Wow, DwtS's success sure has benefited everyone involved, IMO. I found this today about Tom Bergeron from Broadcasting & Cable.

Bergeron Eyed For Syndie Talker

By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/24/2005 11:31:00 PM


Maybe, at long last, Tom Bergeron’s talk-show moment has arrived. The amiable, quick-witted Bergeron always seemed ripe for a hosting role, but somehow past plans to put him in charge of a chat-fest never gelled. His co-hosting role in ABC’s surprise hit Dancing With the Stars, though, may enable Bergeron to waltz into a new job. The guy who took one look at a winded John O’Hurley and told Dancing viewers the actor’s “heart is running faster than a concierge from Russell Crowe” is himself sprinting to capitalize on his prime time success. Industry sources say Bergeron and Amy Yasbeck, former Wings star and widow of John Ritter, are being pitched for a daily, live-to-tape talk show touted as the next Live With Regis and Kelly.

Of course, one problem with the “next Regis and Kelly” pitch is that it might go head to head with the real Regis. But Bergeron, host of America’s Funniest Home Videos on ABC since 2001, is familiar with the pitfalls of syndication: He hosted King World’s canceled Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004.

That job helped get Bergeron pigeonholed in Hollywood as a game-show host—even though he had won critical raves in 1996 as co-host (with Laurie Hibberd, who is now married to Regis and Kelly executive producer Michael Gelman) of the quirky but ruinously expensive FX morning show Fox After Breakfast. He was once touted for ABC’s Good Morning America, but that buzz died down. Now the positive vibe from Dancing With the Stars has revived industry interest.
Bergeron and his agent, ICM’s Babette Perry, declined to comment, but one producer we spoke with—who passed on earlier Bergeron talk-show projects—is interested in this one and expects it will find a home by the end of the year.

Rachel Hunter also has post-DWTS opportunities:
Rachel Hunter on "Living with Fran"

My thought for a fair tiebreaker system would be that the public voting should have the voters rank the contestants with ordinals. Online, have the ballot with 6 radio buttons next to each contestant labeled 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. You write the form so that only one of each rank is allowed, so that you can't rank two contestants in first place. The phone voting could have a system like the moviefone one. You call in, it asks you who you'd like to rank in first place. Press 1 for K/A, 2 for E/E, 3 for J/C, etc. Then it'd ask you who should be in 2nd place, and it would only give you the options for whoever you didn't vote for in the previous level.

So then you tally up the first-place votes to determine the rankings. If there is a tie, then the tiebreaker would be the number of 2nd place votes, and if they were still tied, then the number of 3rd place votes, etc., until the tie was broken.

There is a small possibility that this would still result in a deadlock on the finale night in the unlikely event that both teams get the *exact* same number of 1st place votes. But in that event I would say that cumulative scores/rankings over the course of the season should determine the winner.

Of course, the easiest way to prevent deadlocks is by having a final three instead of a final two. I mean, why not? You get that much more dancing, you just have to add one more sublebrity to the roster to equal the right amount of episodes.

Regardless of voting issues, I'm looking forward to watching it when it comes back, because frankly I just love watching ballroom and the only thing at stake here is a delightfully tacky trophy. Though I do think they should adopt the charity angle that shows like Celebrity Poker Showdown use.

Yeay Rachel!!! Rachel was my original favorite in the show... I'm so glad she has stuff coming up for her. I thought she was really sweet when she hugged everyone in the end and seemed like she was just happy to have gotten the chance to dance. I hope she continues dancing, she had such pretty lyrical lines.

And good for Tom. He won me over in his LKL interview. But I hope he still comes back to host DwtS.

During his Leno interview, Evander said he will be training to go for his 5th title!! Jay thought he was kidding, but he said he's serious... so WOW! Go Evander!

Any news about Joey? I was never a big fan of NKOTB but he grew a lot on me during DwtS, he seemed like a much fun, sweet and down to earth guy... I loved how he gave Kelly a sincere big hug at the finale and made sure to give Ashly props during the LKL interview. I identify a lot with him struggling with his hip-hop posture, and he and Ashly were cute as buttons!

This is from Soaptown, not exactly all new:

Alec you confuse me... why do you think you are the best looking guy on the floor? It ain't your guido hair honey! Lol.

I'm sure your ass and arms have a fanclub of their own! Maybe they need to dress the pros in burlap sacks to level out the playing field.

