News

Football players have a storied history on “Dancing with the Stars,” and retired NFL athlete Ray Lewis hopes to continue that trend when he competes for the Mirror Ball Trophy in season 28, which begins September 16. But while fellow cast member Sean Spicer has gotten most of the attention (and most of the backlash), Lewis has a checkered past of his own to overcome. So how will he do on the dance floor and with the viewing audience? Let’s consider his pros and cons.

Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Pros

Are you ready for some football? Four NFL stars have won the Mirror Ball Trophy over the years: Emmitt Smith (season 3), Hines Ward (season 12), Donald Driver (season 14) and Rashad Jennings (season 24). And several others have made the finals, including Jerry Rice (season 2), Jason Taylor (season 6), Calvin Johnson Jr. (season 23) and Josh Norman (season 26), to name a few.

Quavo brought out a lot of fire power for his second annual Huncho Day game ... including one Colin Kaepernick, who played Qb for the Migos Mc. Kaep was one of many celebs who showed out for Quavo's star-studded flag football exhibition Sunday, which he started last year. Ck, of course, drew a huge crowd when he and Eric Reid made their way to the field. Literally ... a flock of people were following them. Colin Kaepernick...

Adrian Peterson tells TMZ Sports he's Nowhere close to retirement ... and says he's got a couple years left in him!!! "I'll be playing next year for sure. Maybe two or three more years!" The future Hall of Fame Rb is coming off one of his most impressive seasons ... running for 1,042 yards and 7 TDs -- despite signing with the Redskins just days before the season began. But, the guy is 33 years old now ... and has nearly...

NFL star Josh Norman says the Los Angeles Rams got Lucky ... because, had his Qb Alex Smith not suffered a Gruesome injury, it'd be his Washington team in the Super Bowl and not Goff's guys. The Redskins were in 1st place in the Nfc East until Smith broke both his fibula and tibia in his right leg against the Texans in November.  Smith was replaced by Colt McCoy (who also got injured) ... followed by Mark Sanchez...

Witney Carson, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess and Keo Motsepe are the four pros in the “Dancing with the Stars” final. Three of them, Bersten, Burgess and Motsepe, are seeking their first win, but a victory for two of them, Burgess and Motsepe, would be very, very sweet after some tough, long and unlucky roads.

Burgess is by far the most overdue of any pro still awaiting their first Mirrorball trophy. A pro since Season 16 and the only female pro this season who hasn’t won, she has three runner-up placements — Nick Carter (Season 21), James Hinchcliffe (Season 23) and Josh Norman (Season 26) — and one third-place finish, with Noah Galloway in Season 20. She may have won in any other season with these people — and even Charlie White, who had to settle for fifth place in Season 18 while the show pimped his ice dancing partner Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy — but she had the...

The past three seasons of “Dancing with the Stars” were won by pros who had never won a Mirrorball trophy before: Emma Slater (Season 24), Lindsay Arnold (Season 25) and Jenna Johnson (Season 26). Will that streak continue this season? With Gleb Savchenko’s and Artem Chigvintsev’s exits, there are just five winless pros left. Which of them do you want to see go all the way?

Sharna Burgess is by far the most overdue. She’s been on the show since Season 16 and has three runner-up placements — Nick Carter (Season 21), James Hinchcliffe (Season 23) and Josh Norman (Season 26) — and one third-place finish, with Noah Galloway in Season 20. Burgess is also the only female pro this season who’s never won “Dancing” before. Partnered with Bobby Bones, she doesn’t have a ringer this time or a technically sound contender, but Bones’ enthusiastic personality and underdog role could get them far. That is,...

On August 28 ABC announced the professional dancers who will compete for the Mirror Ball Trophy when the show returns for its 27th season on Monday night, September 24. they include a married couple, a newly engaged couple, some past Mirror Ball champions, and one former troupe dancer celebrating his promotion to the big leagues. Find out who they are below, and vote in our polls at the bottom of this post to let us know who you’re most excited to see this fall.

Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions The Women:

Lindsay Arnold — An alum of both “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing with the Stars,” Arnold is competing for the eighth time as a pro. She has already made the finals four times, including her victory in season 25 with Jordan Fisher.

Sharna Burgess — This is her 12th time competing as a “DWTS” pro,...

