| Dancing with the Stars | |
|---|---|
| Format | Dance competition |
| Created by | BBC Worldwide |
| Presented by | Tom Bergeron Lisa Canning (2005) Samantha Harris (2006–2009) Drew Lachey (2007)(temporary) Brooke Burke Charvet (2010–present) |
| Judges | Carrie Ann Inaba Len Goodman Bruno Tonioli |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 13 |
| No. of episodes | 246 (as of November 22, 2011) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | CBS Television City Hollywood, California |
| Running time | 40–80 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | June 1, 2005 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Dancing with the Stars is a reality show airing on ABC in the United States, and CTV in Canada in 2011. The show is the American version of the British television series Strictly Come Dancing. Tom Bergeron is the host, with co-hosts Lisa Canning (season one), Samantha Harris (seasons two through nine),[1] and Brooke Burke Charvet (seasons ten onwards).[2]
The contestant pairs consist of a celebrity paired with a professional dancer. Past celebrity contestants include professional and Olympic athletes, supermodels, actors, singers, an astronaut, and teen-heartthrobs. Each couple performs predetermined dances and competes against the others for judges' points and audience votes. The couple receiving the lowest combined total of judges' points and audience votes is eliminated each week until only the champion dance pair remains.
The series concluded its thirteenth season on November 22, 2011. In addition, it has been renewed for a fourteenth season, scheduled to begin to March 19, 2012.[2] Also on November 22, 2011, GSN picked up rerun rights to seasons 4–13,[3] and BBC America picked up rerun rights to seasons 1–3.
Contents |
Since its premiere in 2005, Dancing with the Stars has been hosted by Tom Bergeron. For the first season, Bergeron was joined by co-host Lisa Canning. For seasons two through nine (2006–2009), the co-host was Samantha Harris. For season ten onwards (2010–present), the co-host has been Brooke Burke, who was previously season seven champion (Fall 2008). Drew Lachey, who won season two (2006), appeared as a guest presenter in season five (2007).
Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli have been the three main judges since the premiere. Several former contestants have also appeared as a judge, either on a specific episode or replacing one of the main judges in their absence, including Drew Lachey, Emmitt Smith, Apolo Anton Ohno, Hélio Castroneves, Mel B, Kristi Yamaguchi, Gilles Marini and Kelly Osbourne. Other celebrities, most often those who are associated with the world of dancing, have appeared as a fourth judge or in absence of one of the main judges, including Michael Flatley, Baz Luhrmann and Donnie Burns.
A total of 150 celebrities have appeared in the thirteen seasons of Dancing with the Stars. Also, for Season 12, the ABC Dancing with the Stars website asked viewers to submit the names of celebrities they would like to see appear on the show in a future season. For each season, the celebrities are paired with a professional partner who instructs them in the various dances each week and competes alongside them in the televised competition. A total of 31 professional partners have appeared alongside celebrities, some for only one season, and others in multiple seasons. The longest-tenured professional partners are Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani, who have each appeared in twelve seasons.
A dance troupe has appeared during results shows since season 12, performing in the background. Members of the troupe include Kiki Nyemchek, Tristan MacManus (2011), Peta Murgatroyd (2011, present), Oksana Dmytrenko, Nicole Volynets (2011), Ted Volynets, Sasha Farber (2011–present), Sharna Burgess (2011–present), and Dasha Chesnokova (2011–present). Also, in season 12, professional partners Tony Dovolani and Lacey Schwimmer appeared with the troupe in Week 4 due to their early elimination. In season 13, Val Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd (both new partners) appeared with the troupe due to their early elimination in Week 3.
In seasons one and two, only the overall ranking between competitors by the judges and the public was relevant. In season three and all subsequent seasons, the scoring system has made the exact scores relevant as well.
The scoring begins with the judges' marks. Each judge gives a numeric score from 1–10, for a total score of 3–30. When multiple performances are scored, only the cumulative total counts. The contestants' "judges' shares" are calculated as the percentage of the total number of points awarded to all contestants that evening. (For example, if a team earned 20 points on a night when the judges awarded 200 points, their judges' share would be 20/200 = 10%.) This percentage is then added to the percentage of North American votes received by each contestant. The bottom two couples are identified in the results show, and the couple with the lowest combined total is eliminated.[4] Season 8 added an occasional "dance-off," in which contestants could re-do one of their dances, in an effort to improve their judges' score. This might be discontinued due to the eliminated couple always scoring higher than or equivalent to the couple that was saved.
