"Dancing With the Stars” viewers weren’t the only ones taken aback by Monday night’s big reveal. When Bristol Palin beat Brandy for a spot in the finals, even the ballroom’s backstage crowd couldn’t believe it.
According to a show staffer who spoke with the Chicago Sun-Times, the shock soon turned to a plan to prevent a similar result from ever happening again.
“People here went crazy,” the insider revealed. “Not only was everyone stunned that Bristol will be in the finals, it just made everyone realize the voting system really needs to be changed. This is going to lead to a reworking of the entire voting system.”
Although the source wouldn’t explain the specifics of any proposed voting reform, the change is said to involve giving the judges a greater share in the celebrities' dance floor fates.
“There definitely will be a restructuring to give the judges’ votes more weight,” the staffer told the publication. “It’s tricky, because like ‘American Idol,’ the strength of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ popularity is the fact people know they can have an impact. We don’t want to lose that because that could have a detrimental effect on ratings, but this is getting nuts.”
This wouldn’t be the first time the ballroom bash overhauled the weight of the judges’ opinions against the public vote.
In season three, following Master P’s inexplicable 4-week run in the previous season, the judges’ scores were factored into results for the first time. Before that, only the overall rankings were considered alongside the viewer votes.
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