Dancing Stars (Austrian TV series)

Austrian celebrity talent show
(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Dancing Stars
Presented byAlfons Haider
Mirjam Weichselbraun
Klaus Eberhartinger
Norbert Oberhauser
Andi Knoll
JudgesNicole Hansen
Dagmar Koller
Hannes Nedbal
Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer
Harald Serafin
Guggi Löwinger
Alfons Haider
Balázs Ekker
Karina Sarkissova
Dirk Heidemann
Maria Angelini-Santner
Country of originAustria
Original release
NetworkORF eins
ReleaseOctober 10, 2005 (2005-10-10)

Dancing Stars is the Austrian version of Dancing with the Stars and is broadcast on ORF eins in Austria. The series debuted on October 10, 2005.

Cast

During the first three seasons, Alfons Haider served as the primary host of Dancing Stars, while Mirjam Weichselbraun served as the backstage host. For the fourth season, Weichselbraun replaced Haider as primary host, a position she has held since, while Klaus Eberhartinger – who had won Dancing Stars' third season – took her place backstage. Alfons Haider joined the judging panel during the fourth season. For the fifth season, Haider and Eberhartinger switched roles, with Haider taking Eberhartinger's place as backstage host and Eberhartinger joining the judging panel. Beginning with the sixth season, Eberthartinger returned to his position as backstage host and remained through the thirteenth season. Norbert Oberhauser took over as backstage host in the fourteenth season, and Andi Knoll in the fifteenth.

During the first season, the judging panel consisted of Nicole Hansen, Dagmar Koller, Hannes Nedbal, and Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer. Harald Serafin replaced Koller in the second season, while Serafin was himself replaced in the third season by Guggi Löwinger. Löwinger was replaced by former co-host Alfons Haider in the fourth season, and Haider switched roles with former co-host Klaus Eberhartinger in the fifth season. Nicole Hansen, Hannes Nedbal, and Thomas Schäfer-ElmayerIn were joined on the judging panel in season six by a series of guest judges, including Karina Sarkissova, who became a permanent judge beginning with the eleventh season. Beginning with the seventh season, Balázs Ekker, who had been a professional dancer on the cast since the first season, joined the judging panel as the permanent fourth judge. Nedbal and Schäfer-Elmayer left the judging panel at the end of the tenth season and were replaced by Dirk Heidemann and Karina Sarkissova. Heidemann and Nicole Hansen left after the thirteenth season, while Maria Angelini-Santner joined the judging panel for the fourteenth season. Sarkissova left after the fourteenth season, but returned as a celebrity contestant for the fifteenth season, although she was forced to withdraw from the competition after the first performance for health reasons.[1]

Color key
  Host
  Judge
  Contestant
  Professional dancer