Public voting is conducted via a toll-free number, the ABC web site, and, most recently, text messages; contestants can vote during and immediately after each performance show. The maximum number of votes per voter per medium is equal to the number of couples performing that night, or five votes, whichever is larger. In April 2010 it was revealed that dancer Kate Gosselin had e-mailed friends and family asking them to vote as many as ten times each.[5] In November 2010, the Washington Post reported that online voting appeared not to require a valid email address, and accordingly that a large number of votes apparently could be cast by one person.[6]
In several cases where ESPN coverage of Monday Night Football airs instead on an ABC affiliate in an NFL team's home market, the program is delayed to air immediately after that station's local news, and a voting window confined only to the area codes of the pre-empted market is opened up to allow affected viewers to still put their votes in for the competition, though this is on a market-by-market basis.
Seasons one and three featured only two celebrities in the final week instead of three.
On the April 18, 2006 episode of the Howard Stern Radio Show, Stern's wife Beth said that she was guaranteed to earn $125,000 for just appearing on DWTS (in Season 3) and could earn up to more than double the original sum, depending on how long she lasted on the program.[7][8]
Romeo was the first person to withdraw in the second season.[9] His father, Master P, took his place in the competition, being partnered with Ashly DelGrosso. However, Romeo later competed in season 12[10] and finished in 5th place. Romeo was partnered with Chelsie Hightower.
On the sixth week of competition during the third season, Sara Evans cited her divorce as the reason for leaving the competition. No one was eliminated that week.
Another withdrawal occurred during the run-up to Season 4 on February 28, when Vincent Pastore withdrew from the competition after only one week of training. Pastore said he did not realize how much work was needed during a ten-week period, and that he was not up to the physical demands of the show. He was replaced on March 2 by actor John Ratzenberger who was partnered with Edyta Sliwinska.[11]
In season 7, Misty May-Treanor withdrew from the competition in week 3 after rupturing her Achilles tendon when rehearsing her Jive with her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She did not perform the routine at all nor was she scored for it; no one else was eliminated that week.
In Season 8, Jewel and Nancy O'Dell were injured before the season even began and could not compete. Jewel was diagnosed with fractured tibias in both legs; she came back later in the season to perform "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a results show. O'Dell suffered from a torn knee cartilage.[12] They were replaced by Holly Madison and Melissa Rycroft who would be dancing with their partners for the rest of the season (Dmitry Chaplin and Tony Dovolani).
Tom DeLay, in Season 9, withdrew in the third week of competition due to a full stress fracture that had developed in both feet from an earlier pre-stress fracture in one foot. Delay was declared safe before he announced his withdrawal during the October 6, 2009 results show. Debi Mazar was still eliminated that night despite DeLay's departure.
Celebrities and professional partners have experienced minor injuries, or in some cases more serious, which did not affect later performances.
In Season 5, Marie Osmond infamously fainted after her performance in week five of the competition, after which the program immediately went into commercial; however, Osmond was able to regain composure and continued with the program. Episodes of food poisoning or the flu have caused stars like Jane Seymour to miss portions of other programs. Mark Ballas dislocated his shoulder when he came back in the finale to dance again with his eliminated partner, Sabrina Bryan.
In Season 6, Cristián de la Fuente suffered a ruptured tendon in his left biceps muscle during his performance on week 7. The judges critiqued him according to his performance up to the injury. He was sent to the hospital immediately and missed the end of the show. Derek Hough injured his neck in a rehearsal with Shannon Elizabeth but still performed.
In season 7, Julianne Hough was rushed to the hospital after the results show on Week 6 with increasingly severe stomach pains. She was released the same night after it was determined that it was "just a bad stomach ache".[13] However, she was ordered to sit out the group hip-hop dance rehearsals the next day as a precaution.[14] On the October 27 performance show, Hough announced that she had been diagnosed with Endometriosis and would be having surgery on October 28 to have her appendix removed.[15] Cody Linley, her partner, stayed to dance with Hough's temporary replacement, Edyta Sliwinska, who had been eliminated first. She returned in the semi-finals to dance with Linley and was eliminated with him that week.
