So true! I used to think the dance-off was a bad idea, but how can anything that returns Alec (sigh!) to my tv be bad?

Ah heck, I would watch it. I don't care who wins, who is the best or whatever. I just want to watch for fun.

I envy you.

I'll enjoy watching it, but I will care who wins! And then if JOH does win, I'll be (and feel) as defensive of him as I am now.

Svenska , I was a Joey fan so the outcome still won't get Joey to win. So, I will just watch for fun. But I do understand all the controversy and I am not sure a dance off will do any good.

I loved Joey! He wasn't my absolute favorite, but for me he was top 2 or 3 throughout the show! Sad that he was eliminated so quickly (IMO).

Man, I tried hard to watch Kelly in that GH storyline, but yikes -- when will the actual dancing take place? So I can just tune it for that... 'cause that matriarch was pretty bad and her attempt to teach Kelly to waltz was unbelievably horrendous -- I hope Alec had nothing to do with that... Someone obviously not knowing how to waltz should not be allowed to portray someone who can teach another to waltz. In a confined living room. So bad.

Well that, and the DwtS magiK is the Kelly/Alec suxy!dancing... can't recreate that when half the suxy is missing from the screen!

Darn it! Bring on the freaking dance-off so I can watch the suxy again!! No cheap substitutes allowed, grrr.

I know what you mean about the GH crap. I ventured off the barge & watched for a moment & eww! If they end up making Kelly dance with the Borg (Jason, her SO on the show) it would be the opposite of suxy! Would that be non-suxy, suxy-less? Whatever it would be, it wouldn’t be the Kelly/Alec hotness that I enjoyed so much. <sigh>

I don’t like the idea of a dance-off, but I will watch it just to see more dancing because I enjoyed all the dancing. I’m sick of the “dancegate” of it all, but I will watch.

ITA, the Dancing With Sam s/l is all kinds of stupid. But that's GH for yah - used it be so good too.

Topic? I'm looking forward as well to the supposed dance-off as long as it's not really pitting the finalist against each other again like some kind of grudge match. I mean, what do the John/Charlotte supporters and the conspiracy supporters feel about this? Can I say that we all collectively are so tired of arguing about who should've won? I just would love to see both couples dance again and especially would luuurve to bare witness to the SUXY once more :D

ETA: another reason why I'd love to see them dance again is because I fear that next season's "stars" won't be as charismatic, funny and fun to watch. I've always loved the first season of the reality shows that I've watched - it's always more fun and the contestants were less, if at all, catty.

ETA again because of this news - fyi this is from someone's post on KM's board:

This was just posted on TV Guide Online this afternoon:

THE DANCE-OFF IS ON!: Dancing with the Stars champs Kelly Monaco and Alec Mazo will once again go toe-to-toe with runner-up John O'Hurley and his own professional partner, Charlotte Jorgensen, in Dancing with the Stars: Dance-Off, airing Sept. 20 on ABC. The special will have each pairing performing Latin, ballroom and freestyle dances, and while the original Dancing judges will be on hand to offer critiques, only viewers will decide the winner by voting via phone/the Internet. Results will be announced during a separate Sept. 22 telecast.

Sounds like John's going to be a two-time loser.

Yeah, you're right. There have been already been spirited and persuasive advocates for each side.

So this is not in the spirit of argumentation but there is something that I had wondered about. As posters here had pointed out and as has been confirmed by the head of the network, because of the idiosyncracies of the voting rules, the winner had already been determined prior to the finale. The previous week Kelly had received the audience vote so the actual finale performances did not really matter.

Luckily Kelly and Alex turned in a really good freestyle. But it had some high risk choreography and the show was live. What if hypothetically Kelly had very obviously fallen out of one of those difficult lifts. Let's say that this had happened toward the beginning of the routine so that it had thrown off their timing so much that another lift was obviously not executed properly. And then they had the same ending where something had clearly gone wrong. Again this was a difficult routine and the show was live. So this is not out of the realm of possibility.

But how would the judges have handled it? Much of the audience did not grasp the intricacies of the voting at that time. They (as did I) thought that the judges input mattered. So how would they have finessed it under these circumstances? How could they have awarded Kelly low numbers and at the same time declared her the winner?

