ABC’s Dancing With The Stars can always be counted on for some serious entertainment. Earlier this week Dancing With The Stars aired an episode sure to delight film buffs with “Famous Dances Night.” Contestants Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough wowed audiences with a rendition of the iconic final dance sequence from Dirty Dancing. Check it out!
If you spent the first minute of the clip thinking “They’re not actually going to do the lift, right?” over and over again, Bindi and Derek’s big moment was the best kind of surprise. As anybody even slightly familiar with the 1987 film will know, the climax of the entire movie comes when Baby and Johnny manage to execute a lift in front of an audience for the first time to “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life.”
The entire dance was actually pretty shot-for-shot accurate to the original film version. From the outfits of the dancers to the complete lack of spaghetti arms to the lift itself, Bindi Irwin and professional dancer Derek Hough nailed everything that was so delightful from Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze back in 1987. Judging from the expression on Bindi’s face after she nailed the lift, she was just as elated by their success as Baby had been.
Of course, Derek Hough was a pretty safe partner for Bindi to trust for a lift. He had been the partner to Dirty Dancing star and ultimate Dancing With The Stars champion Jennifer Grey during Season 11. His Season 21 partnership with Bindi Irwin may see him guiding yet another star to victory.
Bindi and Derek taking on “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” is certainly not the first time that Dancing With The Stars contestants have tackled famous sequences. Previous Stars champion Alfonso Ribeiro of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame won the hearts of viewers everywhere with his performance of “the Carlton” in Season 19. Still, no throwback dance on Stars may ever be able to eclipse Bindi and Derek’s homage to Dirty Dancing.
There were changes to the routine that allowed Bindi to show off some extra dance moves, and she kept up with her professional partner throughout the entire clip. There’s no confusing the segment from Dancing With The Stars with the climax from Dirty Dancing, but the performances of Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough brought everything that was wonderful about the original to the small screen in their rumba.
The only downside of their performance is the fact that any who view the clip will inevitably have “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” stuck in their head for the rest of the day. Still, that’s at least a valid excuse to re-watch Bindi and Derek dance their hearts out on Dancing With The Stars a few extra times. It’s pretty great.
Dancing With The Stars airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC with results shown on Tuesday nights.
