After a week break, Dancing With the Stars was back on Monday, October 7th and Tuesday, October 8th for an eventful two-night event!
Monday was Soul Train Night, where the couples each danced a routine inspired by the TV show, Soul Train. Monday’s episode even featured the first guest judge of the season, actress Rosie Perez, who got her start on Soul Train.
The festivities then continued on Tuesday for Hair Metal Night! Each couple’s routine brought rock and roll to the dancefloor by paying homage to hair metal bands. Tuesday’s episode also featured a guest host, (who quickly received backlash on social media for his inappropriate comments), KISS member, Gene Simmons.
The two-night event featured lots of twists and turns – pun totally intended. Here’s everything you missed from the two-night event!
Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy opened Soul Train Night with their Quickstep to “Think” by Aretha Franklin. The routine earned the couple a 30 out of 40.
In her pre-recorded package, it was revealed that Ilona Maher had the highest improved score out of all of the celebrities for week two. Maher and her partner Alan Bersten used this as their motivation when they performed a Foxtrot to “Lady Marmalade” by LaBelle. Maher also scored a 30 out of 40.
Eric Roberts showed some improvement on Soul Train Night with his Foxtrot with partner Britt Stewart. Although the routine did have some missteps, Roberts did not find himself at the bottom of the leaderboard at the end of the night. Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold then danced their Quickstep next, and earned 30 points.
How many more times are we going to get the Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko “showmance” shoved in our face? The couple danced a Rumba to “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye. (Even the producers are pushing the “showmance.”) Nader and Savchenko should focus less on the “chemistry,” and more on the dancing because the routine only earned them 28 points. After their scores were revealed, you could see Savchenko rolling his eyes at the “7” and mouthing, “Okay, whatever.” Yikes!
Joey Graziadei continues to surprise fans each week with how well of a dancer he is. What was the biggest surprise of Graziadei’s Jive Monday night? No, it isn’t that Graziadei can do a backflip, it’s that Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson earned the first “9” of the season! Graziadei and Johnson found themselves in second place on the leaderboard when the night was over.
Dwight Howard faced a bit of a setback Monday night with his partner Daniella Karagach. In their pre-recorded package, it was revealed that due to scheduling issues, Howard and Karagach only had three days of rehearsals together. The lack of practice was evident during the couple’s Cha Cha when Howard forgot some of the moves and improvised instead! The routine earned the couple 23 points, landing them second to last on the night’s leaderboard.
Danny Amendola was on the dancefloor next with a Foxtrot with his partner Witney Carson. Amendola earned his first “8’s” of the season and scored 30 points. Reginald VelJohnson and his partner Emma Slater were next, and sadly as expected, VelJohnson didn’t move much during the routine. The couple’s Foxtrot earned 21 points, landing the couple at the bottom of the leaderboard for the night. Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber then danced a beautiful Viennese Waltz, which earned them 31 points, and the third place spot on Monday’s leaderboard.
Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong closed out Soul Train night with their Cha-Cha to “It’s Tricky” by Run-D.M.C. The routine earned Kinney the highest score of the night, a 36.
Tuesday was then Hair Metal Night! There was no elimination on Monday night, which meant the stakes were even higher on Tuesday, knowing there would be another double elimination at the end of the episode!
Guest judge Gene Simmons started his judging-debut off on the wrong foot after the first dance of the night, when he made some uncomfortable comments about how beautiful Witney Carson was. Unfortunately, these inappropriate comments did not end there, and he continued to make comments about the “gorgeous” women on the show for the whole night. Fans were quick to take their disgust to social media, and rightfully so. At this time, DWTS hasn’t made any statement about Simmons’ remarks.
Danny Amendola opened Hair Metal Night with a Paso Doble with his partner Witney Carson. Despite there being a wardrobe malfunction in the middle of the dance, Amendola pushed through and earned a 30 out of 40. Reginald VelJohnson then danced a Cha Cha that earned the lowest score of the night, 21 points. Well, more like Emma Slater then danced a Cha Cha. (Sorry Reggie!)
Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong were next with their Jive. Kinney’s dance did have some imperfections, which knocked her down to second place on the leaderboard for the first time in this competition. Despite the minor setback, the routine still earned the couple 33 out of 40 points.
Ugh, we’re so over Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko. The couple’s routine was once again lacking choreography, and for some reason their Cha Cha began with Nader dancing on a pole? The underwhelming routine earned 33 points. Um – can we also talk about how Simmons gave this routine a “10?” But don’t worry DWTS fans, Simmons really plugged in a “9,” making the “10” invalid. Phew!
Although Eric Andrews showed some improvement the night before, he still fell short for Hair Metal Night. Andrews’ Paso Doble with Britt Stewart only earned the couple 22 points. Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold were next with their Foxtrot, which showed improvement from the night before, and earned the couple 32 points. Dwight Howard had a bit to prove on Tuesday after his improvisation the night before. Howard ultimately showed great improvement with his Paso Doble with Daniella Karagach, and earned 29 points.
Although Howard had a good Tuesday night, unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for Ilona Maher. Maher danced a Jive that earned 26 points with Alan Bersten, which featured many missteps that Maher had some difficulty recovering from. It broke fans’ hearts to watch Maher end the routine in tears. Fingers crossed Maher has a great comeback next week!
Jenn Tran wowed fans with her Paso Doble with Sasha Farber to “The Final Countdown” by Europe. The routine was physically demanding, and Tran never missed a beat! Did you see Tran’s knee walks? The routine earned the couple 31 points.
Phaedra Parks and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy were next on the floor with their Paso Doble. The greatest shock of this routine wasn’t that it only earned a 26, it was that Simmons gave Parks supportive comments, and then completely underscored the dance by only giving it a “5.” Fans were quick to share their disappointment with the scoring, and Parks made sure people knew about her disapproval of the score as well, by talking about it in interviews and on Tik Tok. As you should Phaedra!
Joey Graziadei closed out Hair Metal Night with the highest score of the night, 36 points. Graziadei and Jenna Johnson danced a powerful Tango that not only landed him at the top of the leaderboard for the evening, but at the top of the leaderboard for the two-night event as well!
It was then time for the second double elimination of the season! It was announced that 15 million votes were casted for this episode, breaking the record again for the most votes of any DWTS episode in history! Co-hosts Alfonso Riberio and Julianne Hough then announced which couples were safe, which left VelJohnson and Slater, Roberts and Stewart, and Maher and Bersten as the bottom three couples. The suspense built as Maher and Bersten began to cry. Fortunately, it was announced that Maher and Bersten were safe, sending VelJohnson and Slater and Roberts and Stewart home.
The next episode of DWTS premiered Tuesday, October 15, and it was dedication night! DWTS vet and champion, Mark Ballas, was also in the ballroom as guest judge!
With this season’s weakest dancers eliminated, it is now anyone’s game to win the mirrorball!