I'm really pleased about all the reports of everyone seeming to benefit from their participation in DWtS. And hoping to hear news soon about what Joey has in the works.



Another good place is his website (johnohurley.com). There are samples available from his CD, Peace of Our Minds. At first I thought, oh no, not new age, please. And then something titled Last Highlander came on and I just got this strong sense of John tramping through the Irish countryside and realized that that was what had probably inspired the composition -- his deep love of Ireland. Subsequent information then confirmed this.

There's another cut, Marston Moor which is also quite quirky and affecting. And something calledSuite(sweet) for Skibereen. I liked it enormously -- it's wonderful. Of course, I listened to it after reading that it was one of John's favorites so how could I not be wildly enthusiastic about it but even bias aside, it's darn good.

The CD is piano and electronic cello and I found the combination to be haunting. The music works its way into your consciousness and beyond and then you find yourself thinking about it during the day and wanting/needing to hear more of it.

I kind of got the feeling that John has spent a lot of time in Ireland, is deeply moved by its beauty and spirit and feels an intensely strong connection to the very land itself. And that he probably can relax there and maybe be himself in a way he cannot anywhere else. And that all of this finds expression in a lot of his music.

I wish he and Marston Smith would do a video as a way of helping to promote the CD. That way when John makes appearances on talk shows, they could play some of it. Because although I had heard him mention it in the past, I really thought it would be one of those vanity things that some actors like to put out and had no idea he was such a talented composer and musician and that I would end up liking the CD as much as I do.

God, I hope not. This Marston dude is killing me with the outfits. http://www.marstonsmith.com/multimedia_1.html
http://www.marstonsmith.com/images/image_15.jpg

I don't know what's the bigger offense, the armor or the headband.

That is the most horrifically funny thing I've seen in a while. It's like Lord of the Orchestra with Michael Flatley.

Too funny! And thanks for the Soaptown link, Djork. Sounds like we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for that interview with Alec...

As to those General Hospital spoilers posted above, is that just wishful thinking/rumors?

And here I was, picturing Marston Smith as a Yo-Yo Ma only with reddish locks. Go know.

Smith does seem, in addition to being talented, to be a bit of an...... expressive chap. But in an interesting, compelling way with just enough of a bracing dollop of What The.....? Joining him and John O'Hurley for a night out on the town would, no doubt, be quite an experience. Now there's a reality show!

These latest visuals aside, though, John's CD, is really good.

Thanks for the rec, calli. I generally like to have relaxing instrumentals playing at work or in the car and didn't know that there were clips on the site. I'll check it out.

No, they aren't just rumors, it is happening - and for the shippers... Alec is indeed on set doing the choreography but he's not onscreen - yet. They just can't stay away from each other.

Barkley -- where did you find this out? Is there a link somewhere? Ooh, fun!

There isn't a link - sorry. I don't know if he'll ever be onscreen, but he is doing the choreography

When I find out more I'll let you know!

barkley! You are my hero :) Glad someone in the know is marshalling our 7th grade squeeing! Who could possibly have made the suggestion for this to happen? Aw, Kelly's lone-ly without her twuw wuv ;)
Hmmnnn, I think Alec might not be allowed on screen until DwtS 2 finishes, it might not be kosher for one of the pros to actually be co-starring on an ABC soap... Alec did say he would be interested in acting so who knows what will happen after DwtS 2 is over, maybe he'll get bitten by the acting bug and he can parley his uber-sexiness to my screen in other ways! Maybe by then he can rescue Kelly's twin from her hateful partner and they can ride off into the sunset together if Kelly decides to leave GH... in the meantime giving us lots of kissy-kissy and shirtless scenes in the process! Hee!

In the meantime, I'm content with the thought they can be spending additional off-work hours, you know, 'practicing', he-heh.

ETA Wow, apparently DwtS is nominated for a TEEN Choice Award for Summer Show... what a crazy demographic this show has!

He won me a over a little by the end of the show, but I don't know if he's ready for a show of his own in prime talk show time. Most of his stuff was really lame, except for the Russell Crowe remark. Also, I want John to host DwtS2.

In re: Alec:

Why not just get that boy a Diet Coke commercial and let the drool fall where it may? **stuffs fingers into ears at the din from the squees**

I've no doubt at least some of Bergeron's stuff was scripted, which didn't show off his abilities to his best advantage. I suspect when he started winning people over (most notable example, in the LKL interview, where nothing was scripted) it was because he was eschewing the pre-written stuff and going straight for the funny. He's a class act and if he's on, I'll watch. (I'd like to see him on the other side of the mic in January as well.)

