HOLLYWOOD (CAP) - With the new season of Dancing With The Stars under way, producers have announced that the next edition will feature only people who have become famous through viral videos, including Chris Crocker (the crying Britney fan), and University of Florida student Andrew Meyer (police taser victim and originator of the catchphrase "Don't tase me, Bro!").
"Just as YouTube has changed the way we see presidential debates, it will change the way we see Dancing With The Stars," said Dancing producer Charlie Greenmore. "Let's face it, 'stars' are no longer people who make big-budget movies or sell millions of albums. They're people lucky enough to get tasered on video. That's who America wants to see ballroom dance."
Other participants include Ghyslain Raza, a.k.a. the "Star Wars Kid" (now 21 and a champion bodybuilder), lip-syncher Gary Brolsma (the "Numa Numa Guy") and robot dancer David "Elsewhere" Bernal.
"People think all I'm about is collapsing into a human puddle and then reconstituting myself as a giant robot, but I want to show people I can paso doble as good as the next guy," said Bernal, adding that he can't wait to get his rubbery limbs around Edyta Sliwinska.
The new direction is already stirring controversy in some quarters, including the decision to include Evolution of Dance star Jud Laipply, who some say will have an unfair advantage, given his superhuman ability to imitate all dance styles known to man. "It doesn't seem fair that he should be competing against someone like me," said Meyer. "All I know how to do is mouth off and get tasered."
But at least one judge on the show likes the new format. "I think these YouTube boys are wild, they're sexy - they're viral! And that's a virus I want to catch!" said Bruno Tonioli, gesticulating so wildly that he knocked fellow judge Len Goodman off his chair, causing Goodman to dislocate his hip.
"Oh, bollocks," commented Goodman.
The producers admitted it was unusual to announce cast members so early, but Greenmore said it's part of a campaign to get people to post more videos to YouTube, in the hopes of generating more viral stars before the show debuts next spring.
"In particular, we need women," he said, noting that the only female star slated so far is Amber Lee Ettinger, the Obama Girl. "Our motto is, 'Come on girls - go viral!' Um ... but not in a Britney/Lindsay kind of way."
Some critics have called the new format a desperate measure in the wake of recent Dancing setbacks, including the cancellation of the spinoff Shadow Dancing With The Stars and an unfortunate incident last season involving Joey Fatone's leg. But Greenmore stands fast in his defense of the idea.
"Some say these people aren't really stars, that they have no discernible talent, that they're attention whores," said Greenmore. "To which I say: they'll fit right in on Dancing With The Stars."
- CAP News Staff