As Dancing With the Stars fans, there have been more than a few times that we have disagreed with the judges on the show. Sometimes we get angry when Len is the only one to not hold up a ten paddle, and other times we are frustrated by how Carrie Ann deducts a point for a lift in a dance. And sometimes we get in a full-on DWTS fandom civil war when the scores between the judges have a wide range between them.
But as much as we love to speak out about how underscored or overscored a contestant is by the judges, it’s still good to keep in mind that judging on this show is not the easiest job in the ballroom. Sure, I myself have never been a judge on the show, and sure, their jobs could be harder, but hey, it’s probably a lot of pressure sitting in that judging panel on Monday nights.
And yes, sometimes we can all agree that the judges might have been off with their critiques and scores-- we all have every right to do that. But, just because this seems to a missed point sometimes, let’s just see why the judging on Dancing With the Stars is a lot harder than it looks!
It’s on the Spot.
The judges on the show are in a unique position because they are the only ones who are part of the show that are not allowed to show up for the Sunday or Monday dress rehearsals. They are not able to watch the performances until they are executed live on the show. And, to add some pressure on them, they must give their scores to the producers immediately after the dance, not allotting for any time to evaluate the dances that they just saw. And if they decide to change their scores? Too late. Carrie Ann herself has admitted in the past that she wished to have given a higher score to certain couples such as Bill Engvall and Noah Galloway, but because of the rules, what’s final is final. This rule kinda screwed over Danica McKellar with her Jive in season 18 since there was a mistake with the music that caused her to mess up, but the judges were unaware about it. And once when word got to them, they had already submitted their scores, and they couldn’t be modified. Sometimes these rules can be unfair, but ultimately, it is so the judges are able to give their fairest scores possible, even if the audience does not necessarily see them as “fair”.
Nobody is ever happy…
There’s a reason why there is more than one judge on this show. . . It’s to get multiple views on the dances! If everyone always gave the same score, the judging would be useless and boring. But because all of the judges have their own backgrounds in dance and their own criteria for what they look for in different dance routines, they provide their own unique critiques, which can all be accounted for by the couples to improved. But no matter what scores the judges give, they will never get a happy reaction from one hundred percent of its viewers. . . and that’s a good thing! There has never been a single dance on DWTS where I have seen complete satisfaction from the judging from all viewers, even if the people who disagree are in the minority. And some people who disagree (very few, but some) end up saying some nasty things about the judges just because they didn’t interpret the dances in the same light as them. However, in my opinion, even when there is a virtual consensus about a grossly underscored or overscored dance, the judges never deserve any of the hateful flack that they receive. Critique is one thing, but full-on hate is something completely different.
How are you supposed to compare Jazz to a Samba?
As a dance show with a wide variety of styles from the Paso Doble to the Foxtrot, there are of course going to be different standards when closely observing each routine. In a Salsa, the judges would look for hip action. But in a Tango, the judges are usually mainly focused on there being a steady frame. However, this can cause some complications, especially towards the end of a season. I think it is safe to say that a style like the Viennese Waltz or a Cha-Cha-Cha is generally far more difficult to execute and perfect than a style such as Jazz. Sure, dancing is never easy, but when you score them on the same one to ten scale as more technical styles, it seems as though a less more is required for a perfect score in a Jazz dance than most other styles. And how is a judge supposed to compare dances that have less content but better technique to other dances with more content but worse technique? How is all of this supposed to translate to an integer between one and ten?
What if the pro messes up?
It doesn’t happen, but it still does every so often-- what if the celebrity contestant is absolutely perfect in his or her technique, but then is messed up by their professional partner’s mistake? There have been two infamous times from Karina Smirnoff and another well-known time from Maks Chmerkovskiy in which their mistakes were very obvious, and actually made their celebrity partners refind their footing. So. . . what are the judges supposed to do about that? Ignore it? Pretend it didn’t happen because the celebrity on their own would have been perfect without the partner’s mistake? This is a topic that is still highly debated among viewers of the show.
You Never Know Where the Bar Will Be.
For people who have been watching Dancing With the Stars for a while now, you might have noticed that couples who dance earlier in the show typically get scored lower than what the general viewing audience believes they should be. And while that can be mildly infuriating at times, I kinda get it. It’s hard to tell where the bar will be set for the night for how well everyone dances, which can be vastly different to how the judges may expect the night to go. This could lead to the judges being overly nit-picky on the first performer of the night, but then extremely laxed with the last dancers because of how mediocre is that night. On the other hand, though, the argument can be made that a score like a “7” should always mean the same thing no matter the night, but sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of what a “7” looks like while watching performances that don’t quite match up to it.
What do you think about the judging on Dancing With the Stars? Do you, too, think that the judging is harder than it looks? Would you ever want to be a judge on the show
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Make sure to follow DWTS Interact on Twitter at @DWTS2016, and read our posts coming up about season 25 on our blog! Also, follow me, Paul Bentley, on Twitter at @TheBentleyNinja, and maybe check out some of the projects I am working on right now!
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