Ariana Madix, Charity Lawson and Jason Mraz on the Joy of Making the 'Dancing with the Stars' Semi-Finals: 'Feels Insane'

Ariana Madix, Pasha Pashkov

It all comes down to the wire for the five remaining couples on Dancing with the Stars as they showcase two all-new performances on tonight’s semi-finals.

The five remaining couples are: Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy, Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber, Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev, Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov, and Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach—and Parade had the opportunity to speak to several of them in the ballroom following last week’s quarterfinals.

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“It feels really wild because it feels like it’s been so fast and so slow at the same time,” Ariana said of making it through to the semi-finals. “It’s really tough to even think. Halloween was really not even that long ago. You just think about how far we’ve all come in such a short period of time and even if we do make it to the end that’s only two more weeks and that feels insane.”

Related: All the Songs and Dances for Semi-Finals Week on Dancing with the Stars

Tonight Ariana and Pasha will be dancing a Jive to “Runaway Baby” by Bruno Mars and a Foxtrot to “Trampoline” by SHAED & ZAYN.

“It will be an even playing field for everybody, because everyone has to do one ballroom and one Latin dance, which means there are no dances with lifts,” explains Pasha, who has been getting compliments on his choreography all season from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. “I feel like everybody gets to show how strong they are in two different styles. I feel that’s what makes it very interesting. I think the strategy is for us to be very authentic to each style. We have a jive and a foxtrot, which are vastly two different dances. I want to make both very authentic. I want to make the most energetic and fun jive and most beautiful foxtrot.”

Charity has been under a lot of pressure this season because she has big shoes to fill with previous Bachelorettes like Kaitlyn Bristowe and Hannah Brown having won the MirrorBall Trophy. Even so, she’s excited to have made the semi-finals. She and Artem will perform a Rumba to “Love The Way You Lie Part III” by Skylar Grey and a Quickstep to “BO$$” by Fifth Harmony.

“I’m super stoked,” she said. “Obviously, semi-finals is a big deal. Coming into this, you have high hopes for yourself, but you never know how things are going to play out and how difficult things are going to be to learn. I feel like I adapted fairly well to all of this, but also it is very hard. I just know that I am at this point where I have more in me and I want to keep pushing myself but knowing that I’m so close and it’s right there I think is the greatest motivator. I’m excited to, obviously, be sharing this space with the rest of the contestants that are going into the semi-finals and I’m looking forward to it.”

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For Jason, who made a comeback last week, finishing at the top of the leaderboard, it’s an incredible feeling.

“I didn’t think I’d make it this far,” he says. “I finally believe it. Weeks ago, I wouldn’t believe it, but now that it’s here, I believe it and I’ve got to show up and do the work to really make it worth everyone’s time. America voted; the judges are giving me good scores to be in the semis so I want to deliver what they’re asking of me.”

And helping him do that will be his pro Daniela, who says her plan is the “same thing we always do, get in the studio, stay focused and work hard to make sure we deliver a good performance."

They will dance a Viennese Waltz to Jason's “I Won’t Give Up” and a Paso Doble to “Diablo Rojo” by Rodrigo y Gabriela.

The Dancing with the Stars semi-finals will air live from the ballroom tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and simulcast on Disney+.

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