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Whitney Houston did appear on Dancing with the Stars! It was in 2009, 14 years ago

By Sabrina Reed

Whitney Houston performs at the 2009 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 22, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/AMA2009/WireImage)
Whitney Houston performs at the 2009 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 22, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/AMA2009/WireImage) /
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Dancing with the Stars paid tribute to Whitney Houston with a dazzling night of routines for week 8 of the competition. Present at the event was her sister-in-law Pat Houston, a producer and the executor of Houston’s estate. She shared with the audience that Whitney had been a fan of the show and, of course, Pat’s words led fellow fans, like myself, to wonder if the legendary singer had ever been involved with the series. Turns out, yes, she had been!

On Nov. 24, 2009, Houston–who’d been dubbed The Voice for her jaw-dropping vocal ability–took to the ballroom stage to perform “Million Dollar Bill,” her single from her final studio album Look to You (2009), and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” the 1987 hit from her second album Whitney.

Houston was promoting Look to You which had released Aug. 28, 2009. It was the first non-holiday album the icon had released since 2002 and marked her come back. She jetted off for her Nothing But Love World Tour two weeks after her appearance on Dancing with the Stars, beginning in Russia on Dec. 9, 2009.

At this stage in Whitney Houston’s career, she wasn’t the vocal powerhouse that she’d become known as but fans welcomed her return to the spotlight. She passed less than three years later on Feb. 11, 2012, leaving behind a legacy of touching people’s hearts with her beautiful gift of song.

Dancing with the Stars’ season 32 tribute saw seven couples dancing to Houston’s hits as they looked to improve their scores and their standing in the competition.

  • “Greatest Love of All” – Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber
  • “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” – Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy
  • “Queen of the Night” – Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov
  • “I Will Always Love You” – Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev
  • “Higher Love” – Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach
  • “I Have Nothing” – Harry Jowsey and Rylee Arnold 
  • “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” – Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd

Spoilers ahead for DWTS week 8 elimination

Unfortunately, for one pair, their time on the series came to an end despite the stellar performance they’d put on during the dance-off. TV legend Barry Williams had to bid the ballroom goodbye. He’d taken the notes received during feedback for his and Peta Murgatroyd’s samba and challenged himself to move more, and move he did!

Williams left it all on the dance floor, showing up Jason Mraz who was giving it his all but didn’t burn as bright as Williams who even incorporated a ripped open short moment into his routine. The ballroom chanted his name after that moment and again when he was sent home, showing he’d left an impression on the live audience and those of us at home.

dark. Next. A brief history on Dancing with the Stars

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