Last night was Hair Metal Night for season 33 of Dancing with the Stars.
This week gave fans two back-to-back episodes of the dance competition. Monday night was Soul Train Night, featuring actress, choreographer, and dancer Rosie Perez as guest judge.
But Tuesday’s festivities were a little more, well, metal. Hair Metal night, DWTS welcomed guest judge and KISS rockstar Gene Simmons. The eleven remaining couples took to the dance floor, showing off their moves to classic metal and rock and roll songs.
The duos were all decked out in metal wigs, costumes, and very rock and roll temporary tattoos. Their commitment to the theme was unmatched. Almost as unmatched as Gene Simmons’ commitment to being the most questionable guest judge Dancing with the Stars has ever seen.
Simmons’ first score of the night was a nine, bestowed on Danny Amendola and Whitney Carson, which was higher than the regular judges who gave sevens, but a more generous score is to be expected from a guest judge. Fans all around the world probably expected that energy for the rest of the night, but boy, were they wrong.
Simmons, who has little to no dance experience, spent a lot of his allotted commentary time talking about how hot he thought the couple was. He rarely said anything about the dancing itself.
He then told Chandler Kinney that she “Fogged up his glasses” with her “gyrations,” and gave her a nine.
Fans were clued into his wild scoring technique when he tried to give a ten to the show’s most objectively attractive couple, Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko, when the rest of the judges gave them an eight.
Unfortunately for Brooks and Gleb, Simmons had originally keyed in a nine for the couple, a score that he was not allowed to change.
For the next few couples of the night, Gene scored consistently with the other judges, although his commentary was anything but consistent. He told Dwight he’s a “powerful and attractive man,” and commended Eric for his “pretty” partner.
Things really went awry when Jenn stepped onto the dance floor. She and Sasha gave one of their best performances, and Gene told the duo they “make a steamy couple” and that “besides being beautiful,” she delivered. Despite his glowing review of her beauty, he scored them a seven when the rest of the judges gave eight.
And fans online took notice. Many people clocked the fact that he was giving higher scores to the attractive white contestants, while underscoring the women of color.
That sentiment was cemented when Phaedra took the floor. After a solid performance, the three regular judges gave Phaedra and Val straight sevens. Gene Simmons gave her a five. He also notably declined to give her a glowing review of her hotness, a luxury that he did not afford Brooks or Whitney, or even Joey.
Some people took to X to try and figure out exactly what his scoring method might be. At the beginning of the night, it seemed like his schtick would be commenting on attractiveness and giving nines across the board. But as the night went on, it was clear he was treating the competition like some kind of beauty pageant.
DWTS fans pretty much agree that he was using the paddles to rate which contestants he found the most attractive, whether pro or celebrity, and not so much on the appeal of the actual dance. And they also found it abundantly clear that the white women were the most appealing to him.
Next week, former pro Mark Ballas will appear as the guest judge, and needless to say, fans are excited for a judge with a little less creep, and a lot more ballroom prowess.
Published: Oct 9, 2024 02:15 pm