I love the sparkles, the sequin, the fringe, the weird song choices, the amazing band, Tom Bergeron, the dancing, the Pros and the overall cheese-factor. I especially love reading recaps, reviews and news by EW.com's self-proclaimed Fringe Fairy: Annie Barrett.*
But there's one thing I hate about the show: the hype.
For weeks before each season's cast announcement, we're teased with "leaked" rumors of who will be on the show. For me, that's all white noise, because there's no point in speculating. A few of the rumors will turn out to be true; most will not.
Then the official announcement comes and you start to wonder just how well any of these stars will be able to dance. And you wonder for three long weeks before the season premiere. This is where I start to get antsy. It's not like I'm obsessed with thought of fringe and sequins, but when it crosses my mind, the thought is accompanied by a definitely annoying "hurry-up-and-get-here" anticipation.
Until the stars first take the floor, there is no telling what will happen. Sure, there are usually some stars that you expect will be better than others. (Though this season is more of a toss-up.) But there's no way to know for sure until you actually see them attempt ballroom dancing.
Maybe they won't be able to master the grace of the waltz or the hip-shaking action of the Latin dances. Maybe they'll have one bad performance early on and be out before they have a chance to redeem themselves. Or maybe their dancing ability won't matter as much as their "star power" when it comes to pulling in votes.
Once the season does officially kick off, the Internet will be abuzz with debate over the fairness of the judges' scores, outraged claims of vote-tampering and wild speculations about Star/Pro romances and off-screen dramas. There will be threats of viewers who say they will never watch again, and reports that DWTS is again pulling in record-breaking ratings.
Everyone will have an opinion and every little utterance or expression by a Star or Pro will be scrutinized and agonized over. Tuesdays will be a mess of speculation and Wednesdays will be filled with protests or gloating.
But until then, we have a few weeks to sit back and wonder what's happening behind the closed doors of the practice studios. Headline DTWS news has nothing more than vague comments from Stars about training being "really hard." (Duh!)
Some people pull out clips of the Stars in other dance or vaguely dance-related moments to gauge their possible ability. Personally, I try to forget about the show until that first Monday performance. There's no way that there will be any useful information available before the season officially begins.
But that doesn't stop me from checking my DWTS Google News feed... just in case.
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*DWTS fans who haven't started watching for Annie's Hidden Gems are missing out on an interactive experience! Here's a sample with her pre-hiatus tribute to Derek.
I am not a fan, never watched the show, but I think the issues you have some commonalities in other media areas. The hype is part of what I see as artifice overlaid on the event in an attempt to market it or increase the interest in it.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere along the way we allowed the creators of our media and information to shift from events and news as interesting on their own merits to fabricated points of interest. If what is deemed to be interesting can be controlled and manipulated as it is fed to us then it can also be used to sell us things we probably do not need.
I guess real life is just not as fascinating enough. It has to exciting! I am kind of tired of being fed exciting all of the time. It wears me out.
Oc-ed, well said! I think the sensationalism turns off a lot of people, but they put up with it because it seems to be unavoidable. I often find that the under-promoted shows/movies/books I stumble on or hear about through friends are as good, or better than the overly hyped content. Viva la indie-scene. ;-)
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