go to whichever couple did the best job of gaining both enough judges' and viewers' support to keep them from being eliminated each week, and then had the best scores at the end of the show finale.
Of course, that might take away from a viewer's fun of bashing the other stars online and making up conspiracy theories about why her favorite got eliminated. And what would DWTS-land be without it's high-drama?
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