Jenna Johnson and Sharna Burgess couldn’t both win the Mirrorball trophy on ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,’ but maybe they’ll both score Emmy nominations. They each received 28 percent of the vote from our readers in a recent poll asking with pro from Season 26 deserves a choreography nomination.

Neither Johnson nor Burgess have been shortlisted for a choreography Emmy, but eight “Dancing” pros have scored nominations while they were on the show. Derek Hough has won twice and choreographer Mandy Moore won last year for “Dancing” in a tie with “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Both Seasons 25 and 26 are eligible at the Emmys, but Johnson wasn’t on the fall installment. “Athletes” was only her second stint as a pro and she concocted some fantastic routines for Adam Rippon en route to their victory. Burgess, who’s still seeking her first “Dancing” triumph after 12 straight seasons, also played...

Since 2006, “Dancing with the Stars” has received at least one Emmy nomination for Best Choreography every year, resulting in three wins. It’s the co-reigning champion, for choreographer Mandy Moore, along with “So You Think You Can Dance.” As one of the few dance-centric programs on the air, it’s probably good for another nomination this year, but who of the “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” pros would you nominate?

To be clear, both Season 25 last fall and the all-athletes edition are eligible, but since “Athletes” just ended and had a lot more newer faces, let’s focus on that. The four-week season didn’t allow for a ton of routines, but we did get some memorable numbers and some people really stepped up their game. Jenna Johnson was eliminated first in her previous season, so we never got to see what she was made of until now, and she...

Another season of Dancing With the Stars is officially over! After a fun-filled season, the series officially crowned its winner. On Monday night, Adam Rippon and his partner, Jenna Johnson, took home the mirror ball trophy for season 26. After wowing us with his impressive moves, the 28-year-old Olympic figure skater beat out Josh Norman and Tonya Harding for the top spot in the competition. Of course, his win shouldn't come as a surprise to fans - his performances have been burning up the ballroom floor all season long!

Shortly after the show, Adam posted an adorable photo with his partner simply writing, "Mirror Ball Champs!!!

“I thought the win was well deserved even though it was pretty much what we were expecting all along,” said Jeffrey Kare about Adam Rippon claiming the Mirror Ball Trophy in the May 21 season finale of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes.” Kare discussed the final episode with Joyce Eng, Cordell Martin and Daniel Montgomery during their postmortem slugfest. Watch above to find out what they thought.

Martin notes that “there weren’t any big surprises.” Rippon was the front-runner to win from the moment the cast of the show was announced in April, and “he was clearly the best dancer of the group,” notes Eng, though his freestyle was unexpectedly criticized by judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Len Goodman after they had given perfect scores to the freestyle routines by fellow finalists Tonya Harding and Josh Norman.

Kare thought Rippon’s freestyle was “terrific,” though Eng “could see why it...

“Dancing with the Stars” completists can breathe a sigh of relief. No, not about no more four-week seasons, but the show has finally revealed the official top three results. Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess finished second, and Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber finished third behind champs Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson, BBC Studios, which produces the show, confirmed to “Entertainment Tonight.”

“Due to time constraints, we were unable to announce the Mirrorball runners-up during the live show of the ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’ finale,” BBC Studios said in a statement. “The combination of the judges’ scores and America’s votes resulted in football cornerback Josh Norman and his partner Sharna Burgess placing second, and ice skating Olympian Tonya Harding and her partner, Sasha Farber, placing third.”

See Tonya Harding: Adam Rippon ‘absolutely’ deserved to win ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’

Unlike past finales, which were typically two hours with...

Tonya Harding said she was “perfectly fine” with the inevitable comparisons to Nancy Kerrigan before “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” started, so now that it’s over, let’s do just that! Who did you prefer on the show?

If we’re just talking empirical data, Harding obviously did better than Kerrigan. She made the final, got a perfect score of 30 for her freestyle and finished tied in second with Josh Norman, behind champ Adam Rippon. Kerrigan, who competed on Season 24 last spring, finished tied in sixth with Nick Viall and her highest score was a 36 (out of 40) for her “Enchanted” jazz.

Known for her athleticism as a skater, Harding was unsure herself if she’d be graceful on the hardwood, but she exceeded everyone’s expectations with her first dance and continued to improve every week. Her freestyle was a joyful cap to her whole run. As we’ve previously mentioned,...

