Fall TV Blog

Their First Time: Everyone always asks the celebrities what it’s like to be heading to the Dancing with the Stars finale, but this is a new experience for pro dancer Dmitry Chapin, too. The pro dancer twirled onto the dance floor for the first time last season but not without a few twists. His original partner was singer Jewel, who withdrew from the competition before it started due to an injury. With less than a week before the premiere, he was paired up with Holly Madison, who was eliminated in the fourth week. A season later, and he’s headed to the finals! “It’s about the partnership. I might have the best dancer, the best partner, but if the partnership doesn’t work, then we’re not going to go anywhere. I’m really happy with Mya,” he says. “We didn’t fight even once. We didn’t have any arguments in the studio.”

Family Affair: Even though it was Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne who received a frenzied applause when they walked to their seats moments before showtime, it was Ozzy who cheered the loudest when he learned his daughter Kelly was headed to the finals. “We’ve watched our baby mature into a gorgeous, young woman,” he said after the show. “She hasn’t had a dance lesson in her life and I think she’s done remarkably well.” It was a long show as Kelly’s parents waited to hear whether their youngest daughter would make it. “I don’t know that I can take much more of this,” Ozzy joked. (more…)

After four couples danced their hearts out in Monday’s semi-finals, only three could move on to the Dancing with the Stars finale next week. Sadly, model Joanna Krupa and her partner Derek Hough will not be one of them. The pair danced her last waltz Tuesday night — and it was lovely.

“I really came in the underdog so it’s great that people actually appreciated our dances and our hard work,” Krupa told PEOPLE after the elimination.

Instead of taking a final bow as the credits rolled, head judge Len Goodman asked Krupa and Hough to give a final performance of their Viennese waltz.

“It couldn’t have been written better, going out on that dance. It was really special,” Hough says. “We went out on a high note.”

As the weeks went by, Kelly Osbourne often talked about how close she and partner Louis van Amstel became with Krupa and Hough. So it was no surprise that the foursome huddled together for a private moment during a commercial break.

“We basically said, ‘Whatever happens happens. It was an amazing experience,’” says Krupa, recalling what they talked about before the final couple was announced. “We both came in here with no experience, so whoever gets to the next level, we’re going to root for, and I’m definitely going to root for Kelly to win.” (more…)

Improv Act: Kelly Osbourne was pretty in pink Monday night as she sashayed on the dance floor for her first performance of the night. But things weren’t as they appeared. “In case you didn’t know, my 20-second solo was completely made up,” she says of her rumba. “I got out there and froze.” Her partner Louis van Amstel had complete faith in her as he watched on. “I was standing behind her and thinking, ‘Keep your cool. Keep your cool,’” he tells PEOPLE. The judges didn’t detect her new routine — the couple scored all 8s.

Making an Impression: As if there wasn’t enough pressure for the final four couples in the semi-finals, famed choreographer Kenny Ortega sat ringside watching the performances. “Donny [Osmond] is an inspiration and an incredible role model and I can’t believe how hard he’s working,” he said. But it was Osbourne’s performances that had him smiling each time she kicked up her heels. “Kelly blew me away tonight. It’s wonderful to watch them all grow in the arms of their partners,” he said. “I jumped out of my seat like a jack-in-the-box after [her] quickstep.” After the show, Osbourne said Ortega’s comments nearly moved her to tears: “He said when I dance, he can see my heart on the dance floor and that’s what a real dancer is.” (more…)

Sorry, Julianne Hough fans, you’ll have to endure another season of Dancing with the Stars without your favorite pro dancer in the ballroom. Hough, whose break from the show started with the current season, says she won’t be back for season 9.

“No I’m not [coming back] next season,” Hough, 21, told Ryan Seacrest at the New Moon premiere Monday night in Los Angeles.

And as for whether she might come back the following season, Hough dodged the question. “We’re going go cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said.

Yet another mystery concerning Hough, who recently broke up with ex-boyfriend Chuck Wicks, is whether there’s another chapter to that story.

“So are you single?” Seacrest asked.

“Um, technically,” Hough said without explaining further. (more…)

The finish line is right around the corner and on Monday night’s Dancing with the Stars, the four remaining pairs competed with an unprecedented three dances each for one of three spots in next week’s finale.

Donny Osmond and partner Kym Johnson started the night off on the wrong foot with a sloppy tango. “It was a catasrophe,” head judge Len Goodman said. “You completely lost it,” Bruno Toniolio added. Donny knew he’d tripped up, saying, “the worse thing that could happen happened.” He blamed his missteps on spotting his sister Marie Osmond in the audience. He earned just 21 points.