Again this is just hypothetical musing. Not intended in any way to take away from Kelly and Alec's actual and superior winning freestyle the night of the finale.

And, of course, the voting has been changed. Well, at least in the states. But couldn't something like this still happen in either England or Australia? And speaking of England, didn't some posters point out that Bruno and Len Goodman were much more harsh with their comments there than here? Does that mean that they were urged by the producers to ease up here. Or were they urged by the English producers to amp it up there?

______________________
***ETA: The Dance-Off is On??? Oh, my goodness...

Boo! Why couldn't ABC be just contented with a nice dance-off special? They just had to make this a competition and have people re-vote. That might just suck the fun out of this cheesy show. No matter what the results, Kelly/Alec and John/Charlotte will look bad. If K/A wins, J/C loses yet again and they just aren't good or popular enough. If J/C wins, K/A loses, and the previous results was just a scam/rigged. *sigh* It would have had been so much more enjoyable knowing nothing was at stake and that everyone was just there to have fun dancing.

But, can I just say this?

Eeeee!!! The Kelly/Alec tandem will be back on my teevee! More of The Suxy for me to enjoy!

I cannot wait for the suxy!!! I can't believe how much I've missed Alec on my screen.

I'm not hip on the whole "dance off", but it will be great to see them again.

Signing in to make note that this means the "suxy" couple is now practicing!!!! I guess we can just fantasize about their practices for the next month. Won't be too hard. ;)

Word to the EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Suxy part 2, here we come :)

BTW, if you go on tvguideonline : http://www.tvguide.com/News/Entertainment/
the pic they chose of KM sure is telling - that's probably the look on her face when she decided to do the dance off If I refuse, then I'd look like a chicken and that the conspiracy was true, and if I go ahead and do the dance-off, then my win meant nothing - she doesn't look to happy. Well, here's hoping they both have fun.

Maybe the judges were less harsh in the US because the "stars" were better? Just Kidding.

Also, if KM's freestype was obviously too bad for her to win the competetion then I think the host would've repeatedly reminded everyone that the votes come from the previous week's. They probably would've joked that it was good thing their finale dances don't really count. Hahaha blabity-blap...

A Dance Off? Blech. Just a blatant opportunity for the network to sell more advertising.

Thank God we were spared a Ruben/Clay Sing Off or a Tom/Ian hang-on-a-pole-off, or a Tana/Kendra Bedazzle Off.

He-heh, I love how TV Guide is mocking ABC:

I think this dance-off will leave a bad taste in people's mouths no matter what, and might hurt the franchise. Sad... sad... I'm sure the thread will go thru another frenzy, too bad I'll be back in uni.

Then again 3 Suxy!Dancing in a night, squeeeeee! Practice hard you love birds, gotta refrain from tearing each other's clothes off just a lil'. And Alec don't forget to resecure those clasps -k- ;)

This dance-off is kinda like Mr. & Mrs. Smith reshoots, lol.

Hasn't ABC learned with Millionaire that the more you pimp a show, the more you annoy?

That said, more cheesy dancing! More Ashly! More Jonathan! (But no Joey? Poo.)

I'll tape the Dance, but not watch -- at all -- the Off. That way, I get to watch all suxy fun, but can skip over any network manipulation (as well as Lisa Boring).

Who's with me?

See, this is probably the reason why KM accepted the challenge :) To be back in the arms of her twu wuv! It wasn't to prove anything or have the chance to dance again. This must be how tptb lurred KM - "Kelly, you know Alec will be there. And he promised this time, when there's a wardrobe malfunction - he will jump on you!" hehe. I think I've reverted back to being 12 again - pig tails and all.

to get those 2 lovebirds together again!

Just to reiterate: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Yahoo -- Dance Off
I'm looking forward to the Dance Off. Alec (sigh!) will be back on my screen, steaming it up with Kelly. Fantastic. And as Former Olympian said, I'm fairly certain she'll win again, so there will be the validation of her win. And I bet she's pissed off enough about all this controversy and "he was robbed" and "she didn't deserve to win" that she's going to attack the training to vindicate herself. Should be good tv!

Oh my.

Dammit! Even her own network is kissing the whiney one's fat ass by giving him top billing in the press release!

ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER! ACTOR JOHN O'HURLEY AND SOAP STAR KELLY MONACO WILL GO TOE-TO-TOE ONCE AGAIN IN A LIVE BALLROOM COMPETITION DANCE-OFF

"Good-natured competition", my shiny white ass! If they wanted to be good-natured about it, they would just bring them back for an exhibition, with none of the voting (especially "America Votes") crap about it.

Yuck.

Bwah! Un-truer words have not been spoken, heh. The safe bet for ABC is to let John win because we know Kelly ain't gonna bitch and moan if she loses...

Hmnnn, don't these guys have other projects they're working on? When will they have time to practice? I mean Kelly's still full time at GH and wasn't she trying to make-up for the time she missed during the DwtS series?

Oh well. I'm sure K&A will try some even harder lifts so more pool time is in order, heh-heh.

Go Suxy!Lovebirds! Go Suxy!Dancing! I wish you a blissful month-long time in the pool, out of the pool, in and out of the studio and in each other's arms!

Yup, mully and I, and the rest of the Suxy!Shippers are on to you, we know all about these "practice" sessions. Hee. I dunno jhlipton, I wanna show my anger and annoyance about the idea of a dance-off too, but I don't know if I can survive taping the damn show. The call of the Suxy! is too much.

ITA, it will be a train wreck but I can't not watch either.



Wordy McWord. I hated John's whining about it, though. But I still hope he wipes the floor with that skank.

Wow! Three dances in one night? The pressure is on, baby! I'm curious as to whether the couples will use the same routines from the summer series or if they'll do all new routines? I guess that they have time to come up with new routines if they want to and it would certainly be more interesting for viewers if they did. I have to admit that although I was opposed to the idea of a dance-off, I'm ridiculously excited to see Kelly and Alec dance together again. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the suxy. Oh dear, that sounded bad. Well, you guys know what I meant. :)

Oh, and I'd like to put in a personal request for Alec to wear nothing but sleeveless costumes at the dance-off.

The 12 year old fangirl shipper in me is so happy that we get to see the "suxy" together again. It's stinks that they have to prove themselves once again and defend their title, but I missed seeing Kelly and Alec burn up my TV so I'll take it.

It makes me smile to think that Alec and Kelly are probably on the GH set right now suxing it up.

I wonder how much money ABC is paying O'Hurley to get his butt kicked in public again. There's very little doubt Kelly Monaco won the public vote last time (even though I still think ABC should have announced the results of that vote for all to see), and her fans are already mobilizing. They seem to be a little... miffed, shall we say, at O'Hurley and his "poor sportsmanship."

Anyway, I'll be watching, because Alec Mazo is one of the most exciting Latin dancers around. It's just a shame he hasn't bothered to tell Kelly Monaco she's supposed to follow the music.

Whoever's making up the rules should limit the lifts in the freestyle, because neither O'Hurley/Jorgensen nor Monaco/Mazo can do them -- age and lack of experience and strength for the former couple, non-existent timing for the latter. Somebody will end up injured.

I'm having some fun speculating on which dances will be chosen. The fairest thing would be to make them dance a style they haven't danced before in Latin and Standard. That would mean a tango and a chacha for Kelly Monaco, possibly a waltz for O'Hurley, which would be very enjoyable to watch. I can't decide whether the rumba or the jive would be a greater trainwreck for him.

E! Online -- More Details on Show Format

The show will run 90 minutes (woohoo!) and the results show will only be 30 minutes (boo!).

I hope they perform all new routines, at least new freestyles after all the scrutiny and criticism they have received. I think J/C need to do a new freestyle if they have any chance, leaving out the respite in the intro. I like Andreanne's suggestion of having them dance dances they didn't dance in the previous competition, though I sort of wonder how much work J/C and K/A signed on for -- learning three new dances would require a ton of time.

It makes me wonder how much money they are getting for this. If I were Kelly, I would have held out for something big.

I have the feeling this is more in the nature of a trial run for the new format for season two than anything else. Well that and a naked ratings grabber. Will SYTYCD have wrapped up by then or will the two programs be going head to head?

Snark from Lisa de Moraes at the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801757.html

Not exactly a fan of Kelly Monaco's dancing (putting it mildly). Well, neither am I, but I like Monaco's personality and attitude. Even though she must have figured out by the finale that she was the winner on the popular vote, she still went all out.

