Is dance-off a good thing for 'Dancing with the Stars'?

So it’s the morning after the big ‘Dancing with the Stars’ first official “dance-off” between the two lowest-scoring couples. I dunno. On the surface, it seems like a new, fun, exciting premise. But looking back, it’s really kind of annoying, or maybe just too perplexing.

Keep in mind folks, it’s not an “additional” set of judges’ scores, it’s a WHOLE NEW SET of scores, which means the judges can decide if they want to downgrade or “upgrade” a couple based on a second performance. So, are the trio of judges getting the vote that really counts? I know it’s also based on viewers’ votes, but if the show is going to resort to a dance-off between the bottom two couples, then they should reveal the number of viewer votes each couple got, as well as the judges’ new scores.

For example, let’s say Belinda had a million fewer viewer votes than Steve Wosniak going into that dance-off, what was the point? There is no way the judges’ new score of 17 is going to push her past the Woz in the standings at that point, especially if, like last night, he also gets a score of 17. So what does the dance-off accomplish? What’s next? Applause-o-meters for the studio audience?

Belinda Carlise and partner Jonathan Roberts await their fate Tuesday night on “Dancing with the Stars.” AP