Justina Machado’s ready to paso doble her way into your hearts…
The 47-year-old Puerto Rican actress, who currently stars on PopTV’s One Day at a Time, will compete on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars this season.
Machado will compete againstTiger King’sCarole Baskin, rapper Nelly, Selling Sunset’sChrishell Stause and NBA legend Charles Oakley among others for the coveted DTWS mirrorball trophy.
The ABC celebrity ballroom dancing competition series, based on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, will premiere on September 14 with new host Tyra Banks.
This season’s other competirors include Monica Aldama, star of Netflix’s Cheer, Disney Channel actress Skai Jackson, The Real’sJeannie Mai, Catfish’sNev Schulman, Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis, Anne Heche, Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean, and The Bachelor’sKaitlyn Bristowe.
This season’s professional dancers include Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Artem Chigvintsev, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater and Britt Stewart.
In addition to hosting, Banks will also serve as an executive producer this season. She replaces Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews as the show’s host in season 29.
One of the challenges for this season is to ensure that the production adheres to COVID-19 protocols, a trickier move for a dance competition format than many other productions. Details of the health and safety protocols and other format refreshes are expected imminently.
The 72-year-old Mexican Grammy-winning guitarist and entrepreneur will be taking part in a global livestream event to benefit the Amazon Emergency Fund, an indigenous-led effort providing rapid response grants in the region to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Santana, considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time, will be joined by Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Peter Gabriel and numerous other artists for the Thursday, May 28 event.
They’ll join indigenous leaders, scientists and a coalition of NGOs in presentng Artists United for Amazonia: Protecting the Protectors, a livestream event produced by Artists for Amazonia.
The two-hour event will run from 8:00 pm to 10 pm ETE and will be hosted by part-Spanish actress and Game of Thrones co-star Oona Chaplin, who played Talisa Maegyr on the series. The livestream will be available via Facebook and through the event website.
The program will promote the Amazon Emergency Fund, launched last month by a coalition of indigenous organizations, NGOs, and allies to respond to the urgent needs of indigenous peoples of the Amazon threatened by COVID-19.
Funds raised will be used for: immediate prevention and care; food and medical supplies; emergency communications and evacuation; protection and security for indigenous territories; and food sovereignty and community resilience. The Amazon Emergency Fund aims to raise $5 million over the next 60 days for Forest Guardians to protect themselves against the pandemic in all nine Amazonian countries.
The Artists United for Amazonialivestream will feature living-room musical performances, interviews, and calls to action.
Performers include Herbie Hancock, Rocky Dawuni, Butterscotch Clinton, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Cary Elwes, Alfre Woodard, Wade Davis,Wagner Moura, and Brazilian Grammy winners Ivan Lins and Luciana Souza.
Others participating include Jane Goodall, Tom Bergeron, Ed Begley Jr., Frances Fisher, Matti Caspi, Suyan Caspi, Wendie Malick, Scottie Thompson, Kali Uchis, Rocky Dawuni, Celine Cousteau, Matthew Modine, Q’orianka Kilcher, Chloe Smith from Rising Appalachia, Sonia Guajajara, Angela Kaxuyana, Nina Gualinga, Benki Piyako, Mapu Huni Kuin, Lizardo Cauper, Thomas Lovejoy, Carlos Nobre, Atossa Soltani, Leila Salazar-López, Christina Miller, and Wade Davis.
“This event is part of an extraordinary alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to preserving the most biodiverse region on Earth,” said Sarah duPont, founder of Amazon Aid Foundation and co-director, River of Gold. “Illicit and unregulated gold mining is one of the most dangerous forms of deforestation in the Amazon Basin and releases toxic mercury into the ecosystem. Since the pandemic, gold mining has exploded across the Amazon and into indigenous territories bringing with it violence and COVID-19. Now, the Amazon is at the tipping point and the protectors of the Amazon are under dire threat. What happens in the Amazon affects us all.”
Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director of Amazon Watch, added: “The Amazon and its peoples are in a state of emergency due to climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a crime against nature and a crime against humanity. It is a time for all to unite and act in defense of the forest and in solidarity with the indigenous and traditional peoples across the Amazon who are protecting this great rainforest and our climate for all of humanity and life on Earth.”
It’s official… Bethany Mota will be shaking her tailfeather on television soon.
The 18-year-old half-Mexican YouTube vlogger and fashionista, as previously rumored, has been selected to compete on Season 19 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
The beauty guru’s YouTube channel — macbarbie07 (7 million subscribers) — features hair, makeup, fashion and DIY tutorials. It earned her a fashion line at Aéropostale, and she was featured as part of a YouTube ad campaign.
Paired with professional dancer Derek Hough, Mota will compete for the coveted mirror ball trophy against the likes of Olympian Lolo Jones, Mean Girls‘ Jonathan Bennett, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s Alfonso Ribeiro and NASCAR great Michael Waltrip.
Other competitors include Duck Dynasty’s Sadie Robertson, actress Lea Thompson of Back to the Future, Ultimate Fighting Champion Randy Couture, legendary comedian Tommy Chong, celebrated talk show host Tavis Smiley, as well as famed fashion designer Betsey Johnson, Pretty Little Liars actress Janel Parrish and General Hospital alum Antonio Sabato, Jr.
Co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews announced the celebrity cast live Thursday morning on Good Morning America in Times Square.
The addition of Julianne Hough, named as the fourth judge last month, will add some pizazz this season. Hough won two mirror-ball trophies as a pro during her DWTS run, and will have a permanent spot at the judges’ table next to veterans Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.
J.R. Martinez may have received lower-than-normal scores during last week’s Halloween-themed episode of Dancing with the Stars, but he was back with a vengeance during this week’s show.
The 28-year-old wounded-Iraq-veteran-turned-actor and his dancing partner Karina Smirnoff shook off last week’s poor showing to land atop the leader board with two perfect scores on a night of strong performances by the remaining five contestants.
Striving to receive Season 13’s first perfect score, Martinez and Smirnoff performed a picture perfect waltz to “What the World Needs Now Is Love”
“You were getting a standing ovation during the dance,” stated Dancing host Tom Bergeron.
After earning 10s from the judges—including Len Goodman’s first 10 of the season—for a perfect 30, J.R. exclaimed, “Justin Bieber, I will never say never!”
But Martinez and Smirnoff didn’t stop there…
After performing their second dance—an instant-jive number to “Tutti Frutti,” where the team only had 20 minutes to prepare—the judges award the couple another 30, giving the recent People magazine cover star and Smirnoff a perfect 60 for the night and putting them eight points ahead of the next best teams.
So it looks like Martinez has cemented his status as the frontrunner after this week’s episode.
Could that coveted mirror ball trophy be within his grasp?
