Sports fans rejoice as one of the most competitive seasons of “Dancing with the Stars” ever fires up the scoreboard and welcomes 10 determined athletes who will take to the ballroom floor for their first dance, on the season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,” MONDAY, APRIL 30 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand.
This season’s lineup of athletes includes Olympic figure skaters, a former Los Angeles Lakers superstar, an NFL cornerback and a former World Series-winning Major League Baseball player, among others – all vying to win the coveted Mirrorball trophy. During their journey on the show, each one of them will reveal aspects of their lives and personalities off of their respective playing fields to uncover their true selves, their passions and what drives them to compete. Each couple will perform a cha cha, salsa, foxtrot or Viennese Waltz. At the end of the night, there will be eliminations based on judges’ scores and live viewer votes cast during the show’s live broadcast in the EDT/CDT time zones.
Each couple will dance to the following songs (in alphabetical order):
Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson – Cha Cha – “Sissy That Walk” by RuPaul
Arike Ogunbowale and Gleb Savchenko – Salsa – “Them Girls” by Whitney Myer
Chris Mazdzer and Witney Carson – Salsa – “Mr. Put It Down” by Ricky Martin featuring Pitbull
Jamie Anderson and Artem Chigvintsev – Viennese Waltz – “Feeling Good” by Avicii
Jennie Finch Daigle and Keo Motsepe – Foxtrot – “All-American Girl” by Carrie Underwood
Johnny Damon and Emma Slater – Foxtrot – “Centerfield” by John Fogerty
Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess – Cha Cha – “Finesse” by Bruno Mars
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lindsay Arnold – Cha Cha – “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” by Stevie Wonder
Mirai Nagasu and Alan Bersten – Salsa – “No Excuses” by Meghan Trainor
Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber – Foxtrot – “When You Believe” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey
Hosted by two-time Emmy®-winning host Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews, “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” is the hit series in which athletes perform choreographed dance routines that are judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts, including head judge, Len Goodman, and dancers/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.
For week one, the evening’s eliminations will be based on live viewer votes cast during the show’s live broadcast in the EDT/CDT time zones, along with the judges’ scores. During the live season premiere broadcast in the EDT/CDT time zones at 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 30, viewers may cast their votes for their favorite couples, with these votes helping determine the couples who will move on to the next episode. This vote will be online only via ABC.com, will open at the top of the live show and end shortly after the last couple dances. Then, at the end of the episode, overnight voting will open for phone, ABC.com and Facebook, which will factor into the week two eliminations. Toll-free phone voting will be open nationwide from the end of the live show until 5:00 a.m. EDT/2:00 a.m. PDT on Tuesday. Online voting at ABC.com at http://dwtsvote.abc.go.com/ and on Facebook at http://bit.ly/2o1VO7b will open at the end of the live show and closes at 10:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday. During each voting window, when voting online at ABC.com or Facebook, viewers can reallocate their votes until the voting window closes.
“Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” is produced by BBC Studios. Andrew Llinares and Ashley Edens-Shaffer are executive producers. The show is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound. This program carries a TV-PG, L parental guideline.
