Trying to maximize the financial boost of the show as much as possible during the broadcast on October 25, 2006, it was announced that Dancing with the Stars The Tour was going to start embarking around the country. With the promise of many of the celebrities as well as professionals all combined together for a great performance at a location near you the tour started out quite small and managed to grow substantially as time went out.
After three successful tours the empire has continued to grow and the results that ABC are finding is absolutely incredible.
The first tour kicked off on December 19, 2006 in sunny San Diego, California and wrapped up after 38 different arenas on February 11, 2007. The first tour showcased celebrities Drew Lachey, Joey McIntyre, Lisa Rinna, Joey Lawrence and Harry Hamlin. The professionals involved in the initial tour included Cheryl Burke, Kym Johnson, Louis van Amstel, Edyta Sliwinska, and Karina Smirnoff.
Rout two for the tour was a bit smaller with only celebrities Joey McIntyre, Apolo Anton Ohno, Drew Lachey, Joey Lawrence and Joey Fatone combined with professionals Julianne Hough, Cheryl Burke, Edyta Sliwinska and lastly Kym Johnson.
The third tour, which started on December 18, 2007 and ran through February 10, 2008 was much larger and offered a much greater cast. This time the tour included Sabrina Bryan, Monique Coleman, Joey Lawrence, Wayne Newton, Marie Osmond, Drew Lachey, Mario Lopez, Joey Fatone and finally Helio Castroneves for celebrities. The professionals for this tour included Mark Ballas, Derek Hough for a brief period, Alec Mazo, Edyta Sliwinska, Cheryl Burke, Jonathan Roberts, Kym Johnson, Brian Fortuna, Karina Smirnoff, and Julianne Hough.
Trying to really generate interest for the tour, it was really important that it not last too long. Additionally, it is also extremely certain that the show would limit the show dates to accommodate the very small amounts of time that is left open between seasons. Dancing with the Stars continuously starts a new season after only very short breaks, which leaves very little time for a tour.
The overall tour has not been as successful as the actual television show; however, it is has still performed extremely well with most audiences. The last run of the tour was certainly the biggest with the largest cast participating from all three tours.
One person who was obviously missing from the third tour was Melanie Brown the second place winner for season five. Due to a Spice Girls Reunion Tour, she was unable to participate in the tour and was forced to miss out completely. Additional problems can when professional Cheryl Burke started having problems with her appendix and was forced to withdraw from the show.
While it is not quite time for the next tour to set out across the country, it will be extremely curious to see celebrities like Joey Lawrence and Drew Lachey will return again, after all they are the only two celebrities who have participated in all three tours. Trying to work out an ever growing cast may be a nightmare logistically, but for the audience it means an even bigger and better show than previously and is certainly well worth all of the time and effort to really get great seats. After all, how many other opportunities are presented to actually see Dancing with the Stars live?
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