Country of origin United States Original network ABC Professional winner Valentin Chmerkovskiy | No. of episodes 14 Celebrity winner Rumer Willis | |
Original release March 16 (2015-03-16) – May 19, 2015 (2015-05-19) | ||
Season twenty of Dancing with the Stars premiered on March 16, 2015, and concluded on May 19, 2015.
Contents
- Couples
- Host and judges
- Dance troupe
- Scoring charts
- Average score chart
- Highest and lowest scoring performances
- Couples highest and lowest scoring dances
- Weekly scores
- Week 1
- Week 2 My Jam Monday
- Week 3 Latin Night
- Week 4 Most Memorable Year
- Week 5 Disney Night
- Week 6 Spring Break Special
- Week 7 Eras Night
- Week 8 Americas Choice
- Week 9 Semifinals
- Week 10 Finals
- Dance chart
- US Nielsen Ratings
- References
This season marked the ten-year anniversary of the show. In honor of the anniversary, the winners, Rumer Willis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy (in his first win as a professional), received a special 10th Anniversary golden Mirrorball Trophy. The runners-up were Riker Lynch and Allison Holker, while Noah Galloway and Sharna Burgess came in third.
Couples
Ten professional partners were revealed on February 11, 2015, on Good Morning America. Professionals from last season not returning include Cheryl Burke and Karina Smirnoff. Kym Johnson returns as a professional dancer after taking three seasons off to judge the Australian version of the show.
Eleven of the celebrity competitors and their professional partners were revealed on Good Morning America on February 24, 2015. Witney Carson's celebrity partner was reported to be Chris Soules from The Bachelor on March 4, 2015; this was confirmed six days later, after that show's finale, by Good Morning America. At the age of 14, Willow Shields is the youngest contestant ever to compete on the show (taking the record from Zendaya, who was 16 when she competed on Season 16). This is the first season since season 15 with only three finalists instead of four, and the first season since season 14 with only four semi-finalists instead of five.
Host and judges
Tom Bergeron returns as host alongside Erin Andrews. Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough, and Bruno Tonioli return as judges.
Dance troupe
Joining Lindsay Arnold, Sasha Farber, Henry Byalikov and Jenna Johnson in the troupe this season are Brittany Cherry (from the tenth season of So You Think You Can Dance and the 2014–15 DWTS Live Tour) and Alan Bersten (also from the tenth season of So You Think You Can Dance).
Scoring charts
Red numbers indicate the lowest score for each week Green numbers indicate the highest score for each week the couple eliminated that week the returning couple that was the last to be called safe the couple earned immunity, and could not be eliminated the winning couple the runner-up couple the third-place coupleAverage score chart
This table only counts for dances scored on a 40-point scale. The dances from the second round in week 9, which were out of 30, were changed to count out of 40 for this table:
Highest and lowest scoring performances
The best and worst performances in each dance according to the judges' 40-point scale (and the second round dances in week 9 which were changed to be out of 40 instead of 30) are as follows:
Couples' highest and lowest scoring dances
Scores are based upon a potential 40-point maximum. Dances from the second round of week 9 were changed from being out of 30 to being out of 40.
Weekly scores
Individual judges' scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Julianne Hough, Bruno Tonioli.
Week 1
Couples performed the cha-cha-cha, foxtrot or jive.
Week 2: My Jam Monday
Couples performed unlearned dances to some of their favorite songs; Argentine tango, rumba, salsa and samba are introduced.
Week 3: Latin Night
Couples performed unlearned Latin-themed dances; paso doble is introduced.
Week 4: Most Memorable Year
Couples performed one unlearned dance to celebrate the most memorable years of their lives; contemporary, jazz, tango and waltz are introduced.
Week 5: Disney Night
Couples performed one unlearned dance to a song from a Disney film; quickstep is introduced.
Running order
Week 6: Spring Break Special
Couples perform one unlearned dance and a team dance; Viennese Waltz is introduced.
Week 7: Eras Night
Couples performed one unlearned dance representing a different historical era; the couple with the highest score earned an immunity from elimination, while the rest of the couples participated in dance-offs for extra points; Charleston is introduced.
For each dance-off, the couple with the highest remaining score (the first team listed) picked the opponent against whom they wanted to dance; the chosen opponent was allowed to pick the dance style (from cha-cha-cha, foxtrot and salsa). The winner of each dance-off earned two points. For winning immunity, Nastia & Sasha received a three-point bonus.
Week 8: America's Choice
Couples performed a routine to an unlearned dance and song that was chosen by the public (Willow and Mark would have danced the Quickstep if they had not been eliminated), as well as a trio dance involving an eliminated pro or a member of the dance troupe. This week saw the return of the results show on Tuesday night, which will return for the remainder of the season.
Week 9: Semifinals
Couples performed a routine to an unlearned dance, as well as a routine coached and styled by one of the four judges. To avoid favoritism, the judges did not score the couple they coached, so the second round dances received a total score out of 30 instead of the usual 40 points.
Additionally, during the show, Bergeron revealed that, for the first time in the show's history, the semifinalists had all had at least one week at the top of the combined leaderboard (judges' scores + audience voting).
Week 10: Finals
On the first night, couples danced to a dance previously performed, as well as a freestyle routine.
On the second night, the remaining couples performed a fusion challenge, having only 24 hours to prepare for the dance.
Dance chart
The celebrities and professional partners danced one of these routines for each corresponding week:
U.S. Nielsen Ratings
The season premiere of the twentieth season of Dancing with the Stars was viewed by 14.16 million viewers, 0.52 million greater than season 19.