How the mighty have fallen. Tom DeLay to appear on "Dancing with the Stars"

[Ladewig]

Tom DeLay, former House majority leader, has announced he will participate in the next season of "Dancing with the Stars"

And before anyone gets on my case for being partisan, I was just as repulsed and chagrined by Democratic ex-governor Blagojevich trying to appear on a reality show set in Central America.

[Matthew Best]

Tom who?

[Tricky]

Tom who?
DeLouse

(It's a Houston joke. People here know that DeLay used to own an extermination business before he became a politician.)

[King of the Americas]

I watch the show, because the wife LOVES all things dance.

I know the show...Delay will be the first to go.

His dancing will be described as "wooden", and after a lack luster performance he'll be booted back his court proceedings.

[Ladewig]

I know the show...Delay will be the first to go.


Some casinos in Las Vegas will book bets on the winner of the show. Who do you think looks good before the season starts?

[Sword_Of_Truth]

And ten thousand liberal nutroots are screaming boycott because there's a TV show that has a republican on it.

[Cleon]

And ten thousand liberal nutroots are screaming boycott because there's a TV show that has a republican on it.

Yeah...I'm going to have to call ************ on this one.

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Yeah...I'm going to have to call ************ on this one.

There's plenty boycott whiners in the comments section of the huffington post article.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/17/tom-delay-contestant-on-d_n_260864.html)

FULL DISCLOSURE: I've been boycotting the show since it's inception because I think it's stupid.

[Cleon]

There's plenty boycott whiners in the comments section of the huffington post article.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/17/tom-delay-contestant-on-d_n_260864.html)

Only if by "plenty" you mean "maybe a couple."

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Only if by "plenty" you mean "maybe a couple."

The comments go on for fourty-four pages.

[Cleon]

The comments go on for fourty-four pages.

Yes, they do. And very, very few of them have anything to do with a boycott. Of those, very few will actually amount to anything more than a blog comment.

In the end, no boycott.

[Sword_Of_Truth]

I said they were screaming boycott. And some of the huffpo commenters are coming across very shrill.

Whether one actually materializes or not... time will tell.

[Praktik]

I think there should be a boycott even w/o Tom Delay

the show sucks

[Cleon]

I said they were screaming boycott.

You also said "ten thousand" of them are doing so.


And some of the huffpo commenters are coming across very shrill.


Noooo! Blog commenters, shrill? Stop the presses.


Whether one actually materializes or not... time will tell.

I'm telling you now: No, it won't.

[boloboffin]

Chris Matthews had Delay on to chat. Turns out Delay is a Birther. I know you're as shocked as I am. No link yet.

[dudalb]

SOmeone cue in Tom Lehrer's song on George Murphy....

[King of the Americas]

Some casinos in Las Vegas will book bets on the winner of the show. Who do you think looks good before the season starts?

I predict an Irving & Ireland or Gray- finale

The winners are well known TV personalities/performers... accustom to live performances.

The 'audience' decides who wins, and being the simple dullards that they are, look for 'a good show', and not necessarily the best 'stepper'/'dancer'.

*Hart and Osmond are my dark horses.

[King of the Americas]

I think there should be a boycott even w/o Tom Delay

the show sucks

AGREED!

And I've seen every episode, so I'd know.

The WORST thing about these shows, is the judges/actual dance experts, don't get to decide who wins. Like other performance shows, it is all about the home audience votes...which 'I' refuse to allow to happen from my home.

Each house/phone line gets like 10 votes!

[Sword_Of_Truth]

You also said "ten thousand" of them are doing so.

The popular music group "10,000 Maniacs" doesn't have ten thousand people in it either.

[Praktik]

AGREED!

And I've seen every episode, so I'd know.

The WORST thing about these shows, is the judges/actual dance experts, don't get to decide who wins. Like other performance shows, it is all about the home audience votes...which 'I' refuse to allow to happen from my home.

Each house/phone line gets like 10 votes!

Ahh geez, you're probably roped in by the female(s) in your house eh?

My gf's family is obsessed. Luckily they live in another town.

[Oliver]

Chris Matthews had Delay on to chat. Turns out Delay is a Birther. I know you're as shocked as I am. No link yet.


PyJC_uVysuM

[King of the Americas]

Ahh geez, you're probably roped in by the female(s) in your house eh?

My gf's family is obsessed. Luckily they live in another town.

Yep...

I actually enjoy the auditions in "So You Think You Can Dance", wherein if you are lucky you get to see talented people moving in new and different ways. But the competition itself SUUUUUCKS!

Mostly, I hate that the audience picks the winner.

[ZirconBlue]

I'm a fan of the show, actually.


The WORST thing about these shows, is the judges/actual dance experts, don't get to decide who wins. Like other performance shows, it is all about the home audience votes...which 'I' refuse to allow to happen from my home.

Well, it's not all about the home audience votes. The judges' scores count for half of the score, while the audience's counts for the other half. The judges vote wins in a tie, so the audience can't vote off the couple with the highest judges' score.

