“Are you free Tuesday at 8 p.m.?” -Anyone “No.” -Me
When you look at my Google calendar, you might see some club meetings and classes, but the most important thing on it is none other than the reality competition- “Dancing with the Stars” (DWTS).
Photo by: Alanna Wunsch, Arts and Entertainment Editor
I can proudly say that “Dancing with the Stars” has consumed my life ever since I was a kid. Growing up, my obsession was with the sparkly costumes; then, as I got older, I fell in love with the drama and the overly forced love stories. When I was younger, I would make my parents watch it with me. I would inform them about who the young celebrities were, and they would tell me about the older celebrities.
Now, watching it with my friends at SHU, it has turned into a time to impress them with the amount of useless (or maybe useful), DWTS trivia that I know. Every year, I go through the same wave of emotions, from being impressed that an old man from “The Brady Bunch” can actually dance to screaming at my TV because the judges clearly show favoritism. Every episode I watch, I never know what emotions will come out. Have I cried? Yes… yes, I have, but in my defense, it was the episode dedicated to the best judge from DWTS, Len Goodman.
For a silly dance show, it has given me comfort in my life. As I have gotten older, the more life has become busier and more stressful, but I know that for two hours a week, I can take a break and just judge people as if I could do half the moves the professional dancers and celebrities do.
The only season I could not watch live was last fall when I studied abroad in Ireland (this was, in fact, added because I just wanted to say I studied abroad). This current season has been one of the more interesting ones, to the point that I am not sure who will win the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. I feel as though Xochitl Gomez will win, but Jason Mraz (or as my friend and I refer to him as Mr. A through Z) is definitely a close second.
I am watching this season with a new lens as I know this is the last season I will watch as a student. It really makes me wonder how my love for DWTS will continue post-grad. Will I start questioning who the younger celebrities are? Are the older celebrities going to be from my favorite childhood shows? Is my chance of being on the show quickly dwindling? Let’s just say I am manifesting hearing Alan, the British announcer, say, “Dancing the Foxtrot… with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy, it’s Kayla Kutch,” someday in the future.
This editorial is dedicated to Len Goodman.