It's been over a month since this stupid non-event (if ever Macbeth wanted something "full and sound and fury, signifying nothing", it would be this show) ended and non-reductable battle lines are still drawn and defended. (I, personally, liked Kelly and Alex better, but, ya know, they won a stupid little trophy, not the Nobel Prize, or any money to a charity, or anything of any note. If John had won, I would have shrugged, "Oh, well", and gotten on with my life. [So wothehell do I still come to this forum for?????])

It can't be a "good-natured" show -- not as long as there's a molecule of competition to it. So I'll watch the dancing, but really don't care who wins TackyTrophy Mark II.

I'll watch, just because I want to see John/Charlotte again, but it won't mean anything. Neither the fans nor ABC should have any pretense that it will be anything more than a popularity contest among those most likely to vote (i.e., the younger demographic).

By promoting this as a "dance-off," ABC has already reduced Kelly's so-called "title" to nothing -- which is a shame, really, because it's for no reason. ABC hopes to appease upset viewers, but they still fail to grasp that most people's beef was with the judges' blatant manipulation, not with the viewers' support of Kelly. So, this "dance-off" will do nothing to address the fact that many viewers (including me) felt used by ABC.

So, yay! J/C dancing!

But no, this won't make me tune in again next season, ABC. Sorry.

Thanks for the article Andreanne. From said Lisa de Moraes:

I just have to say how disturbed I am that a woman, not to mention a supposed 'journalist' would throw a word like that around. It's so transparent she hates Kelly for non-dancing reasons, the vitriol is just brimming. Get a grip woman, you're writing for a f*cking paper not a messageboard, or chatting with your high school friends.

Isn't there something about this sort of thing in that Book, or at least in an episode of Sesame Street, lol.

Count me in as one fan who is irritated because Mr. O'Hurley doesn't seem to get the message. The fans voted!!!! More fans of Kelly voted than fans of John. It wasn't about the best dancer (and yes perhaps that was John) but who had the most fans voting. Does he seriously think that this time around more people will vote for him? I am so tired of reading interview after interview of him pissing and moaning about people saying he should have won!!! Yikes, if so many people cared that much, then why didn't they vote?

At least I get more Alec yumminess!

Yay for the suxy and I think some here are being a bit premature saying they won't watch next season. What if ABC gets a "star" that you are really into? I say give them another chance.

He may say this straight out (I've only heard him say it obliquely), but what's wrong with saying it? After all, it's the truth. Lots of people -did- think he was the best. (And many of them -did- vote. Like me! First time ever!)

I don't see anything wrong with J.O'H acknowledging that he -does- have a large and (some) still disgruntled fan base. Charlotte thought they were better, too. I don't see why he shouldn't give an honest response when he's asked.

As for the "dance off", I think he should have refused to participate simply because it -does- make him look like a bad sport, as if, Bobby Flay style, he just couldn't stand losing. But the reality is that ABC wants to do it for the ratings especially as they won't have a new DwTS up until mid-winter. They begged...and offered him lots of money...and so...he said, "Yes". I think most people (including Kelly) would have done the same.

That said, I won't be watching. But, maybe for the hell of it, I'll vote anyway. (For Kelly, this time. Just because I think this is such a cheesy idea on ABC's part--results being a lose/lose for everyone...except ABC).

I think, at least for myself -- and I didn't vote -- the problem with the "shoulda won" statement is that though it's true there are lots of people who thought he was best, it is also true that a larger number of people thought Kelly was best, hence her winning the audience vote. And his statement, inadvertently, dismisses the vote and opinion of the majority.

Disclaimer: As in any vote, I guess only the opinions of those who voted count.

Actually, I wonder how Kelly & John would interact... I imagined they were all very friendly during the run of the series, but given all the media statements, it must be a bit awkward. I like Kelly's idea that she and John get to dance together.

djork, I think "ABC daytime hussy" was used as a job description, more or less along the lines of "soap vixen." Anyway, I didn't see it as a personal insult.

BTW, by the time the dance-off airs, chances are Lisa de Moraes will be back doing her Friday "Live Online" chats at the Post, so you'll be able to snark at her -- and get snarked at right back, of course.

