I Was There! Live Taping of Dancing with the Stars

One of the highlights of my trip to Los Angeles for the #ABCTVEvent (in conjunction with the #BigHero6 Event) was attending a live taping of DANCING WITH THE STARS! This was my first show taping, live or otherwise, and it was an amazing experience to go behind the scenes to see how the show comes to life.

It's almost #dwts time!! #abctvevent #bighero6event

A photo posted by Stefanie Fauquet (@mommymusings) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:39pm PST

On stage at Dancing with the Stars ... Make sure you're watching tonight at 8EST #abctvevent #bighero6event A photo posted by Stefanie Fauquet (@mommymusings) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:08pm PST

The DWTS show we attended was on Monday, November 3 (episode 1908 if you keep track!), which paid tribute to well-known twosomes, both real and fictional, during "dynamic duo" night . At the time, there were seven couples competing: Alfonso Ribeiro & Witney Carson, Lea Thompson & Artem Chigvintsev, Sadie Robertson & Mark Ballas, Bethany Mota & Derek Hough, Janel Parrish & Val Chmerkovskiy, Tommy Chong & Peta Murgatroyd, and Michael Waltrip & Emma Slater.

My favorite couples of the night, and my picks for the finals were Alfonso & Witney and Sadie & Mark. You really have to give it up to Alfonso for bringing fun and entertaining dance routines week after week. And Sadie is truly elegant on the dance floor. She really nails each routine beautifully— and she is just as stunning in person!

Michael & Emma were cut this show, and I'm going to be honest— I think everyone saw it coming.

TOM BERGERON, ERIN ANDREWS, MICHAEL WALTRIP, EMMA SLATER — *Photo credit: ABC*

Here's a few fun tidbits that I picked up at the taping of DWTS.

DWTS is a classy production. Audience members dress to the nines for the taping of the show. I wore a long purple dress with sparkly silver heels and even I wasn't the most dressed up.
The show is really live. As an audience member we were on a constant rotation of sitting, standing and clapping. The excitement of the show made the time go by really fast, but I don't think I've ever clapped (or smiled) so much in my life!
The judges make notes and move around during performances to get the best view. The are quite a few cameras on the stage to capture all the angles and sometimes they get in the way of the judges line of sight. It was interesting to me the judges actually got up (sometimes even shooing the cameras away) during the routines. The judging looks legit!
It's incredible how fast the sets change from performance to performance. Almost in its 10th year (19 seasons), DANCING WITH THE STARS is a well oiled machine.
The set is actually quite intimate. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but there weren't that many audience members. There are a few rows on the main floor around and across from the judges, and then two balcony levels. We were seated on the second level, directly across from Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli— a great location for viewing the show!

After the show we were treated to a special meet & greet with some of the couples and dancers from the show at Mixology 101. Everyone was so down to earth and friendly— I felt quite special to have been invited to watch the west coast airing of the show with the actual stars from DWTS! And for the record,Lea Thompson does not age!! She looks AMAZING for being in her fifties— I'm a little sad that she went home last week as I thought she could make it to the finals.

Watch DWTS Tonight on ABC!

Tune into Dancing with the Stars tonight, November 17, at 8pm EST to watch the five remaining couples advance to the Semi-Finals and perform two routines during plugged/unplugged. The semi-finalists including Tommy Chong, Bethany Mota, Janel Parrish, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Sadie Robertson will perform to two different versions of the same song. In the first round of the competition, the couples will perform a Jazz, Quickstep, Samba, Paso Doble or Argentine Tango to an original or “plugged” version of their selected song. In round two of the competition, the couples will perform an Argentine Tango, Rumba, or Contemporary routine to an acoustic or “unplugged” version of that same song. Special musical guests will accompany the unplugged performances including singer Christina Grimmie, who will perform “Love Runs Out,” Time For Three, who will perform “Blame,” and YouTube sensation Noah Guthrie, who will perform his cover of “Problem.” At the end of the night, one couple will be eliminated and four couples will move on to the finals.

Tommy Chong & Peta Murgatroyd - “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell and “unplugged” version by Hannah Peel
Bethany Mota & Derek Hough - “I Want You Back” by Jackson 5 and “unplugged” version by The Civil Wars
Janel Parrish & Valentin Chmerkovskiy - “Blame” by Calvin Harris, featuring a guest “unplugged” performance by Time For Three
Alfonso Ribeiro & Witney Carson - “Love Runs Out” by One Republic, featuring a guest “unplugged” performance by Christina Grimmie
Sadie Robertson & Mark Ballas - “Problem” by Ariana Grande, featuring guest “unplugged” performance by Noah Guthrie

Also, the two-night finale is next week, November 24 & 25 — make sure you're watching to see who takes home the Mirror Ball Trophy!