Seven Couples Pay Tribute to Their Favorite Music Icons in Week 9!
Honoring their favorite musical icons, seven celebrity and pro-dancer couples will dance to the famous artists' songs and face elimination as they compete for this season's ninth week live, MONDAY, NOV. 9 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Tyra Banks will walk out to Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny from the Block." The first round will be a competitive dance in a style not yet performed by the couples this season as they pay tribute to their musical icons. Afterward, the second round is the Dance-Off Challenge. Two at a time, couples face off against one other on the ballroom floor as they dance head-to-head in the same style at the same time (Justina & Sasha vs. Kaitlyn & Artem dance Cha Cha to "Telephone" by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé, AJ & Cheryl vs. Johnny & Britt dance Jive to "Cup of Life" by Ricky Martin, and Nelly & Daniella vs. Skai & Alan dance Salsa to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham). The winners of each of the three dance-offs will be selected by the judges, and the winning couple from each dance-off will receive two bonus points added to their judges' totals for the night. Nev and Jenna will be granted dance-off immunity based on the leaderboard from last week and the highest cumulative score over the season (due to a tie with Johnny and Britt) and will not have to participate, receiving two bonus points as part of their immunity.
Live votes (via abc.com and SMS/text) will occur each week only during the live broadcast in the EST/CST time zones (but fans in all U.S. time zones may vote within that window). With each subsequent episode, the live vote combined with the judges' scores will be revealed during the broadcast. At the end of the evening, judges will decide which celebrity up for elimination stays in the competition and which celebrity's journey comes to an end.
Vying for America's vote, each couple will dance to a variety of songs including "Toxic" by Britney Spears, "Somebody to Love" by Queen, "If" by Janet Jackson and "Crazy for You" by Madonna, among others.
The couples (with their dance choice and song) are as follows:
- Paying tribute to Britney Spears, Kaitlyn Bristowe ("The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette") and pro Artem Chigvintsev dancing the Argentine Tango to "Toxic" by Britney Spears
- Paying tribute to Janet Jackson, Disney Channel actress Skai Jackson and pro Alan Bersten dancing the Paso Doble to "If" by Janet Jackson
- Paying tribute to Madonna, actress Justina Machado ("One Day at a Time") and pro Sasha Farber dancing the Rumba to "Crazy for You" by Madonna
- Paying tribute to Freddie Mercury, Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean and pro Cheryl Burke dancing theViennese Waltz to "Somebody To Love" by Queen
- Paying tribute to 2Pac, GRAMMY®-winning rapper Nelly and pro Daniella Karagach dancing Jazz to "California Love" by 2Pac, featuring Roger Troutman and Dr. Dre
- Paying tribute to Elton John, TV host Nev Schulman ("Catfish") and pro Jenna Johnson dancing the Jive to "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" by Elton John
- Paying tribute to Amy Winehouse, Olympic figure skater and on-air commentator Johnny Weir and pro Britt Stewart dancing the Quickstep to "Valerie" by Mark Ronson, featuring Amy Winehouse
"Dancing with the Stars" is the hit series in which celebrities perform choreographed dance routines that are judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts. Hosted by supermodel and businesswoman Tyra Banks, the series returns to the ballroom with a lineup of celebrities. Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli are joined by Emmy Award winner and six-time Mirrorball champion Derek Hough at the judges desk. Meanwhile, unable to judge this season live in the ballroom, Len Goodman will still be a part of the show in a different capacity and sharing his ballroom expertise from the UK.
ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" is produced by BBC Studios' Los Angeles production arm. Andrew Llinares and Tyra Banks are executive producers.
