There’s only one thing reality TV fans like more than a hotly contested finale — and that’s spouting conspiracy theories the morning after. Check out the message boards for EW.com’s Dancing With the Stars TV Watch, if you need evidence. There, you’ll find more than a few fans wondering if ABC synergy played a role in the upset victory of Kelly Monaco (left, with partner Alec Mazo) over John O’Hurley.
Here’s their beef: The three judges for ABC’s huge hit (Wednesday’s finale scored 21.8 million viewers in the overnights, the highest ratings of any series this summer) gave 10s to Monaco, star of ABC’s daytime soap General Hospital, for a freestyle routine that had several noticeable glitches (at one point, Monaco appeared to stop dancing and observe pro partner Mazo to remember her steps); the perfect tally allowed Monaco to overtake season-long frontrunner O’Hurley in the judges’ portion of the scoring. Adding fuel to the plot, Monaco’s post-victory speech included the line, ”I’m going to Disneyland,” which prompted host Tom Bergeron to joke about the show’s love of ”company synergy.” (Disney is the corporate parent of ABC.)
Of course, none of DWTS‘ disgruntled fans like to mention other things Monaco had going for her: an inspiring comeback affter her woeful first week on the show; her large soap opera fan base; and legions of lust-filled fans who spent more time focused on Monaco’s ta-tas than her cha-chas.
ABC did not immediately return PopWatch’s call seeking comment.
What do you think? Was the fix in on DWTS? And will the show’s surprise outcome affect whether or not you watch the show’s all-but-inevitable second season.
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Like it really matters who won! They didn’t win anything but a crappy trohpy! Next season should be – Guys: Kevin Bacon, Patrick Swayze, and John Travolta. Girls: Jennifer Grey, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Uma Thurman. My money is on Travolta hands down!
Definite FIX by ABC
Definite FIX by ABC
It is so obvious that it was fixed. You could so tell that (especially) the two male judges were hot for Kelly Monaco – the show was/is a joke.
Considering all the flubs by Kelley in her final dance, can’t believe they received the ONLY 10’s given out during the entire contest. The fix was in!!!!
If I didn’t know better, I would think that I was watching Olympic Ice Skating from the 70’s and 80’s. This show’s outcome was a joke. ABC must think that everybody is an idiot. Can’t wait for the next one.
Kelly did make a couple of very obvious mistakes, but I think her outfit and her beauty and her figure caused the judges to overlook them. Also, the soap Kelly is on has a hugh fan base, that I’m sure helped with the phone in votes. I do think for the second season, the vote counting should be revised. All in all I loved the show
You actually think that straight men watched the program to look at her ta-tas?
pppppfffffttttt!
No, I don’t think it was fixed. Why on earth would ABC who is having a spectacular year risk that big of a scandal for such a silly trophy? Did Kelly deserve 10’s for her last performance? Probably not. But she obviously worked very hard, she easily was the most improved performer week to week, and let’s face it John’s last dance was hardly perfection either. Outcome = Surprising – yes. Wrong – possibly. Fixed – no.
I definitely don’t think it was a fix. And those who think it was a fix OBVIOUSLY didn’t watch all of the episodes. They were very hard on Kelly and Alec through the entire contest – routinely giving them poor scores and harsh criticism. They definitely NEVER let her coast. And their freestyle routine was awesome. John O’Hurley’s routine only had one lift – and he almost dropped Charlotte on her head! Kelly deserved those 10’s for the difficulty of the last dance.
I just want to see another “Dancing With The Stars”, it’s a refreshing change.
No, I don’t think the show was fixed. Why would ABC go out of their way to help a soap star? Face it,actors/actresses on soaps are looked down upon. Do I think Kelly & Alec deserved 10’s? No. But John & Charlotte didn’t deserve those 9’s either. But I do think Kelly & Alec’s freestyle dance was better. Since they overscored John’s dance like they have always done in his previous dances, they had to give Kelly 10’s. It’s kind of sad to see people taking this show seriously. It’s supposed to be a fun entertaining show to watch for the summer. I’m really feeling bad for Kelly & Alec. They don’t deserve this. Kelly worked hard, never gave up and improved each week and to say she didn’t deserve it? It’s completely Ridiculous! People who think of these conspiracy theories, need to get a life!
