The cast of “Dancing with the Stars” will be revealed August 30th, but if you’ve heard the rumors, followed Twitter or watched the coverage on TV Tabloid shows it looks like most of the surprises have been spoiled. The show’s dancing stars have been slowly leaked over the last month with the biggest cannon balls left for the end.
The steady stream of information about who would be rounding off this season’s dance crew got a little choppy with the addition of muscle head “The Situation” of the hit MTV show “Jersey Shore”. Reactions were all over the place with this one, but certainly piqued anticipating viewer’s interest for the upcoming season.
If the latest rumors are true, another controversial member will be joining Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, David Hasselhoff, Audrina Patridge, Brandy, Michael Bolton, Florence Henderson, Rick Fox, Jennifer Grey, Margaret Cho and Kurt Warner. The latest cast member to be thrown into the dancers’ pool is teen mom Bristol Palin, who is all but confirmed according to E! Online.
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With more and more television shows trying to appeal to a younger hip audience (MTV’s Teen Mom, etc), bringing in these unlikely ‘stars’ to the dance competition makes a mockery of the amount of talent it once took to get on TV. Instead, it sends out a message that if you want to be somewhat rich and notoriously famous you just need to get pregnant or be a purposeless drunk living on an east shore, or both.
On the other hand, this once-sophisticated ballroom dancing show might lose some prestige by casting such low-quality talent, though many will be tuning in to watch simply out of curiosity — like going to a circus to take a look at the freaks. If these stars of nothing can now get the celeb treatment with spray tans, wardrobe, hair and make-up previously reserved for the talent, I suspect teens will continue to line up to watch or audition themselves for the host of mindless shows networks conjure up to attract a wider range of viewers and therefore ad revenue (more acne and hair product commercials on the horizon?).
What has happened with DWTS? Is it losing its star power and relegated to using temporary reality personalities to attract curious viewers? It sure seems like this is the case. Who doesn’t want to get a glimpse into the depth of these so-called stars and their lives; how they manage the rigorous time and effort this physical talent show requires and to see them fail or, in the unlikely event, succeed – this is human drama at its best and worst.
Looking at this from another angle, and leaving the other proven stars of the show aside, “The Situation” doesn’t have much to lose here. In fact, if his personality lives up to expectations (behaving like the buffoon on the reality show), then he stands to solidify his fan base and might even gain some respect. (I know, what an irony, but this is the way the disco ball turns).
However, Bristol Palin has a lot more on the line in this situation. She will get scrutinized for dumping her infant; she’ll be criticized for being a fame whore just like she accused Levi Johnston when he tried to cash in on his derived celebrity. Won’t her mother get some flak for allowing this or enabling her daughter to capitalize on the name fame? Hasn’t the Palin name been trashed enough in the media to merit staying out of the glare of publicity for the benefit of the child? Either way, this looks, sounds and is starting to smell as bad as a dirty diaper.
As the pool of stars gets shallower and shallower, the reflection of the coveted Mirror Ball trophy might not be as glittery as it once was for DWTS when bright, talented celebrities (and maybe some has-beens here and there) were part of it. We’ll have to wait and see if after this travesty, they’ll polish up the show’s act in future seasons to incorporate veritable stars who are worthy of its once-glowing title.
In the meantime, what do you think: Should Bristol Palin stay home taking care of her fatherless child instead of learning to Cha Cha? Will you watch because “The Situation” will be on the show getting an even-darker shade of orange spray-tan on the show’s dime? Sound off!
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