Is Dancing With The Stars A Fix?

The Rage Is On...

As the American television show "Dancing With The Stars" continues to eliminate some of its best performers in the early weeks of the show, viewers are becoming restless...

Is "Dancing With The Stars" still a fix for those of the dancing school of mind, or is it now just plain "fixed"?

In a stunning turn of events Tuesday night, October 4, 2011, Kristin Cavallari (with professional partner Mark Ballas) was voted out of the competition, despite receiving a score of 24 out of a possible 30 on Monday's competition from the show's professional judges for her samba.

The trend to cast off the show's more capable dancers ahead of the less talented performers is growing.

The question is, "Why"?

Are people tuning into the show to see professional dancers like Derek Hough partner-up and teach someone who has no dance background? Is it the weekly progress that titillates?

Or do viewers, perhaps, want a chance to see popular celebrities and have some say in which of them can have another shot at competing?

The Question of Fan Bases...

In the first week of this season's competition, judges Len Goodman and company and the fans quickly eliminated basketball star Metta World Peace (a.k.a. Ron Artest), who demonstrated no dancing ability, and strange, quirky shyness in front of the cameras.

In Week Two, Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, obviously going places and gaining steady praise from the judges' panel, was voted off. Was the determining fan ballot a popularity vote, rather than a judgment of Canalis' talent? Was the populace more unhappy with her spiky attitude than her dances?

Tuesday night, for the third week in a row, the judges ruled Nancy Grace (with professional partner Tristan MacManus) and Chaz Bono (Lacey Schwimmer) to low spots on the totem pole. Yet the fans voted them in, to continue dancing in next week's round four. Grace earned a waltz 21, while Bono garnered an 18 for his rhumba.

Cavallari said she was "a little surprised" at her elimination.

In the meantime, Bono displayed a stunned expression at being named "safe" to dance again and immediately twittered after the show his humble thanks to his "fans". Grace exposed her surprise, as well, when told she would return.

Goodman's reaction was profound: "This is truly crazy!...It's madness!" (He had similar remarks last season in the early weeks.) The judges' scores are combined with each week's fan voting to determine who goes and who survives to dance again.

Here are the types of major questions about fan bases that viewers are beginning to ask:

No.1 -- Could it be that Bono was retained because his superstar mother, entertainer Cher, twittered on Monday that she would be in attendance for the next week's competition if her son made it to Week Four?

No.2 -- Could it be that Grace's huge fan base as a network television commentator and former prosecuting attorney served up a huge number of votes in her favor?

No.3 -- Could it be that last season a moderately talented contestant had the better advantage of fan base voting because her mother ran for President of the United States?

Is it Dancing With The Stars, or Dancing With The Popular?

Website reaction comments say viewers are ready to ditch the show if the popularity contest continues. The majority say they want to see dance.