Dancing with the Stars (American season 18)
Season eighteen of Dancing with the Stars premiered on March 17, 2014. Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli returned as judges; Tom Bergeron returned as host while Erin Andrews replaced Brooke Burke-Charvet as co-host. Bandleader Ray Chew replaced the Harold Wheeler orchestra and singers. In addition, the skybox made a return to the show and the judges table returned to the left side of the ballroom.
This season was also first to feature a new twist called "The Switch Up", which gave viewers the opportunity to vote and change up celebrity/professional pairings for a week during the season. Each celebrity was required to leave his or her assigned partner and perform with a new pro for one week.
This season is notable for being the first in which a dance that has been featured in every season, the paso doble, was only performed once.
On May 20, 2014, Meryl Davis and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy were crowned the champions, marking the first time that Chmerkovskiy has won. Amy Purdy and Derek Hough were the runners-up, and Candace Cameron Bure and Mark Ballas finished in third place.
Couples
The cast of twelve and their professional partners were revealed on March 4, 2014, on Good Morning America.Nine of the twelve professional dancers from the previous season returned for season 18. A tenth, Sasha Farber, returned to the Dance Troupe while Tristan MacManus and Tyne Stecklein did not return in either capacity. These three were replaced by former Troupe members—Witney Carson and Henry Byalikov—and also by Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who had returned following a two-season hiatus. Joining Sasha Farber and Lindsay Arnold in the Troupe is Jenna Johnson from season ten of So You Think You Can Dance and Artem Chigvintsev, a professional on the British version of the show. Gleb Savchenko did not return to the dance troupe this season.
| Celebrity | Notability | Professional partner | Status |
| Long-distance swimmer | Eliminated 1st on March 24, 2014 | ||
| Former NHL player | Eliminated 2nd on March 24, 2014 | ||
| Movie actor | Withdrew on March 31, 2014 | ||
| Singer-songwriter | Sharna Burgess | Eliminated 3rd on April 14, 2014 | |
| Television host, actor & comedian | Witney Carson | Eliminated 4th on April 21, 2014 | |
| Reality television star & actress | Derek Hough | Eliminated 5th on April 28, 2014 | |
| The Wonder Years actress & author | Maksim Chmerkovskiy | Eliminated 6th on May 5, 2014 | |
| Olympic ice dancer | Peta Murgatroyd | Eliminated 7th on May 12, 2014 | |
| Big Time Rush singer & actor | Cheryl Burke | Eliminated 8th on May 19, 2014 | |
| Full House actress & author | Tony Dovolani | Third place on May 20, 2014 | |
| Paralympic snowboarder | Mark Ballas | Runner-up on May 20, 2014 | |
| Olympic ice dancer | Valentin Chmerkovskiy | Winner on May 20, 2014 |
Scoring charts
Average score chart
This table only counts for dances scored on a traditional 30-points scale.| Rank by average | Place | Couple | Total points | Number of dances | Average |
| 1 | Meryl & Maks | 426 | 15 | 28.4 | |
| 2 | Amy & Derek | 418 | 15 | 27.9 | |
| 3 | Charlie & Sharna | 324 | 12 | 27.0 | |
| 4 | James & Peta | 376 | 14 | 26.9 | |
| 5 | Danica & Val | 263 | 10 | 26.3 | |
| 6 | Candace & Mark | 382 | 15 | 25.5 | |
| 7 | Cody & Witney | 119 | 5 | 23.8 | |
| 8 | NeNe & Tony | 188 | 8 | 23.5 | |
