“Dancing with the Stars” began their 34th season last Monday on September 15th. There are 14 couples participating, all with pros who are partnered with well known celebrities. The stars’ talents range from Olympian to TikTok star. The goal of the show is to win the Len Goodman Mirrorball after participating in eleven episodes.
Every Tuesday, a new episode is released on ABC and Disney Plus. Most of them are themed, including Disney Night, Halloween Night, TikTok Night, and their Birthday Party, which is to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Each week fans can vote on which couples they want to make it another week. There are three judges on the show, all critiquing the dancers’ performances (one through ten) and scores are added up and totaled out of thirty. Whichever couple has the lowest score will be eliminated.
The judges table consists of Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Derek Hough. Bruno Tonioli has been a judge on Dancing with the Stars since 2005, the year the show came out. He was a dancer then became a choreographer. He worked on projects such as “Ella Enchanted,” “What a Girl Wants,” and many others. Carrie Ann has also been a judge on the show since its premier. She is a dancer, choreographer, and has been Emmy-nominated. The newest of these judges is Derek Hough. He began judging in 2020. Hough has a strong dance background and began Dancing With the Stars competing as a pro. He is a 3 time Emmy-award winner and has been nominated 11 times. Furthermore, all of these judges are highly experienced in ballroom and they provide a wide range of constructive criticism for the dancers.
Led Goodman, whom the Mirrorball is named after, was a previous judge on the show. He passed away in 2023. He was a judge on the show since its premier alongside Tonioli and Inaba. The three of them remained the three main judges for the majority of the show’s run. He was a famous ballroom dancer and teacher outside of the show. The show conducted a dance in tribute to Len Goodman after his passing. The pros became good friends of his through the years, so it was a touching moment for all.
The show has a mix of new and old pros. Jan Ravinick is the newest pro with this being his first season. He was previously known for being a backup dancer for Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour.Ezra Sosa is another pro who had a short first season last year because he was the first voted out. Fans are excited to see more of him this season. This will also be Rylee Arnold’s third season on the show. These younger pros are fairly new compared to the others who have been around for up to 20 seasons. Mark Ballas returned this year partnering with Witney Leavitt after taking the last 2 seasons off.
Each week, the pros teach the celebrities a new dance under a new ballroom style assigned to them. The dances include the salsa, cha cha, jive, waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, and more. The pro will choreograph the dance for them and their partner to music that fits the theme of the night. They have five days to a week to prepare for their performance.
The stars of the show are celebrities who were picked to compete for the trophy. They can have no dance training and still be able to participate. Some stars include Elaine Hendrix from the 1998 “The Parent Trap,” member of the Pentatonix Scott Hoying, TikTok influencer Alix Earle, two time Olympian Jordan Chiles, and zookeeper Robert Irwin whose sister Bindi Irwin won the Mirrorball in 2015.
Unfortunately, two stars and their partners were eliminated on the shows’ second episode released on September 23rd. Some episodes have more than one elimination per night hence two stars being voted off. The stars were former NBA player Baron Davis with his partner Britt Stewart and actor Corey Feldman with his partner Jenna Johnson. The stars will not make any more appearances on the show until the finale, where all contestants will do a final dance with the whole cast.
Overall, fans are excited for what these new stars bring to the show and how their dedication to the show may eventually pay off and result in them winning the Mirrorball.
