Beginning in 2005, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” (DWTS) has consistently been one of the most popular competition-driven reality shows on TV. Currently, it’s the No. 1 entertainment program for adults 18-49.
Season 33, which premiered this year, continues to break records in viewership and engagement. This year, viewership for the finale hit 6.36 million views, a number that they haven’t reached since 2020.
DWTS takes celebrities and pairs them with ballroom dancing experts, who train them to perform dances in different styles every week. Every weekly episode, they get scored by professionals and fans of the show, who get to vote by text. Then, they compile the judges’ and fan votes in a 50/50 ratio and decide who gets sent home, a cycle that repeats until the final, where one winner is chosen.
This season, 13 couples were featured on the show. Of the celebrity contestants, Danny Amendola (a former NFL player), Joey Graziadei (from season 28 of “The Bachelor”), Chandler Kinney (an actress), Ilona Maher (an American rugby player) and Stephen Nedoroscik (an American gymnast) all advanced to the finals, surprising viewers with a twist — five couples were in the finale instead of the usual four.
The finale provides an opportunity for the competitors to show how much they’ve truly improved over the course of nine weeks. During this season’s finale, they performed two dances — a freestyle and a redemption dance, which takes one of their weakest dance styles and gives them the chance to recreate it. The freestyle round is often the most anticipated part of the competition, giving finalists creative freedom to showcase their personalities, skills and journeys in their performances.
Amendola and Maher showed notable improvement over the course of the season, and while their freestyles were entertaining, they ultimately fell short of being truly impressive.
In contrast, Nedoroscik’s freestyle dance deeply moved viewers, telling a personal story that highlighted his incredible journey throughout the competition.
Kinney and her partner, Brandon Armstrong, delivered a beautifully executed freestyle that celebrated Black culture, a historic moment as the first Black duo to reach the DWTS finale.
Graziadei’s freestyle, while not fully showcasing his potential, was an undeniably fun and engaging performance. It still demonstrated his dancing ability and the significant improvement he’s made throughout the season.
At the end of finals night, the winners were announced, leaving some viewers satisfied while many others were not. The decision was made after combining the scores from the semifinals, finals and live fan votes. Amendola placed fifth, followed by Nedoroscik in fourth, which set the stage for the top 3. In an unexpected outcome, Kinney finished third, putting Maher in second, with Graziadei as the winner who took home the mirrorball trophy.
We believe the final ranking should have been Maher in fifth, followed by Amendola, then Nedoroscik, leaving either Kinney or Graziadei as the winner.
Maher’s high placement in the actual ranking reflected her status as a fan favorite rather than her actual dancing skills. Kinney’s third-place finish was surprising, especially given her stellar performances each week. While she did have previous dance experience, it was limited and in styles that do not translate into ballroom dance. Despite this, she still excelled in her dances and worked hard to improve. However, due to criticism from fans who felt her dance background gave her an unfair advantage, she placed lower than expected.
It was clear that fan votes played a major role in shaping the outcome of this season, as it has in many seasons prior. However, a new aspect of the recent seasons of DWTS that impacts the fan vote is social media presence, which many of the stars and pros played into.
On TikTok alone, Maher posted over 190 videos documenting her experience on DWTS, a factor that helped her garner more fan votes. Ezra Soza, a new pro this year, has made several TikToks with social media trends, using viral audios such as “I like my sootcase” and “I have nothing.” These videos built tons of hype around the new season and also affected the fan vote. For the most part, the more videos a star posted, the more votes they received.
Season 33 of DWTS proved to be one of the most dynamic and entertaining ones yet, as we’ve seen the amazing chemistry between the cast through videos on social media. The five-couple finale showcased the contestants’ journeys, with each finalist delivering memorable dances that reflected their hard work and growth. While Graziadei took home the mirrorball trophy, sparking both celebration and debate, the season showed the blend of talent, popularity and strategy required to succeed in the competition.