I’m agreeing with this poster’s comments…
” I do think Kelly & Alec’s freestyle dance was better. Since they overscored John’s dance like they have always done in his previous dances, they had to give Kelly 10’s. It’s kind of sad to see people taking this show seriously. It’s supposed to be a fun entertaining show to watch for the summer. I’m really feeling bad for Kelly & Alec. They don’t deserve this. Kelly worked hard, never gave up and improved each week and to say she didn’t deserve it? It’s completely Ridiculous! People who think of these conspiracy theories, need to get a life!”
Kelly and Alec both worked extremely hard for their comeback win and I’m glad to see they won! As a PROUD Kelly Monaco fan I couldn’t help but stand up and scream when she got 10s. Do I think that 3 10s were called for? Yes, because their dance was better than John and Charlotte’s and since they got 9s, 10s was the next place the judges could go.
As for the Disneyland comment, who hasn’t said they were going to Disney after a shocking win? I mean, it is well known that people say that off the top of their head when they have won something. It isn’t some deep dark plot to take over the world! It’s a TV show, which I think the “haters” have forgotten! Had Kelly not won, I would be happy for John just the same. He was a decent dancer and deserved to be where he was. I think Kelly and Alec are getting to much non deserved flack for what happened. All they did was go out there and dance….and they did it well!!
I very much doubt ABC fixed this. It would be network suicide considering the amazing comeback year they’ve had.
The judges did the only thing they could do in the freestyle dance after scoring John O’Hurley’s dance so high. I defy anyone to watch those freestyle dances side by side and say that Kelly didn’t outperform him. I think the judging was fair and impartial.
I wouldn’t say it was “fixed” per se, but the fact that they chose someone from an ABC soap, knowing that there is a large (and crazy) fan base…I’d say that answers it.
And whether Kelly made a “comeback” or not, the bottom line is that she is no J. Peterman.
plzzz… everyone here thinking that it was a fix needs to get a life. move on, she won and she deserved it!! u haters have nothing better to do… but it doesnt matter, say whatever u want afterall thats what u do for living.. how sad
goooo kelly u rocked it girl
The conspiracy theories surrounding Kelly’s win is ridiculous. All the price was a trophy which was kind of ugly and the show was never to be taken seriously, it was always more about entertainment then talent. Kelly deserved the win just like John would have if it had been him who had won and any amateur dancer can who can do the stunts that Kelly did in her dance with out breaking a bone deserves a perfect 10 score imo. It’s a shame that not everyone can show the class that John did over losing. Kelly won because she had a loyal soap fanbase behind her even soap fans who are not fans of hers not because ABC fixed the show which makes no sense. She got less publicity then any of the other stars and winning is not going to have a huge impact on her career and help the General Hospital ratings so it’s not like they benefit from it.
Bitter people make bitter comments! A fix? No way!
Kelly & Alec did a far more difficult freestyle routine. Both couples had obvious missteps throughout but the biggest difference was that Charlotta covered up John’s errors. Charlotta distracted the viewers eye. It’s almost impossible to “judge” a female dancer versus a male dancer simply because the steps and showmanship requirements are so different. John basically “scooted” around the floor following Charlotta and threw in an “elderly” type lift while Kelly actually did lifts, spins, and backovers. By far, Kelly was the better performer. Kelly Monaco did an outstanding job in spite of everything!!! Hats off to Kelly.
I throroughly enjoyed this show until I saw Kelly and Alec get the only perfect scores of the competition. Didn’t these judges see all the mistakes she made? Check that disco ball trophy. It’s got Brian Frons’s (Head of ABC Daytime) fingerprints all over it.