In season 8, after landing on a wireless microphone pack and injuring his back during a dress rehearsal, Steve-O and his partner, Lacey Schwimmer, were unable to perform live. The judges critiqued their pre-recorded dress rehearsal performance. Melissa Rycroft suffered a rib cage injury also during a rehearsal and was judged based upon her pre-recorded dress rehearsal. Prior to her Group Mambo, professional Lacey Schwimmer filled in for her dancing with Tony Dovolani.
In season 9, both Lacey Schwimmer and Derek Hough had the flu and could not perform with their partners (Mark Dacascos and Joanna Krupa) who ended up dancing with substitute pros (Anna Trebunskaya and Maksim Chmerkovskiy).
In season 10, Evan Lysacek broke two of his toes during rehearsal. The injury was not bad enough to affect his ability to dance and he remained in the competition. He also had a mild concussion after falling on his head while doing a lift with his partner, Anna Trebunskaya, but he remained in the competition. Mark Ballas injured his knee and his partner, Shannen Doherty, was going to be dancing with Ballas' father, Corky but she was eliminated and did not have to dance at all anymore. Mark returned on the May 4 results show to dance to "Hey, Soul Sister" performed by Train.
In Season 11, Jennifer Grey was recovering from cancer and tumors in her neck. This caused her great pain during the show. In week 7 it was revealed that she had torn a knee tendon. On the day of the finale results show, she had a procedure done that morning due to an injury that happened during her night 1 of performances. She had ruptured a disk and was unsure if she was going to perform for night 2 of dances. She ended up performing and winning season 11.
In Season 12, Ralph Macchio suffered a leg injury that affected his rehearsals for week 8. He still made it through to the semi-finals before being eliminated. Professional Dancer Kym Johnson suffered a neck injury during rehearsals for her semi-final argentine tango while attempting a lift. She eventually recovered and went on to win Season 12 with Hines Ward.
In Season 13, Maksim Chmerkovskiy hurt one of his toes before rehearsal and brought in Ted Volynets from the dance troupe to prepare a Samba with Maksim's partner (Hope Solo) in Week 7. While in rehearsals for week 9, J.R. Martinez suffered an ankle injury but stayed in the competition and was the last celebrity voted into the finals and ended up winning the show.
The show celebrated its 100th episode on Tuesday, May 6, 2008, during Week 8 of Season 6.[16] More than 30 former cast members and pros returned, with interviews with Stacy Keibler, Lisa Rinna, Jerry Springer, Vivica A. Fox, Joey Fatone, Kenny Mayne, Sabrina Bryan, and former winners Kelly Monaco, Drew Lachey, and Apolo Anton Ohno. Other appearances, besides the Season 6 cast, included Jane Seymour, Ian Ziering, Mark Cuban, Wayne Newton, Leeza Gibbons, Harry Hamlin, Shandi Finnessey, Paula Abdul and Helio Castroneves. New routines were performed by Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough, Mel B. and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and by Mario Lopez with the cast of A Chorus Line, in which he was starring on Broadway. The musical guest was country group Rascal Flatts.[17]
The Judges also presented a countdown of their choices for the top 10 perfect-scoring dances of the first five seasons. Their choices were:
| No. | Celebrity | Professional | Season | Week | Dance | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Lopez | Karina Smirnoff | 3 | 9 | Tango | 2nd |
| 2 | Mel B | Maksim Chmerkovskiy | 5 | 7 | Paso Doble | 2nd |
| 3 | Stacy Keibler | Tony Dovolani | 2 | 8 | Samba | 3rd |
| 4 | Drew Lachey | Cheryl Burke | 2 | 8 | Freestyle | 1st |
| 5 | Helio Castroneves | Julianne Hough | 5 | 8 | Quickstep | 1st |
| 6 | Joey Fatone | Kym Johnson | 4 | 7 | Jive | 2nd |
| 7 | Apolo Anton Ohno | Julianne Hough | 4 | 9 | Quickstep | 1st |
| 8 | Emmitt Smith | Cheryl Burke | 3 | 9 | Cha-Cha-Cha | 1st |
| 9 | Sabrina Bryan | Mark Ballas | 5 | 4 | Paso Doble | 7th |
| 10 | Kelly Monaco | Alec Mazo | 1 | 6 | Freestyle | 1st |
In Season 11, viewers were allowed 2 votes per day on the DWTS website to vote for their favorite out of 30 given choices. On October 25, 2010, a countdown of the Top 10 voted for dances on the show was reported to celebrate the following week when the 200th show would be.
