Yahoo Lifestyle Dancing With the Stars Sends Home Two More Pairs in Double Elimination — Did the Right Duos Leave?
On Monday, we boogied. On Tuesday, we headbanged. It’s been a busy week for Dancing With the Stars fans.
The ABC reality competition returned for the second half of its two-part week on Tuesday night, this time trading in its Soul Train tribute for an homage to hair metal bands. Fittingly, KISS frontman Gene Simmons was on hand as Hair Metal Night’s guest judge, who we thought would offer moral support and some spirited vote-skewing in the positive direction. Instead, we got suggestive comments aimed at the ladies, and spirited vote-skewing in the negative direction. (Giving scores below what the actual judges have given? Unthinkable!)
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And in a twist that was so not rock ‘n’ roll, the episode ended with another double elimination, cutting two more couples from Season 33.
Keep scrolling for a full recap of Tuesday’s performances and results, then hit the comments and tell us: Did the right contestants go home this week?
SAFE: Danny Amendola and Witney Carson
DANCE STYLE: Paso Doble (to “Livin’ On a Prayer” by Bon Jovi)
The paso doble is known for its seriousness and intensity, making it the perfect style for our grin-averse ex-football player. (I say that lovingly!) All things considered, Danny handled this episode-opening number pretty nicely, even remaining a solid partner to Witney when he had trouble shedding his jacket in time. Plus, he’s got one of the best attitudes in the competition; here’s hoping he’s given the time to finesse his more stompy inclinations.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 30 out of 40
SAFE: Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong
DANCE STYLE: Jive (to “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister)
In a weird, twisted (sister) way, I’m almost glad Chandler’s jive was imperfect; the exact calculus of why consistently flawless performances get boring on this show is hard to describe, but they do. It will only make her inevitable comeback — a word I use so, so loosely; she’s still the best dancer on the season — that much more satisfying.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 33 out of 40
SAFE: Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko
DANCE STYLE: Cha-Cha (to “Nothin’ But a Good Time” by Poison)
I can’t lie: I found it a little funny when Gleb promised to give Brooks more substantial choreography after their so-so rumba, then had her open this cha-cha with… some solo pole dancing?! How does that factor in? Anyway, this routine was an improvement on Monday’s, to be sure, though I wish the judges had pointed out some of Brooks’ more spaghetti-armed moments.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 33 out of 40
SAFE: Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold
DANCE STYLE: Foxtrot (to “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake)
The judges have been asking Stephen to work on his shaping and musicality, and there are few things Olympic gymnasts do better than practice, practice, practice. All that work really paid off in this foxtrot, which was noticeably more elegant and measured on Stephen’s part. Plus, it turns out “Here I Go Again” is a woefully mismatched song for this kind of style, so extra kudos to him and Rylee for pulling it off.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 32 out of 40
SAFE: Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach
DANCE STYLE: Paso Doble (to “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith)
Yay! We love a redemption dance! And it’s not even Redemption Dance week yet! Parts of this paso doble still felt a little clunky, and near the end, Daniella had a spin underneath Dwight’s legs that either did go a little wrong or looked like it went a little wrong. On the whole, though, what a relief to see these two bounce back from a rough showing on Monday.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 29 out of 40
SAFE: Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten
DANCE STYLE: Jive (to “Cum On Feel the Noize” by Quiet Riot)
Bummer — a bit of a setback here for Ilona. Though this jive got off to a bold start, with Ilona dancing solo on the judges’ table, her eventual landing on the ballroom floor seemed to mess with her rhythm, and her timing never got back on track. Ilona has already shown so much potential, though, and I suspect her emotional reaction to her fumbles only endeared her more to the voting audience. (That said, surely Carrie Ann Inaba knows the worst thing to ask someone on the verge of tears is, “Are you OK?” That opens the floodgates! C’mon, woman!)
JUDGES’ SCORE: 26 out of 40
SAFE: Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber
DANCE STYLE: Paso Doble (to “The Final Countdown” by Europe)
We saw many a paso doble on Tuesday night, but none so packed with traditional paso content as Jenn and Sasha’s. This was a physically demanding routine that required Jenn to be at the top of her frame game, and she delivered. The knee walks, folks! The knee walks!
JUDGES’ SCORE: 31 out of 40
SAFE: Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy
DANCE STYLE: Paso Doble (to “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi)
Phaedra and Val, meanwhile, had the slight misfortune of performing a paso doble right after Jenn and Sasha did, which only illuminated the choppiness in Phaedra’s execution. The real shock here, though, was the audacity of Gene Simmons, who had the nerve to give this routine a five (?!) when the actual judges handed out sevens. If you looked closely at that split-second before the show went to commercial, you could see even Julianne Hough mouthing, “What?!”
JUDGES’ SCORE: 26 out of 40
SAFE: Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson
DANCE STYLE: Tango (to “Rock You Like a Hurricane” by Scorpions)
It’s only been a couple of weeks, but it feels like a lifetime ago that Joey was having trouble surrendering to his chemistry with Jenna, fearing the intensity and physical proximity a bit. If he’s still struggling, it doesn’t show! Maybe the hair metal wig had something to do with his confidence this time around; whatever it was, it helped deliver one helluva tango, with precision in the technique that we rarely, rarely see from the male amateurs on this show.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 36 out of 40
ELIMINATED: Reginald VelJohnson and Emma Slater
DANCE STYLE: Cha-Cha (to “I Wanna Rock” by Twisted Sister)
JUDGES’ SCORE: 21 out of 40
Aww. Yeah, it was time to call it here. Reginald was a true delight, and a testament to how compelling a contestant can be, with or without proper technique. But he was limited from the start, and though Emma’s heavy lifting was admirable, those low-mobility performances were getting tougher to champion. Cheers to a TV legend who made us all smile. Or cry. Or both!
ELIMINATED: Eric Roberts and Britt Stewart
DANCE STYLE: Paso Doble (to “Cherry Pie” by Warrant)
JUDGES’ SCORE: 22 out of 40
It was the right call here, too, though it gives me no pleasure to say that. Eric really was giving this show his best effort, especially with Monday’s performance, but he was unfortunately at sea for much of Tuesday’s paso doble. But Eric admitted earlier in the broadcast that he felt “not secure” about the forthcoming double elimination, so I’ll take heart in assuming he was emotionally prepared for this.
With that, I hand it over to you! How do you feel about Tuesday’s two eliminations? And which Hair Metal Night performances would get your vote? Weigh in via the poll below, then add your thoughts in the comments!
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