Dancing with the Stars

If you would have asked any Dancing with the Stars fan who the last person they expected to be eliminated from the contest last night, the answer would have been Sabrina Bryan. We called out the Cheetah Girl as weak leading up to the contest simply because of her incompatibility with the shows demographic, but quickly changed our tune once her extraordinary skills were displayed. Surely, last night was a bitter victory for our precognitive abilities, and a sour pill for audiences as Bryan's exit generated one of the largest expressions of shock in the shows history.

Our polling showed that 87 percent of the readers who participated thought that Sabrina Bryan's elimination from Dancing with the Stars was “Absolute Insanity,” while a paltry 13 percent felt her departure was “Overdue.”

The debate is a familiar one. At this stage, and earlier, Dancing with the Stars is as much a popularity contest as it is a dance competition. When the number of competitors is largest, viewers vote for who they know. This is why disasters like Billy Ray Cyrus and Wayne Newton are able to hang in.

Sabrina Bryan being eliminated from Dancing with the Stars is really not the condemnation of good taste that her fans would have us believe, though. With limited exceptions, particularly the one that accompanied her into the bottom two, there are not many competitors left who could be considered worse dancers. As a matter of fact, when it comes to a matter of ‘range,' Sabrina Bryan did, in fact, demonstrate limitations this very week.

While Sabrina Bryan was stunning, like able, and a genuine phenom while hammering out the fast paced, youthful sets on the Dancing with the Stars ballroom floor, she underwhelmed when it came time to slow things down.

That said, what resulted in her removal from the competition ultimately happened at the ballet box. Sabrina's presence in the finale would have kept the bar high for the other two couples lucky enough to advance, and would have guaranteed the most action packed Dancing with the Stars finale ever. But when it came to public opinion, the viewers ultimately did not want to see Sabrina Bryan competing.

Sabrina Bryan's exit from the show has generated the most conversation of practically any ejection in the history of the show. Is there an ‘x' factor? Was this the result of fans ‘assuming' Bryan would stay in the Dancing with the Stars game? Or, Was Sabrina Bryan just the wrong type of celebrity for this particular competition? Share your thoughts.


- Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)