No hard feelings here: Tonya Harding is totally cool losing “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” to Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson, who were “absolutely” the right winners. “They brought it home every week and Adam is wonderful,” Harding told “Entertainment Tonight. “They deserved it.”

After scoring a 56, including a perfect 30 for her uplifting freestyle, Harding and Sasha Farber finished tied for second with Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess. (The show did not reveal second and third place because of time constraints.) For the former figure skater, making it to the finale was a victory in and of itself as fans and viewers embraced her journey on the show.

See This is why ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’ didn’t announce second and third place

“We feel wonderful. We made it this far. We went out, we achieved what we wanted to,” she said. “We did two clean programs. And I...

As if there weren’t enough differences with “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,” the finale threw in another curveball when Tom Bergeron did not reveal who finished in third and second place to Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson. And he didn’t because of one reason: Rhymes with Shamerican Schmidol.

The show didn’t have time to do all three placements and producers were under strict orders not to run into the “American Idol” finale, a source close to production told “Entertainment Tonight.”

See Did Adam Rippon deserve to win ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’?

Outside of the first season, which went into the finale with two couples, in every past season third place was announced midway through the finale, leaving the final two duking it out for the Mirrorball trophy. But on Monday, Bergeron merely announced Rippon and Johnson as the winners, rendering Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess, and...

“I never thought somebody like me would be accepted, but I really feel loved. And that’s why I’m so excited for what we have in store,” said Adam Rippon, previewing his freestyle dance in the season finale of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes.” The routine was “different, quirky, fun and totally embodies me as a person. And I want to share that with America.” But the judges were more ambivalent about it. What did you think of his bold performance? Watch it above.

After Rippon’s rivals Tonya Harding and Josh Norman performed freestyle routines to perfect scores, the stage was set for Rippon to close out the night with a flawless dance of his own. But judge Carrie Ann Inaba felt like she was “missing something” from his routine and noted that he seemed to “blank out a little bit” during the choreography. And Len Goodman has always been a traditionalist,...

“Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” ended its four-week run on Monday night, May 21, and the result was exactly as we expected: figure skater Adam Rippon won, while fellow skater Tonya Harding and football star Josh Norman were the runners-up (there was no specific second- or third-place finisher announced). Do you agree with that result after the contestants hit the dance floor one last time? Scroll down to vote in our poll at the bottom of this post.

Rippon performed two more times in the season finale, and those scores were combined with viewer votes from the previous week and from Eastern and Central time zone viewers on the night of the finale to determine the winner. And things got off to a great start with Rippon’s jazz routine with his pro partner Jenna Johnson, for which he received perfect 10s across the board from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains details about Monday night’s finale of Dancing With The Stars: Athletes.

And the winner is….. Dancing With the Stars: Athletes four-week edition wrapped Monday night with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and his pro partner Jenna Johnson taking home the Mirrorball trophy. The duo beat fellow finalists Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber, and Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess, to take home the big prize.

The winning duo closed out the first round of performances with a perfect 30 out of 30 for their jazz routine and 28 out of 30 for Rippon’s freestyle to Pitbull and DJ Kass’ remix “Scooby Doo Pa Pa.”

For their first dances, Harding score a 26 out of 30 for her Viennese waltz while Norman earned a 27 out of 30 for his foxtrot.

Dancing With the Stars will return this fall on Mondays, with Dancing With the Stars: Juniors set to air Sundays on ABC.

Adam Rippon, Josh Norman, and Tonya Harding went toe to toe in a dance-off for the Mirrorball trophy on Dancing With the Stars: Athletes Season 26 Episode 4.

Honestly, I thought the shortened, blink and you missed it, season would be more fun, but it's actually been exhausting, and I'm not even dancing.

However, I enjoyed the lack of filler. I'd prefer to get straight to the dancing, and that's what this abbreviated season did. On the downside, there were definitely dancers I wish had gotten more of a chance to grow, especially Arike Ogunbowale.

Related: The Rookie First Look: Nathan Fillion Returns to ABC!

Although many fans were outraged by last week's ouster of figure skater Mirai Nigasu, I have to say that I loved this final three. Every dance blew me away, except for one ... and that one shocked me.

