In the Netherlands there has been a fuss about the new television program ‘De dansmarathon’ of the commercial channel SBS6. In it, 100 couples have to dance for 50 hours, but in the hunt for the top prize of 100,000 euros, many participants apparently went beyond their limits. Much to the dismay of many viewers. “Someone is dying. Sensation,” it sounds sarcastic on social media.
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100 couples had to try to dance as long as possible in 50 hours between Thursday evening and Saturday evening, every minute of rest, food or drink was deducted from the end time. It was a real battle of attrition, with candidates unable to stand on their feet, lying on the dance floor utterly exhausted, and barely able to utter a word.
As the clock ticked by, the picture grew more poignant and poignant, with candidates stumbling and crying trying to stay in the game at all costs. Some were carried away in a wheelchair or on a stretcher. After 49 hours, a candidate even passed out on the dance floor. The camera then turned away, and the broadcast was interrupted for commercials.
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“This is not justified, is it?”
The program was therefore buried under the criticism on social media. “Who dares to start a lawsuit for assault against program makers and presenter? Totally cross-border. A society in which no one dares to say ‘stop, stop’ anymore”, it sounds. “I’m just watching Dance Marathon. That seems funny until you look a little longer. There are people dancing falling asleep, people dancing crying, dancing right through injuries, someone just fell over. Isn’t this justifiable? I think this is really hard to see,” said another. Or as someone sarcastically remarks: “Someone is dying. Sensation. About time.”
“If a program allows participants to get to the point where they have so many injuries, are nearly dehydrated, mentally incapacitated and taken to a stretcher, then that is really NOT worthy of television. Total madness this program!”, writes another nurse. Even presenter Wendy van Dijk admitted at one point that “it’s almost a kind of abuse”.
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“Everything was under control”
However, according to television channel SBS6, it was “at no time unsafe” for the candidates. Toine Schoutens, the head of the medical team of the program, claims that “everything was under control. At no point were we concerned about the medical condition of the participants.”
For the record: the couple Jermaine and Tawatha rested a total of barely 35 minutes during those 50 hours and eventually won the 100,000 euros. Tellingly, they hardly seemed to realize that because of the exhaustion itself.
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