For 17 seasons, the reality show “Dancing With the Stars” has always gone for the shock factor. Each season usually sees a surprising elimination of a well-liked, talented celebrity, meant to keep audiences interested. The dancing couples are supposedly eliminated based on their scores from the judges and votes from their fans. However, there has always been controversy surrounding the elimination process.
Since there is almost always a startling elimination on the show, some people believe the shows producers do it on purpose, regardless of the dancing couples’ score and fan votes. This season, those doubters seem to be right on track: the past four couples to be eliminated have been excellent dancers and performers, and seem to be well-liked by the fans. Even more suspicious is that Bill Engvall is still a contestant, even though he has been consistently receiving the lowest scores.
This season, Christina Milian was the first strong contender who was surprisingly sent home. Snooki Polizzi and Brant Daugherty were eliminated in the weeks following. Tonight, Elizabeth Berkley was sent home, despite doing consistently well throughout the season and having the second highest score of the night tonight. The shock was apparent throughout the ballroom: you could clearly see one of the judges, Len Goodman, looking astonished and mouthing “What??” to his fellow judges.
I do believe there is a chance that the producers could be intervening, for the sake of keeping the show interesting and dramatic. However, continually sending home contestants who are truly talented and deserve to be there doesn’t necessarily make sense. Viewers will lose interest in the show if the final three contestants are all awful dancers.