Dancing With The Stars Season 33 will return after taking election week off to celebrate its huge 500th episode milestone. It couldn’t have happened at a better time, with an unexpected perfect performance on Halloween Night showing this season is still anyone’s game. Now, it appears the biggest challenge for all competitors is on the way, and Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong previewed a bit of what to expect in an interview with CinemaBlend, while already has me so stressed out.
Kinney and Armstrong took some time out of their busy practice schedules to chat with me and share their thoughts about competing in Season 33 in general, as well as the upcoming 500th episode more specifically. Here’s what I learned about what they have planned, as well as their fears about the “Instant Dance” that have me on edge as well.
Chandler Kinney Is Excited About Their First Dance They’ve Planned
Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong have consistently been at the top of Dancing With The Stars‘ leaderboard, but haven’t had a viral moment. Ilona Maher had her Dirty Dancing lift, and Stephen Nedoroscik finally whipped out the pommel horse for a routine, so what can Kinney do? She didn’t go into specifics, but it definitely sounds she has something big planned for the 500th episode. In her words:
Well, we can tease that we have a style that we’re both really excited about. I think Brandon and I have not had too many opportunities to really venture into trick territory. And I think those are so fun because they’re crowd pleasers, they’re flashy and then here’s a lot that goes into them, and so I’m really excited to kind of try my hand at that this week.
I hate to say Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong need a viral performance to win Dancing With The Stars Season 33, but the competition is fierce. Perhaps if they can pull off a dance move that has people online trying to replicate it like Danny Amendola and Witney Carson did, it might just be the push they need to make it to the next stage.
Brandon Armstrong Explained The “Instant Dance,” And I’m Already Stressed Out
Dancing With The Stars‘ 500th episode celebration will be one to watch live either on ABC or with a Disney+ subscription, and not just because it’s a big milestone for the program. Brandon Armstrong told CinemaBlend about the “Instant Dance Challenge,” in which contestants and their pros will be told both their songs and styles of dance live, and have to perform it five minutes afterward.
The pro talked about the challenge and how he and others are feeling about it, saying:
It’s gonna be a really finicky process. I think, a lot of celebrities, Chandler included, love to feel very prepared walking out on the floor. Who wouldn’t, right? If you’re giving a speech in front of 5 million people, you would wanna know what you’re saying for the most part. Even for me. I’ve done this my whole life. I wanna walk on the floor and know what I’m doing. We’re not [going to know]…that in itself, before the process even begins, that induces a certain amount of stress and anxiety just in that fact. And there’s nothing that I, as the pro, or her as a celebrity, can do to change that. It is what it is. I keep saying this, but we better be able to sell water to the ocean on five minutes notice, because that’s really what it’s gonna come down to. It’s gonna be which celebrity and which couple can look like they are the most prepared even when nobody is.
Hearing Brandon Armstrong talk about the “Instant Dance Challenge” gave me an anxiety-induced stomach ache, and I’m not even competing! That said, I think this will be a challenge that gives an advantage to Chandler Kinney and other front-runners, who have consistently shown since the start of this season they’re prepared and can take whatever is thrown at them. I’m certainly more worried for those at the bottom of the leaderboard, but who knows who will thrive under the pressure and who may falter?
As far as what else to expect, Dancing With The Stars will have lots of moments for those who have stuck with the show since the very beginning. Among other things, this includes a choreographed dance by Pasha Pashkov and Daniella Karagach to Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s “Crazy In Love.” It’s a throwback to the first dance the series ever aired, so expect many other deep cuts on this night!
Dancing With The Stars‘ 500th episode will air on ABC and stream on Disney+ on Tuesday, November 12th at 8:00 p.m. ET. Maybe it’s the anxiety talking, but I have a feeling this will be a week where we have another controversial elimination. Here’s hoping that I’m wrong!