Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to 60 territories. Versions have also been produced in dozens of countries across the world. As a result, the series became the world's most popular television programme among all genres in 2006 and 2007, according to the magazine Television Business International, reaching the Top 10 in 17 countries. The show pairs a number of well known celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, who each week compete by performing one or more choreographed routines that follow the prearranged theme for that particular week. The dancers are then scored by a panel of judges. Viewers are given a certain amount of time to place votes for their favorite dancers, either by telephone or (in some countries) online. The couple with the lowest combined score provided by the judges and viewers is eliminated. This process continues until there are only two, three, or four couples left; when they have competed for the last time one couple is declared the champion and wins a trophy. Currently airing Upcoming season Status unknown No longer airing The Chinese version is a co-production between mainland China's HBS and Hong Kong's TVB, under licence from the BBC. In mainland China it is aired on Hunan Television and in Hong Kong on TVB Jade. The Chinese title () is difficult to translate, but could be rendered as Miracle Dancing or "Miracles of Dance Moves". Each broadcaster provides five male and five female dancers, for a total of twenty. Pairs were determined by audience SMS votes. The programme began airing in late 2007, in order to mark the anniversary of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the UK to the People's Republic of China. The Indian version is called Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. It was first broadcast in September 2006 on Sony Entertainment Television (SET).