Alyson Hannigan pays tribute to “American Pie” on “DWTS ”season finale
This one time...at the ballroom...
My my, miss American Pie...
Alyson Hannigan, who played Michelle Flaherty in four American Pie movies, paid tribute to the franchise during the finals of Dancing With the Stars season 32.
In Hannigan's freestyle dance, she was lifted up by the professional dancers and yelled out, "This one time, at Dancing With the Stars, I made it to the finale!" in reference to the original 1999's famous line, "This one time, at band camp..."
Hannigan played Michelle from 1999 to 2012, the band geek who is the primary love interest of Jason Biggs' nerdy Jim throughout the films.
Hannigan delivered a jam-packed freestyle number, beginning in a traditional ballroom frame dancing to Taylor Swift's "Enchanted" before taking her moment in the lift and moving into an upbeat Latin dance to Jennifer Lopez's "Papi."
Though Hannigan had zero dance experience coming into DWTS, she improved every week under the tutelage of pro partner Sasha Farber and earned praise from the judging panel. She had her ups and downs, including almost missing a week of the competition due to a nausea-inducing migraine.
While Hannigan seemed to assume that she would be eliminated in the semifinals, she was shocked when a twist ending landed her and the rest of the remaining couples in the finals — the first time DWTS has ever had five couples competing on the finale.
Hannigan also paid tribute to meaningful moments in her career throughout season 32, most notably on the Halloween episode where she sported a red wig during a vampire dance in homage to her Buffy the Vampire Slayer character Willow.
Farber and Hannigan opened the night with a salsa to Gloria Estefan's "Get On Your Feet," which earned a 25 from the judges.
Her freestyle dance earned lots of love from the judges as well, with Bruno Tonioli calling her the "people's champion" and Derek Hough praising her defining attribute this season as courage. She earned a 28 out of 30, including her first 10 of the season from Tonioli for the freestyle. This brought her total for the night to 53, combining with her semifinals scores for a total of 104 points, landing her in last place on the leaderboard.
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