Things improved for Osmond, who did a “carefree, fun” samba, according to Bruno, that got him 26 points for the secound round. “You’ve come out strong,” Len said. “You’ve come out determined.” For their final dance, Osmond and Kym performed a high-energy jitterbug and Carrie Ann told him, “You’ve got your mojo back!” For that, he got 27 points. (more…)

Dancing’s final four contestants will hit the floor Monday night and, according to host Samantha Harris, viewers are in for a no-holds-barred semi-final week unlike any they have seen before.

“It’s anyone’s game,” Harris told PEOPLE Saturday at the Hallmark Celbri-Tree Holiday Open House benefiting Feeding America. “The competition has picked up so much momentum in the past two weeks and now it’s come down to the final four and the right final four.”

Season 9’s cream of the crop includes Donny Osmond, the last man standing, along with reality star Kelly Osbourne, singer Mya and model Joanna Krupa. The group arguably makes for the most even playing field in a semi-final round in the show’s history. And for the first time since season 1, there’s not an athlete left in the competition.

On Monday night’s performance show, each couple will dance an unprecedented three dances. The mere thought of that makes last season’s second runner-up, Melissa Rycroft, weak in the knees. (more…)

Staying on Target: Kelly Osbourne and her dance partner Louis van Amstel didn’t stay long after Tuesday’s results show because the pair had to catch a late-night flight to New York. “I’ve lived there for seven years and her parents are in New York, so we’re going to have a good time,” says van Amstel. Although Osbourne has a work obligation, which she committed before the start of the show, van Amstel says he plans to keep Osbourne focused and her distractions — such as her computer and phone — locked in a black box. But it doesn’t look like it will be too hard now that the couple has made it to the semi-finals. “I never thought we would get this far and it’s so close we can taste it,” says Osbourne. “I don’t care what it takes, I’m going to make it happen!”

Dance Fever: Singer Mya says she’s got her game face on now that she and her dance partner Dmitry Chaplin are entering the semi-finals. “I did not start training on Aug. 18 to get this far and say, ‘Hey, we’re safe.’ We are putting on our game faces,” she says. As she began explaining how they were going to start training like athletes train for the Olympics, her partner looked scared. “She brought in a [dry erase] board and she put the rules on there and started treating it as a sport,” he said, “like mandatory massage every week.” (more…)

Less than 24 hours after Susan Boyle performed on Dancing With the Stars, the soundstage was still buzzing with excitement over the 48-year-old Scottish singing sensation’s impeccable vocals on the Les Miserables classic “I Dreamed a Dream.” Boyle tells PEOPLE her Dancing experience was “very exciting.” Best of all, she giddily admits, “I’ve met my hero, Donny Osmond.”

Starstruck? You bet.

“It is quite something to be in Hollywood,” she explains. “This is a world I’ve never seen before and never dreamt that I would get to see.” (more…)

Aaron Carter had a breakthrough like few others have had on Dancing with the Stars: He arrived a teen idol but left a man.

“I grew up on the show,” he told PEOPLE after he was eliminated Tuesday night. “There were a lot of epiphany moments and I learned a lot from [pro partner Karina Smirnoff].”

He likened Smirnoff’s support to the way his father encouraged him.

“It was almost like my father a little bit because my dad … taught me so many different things, but the way he did it, he only had to do it once,” he says. “She did the same thing. When it came to learning something about me, she only had to say something one time.”

The couple bounced up and down the leaderboard, and their determination impressed the other dancers, as well as the judges, who praised his fox trot and samba Monday night. Even Len Goodman, who is considered to be the hardest to please, was moved to make some final words about Carter. (more…)

Dream Come True: As Britain’s Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle, whose first CD will be released Nov. 23, slowly made her entrance onto the Dancing with the Stars stage late Monday afternoon to pre-tape a performance, which will air on Tuesday’s results show, the crowd burst into applause. Boyle looked elegant in a black sequined gown, her hair coiffed to perfection. Despite battling a case of pre-show nerves, Boyle was completely in her element once the orchestra began playing the opening notes of her signature song, “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical Les Miserables. Dancers Tony Dovolani and Chelsie Hightower performed an elegant routine to Boyle’s spot-on vocals. But because of a wardrobe malfunction — Dovolani’s bowtie came unfastened from his tuxedo shirt — they had to do a second take. Unbelievably, it was even better than the first.

Under Pressure: Mya and Aaron Carter have performed to huge audiences in their lives, but both admit that as season 9 winds down, the pressure has intensified. Mya, who finally broke through Len Goodman’s low-score barrier, says she’s not going to rest on Monday night’s achievement. “We got 10s, so we must have been really good. But now we have to work extra hard to maintain that,” Mya told PEOPLE. But first, she admitted, a celebration was in order: “My family is in town from Maryland, so we’re going to go out and eat and relax.” Meanwhile, Carter was so spent after his ’90s-style samba that “I was gagging,” he said, admitting that even though he looked calm and collected, “I didn’t get over the nerves tonight. They were there.” (more…)