So let's get on with the dancing!

Tonya Harding and...

(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Monday’s finale of “Dancing With the Stars: Athletes”)

The inaugural season of “Dancing With the Stars: Athletes” named its first winner on Monday night following a nail-biting finale.

The final three sports stars left standing on the shortened series were Adam Rippon, Tonya Harding and Josh Norman — with American figure skater Rippon taking the coveted Mirrorball.

The 28-year-old Olympian can now add that to the bronze medal he won at the Pyeongchang Winter Games in January.

Also Read: 'I, Tonya' Star Allison Janney Cheers on Tonya Harding at 'DWTS: Athletes' Premiere

The full cast of the sports-themed reality show, which was hosted by Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews, included Johnny Damon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jennie Finch, Jamie Anderson, Luger Chris Mazdzer, Mirai Nagasu and Arike Ogunbowale.

Et

Also Read: World Series Champion David Ross on New Challenges as ESPN Analyst,...

The three remaining athletes on Dancing With the Stars‘ 26th season have plenty of medals and trophies to show off at home. But which one will have to clear some shelf space for the Mirrorball?

The ABC reality competition wrapped its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, all-athletes edition on Monday night with an ultra-quick season finale. (A one-hour episode with no filler? Incredible!)

Dancing‘s finalists — Tonya Harding, Josh Norman and Adam Rippon — each got two more chances to prove they should take home reality TV’s shiniest trophy, first with a traditional ballroom routine, then with a freestyle to close the show.

Let's be honest, we all saw this coming. Dancing With the Stars: Athletes' shortened four-week run came to an end on Monday night, with three celebrity athletes left in the running: Adam Rippon, Tonya Harding and Josh Norman.  And by the end of the ABC reality hit's finale, we finally saw the athlete we all predicted would win the whole thing as soon as the cast was announced hoist the mirrorball trophy in the air: Adam Rippon!  The beloved Olympic figure skater and his professional partner Jenna Johnson beat Tonya and Sasha Farber, and Josh and Sharna Burgess, to take home the big win. This was Jenna's first season as a pro after being promoted from the troupe,...

If it feels like “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” just started, that’s because it kind of did. Season 26 of “DWTS” came to an end on Monday night after a lightning-fast four weeks of competition that reduced 10 contestants to three finalists: football player Josh Norman and figure skaters Adam Rippon and Tonya Harding. The Mirror Ball Trophy champion was crowned at the end of the night. So who took home the title? Scroll down for our minute-by-minute live blog for all of the night’s developments.

We expected all along that Rippon would make the finals. He was the Mirror Ball front-runner from the moment the cast was announced in April. That was due in part to his success at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, where he won the bronze medal in the figure skating team event. But his lively interviews off the ice won him as many...

After only four weeks of competition, the winner of “Dancing With the Stars: Athletes” will be announced in just hours! Will it be the Olympic bronze medalist figure skater Adam Rippon, all-star football player Josh Norman or former ice queen Tonya Harding that takes home the coveted mirrorball trophy? Only Et caught up with the final three couples — minus Rippon, who...

Voting for the winner of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” opens as soon as the final three couples have completed the first of their two dances on the live broadcast which starts on Monday, May 21 at 7 p.m. Ct/8 p.m. Et. (Those in the West and Mountain time zones won’t see the show live but can follow along on Twitter and vote based on these reactions).

The three athletes still in the running to win season 26 of “DWTS” are two Olympic figure skaters — Tonya Harding and Adam Rippon — and Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman. Each will dance twice on the “DWTS” final: once as a tribute to their time on the show and in freestyle form. Scroll down if you want to know the songs and dance styles in advance.

You can show support for your favorite sports star by going online and casting your ballot at dwtslivevote.

Tonight's the night where Dancing With the Stars: Athletes announces yet another Mirrorball Trophy winner! Fans are anxiously awaiting the season finale, where either Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber, Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess, or Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson will make first place. Keep reading to learn more about the final three contestants! Tonya Harding Tonya, 47, is a retired American figure skater. She won her first national figure skating title in 1991 and nailed a triple axel during her competition — making her the first American woman to do so. Three years later, her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly hired a hit man to attack fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympic trials. Tonya pled guilty to hindering the investigation, and in turn ruined her future as a competitor for the Us. In 2017, her biopic I, Tonya, hit theaters — catapulting the controversial athlete back into the public eye. A post shared by...

