Dancing with the Stars (American season 12)
Season twelve of "Dancing with the Stars" premiered on March 21, 2011, on the ABC network. Professional football player Hines Ward was the winner of the competition with his partner Kym Johnson. Actress Kirstie Alley and Disney star Chelsea Kane came in second and third, respectively. Cast. Couples. On the official website, a page gave people the chance to recommend celebrities they wanted to see on season 12 of the show through comments. Pro-dancer Derek Hough, who was the incumbent champion, did not return for season 12 in order to film an  upcoming movie but returned for season 13. The cast was revealed on February 28, 2011, during "The Bachelor", and the professional partners were revealed on March 2, 2011. Hip hop artist Romeo, injured before the beginning of broadcasts of season 2, and replaced during that season by his father, Master P, was one of the competitors in season 12. Host and judges. Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Len Goodman returned to the show as judges, while Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke returned as hosts. Dance troupe. This was the first season with a dance troupe. The dance troupe consisted  of six dancers: Oksana Dmytrenko, Tristan MacManus, Peta Murgatroyd, Kiki Nyemchek, Nicole Volynets, and Ted Volynets. Scoring charts. Average score chart. This table only counts for dances scored on a traditional 30-points scale (the scores for the Winner Takes All Cha-cha-cha from week nine and scores from Donnie Burns in week 7 are not included). Highest and lowest scoring performances. The best and worst performances in each dance according to the judges' marks are as follows: Couples' highest and lowest scoring dances. According to the traditional 30-point scale: Weekly scores. "Individual judges' scores in the charts  below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli." Week 1: First Dances. The couples danced the cha-cha-cha, or foxtrot. Week 7: Ballroom Greats Week. "Individual judges scores in the chart below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Donnie Burns, Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli." Dance chart. The celebrities and professional partners danced one of these routines for each corresponding week: Guest performances on results episodes. In addition to recapping the week's earlier performances by the competitors, each  results show features one or more guest musical performers/acts who perform at least one song. During each song, the "Dancing with the Stars" dance troupe or guest dancers perform a choreographed dance. Unless otherwise noted, the "Dancing with the Stars" dance troupe performed during the musical number. Chris Brown performed "Yeah 3x" and a medley of "Forever"/"Beautiful People" while his own dancers performed. The dance troupe also performed to the song "Dance to the Music". Music was provided by the house band. OneRepublic performed "Good Life" while Dmitry Chaplin and Lacey Schwimmer danced, and "All the Right Moves". On  the same episode, Selena Gomez and the Scene performed "Who Says" featuring Mark Ballas and Chelsie Hightower dancing. David Garrett performed "Walk This Way". Jennifer Hudson performed "Don't Look Down" while Louis Van Amstel and Karina Smirnoff danced, and followed up with "Feeling Good" featuring dancing by Ashleigh Di Lello, Ryan Di Lello, Snejana Petrova and Damian Whitewood. Toby Keith performed two songs: "Should've Been a Cowboy" (with Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Lacey Schwimmer in addition to the dance troupe), and "American Soldier" (with Jonathan Roberts and Anna Trebunskaya dancing). The "Macy's Stars of Dance" segment was choreographed  by Jamal Sims (choreographer for "Step Up", "Footloose" and the American version of "So You Think You Can Dance"). Featured dancers included Jamal Sims, Kayla Radomski, Ashlee Nino, and Paula Van Oppen. Hanson performed "MMMBop" during the opening of the episode which aired April 25, which featured Tony Dovolani, Lacey Schwimmer and the dance troupe. On the subsequent results show, Hanson performed "Give A Little" during the opening to the "Road to the Finals" special. The April 26 episode also featured two duets between New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys, who performed "Don't Turn Out the Lights  accompanied by dancers Tony Dovolani and Lacey Schwimmer, and the dance troupe, and I Want It That Way"/"Step by Step" with Peta Murgatroyd, Anna Trebunskaya, Joey McIntyre and Donnie Wahlberg dancing. On the same episode, Pia Toscano performed "I'll Stand By You" with Mark Ballas and Karina Smirnoff dancing. Nicki Minaj performed "Moment 4 Life" with Chelsie Hightower, Kiki Nyemchek, Sonny Pederson and Lacey Schwimmer dancing. Priscilla Ahn performed "Dream" while Patricia Zhou danced, and James Blunt performed "I'll Be Your Man", with Dasha Chesnokova and Val Chmerkovskiy dancing. Adele performed "Rolling in the Deep", which featured Travis  Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Jaimie Goodwin and Chantel Aguirre dancing. Delta Goodrem replaced Adele and performed "Natural Woman" while Cheryl Burke and Louis Van Amstel danced. A duet by Michael Bolton and Delta Goodrem followed, with the pair singing "I'm Not Ready" while Dmitry Chaplin and Anna Trebunskaya danced. Stevie Nicks performed "Secret Love" and "Landslide". Her first song featured Dmitry Chaplin, Anna Trebunskaya, Peta Murgatroyd and Damian Whitewood dancing, and the second showcased Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani. On the same episode, Pitbull (featuring Ne-Yo and Nayer) performed "Give Me Everything", which also featured his own dance troupe . Brooke Burke (season 7 champion and current co-host), Apolo Anton Ohno (Season 4 champion), Donny Osmond (Season 9 champion), Warren Sapp (Season 7 finalist) also returned to provide color commentary on their memorable individual freestyle routines. In addition, the dance troupe and professional dancers performed two medleys. Season 2 winners Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke also returned and performed their fan favorite freestyle, "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." The final results show featured performances by The Black Eyed Peas ("Don't Stop the Party"), The Go-Go's ("We Got the Beat") and Sara Evans ("A Little Bit  Stronger"). The second song featured dances by Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Lacey Schwimmer, Cheryl Burke and Chelsie Hightower. Ratings. Season 12 was one of the most watched seasons. Numerous episodes were the most watched show in the USA for the week. The show tied with "Modern Family", a sitcom which also airs on ABC, for the season's No. 5 spot in the age 18–49 demographic of viewers, and placed at No. 3 on the rankings of the overall season.