Dancing with the Stars Revitalized by Charli D’Amelio
The two hosts, Tyra Banks and Alfonso Ribeiro, in front of the star-studded season 31 cast.
November 4, 2022
Since spring of 2005, Americans have watched, loved, and enjoyed one of the most popular dance shows in the United States of America, if not the whole world, Dancing with The Stars. The Emmy and Golden-Globe nominated show first aired on June 1, 2005, and since then, it has easily transformed into a fan favorite and a staple of American Pop Culture.
The premise of the show is simple: celebrities are paired with professional dancers to compete to learn how to dance. However, it is much more complicated than that. Not only must celebrities learn to dance; they must master the art of ballroom dancing. They must learn 10 dance styles in the main ballroom, including foxtrot, tango, waltz, Viennese Waltz, quickstep, cha-cha, samba, Paso Doble, jive, and rumba (ABC). In order to demonstrate their mastery, they must learn and perform a new routine each week in front of the three acclaimed judges, Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inabe and Bruno Tonioli.
In its premiere season, thr show only featured 6 guest celebrities, all of which are now completely and utterly relevant by today’s standards. But over the years, the number of celebrity guests have fluctuated, and there have been as many as 16 celebrity guests in a season.
Some of the most notable stars in pop culture history have appeared on the show, including stars like Tucker Carlson, Kim Kardasian, Simone Biles, Nicole Scherzinger, Pamela Anderson and Buzz Aldrin, to name a few. While each has maintained different success rates in the show, their performances were undeniably entertaining, and they each made a lasting impression on the show.
After the first initial seasons, the show gained heavy traction, and was one of the most watched shows in the United States. In fact, by season 5, Dancing with the Stars had a $16.79 million average total viewers per episode. Contrasting with that success, by season 30 in 2020, $4.98 million average total viewers per episode.
To combat that fall in viewership, Dancing With the Stars recruited one of the most prominent figures in American Pop Culture–Charli D’Amelio. The eighteen-year-old mega-star rose to prominence in 2020 after creating short dancing videos on the social media platform, TikTok. After years of dedication, she has earned up to over 137 million followers on the site.
Charli’s status alone is a guarantee that there will be more viewers on this season of the show. In fact, Laila Collie (12) noted that she hasn’t watched the show in years; however, she “would be willing to watch it again since Charli [D’amelio] is on it.” While it is much too early in the season to determine whether there has been a significant increase in viewership, it is safe to say that judging by the reappearance of buzz about the show, it is sure to be rising back to its prior popularity.
