Amendola, Danny (1985- )

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    How Did ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Become a Gen Z Hit? TikTok, Of Course.

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    After almost 20 years on air, the reality competition series made changes that brought a surge of younger viewers.The world has changed around “Dancing With the Stars” since the competition series became a hit after its 2005 premiere. Though producers have periodically experimented with casting, canned hosts and tweaked the elimination process, the heart of the show — pairs of professional dancers and celebrities performing weekly and facing elimination based on scores from judges and fan votes — has remained intact.That formula meant “D.W.T.S.” had an audience with a median age of 63.5 in 2022. But in the past two seasons — after almost 20 years and 500 episodes — the show has grabbed hold of Gen Z viewers through its canny use of TikTok, casting of younger dance pros and the chance virality of “wow moments” from routines.“We’ve kind of hit this tipping point where now we feed TikTok, TikTok feeds back to us,” said Conrad Green, the showrunner.Ahead of the Season 33 semifinals, Green and two of the show’s professional dancers, Rylee Arnold, 19, and Witney Carson, 31, explained their parts in making “Dancing With the Stars” a hit with Gen Z.Charli D’Amelio was an influencer contestant for the streaming era.In 2022, Disney execs removed “Dancing With the Stars” from network TV, making it available only via the Disney+ streaming app, a move aimed at drawing older viewers to the service, which predominantly catered to children from the ages 2 to 17.

    @officialdwts The countdown to #DisneyNight is on! Join us in ONE HOUR – 8/7c on ABC and Disney+. 🐭✨ #DWTS ♬ original sound – Dancing with the Stars #DWTS We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Danny Amendola’s ‘DWTS’ Lift Inspires TikTok Dance Trend

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      Danny Amendola’s smooth lift on “Dancing With the Stars” spawned numerous imitators (with varying results). TikTok cautions users that it can be dangerous.Katie Fraser and her fiancé, Amandeep Sandhu, woke up the other day feeling sore and experiencing mild pain. They hadn’t fallen out of bed or exercised vigorously, though it felt that way. Rather, they had tried to recreate a move done by Danny Amendola on the ABC show “Dancing With the Stars.”On an episode that aired on Oct. 15, Mr. Amendola, 38, a former N.F.L. player, and his partner, Witney Carson, a dancer and choreographer, performed a sexy routine set to the song “Unsteady” by X Ambassadors. At around the 45-second mark, Mr. Amendola lifted Ms. Carson, who was laying on the ground, by pulling her up by her ankle.The pair, who performed the move seamlessly, drew immediate cheers from the studio audience. They also unwittingly created a trend on TikTok as others have tried to recreate the move, which apparently is so difficult that TikTok added a disclaimer to some of the videos. “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt,” it reads.“I had seen their dance posted online and I thought it was absolutely beautiful,” Ms. Fraser, 28, wrote in an email. “Then I saw the TikTok trend going around of other couples trying and begged my fiancé to try it with me.”Like Johnny’s iconic lift of Baby in the movie “Dirty Dancing,” Mr. Amendola’s lift of Ms. Carson has proved appealing for many, but is considerably harder than it looks.

      @mollythemom @Dancing with the Stars #DWTS HERE WE COME! Dance by @Witney Carson ♬ original sound – Walmart Amy Adams

      @madismellie Why is this all I want to do now😂💃🙈 @Dancing with the Stars #DWTS @Witney Carson #leglift #husband #witneycarson #dannyamendola #mykindofdatenight ♬ Unsteady – X Ambassadors We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Anna Sorokin Is Anna Delvey Again, This Time on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

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      The woman who impersonated a German heiress will reprise her false identity on season 33 of the show, becoming the latest contestant with legal or other troubles.It’s a familiar lineup for this season’s “Dancing With the Stars.”There are the athletes: the former N.F.L. receiver Danny Amendola and the Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik. There are the reality TV stars: Jenn Tran of “The Bachelorette” and a “Real Housewives” cast member, Phaedra Parks. There are the actors whose stars have dimmed: Eric Roberts and Tori Spelling.But there is also an eye-opening choice: Anna Sorokin, the fake heiress convicted of larceny and theft who was announced along with the rest of the cast for season 33 of the show on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.Sorokin masqueraded as “Anna Delvey,” claiming to be a wealthy German heiress, and she used that identity to con people in New York City society out of large sums of money, a jury found. She was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison in 2019 and released in 2022.“I’d be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything,” she told The New York Times in 2019.ABC, which broadcasts “Dancing With the Stars,” did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Sorokin’s casting.A news release disclosing the cast identified her as Anna Delvey, not Sorokin, and breezily referred to her as an “artist, fashion icon and infamous NYC socialite.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More