Dancing With The Stars (U.S. Season 8)
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| Dancing with the Stars Season 8 | |
|---|---|
Promotional advertisement for season eight made by BLT & Associates |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | March 9, 2009 – May 19, 2009 |
| Additional information | |
| Celebrity winner | Shawn Johnson |
| Professional winner | Mark Ballas |
| All Stars | Shawn Johnson Gilles Marini Melissa Rycroft |
| Season chronology | |
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← Previous 7 Next → 9 |
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Season eight of Dancing with the Stars premiered on Monday, March 9, 2009, as part of ABC's spring line-up. The show generally followed the format of previous seasons, with 13 couples, although there were some changes, including two new dances (Argentine Tango and Lindy Hop), and an occasional dance-off between the bottom two couples, in order to determine who will be eliminated. The show was again hosted by Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris. Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba all returned as judges again this season.
Originally, the season was advertised as the first U.S. season where a husband and wife would compete against each other: rodeo champion Ty Murray and singer-songwriter Jewel. The two had married the previous year after a ten-year courtship. However, just prior to the series, Jewel fractured both her tibias and was unable to perform. She was replaced on the show by Playboy model Holly Madison. Murray chose to continue on the show, and Jewel appeared during the season as a special musical guest.
Nancy O'Dell, the then co-host of Access Hollywood, was also originally announced to be on the show, but was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a torn meniscus, which required surgery. She was replaced by Melissa Rycroft, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who won season 13 of The Bachelor. She only had two days to practice her first dance.
Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson won the competition, beating actor Gilles Marini by less than 1%. She is the youngest champion and second youngest competitor on the series.
Read more about Dancing With The Stars (U.S. Season 8): Overview, Couples, Scoring Chart, Highest and Lowest Scoring Dances, Songs, Dance Chart, Professional Dancer Competition, Musical Guests, Macy's Stars of Dance
Famous quotes containing the words dancing, stars and/or season:
“What was dancing to you then?
We went from the high gate away
To a black hill the other side of men
Where one wild stag stared
At the going day.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“The sage as astronomer.—As long as you still experience the stars as something “above you,” you still lack viewpoint of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Let us have a good many maples and hickories and scarlet oaks, then, I say. Blaze away! Shall that dirty roll of bunting in the gun-house be all the colors a village can display? A village is not complete, unless it have these trees to mark the season in it. They are important, like the town clock. A village that has them not will not be found to work well. It has a screw loose, an essential part is wanting.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)