‘Dancing with the Stars’ Gets Personal With ‘Most Memorable Year’ and OG Pros Pay Unforgettable Tribute to Len Goodman
It will surely be a night to remember during Dancing with the Stars season 32 on ABC. During the “Most Memorable Year” episode, the remaining 10 celebs will dance to songs important to their personal history. Also, eight OG pros return to pay an unforgettable tribute to the late Len Goodman, celebrating his life and DWTS legacy.
‘Dancing with the Stars Most Memorable Year’: Stars celebrate meaningful moments
Dancing with the Stars “Most Memorable Year” is a fan-favorite episode because it focuses on one specific year and song important to a competing celebrity. They honor a pivotal year in their lives, reflecting on milestone moments that are joyful, sad, or unforgettable, celebrated via music and dance.
Week 5 of the ABC series features the remaining 10 stars as they perform ballroom standards such as Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, Paso Doble, and Contemporary. Through these dances, they will interpret the emotions that made their year of choice unforgettable.
Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber will perform a Viennese Waltz to “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. Following, Mira Sorvino and Gleb Savchenko will dance Contemporary to “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper.
Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy glide across the floor in a Viennese Waltz to “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez, and Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov perform the same style of dance to “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish.
Following, Lele Pons and Brandon Armstrong express themselves via Contemporary to “I’ll Stand By You” by Pretenders, and Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev dance the same style to “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez.
Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach will perform a Quickstep to “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson, while Harry Jowsey and Rylee Arnold will perform a dance Contemporary to “Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammer.
Finally, Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd show off their moves with a Paso Doble to “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf, and Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater dance Contemporary to “Rise Up” by Andra Day.
OG pros return to honor head judge Len Goodman
Eight OG pros return to the ballroom to honor late head judge Len Goodman with a dance tribute to the song “Moon River” by Henry Mancini. The former Dancing with the Stars pros pay homage to the man who pushed them professionally and whose praise they searched for as they faced the judges’ panel weekly.
Kym Johnson Herjavec, Anna Trebunskaya, Karina Smirnoff, Edyta Sliwinska, Tony Dovolani, Louis van Amstel, Maks Chmerkovskiy, and Mark Ballas return for the ballroom performance. They will be joined by judge Derek Hough and Dancing With the Stars co-host Julianne Hough, who once competed in front of Goodman as pros.
The husband-and-wife team of pro dancers Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson choreograph the tribute. Look for the dance to have all the traditional ballroom elements that Goodman loved, with enough pizazz that would cause him to raise his 10 scoring paddle.
Did Len Goodman ever dance on ‘Dancing with the Stars?’
Len Goodman was an accomplished ballroom dancer and an elder statesman to the competing celebrities and pros during each season. Sandwiched between fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, Goodman was the one judge all competitors wanted praise from and, perhaps, a score of 10.
Goodman took to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom floor with Lisa Vanderpump in 2013. The quick number featured a kiss on the cheek from the businesswoman and reality television star.
The late head judge also demonstrated his skills with Nastia Liukin during a memorable Vietnamese Waltz. Though Liukin began the dance with her then-partner Derek Hough, Goodman swapped places with the pro for the final moments of the dance number.
Dancing with the Stars “Most Memorable Year” and a touching tribute to Len Goodman will take place Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, beginning at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. The series streams live on Disney+ and airs the next day on Hulu.
