*Spoilers ahead*
“Dancing with the Stars” is back for its 33rd season, which started on Sept. 17. The show premiered in 2005 and is one of the longest-running dance competitions on ABC. Junior, Paige Lattimer, said “I just like watching the people dance and how far they come during the season.”
The show’s idea is to pair popular celebrities with professional dancers to compete in a dance competition against other partners. Each week, the pairs perform their choreographed dances to a panel of experts for a score and are voted on by the audience. The goal for the couples is to avoid elimination and win the competition and the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. “Dancing with the Stars” features many dance styles and dramatic performances.
This season presents 13 couples of a wide range of ages, ranging from 24 to 72. The contestants this year are Stephen Nedoroscik (Olympic gymnast), Anna Delvey (fashionista), Phaedra Parks (TV personality), Joey Graziadei (TV personality), Eric Roberts (actor), Ilona Maher (Olympic rugby player), Danny Amendola (former NFL wide receiver), Chandler Kinney (actress), Brooks Nader (model), Reginald VelJohnson (actor), Tori Spelling (actress), Jenn Tran (TV personality), Dwight Howard (former NBA center). “Dancing with the Stars’” first episode showcases the celebrity’s talent as they dance to songs that are their personal anthem. The first episode does not use judges’ scores as part of the elimination, only the audience’s votes were counted.
For the second week, the theme was Oscars Night and the stars must use songs from Oscar-winning or nominated films. The idea of this theme was to celebrate the Academy and capture its essence. This night was a double elimination which used audience votes and judges scores from the past week and well as the present to decide who went home. At the end of this episode, the contestants sent home were Delvey and Spelling. The rest of the participants went back and began to prepare for week three.
The theme for the third week was Soul Train Night. The show “Soul Train” expresses the unique experiences and elements African Americans face in American society to the world. This night invited a guest judge, Rosie Perez, whose career started on “Soul Train” as a dancer. This night did not include an elimination because of its special circumstance of being pre-recorded and having no live audience voting. This means that all 11 contestants went on to week four with the theme of Hair Metal Night.
A guest judge was brought out as couples got ready to perform their performances. Gene Simmons, from the rock band KISS, appeared alongside regular judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough. That night they used songs from famous rock bands such as Aerosmith, Whitesnake, and more. After all the contestants performed, the double elimination began. Using both votes from that day and the previous one, Eric Roberts and Reginald VelJohnson had a low combined judge score and audience votes and were sent home. When asked how his partner Britt Stewart, Eric Roberts said “I have never had a better working experience in my entire professional life.”
Week five had the theme of Dedication Night, and this episode of “Dancing with the Stars” was one full of emotion. Stars had to dedicate their performance to something that has had an influence on their life ranging from famous figures to sports teams. That night we got to see judge Derek Hough return to the floor for an emotional dance with his wife, Hayley Erbert. It was their first dance on the show since her emergency brain surgery from an injury incurred while preparing for a performance. As the night went on, each couple showed their love and dedication for their role models and their eagerness to continue this show, with many stars using the judge’s corrections to pull their dances to a new level. However, at the end of the night Brooks Nadar and her teacher, Gleb Savchenko, were eliminated from the show.
Disney Night on week six had a magical flare with songs from classic Disney movies like “Aladdin” and “Encanto.” The eight couples first performed their choreographed dances with their pros for scoring and audience votes. However, this episode of “Dancing with the Stars” featured a group dance with two teams of eight contestants where one section of the dance had to feature only the celebrities.
Interestingly, these teams were led by the lowest-scoring contestants, Ilona Maher and Dwight Howard. The first team, Team Goofs, consisted of Maher and Alan Bersten, Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, Kinney and Brandon Armstrong, and Tran and Sasha Farber, who danced to “121” from “The Goofy Movie.” The dance received a 27 out of 30 with Derek Hough saying “That was so clean and so good.”
The other group, Team Roar had Howard and Daniella Karagach, Amendola and Witney Carson, Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold, and Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy, perform to “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” from the new “Lion King” movie. The group received a 24 out of 30 which was added to their individual scores. The judges said that they enjoyed seeing them work together but that during the dance, there were parts that were out of sync. At the end of the night, the three participants at the bottom, Nedoroscik, Parks, and Tran, stood in anticipation as they announced who would be eliminated for week six. Parks and her partner, Chmerkovskiy were sent home.
On week seven, “Dancing with the Stars” gave contestants the theme of Halloween Nightmares where the celebrities had to make a dance about their biggest fear. This episode showcased spooky performances from fears like snakes and the dark to the boogeyman. Many of the dancers received their first tens of the season. After the individual rounds ended, the dancers prepared to compete in the dance-offs.
This part of the episode features two couples who had to go against each other with a specific dance style and the judges decide on who had the better dance. The first pairs to compete were Howard and Karagach vs. Maher and Bersten, who had to go a Cha Cha to the song “Ghostbusters”. They both danced well with judges saying they liked Maher’s technicality however, they chose Howard and Karagach as winners because of their smoother start and their improvement throughout the episodes. Next were Tran and Farber vs. Nedoroscik and Arnold who danced a Salsa to “Jump in The Line”. The pairs went differently on their dances but in the end, Tran and Faber were winners because our her consistency. Finally, Amendola and Carson vs. Graziadei and Johnson went against each other with a Jive to “Time Wrap”. Both dancers had high energy levels and had different approaches to the dance. The judges had a hard time choosing but declared the winner as Graziadei and Johnson. The night ended with Tran going home and the couples preparing for a special episode for week eight.
For week eight, “Dancing with the Stars” celebrated its 500th episode with nostalgic dances. The opening dance featured some of the pros as well as Hough and his siter Julianne Hough who is the host of “Dancing with the Stars” along with Alfonso Ribeiro. They danced to “Crazy In Love” by Beyoncé. The six dancers honored the show’s legacy by using old dances from past seasons and adding their own twist. All the dances reminded the judges how far the show and the couples this season have come. A breakthrough was made in this episode as well, Kinney and Armstrong performed a dance inspired by Kellie Pickler and Hough’s performance in season 16 which received all tens.
This episode offered something new for the dancers and the audience. The dancers competed in an instant dance-off where they found out the dance style and the song. They only receive five minutes to get ready and preform their dances. The dancers and their pros prepared for this challenge by practicing all the styles and at different tempos in case a song is faster or slower. All the contestants received high scores with the judges praising them with how difficult the challenge is. With both rounds ended, the elimination began. The couple sent home, despite their improvement throughout the season, was Howard and Karagach.
With how last week episode ended, it could be anyone’s game to win. Sophomore, Maya Shamir, said “I’m going to go with Jenna and Joey because their relationship is strong and they have that connection.” There are still three weeks left on “Dancing with the Stars” and more couples to be eliminated so while you wait to watch the show, read more stories on BVWNews.com.