At Eurovision 2019, Bilal Hassani proudly proclaimed he was a “Roi”. And now, the French star has shown he’s certainly a king of the dancefloor. Making it all the way to the grand final of Danse avec les stars 2021, Bilal ultimately finished in second place.
Danse avec les stars (Dance with the stars) is the French version of British television series Strictly Come Dancing. Celebrities from France learn the art of ballroom and Latin dancing in addition to other dance styles, and then perform each week to impress the judges and viewers at home.
Bilal Hassani is runner-up of Danse avec les stars 2021
Early on in the competition, Bilal emerged as a strong contender to make it to the end. Alongside his professional partner Jordan Mouillerac, the French singer consistently impressed with his dancing skill and often rose to the top of the leaderboard.
After eleven weeks of fierce competition, the pair made it to the grand final. The initial round saw each of the remaining three couples perform a freestyle dance. Bilal and Jordan scored exceptionally highly, picking up 39 points out of a total of 40, which allowed them to progress to the final two.
In the final stages, it was all down to the public vote. Bilal displayed his elegant ballroom technique with a waltz and then his last dance of the season was a contemporary number.
The public vote was ultimately split 56% to 44%, but unfortunately not in Bilal’s favour. The Eurovision star was awarded the silver medal, which is still a great achievement and a testament to his success throughout the season.
The winner was Cameroonian-French singer-songwriter Tayc and his partner Fauve Hautot.
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Bilal Hassani on DALS 2021
Below you’ll find a roundup of the dances Bilal Hassani performed during episodes three to 11 of Danse avec les stars. You can review our previous article for the result of week one (Bilal did not perform in week two as the contestants were premiered on the show in two groups).
Scores for all individual dances are out of a total of 40. Any combined totals from multiple dances are in brackets after the second one.
Danse avec les stars is slightly more complicated than other versions of the franchise as the exact scoring rules change and there are various rounds each week. An “-” marker next to a section means Bilal’s dance score earned him immunity from moving onto that round. The “Face-à-face” is akin to the “dance-off” in other editions of the show.
| Week | Dance | Score | Position on Leaderboard |
| 3 | Jive | 35 | 1st |
| Figure imposée | – | ||
| Face-à-face | – | ||
| 4 | Tango | 33 | Lost duel (2nd) |
| Face-à-face | Safe | ||
| 5 | American Smooth | 35 | 1st |
| Figure imposée | – | ||
| Face-à-face | – | ||
| 6 | Quickstep | 33 | 1st |
| Face-à-face | – | ||
| 7 | Rumba | 39.9 | 2nd in group |
| Face-à-face | – | ||
| 8 | Cha-Cha-Cha | 31 | 3rd (joint) |
| Danse à quatre (Charleston) | 27 (58) | ||
| Face-à-face | Safe | ||
| 9 | Contemporary | 37 | 1st |
| Charleston | 37 (74) | ||
| Face-à-face | – | ||
| 10 | Samba | 35 | 2nd |
| American Smooth | 35 (70) | ||
| Face-à-face | – | ||
| 11 | Freestyle | 39 | 2nd |
| Waltz | Score not revealed | ||
| Contemporary | 44% (public vote) | 2nd |
Videos of the performances on the Danse avec les stars YouTube channel are unfortunately geoblocked.
?? @iambilalhassani made a strong first impression with his debut dance on Danse avec les stars
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) September 19, 2021
? He won over all four judges and earned immunity from elimination
?? – @JonathanVautreyhttps://t.co/VWqfjQGplX
Dita von Teese, who appeared on stage as part of Germany’s Eurovision 2009 performance, was also a contestant on Danse avec les stars 2021. The burlesque dancer was another strong contender on the show, even beating Bilal Hassani in their duel during week four of the competition. Dita was eventually eliminated in week nine, ultimately finishing in fifth place.
Bilal isn’t the only Eurovision alum to have reached the final of Danse avec les stars. Belgium’s 2015 representative Loïc Nottet went on to win the competition later on in the same year.
What do you make of Bilal Hassani’s run on Danse avec les stars 2021? Do you think he deserved to lift the trophy? Let us know in the comments below!
Hope that a Eurovision comeback is on the cards for 2022, he was robbed blind in Tel Aviv.
Both Bilal and Tayc were deserving, they don’t dance with the same way but they both were strong. I think Bilal was the best but not in the Latin dances, Tayc was good in every dance tho. But between all of the contestants of every edition, Loïc was obviously the best of all the French DWTS. His dance Chandelier is the most watched dance from DWTS of the world, including the US DWTS (less than 100M on You Tube!)
I would have prefered he won, he deserved it more than somebody else, but runner up is good too.