“DWTS” pro Val Chmerkovskiy wants Fifth Harmony’s Normani “to shine solo”

March 2, 2017 Music News Group

ABC/Craig SjodinFifth Harmony member Normani Kordei is one of the cast members of the new season of Dancing with the Stars, which means we’ll get to see her perform without the other three members of the hitmaking girl group. Her pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy, a two-time Mirror Ball champ, says the show is a great opportunity for her to establish her own identity outside the group.

“I wanna give [her] an opportunity for her to shine solo,” he tells ABC Radio. “And, not to take anything away from Fifth Harmony, it’s nice for her to kinda explore her individuality.”

Val also believes that Fifth Harmony’s dedicated fans, the Harmonizers, give them a good chance of making it to the finals, because any time they need to vote for their girls, they come out in full force.

“I mean, I’m hoping, you know? ‘Cause at the end of the day, the beauty of this show is that the fans have all the power,” Val says. “And I just hope I convey to the fans that we’re a couple worthy of their vote.”

As for Normani, she thinks all her experience touring the world with Fifth Harmony will help her. “I’m really in tune with my body and I’m confident any time I’m on stage,” she explains. “I feel like I step into a different person, because I’m actually really shy just talking to people.”

“I feel like…Beyonce, ’cause she’s ‘Sasha Fierce’ when she’s on stage,” Normani adds, referring to Bey’s onstage alter ego. “So I kinda step into another person [too].”

As for why Normani is taking time out of Fifth Harmony’s busy schedule of touring and recording new music to compete on the ABC reality show, she says she’s doing it all for a very special person: her grandma, who’s a huge fan of the show. According to Normani, when the two would watch Dancing with the Stars together, her grandmother kept a special logbook.

“She would keep track of everybody’s scores and who got passed on to the next week or who got eliminated,” she laughs. “And it’s just been a dream of hers to see me on the show. So it means a lot to me but it also means the world to her.”

You can see how Normani and Val do when season 24 of Dancing with the Stars returns to ABC on March 20.