I thought so too. I think Tom's, and even Lisa's, more candid comments were really heartfelt, it seemed like they were really rooting for the stars and were quite proud of them.

Lisa is actually interesting because she seems quite a bit of a fangirl when she is not "on" doing her mind-numbin', cue-card readin' back-stage "interviews" -- I think she squeed that she thought K&A were really hot in their Rumba, she was giddy that Rachel touched her nose with her leg and she gushes about how cute Ashly and Joey were... so I think they should just let Lisa's inner fangirl loose backstage -- she'd probably come up with more interesting things to say than those inane questions she's made to ask. Yeah, yeah, I'm starting to feel sorry for Lisa too. Anyway, the poor woman didn't even get a decently fitting dress until the finale.

Nods head in agreement *grin* Extra-tight, low-rise jeans please.

Then instead of Cindy Crawford, they can have Kelly Monaco chasing after him! **eeee!**

Please, Coca Cola admen? Pretty please?

Re: Diet Coke Commercial

Kelly will watch in lust as smoldering Alec drinks Coke - savoring each drop.

Then when she can't take it anymore Kelly and Alec will break into a really hot tango!

Excuse me, I'm going on a Diet Coke break :)

Please just link to articles. More in the Forum FAQ under posting messages.

Meh. I'm ambivalent about the idea of a "dance off."

On one hand, I'd love to see both couples again.

On the other hand, I think it would only stir the pot. If J/C lose, the same people would say it was fixed again by ABC to validate the first time; if J/C win, there would be those who would say "see, I told you it was fixed before," while others would say that ABC fixed it to throw a bone to the J/C fans. I can't help but see it as a no-win situation. If ABC goes forward with it, they will have to jump through an awful lot of hoops to ensure that the results are beyond reproach, or else promote it as an exhibition (no voting).

I'm kinda torn about it, too. Obviously, I'd love to see the couples dance again (hurrah for more Alec screentime!), but I don't like the implication that b/c some people don't like the results, ABC is going to have a do-over. That's not a great precedent to set. And I don't think it's really fair to Kelly/Alec to make them "defend" their win like that.

I also wonder if John and Kelly would agree to another show. Short of a contractual obligation for post-season appearances (i.e., the winner to appear on a second season or something), I wonder if they would really want to do it again. It was a lot of hard work, and Kelly certainly has nothing to gain (except for more primetime time for her and Alec). If John is really concerned about Kelly's "built-in fanbase," he has nothing to gain by going on the show again, b/c there's no way to keep her "rabid soap opera" fans from calling in force again. Unless they both want the added exposure or really loved dancing that much!

The squee just heard around the world was from me while thinking of this! (Yes, I'm a 12 year old fangirl) I'm loving the idea that Alec is onset working with Kelly's new character, notSam, or whoever she will be, on the dancing parts. (Sure it's only the dancing, wink-wink, nudge-nudge - see 12, I tell ya.) I'm also thrilled with the idea that KM may get to show some of her fun-loving, sexy side on GH for a change. She sure showed she had it on DWTS. I'm not too hopeful that she'll get the proper treatment from those at GH though so I shall remain a part time barge member & try to catch her when I can.

The idea of a dance-off isn't doing much for me right now. Maybe I need some time to think about it, but just off the bat I give the idea a thumbs down. I do love the idea of seeing both of the couples dancing again, but I don't think I want any more made of "dancegate". I'm ready for DWTS 2.0! I watched the first episode of SYTYCD & while mildly entertaining it didn't draw me in at all like DWTS.

I'd want an exhibition, because Kelly won, so that is that. An exhibition, yes, could be really entertaining and ABC could pay both John and Kelly a lot of money to come back!

Love Livia's idea -- I bet they'd have better luck wrangling the stars back in for an exhibition than another competition. Keep everything positive, and not dredge up a bunch of muck. It's lose-lose for Kelly and John in a dance-off scenario. Kelly's win will be called into question, and John will look like a bad sport for supporting this "controversy." The only thing is, regardless of whether it is for votes or not, it'll require a lot of work to get the stars back into form. But the combo of money/exposure/fun of dancing might just work!

