These Maine Bars and Restaurants Go to Battle in ‘Dancing With the Bars’

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions or personal experiences.

You've probably heard of ABC's smash hit dance competition Dancing with the Stars, right? I'm angry over ABC's ousting of Tom Bergeron who hosted the show for 28 seasons in favor of Tyra Banks, but that's not what I'm here to tell you about. I'm here to tell you that three bars and restaurants in the Oxford Hills area of Maine have their own version called Dancing with the Bars and it's pretty epic.

Smokin' Dave's Backyard BBQ & Grill on Main Street in Norway, 290 Maine St, just up the street and The Old Mill Tavern one town over in Harrison, have been competing on a monthly basis to see who gets the most votes for their dancing to different genres of music including Latin and the current genre up for voting, Country.

Owners of the bars are paired up with a dance studio partner. One knows what they're doing. The other, not so much. And like any good competition, there's a little smack talk involved between the bars like here with Sasha Richardson owner of Expansion Arts Dance Studio in South Paris and Chris Searles owner of Olde Mill Tavern in Harrison.

I know Chris Searles pretty well and although he's a very talented musician who plays a mean saxophone, I'm not so sure how good he is with his feet. Take a look at the three competing bars and see what you think.

I thought this was supposed to be country music? Team Olde Mill Tavern is dancing to "Footloose?" Sorry. Disqualified. If you wanted to dance to Footloose, you should have used Blake Shelton's version from the remake.

Well, there you have it. Anyone can vote for Dancing with the Bars, so if you want to cast yours, hit the link. It's all in good fun and maybe a little bit of pride.