| 9 | Drew & Cheryl | 132 | 6 | 22.0 | |
| 10 | 11 | Sean & Karina | 41 | 2 | 20.5 |
| 11 | 12 | Diana & Henry | 18 | 1 | 18.0 |
| 12 | 10 | Billy Dee & Emma | 30 | 2 | 15.0 |
Highest and lowest scoring performances
The highest and lowest performances in each dance according to the judges' 30-point scale are as follows:| Dance | Highest scored dancer | Highest score | Lowest scored dancer | Lowest score |
| Cha-cha-cha | James Maslow | 30 | Billy Dee Williams | 15 |
| Foxtrot | Charlie White | 30 | Diana Nyad | 18 |
| Contemporary | James Maslow | 30 | Sean Avery | 20 |
| Jive | Meryl Davis | 30 | Drew Carey NeNe Leakes | 21 |
| Samba | Meryl Davis Charlie White | 27 | Danica McKellar | 24 |
| Tango | Meryl Davis | 30 | Billy Dee Williams | 15 |
| Swing | Meryl Davis | 25 | Amy Purdy | 24 |
| Rumba | Meryl Davis | 28 | Candace Cameron Bure | 21 |
| Salsa | Amy Purdy | 30 | Sean Avery | 21 |
| Jazz | Amy Purdy | 29 | NeNe Leakes | 24 |
| Waltz | Amy Purdy | 27 | Drew Carey | 22 |
| Quickstep | Charlie White | 30 | Candace Cameron Bure Drew Carey | 21 |
| Argentine tango | Amy Purdy Meryl Davis | 30 | NeNe Leakes | 23 |
| Paso doble | Charlie White | 26 | — | — |
| Viennese Waltz | Meryl Davis | 30 | Candace Cameron Bure | 25 |
| Freestyle | Meryl Davis | 30 | Candace Cameron Bure | 24 |
| Team dance | Candace Cameron Bure Meryl Davis Danica McKellar Amy Purdy | 29 | NeNe Leakes James Maslow Charlie White | 25 |
| Dance duel | Amy Purdy James Maslow | 29 | Meryl Davis Danica McKellar | 26 |
| Fusion dance | Amy Purdy Meryl Davis | 30 | Candace Cameron Bure | 27 |
Couples' highest and lowest scoring dances
According to the traditional 30-point scale| Couples | Highest scoring dance | Lowest scoring dance |
| Meryl & Maks | Tango, Jive, Viennese Waltz, Argentine tango, Freestyle & Foxtrot/Cha-cha-cha fusion | Cha-cha-cha |
| Amy & Derek | Argentine tango, Salsa & Argentine tango/Cha-cha-cha fusion | Cha-cha-cha & Swing |
| Candace & Mark | Jazz | Rumba & Quickstep |
| James & Peta | Contemporary & Cha-cha-cha | Foxtrot |
| Charlie & Sharna | Quickstep & Foxtrot | Rumba |
| Danica & Val | Quickstep & Tango | Foxtrot, Samba, Jive, & Salsa |
| NeNe & Tony | Foxtrot | Cha-cha-cha & Jive |
| Drew & Cheryl | Cha-cha-cha | Foxtrot, Jive & Quickstep |
| Cody & Witney | Jazz & Samba | Cha-cha-cha & Tango |
| Billy Dee & Emma | Cha-cha-cha & Tango | Cha-cha-cha & Tango |
| Sean & Karina | Salsa | Contemporary |
| Diana & Henry | Foxtrot | Foxtrot |
Weekly scores
Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli.Week 1: Spring 2014 Season Premiere
;Running order| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music |
| NeNe & Tony | 21 | Cha-cha-cha | "Give It 2 U"—Robin Thicke feat. Kendrick Lamar |
| James & Peta | 21 | Foxtrot | "Story of My Life"—One Direction |
| Danica & Val | 24 | Foxtrot | "Walk Away"—Kelly Clarkson |
| Sean & Karina | 20 | Contemporary | "Somewhere Only We Know"—Keane |
| Billy Dee & Emma | 15 | Cha-cha-cha | "Star Wars Theme"—Meco |
| Meryl & Maks | 24 | Cha-cha-cha | "All Night"—Icona Pop |
| Candace & Mark | 25 | Contemporary | "Burn"—Ellie Goulding |
| Cody & Witney | 22 | Cha-cha-cha | "Timber"—Pitbull feat. Kesha |
| Drew & Cheryl | 21 | Foxtrot | "Money "—Barrett Strong |
| Amy & Derek | 24 | Cha-cha-cha | "Counting Stars"—OneRepublic |
| Diana & Henry | 18 | Foxtrot | "Beyond the Sea"—Bobby Darin |
| Charlie & Sharna | 27 | Contemporary | "Let Her Go"—Passenger |
