‘Dancing With the Stars’ Fans Threatening to Boycott Season 29 Finale

Not everyone will be tuning in Monday night to see who takes home the Mirrorball Trophy. Just hours away from the Dancing With the Stars Season 29 finale, some viewers are threatening to boycott the final week of the competition following the controversy surrounding the ABC competition’s semifinals, which saw a shocking double elimination.

Week 10 of DWTS saw two celebrities and their pro partners’ quests for the Mirrorball Trophy cut short after the originally-scheduled double elimination was passed up in week eight. After performing two routines each, Johnny Weir and Britt Stewart, along with Skai Jackson and Alan Bersten, were eliminated. Weir and Stewart were the first to get the boot when their combined scoring from the judges and fan votes earned them the lowest place of the night. Jackson and Bersten were next, being sent home after judges Derek Hough and Carrie Ann Inaba voted to advance Justina Machado and Sasha Farber to the finals.

Although host Tyra Banks had warned at the start of the episode that the semifinals would be a tough night, the eliminations immediately angered some viewers, who have continued to air their grievances on social media in the days since. Some are even threatening to boycott the Season 29 finale, with one former viewer writing that Weir’s elimination was “where I stop watching.” After Jackson was sent home, another said, “and this is where I stop watching this bum show.”

Many fans seemed to voice concerns with the competition becoming more of a popularity contest than an actual dancing competition. Following the semifinals, one viewer said that the “voting is rigged.” Another commented, “[DWTS] has become a popularity contest…if you have a following like Nelly, you’re guaranteed to make it even with no skills.”

Season 29 of the competition has been shrouded in plenty of controversy, most of which has to do with the scoring and elimination process. The ABC dancing competition has a complex voting system, which takes into account both the judges’ scores and the fan vote. While the judges – Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough – give each dancing duo a score following their weekly routines (each routine can score a possible total of 30 points), viewers also have their chance to weigh, with the judges’ vote and public’s vote combining for the final result. Due to this setup, even some of the competitors have expressed concern that the series has become a “popularity contest,” with Weir stating after his elimination, “it definitely feels like a popularity contest more so than a dance contest.”

For those still wishing to watch the Season 29 finale, it kicks off an ABC at 8 p.m. ET. The remaining celebrities and their pro partners still vying for the Mirrorball Trophy include Kaitlyn Bristowe and pro Artem Chigvintsev; Justina Machado and pro Sasha Farber; Nelly and pro Daniella Karagach; and Nev Schulman and pro Jenna Johson.