Stock the male celeb side of the dance floor with Mr. P, Kenny Mayne, Wayne Newton, Floyd Patterson, Billy Ray Cyrus and Jerry Springer?Replace Carrie Ann Inaba. She seems to continually nit-pick the 'missteps' made by female celebrities while glossing over the same errors made by the male celebrities. If she is going to critique actual dance steps, she needs to be consistent about it.
That being said, it will always be harder for a female to win than a male. Kelly Monaco winning season one was a fluke, not so much for her dancing, which was good, but because the show was new and viewers hadn't really caught on. In ballroom and in latin dance, the role of the female dancer is almost always more difficult. I really can't think of any dance, with the possible exception of the paso doble, where the man has more difficult steps than the woman.
Plus, the female celebrities will, whether we like it or not, be compared to the female pros -- do you want to dance next to Edyta, Julianne, Cheryl or Kym? Not me, thank you very much.
It's all sour grapes for me today, because I really felt Mel was the superior dancer this year. Her freestyle Monday night was a little bland, but she truly is the first female celeb in a long time who even came close to dancing at a professional level. She almost out-Edyta'd Edyta Monday night with her costume! Not to knock Helio, because he did develop into a fair dancer, but he is not in the same league as Drew or Apolo.