At first, I agreed with the formula that “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol” adopted, which included audience vote participation to help decide the eventual winner. This way, talent contestants would not be assessed based on the whims and prejudices of a judge or judges. (Remember the alleged affair that Paula Abdul had with one of the contestants who then may have gotten an undeserved pass to the next round.)
I now realize how flawed this concept is after Osmond beat out the more qualified, accomplished and far superior dancer, Mya, to win “DWTS.”
Mya was, by far, the best and most consistent performer on Season 9 of DWTS. The classically trained dancer demonstrated sizzling dexterity, flexibility and versatility that put her way ahead of the competition, point-wise, heading into the finals. She was the only performer to land a perfect score this entire year. There was nothing that Osmond did on that final night that could have enabled him to overtake Mya.
Except fan votes.
In short, “DWTS” is a popularity contest, and this heavily favored the former lead singer of the Osmonds. Osmond, a Mormon, probably had the entire state of Utah on the phones to “DWTS.” He was the sentimental favorite and had accrued a much larger fan base than Mya and Kelly Osbourne combined.
Therefore, with the judging left into the hands of the population, Mya didn’t stand a chance. With this formula in place, it’s amazing that Mya even made it to the finals. But that’s a testament to her skill set. She was a gracious runner-up, saying Osmond “is such a professional and he is teaching us all how to do it properly,” Mya told People magazine. “I have the upmost respect for him.”
While we applaud her stance, what else is Mya gonna say? She is coming out with an independent album on her own label soon that follows her recently released indie CD, Beauty and the Streets mixtape. She needs folks, hopefully many who watched her on TV for the past couple of months, to snatch up some albums for her. –terry shropshire
