‘DWTS’ Music Director Dishes On Pro Dancers’ Special Requests
On Dancing With The Stars, most fans are very familiar with the dancers and judges. But in reality, there are many amazingly talented people who keep the show running — even if fans don’t know their names.
Ray Chew has been the musical director for DWTS for 10 years. He’s also gotten to know the dancers very well and knows just how particular they can be about their music choices.
DWTS Music Director Ray Chew Confesses The Pro Dancers Are Particular
Each week, DWTS fans get to see a stunning, finished performance. But they don’t always see the long creative process that goes into building each routine. According to the music director, the pros often have specific elements of a song in mind. It’s his job to help them nail it down.
“They’re very specific about a lot of things that they’re looking for,” music director Ray Chew shared with Us Weekly. “They may be looking for a little sound that happens [at the] 29 seconds [mark] so they can do a little arm [movement].”
According to Chew, the pro dancers have an uncanny ability to pick up on elements of the music no one else hears.
“They’re like, ‘Well, I need to do a little movement on that,’” he continued. “There’s a lot of very, very specific things that they look for. And it’s very, very challenging at times. But I love the challenge.”
Us Weekly then asked which of the 13 pro dancers from Season 33 are the most “opinionated” about their musical. But Chew said all the dancers are like that and he couldn’t single anyone out. Everyone wants the perfect song to go with their routine.
“All of them,” he revealed “All of them are world-class winners. They’ve come from all over the world … and when they converge here, they’re very competitive.”
Ray Chew Has A Lot Of Input When It Comes To Laying Out Episodes
Ray Chew was also the music director for American Idol from 2010-2013 before going to Dancing With The Stars in 2014. One of the biggest challenges of his job is to recreate studio-recorded albums, but also adjust them so they’re appropriate for each unique dance style.
“With any song, we can make it into any style. And that’s my job,” the music director continued. “There was nothing previous to this show where I had to take the song ‘Get Down On It’ and make a rumba out of it.”
Dancing With The Stars also enlists its music director’s assistance in choosing theme nights. Ray Chew proudly shared he helped come up with Hair Metal Night and Soul Train Night.
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“It’s a team effort,” the music director added. “You have the network and you have the celebrity guests. You have our great choreographers who also dance the thing. It’s a big team, and everybody kind of chimes in on that.”
Catch the new episode of Dancing With The Stars Season 33 on Tuesday night at 8 PM Eastern time on ABC. It’s Disney Night, so watch as the top eight couples perform to their favorite Disney hits, as arranged by Ray Chew.
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