Dancing with the Stars (US season 2)

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The second season of the American edition of Dancing with the Stars premiered on ABC on January 5, 2006 and ended February 26, 2006. This season expanded to ten couples compared to six couples from the previous season.

The second season expanded the series from an hour to ninety minutes, and added an hour-long results show the following night (in the first season no couples were eliminated in the first week; the first couple was eliminated at the end of the second episode, the second couple at the end of the third episode, and so on). Two couples were declared safe in an earlier portion of the show, the remaining couples were then named off until only the bottom two were left (the last two couples had the lowest amount of votes, with the exception of week seven, where the show explicitly stated that the order of all but the eliminated couple was random).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Couples

In many ways the second series cast was similarly assembled to that of the first season: Both had a retired athlete (Holyfield/Rice), an ex-boy band member (McIntyre/Lachey), a model (Hunter/Carerre), a soap star (Monaco/Rinna), and a debonair older man (Hurley/Hamilton).

[edit] Season summary

In the second season, Drew Lachey and Stacy Keibler were considered the early frontrunners, as both had solid early performances, and some prior dance experience: Lachey's stage performances with 98 Degrees were extensively choreographed, and Keibler had childhood dance training as well as being a professional cheerleader. Although both Keibler and Lachey were assumed to have some form of a fan base, there was no way of knowing whether 98 Degrees fans or WWE fans were responsible for their success - Drew credited the people of Cincinnati, Ohio for helping him stay in the competition). Lachey was lauded for his passion and willingness to take risks, and Keibler for her long legs and technical perfection. With regards to the judges' scoring, in nearly every week, Lachey and Keibler held the top two spots in the judges' scoring (either first-second or tied for first). In addition, Lachey and Keibler were the only dancers in season 2 to receive a perfect score (Keibler four, Lachey three), and have three of the four "encore" performances (Lachey twice, Keibler once). In week seven, Stacy and Tony became the first couple in series history to receive two 30s in a row. Drew and Cheryl were always among the top two highest scores and along with Jerry Rice and Anna Trebunskaya, were the only couple to never be chosen for the bottom two. The judges repeatedly told Keibler and Lachey that they were the best or among the best dancers in any of the international versions of the series.

Musical guests such as the Pussycat Dolls, Jesse McCartney, Natasha Bedingfield, Michael Bublé, Bill Medley, Burt Bacharach, Mary J. Blige and Barry Manilow performed while the professional dancers demonstrated various routines. In week four the results show introduced an encore of what the judges considered the previous night's best routine - twice going to Drew Lachey (the paso doble in week four and the rumba in week seven), once to Stacy Keibler (the samba in week five) and once to Rinna (the quickstep in week six).

[edit] Controversies over fan voting

Once again, fans accounted for half of the vote total. This was in part responsible for the extended presence of Master P, who had the worst average of any dancer ever (He is currently the only dancer to receive a score under 10) and refused to wear dance shoes. But in spite of harsh criticism from some of the judges, he stayed for several weeks. It was also revealed that by the fourth week of competition, Master P had only logged in 20 hours of dance training (other stars had logged in 100 hours by week 4). His continued presence was attributed to his strong fan base, as well as fans who saw him as the underdog or who wanted to "vote for the worst". After the surprise departure of Giselle Fernández and low scores (a total of just 8 points for his final dance - the lowest score in the history of the series) from the judges, he was finally eliminated.

Jerry Rice also benefited from the fan vote. In the closing weeks of the competition, the judges became increasingly critical of Rice (Len Goodman, at one point said, "Jerry Rice? It's more like geriatric!"), and although they acknowledged that he continued to put great effort in his performances, they felt he no longer deserved to be there. Rice and his outspoken partner Trebunskaya rebutted those criticisms, and the fan vote sided with them, ensuring Rice never placed in the bottom two (until the final three). In week seven, in a matter of some controversy, Rice advanced to the finals, and Lisa Rinna (whom the judges and some viewers felt was a superior dancer to Rice) was eliminated. However, in the final three dances, the judges began to admire Rice's effort and his scores improved, though he still lagged behind both Lachey and Keibler. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that lines for voting were open at the beginning of the show and Rice danced first during many of the shows airings.

[edit] Second Series finale

Week seven of season two saw two dances per couple. The judges' scores for week seven were combined for a total possible score of 60. Lachey and Burke garnered perfect scores and much buzz, especially for their cowboy-inspired freestyle. Jerry Rice and his dance partner, Anna Trebunskaya, garnered a score of 26 for the replay of their foxtrot and 27 points for their disco-inspired free routine, outscoring Keibler and Dovolani's free dance by a single point. Keibler, on the other hand, received praise for her jive, but criticism for an underwhelming Saturday Night Fever-esque freestyle. In the final round, Keibler and Dovolani had to choreograph a new samba routine as their final dance of the season. Keibler blamed her performance on an ankle injury, but proved unbreakable to the end with a perfect score (despite the fact she took third place). Following the finale, when asked if Stacy deserved just 3rd place, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli both concurred: Stacy should have at least been honored as the runner-up.

The two scores from the week eight finale were combined with the score from the final show for a total possible score of 90. All of the previously eliminated contestants were on hand for the second series finale. Keibler received a 30 and Rice and Lachey a 27 for their final dances. However, in a decision that surprised some viewers, Keibler was the first performer to be eliminated. Even Kenny Mayne - who was the first overall to be eliminated - was critical of Keibler's elimination, blurting out as he was interviewed by Bergeron, "Well, we just eliminated a girl with a perfect score!"

Due to the complex scoring system, many viewers suspected that the only way Jerry Rice could have won was if he had been in the final two with Keibler.

Sure enough, at the end of the finale, Lachey and Burke won what he had jokingly termed the "ugly" trophy, with Rice playfully attempting to steal the prize as the closing credits rolled.

Season two improved upon the ratings performance of the first season, generating tens of millions of viewers and holding its own against or beating such competition as Survivor: Exile Island, American Idol, and the 2006 Winter Olympics. The finale brought in an audience of 27 million viewers.

[edit] Judges' Scoring summary

Bold scores indicate the highest for that week. Italics indicate the lowest score. * indicates that the dancers were in the bottom two.

Team Week 1
Jan. 5		 Week 2
Jan. 12		 Week 3
Jan. 19		 Week 4
Jan. 26		 Week 5
Feb. 2		 Week 6
Feb. 9		 Week 7
Feb. 16		 Week 8 & Finals
Feb. 23 & 26
Lachey/Burke 24 27 27 28 27 30 26+29=55 30+30+27=87
Rice/Trebunskaya 21 23 19 24 23 23 20+21=41 26+27+27=80
Keibler/Dovolani 23 29 27 26 30 30 27+28=55* 30+26+30=86
Rinna/van Amstel 19 20 25 26 25 27* 26+27=53*
Hamilton/Sliwinska 18 22 22* 21 24* 23
Carrere/Chmerkovskiy 20* 22 26 25* 22
Master P/DelGrosso 12 16* 14 8*
Fernández/Roberts 23 24 22*
O'Neal/Kosovich 23 17*
Mayne/Hale 13*

[edit] References

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    Preceded by
    Season 1    		 Dancing with the Stars (US version)
    Season 2    		 Succeeded by
    Season 3
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