ABC The 'Dancing With the Stars' season 30 judges
“Dancing With the Stars” has been on for 30 seasons and it has definitely evolved over time. Fans think that nowadays, it is not as good as it used to be — and some of them think “American Idol” is to blame. Here are the things fans wish the show would bring back and why they think its British counterpart “Strictly Come Dancing” is the superior dancing competition program.
Fans Are Lamenting That ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Can’t Get Big Names to Perform Anymore
In a Reddit thread, one fan wrote, “Remember when [‘Dancing With the Stars’] was a big deal and had guests like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Ariana Grande, and Iggy Azalea? Yeah, I miss those days too…”
A fan chimed in to respond by writing, “I remember when we got a then-no-name Adele during season seven or eight. She looked so scared and meet backstage waiting to perform. And Janelle Monae, who was just emerging on the scene.”
But it wasn’t just stars before they became big names. Late, great superstar Whitney Houston performed “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” for the “Dancing With the Stars” season nine finale in 2009. Dolly Parton performed on season five, Lady Gaga performed during season eight, Nicki Minaj performed during season 12, Jennifer Lopez performed on season five and season 16, and Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift have each performed on three different seasons — season eight, season 13 and season 16 for Lovato and season nine, season 11 and season 15 for Swift.
“Shows how big a show [‘Dancing With the Stars’] used to be,” wrote one fan.
Fans Blame ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Canceling the Results Show & Say That ‘American Idol’ Took Away DWTS’ Budget
On the Reddit thread, the fans lament that “Strictly Come Dancing,” the parent show to “Dancing With the Stars” that airs in the United Kingdom, still has a results show and the U.S. version does not.
One fan wishes they would bring them back because sometimes the cast of movie musicals would perform a number from the show, something “unique that doesn’t really happen on other shows,” and another fan chimed in to add that Broadway shows used to also do that.
“I’d love to see the cast of Broadway’s ‘Moulin Rouge’ or the new ‘West Side Story’ movie do a number live on [‘Dancing With the Stars’],” wrote one fan.
Another added in that it was a great chance to see more of the “Dancing With the Stars” pros, writing, “Probably the biggest thing I miss were the pros who performed during these musical numbers. I hated it when the artist brought their own dancers.”
“I always forget that I miss the results show. Wonder if they will ever bring it back (I doubt it). It was always nice to see the pro dances. I know they still do them now, but not as much,” wrote another fan.
Another fan said that they think the network shelling out for “American Idol” may have had something to do with the network cutting the results show, writing, “I doubt they’d bring [results shows] back, as I think it was largely due to ratings. Probably budget would play a factor now, since ‘American Idol’ took a lot of [‘Dancing With the Stars’] budget away. I’m really sad we at least don’t get a results show for the finale. They can at least find the time slot and budget for that.”
For the record, the first season “Dancing With the Stars” aired in the one-night format was season 24, which aired in the spring of 2017. ABC picked up “American Idol” after its cancellation at FOX during that same time period. The Hollywood Reporter reported at the time that ABC made an offer on the rights to “American Idol” in early May 2017, and the show went into production later that year for a spring 2018 premiere, so that theory may not be that farfetched.
With the loss of the results show, one fan opined that “Dancing With the Stars” has gotten really “unfair” without the results shows, especially during the finale.
“The finale got really unfair after they cut the results show. The last couple to perform barely has any time to conquer the viewers’ votes with the freestyle … Also, half the U.S. can’t even vote after watching the dance, they can only blind vote. It would be really nice if they managed to bring back at least the finale results show,” wrote the fan.
To that, another fan said they should “just show [the finale] live throughout the entire U.S.”
“I loved the two-night format,” said one fan and another said fans didn’t know how good they used to have it, writing, “It’s funny too because I remember a lot of people used to complain about all the filler and fluff on the results shows. We didn’t know how good we had it back then.”
This is not the first time fans have wished the U.S. version would take a page out of “Strictly Come Dancing’s” playbook. In January 2022, the fans were lamenting that “Dancing With the Stars” seems to lack the “spark” and “authenticity” of “Strictly Come Dancing.”
What do you think, fans? Do you miss the “Dancing With the Stars” results show?
“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been picked up for season 31. If it does get renewed, it should premiere in September 2022.
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