The Des Moines Register

Can’t make it out to California for a taping of “Dancing With The Stars?” “Shawn Johnson and Friends” just might be the next-best thing.

“I know so many people watch the show and I watched the show before I was on it,” Johnson, the West Des Moines teenager and reigning “Dancing With The Stars” champion, says of “Shawn Johnson and Friends: An Evening of Music, Dance, and Shawn,” a live event slated for 7 p.m. July 26 at Wells Fargo Arena.

“It’s just so much different in person to see the couples dancing and interacting and having a good time. And we’re going to have a good time, kind of show you up close and personal what it would’ve been like on the set.”

While groups of previous “Dancing” contestants have conducted nationwide tours in recent years, this is a one-shot event. The Ballas Hough Band and Mitchel Musso (from the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana”) are on the bill, as well as dancers such as Gilles Marini, Cheryl Burke, Steve-O and Kristi Yamaguchi — the latter, like Johnson, a former Olympian turned “Dancing” champion.

“It’s not really my show. It’s just something that I’ve helped put together,” said Johnson, who performed at the arena last November as part of a national gymnastics tour.

“I’m more excited for this than (last fall) just because it’s something different. People have seen me do gymnastics, but they’ve never really seen me dance live in front of them, so it’ll be interesting.”

Tickets cost $32-$100 and are available through www.dahlstickets.com.

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