On the TV channel "Russia" after a four-year break, the 11th season of the popular show "Dancing with the Stars" started. Andrei Malakhov became the host of the new releases, and the project’s jury included choreographer Yegor Druzhinin, ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze, TV presenter Daria Zlatopolskaya and dancer Igor Rudnik. The show will air weekly on Sundays.

Due to the epidemiological situation, filming “Dancing with the Stars” is being held in an empty studio. 12 couples were selected to participate in the current season. As in past years, one in a couple is a professional dancer (including Yevgeny Papunaishvili, Anna Melnikova, Denis Tagintsev, Ekaterina Osipova and others). Together with professionals, Russian actors and TV presenters took the stage - Maria Poroshina, Ivan Stebunov, Peter Romanov, Maria Ivakova, Andrey Sokolov, Artyom Tkachenko, Alexander Molochnikov, Daria Moroz, Elena Letuchaya, Andrey Chernyshov, Ekaterina Varnava and Alyona Babenko. Many of them have almost no experience in dancing.

The rules of the new season remained unchanged with one exception: earlier, after each performance, the jury announced its ratings, and at the end of the show, SMS-voting of the audience began. Judges' ratings were combined with the ratings of the audience. The couple with the fewest points left the project. In the new season, no spectator vote was announced; participants were evaluated only by members of the jury.

The creators of the project promise that, despite the absence of global changes in the rules, the new season will be more eventful, spectacular and interesting than the previous ones.

It is expected that viewers will see an expanded dance program, and the new multimedia studio and a 360-degree viewing scene will allow you to see all the dance numbers in great detail.

  • The hosts of the show “Dancing with the Stars” are choreographer Yegor Druzhinin, TV presenter Daria Zlatopolskaya, dancer Igor Rudnik and ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze
  • © Channel "Russia"

In the first issue of season 11, almost all couples presented ballroom-based numbers: slow waltz, samba, rumba, cha-cha-cha, jive and paso doble. Other dance programs included were Charleston and Argentinean tango. Also in one of the rooms, with cha-cha-cha at the base, there were disco elements.

The jury members often strictly assessed the professionalism of the participants. So Nikolai Tsiskaridze expressed regret that the actors poorly learn the mandatory dance lessons in universities. The choreographer urged the teachers not to spare the actors and put them “deuces”. Colleagues Tsiskaridze proposed to make a dance competition for student artists, but he rejected this idea.

“I’m afraid that then, except for the number“ one ”, we won’t raise anything. So we at least love you and pretend to be, ”Tsiskaridze said.

However, the actor Ivan Stebunov, who learned the Argentine tango with Inna Svechnikova, received the praise of the strictest jury member. According to Tsiskaridze, Stebunov was the only among non-professional participants in the show who really danced.

The best result was shown by Ekaterina Barnava, who performed samba in tandem with the world champion in the Latin American program Denis Tagintsev. Despite the high ratings, the jury did not spare even the favorites of the first issue in their comments.

So, Yegor Druzhinin called Barnabas hunchbacked and clumsy. He stressed that the artist is hyperactive, and the partner fades against her background.

“But as a result, it seems to me that this will not affect my assessment in any way,” the choreographer added.

The lowest ratings were received by the jive pair Artyom Tkachenko - Valeria Semenova. Nevertheless, the performers remained in the project: according to tradition, the results of the first release did not affect the composition of the participants.

  • Ivan Stebunov and Inna Svechnikova
  • © Channel "Russia"

Interestingly, in the new season, viewers will be able to take part in the show using a dance flash mob. It is expected that dance classes will be published on social networks and on the project website. Those who wish should watch the posted video, learn the movements, shoot their dance and upload the video to social networks with a certain hashtag. The best numbers will be shown in the next issue of "Dancing with the Stars."

The Dancing with the Stars project, based on the Strictly Come Dancing program in England, first appeared on the Rossiya TV channel in 2006. From then until 2016, the show was released annually. The leaders of the first ten seasons at different times were Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, Yuri Nikolaev, Maxim Galkin, Daria Zlatopolskaya and Garik Martirosyan.

Among the winners of competitions of past years are couples Maria Sittel - Vladislav Borodinov, Daria Sagalova - Anton Kovalev, Julia Savicheva - Evgeny Papunaishvili, Natalya Ionova - Evgeny Papunaishvili, Alexandra Ursulyak - Denis Tagintsev and others.