Live at 'DWTS': What you didn't see on TV

Adam Taylor / ABC

Val Chmerkovskiy took off his vest after his samba with big bro Maks and actress Melissa Gilbert. And it seems a lucky audience member went home with the garment.

By Anna Chan

The glitz! The glam! "Dancing With the Stars" looks pretty amazing when it airs live on TV, but the audience at home misses out on some of the fun tidbits that can be seen only at the live tapings. Here are a few of the things I saw when I attended my first live "DWTS" shows on May 7 and 8:

1. First of all, don't even try to sneak your cell phone in. By the time the audience was lined up and ready to enter the ballroom, there were two crates filled with confiscated phones. (The gadgets were tagged and owners given tickets to retrieve them later.) Also, get rid of that gum. Otherwise, the ushers will make you spit it into a little paper cup later.

2. The ballroom looks gigantic on television, but it's not as huge in person. (Still quite impressive, though!) On the other hand, the ginormous mirror ball that hangs above the dance floor? That thing is even more massive than it looks on TV.

3. Prior to the show's start on Monday, Carrie Underwood pretaped a performance in the ballroom. (Air date unknown.) The audience was instructed on when to start cheering -- when she starts singing, and when the troupe dancers hit the floor. And before the live show kicked off on Tuesday, R&B star Chris Brown was on hand to pretape his performance, which aired during the elimination show. The singer did his set two and?a quarter times. That quarter was thanks to the audio cutting out early in the second take. See why these performances aren't live?

4. It's not only the pro hoofers and stars who have slick dance-floor moves. As each judge was announced to the ballroom crowd minutes before the live show Monday, Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli each showed off a few steps before taking their seats on the panel. Carrie Ann shimmied, Len proved he's still got the moves and Bruno showed off some ... umm ... manly hip action!

5. During the commercial breaks, the pros and their partners took advantage of the off-camera time and could be seen practicing their moves in the CelebAquarium. Stars Roshon Fegan and William Levy seemed to make the most of the time on performance night, and it paid off. The two men ended up with the highest scores for their first dances. (Unfortunately for Roshon, it didn't do him much good in the end.)

6. Also during the commercial breaks? The stars and pros who had just performed and were waiting in the CelebAquarium with co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet for the scores would have their brows wiped down by the crew and makeup reapplied. Don't want to be dripping too much when the cameras zoom in for a reaction to the scores!

7. As you may have seen, after Melissa Gilbert and the Chmerkovskiy brothers performed the samba for their trio dance, Val took off his vest and flung it off to the side of the dance floor during the judges' critiques. Seems some lucky audience member may have picked it up and kept it for themselves! During the commercial breaks, it was announced several times that the show's costume department would need the item back, but the Chmerkovskiy-blessed garment didn't seem to make a reappearance.

8. Oh that Tom Bergeron! The host showed off his sense of humor on Tuesday prior to the live show. Moments before the show started, he stared into the cameras with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face and mouthed, "I'm so nervous!" Later, while pretaping some audio for a future broadcast, Tom teased, "And the winner of season 14 is ... your mama!"

9. There is one big bonus to watching at home instead of in the ballroom: You can actually hear everything that's said. All those witty quips Tom makes? The audience doesn't hear any of it unless he's standing right next to them. The judges' comments? You can hear those very, very faintly depending on where your seat is (and if you have amazing hearing), but once the crowd starts cheering or booing, forget it. Hope you set that DVR to record.

If you were to attend a taping, what would you like to see? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!

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