Dancing with the Stars is introducing a new voting system this fall for the show's upcoming 28th season.
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Dancing with the Stars viewers are going to have to vote live or vote blind in a short window of time this coming season!
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ABC has announced Dancing with the Stars fans will only be able to vote as the live broadcasts air in the Eastern and Central time zones. That means after an episode ends, the viewer voting will too, unlike in previous seasons.
Viewers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones will still also be able to vote for their favorites; however, they must vote during the same period of time as Eastern and Central time zone viewers, which means they'll probably have to vote without being able to actually watch the dance routines first.
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There will also be no home-viewer votes tabulated during the first week of performances when Dancing with the Stars' 28th season premieres live on Monday, September 16 at 8PM ET/PT.
During the first week of competition, only judges' scores will matter. As previously announced, the new Dancing with the Stars season will be judged by Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman.
Live voting on abc.com and via text will commence with Week 2 of the Dancing with the Stars season.
The first elimination of the season will therefore take place in Week 2 after the first week of judges' scores carry over and are combined with the new judges' scores and live home viewer votes from the second week of competition.
For each subsequent week of Dancing with the Stars, the live votes will be combined with the judges' scores for the night, sending a couple home. As a result, voting totals will be revealed live at the end of each broadcast.
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The new voting method may end up being controversial given people in the Mountain and Pacific time zones will probably have to vote blind. In addition, the system may result in a disadvantage for the dancers who perform later or at the end of each live broadcast.
The women who will be putting on their dancing shoes next season are The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown, country music star and former American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina, supermodel Christie Brinkley, pop star Ally Brooke, actress Kate Flannery, and iconic The Supremes singer Mary Wilson.
The men who will be taking the stage are Queer Eye star Karamo Brown, former NFL football star Ray Lewis, comedian and actor Kel Mitchell, former Khloe & Lamar star and NBA champion Lamar Odom, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and actor James Van Der Beek.
The returning professional partners for Season 28 will be Brandon Armstrong, Lindsay Arnold, Alan Bersten, Cheryl Burke, Witney Carson, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Gleb Savchenko, and Emma Slater.
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Peta is making a comeback after taking two seasons off to focus on parenting her son Shai with her husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who is also a former DWTS pro.
Two newcomers will also be matched with celebrities, pro dancers Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov.
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But for the first time in Dancing with the Stars history, the celebrity and professional pairings for Season 28 will not be revealed until the premiere broadcast airs on ABC.