You aren’t the only one who’s upset about Mirai Nagasu’s surprising “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” elimination: Adam Rippon is heartbroken that his Bff didn’t join him in the final three.

“Honestly, I am hurting for her so much right now,” he told “Access Hollywood.” “It’s really hard. It’s so hard.”

Though she had the second highest scores of the season, behind Rippon, Nagasu was a casualty of the semifnal’s triple elimination, missing out on a final three spot to Josh Norman and Tonya Harding. Rippon and Nagasu, who had been touring all season on “Stars on Ice,” had a goal of making the final together, so after Tom Bergeron announced his name, Rippon couldn’t fully celebrate just yet. “When we heard our name, the first thing I thought was, ‘Ok, c’mon, Mirai, c’mon, Mirai,’” he said. “It was the first thing that I thought.

If you could give the Mirrorball trophy to any of the remaining three pros on “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,” it would definitely be Sharna Burgess. The two-time runner-up received 51 percent of the vote in a recent poll asking which pro you want to win.

That result is in line with the 64 percent of readers who earlier this season voted that Burgess deserved to win. None of the three have ever won before, but Burgess has the overdue factor. Currently in her 11th straight season, she is the veteran of the pro slate this season and is the only one of the final three who has made a final. In addition to her second-place finishes with Nick Carter (Season 21) and James Hinchcliffe (Season 23), she placed third with Noah Galloway in Season 20.

“I would love to see Sharna lift up that Mirrorball trophy! Honestly, she’s long overdue for a win.

We thought Mirai Nagasu was a lock for the “Dancing with the Stars” finals along with her Olympic figure skating teammate Adam Rippon. They were the two top contestants based on judges’ scores after three weeks of competition, but at the end of the semifinals she was unexpectedly eliminated with Jennie Finch Daigle and Chris Mazdzer,while Rippon advanced to the championship round with Tonya Harding and Josh Norman. Did she deserve to be sent home? Not according to our readers. Scroll down to see our complete poll results.

Nagasu was robbed according to 66% of respondents. Another 4% thought she, Finch Daigle, and Mazdzer all should have made the finals, so a whopping total of 70% of “DWTS” fans thought she should have been one of the final three vying for the Mirror Ball Trophy on Monday night, May 21. This is somewhat reminiscent of the last time a pair of figure-skating teammates went head-to-head on the show.

The “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” won’t be handing out perfect scores like Oprah hands out cars. 44 percent of our readers think only one of the three finalists will see triple 10s for one dance.

Because of the shortened season (and to uphold some credibility), a perfect score has yet to be awarded on “Dancing.” But the finale is the ideal time for the judges to trot one out. If our readers are correct that only one person will receive a 30, it will probably be Adam Rippon. The overwhelming favorite since the start of the season, the figure skater has the highest average score, a 27, of the final three. With 24.5, Josh Norman has the third highest and Tonya Harding is right behind him at 23.8.

See ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’ finale: Everything you need to know about the May 21 show – start time, dances, songs and how to vote

And...

“Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” ends tonight just like it began, with Adam Rippon as the front-runner to win the Mirror Ball Trophy. The Olympic figure skater has been the favorite to win this special four-week season of “DWTS” ever since the cast was announced, and he has been the highest-scoring contestant on the judges’ leaderboard every week. Is he truly unbeatable?

Every week our readers enter their predictions for who will stay and who will go on “DWTS,” and as of this writing Rippon gets leading odds of 4/9 based on support from 69% of users who have entered their picks in our predictions center. He’s followed by football player Josh Norman with 4/1 odds and another figure skater, Tonya Harding, with 9/1 odds.

See ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’ finale: Everything you need to know about the May 21 show – start time, dances, songs and how to vote

But could there be an upset?...

The “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” finale airs live on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. Ct/8 p.m. Et on Monday, May 21. Only three sports stars are still competing to win the season 26 Mirror Ball: two figure skaters — Tonya Harding and Adam Rippon — and Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman. Each of these athletes will dance twice over the course of the hour-long show: once in tribute to their time on the show and then again in freestyle form. We’ve done some digging and discovered the songs and dance styles for each routine in the show. Scroll down if you want to know these in advance and to learn how to vote for your favorite.

