Dancing With The Stars has become a huge sensation across the country. Fans new and old are tuning in and voting for their favorite contestants more than ever. Dancing With The Stars has always been popular, but never as much as now. As season 33 comes to an end as quickly as it began, there’s so much good to look back on. We’ve had an unforgettable cast, entertaining storylines, and of course amazing dancing.
This season kicked off on Sept 17 with 13 new celebrities ready to hit the dance floor. This year’s cast included a wide variety of contestants from olympic athletes to bachelor nation icons. Fans have grown to love every one of these stars and each one will hold a special place in history. This season’s cast included four unique athletes; NFL Wide Receiver Danny Amendola, NBA Center Dwight Howard, Olympic Gymnast Steven Nedoroscik, and Olympic Rugby Player Ilona Maher. The majority of the cast included television actors; Tori Spelling, Eric Roberts, Reginald VelJohnson, and Chandler Kinney. Along with reality television stars; Phaedra Parks, and Bachelor nation stars Jenn Tran and Joey Graziadei. Other celebrities included model Brooks Nader, and first ever Con Artist in show history, Anna Delvey. All these stars left their mark on the show no matter how far they made it into the competition. They all contributed to make season 33 an iconic one for the books.
Every week this season came with memorable dances and iconic moments. Tuesday nights became circled on the calendar as a night all DWTS fans looked forward to. After weeks of competition, 13 celebrities became 5 as the finale arrived. The final five stars going into the finale were Amendola, Nedoroscik, Maher, Kinney, and Graziadei. These five showed viewers their dedication to improving and created fan connections to rack in their votes each week. In the finale each celebrity got to perform a redemption dance chosen by the judges. Along with a fan favorite freestyle where choreography and fun could run wild on the dance floor. The finale took place on Nov 26 with a three hour primetime special. Other than getting to see our favorite couples dance for the final time, we got to see performances from the other pros, eliminated contestants, and a special appearance from season 32 champion Xochitl Gomez. With all the festivities this was sure to be a finale to remember.
After a combination of judges scores and fan votes, the final tally was recorded and ready to reveal the season 33 champion. Fans were passionate more than ever about voting for their favorites, shattering voting records week after week. Usually fans have a pretty good idea of who will (or should) win, however this season it was anyone’s game.
“Fan bases are huge this year, so now anyone could win and it’s a lot harder to tell,” said Senior Stephanie Bulat. “It seems voting is more important than judges scores”
At the end of evening, the results were revealed. Amendola was first announced as 5th, followed by Nedoroscik in 4th, and Kinney in 3rd. The final two contestants came down to Graziadei vs Maher, two dancers who have greatly improved and collected massive fan bases. After a long awaited suspense, Alfonso Ribero announced Graziadei the winner of the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Confetti shot across the ballroom as everyone celebrated the well deserved winner.
“I was rooting for Joey since the beginning” Said Bulat, “he improved so much and was fun to watch, so I’m super excited he got the win he deserved”.
Now that season 33 has come to an end, fans already can’t wait for next season. With the record high views this season brought, the celebrities lined up next should be better than ever. Regardless, these stars will have a special place in our hearts, and moving on from this season will be difficult. All we can do now is wait until the next wave of stars take the dance floor next fall.
