Data With The Stars

Background:

Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) is the American version of an international television franchise based on the British show “Strictly Come Dancing” (“Come Dancing” originally). Versions of the show have appeared in Albania, Argentina, Australia, China, France, India, and many other countries. The U.S. version, the focus of this problem, has completed 34 seasons. Celebrities are partnered with professional dancers and then perform dances each week. A panel of expert judges scores each couple’s dance, and fans vote (by phone or online) for their favorite couple that week. Fans can vote once or multiple times up to a limit announced each week. Further, fans vote for the star they wish to keep, but cannot vote to eliminate a star. The judge and fan votes are combined in order to determine which couple to eliminate (the lowest combined score) that week. Three (in some seasons more) couples reach the finals and in the week of the finals the combined scores from fans and judges are used to rank them from 1st to 3rd (or 4th, 5th).

There are many possible methods of combining fan votes and judge scores. In the first two seasons of the U.S. show, the combination was based on ranks. Season 2 concerns (due to celebrity contestant Jerry Rice who was a finalist despite very low judge scores) led to a modification to use percentages instead of ranks. Examples of these two approaches are provided in the Appendix.

In season 27, another “controversy” occurred when celebrity contestant Bobby Bones won despite consistently low judges scores. In response, starting in season 28 a slight modification to the elimination process was made. The bottom two contestants were identified using the combined judge scores and fan votes, and then during the live show the judges voted to select which of these two to eliminate. Around this same season, the producers also returned to using the method of ranks to combine judges scores with fan votes as in seasons one and two. The exact season this change occurred is not known, but it is reasonable to assume it was season 28.

Judge scores are meant to reflect which dancers are technically better, although there is some subjectivity in what makes a dance better. Fan votes are likely much more subjective, influenced by the quality of the dance, but also the popularity and charisma of the celebrity. Show producers might actually prefer, to some extent, conflicts in opinions and votes as such occurrences boost fan interest and excitement.

Data with judges scores and contestant information is provided and described below. You may choose to include additional information or other data at your discretion, but you must completely document the sources.