Former 'DWTS' pros returning for Len Goodman 'Moon River' tribute dance - Entertainment Weekly News

You're a Good Man, Len.

Late Dancing With the Stars head judge Len Goodman is getting a special tribute on Tuesday night's episode of the ABC dancing competition. Dancing pros past and present will reunite in the ballroom for a dance number dedicated to Goodman, choreographed by current cast members Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson.

The theme of the week is "Most Memorable Year," and they've selected a number that pays homage to Goodman's ballroom dancing roots and timeless sensibility in Henry Mancini's classic "Moon River," famously featured in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

While all of the season 32 pros will be part of the number, it will also feature a number of returning dancers including Kym Herjavec, Anna Trebunskaya, Karina Smirnoff, Edyta Sliwinska, Tony Dovolani, Louis van Amstel, Maks Chmerkovskiy, and Mark Ballas.

Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images (2); Eric McCandless via Getty Images

Goodman served as the head judge on Dancing With the Stars since its inception, only absent from season 21 and season 29 prior to his retirement at the end of season 31. He died at the age of 78 on April 24.

From the beginning of season 32, there has been plenty of emphasis on paying tribute to the judging stalwart. The show's top prize was rechristened the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy on the premiere. Cohost and former pro dancer Julianne Hough pointed out that Goodman was with the show for nearly all of its 31 seasons. "That's why as a tribute to him, we redesigned and renamed our prize," cohost Alfonso Ribeiro said.

"It's so fantastic that Len will always be going forward with us," Hough concluded.

Previewing season 32, executive producer Conrad Green teased this tribute dance, adding that even when Goodman first retired, there were never any plans to replace him at the judges' table. Instead, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough are continuing in their roles as judges without Goodman as their leader.

"I've always felt Len is irreplaceable," Green said. "He's such an important part of the history of the show and such an important part of the reason the show is successful [with] his honesty, his specialist ballroom knowledge, and him coming genuinely from that world. His legacy of what he's brought to the show is amazing. He's always been that guy who's protected ballroom dancing on the show. He will be missed terribly."

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.

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