The 20th year milestone of “Dancing with the Stars” is becoming something to watch. From top dancers (including the Return of Pro Mark Ballas), experienced and highly anticipated celebrities, and exciting surprises, the team is bringing A-games like never before. Last season, Shaw broke multiple voting records (over 32 million votes in the finale), seeing the highest ratings in three years.
“I feel the pressure to keep it up. I think it’s a great story for a broadcast show that has been around for 20 years since its founding. “In the last few years, I think we’ve re-engaged with the show and found an entirely new young audience who feel like it’s the show we’re in. And the truth is always everyone’s show.”
However, “DWTS,” produced by BBC Studios, has changed dramatically over the past 20 years, similar to its viewing patterns.
“There’s a difference now. There’s that kind of energy and talk about the show. My daughter and friends are literally watching the show because they need to keep up with Tiktok,” says the executive producer and head of casting Deanakatz. “It turned into a must-see TV in a different way.”
Katz, who has been working on the show since its inception, says younger viewers have also re-watched the older seasons, just like Gossip Girl and The OC.
The cast of season 34 includes so many celebrities, from former child stars like Daniel Fishel and Corey Feldman to “The Secret Life of a Mormon Wife” influencers Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck. With athletes, musicians and television personalities in mind, Green says the group has “real enthusiasm.” This is the overall point.
Season 30 cast, judges
ABC
“There’s nothing better than people who are really excited to do a show for any reason,” he says. “It’s really a positive energy. I think a lot of our people have had dance experience before, so I think our dance levels are really high.
Katz admits that when it comes to casting, he gets “very worried” with each season. “It seems like it’s putting together the best dinner parties with 14 guests and you might not know everything, but it all makes sense.”
For years she has asked Fischel to join the show, but the times were never right. Now she couldn’t be happy. Bill Clinton, specifically, someone she keeps asking every season.
“If you say no, I personally won’t take it. If you say you’re not going to do it, I might listen to you, I might not. And I think I told Daniel, ‘You’ll have to say yes one day, I won’t leave, so you’ll have to say yes,'” Katz says. “On that list, I just keep asking because I think they’re really right for this show.”
Of course, it is also about finding the right combination between professional dancers and celebrities. Throughout the year, some professionals text Katz’s suggestions, and sometimes celebrities seek out a particular professional. While she considers all the comments, she tells everyone the same: trust her.
“When I was with Dylan Efron, I quickly learned that he should be with Daniela Caragach at lunchtime. I’m rocking to celebrities, so I’ll think about it right away. “It’s not a show that tries to make an adversary couple because I think it’s good TV. We’re trying to have a really good pairing where the audience is trying to do something they’ve never seen before.”
Danella Karagach and Dylan Efron
Disney
Katz, who also handles casting for “Masked Singer” and “The Traitors,” each has a very different qualification, so he’s always thinking about who’s the best for each.
“‘Masked Singer’ is great and the stupidest game you play. For singers and actors, for those who don’t know, they can sing. That’s great. That’s a different time frame. “Dance” is about sharing your emotional journey. That’s difficult for musicians. Something else. ”
After seeing how much Efron exploded as a fan favorite in “The Traitors,” she knew he wanted him for “dance.” Of course, some wanted to see Boston Rob Mariano, a graduate of Survivor who became a fast friend of Efron in the ballroom.
“I’m the biggest ‘survivor’ fan so he’s on my little manifesto dreamboard,” she says. “I’d never done it this season. I didn’t think I’d done two ‘traitors’. Dylan, I was locked up a long time ago.
Just like the cast, “DWTS” fans are invested in professionals. This season, some fans were upset that Emma Slater was paired up in a row with Andy Richter, one of the experienced dancers. (Last year, she teamed up with Reginald Veljohnson.)
“People are angry. I have to make it fair too. You can’t give one winner every time. It’s not fair to the pros, not fair to the audience. Pros are spectacular and I want them all to shine,” Katz says. “It seems like there are some seasons when someone doesn’t get someone (great) but when you take out the chalkboard and show everyone who gets it, it’s really uniform. No one auditioned.
Although there are no controversial contestants in Season 34 (more on later), some viewers have been speaking out on social media about how sad it is in Sasha Farber’s absence. The pros competed in 12 seasons, including the final eight consecutive seasons.
“It’s mostly about trying to get the right dancers and the right celebrities, pairing up and surprise pairs of people,” says Green. “Both our dancers and stars are a big reason why people keep coming and watching, but our dancers are our repeated cast, so we mix and try… people come and go.
Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballass
Disney
Ballas is a big returnee this season and will likely win a ton of votes to dance with Leavitt.
“He’s a great choreographer and a great performer. He always brings a lot to it,” says Green. “I think he’ll probably be one of my favourites, but this is a season that’s very difficult to be honest about the quality of dancers and celebrities we have.
In the past, the show had a political or concrete controversial figure in the bundle – i.e. Sean Spicer or Anna Delvey. I’m avoiding that this year.
“In general, we have made sure we don’t lean too hard on politics. Politics has been very present for many people in many ways over the past few years and is a very painful subject,” explains Green. “I don’t think we’re a show that aims to work on the department. We’re a show that aims to unite people and celebrate things that we all enjoy together as Americans.”
While Katz felt she had to cast Delvey, “Why can’t I?” – it was important this year to avoid politics altogether.
“We’re so divided now and I think the tension is very high. The show is for everyone. We’re not preaching here,” she says. “This needs to be a space where we can just enjoy this. There’s no need to split up. We feel that we really need to be here right now.
In season 30, the show broke the barrier with the first female-women partnership with Jenna Johnson and JoJo Siwa. And in the future they were able to cast male duo.
“It definitely worked with JoJo and Jenna,” Katz says. “I’m not going to do that just to do that. I need to have the right couple I think is great, and when I find that couple, absolutely.”
As for this season, viewers can expect many celebrations around 2020.
“Some of the things we’re doing in the episodes have never seen in the last 20 years, both in terms of competition and the people coming,” he says. Katz said, “You can see a lot of past celebrities. I’m going to do things with past winners and past professionals. We absolutely admire that we’re still strong in 20 years.”
“Dancing with the Stars” will be live on ABC and Disney+ on ET on Tuesday at 8pm and will be played on Hulu the next day.
