On Nov. 21, “Dancing With The Stars” Season 31 came to a magnificent close, with social media star Charli D’Amelio and partner Mark Ballas walking away with the coveted Mirrorball trophy. Bachelorette star Gabby Windey placed second, actor and comedian Wayne Brady placed third and drag queen Shangela placed fourth.
Week 9 was the semifinals, featuring actors Daniel Durant and Trevor Donovan along with the aforementioned finalists. Donovan was eliminated immediately with no chance of a judge save, and Durant was eliminated after the four judges chose Shangela to move on to the finals. The stars were asked to perform one ballroom dance and one Latin dance, and D’Amelio and Windey received perfect scores on both.
Week 10 came with two dances from each finalist, and many group dances performed by returning stars from prior weeks. The first dance required of the finalists was a redemption dance, where a judge was assigned to guide the star in a style that they had previously not performed well in. The second dance was a freestyle dance, where the stars were encouraged to let their strengths shine and give it their all. D’Amelio performed a beautiful piece about rediscovering her love of dance, Windey displayed her Fosse skills with a rendition of the “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago,” Brady tapped into his hip-hop talents with a fun and funky number, and Shangela pulled out all the stops to spread a message of love and joy to the queer community. Both Windey and D’Amelio scored perfectly in both dances, granting them spots at the top of the leaderboard.
One of the highlights of the episode was the triumphant return of actor Selma Blair, who withdrew from the show during Week 5 due to health concerns. She had a contemporary dance prepared around the time of her withdrawal that she never performed, but graced the stage with for the finale. She left the audience in awe, as she always does, and left no dry eye in the ballroom.
While the end of every season is chock-full of emotions and goodbyes, this season’s finale was particularly sad. At the end of Week 9, Len Goodman, a judge of 17 years, announced that he will be retiring from the show after the finals. Nothing has been announced about a replacement judge, but the myriad of support sent in from Goodman’s friends and colleagues, along with an honorary Mirrorball trophy gifted by the “Dancing With The Stars” team, is a sure sign that he will be greatly missed.
Little is known about Season 32 of “Dancing With The Stars”, but it can be expected for the cast of stars and professionals to be announced in the early fall of next year. All that can be said is that the next season will have a tough act to follow after such an inspiring and entertaining 2022 season.