As to the GH spoilers: So Kelly is going to have a twin who ballroom dances? For real? This sounds awfully wacky, even for a soap! I guess Joey was prescient when he said on LKL that she'll be getting a twin, or triplets to play. I thought I had read that Kelly had played twins on Port Charles, so I guess she'll have had experience. Love the idea of Kelly and Alec continuing to work together!

The new TV Guide showed up in my mail today, and it's so obvious that they are so biased. They devoted two-thirds of their letters page to people kvetching about how Peterman was robbed. And then a quote from Peterman: "My middle name is 'You should have won.' Hey, what can you do? We were very disappointed. It was a sad ending to a really phenomenal show, but I still had the time of my life."

Whatever happened to unbiased journalism? I think it's sad that Peterman still feels so bitter about losing. He could have been gracious and said, "yes, of course I wanted to win, but the judges and the audience chose Kelly. I was happy for her, and I had a great time."

Funny, but that's more or less what I understood him to say. :shrug:

I guess those words of his could be interpreted any way you want to read them. But coupled with his bitter comments on Larry King, and he seems ungracious. He at least could have tipped his hat to Kelly.

I've found TV Guide to be fairly unbiased, at least when it comes to publishing letters to the editor. I presume that the reason that the letters they published were from fans who were unhappy with the outcome is because those reflect the majority of the letters TVG received. It seems that there are a fair number of people out there who thought the outcome was fishy, even those who didn't realize exactly what was strange about the voting system. I'm sure if they'd gotten a similar proportion of letters praising the outcome, they'd have published a couple of those, too. However, as is often the case, those who are unhappy with the outcome were quicker to write letters to the editors.


I suspect that John is privy to details of the voting and knows that Kelly led the whole thing from wire to wire by a large margin due to her large number of fans. Why should he 'tip his hat' to her if he knows she won for reasons other than her dancing? Perhaps he can 'tip his hat' to the producers and ABC for figuring how to turn a dance contest into a popularity contest. I'm glad he is not pretending that he thinks everything was on the up and up with the voting if that is not what he believes.

Again, "bitter" is in the eye of the beholder. :shrug:

I agree, peppypen. Matt Roush, at least, seemed to have received a number of angry letters: http://www.tvguide.com/tv/roush/askmatt/de...rmDate=07152005 (half-way down the page)

True, people are more likely to write if they are upset than if they agree with something, but back when I was involved with the fan "campaign" for Farscape after its cancellation, we had several well-placed contacts inside TVGuide and learned a bit about how their editorial decisions are made. If TVGuide chooses to publish several letters on one topic, I am pretty sure it's because they actually received a ton of similar letters from readers that week.

A friendly good-natured exhibition, and I emphasize the adjectives, would be fine, but a retread of a competition? Ugh. What would that accomplish? And would really just be in poor taste. Finales are never replayed no matter what in the sporting world... there's a reason for that.

I wonder when this quote was given, I hope right after the finale when I can still pretend John was just seriously disappointed... because otherwise, it's been weeks, and John I think your middlename is 'Needs to shut up and be a gracious loser'.

Why go on at a respected show like Larry King Live and say:
especially since a judge and other contestants were there to also express their opinions, only to air out your distate for the result in a one-sided dredge piece. Oh yeah, because at least a decent journalist like Larry would call you out on the whole fan-base debacle.

Oh well, I still have J. Peterman, clothing catalog mogul!

But "my middle name is 'you should have won'" is just a joke, obviously based on the fact that so many people have said that to him in the past few weeks. But he then proceeds to say it doesn't matter. That it's over and that, yes, he was disappointed because he wanted to win, but he still had fun. I'm truly not seeing the ungraciousness in that.

(Besides, all we know he said is what this writer chose to quote. Who knows, his next words could have been, "Kelly and Alec did a great job - my hat's off to them!" :) )

TV Guide and other media outlets that choose to drag this thing out are really wringing the horse that is dead, dead, dead! I wonder how DwtS in the U.K. and Australia turned out? Did viewers care that BBC stars won? A friend of mine loved the show and she was rooting for O'Hurley, but she was not upset that Kelly won at all. Plus, as someone else said here, it's not as though it was a murder trial gone awry.

BBC is very different from the networks here though. BBC is an independent, national public-funded institution, broadcasting over several channels and numerous radio stations, and producing programmes covering every aspect of life -- it's kinda like a service to the masses. Sorry to wax poetic about the BBC, but it's such a beloved and reputed broadcaster, keeping its autonomy and journalistic integrity when most American networks have long compromised.