Not at all. I actually watch very little TV, so I won't miss it at all. (I'm probably the only person in America who's never seen a minute of Lost, Desperate Housewives, CSI, L&O, The West Wing, [insert your favorite top 10 show here]) And I can count on one hand the number of "stars" that I am into enough to reward ABC for their behavior, and somehow I don't see ABC getting any of them to do DWTS2. :)

OTOH, I think people may be too quick to put words into JOH's mouth -- many think his "shoulda won" comment in TVGuide was a joke (simply parroting what apparently so many others had been saying to him) and the crack about his nieces and nephews on LKL was self-deprecating. AFAIK, the rest of his "constant complaining" is based on repetitive reports of the same unsubstantiated rumors over and over again. We've actually seen very few direct quotes from him over this whole thing. *shrugs*

I can't help but be excited that there will be more Alec on my tv screen, and the suxy! will be together again. (I'm still shipping along.) But, big but, I still HATE the idea of a dance-off. Why couldn't it have been just an exhibition? Way to take a genuine summer hit & screw around with it ABC. Idiots!

Did I read somewhere that there will be no judges & only public voting, or did I make that up? I can't remember. The way I see if no matter who wins there will be cries of fixing yet again. With all that I will still be there with bells on & next season I will be there too.

An exhibition, combined with Kelly and John dancing together for a couple of styles would have been fun! This dance off? Not fun!


No, you're right. That's ABC's plan. (i.e. So....no judge comments and Kelly wins the fan vote again= "ABC Whitewash! Still unfair to John!" Or, John wins...."Poor sportsmanship! Rigged!Takes away from Kelly's what she won fair and square...Boo!"

Hopefully, ABC will listen to the critics (this time) and get over the "ABC Sports Rematch" idea.

I too think it should've been an exhibition (and against the BB finale? Damnit!) but if it's a danceoff, I'm voting for John and I'm gonna get the folks who voted for Kaysar involved...

As for Lisa des Moraes of the Post, she's a hoot to read and I love her column. And I can tell you that everywhere I've talked about Dancing since it ended, not one person has said "Kelly deserved to win." Everyone said "John was robbed." I happen to agree, many on these boards don't, YMMV.

ABC had to respond because they didn't have a bribed French judge to blame it on...

True, true. But I guess I read between the lines and IMHO I still think 'hussy' was chosen specifically to insinuate a personal jab at Kelly -- because Kelly's GH character is not a hussy, she's a con-artist. There's a connotation there that is tied to Lisa's statement that Kelly had no talent and she only won by cutting the size down of her costume. Seemed like the same Hester Pryne-ing to me -- though I admit maybe I've just gotten too sensitive and defensive about this :)

dominar I think you are right. I agree John's earlier comments have been seized on by the media, and percolated over and over to give their stories the buzz. Last I saw John on Conan, not a peep about the lost or anything -- it was just fun. Anyway, I hope it's water under the bridge, I'm sure they'll still be competitive, but I hope they get back to the show's roots -- cheese.

Word djork

And dominar, I admire your resistance to the evil teevee. I probably need to be sent to the Betty Rubble Clinic for T.V.holics.

Back to topic: According to the next Access Hollywood, there is some trash talking going around but they didn't say who was doing it: http://www.accesshollywood.com/index.html

They probably meant us :D

I dunno, mully. I think ABC is going to do everything it can to play up the "trash talking" aspect of this as a way to boost ratings. Typical network ploy.

I think that it's obvious that Kelly will win again or (in a SHOCKING!TWIST!) it will be a tie.

Here's a question: who will be better now? Assuming neither has been really dancing for two months by the time September 20 rolls around, will Kelly revert to the dance stylings of her graceful waltz? If the dance off turns out to be a face-off between Week 1 Kelly and Week 1 John and Week 1 Kelly wins? Riots in the streets. (Or, alternately, some disgruntled posting and Dancing with the Stars: Dance-Off 2 airs in December.)

Yes, why wouldn't she win again? That's what I don't understand about the whole "rematch" idea.

Even those who thought John was the better dancer, haven't said that he actually got more fan votes than Kelly.

So...she had more fan votes (every week)....her fans are still supporting her....there's no reason to think she'll lose any (probably get more, if more people pay attention)....so why would this "new fan vote" give any different result than the last one?

Its not like dance experts are going to be judging them. She won with fans before, she'll win with them again. So....why bother to hype a "competition"?