The only viewers who’ll get to vote on the finale are those tuning in live in the Eastern and Central time zones. They can cast their ballots either online at ABC.com or via Facebook.

Does Adam Rippon have the Mirrorball trophy all sewn up on “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes”? In all likelihood, yes, but you can’t count out Josh Norman and Tonya Harding, who could make the battle for No. 2 and maybe even No. 1 interesting. Football players have a great track record, and who thought Harding would even make the final a month ago?

The final three will face off Monday with two routines: one unlearned dance and their highly anticipated freestyles. But before they do, let’s size them up.

See Could Tonya Harding make the ‘Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’ final two — and win! — based on these telling stats?

Tonya Harding

For her: natural dance ability, redemption narrative, performance factor. The redemption story can only take you so far; you still have to have the goods. But more impressive than Harding’s skills is her capability to really sell a routine.

The Mirror Ball Trophy will be handed out on May 21 on “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,” ending this special four-week event, and we’re pretty sure we know who will win. Adam Rippon has been the front-runner since before the season even began, and after topping the judges’ leaderboard for three weeks in a row that hasn’t changed. He gets leading odds of 2/5 as of this writing, but our users are less sure of who will place second.

Rippon has had a significant advantage — as do all figure skaters — in that his athletic career prepared him for the choreography, musicality, and artistry of ballroom dancing. In the season premiere he tied football player Josh Norman for the highest judges’ score. Then in week two he tied his Olympic figure skating teammate Mirai Nagasu for the top spot. And in the week-three semifinals he had the top of the leaderboard...

Tonya Harding would probably tell you herself she’s the underdog in the “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” final three. No one, not even she, thought she’d get this far. Our odds have her finishing in third, behind Josh Norman and frontrunner Adam Rippon, which would be a very good and respectable placement for someone many thought would and wanted to get the boot in the first episode. But could she actually go even further and claim the Mirrorball trophy? “Dancing” history shows that, more often than not, the final two tends to be a his-and-her battle.

In the show’s previous 25 seasons, 17 final twos have come down to a female and a male celebrity. The longest streak was eight seasons, from Season 5 through 12. Of these 17, the woman prevailed 10 times. While each season is a very specific case, this data isn’t that shocking; female dancers — whether the pro...

Last season, Jordan Fisher set a record with nine perfect scores en route to winning “Dancing with the Stars.” That was a regular season, giving him ample time to accrue those 10 paddles. With “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” lasting just four weeks, the judges have yet to give anyone a perfect score. That will likely change on Monday’s final, but we could have the first “Dancing” winner with no perfect score on his or her resume.

All 25 of the show’s previous champs have earned at least one perfect score. Only Kelly Monaco received one. Lest we forget, Monaco won the first season, which lasted six weeks. She didn’t get her 30 until the finale for her freestyle. That scenario might play out again this season, with one person — probably heavy favorite Adam Rippon — getting a 30. The judges tend to be magnanimous when it comes to freestyles and surely...

The one-hour finale of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” is on Monday, May 21 and will air live beginning at 7 p.m. Ct/8 p.m. Et. The three sports stars still in the running – Olympic figure skaters Tonya Harding and Adam Rippon as well as NFL player Josh Norman — will each take to the dance floor twice during a jam-packed 60-minute show.

Their first dance will be inspired by their time on “DWTS.” Harding and her partner Sasha Farber will glide through a Viennese Waltz set to the song “The Time of My Life” by David Cook. Norman and his partner Sharna Burgess will dance the foxtrot to the tune “Conqueror,” which was recorded by Estelle with Jussie Smollett from the cast of the Fox drama “Empire.” And Rippon and his partner Jenna Johnson will perform a jazz number set to the Irving Berlin standard “Anything You Can Do” from the...

With Chris Mazdzer and Witney Carson’s elimination on Monday’s “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,” we are guaranteed a new pro winner. Sharna Burgess, Sasha Farber and Jenna Johnson have never taken home the Mirrorball — and only one of them, Burgess, has even been to a final. Earlier this season, 64 percent of our readers said the two-time runner-up deserves to finally nab a victory, but who do you actually want to win?

