Season 17

Overview

Season seventeen of Dancing with the Stars is the current season which premiered on September 16, 2013. Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke Charvet returned as hosts and Carrie Ann Inaba Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli returned as judges. The Harold Wheeler orchestra and singers also returned to provide the music throughout the season. The cast was announced on September 4, 2013, during Good Morning America. This is the first season since season one to not have a results show. Another change is the elimination of the sky-box area where host Brooke Burke-Charvet interviewed dancers after their performances. Instead, the couples are accommodated in a new seating area near the judges' table which has been shifted to the opposite side of the ballroom. A make-up room and rehearsal room were added where Charvet can chat with the couples before and after their performances. This season also introduces a new format of voting. Each week the couples will perform, and the judges will give each couple a score based on several factors, including technical execution. Since there is no results show, those scores will be added to the public votes from the previous week, and the couple with the lowest combined score from judges and viewer votes will be eliminated from the competition toward the end of that week’s episode.