Go behind the scenes on Dancing With The Stars ahead of its series finale

As the cast and crew geared up for the live show last Sunday, Ruth O’Connor went behind the scenes of Dancing with the Stars.

Dancing with the Stars Ireland gears up for another Sunday broadcast, with hosts Doireann Garrihy and Jennifer Zamparelli. Pics: Leah Farrell

To quote Brian Dowling, of the Dancing With The Stars podcast, “I’m in the studio”.

Yes, it’s Sunday afternoon and cast and crew of DWTS are preparing for dress rehearsal and sound check.

The banter is audible from hair and makeup where tables are laden with curling tongs, products, makeup palettes and brushes while the team puts final touches to the dancers who are already fully made up though it’s not yet 2pm.

“We concentrate on the eyes — the eye is the real signature look of the makeup,” says head of makeup Mary Drummond.

“Today, for example, I have Brooke (Scullion) who is wearing a Cinderella blue dress and Laura who is wearing a bright pink jumpsuit — so I take into account the person’s face, what they are wearing and what they have worn in previous weeks. Lighting needs to be considered as well as the hairstyle — I can’t have hair sticking to a glossy lip. The dress rehearsal allows us to see if the look will work for the live show.”

The dance determines the look for the male dancers.

“When they are doing the Pasodoble the men wear eyeliner and we darken up their beard for a dramatic look,” Drummond explains, brandishing her brush.

“It’s largely about grooming and skincare and making sure they don’t look too pale under the lights.”

Celebrity dancer Carl Mullan in makeup with Mary Drummond. Carl and his partner, Emily Barker, danced the quick step last Sunday.

One dancer in the makeup chair is Carl Mullan.

“My fitness levels have gone way up … If you’d told me in week one that Emily (Barker) would have been able to get me to a place where I could do the dances I can do now I would not have believed you,” he says affably.

Mullan believes people love to see the journey that the celebrities go on and how they develop.

“Emily has been so supportive and encouraging,” he says of his dance partner.

“It’s such an intense bubble that you kind of don’t believe it’s you. I think it’ll only be in a few months that I’ll look back on the experience and think ‘That was mad!’”

'YOU ARE CONSTANTLY HAVING TO PUSH YOURSELF'

Professional dancer Laura Nolan putting the final touches on before performing.

Over at the hair station Brooke Scullion is having her hair curled into waves. “I am very grateful to be here after being in the dance off with Panti — it was very difficult to say goodbye to my friend,” she says.

“Last week was one of the highest pressure situations I have ever been in. I was crying full tears and had to go on to do the dance-off.”

Have dances been getting easier as time has gone on?

“Once you get fitter, you can do harder routines, so you are constantly having to push yourself. If you go up in one area you have to go up in the other,” she says.

With over 30 years in the world of hairdressing, Carolann Mcguirk is responsible for the hair on DWTS. Concepts are sent to her each Wednesday and everything is meticulously planned — but plans can to change sometimes and timing is everything.

“We often have just minutes to change a style,” she says. “Television work is very different to salon work — you have to move quickly, make fast decisions and know the tricks of the trade. It’s non-stop.”

Despite the non-stop nature of TV, behind the scenes is remarkably calm. The stage is a glittering box set up in the middle of a huge studio. It’s like a portal to a glamorous world outside of which props, the costume department, sound equipment and even the catering area lie.

Once on set however, you are transported to a world where seats are gold, lights glisten and tables await their guests. It’s obvious the 160-strong team working on the show keeps it running like an American smooth.

Watching the dancers up close reveals every sinew in the arm, every foot position, every over-exaggerated facial expression. This proximity to the dancers is important to the judges, of course, but Brian Redmond, Arthur Gourounlian, and head judge Loraine Barry do not see the couples perform their individual dances in rehearsal. In fact, in order to get timings right, members of the production team sit in for the judges, curiously embodying their characters to brilliant, often comic, effect.

