As reality television lovers enjoy a night watching their favorite show, “Dancing with the Stars” (DWTS) became a slice of excitement for millions of people worldwide this fall. Airing its 34th consecutive season, DWTS broke its voting and finale viewership record with a total of 9.24 million viewers for the last episode. This season not only left a mark on the lives of each celebrity but also on DWTS history.
“I love dancing myself, and I like watching other professionals who chose the path themselves. I really like watching them do it. [They are an inspiration] because I want to be a dancer myself or have some type of career like that in my life. I find a lot of inspiration from them,” freshman Janae Talhouk said.
Starting the season strong, 14 celebrities paired up with pros on the show and practiced for hours leading up to their weekly performances. In roughly seven days, the partners put together dances according to the specific theme of the week, including Disney Night, “Wicked” Night and Prince Night. These dances ranged from sambas, Argentine tangos, jives and various other styles of ballroom dance. While every couple worked tirelessly to impress judges and fans, five pairs rightfully earned their spot in the season finale.
Finalists for the Season 34 finale included Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy, Dylan Efron paired with Daniella Karagach, Elaine Hendrix with Alan Bertsen, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa and finally, Robert Irwin paired with Witney Carson. As per usual, each couple prepared three dances: a judges’ choice, a freestyle and an instant dance challenge routine to determine who would take home the Len Goodman mirrorball trophy.
To start, Earle and Chmerkovskiy received a visit from judge Carrie Ann Inaba to reveal what style and song they would dance to in their opening number. Inaba assigned them a samba, with which they danced to “Hip Hip Chin Chin” by Club des Belugas, leaving them time to practice with Inaba and hear her critique. Their colorful samba earned them a 30 out of 30, their first of various perfect scores of the night.
Up next, Efron and Karagach spent time with judge Bruno Tonioli, who assigned them a Paso Doble to one of Alexander Jean’s hit songs, “Stampede.” While this duo struggled to maintain a spot at the top of the leaderboard for the season, their Paso Doble blew fans away beyond measure. The attention to detail and sharp cues led to a score of 28 out of 30.
Hendrix, Irwin and Chiles rallied up to perform their judges’ choice as well, Hendrix earning a perfect score and Irwin and Chiles both receiving a 29 out of 30, while Earle topped the leaderboard. After an intermittent troupe dance by Hailey Bills, Carter Williams, Onye Stevenson and Jaxon Willard, the celebrities and their professionals prepared for the nerve-wracking instant dance round. For this round of dances, the pairs blindly chose their style of dance weeks before the finale, and the night of, each couple discovered what the celebrity unknowingly picked through a recorded video. Each couple practiced all styles of dance they could receive, while simultaneously thinking back to judges’ past feedback on their performances to improve their technique.
Irwin and Carson headed up to the stage in robes to watch closely as their past self uncovered their style of dance. Unfortunately for Irwin, he drew the cha cha, the one style he hoped not to pick. Although he did not initially enjoy this style, his cha cha to “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE scored him a 30 out of 30, his first perfect score of the night.
Close to the end of the show, Season 33 Len Goodman mirrorball champions Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson danced their way back into the ballroom to perform a so-called sexy tango to relive their time on the dance floor. With only a limited amount of time left as mirrorball champions, Graziadei and Johnson soaked up their final moments together in the ballroom. On the other hand, Hendrix and Bersten received the lowest score with a 27 out of 30 with their quickstep to “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes during the instant dance round.
Lastly, to end the night on a touching note, each couple prepared a freestyle which they dedicated to an important aspect of their lives. These dances allowed the pairs to explore new styles of movement and enabled them to dance outside their comfort zones. With props and a crew of other professional dancers on stage alongside each celebrity, these dances left the audience in awe.
“I really loved the finale so much. My favorite couple is Chiles and Sosa because she’s just so pretty, and I see myself in her. She’s so talented, and their chemistry together was so great. My favorite dance from them was when they performed to ‘Breaking Dishes’ because of how intense it felt,” Talhouk said.
Chiles and Sosa left every individual feeling empowered after their freestyle to “Motivation” by Normani and “Bow Down” by Beyoncé. Props, such as metal gates and a couch designed to resemble a set of lips, were added to Chiles’ dance to showcase her strong, queen-like aura. Her sass and powerful body language led to a massive fan and judge reaction. Inaba named Chiles’ dance the “best freestyle” she ever witnessed. Her moves, passion and outstanding technique earned her a 30 out of 30 for her last performance ever on DWTS.
To close the night, a group of pros took to the stage to perform a contemporary-like piece crafted by DWTS head choreographer Mandy Moore to Ed Sheeran’s song “Sapphire.” As the final minutes crept up before releasing the winner results, the five couples lined up side-by-side in their pink sparkly outfits, awaiting their placements.
Beginning the awards ceremony, hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianna Hough listed out the fifth through third place pairs. Team Hendrix and Bersten placed fifth, team Efron and Karagach received fourth and Chiles and Sosa earned the third-place slot. Tension grew rapidly as Earle and Chmerkovskiy and Irwin and Carson remained the only two left in the competition. After an annoyingly scheduled break, the season 34 DWTS champions, Irwin and Carson, emotionally received their well-deserved Len Goodman mirrorballs. Team “IrWINit” took first place in the competition, while also creating an Irwin legacy since his sister, Bindi Irwin, won her season of DWTS in 2015 during Season 21 with her partner Derek Hough.
“I think that Robert and Witney deserved their win because they had a really good season. I felt like Robert was a little stiff in his instant round dance, but his freestyle really saved him. But I think Jordan and Ezra showed out with their last dances, and I think that if it was based on their finale dances, they would’ve won that because they really danced full out,” junior Kymora Gross said.