Currently in her 11th straight season, Burgess is the longest tenured pro of this season’s cast. She has a third-place finish with Noah Galloway (Season 20) and two second-place finishes with Nick Carter (Season 21) and James Hinchcliffe (Season 23), so you could say she’s “earned” a win. She and Josh Norman came out firing in Week 1, had a dip in Week 2, but recovered with a great contemporary routine — with one helluva lift — and a victory over Mazdzer...

Like many fans, Mirai Nagasu is “very disappointed” at falling just short of the “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” final, but she’s taking it all in stride. “I am so grateful for this opportunity and, yes, I’m very disappointed,” she tells “Entertainment Tonight.” “You know, sometimes life throws you lemons and you make lemonade with it.

Despite being one of the strongest and highest-scoring contestants of the season, Nagasu and her partner Alan Bersten were eliminated in Monday’s ruthless triple elimination. “We usually like surprises, but this wasn’t a good surprise,” Bersten quips.

See Did Mirai Nagasu, Chris Mazdzer and Jennie Finch Daigle deserve to be eliminated in the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ semifinals?

The pair had scored a 35 for their quickstep, but lost the Ballroom Battle and thus, two extra points, to Nagasu’s Bff Adam Rippon, who advanced to the final with Josh Norman and Tonya Harding.

Success on Dancing With the Stars is not just about being fleet with your feet, it’s also a matter of establishing a heartwarming story that resonates with the judges and the fans. And in a season as short as the current Athletes edition, those connections have to be established quickly. Last night’s semifinal episode was “Mvp Night,” […]

Source: uInterview

The post ‘Dancing With the Stars: Athletes’ Recap: Adam Rippon, Tonya Harding & Josh Norman Make Top 3 appeared first on uInterview.

Well it wouldn’t be a season of “Dancing with the Stars” without at least one shocking elimination — even an abbreviated season like this one. Six sports stars went into Monday night’s semifinals with a shot at the Mirror Ball Trophy, but only three advanced to the finals on May 21: football player Josh Norman and figure skaters Adam Rippon and Tonya Harding. So the three who got the boot were softball player Jennie Finch Daigle (who we were expecting to go home), luger Chris Mazdzer (who we knew was on the bubble) and figure skater Mirai Nagasu (who we were convinced would make the finals). What did you think of those outcomes? Vote in our poll at the bottom of this post.

Finch Daigle had her work cut out for her. After a strong first week of competition, she fell behind in week two and again in week three,...

After performing their individual routines during the “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” semifinals, Olympic figure skating teammates and best friends Adam Rippon and Mirai Nagasu went head-to-head in a ballroom battle for extra points. It might have been the closest of the face-offs given how evenly matched the two competitors were, but while the battle was decided by a narrow margin, the outcomes couldn’t have been more different: Rippon won the pairing and then advanced to the finals with Tonya Harding and Josh Norman, while Nagasu was unexpectedly eliminated. Would those extra two points have made the difference for Nagasu if she had won the battle? Watch above and decide for yourself.

Rippon and Nagasu performed dueling jives, and the side-by-side routines were fast-paced and jam-packed with choreographic content, which is doubly impressive when you consider that it was one of two dances they had to learn in week three of the competition.

“It’s all very well getting it up, but it’s the dismount that’s hard,” said “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” judge Bruno Tonioli about Josh Norman‘s contemporary dance during the semifinals. And for once the double entendre — there might have even been a triple entendre in there — seemed genuinely unintentional. Tonioli was referring to the acrobatic lifts executed by Norman and his pro partner Sharna Burgess. Their emotional and athletic routine received 9s from all four judges, which helped Norman secure a spot in the “DWTS” finals on May 21 alongside Adam Rippon and Tonya Harding. Watch it above.

The six semifinalists performed routines inspired by the MVPs in their lives, and Noman picked his siblings. “Growing up with four brothers was pretty much survival of the fittest. You had to fight your way to the top,” said Norman about the intense family dynamic. “It definitely was like a wolf pack.

We admittedly didn’t have high hopes for Tonya Harding going into the semifinals on “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes.” She ranked fifth in our predictions for the Mirror Ball Trophy with 25/1 odds, and she was second in our elimination predictions with 5/1 odds in a night when three people were going to be sent home, so it looked like there was a good chance she would be one of them. But she surprised us by advancing to the finals along with fellow figure skater Adam Rippon and football star Josh Norman. And her week-three rumba undoubtedly helped. Watch it above.

