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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Holy Cross chapter.

On November 12, the Dancing with the Stars 500th episode aired, marking a significant milestone in the show’s history. The evening started off with a phenomenal opening number from the pros and troupe, as well as Derek and Julianne Hough, to Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love,” paying homage to the same song that launched the series in 2005. 

Notable dances included Bachelor Joey Grazidei and Jenna Johnson’s contemporary to Hozier’s “Work Song”, which paid homage to Riker Lynch and Allison Holker’s dance from season 20. Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik and his partner Rylee Arnold danced a Viennese Waltz to “Glimpse of Us” by Joji, which was inspired by Charli D’amelio and Mark Ballas’s dance from season 31. Disney star Chandler Kinney and her partner Brandon Armstrong received the first perfect score of the season for their reimagined version of Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough’s Argentine tango from season 16. 

The episode also held an “Instant Dance Challenge” in which couples received their style of dance and song just minutes before they had to perform live. This high-stakes challenge added another exciting twist to the episode, as couples received an additional score out of 30 for their instant dances. 

Ultimately, the night came to a close when Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach were eliminated from the competition after receiving the lowest score (26 out of 30) for their instant dance challenge. Next week, the remaining 5 couples will compete in the semi-finals to determine which four couples will be dancing freestyle at the finals!

Kathleen Blanchard

Holy Cross '28

I am a freshman at the College of the Holy Cross and I plan on majoring in Biology, potentially with a math minor, on the pre-med track. I love to ski and do anything outdoors, and I have two maltipoos named Joey and Reese. I enjoy watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette and Dancing with the Stars, and I recently started learning sign language.