ABC "Dancing With the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba issued a warning to competitors ahead of the semi-finals.
“Dancing With the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba took some time to issue a warning to semi-finalists ahead of the Monday, November 14, 2022 episode of the show.
Inaba posted on her Instagram Stories the night before the show with some advice.
“To all the semi-finalists: Please…No lifts tomorrow night,” she wrote. “In watching the shows back, I see I may have missed a lift or two.”
She added, “The competition is very close so let’s keep the rules in mind. Wishing you all the best!”
Inaba Has Been Known As the ‘Lift Police’ in the Past
Carrie Ann Inaba has been known as the lift police in the past, as she is the judge who is most known for pointing out when contestants perform lifts that are not supposed to be in certain types of dances.
Inaba has defended her position in an article on Parade.com, saying that the rule was not invented by her.
“I know it upsets people, but it is a rule,” she wrote.
Lifts aren’t allowed in the Rumba, Cha Cha, Jive, Paso Doble, Samba, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, or Quickstep. They are allowed in other types of dances, however, meaning that couples who are performing other types of dances will be allowed lifts. Types of dances that can include lifts are the Jitterbug, the Argentine Tango, the Charleston, the Salsa, Jazz, and Contemporary.
According to the National Dance Council of America’s 2022 Rule Book, a lift is “any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner.”
Inaba Defended the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Judges
After his elimination from the competition on Monday, November 7, professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev told Page Six that he was “disappointed” by the judges.
“I’m definitely disappointed,” he told the outlet and other reporters. “I think what’s hard is, this show becomes your life. For the past 10 weeks, this has been every second of [our] day … I mean, you just breathe, and sleep, and even dream of this, of what’s happening on the floor, right?”
Chigvintsev also told reporters that it was hard to not take the elimination personally.
“I think this week [was] hard because we work so hard to take in the correction from the judges and to, like, really deliver,” he told reporters. “And when you work so hard to bring the emotion out, and then you actually do it, but you don’t get the score, that’s what’s hard.”
Carrie Ann Inaba took to Instagram after seeing Chigvintsev’s comments to clarify how she felt about D’Amelio’s dance and what she meant when she said she wanted to see more emotion from the couple. She started off by saying that she doesn’t usually respond, but she wanted to make an exception.
“I was impressed with how you took our comments to heart and how you coached her into a place where she could be vulnerable… I did see a beautiful and heart opening breakthrough in a few moments of the dance,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “And those moments were touching and powerful.”
She then addressed Chigvintsev’s comments about the judges possibly not recognizing the effort put into the dance.
“I just want to say that I did see the efforts,” she shared. “And I saw some moments where she allowed the emotional expression we were all looking for. It wasn’t throughout the whole dance, but there was so much progress.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Disney+.