| No. | Celebrity | Professional | Season | Week | Dance | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drew Lachey | Cheryl Burke | 2 | 8 | Freestyle | 1st |
| 2 | Gilles Marini | Cheryl Burke | 8 | 4 | Argentine Tango | 2nd |
| 3 | Apolo Anton Ohno | Julianne Hough | 4 | 5 | Samba | 1st |
| 4 | Nicole Scherzinger | Derek Hough | 10 | 8 | Paso Doble | 1st |
| 5 | Mel B | Maksim Chmerkovskiy | 5 | 7 | Paso Doble | 2nd |
| 6 | Joanna Krupa | Derek Hough | 9 | 8 | Paso Doble | 4th |
| 7 | Apolo Anton Ohno | Julianne Hough | 4 | 10 | Freestyle | 1st |
| 8 | Helio Castroneves | Julianne Hough | 5 | 8 | Quickstep | 1st |
| 9 | Donny Osmond | Kym Johnson | 9 | 10 | Argentine Tango | 1st |
| 10 | Shawn Johnson | Mark Ballas | 8 | 11 | Freestyle | 1st |
On the actual 200th show, several dances were performed again on the show and six of the past fan favorites came back to judge; Helio Castroneves, Emmitt Smith, Drew Lachey, Kelly Osbourne, Gilles Marini, Mel B, and more. The couples re-created their most memorable routines on the 200th episode; Kristi Yamaguchi and Apolo Ohno served as team captains for the team dances. Yamaguchi's team consisted of Rick & Cheryl, Kyle & Lacey and Bristol & Mark, while Brandy & Maksim, Jennifer & Derek and Kurt & Anna were on Ohno's team. On the results show of November 2, some awards were given out to past celebrity contestants and professionals.
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Most Dramatic Moment | Marie Osmond |
| Best, Worst Dancer | Kenny Mayne |
| Biggest Dancer Transformation | Louis van Amstel |
In seasons 9 and 10, three tribute performances have been done in honour of some people. The first was a tribute to recently-deceased actor Patrick Swayze, on Sept 23, 2009. "She's Like the Wind" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack (originally written by Swayze for his film Grandview USA), "Unchained Melody" from his film Ghost, and "(I've had) the Time of my Life" from Dirty Dancing were performed by select professional dancers of the Show.
On October 20, 2009, a tribute was done for singer and dancer, Michael Jackson. "I Want You Back", "Man in the Mirror" and "Thriller" were performed—the first two by select professional dancers of the show, and all coming together for "Thriller".
In season 10, Professional Haitian dancers performed as a tribute to victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on March 30, 2010. One of the male dancers had lost his son in the rubble. They were dancing to "Dance Like This" by Wyclef Jean.
Athletes have historically been far more successful as a group than other celebrities on the show. At the end of the spring 2011 season, 28 athletes have competed on the show, representing 20% of the contestants. They've won six competitions and placed second four times; a collective success (win or runner-up) rate of 36%. In other words, better than one third of the athletes who have appeared on the show have finished either first or second. This is far better than the rate for reality-show contestants, supermodels, actors, politicians and other celebrities. Musicians/singers, at 27%, are the second most successful group.
It is speculated by the cast and staff on the show as well as the athletes themselves, that they have several advantages in some key areas:[18]
There are disadvantages as well, particularly with the larger athletes such as football and basketball players. Some of these athletes have difficulty making their over-sized frames look graceful on the dance floor. Strangely, in a way, this can also be an advantage. Since this struggle with their large size is often plainly apparent during their performances, voters will tend to give them more leeway in this area, while an actor or singer with known dance background or training may be held to a higher standard in the voters' minds.[19]
Recent seasons have shown a decline in the athletes' success rate. Most recently however, Pittsburgh Steelers player Hines Ward, won the spring 2011 season.
