ABC/Eric McCandless
Dancing With the Stars enters its semi-finals for season 25 and five contestants are left in the competition. This means that casting your votes is extremely important to keep your favorite contenders in the game so that they can head into the finals. Tonight’s live episode airs at 8 p.m. ET, with a time-delayed broadcast at 8 p.m. PT on the ABC network, as usual. For tonight’s show, the pairs will incorporate past performances from the show’s history and, each of the couples will perform either a tango, salsa, Argentine tango, contemporary or waltz for the first dance. The Iconic history dances will then consist of a jazz, paso doblé, jive, tango or Charleston. The official ABC description of tonight’s show reads, “The five remaining couples advance to the Semi-Finals as the competition heats up in anticipation of next week’s crowning of the coveted Mirrorball trophy … The couples have been rehearsing day and night in preparation for a dazzling evening of dancing, in which they will perform two numbers. The first is a regular couple’s dance but with a twist, as the Pros have personally chosen the song for the celebrities. The second is a special Iconic Dance, where each will be challenged to reinterpret an iconic dance from past seasons in this all-important Semi-Finals extravaganza … At the end of the night, based on scores and votes from last Monday, one couple will be eliminated.”
According to the official ABC synopsis, this is the rundown for the first round of performances, this is the rundown of what to expect: Drew Scott and Emma Slater performing that Tango to “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers; Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson dancing a Salsa routine to “Shake” by Yin Yang Twins & Pitbull; Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold performing an Argentine Tango to “Brother” by NEEDTOBREATHE and Gavin DeGraw; Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas executing a Contemporary dance to “Head High” by Alexander Jean; and Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy are performing the Waltz to “To Build a Home” by Cinematic Orchestra. Unfortunately, pro dancer Lindsay Arnold has suffered a knee injury while rehearsing for the show and there’s a chance she may not be able to dance tonight. If Arnold is not cleared to perform, pro dancer Sharna Burgess could step in to take her place this evening. When it comes to tonight’s Iconic Dances, the lineup of performances includes Drew Scott and Emma Slater performing a Jazz dance from season 17 of the show, which was performed by Carbin Bleu and Karina Smirnoff. The routine is to the song “Yeah!” by Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris. Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson are performing a Paso Doblé dance that was performed by Apollo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough during season 4 of the show. The dance is set to “Carnival De Paris” by Dario G. Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold are set to put on a Jive routine from season 22 of the show. It was originally performed by Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas to the song “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner. Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas are dancing a season 18 Tango, which was first executed by Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Meryl Davis to the song “Feel So Close” by Calvin Harris. Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy are performing a Charleston routine originally performed by Amber Riley and fan-favorite Derek Hough to the song “Bang Bang” by will.i.am. This dance was from season 17 of the show.
For the semi-finals tonight, viewers can cast their votes for contestants and/or couples via phone during and up to 60 minutes after the end of the Dancing with the Stars broadcast in each time zone. Online voting is available at ABC.com via http://dwtsvote.abc.go.com/ and on Facebook at http://bit.ly/2o1VO7b. The online voting is open for 24 hours, starting from the very beginning of each episode on the East Coast at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and closing at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PT on Tuesday nights. For those who want to cast their votes over the phone, these are the phone numbers, in alphabetical order, for the remaining contestants: Drew Scott – 1-800-868-3404; Frankie Muniz – 1-800-868-3405; Jordan Fisher – 1-800-868-3406; Lindsey Stirling – 1-800-868-3407 and Victoria Arlen – 1-800-868-3413. When it comes to the number of times viewers can cast their votes, the number of votes you can submit per each voting method is equal to the number of couples still in the competition. Currently, there are 5 contestants still in the mix. So, with five couples remaining, there is a limit of five votes per voting method, as per the rules. You must be 18 years old to vote and, if you wish to vote via Facebook, you must be located in the United States or Canada and have a Facebook account. Don’t forget to cast your votes for your favorite celebrity competitors and their pros or they may be going home next week. As for tonight’s upcoming elimination, the votes are already in and have been factored into the results, which will air live.