Week 2: Stars Pick
At the beginning of the show, it was announced by Bergeron and Andrews that there would be a double elimination this week.;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music | Result |
| Drew & Cheryl | 21 | Jive | "You Can't Sit Down"—The Dovells | Safe |
| Danica & Val | 24 | Samba | "All Nite "—Janet Jackson | Safe |
| Billy Dee & Emma | 15 | Tango | "Peter Gunn Theme"—Henry Mancini | Safe |
| Meryl & Maks | 25 | Swing | "Big and Bad"—Big Bad Voodoo Daddy | Safe |
| Diana & Henry | N/A | Cha-cha-cha | "Move Your Feet"—Junior Senior | Eliminated Immediately |
| Candace & Mark | 21 | Rumba | "Say Something"—A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera | Safe |
| Amy & Derek | 24 | Swing | "Swing Set"—Jurassic 5 | Safe |
| James & Peta | 25 | Salsa | "Follow the Leader"—Wisin & Yandel feat. Jennifer Lopez | Safe |
| Charlie & Sharna | 25 | Tango | "Addicted to You"—Avicii | Safe |
| NeNe & Tony | 21 | Jive | "Do My Thing"—Estelle feat. Janelle Monáe | Safe |
| Sean & Karina | 21 | Salsa | "Dance Bailalo"—Kat DeLuna | Eliminated |
| Cody & Witney | 22 | Tango | "Yeah 3x"—Chris Brown | Last to be called safe |
Week 3: The Most Memorable Year of Their Life
Individual judges scores in the chart below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Robin Roberts, Bruno Tonioli.At the beginning of the show, it was announced that Billy Dee Williams was advised to withdraw from the competition due to a chronic back problem. Therefore, no one was eliminated at the end of the show.
;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music |
| James & Peta | 36 | Jive | "The Middle"—Jimmy Eat World |
| NeNe & Tony | 31 | Rumba | "I Believe in You and Me"—Whitney Houston |
| Cody & Witney | 35 | Jazz | "Surfboard"—Cody Simpson |
| Danica & Val | 36 | Contemporary | "Lullabye "—Billy Joel |
| Drew & Cheryl | 30 | Waltz | "Fade into You"—Sam Palladio & Clare Bowen |
| Meryl & Maks | 39 | Foxtrot | "All of Me"—John Legend |
| Amy & Derek | 36 | Contemporary | "Human"—Christina Perri |
| Charlie & Sharna | 36 | Jive | "Happy"—Pharrell Williams |
| Candace & Mark | 32 | Jive | "Blue Suede Shoes"—Elvis Presley |
Week 4: The Switch - Up
Individual judges scores in the chart below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Julianne Hough, Bruno Tonioli.The couples were required to switch professional partners this week and learn a new style of dance. Due to the nature of the week, no elimination took place at the end of the show.
;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music |
| Candace & Tony | 28 | Quickstep | "The Ballroom Blitz"—Sweet |
| James & Cheryl | 35 | Tango | "Dark Horse"—Katy Perry feat. Juicy J |
| Drew & Witney | 33 | Cha-cha-cha | "Sugarfoot"—Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears |
| Danica & Maks | 32 | Jive | "Love Me Right!"—The Swag Geeks feat. Brook Penning |
| Charlie & Peta | 33 | Rumba | "Wildest Moments"—Jessie Ware |
| Amy & Mark | 34 | Salsa | "Brand New"—Pharrell feat. Justin Timberlake |
| Cody & Sharna | 31 | Foxtrot | "I'm Yours"—Jason Mraz |
| NeNe & Derek | 32 | Jazz | "Grown Woman"—Beyoncé |
| Meryl & Val | 39 | Argentine tango | "Too Close"—Alex Clare |
Week 5: Disney Night
Individual judges scores in the chart below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Donny Osmond, Bruno Tonioli.Couples performed one unlearned dance to a song from a Disney film.
