Here's what I sent to Showstoppers:
"Dear Sir or Madam,
We attended your competion in Ft. Worth, Texas this weekend. The competition appeared to be well run. I especially liked how you showed a clip of the first place winners and interviewed a team member from each winning team.
I do, however, need to express one grave concern. One group danced to the offensive re-mix of "Let's Get it Started" entitled "Let's Get Retarded." Each team member had something "wrong" with his or her costume (e.g. a girl in a pink tutu with big black knee pads.) It was obvious from the routine and costuming that the group was actually trying to depict "retarded" people or behavior. It was wildly inappropriate and terribly offensive.
Fortunatly, our girls didn't see the number. I imagine it would have been quite upsetting to the team member who has a mentally challenged sister. To add insult to injury, this team was the only group in their category, so they received a first place award and we all had to sit through the clip of their performance again.
The rules section of your web site says "If dance movements, music lyrics, or costuming are deemed to be too suggestive or otherwise inappropriate for our family audience, it will be scored lower by the judges." I have no way of knowing if this particular group was scored lower because of the offensive nature of its routine.
I would suggest that you "beef up" this section of your rules, to spell out examples of unacceptable routines, such as those that mock or denegrate any particular group of people. I know that "offensive" is a subjective term, but I think that in 2005 it is universally accepted in the United States that mocking mentally challenged people is offensive. I'm sure you can usually rely on the good judgment of the coaches to choose appropriate material. However, in this case, the teacher was way off base.
Thank you for your attention."
"Dear Sir or Madam,
We attended your competion in Ft. Worth, Texas this weekend. The competition appeared to be well run. I especially liked how you showed a clip of the first place winners and interviewed a team member from each winning team.
I do, however, need to express one grave concern. One group danced to the offensive re-mix of "Let's Get it Started" entitled "Let's Get Retarded." Each team member had something "wrong" with his or her costume (e.g. a girl in a pink tutu with big black knee pads.) It was obvious from the routine and costuming that the group was actually trying to depict "retarded" people or behavior. It was wildly inappropriate and terribly offensive.
Fortunatly, our girls didn't see the number. I imagine it would have been quite upsetting to the team member who has a mentally challenged sister. To add insult to injury, this team was the only group in their category, so they received a first place award and we all had to sit through the clip of their performance again.
The rules section of your web site says "If dance movements, music lyrics, or costuming are deemed to be too suggestive or otherwise inappropriate for our family audience, it will be scored lower by the judges." I have no way of knowing if this particular group was scored lower because of the offensive nature of its routine.
I would suggest that you "beef up" this section of your rules, to spell out examples of unacceptable routines, such as those that mock or denegrate any particular group of people. I know that "offensive" is a subjective term, but I think that in 2005 it is universally accepted in the United States that mocking mentally challenged people is offensive. I'm sure you can usually rely on the good judgment of the coaches to choose appropriate material. However, in this case, the teacher was way off base.
Thank you for your attention."
Since it was specially choreographed for those two particular girls, the parents certainly could have had it changed, but they must have thought that it was just fine for their 7 year olds to be writhing around like strippers. 
