Dancing Stars (Austrian TV series)

Dancing Stars is the Austrian version of Dancing with the Stars and is shown on "ORF eins" in Austria.

History

The first season of "Dancing Stars" started airing in Autumn of 2005 on ORF1, the second season started in Spring 2006, the third season in Spring of 2007, the fourth season in 2008 and the fifth season in 2009. Dancing Stars hosts:
In Season 1, 2 and 3 the show was hosted by Alfons Haider (Main Host) and Mirjam Weichselbraun (Backstage and Interviews). In Season 4 Mirjam Weichselbraun replaced Alfons Haider and winner of Season 3 Klaus Eberhartinger took her place. In Season 5, Mirjam Weichselbraun was the main host while Alfons Haider took Klaus Eberhartingers place. Judges:
In the first season, the dancers were judged by professional dance sport judges Hannes Nedbal and Nicole Burns-Hansen, dance school owner Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer and former musical actress, singer and dancer Dagmar Koller. In the second season, Harald Serafin, operetta singer and theater manager, filled in for Dagmar Koller. In the third season, Guggi Löwinger, actress, singer and dancer, took his place. In the fourth season, Klaus Eberhartinger replaced Alfons Haider as a host who therefore joined the judging panel. In the fifth season, the two men switched places again with Klaus Eberhartinger judging beside Hannes Nedbal, Nicole Burns-Hansen and Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer who were judges in all five seasons.

Season 1

In the first season, no couple had to leave the first show and only two pairs were left in the final show. In all other seasons, one couple had to leave the first show and three pairs were left in the final show. In the fourth season, the final show was split on two evenings. In the fifth season, men and women were split for the first two shows (qualification rounds).

• Mat Schuh (Singer and Entertainer) with Kelly Kainz (8th place)
• Arabella Kiesbauer (Host) with Balázs Ekker (7th place)
• Peter Rapp (ORF Host) with Julia Polai (6th place)
• Patricia Kaiser (Miss Austria 2000 and track and field athlete) with Alexander Kreissl (5th place)
• Stefano Bernardin (Actor) with Christina Auer (4th place)
• Barbara Rett (ORF Host) with Manfred Zehender (3rd place)
• Toni Polster (Ex soccer player) with Michaela Heintzinger (2nd place)
• Marika Lichter (Musical actress) with Andy Kainz (winner)

couple	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
marika&andy	24	27	23	29	28	32+36=68	33+34=67	Example
toni&michaela	27	27	30	33	34	31+36=67	35+37=72	Example
barbara&manfred	24	24	27	25	28	26+29=55	30+27=57
stefano&christina	29	31	32	27	29	31+28=59
patricia&alexander	21	28	25	27	27
peter&julia	23	21	21	24
arabella&balaz	22	24	26
mat&kelly	19	22

Season 2

• Gerda Rogers (Astrologer) with Andy Kainz (10th place)
• Ulrike Beimpold (Actress and Comedian) with Manfred Zehender (9th place)
• Edi Finger jun. (Radio-sportscaster) with Nicole Kuntner (8th place)
• Barbara Karlich (Talkshow Host) with Alexander Zaglmaier (7th place)
• Gregor Bloéb (Actor) with Michaela Heintzinger (6th place)
• Simone Stelzer (Singer) with Alexander Kreissl (5th place)
• Hans Georg Heinke (Journalist and Newscaster) with Elke Gehrsitz (4th place)
• Nicole Beutler (Actress) with Balázs Ekker (3rd place)
• Andreas Goldberger (Ex Ski jumper) with Julia Polai (2nd place)
• Manuel Ortega (Singer) with Kelly Kainz (winner)

Season 3

• Timna Brauer (Singer and Artist) with Manfred Zehender (10th place)
• Hera Lind (bestselling author) with Alexander Kreissl (9th place)
• Stephanie Graf (Ex Runner) with Andy Kainz (8th place)
• Michael Konsel (Ex soccer player) with Nicole Kuntner (7th place)
• Harry Prünster (Host) with Michaela Heintzinger (6th place)
• Nina Proll (Actress) with Balázs Ekker (5th place)
• Michael Tschuggnall (Starmania-Winner 2002) with Alice Guschelbauer (4th place)
• Zabine Kapfinger (Singer) with Alexander Zaglmaier (3rd place)
• Peter L. Eppinger (Ö3-Host) with Julia Polai (2nd place)
• Klaus Eberhartinger (Singer, EAV-Frontman) with Kelly Kainz (winner)

Season 4

• Claudia Stöckl (Ö3-Host) with Alexander Kreissl (10th place)
• Peter Tichatschek (Host) with Michaela Heintzinger (9th place)
• Oliver Stamm (Beach volleyball player) with Julia Polai (8th place)
• Christine Reiler (Miss Austria 2007) with Manfred Zehender (7th place)
• Marc Pircher (Singer) with Kelly Kainz (6th place)
• Jeannine Schiller (Charity-lady) with Balázs Ekker (5th place)
• Hans Kreuzmayr (Waterloo & Robinson) with Alice Guschelbauer (4th place)
• Elke Winkens (Actress) with Andy Kainz (3rd place)
• Elisabeth Engstler (ORF Host) with Alexander Zaglmaier (2nd place)
• Dorian Steidl (ORF Host) with Nicole Kuntner (winner)

Season 5

• Christoph Fälbl (Actor and comedian) with Julia Polai (12th place)
• Marie-Christine Friedrich (Actress) with Alexander Zaglmaier (11th place)
• Andy Lee Lang (Singer and pianist) with Nicole Kuntner (10th place)
• Gerhard Zadrobilek (Ex cyclist) with Alice Guschelbauer (9th place)
• Maggie Entenfellner (Columnist) with Gerhard Egger (8th place)
• Vincent Bueno (Winner of ORF casting show Musical!) with Christina Auer (7th place)
• Gitta Saxx (Playmate of the century) with Balázs Ekker (6th place)
• Sandra Pires (Singer) with Alexander Kreissl (5th place)
• Tini Kainrath (Singer) with Manfred Zehender (4th place)
• Udo Wenders (Singer) with Babsi Koitz (3rd place)
• Ramesh Nair (Testimonial and choreographer) with Michaela Heintzinger (2nd place)
• Claudia Reiterer (Journalist and TV host) with Andy Kainz (winner)

Season 6

Main article: Dancing Stars (Austria season 6)

• James Cottriall (Singer) with Roswitha Wieland (12th place)
• Christine Kaufmann (Golden Globe winning actress) with Werner Figar (11th place)
• Markus Wolfahrt (Singer) with Alice Guschlbauer (10th place)
• Reinhard Nowak (Actor) with Kelly Kainz (9th place)
• Uwe Kröger (Singer) with Babsi Koitz (8th place)
• Dieter Chmelar (Journalist) with Kathrin Menzinger (7th place)
• Cathy Zimmermann (Model and presenter) with Christoph Santner (6th place)
• Mirna Jukić (Swimmer) with Gerhard Egger (5th place)
• Alfons Haider (Entertainer) with Vadim Garbuzov (4th place)
• Mike Galeli (Actor) with Julia Polai (3rd place)
• Alexandra Meissnitzer (Alpine skier) with Florian Gschaider (2nd place)
• Astrid Wirtenberger (Singer) with Balazs Ekker (winner)

Special Episodes

After the final of the second and third season a "Dancing Stars Best of" was aired and after the "Best of" of Season 3 there was a special episode called " Dancing Stars – Die Traumhochzeit" (Dancing Stars – The Dream Wedding) in which the professional ballroom dancers Balázs Ekker and Alice Guschelbauer got married. Another "Best of" was aired before the start of season 5. After the fourth season, there was a special episode called "Dance for Europe" in which the couple to represent Austria at the Eurovison Dance Contest 2008 was selected. The couples to participate in this episode were:

• Julia Polai with Peter L. Eppinger
• Alexander Kreissl with Simone Stelzer
• Alice Guschelbauer with Michael Tschuggnall
• Balázs Ekker with Nicole Beutler
• Michaela Heintzinger with Gregor Bloéb
• Manfred Zehender with Christine Reiler
• Alexander Zaglmaier with Zabine Kapfinger
• Nicole Kuntner with Dorian Steidl

Andy and Kelly Kainz who represented Austria in the Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 (5th place) did not participate in this special episode due to conflicting schedules. The winners were Nicole Kuntner and Dorian Steidl who later came second last at the Dance Contest in Glasgow. Before the start of season four, ORF aired the reality show "Dance with Me" in which the private life of the professional dancers was shown. During season five, a dance course was aired in which the professional dancers taught the viewers basics of Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Jive, Samba, Paso Doble, English Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Quickstepp, Tango and Viennese Waltz.

References

External links

• (German) Austria official website