;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music | Disney film | Result |
| Drew & Cheryl | 28 | Quickstep | "Friend Like Me"—Robin Williams | Aladdin | Safe |
| Charlie & Sharna | 37 | Jazz | "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"—Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke | Mary Poppins | Safe |
| Danica & Val | 39 | Quickstep | "Be Our Guest"—Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury | Beauty and the Beast | Safe |
| Amy & Derek | 37 | Waltz | "So This Is Love"—Ilene Woods | Cinderella | Safe |
| Cody & Witney | 34 | Samba | "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"—Jason Weaver, Laura Williams, and Rowan Atkinson | The Lion King | Eliminated |
| NeNe & Tony | 36 | Foxtrot | "Cruella de Vil"—Rod Taylor | 101 Dalmatians | Safe |
| James & Peta | 40 | Contemporary | "Let It Go"—Idina Menzel | Frozen | Safe |
| Meryl & Maks | 36 | Samba | "I Wan'na Be Like You "—Louis Prima | The Jungle Book | Safe |
| Candace & Mark | 35 | Samba | "Under the Sea"—Samuel E. Wright | The Little Mermaid | Last to be called safe |
Week 6: Party Anthems Night
Individual judges scores in the chart below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Redfoo, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli.;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music | Result |
| NeNe & Tony | 33 | Salsa | "Hot in Herre"—Nelly | Safe |
| Candace & Mark | 32 | Cha-cha-cha | "I Love It"—Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX | Last to be called safe |
| James & Peta | 35 | Quickstep | "You're the One That I Want"—John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John | Safe |
| Danica & Val | 36 | Cha-cha-cha | "I Wanna Dance with Somebody "—Whitney Houston | Safe |
| Meryl & Maks | 40 | Tango | "Feel So Close"—Calvin Harris | Safe |
| Drew & Cheryl | 32 | Tango | "Super Freak"—Rick James | Eliminated |
| Charlie & Sharna | 36 | Cha-cha-cha | "Gonna Make You Sweat "—C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams | Safe |
| Amy & Derek | 38 | Jive | "Shout"—The Isley Brothers | Safe |
Week 7: Latin Night
Individual judges scores in the chart below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Ricky Martin, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli.;Running order
- Due to an injury suffered by Amy Purdy after performing her rumba, Team Loca's dance was scored based on rehearsal footage filmed prior to the live show.
Week 8: Celebrity Dance Duels
Although billed as "dance duels," the two celebrities in each dance receive the same score. During the routine, the celebrities are required to dance with each other for 20 seconds on the dance floor without their partners.
;Running order
Week 9: American Icons Night
Individual judges scores in the chart below are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Kenny Ortega, Bruno Tonioli.The semifinalists performed two unlearned dances to songs by American music icons. The celebrities were also able to speak with people who they consider "icons". Candace, Charlie, Amy, James, and Meryl each received advice from Angela Thomas, Scott Hamilton, Oprah Winfrey, L.A. Reid, and season 6 winner Kristi Yamaguchi respectively.
;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music | Result |
| Candace & Mark | 34 | Viennese Waltz | "If I Knew"—Bruno Mars | Safe |
| Candace & Mark | 38 | Jazz | "Nasty"—Janet Jackson | Safe |
| Charlie & Sharna | 40 | Foxtrot | "New York, New York"—Frank Sinatra | Eliminated |
| Charlie & Sharna | 36 | Samba | "Mo Money Mo Problems"—The Notorious B.I.G. | Eliminated |
| Amy & Derek | 39 | Quickstep | "You Can't Hurry Love"—The Supremes | Safe |
| Amy & Derek | 39 | Jazz | "Too Darn Hot "—Ella Fitzgerald | Safe |
| James & Peta | 40 | Cha-cha-cha | "Love Never Felt So Good"—Michael Jackson | Safe |
| James & Peta | 36 | Rumba | "Islands in the Stream"—Kenny Rogers feat. Dolly Parton | Safe |
| Meryl & Maks | 40 | Jive | "Hound Dog"—Elvis Presley | Last to be called safe |
| Meryl & Maks | 40 | Viennese Waltz | "Just a Fool"—Christina Aguilera & Blake Shelton | Last to be called safe |
Week 10: The Finals
The four finalists performed two dances on the first night: the first was a new dance using the same dance style the celebrities had performed in week four with their switch-up partners, but now with their regular pro partners, and the second was a freestyle dance.On the second night, the three surviving finalists each performed a fusion dance combining two dance styles that had been assigned to them after the previous night's episode. The selected styles had been performed by the couple earlier in the season.