A DVD titled Dancing With The Stars: Cardio Dance was released on April 3, 2007 featuring Kym Johnson, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Ashly DelGrosso. The program contains cardiovascular workouts adapted from Cha-cha, paso doble, samba, and jive dance routines.
A second DVD Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance was released on September 13, 2008 featuring Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Cheryl Burke. The program contains cardiovascular workouts adapted from Cha-cha, Merengue, Samba and Mambo dance routines.[20]
A third and fourth DVD was released featuring Kym Johnson, Dmitry Chaplin, and Lacey Schwimmer. One DVD is called Dance off the Pounds and features three dances: the jive, the quickstep, and swing. The other is Dance Body Tone and features a Latin dance mix, the tango, and freestyle dance mix.
Julianne Hough, two time DWTS winner, has also released her own workout DVD called Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom. It includes the Paso Doble, the Cha-Cha, and the Jive. It was released on December 15, 2009.[21]
Julianne Hough, released her second workout DVD called Dance With Julianne: Just Dance. It includes Jazz, Hip Hop, Box Step, Three Step and Dance Classics. It was released on November 9, 2010.[22]
A companion book written by Guy Phillips was released in the early fall of 2007. Titled Dancing with the Stars: Jive, Samba and Tango Your Way Into The Best Shape Of Your Life, the book has includes fitness routines modeled by Alec Mazo and Edyta Sliwinska, as well as original costume designs, lists of performed songs during a dance, and a complete list of song-and-dance routine performed since the first season of the show.
A figure skating spin-off called Skating with the Stars aired on ABC on November 22, 2010 but was canceled after one season.[23]
The program has also been nominated for various other production-related awards since premiering in 2005.
| Year | Award | Person(s) Nominated | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| People's Choice Awards | |||
| 2007 | Favorite Competition/Reality Show | — | Won |
| 2008 | Favorite Competition/Reality Show | — | Won |
| 2009 | Favorite Competition Show | — | Nominated |
| 2010 | Favorite Competition Show | — | Nominated |
| Teen Choice Awards | |||
| 2005 | Choice Summer Series | — | Nominated |
| 2006 | TV—Choice Reality Star (Male) | Drew Lachey | Won |
| 2006 | TV—Choice Reality Star (Female) | Stacy Keibler | Nominated |
| 2007 | Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star | Apolo Ohno | Nominated |
| 2007 | Choice TV: Personality | Bruno Tonioli | Nominated |
| 2007 | Choice TV: Reality/Variety Show | — | Nominated |
| 2008 | Choice TV Female Reality/Variety Star | Kristi Yamaguchi | Nominated |
| 2008 | Choice TV Reality Dance | — | Nominated |
| 2009 | Choice TV Reality/Variety Star | Shawn Johnson | Nominated |
| 2009 | Choice TV: Reality Competition | — | Nominated |
| NAACP Image Award | |||
| 2007 | Outstanding Reality Series | — | Nominated |
| 2008 | Outstanding Reality Series | — | Nominated |
| 2009 | Outstanding Reality Series | — | Nominated |
| 2010 | Outstanding Reality Series | — | Nominated |
| Producers Guild of America Awards | |||
| 2007 | Non-Fiction Television Producer of the Year | Conrad Green, Richard Hopkins, Izzie Pick | Nominated |
| 2008 | Non-Fiction Television Producer of the Year | Conrad Green, Richard Hopkins, Izzie Pick | Nominated |
| 2009 | Non-Fiction Television Producer of the Year | Conrad Green, Richard Hopkins, Izzie Pick | Nominated |
| Costume Designer Guild Awards | |||
| 2007 | Outstanding Costume Design for TV Series—Contemporary | Randall Christensen | Nominated |
| 2009 | Outstanding Costume Design for TV Series—Contemporary | Randall Christensen | Nominated |
| 2010 | Outstanding Costume Design for TV Series—Contemporary | Randall Christensen | Nominated |
| Eddie Awards (American Cinema Editors) | |||
| 2007 | Best Edited Reality Series | Pamela Malouf, Hans van Riet, David Timoner | Nominated |
| Imagen Awards | |||
| 2007 | Outstanding reality Series | — | Won |
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