John and Charlotte were definitely the best performers overall throughout the series, but, right or wrong, the “winners” were judged solely on their last performances. And frankly, Kelly and Alec outdanced John and Charlotte in the end. John and Charlotte got a little complacent while Kelly and Alec built momentum. Maybe they didn’t “deserve” a perfect score, but, their free style dance was easily one of the best of the entire season.
It’s all subjective anyway. In my mind, they all did a great job and it was fun to see all the contestants and their dancers again in the finale.
This wasn’t fixed. You jealous people need to get over it. You need to get over the fact that Kelly and Alec did better than John during the freestyle. Get over it! Kelly and Alec won because they were great. She was the most improved she deserved it. You people that say it was “fixed” are just sore losers.
well, actually Kelly and Alec didn’t do better than John and Charlotta in the freestyle. That’s pretty much the point. They made several glaring errors – stopping in the middle of the performance, not to mention stumbling and FALLING at the end!
This was blatantly fixed and it was laughably obvious.
ABC had the surprise hit of the summer and they blew any chance of turning this into a franchise by fixing it for their little soap starlet.
Why is this such a big deal still? Everyone already got paid in the being for doing this show. Oh and by the way a freestyle dance is supposed to be improved, meaning the part where kelly was looking at Alec was included in the routine to imitate improve. Obviously people are reading too much into this show and need to focus their negative engery on something else. Last time I check John O’Hurley was in a commerical not based on DWTS. I think that he is making money off the show even if he didn’t win. People the seires is over, let it go, Kelly and Alec won. Plus I didn’t see John doing half the tricks Kelly did. All I saw as a weird display of Charlotta enjoying shaking John’s hips for him because he was unable to do so by himslef. When people win the Super Bowl they say that they are going to Disneyland so why isn’t that a conspiracy too? Abviously not so leave Kelly alone and let the show settle.
The purpose of this show is to engage the viewers in a competition in which they do not know the outcome of the show. If the show was a fix, which I doubt, it does not matter because it still provided entertainment to its viewers and got one of the better ratings of the summer. I do not understand why people would not want to watch a second season. If it keeps me entertained, I watch it.
I was rooting for Kelly, although I am definately not a soap fan, because she had improved the most, had the best attitude, and was entertaining. The reason many of the people voted for Kelly and Alec was because they were the most entertaining to watch, not necissarily the best. As for the three 10’s they recieved, I do not believe they were the correct scores for the dance performed, but they’re the professionals, not me. I do think that John and Charlotte were the better dancers overall.
**Contgratulations to Kelly and Alec on their win, fix or not.
(that was long)
ABC’s fix was so blatant that they obviously think many viewers are morons, and judging by some of the comments above they are right. Kelly: you go, girl – straight to dance class. John/Charlotte: you were robbed.
I definitely think something went on. I believe the John O’Hurley should have been the champion. Kelley and her partner did not deserve the 3 10s that the judges gave them. O’Hurley clearly had the better routine.
anything kelly does is allright by me
PERFECT (adjective): being entirely without fault or defect; flawless.
Being awarded not one but three perfect scores for a clearly flawed performance smacks of incompetent judging at best, and a rigged competition at worst.
Do I think it was rigged from the start? Probably not. I don’t think ABC knew what it had in this show, or they would have scheduled it during sweeps. I think they were blown away by the ratings, and then were surprised at the popularity of their little soap opera star.
Who says that reality TV isn’t scripted? Three perfect scores, for the last performance on the last night to award the trophy to their plucky little underdog. Now that’s television. Just like the $64,000 question.
How much do you want to bet that meetings are being held at ABC right now regarding damage control on this show?
I’d be willing to bet that we won’t see any actors contracted to Disney/ABC on this show again.
I certainly won’t watch any subsequent editions. I thought (erroneously, it turns out) that the judging would be fair.
I hope that John and Charlotte know that they were the true winners of this competition. Even if that’s not the outcome as scripted by ABC.
John and Charlotte = winners
Kelly and Alec = 2nd place
Judges = need glasses if they actually think they saw a perfect dance routine
ABC = should be in big trouble for fixing a competition in favor of their employee.