;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music | Result |
| James & Peta | 29 | Tango | "Adore You "—Miley Cyrus | Eliminated |
| James & Peta | 29 | Freestyle | "Original Don"—Major Lazer feat. The Partysquad | Eliminated |
| Meryl & Maks | 30 | Argentine tango | "Montserrat"—Bajofondo | Safe |
| Meryl & Maks | 30 | Freestyle | "Latch"—Sam Smith | Safe |
| Candace & Mark | 27 | Quickstep | "Umbrella"—The Baseballs | Last to be called safe |
| Candace & Mark | 24 | Freestyle | "Canned Heat"—Jamiroquai | Last to be called safe |
| Amy & Derek | 30 | Salsa | "Ran Kan Kan"—Tito Puente | Safe |
| Amy & Derek | 29 | Freestyle | "Dare You"—Hardwell | Safe |
;Running order
| Couple | Scores | Dance | Music | Result |
| Amy & Derek | 30 | Argentine tango Cha-cha-cha | "Rather Be"—Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne | Runner-up |
| Candace & Mark | 27 | Samba Quickstep | "Sir Duke"—Stevie Wonder | Third place |
| Meryl & Maks | 30 | Foxtrot Cha-cha-cha | "Glowing"—Nikki Williams | Winner |
Dance chart
The celebrities and professional partners danced one of these routines for each corresponding week:- Week 1: Cha-cha-cha, foxtrot or contemporary
- Week 2: One unlearned dance
- Week 3: One unlearned dance
- Week 4: One unlearned dance
- Week 5: One unlearned dance
- Week 6: One unlearned dance
- Week 7: One unlearned dance and team dances
- Week 8: One unlearned dance and dance duel
- Week 9: Two unlearned dances
- Week 10 : Judges' pick/redos of "Partner Switch-Up Night" dances & freestyle
- Week 10 : Fusion dance
Guest performances
| Date | Dance style | Artist | Song | Dancers |
| March 17, 2014 | Samba | Jason Derulo | "Talk Dirty" | Pros, Troupe and Derulo's dancers. |
| April 21, 2014 | Freestyle | Redfoo | "Let's Get Ridiculous" | Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson, Jenna Johnson and Emma Slater |
| April 28, 2014 | Samba | Ricky Martin | "Vida" | Pros and Dance Troupe |
| May 5, 2014 | Charleston | Mark Ballas | "Get My Name" | Ballas, Pros and Dance Troupe |
| May 20, 2014 | Contemporary | Amber Riley | "Colorblind" | Tony Dovolani and Karina Smirnoff |
| May 20, 2014 | Swing | Amber Riley | "Do Your Thing" | Riley, Pros, Dance Troupe and backup dancers |
| May 20, 2014 | N/A | Christina Perri | "Human" | N/A |
| May 20, 2014 | Hip-Hop | Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX | "Fancy" | Pros and Dance Troupe |
| May 20, 2014 | Jazz | Cody Simpson | "Surfboard" | Simpson's backup dancers and Witney Carson |
| May 20, 2014 | Freestyle | Ariana Grande | "Problem" | Grande's backup dancers |
Celebrity guest judges
Beginning in week three of the live shows, a celebrity guest judge was present at the judges table to comment on and score the dance routines. As a result, the judges table had four judges instead of three and a dance couple could receive a top score of 40 points for their dance. Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts was the first celebrity guest judge on March 31. The final guest judge, Kenny Ortega, appeared on the week nine semifinals, and the two-night finale was scored by the three original judges only.| Date | Guest judge | Occupation |
| March 31, 2014 | Robin Roberts | Anchor of Good Morning America |
| April 7, 2014 | Julianne Hough | Actress, singer, dancer, choreographer |
| April 14, 2014 | Donny Osmond | Singer, actor, dancer |
| April 21, 2014 | Redfoo | Singer/rapper, season 20 contestant |
| April 28, 2014 | Ricky Martin | Singer, actor, author |
| May 5, 2014 | Abby Lee Miller | Choreographer, dance instructor of Dance Moms |
| May 12, 2014 | Kenny Ortega | Producer, director and choreographer |