All About: Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to 32 countries (as of November 2010). Australia was the first country to adapt the show, and versions have also been produced in Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United States. As a result, the series became the world's most popular television program among all genres in 2006 and 2007, according to the magazine Television Business International, reaching the Top 10 in 17 countries. The show pairs a number of celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, who each week compete by performing dances. The dancers are then scored by a panel of judges. Viewers are given a certain amount of time to place votes for their favorite dancers, either by telephone or (in some countries) online. The couple with the lowest combined score provided by the judges and viewers is eliminated. This process continues until there are only two or three couples left, at which point one couple is declared the champion.

Franchise records

Professionals achieving three wins

Derek Hough, Raimondo Todaro and Kym Johnson are the only professionals in the history of the franchise to have achieved three championship wins. Derek Hough won his first championship in season seven of the American version of Dancing With the Stars with model/host Brooke Burke, his second in season ten with singer Nicole Scherzinger, and his third in season eleven with actress Jennifer Grey. Raimondo Todaro won his first championship in the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars called "Ballando con le stelle" with the former Miss Italy and television hostess, Cristina Chiabotto, during the second season of the show. He won again with the Olympic long-jump silver medalist, Fiona May, during the third season of the show. Four years later, Todaro won the sixth season of the show with the actress, Veronica Olivier. Kym Johnson is the only professional dancer to have won three championship from two different versions of Dancing with the Stars. She won season nine with Donny Osmond and season twelve with Hines Ward on the American version of "Dancing With the Stars" and season two of the Australian version with Tom Williams.

Professionals achieving two back-to-back wins

Cheryl Burke, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Raimondo Todaro, Stefano Oliveri, Kelly Kainz, Marianne Eihilt, Leila Akcelik, Christian Polanc and Rafał Maserak made international Dancing With The Stars franchise history by becoming the only professional dancers to win two championships back-to-back. Cheryl Burke won her first Dancing With The Stars USA Championship with the 98 Degrees boy band member Drew Lachey in the second season, and she won her second championship with American National Football League star Emmitt Smith in the third season. Julianne Hough won her first championship with the Olympic Speed Skating Gold Medalist Apolo Anton Ohno in the fourth season, and her second championship with the Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves in the fifth season. Derek Hough achieved back to back championships with singer Nicole Scherzinger in season ten, and then with actress Jennifer Grey in season eleven. Raimondo Todaro won his first championship in the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars called "Ballando con le stelle" with the former Miss Italy and television hostess Cristina Chiabotto during second season of the show. He won again with the Olympic long jump silver medalist Fiona May during the third season of the show. Stefano Oliveri won his first championship on Dancing with the Stars New Zealand with his dance partner Suzanne Paul, an infomercial hostess in New Zealand during season three, and he won his second title during season four with the netball champion Temepara George. Kelly Kainz won her first championship on the Austrian version of Dancing with the Stars with singer Manuel Ortega in the second season, and she won her second title in season three with singer, comedian and TV host Klaus Eberhartinger. Marianne Eihilt won the season four of the Danish version of Dancing with the Stars, called Vild med dans, along with actor Robert Hansen. She won season five with shot put Olympic medalist Joachim B. Olsen. Leila Akcelik won the season three of the Belgian version of Dancing with the Stars, called Sterren op de Dansvloer, along with actor Antony Arandia. She won season four with actor Louis Talpe.

Other professionals with two wins

Mark Ballas, Christian Polanc, and Andy Kainz are the only professional dancers to have won two seasons that were not back-to-back. Mark Ballas won in Season six of the American version with his partner Kristi Yamaguchi, and he won in Season eight with his partner Shawn Johnson. Christian Polanc won the German version of Dancing with the Stars with Soap-Opera actor Susan Sideropoulos in season two and won the fourth Season with Maite Kelly, member of The Kelly Family. Andy Kainz, the husband of Kelly Kainz, won in the first season of the Austrian version of Dancing with the Stars with musical singer Marika Lichter, and he won again in season five with journalist and TV host Claudia Reiterer. Together, Andy and Kelly Kainz won four out of five championships in Austria.

Other records for participating dancers

In New Zealand, Carol-Ann Hickmore is the only female professional dancer to win. She won in the Season two with the former rugby player Norm Hewitt. Ms. Hickmore later became a dancing judge for Seasons three and four after the Season one judge Donna Dawson had to leave the program. In Austria, Andy Kainz is the only male professional dancer to win; his wife Kelly Kainz won in season 2 after he had won in season 1. Julianne Hough became the youngest professional dancer in Dancing with the Stars in the United States when she danced with the speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno during Season four at the age of 18. Shawn Johnson became the youngest contestant on Dancing with the Stars in the United States in Season eight at the age of 17. She went on to become the youngest-ever winner of the dance contest.
Edyta Sliwinska is the longest tenured professional dancer in "Dancing With The Stars", appearing in seasons 1 through 10. In the original British version of the TV program, Strictly Come Dancing, Anton du Beke, Erin Boag, and Brendan Cole have danced in each season. In the New Zealand version, Rebecca Nicholson is the only professional dancer to have appeared in every season. Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett were the first couple ever to receive a "perfect forty" score in the contest, this was in Strictly Come Dancing in the Season two finale. Malena Belafonte and Silas Holst were the first couple to receive a "perfect forty" in the semi-finals 2009 in the Danish version season 6.

The second season went on air on March 31, 2011 on Vizion Plus, and Tring Digital.
Judges: Ilir Shaqiri, Iva Tiço and Arian Çani.
Presented by: Amarda Toska and Ermal Mamaqi.

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