I would wager that most tv or radio personality in the UK would have at one time or another have been connected to the BBC so a 'BBC star' would be a moot point. I don't think they would be accused of rigging... though I have not seen "Strictly Come Dancing".

I think it's only coming up in the media again because of the Television Critics Association meeting thing out in LA. If it was a focus of the ABC press meeting, it's going to be at least mentioned by most of the TV critics/reporters who were there. They will move on to something else soon, I'm sure. *g*

I really REALLY dislike the idea of a "rematch" between John & Kelly. Can't people just let this go? Let's go get some new stars and see them try to dance, and then the winner of DwtS2 could go against Kelly for the ultimate DwtS USA title.

Just had this thought:

Dirty Dancing part 3, starring Kelly Monaco and Alec Mazo. eeeeee!

I could totally dismiss Alec's wooden acting as long as they're dancing most of the time :)

I think I've said this before but I think part of the reason why I like Kelly and Alec so much was because they reminded me of Dirty Dancing. Baby and Johnny, heh.

I can't believe that this show has been over for three weeks and people are still arguing about the outcome. This wasn't a presidential race so I just don't understand why everyone is so upset about it. The public picked their favorite couple and that is the end of it. The great thing about this show is that everyone has received a lot of attention and the professional dancers will benefit from this show.

Some links about the "anti-Kelly backlash"

Yahoo! -- ABC, Actress Answer to "Dancing" Outcome "He suggested the possibility of a "dance-off" between Monaco and O'Hurley. When a reporter asked Monaco about it later, she replied: 'Bring it on. You want a dance-off, come on up here. I'll give you a dance-off.'"

That's the spirit, Kelly!

The Omaha Channel -- DWTS Winner Getting Backlash

Detroit Free Press article

Reuters Pics from the ABC Summer Press Tour (Kelly, Alec, Judges) I wonder if Kelly gets to Alec before these events and makes him unbutton his shirt to his navel...

Zap2it Article -- ABC "Dances" with Controversy" "Len Goodman says that while he was impressed with O'Hurley's performance, giving him a 9, when Monaco's subsequent one was better he had no choice but to give her a perfect score." So that corroborates my (and many others') opinion on 10-gate.

The producer apparently wants to cast a big rap artist or Ricky Martin next time around, according to the Zap2it article.

Thanks annlaw78!

I'm really liking this girl more and more, go Kelly! Is it just me, or other people getting a vision of Kelly stripping Alec's clothes off just as she says "I'll give you a dance-off."[/looks around peevishly]

I actually wanna read the transcript for the conference, I wonder what Bruno had to say. He was my favorite judge, he cracks my sh!t up. I guess all 3: Len, Carrie and Bruno will be back next round. Cool.

And Alec, hubba-hubba. Why you looking hotter and hotter everytime I see you? I swear by DwtS 2 my tv will just spontaneously combust.

Hee, I bet she unbuttons them herself. Check out Kelly's mussed-up hair here. The two looks like they got caught doing something, lol! "But dad! I was just..." I wonder what Alec had to say about his lady wuv.

ETA A tough guy rap artist would be fun. I would die if Ricky Martin is on this show, I love this bootylicious man to death, but it might be an unfair advantage, the guy can already shake his bon-bon and dance.

ETA mully I'm all up for Dirty Dancing 3: Suxy Nights. Alec can just be the strong, silent-type -- he speaks to her with his body. Since they're already in-heat, in-lust and in-lurve, no acting is necessary on that front, hee-hee.

WORDY mcWORD to all of this. Please, ABC, let the sleeping dog lay there!

And, a bit OT, but I'm always amazed that anyone liked Dirty Dancing (am I reading correctly that there was actually a SEQUEL to this hideous movie?!?). I find it unwatchable. Yet, if they made another and it starred JOH and Charlotte, I actually might go and see it! If it was made with Kelly and Alec? Not likely.

Just saw Alec and Kelly's pics here...hubba hubba! Does Alec know he shouldn't just sit there with open shirt and tight pants?

Much more mmmmAlec from the press con at Getty Images: Oh my freaking Jebus! Eeeeeeeeeeee! *kaplunk*

Alec's crotchtastic sitting? Oh lord, have mercy! Get this boy back on my teevee!!!... wait, what were we talking about again?

Way to go Kelly. I wish there was a clip of the interview, but I'm glad all the judges stood behind their pick and explained the 10s.

