Dancing with the Stars is a reality show airing on American Broadcasting Company in the United States. The show is based on the United Kingdom BBC Television series Strictly Come Dancing and is part of BBC Worldwide's international Dancing with the Stars franchise.
The concept of the show is to pair a celebrity with a professional dancer. The professional dancer is responsible for teaching the celebrity how to perform specific dances, which they perform live on the show each week. They are scored by a panel of three professional ballroom judges, as well as by votes from viewers, who can call in, text or vote online. The celebrity/professional team who receives the lowest total score (a combination of the judges' scores and the number of votes) each week is eliminated from the competition.
The current edition of the series is hosted by Emmy Award-winning game show host and television personality, Tom Bergeron, and E! reporter Samantha Harris. In season 1, Bergeron's co-host was Lisa Canning. For the first three weeks of the fifth season, season two celebrity champion Drew Lachey co-hosted with Bergeron while Harris was on maternity leave. The panel of judges consists of Len Goodman (head judge), Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli. Harold Wheeler is the musical director. The announcements for the show's titles ("Live from Hollywood, This is "Dancing With the Stars") and introductions for the dances and judges' scores were recorded in the United Kingdom by Alan Dedicoat.
Dancing with the Stars is broadcast live from CBS Television City in Los Angeles in Studio 46. American Idol is housed next door in Studio 36.
Although the first three seasons were not aired in the UK, Season 4 was broadcast on BBC One on Sunday afternoons from Sunday 15th July 2007. Season 5 started airing on UKTV Gold in the UK starting September 28, 2007.
