Dancing with the Stars has the luxury of hand-picking it's celebrity and near-celebrity contestants for every season, and with 12 seasons already under its belt, DWTS knows what it's doing. The show has mastered the art of sprinkling in just enough eye candy, just enough train wreck, just enough controversy and just enough nearly-legitimate celebrity, to appeal to a wide swath of the American viewing public.
This year's cast is certainly no exception and may be one of the more exaggerated groups of contestants that DWTS has managed to produce. Chaz Bono and Nancy Grace are probably the two most provocative contestants - and both are sure to draw fire and scrutiny from the far right and far left among the viewing public. Kristin Cavallari fills the eye candy role vacated by last season's surprise contender, Audrina Patridge. Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers is there representing professional athletes and David Arquette assumes the David Hasselhoff role as the contestant who most closely resembles a legitimate Hollywood celebrity.
Of course, Arquette's appearance on the show may be the most interesting of all, given his ongoing struggles with addiction and his deteriorating marriage to Courtney Cox. Given Cox's still-secure A-list status, it's hard to imagine that Arquette feels like a stint on DWTS is going to offer him any sort of career boost. Assuming that he is still sober, it's a puzzling choice.
But once the dancing and the judging start, celebrity status really just fades away. That's really the brilliance of the show. Viewers get to see the "celebrities" simply as contestants who are trying to compete in a skill that is foreign to many of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment