Dancing With the Stars 10/2011, Heartbreak and Surprises

It seems as if every year some of the most promising contenders are eliminated early on. In this season’s Dancing With the Stars, as of this writing, there are eight contenders left. Chynna Phillips and Kristin Cavallari have been eliminated and let us now bow our heads and ask ourselves, seriously, Nancy Grace or Chaz Bono are better than those two? In mid-September both Cavallari and Phillips were consistently in the top three and four, well above Grace and Bono. Sure Phillips messed up her Tango on the performance show of 10/10/11 but she’d been at the top of the scoring all the performance rounds before this mishap.

Kristin was fourth in the overall scoring the night she was sent home, that’s four out of ten contenders at the time. Kristin’s to date score the night of her elimination was 65 while Chaz’ was 52 and Grace’s was 58. Yet she was voted out?

It’s kind of like the election primaries. It begins more on strength, or lack of, personality, rather than the talent for the job. Chaz Bono has the weird thing going on that had her born a female and now dancing Rumbas and Sambas as a male. Nancy Grace has a reputation as a hard-as-nails prosecutor and the scripting has her working the dance floor both in practice and performance with that same persona.

Americans voting for elimination across the fruited plains voted more for a desire to see more of certain contenders for their persona or compelling story rather than the strength of their dance.

With the Republican primary, for example, we had Texas Governor Rick Perry coming out of nowhere to beguile and bedazzle and dominate the headlines. Polled voters, way before any primaries will eliminate or nominate, said in droves that Rick Perry was their man. Same with Godfather Herman Cain. He’s intrigued with his common sense speaking style, the novelty of a possible presidential election with two black men as the contenders, the concept of Cain’s non-political-ness.

Which is not to say that Cain or Perry won’t go on to win the Republican nomination, goodness, as voter polling doesn’t actually eliminate a contender as with Dancing With the Stars. Everybody with any political sense knows Romney’s going to get the nod, but I digress. But it’s how it is with Americans. They wrap their minds around something new, or unique, and for a while it is all the rage.

Chaz Bono and Nancy Grace are unique. Chynna and Kristin were stock models. The voting reflected America’s temporary fascination with the un-ordinary.

Rick Perry and Herman Cain are unique, new to the national political scene, objects of intrigue. The polling reflects America’s temporary fascination with the un-ordinary.

Mitt Romney, God Bless, is such a political fixture, Lord the hair, the affable smile, the glib speech, the constant change in political stands as is a perfect politico’s wont, he’ll get the nod.

Understanding that I don’t necessarily want it that way but it’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Dancing With the Stars and the Republican Presidential Nominating Process, who knew they were so similar?

As the field tightens, Americans get serious about it all. Too bad Chynna and Kristin got the boot before American’s got bored with the dancing man/girl and the ever-mad TV prosecutor.

This past elimination round Carson Kressley got the boot. Kressley should have preceded Cavallari and Phillips out the door, no doubt, but Carson too had an allure. He’s an out of the closet homosexual, a dancer America wanted to see have a go at it for a few more rounds. But Carson had three left feet that eventually overtook his whacky sense of humor.

So with eight left, let us make some soft predictions. I stand firm on my prediction that J.R. Martinez will win this thing. I think that Hope Solo will improve geometrically to possibly snag second place. Ricki Lake, for now with my God-given right to change my mind, is my choice for third place.

Dancing With the Stars performance show airs on ABC, Monday nights-8p/7c, with the elimination show the following night, 9p/8c.