Since the Rileys didnt participate, I am appointing myself the judge! YOU ALL WIN! go to bed! I enjoyed #christmasdancewars, what a fun tradition to start 4 the holidays."- Amber Riley
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 26, 2013
What began as a viral video war between celebrity families at Thanksgiving has now become a holiday tradition. Extra Host Maria Menounos and family began #ThanksgivingDanceWars as a viral video competition between their family and the Houghs (including Dancing with the Stars champions Julianne Hough and Derek Hough). By the night’s end other Dancing stars including recent champion Amber Riley and Mark Ballas had joined in and the competition went viral.
This Christmas, the celeb teams raised the bar and families around the nation joined in. Menounos posted a foreboding “Twas the Night Before Christmas Dance Wars” video on her instagram on Christmas Eve (featuring Bar Rescue star Jon Taffer). The Houghs responded with a call to action of their own (featuring Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev who spent the holiday with the clan). Mark Ballas and family then retorted with their own.
Menounos reached out to friends at the Kardashian Christmas Eve party to join in, posting the first dance war battles featuring Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Melanie Brown, Lance Bass, Heather McDonald and Robin Antin. Christmas Day the families battled back and forth, the Menounos’ performing a rendition of the “12 Days of Christmas” with a battalion of dancers and pro-roller bladers on her tennis court, spoofing the infamous Mean Girls’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” doing their own versions of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” and Backstreet Boy’s “Backstreet’s Back,” and a finale number featuring Dancing star Karina Smirnoff with water gymnastics and synchronized swimming to Trans Siberian Orchestra’s “Carol of the Bells.” The Houghs, with Dobrev’s help, put out a series of dance entries to Icona Pop’s “All Night” from their vacation spot in Salt Lake City. The Ballas’ enlisted family matriarch and British ballroom star Shirley Ballas to an upbeat salsa and then a romantic duet as the family performed an acoustic version of “Lovesong” by Adele.
The battles were as inspiring as they were entertaining. There were 390 other #Christmasdancewars posts on instagram featuring families from around the nation battling it out with the celebs, neighbors and family friends to Christmas classics, pop hits and hip-hop rally songs. The viral video war ended with no clear victor, but an army of participants and the advent of a new holiday tradition.
To see videos related to Christmas Dance Wars use the hashtag #Christmasdancewars to search on Twitter and Instagram. For videos from the battle, visit the instagram pages below:
MARIA MENOUNOS: http://instagram.com/mariamenounos78
JULIANNE HOUGH: http://instagram.com/juleshough
DEREK HOUGH: http://instagram.com/derekhough
MARK BALLAS: http://instagram.com/markballas