And, after having watched every season so far, I can fairly confidently say that the audience's votes really only have a significant effect around the edges. A couple may go home a week too early, or stay on a couple of weeks too long, based on the audience vote, but the best couples usually make it to the finals. Since the 2-3 final couples' scores are usually very close the audience does get a big say in which of them gets the title, but this is just a matter of whether the "best" or "second best" couple ends up winning.

Those with a larger following do have an advantage, but it's not enough to completely break the competition. Couples usually end up within a position or two, one way or the other, of where they end up in the final rankings. I can only think of one incident over all the seasons where a very talented dancer was sent home way too early. (Sabrina whatshername - she ended up participating in the Dancing with the Stars live show.) And I think that incident caused changes in how they weighted the audience scores starting the next season.

If I have any issue with the show, it's that I think the championship should be based in part on how the couples did all season long, not just on the last couple of dances. Almost every year there are 1-2 couples that are consistantly good from the beginning, but end up coming in second to an inconsistant couple that just had a really good night. (My favorite usually comes in second.) So, I'd like to see a season-long average factored in to the final score.

Each house/phone line gets like 10 votes!

It's a proportional voting scheme. For each phone line/email address, you get one vote per number of couples still on the show. So, the number declines as the season progresses. If you thought they all performed equally, you could give one vote to each couple remaining on a given week, for example.

[cwalner]

SOmeone cue in Tom Lehrer's song on George Murphy....

Ok.


How can America win against her foes
With no one in the Senate who can really tap his toes?

Or my favorite line

Hollywood has always tried to mix
Show business with politics
Like Helen Gehoegen(sp?)
or Ronald Reagan?

[fyi for those not familiar, the song was written in the late 50's or early 60's. Tone of the last line clearly shows that Reagan is considered an example of a Hollywood celebrity that the singer thinks has no real future in politics - oops Tom kind of got that one wrong]

[leftysergeant]

And ten thousand liberal nutroots are screaming boycott because there's a TV show that has a republican on it.

Actually, it has nothing to do with there being a Republican on it. It has to do with there being a low-life thug who tried to help Karl Rove realize his 100-year Repiublican dystopia. It has to do with an accused criminal trying to do PR for himself and drug the jury pool in his forthcoming crimianl trial.

It has to do with a thug who took a dump on all that is decent about
America trying to look like just a good old boy.

It has to do with one of the few sad cases of a human body without a human soul being praised as a competitor.

It has to do with vermin being asked to stand up and take a bow.

Disgusting that anyone would give that discredited slime ball a chance to curry favor with the public.

[King of the Americas]

I'm a fan of the show, actually.



Well, it's not all about the home audience votes. The judges' scores count for half of the score, while the audience's counts for the other half. The judges vote wins in a tie, so the audience can't vote off the couple with the highest judges' score.

And, after having watched every season so far, I can fairly confidently say that the audience's votes really only have a significant effect around the edges. A couple may go home a week too early, or stay on a couple of weeks too long, based on the audience vote, but the best couples usually make it to the finals. Since the 2-3 final couples' scores are usually very close the audience does get a big say in which of them gets the title, but this is just a matter of whether the "best" or "second best" couple ends up winning.

Those with a larger following do have an advantage, but it's not enough to completely break the competition. Couples usually end up within a position or two, one way or the other, of where they end up in the final rankings. I can only think of one incident over all the seasons where a very talented dancer was sent home way too early. (Sabrina whatshername - she ended up participating in the Dancing with the Stars live show.) And I think that incident caused changes in how they weighted the audience scores starting the next season.

If I have any issue with the show, it's that I think the championship should be based in part on how the couples did all season long, not just on the last couple of dances. Almost every year there are 1-2 couples that are consistantly good from the beginning, but end up coming in second to an inconsistant couple that just had a really good night. (My favorite usually comes in second.) So, I'd like to see a season-long average factored in to the final score.



It's a proportional voting scheme. For each phone line/email address, you get one vote per number of couples still on the show. So, the number declines as the season progresses. If you thought they all performed equally, you could give one vote to each couple remaining on a given week, for example.

I'll concede to EVERYTHING you wrote, and yet rebut..."But it STILL sucks, that the BEST couple doesn't 'win'. The audience decides who holds the trophey."

I'll refer you to the first season's results. The soap star was DROPPED during her final dance, while the silver fox gent performed an almost flawless dance, and yet he won- due likely to her huge fan base.

Like I said, I agree that the best dancer(s) 'usually' make it to the finals, but that isn't good enough, for me to fully appreciate the show's format.

In 'my' head, to call it a 'competition', the best performer/athlete HAS to 'win'. If this isn't the fact, then it looses something as far as basic entertainment, to me.

Would the public stand for the NFL, the NBA, the Olympics, or any other televised competition, to 'usually' have the best performer to come in 'second'...?

The show is a joke, in determining who is the best ballroom dancer. That just my opinion, mind you.

Emmit Smith may very well be a better stepper than Mario Lopez...

[Drudgewire]

It's all a moot point. Chuck Liddell has this one in the bag.

http://www.lethalwrestling.com/upload/liddelldressy.jpg

[King of the Americas]

It's all a moot point. Chuck Liddell has this one in the bag.

http://www.lethalwrestling.com/upload/liddelldressy.jpg

Does this "please call in for me pose", inspire 'you'?