Alec - hot and yummy as usual and I'd go see DD3 - Suxy Nights.

I like Kelly's attitude about it, too. Still don't think she should have won, she was clumsy and never looked comfortable IMO. John was robbed.

Having said that, MOVE ON, people! Jeebus. No dance-off, no rematch.

It's. Over.

If ABC were to go ahead with plans for some type of interim "dance-off" special as a way of capitalizing on all of the DWtS buzz and enthusiasm, then this is what I would like to see:

A sort of exhibition maybe staged as a mock competition with the three judges (Carrie, Bruno and Len) now dancing as contestants and each paired with a pro. Perhaps since Bergernon has indicated a desire to dance, he and Lisa could also compete, each also paired with a pro.

The hosts would be John O'Hurley and Kelly Monaco. This would enable them to demonstrate humor and camaraderie toward each other and thus by jollying it up eliminate any lingering traces of bad feelings remaining among the viewers.

The judges this time would be Joey, Rachel and Evander. Poetic Justice!

Ashly, Alec and Charlotte would also have to play some important roles. They could be the pros dancing with the contestants. But then I sort of hate the idea of seeing them dancing with anyone else. Maybe they could also be judges. By eliminating the Lisa Canning interview type of segment, there would be enough time left for there to be a panel of 6 judges.

The producers could also put together some type of montage of the most impressive dancing moments from last season thus allowing us to see our favorites dance again but eliminating their need for rehearsal.

And if they wanted to get the audience involved, maybe they could have call-in votes which could be announced the next morning on Good Morning America.

But a dance-off between John and Kelly? A bad idea, in my opinion. I could see John doing it for Charlotte's sake but he can try to help her career in other ways. I really hope he does not allow himself to be talked into this.

Re: TV Guide. I've always thought that the general policy for printing letters to the editor in any magazine was to divide them up proportionately on each side of a controversial topic according to the numbers received. If they devoted most of a page to excerpts protesting the results, then they must have received a ton of them. And maybe the other journalists who are also keeping this alive are themselves being guided by significant feedback which they have received.

I think his quote in TV Guide may have been an old one. Last I heard, some PR person was saying that John would be making no further comments on the results so that they would not be misinterpreted because he was very happy to have participated in the show. Something along those lines.

One more quote from the press tour, this time from Mediaweek

Added Izzie Pick:

“If you watch the final show and watch both those dances back to back in the context of that show, John and Charlotte’s routine was fantastic. But it was a really safe routine. You watch Kelly and Alec’s routine and she took so many risks, which could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. The whole thing about dance is that it’s not just technique, but its performance and its entertainment. And I think when you watch Kelly and Alec’s routine back, it was so entertaining. The studio audience was going mad.

A blow by blow description from TV Guide (scroll to the bottom) from Michael Ausiello.

Aw, this is what Ausiello had to say at the end:


ETA OT: Hee-hee dominar I did the same thing. I mean, I mispronounce words now and then -- but I'm not from this country originally, and I'm not paid for my linguistics skills. Actually, Ausiello is a damn funny guy, I love his comment about Freddie Prinze: "Prinze uses the word “phlegmatic” in a sentence, confirming my suspicions that he’s a lot smarter than anyone (read: me) ever gave him credit for."

Depends on your POV again, I guess. Not trying to start up another conspiracy argument (really, I'm not! *g*), but if you go back and watch the clips, both couples receive about the same amount of total applause time-wise (40 sec.), which was probably a function of some little guy off camera telling them either to cut it out or keep it up. But you will also notice that Tom B. seems to try to cut off J/C's applause (intentionally or not, I'm not saying) by introducing some conversation ("for the record...") but he never gets to complete the thought because the audience won't stop clapping. OTOH, at one point after K/A's routine, it sounds like the audience clapping is tapering off when Tom B. says something like, "I'll stand back and let you enjoy this...," which prompts the applause to get louder again.

My point is only that I think the tape shows enough to call into question the judge who said that the "audience was going mad." Heck, even the judges spontaneously applauded J/C but not K/A.

I think all parties involved, including J/C, K/A, and especially ABC and the judges, need to just shut it now. Everyone has formed their opinions one way or the other.

ETA OT: From the TV Guide piece:
ROFL, I don't know why I'm laughing at this, because it's just a sad commentary of our educational system, but just the image of this room full of jaded reporters tittering over the poor guy/gal's goof is funny. :)