While the couples dance, the graphics burst into life on the screens, a large camera suspended over the dancefloor takes long shots while two nimble-footed camera operators skirt around the dancers for the close ups. Still shots of the performers are taken for use in the media later and the hair, makeup, and costume teams carefully scrutinise each aspect of the rehearsal.

'YOU CAN'T STOP RECORDING IF SOMETHING FALLS OFF'

Niamh O’Connor is the mind behind the costumes on the set of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

In terms of costumes, every piece is customised to make it unique to DWTS.

“All our costumes are customised so they are never the same as other shows,” says costume designer Niamh O’Connor who has worked on DWTS for six years.

“We might change the skirt or the top or add sequins or Swarovski crystals. We also make some of the dresses. Fabrics have to work well with the graphics and the lights,” she explains. “And we use very vibrant colours you wouldn’t see in regular stores or haberdasheries. They have to have a lot of colour content for television.”

While the dresses must be both beautiful and functional, the men’s costumes involve more than you might think.

“The bow tie has to be stitched in, the shirt is on what’s like a pair of underpants to keep it tucked in, the braces under the trousers are stitched in,” says O’Connor.

“Because it’s a live TV show you can’t stop recording if something falls off. For example, we only use certain earrings and all earrings have to have double or triple backs on them.”

When it comes to outfits worn by presenters Jennifer Zamparelli and Doireann Garrihy, as well as the judges, Fiona Fagan references both current trends and personal style.

She says: “Styling for telly is very different to styling for magazines. You need structure and tailoring. Fabrics cannot be too thin or transparent and you can’t really use white or silver because of the lights.”

This season presented more of a challenge for Fagan than previous years as Garrihy replaced Nicky Byrne on the show.

“It’s about differentiating the two presenters. People want to buy the products that they are wearing too so it’s about putting them in things that I love and young funky brands that people are going to want to wear.”

Fagan is on set each Saturday and Sunday.

“For Arthur this year we’ve gone for suits, jewellery, and brooches on the lapels of the jacket. For Brian, it’s all about a suit with a dickie bow, a classic look that suits his personality.”

The show takes months of planning and each episode is worked on weeks in advance.

“It’s like having a lot of frying pans on the go at once,” explains creative director, Darren Bennett, backstage.

'IT STANDS ON ITS OWN'

Professional dancer, Kylee Vincent in makeup ahead of the show. Kylee is and her partner, actor Damian McGinty, danced the rumba and earned a 29-point score from the judges.

A former pro dancer on Strictly Come Dancing whose wife, dancer and choreographer Lilia Kopylova, also works on DWTS, Bennett’s role includes devising everything from the overall look of each number to the music and costumes to hair and makeup.

“This is a very well-respected version of the show. Most shows around the world have this scale and budget and what we do in terms of the show — the amazing production, graphics, lighting — it stands on its own,” says Bennett of the Irish show.

This year’s DWTS is the closest he’s ever seen: “In the past we have had celebrities with more dance experience and you know they’ll be in the final, but this year anyone could go through or leave the show. It’s a bit cliched to describe everyone as a ‘dance family’ but it really is like that — it is so hard to see people go.”

Bennett says that, for the celebrity dancers, DWTS goes way beyond fancy footwork.

“It goes much deeper than learning the dance moves. Having danced with six celebrities myself on Strictly, I can say that it’s about the development of self awareness — the confidence that, after this, they can go and achieve anything.”

As the remaining couples take their final turns tonight, audiences can look forward to dances showcasing what the couples have learned and been through in the past 11 weeks as well as a big opening number featuring all the returning celebrities.

Later, I catch James Patrice getting ready to hype up the studio audience and go live for DWTS on social media.

“I love the consistent glitter and glamour from January to the end of March,” he says, “I love that everyone here has the same goal, to produce a great show and to bring a bit of joy and craic to the world each Sunday night.”