"Dancing with the Stars" is a popular dance competition show on ABC. For the last 24 seasons, celebrities and professional dancers have been laying everything on the line for the Mirrorball Trophy (also written Mirror Ball Trophy). It’s one of the most coveted prizes on television; however, it has no monetary value like other trophies that can sometimes be sold for cash. Even so, people from different careers have been competing for the Mirrorball Trophy since 2005 when the show first launched.
Background of the Mirrorball Trophy
According to People magazine, production designer James Yarnell related that no one believed the show would last longer than one season.
The prize for the British version, "Strictly Come Dancing," has a mirrorball on a stick. To upgrade the prize, Yarnell and his team used an unconventional item for the trophy. They agreed to use a lamp. With a limited budget, a 3-foot brass lamp was purchased. All the pieces were taken apart and reassembled to look like the trophy that was used on the show for the first four seasons.
The very first Mirrorball Trophy that Kelly Monaco received in 2005 was part of a brass lamp that had been put on a wooden base with the mirrorball on it. It is funny that the trophy was not ready to be presented until the very last minute. That's because the trophy turned out to be too short, and it had to be redone just before the winner was announced.
A roll of parcel tape was added to the base to made the trophy taller by 2 inches. After the stem was covered in gold paper, it was presented.
Trophy upgrade
The make shift trophy stayed the same until Season 4. Designers were forced to change the Mirrorball Trophy when the lamps were discontinued from Lamps Plus. The trophy had to be remade with a heavier acrylic base and a brass stem.
The show now commissions bases for the trophies from Society Awards, a company in New York.
The trophy that is presented to a "Dancing With The Stars" champion now is similar to a disco ball on a stem with a sturdy base. No matter how the trophy is made and what it looks like, the winners are always thrilled to get one because it represents weeks of aches, pains, lots of rehearsals and competitive dancing.
