After the Dance

Celebrities with varying degrees of fame have appeared on Dancing With the Stars through the years. Some of them see it as an opportunity to reach a new audience, while others use it as a vehicle to prolong their 15 minutes of fame. Whatever the case, the show is starting to lose its appeal with gimmicks like adding filler segments -- along with more contestants.
Change may be good, but bigger isn't always better. For every smart move, like having a junior dancers' competition on the results show, there are too many dumb ideas, like interviewing "experts" about motivation tactics. Another source of bafflement is the continued presence of Samantha Harris as co-host. She's probably a nice person, but she comes across as a piece of eye candy whose sole purpose is to take up space. This sentiment can also be applied to the executives' decision to expand the roster to 13 celebrities. (Jeffrey Ross is good for laughs, but not for dancing!)
Maurice Greene and Susan Lucci are pretenders to the ballroom throne. He's too inconsistent to advance to the finals, and she's stiffer than cardboard. It's ironic to see them possess such qualities, for one's a former Olympian and the other is legendary for her screen presence. But, if nothing else, they took the contest seriously -- which is more than I can say for Cloris Leachman. (She made history as the show's oldest contestant and entertained the audience with her bawdy sense of humor, but I wasn't sorry to see her exit the stage on October 28.)
Brooke Burke is the breakout star of this season, with the former model mastering routines like the quickstep and the samba. Her dancing talent can't be denied, and most television critics have already declared her this season's winner ... but I don't want a repeat of season six, when Kristi Yamaguchi won the mirror ball trophy in dominating fashion.
The remaining contestants are Lance Bass, Cody Linley, and Warren Sapp. Bass has injected a modern twist into classic dances like the tango, which hasn't always sat well with the judges. Speaking of the judges, they may be overlooking Linley because of his youth. But the biggest threat -- no pun intended -- in the game is Sapp, for he's turned in steady performances each week. (His take on the paso doble was amazing!) It's not farfetched to imagine any of these men competing in the finals ... but, with athletes winning it all for the past four seasons, I predict the retired NFL star will be hoisting the title on November 25.