Cheryl Burke thinks “DWTS” judges need schooling on unfamiliar dances: 'Derek should take his adjudicator's exam'
"After all these years," Burke wonders, "if you weren't as familiar with the genre, why don't you familiarize yourself with it?"
Cheryl Burke has a prescription for how to get Dancing With the Stars back to its cutthroat, deeply entertaining roots: Send the judges back to school.
In response to a Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans fan question — if the judges should be as strict as they once were when it pertains to "true ballroom dancing" — the former DWTS pro unequivocally responded, "Yes."
"However," Burke added, "you have to know what you're talking about, right?"
"They have to be able to back up whatever they say," she explained. "If you're just saying things because you know it's the right terminology, and you can't explain yourself as to why it should be a certain way, then it's kind of hard. Unless they get judges that have more ballroom experience than, you know, some of the current ones that are seated there as of last season. You can't really be more strict in a genre that you're not an expert in, is my point."
Disney/Eric McCandless
Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli on 'Dancing With the Stars'Burke has as much right to critique long-serving judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Toniolo, as well as newer judge Derek Hough, as anyone. She danced as a pro across 26 seasons of the reality competition series. And she didn't just level critiques, she offered solutions.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
"Just like the pro dancers have to continue to educate themselves on their craft, I also feel like the judges should do the same," she said. "I also think Derek should take his adjudicator's exam. Carrie Anne should do it. So should Bruno. I think that's important, and why wouldn't you wanna do that? After all these years, if you weren't as familiar with the genre, why don't you familiarize yourself with it? Or maybe they have, I don't know. I'm not them."
Related: Derek Hough praises Dancing With the Stars contestant for recreating his own dance better than him
An adjudicator's exam is a test administered by the National Dance Council of America that qualifies individuals to serve as judges in national dance competitions. The two-part exam features a written portion quizzing candidates on judging conduct and protocols, followed by a review of dance theory and styles.
Each of the current judges have long histories in the world of dance; in fact, Hough has the most season wins of any current or former Dancing With the Stars pro. But Burke feels that, like any art, proficiency doesn't maintain itself; it must be worked at continually.
"Maybe, just maybe," she theorized, "that is why the show isn't as strictly ballroom as it used to be, because you've got the majority of your judging panel not experts in the niche of ballroom dancing. Maybe that's why there's a lot more contemporaries, and all of that. Like, last season, I only saw one or two sambas, and I love samba."
It's easy to forget, because after 33 seasons it has fully become its own beast, but Dancing With the Stars started out as the American version of the British reality competition series Strictly Come Dancing. While Strictly maintains its, well, strict adherence to the professional standards of the performance and judging of ballroom and Latin dance styles, DWTS has over the years eased its own standards.
The passing of Len Goodman in 2023 also signaled the end of an era for both shows. Goodman was the connective tissue between Dancing and Strictly, having served as a judge on both, and he was integral in maintaining high standards of dance on both, coming from a background as a professional dance competition adjudicator.
Bachelor alum Joey Graziadei and pro Jenna Johnson recently won season 33, after a lively cha-cha and tennis-themed freestyle on the finale. The judges gave them 59 out of a possible 60 points, a score perhaps too near perfect for Burke's liking.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
