Jason Mraz Reveals How Disneyland Inspired His First Hit Song
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Disney Night is special for a lot of the celebrities on Dancing with the Stars, but of the 11 couples remaining for Season 32, Jason Mraz may have the best story of what a trip to the Magic Kingdom did for him and his career.
“I wrote one of my most popular songs ‘The Remedy’ after a dazzling firework display at Disneyland,” he exclusively told Parade last week in the ballroom. “My buddy was born on July 4, so I always thought of him when I saw fireworks, so seeing the Disneyland fireworks, I just started telling this story in my head. It’s the story of my friend Charlie and it became the song ‘The Remedy,’ so Disneyland definitely gave me the space to dream and that’s the song that put me on the map.”
This week in the ballroom to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, Jason and his professional partner Daniella Karagach will perform a Foxtrot to “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, and are hoping to continue their stay at the top of the leaderboard.
Last week, for their Jive to “Do You Love Me” by The Contours, they scored 34 points. Points were a little higher for Motown Night because Michael Strahan was a guest judge, so the total possible was 40 points. Jason tied with Ariana Madix and her pro Pasha Pashkov who danced a Quickstep to “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes. Both Jason and Ariana scored the first 9s of the season.
“I just wanted to cry,” Jason said of hearing his score. “Really, because my body was still vibrating from the dance, hearing how the audience reacted to the dance and then to hear equal energy from the judges, it made me so warm and fuzzy and so happy for my coach.”
ABC/Christopher Willard
Even though it was his highest score to date, Jason says it wasn’t his favorite dance.
“It was a very hard dance to learn,” he continued. “I actually loved the rumba. I’m more of a slow-motion character. I’m like a cat. I like to sit and play the guitar. I like a love song. The rumba was very love and passionate. High energy songs like the cha cha and the jive, I am 46, but they require me to act like I’m 26 to pull it off.”
Related: What Barry Williams Had to Say to the Dancing with the Stars Judges After Getting Low Scores
When he’s not making music or dancing, Jason is a California avocado grower. His Mraz Family Farm is located in San Diego.
“Chipotle is our biggest customer.” He says. “In fact, they’re the biggest buyers of avocados in the whole country. We’re certified organic. We’re top of the line savos, and we have a layered agricultural system that allows us to produce a lot of things for not as much water, which is pretty cool.”
Dancing with the Stars simulcasts live across both ABC and Disney+ on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and next day on Hulu.
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