Dancing with the Stars is a show on ABC network that has gone through 33 extraordinary seasons so far. The first season took place in June 2005. They used to do multiple seasons a year but lately have been hosting only 1 a year. The show pairs sought after celebrities with professional dancers to compete against each other. There are no set auditions for the show, they match popular pros possibly from past seasons with celebrities that they predict will go far in the season. They also pick people based on personality, height, popularity, etc. It is based on a British TV series called Strictly Come Dancing from BBC Studios. The 33rd season that recently concluded crowned Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson winners.
“It means everything to me. This whole experience has been unbelievable, honestly,” Graziadei said.
Jenna has a lot of dancing background. She is 30 years old and previously won season 26 with Adam Rippon. Her husband Val also won season 32. Jenna is a 5 times U.S. national Latin champion. She is also a U.S. national youth 10 dance champ and a 3 time National contemporary winner. She has done two seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. Her dancing partner Joey Graziadei is 29 years old and is most known for being a Bachelor on the ABC show The Bachelor. He is a professional tennis player from Collegeville, PA. He teaches tennis professionally at Princeville Makai Golf Club and KuKui’ula on the south shore of Kauai.
“All I know is that Stephen was on it and he was really good. And that Chandler Kinney had a really good tango,” said sophomore Gabriella Silva.
There were four other finalists after the people who got first. In second place came Ilona Maher and Alan Bernsten. Ilona Maher is an Olympic rugby star. Alan Bersten was a professional dancer. They were well known for their intricate footwork and great partnering. In third place was Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong. Chandler is from the hit show Pretty Little Liars. Their big hit freestyle showcasing her culture got them to score well. In fourth came the beloved Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold. Rylee is an Olympic gymnast and Stephen was also very athletic making them the perfect pair. In fifth place came Danny Amendola and Whitney Carson. Danny is a former NFL player for four seasons with the Rams and five seasons with the Patriots. Their freestyle was inspired by Barbie so it was upbeat and fun which people liked.
“All of the finalists were so mesmerizing to watch. I loved all of their freestyles so much. As a dancer I also really enjoyed trying all the trends that sparked this season,” said competitive dancer Payton Sutcliffe.
Throughout the season there were two very popular dancing trends that sprouted on TikTok that lots of people were attempting. Even people who don’t necessarily watch the show we’re trying the fun trends. The first was a section of the winners Jenna and Joeys performance called the “Tarzan Samba”. They performed this week 6 on Disney night. Everyone was recreating the one cool partner section that they did. The second very popular trend was from Danny and Whitney on week five. They did a cool partner lift where Whitney layed on the floor and Danny lifted her up by one foot and everyone wanted to recreate it.
Overall this season was a huge success and everyone is on their toes waiting for next year’s season. A lot of people say they feel like next season won’t be able to top this one, so Dancing With the Stars is going to have to bring the boom next year.
