‘Dancing with the Stars’ preview: ‘Gangnam Style,’ ‘Call Me Maybe’ front and center

There are some songs that we never anticipated being the music for an episode of “Dancing with the Stars,” but yet this is still exactly what we are going to be seeing for the upcoming performance show that is airing this week.

Before we get to the specific performances that are set to go down, we have a programming note to share: thanks to the Presidential debate happening on Monday night, the ballroom competition will be reduced to just an hour tomorrow. With that in mind, the performances will be split Monday and Tuesday (which will be pre-taped) between two “teams” who are taking part in some group freestlye performances. These teams were chosen during last week’s results show, with the highest-scoring couple getting to serve as the captains. As for the result show, there isn’t one this week; rather, there will be a double-eliminated later on, and the scores for this week will be combined with what we see for the October 29 performance show.

Before looking at the song spoilers we have for you now, keep in mind that the theme here is “guilty pleasures.” The first group in Team Shawn will be performing the Carly Rae Jepsen hit “Call Me Maybe,” and it consists of Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough, Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel,  Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff, and Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani. Meanwhile, Team Gilles will tackle the PSY hit “Gangnam Style,” and it will feature performances by Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd, Kelly Monaco and Valentin Chmerkovskiy, and Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke.

This is going to be an awkward week of performances given the wrench that the election has thrown into the system, but hopefully it will still make for some entertaining TV.

Do you like the way in which the format has been changed here?