The six semifinalists all performed routines in honor of the MVPs in their lives, and Harding picked her father, who died nine years ago. “When I lost my dad I lost my very best friend … When I was young my dad had to leave, but he never abandoned me … He was always there for me,...

All the stars aligned for Adam Rippon in the semifinals of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes.” He performed a contemporary routine, a style of dance that almost always draws big scores from the judges. He dedicated the dance to the Mvp in his life, his mother, which gave the routine major heart-tugging appeal. And he danced to the song “O” by Coldplay, which he actually skated to at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.

“It really embodies a lot of my own story,” said Rippon about the song and the dance. “I came out in my early-20s, and my mom was always there for me. It didn’t matter to her. At the end of every day she was always there to tell me she loved me.” And the judges loved it too. He received 10s from Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and guest judge David Ross, and a 9 from Len Goodman,...

There are no two ways about it. After Dancing With the Stars: Athletes Season 26 Episode 3, you were either thrilled or devastated as three couples made it to the finals...

And three were sent packing.

Who had danced their way to the top of the leaderboard, and who had to pack up and head home?

Let's break it down.

Mirai Nagasu and Alan Bersten came out first with a sassy 1940s inspired Quickstep to “Bo$$” by Ray Chew Live.

I love Mirai. I loved that gold dress and her dancing was spot on, but I'm afraid she loses the audience when she tries to trash talk her buddy, Adam Rippon. I know it's all in good fun, but Adam generally cheers her on, and the imbalance simply doesn't play well.

Plus Mirai is quieter, which doesn't always add up to more votes.

On the flipside, I loved seeing her parents and...

Three weeks in and only three contestants to go! We will not lie, this shortened season of DWTS is weirding us out. No one is getting real critiques. No one has had time to improve. Few have had time to make us care. Everything feels like it's on fast-forward! It's just a strange Dancing with the Stars experience.  That said, we're not that shocked by the final three. We did imagine Mirai Nagasu would be there in a trio of Olympic skaters, but she actually lost out to Josh Norman, who joins Adam Rippon and Tonya Harding in next week's finale.  Tonya earned a 33/40 this week for her emotional dance for her dad, Josh earned four nines for his contemporary, and Adam very nearly had a...

And just like that, Dancing With the Stars‘ all-athletes edition has reached its semifinals. Just when you were getting used to this cycle’s breakneck pace — if you were getting used to it, that is — Season 26 is about to come to an abrupt end.

Monday’s broadcast of the ABC series was especially brutal, as half of the remaining competitors were booted before next week’s finale, bringing the crop from six teams to just three. But are the right pairs moving on?

Before we get to the results, here’s a brief rundown of the night’s performances:

Mirai Nagasu...

“Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” wasn’t slowing down in the third week of its special four-week season — just the opposite. There were six celebrity contestants left in the competition going into Monday night’s show: softball player Jennie Finch Daigle, luger Chris Mazdzer, football player Josh Norman, and figure skaters Tonya Harding, Mirai Nagasu and Adam Rippon. But only three of them made it to the finals on May 21. So who advanced to the final round, and who fell victim to the unforgiving triple elimination? Scroll down to find out in our minute-by-minute live blog with all of Monday’s developments.

The six sports stars each had to learn two dances this week. The first was a regular individual routine to a new dance style with their pro partners: Rippon and Norman tackled contemporary numbers while Mazdzer performed a foxtrot, Finch Daigle delivered a Viennese waltz, Nagasu contended with...

Voting for week three of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” opens as soon as the show starts on Monday, May 14 at 5p.m. Pt/8 p.m. Et. Show support for your favorite sports star by going online and casting your ballot at either dwtslivevote.com or on Facebook. You can change your votes throughout the show (just remember to click “save”). And follow along with our live blog for the semifinals here.

Voting for this special edition of “DWTS” can also be done via toll-free phone calls (see the list of numbers below). You get six votes per method to allocate among the remaining half dozen couples. This number will drop down to just five votes per method in the fourth and final week of the competition.

The window for phone voting closes at 2 a.m. Pt/5 a.m. Et on Tuesday, May 15 while online voting ends at 5 p.m.