Dancing With The Stars

Dancing with the Stars is a multi-camera show on the Seven network. It has just started its third season with something of a whimper compared to previous seasons where they've had Pauline Hanson drawing a lot of free publicity from the mainstream media. This probably reflects badly on the producers, those people working behind the scenes in the lead-up to filming the show to ensure there’s talent on screen. Some of the talent is drawn from Seven’s stable of presenters and actors, notably Nicky Buckley, Ian Dickson (former judge on Australian Idol who has slipped into near-obscurity since he was poached) and Ada Nicodemou, who follows in the tradition of having a starlet from Home and Away. Other talent includes “national treasure” Dawn Fraser, familiar face Michael Caton and some football player (I think).

The hosts Daryl Somers and Sonia Kruger seem to be easy targets for critics like Helen Razer, who wrote in The Age:

Host Somers has a high level of discomfort with his auto-cue and a fondness for gags marginally less funny than those one finds in Christmas bonbons. Shiny co-pilot Sonia Kruger, despite her Amazonian good looks, has all the genuine on-screen warmth of a dalek.

I’d agree Daryl needs a new gag writer but otherwise they do their roles okay. Both pale next to Paul McDermott on the ABC’s Strictly Dancing.

The show must be a massive undertaking for the producers given the size of the set and band, a live audience and the number of contestants (and the six weeks of training they undertake). It has, however, paid off for Seven with the opening episode of the third series attracting 1.98 million viewers for its two hours.