It was definitely a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of season for our favorite ABC hit show “Dancing With the Stars.” This season featured athletes pairing up with the tried and true professionals, and boy did they ever bring the competition! The show shortened this season down to just four weeks, which definitely disappointed some fans. For one, many fans didn’t feel like they had time to get to know the couples and root for them. Others were left wanting to see more (SPOILER ALERT HERE!), especially of the ultimate winning couple, Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson.
Since “the stars” were bona fide athletes, you could kind of expect to see some pretty intense moves. Mirai Nagasu, the ice-skating, triple axel-landing dynamo, and her partner Alan Bersten really delivered right off the bat! Who can forget that amazing salsa in the first week of the competition? It was a routine full of lifts that wowed the audience and the judges.
One of the most difficult pairings this season was professional Lindsay Arnold and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar! After all, he’s seven feet one inch tall, and she’s all of five feet four inches. Overcoming that height gap is difficult in partners, but Arnold did her best to make it work, even employing some trickery in her choreography. Still, it wasn’t meant to be. The tall and short of it is they were voted out in the second week.
Dance seems to come to some athletes more naturally than others, and it really isn’t much of a surprise that ice skaters tend to perform well. Famous (infamous?) ice skater Tonya Harding didn’t leave too many dry eyes in the house in week three. She and her partner Sasha Farber danced a rhumba in tribute to Tonya’s late father.
Not to be outdone, people couldn’t stop talking about the contemporary number performed by Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson. He skated to the same music during the Olympics and dedicated his performance to his mother.
Most of the athletes this season played to their strengths. During the finale, footballer Josh Norman and professional Sharna Burgess took to the floor for a rousing freestyle that showcased his football skills and athleticism.
The entire finale went by so fast it seemed that there was barely time to announce the winners, much less who came in second and third. Executives with the show said they just didn’t have the time to make the announcement. In the end, NFL cornerback Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess placed second, with ice-skating Olympian Tonya Harding and partner Sasha Farber placing third.
It was definitely a whirlwind season for dance fans, but ABC is promising a double dose of “Dancing With the Stars” this fall. They tell dance fans to expect the usual hit show, plus a “DWTS: Junior,” featuring younger contestants.
