This year, the Pro Bowl snagged a pregame commitment from a Dancing with the Stars winner. No, not Alfonso Ribeiro.
Instead, it was Season 25 winner Jordan Fisher — the man who beat out Nick Lachey, Frankie Muniz, and Vanessa Lachey to hoist the coveted mirrorball trophy — singing the national anthem at the NFL’s premier all-star contest.
They didn’t air the anthem performance on ESPN’s Pro Bowl broadcast, but fans will still get a chance to see Fisher pulling double duty in Orlando. He’s also performing at halftime. Take that, Justin Timberlake.
Like JT, Fisher brings some impressive bonafides to the field. While he’s best known for nine — NINE -- perfect scores on DTWS and raising an important debate over the fairness of employing professional dancers on a show that otherwise caters to less mobile celebrities*, he’s also currently a member of the Broadway cast of Hamilton and has been featured on the original soundtrack recording of Moana.
(* There are pros and cons to this debate. Stars with dancing backgrounds, such as Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Grey, Meryl Davis (ice dancing counts), and even Alfonso Ribeiro (who gave us THE CARLTON and is amazing) have gone on to win the event, which suggests an unfair edge. However, other dancers like Elizabeth Berkley (better known as former Las Vegas showgirl Nomi Malone), Debbie Gibson, and Snooki (who helped introduce us to mating-ritual dance, the Jersey Turnpike) were all abject failures on the dance floor. There is no simple answer to this problem, which will plague mankind long after you and I have passed, friend.)
Last year’s anthem was sung by one-time Dog with a Blog guest star Olivia Holt, who apparently has a new show coming out this summer on ABC Family Freeform. Let’s call it the Pro Bowl bump.