SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Tuesday night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars, including who went home.
Cue the air guitars, it’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night in the ballroom.
The eight remaining pairs have prepared routines to some of the genre’s biggest hits including songs from Bon Jovi and Elton John. They’re joined by Public Enemy’s Flava Flav, who is guest judging the competition.
In addition to performances from each of our pairs, there’s also the team dance competition in store tonight, which will feature cohosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough for the first time ever.
Let’s get into it!
Reality TV star Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach. Dancing a jive to Elton John, these two are coming off some decent scores last week and, even though Efron is still recovering from his broken nose, they want to finally land a 10. They’ll be dancing to “I’m Still Standing,” which coincidentally featured judge Bruno Tonioli in the original music video. Incorporating some of Tonioli’s dance moves from that video pays off, with the judge calling it “absolutely fabulous.” SCORE: 36 out of 40 (they got their 10, thanks to Flava Flav!)
Social media personality Alix Earle with Val Chmerkovskiy. Still reeling from their nearly perfect score last week, these two are dancing Paso Doble to “Livin’ On a Prayer” by Bon Jovi tonight. The rockstar himself sends Earle and Chmerkovskiy a video wishing them luck, so this better be good! Turns out, they had nothing to worry about, because the judges ate it up. “Be careful, she is almost too hot to handle,” Tonioli warned pro Chmerkovskiy. SCORE: 39 out of 40 (Flava Flav was the only 9)
Comedian Andy Richter with partner Emma Slater. Richter got choked up in rehearsals this week as he discussed his contemporary dance with Slater. The pro says the dance to “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys is all about their friendship. The comedian acknowledges he’s going to have a harder time getting into the seriousness of the style but is committed to doing his best, as he always is! “Thank you for embracing this process,” Derek Hough tells Richter after their performance. SCORE: 30 out of 40 (another 9 from Flava Flav! Wild night at the judges’ table!)
Whitney Leavitt (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) with Mark Ballas. Winning last week’s monster-thon kept them in second place on the leaderboard, but the pressure is on this week as they dance a paso doble to “No More Tears” from Ozzy Osbourne. The three top couples are all performing the same style tonight, upping the ante for them all. Leavitt and Ballas’ electric routine got the ballroom on their feet, and it left the judges stunned! “That paso, it rocked! It was classic. It was edgy. It was perfectly entangled and totally metal!” Derek Hough gushed. Carrie Ann Inaba didn’t like it as much as the others but still had overall positive things to say. SCORE: 39 out of 40
Danielle Fishel (Boy Meets World) with Pasha Pashkov. The judges are looking from more emotion from the Boy Meets World star, which she really wants to bring to her contemporary to “Dream On” by Aerosmith this week. She admits that this style definitely doesn’t come naturally, but she leaves it all out on the dance floor and is rewarded with overall positive comments from the judges. “I felt the chills,” Inaba said. Derek Hough says it felt “a little disjointed,” but she should still be proud. SCORE: 34 out of 40
Actor Elaine Hendrix with Alan Bersten. After suffering an injury last week and having to forfeit her dance, Hendrix wants to come back swinging with a Viennese waltz to “What the World Needs Now Is Love” by Dionne Warwick. While she’s back in action, she did have to take a couple days off from dancing, which puts her at a bit of a disadvantage that she’ll need to overcome if she wants to impress the judges. This is quite a flowy style to be accommodating Hendrix’s rib pain (they aren’t sure if she tore a muscle or just sprained it, but either way, something hurts), but somehow they get through it! “That really was a sumptuous performance,” Tonioli raved. SCORE: 37 out of 40 (their first ever 10 from Flava Flav!)
Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles with Ezra Sosa. The harness gave Chiles a bit of trouble last week. Inaba said it was distracting. But, she and Sosa are ready to move onward and upward, so they’re turning their focus to a jazz to Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep – Mountain High.” The dance ends with Chiles on the judges’ table and the whole ballroom on their feet! “You’re ballsy! You’re ballsy and you take the risk and this one paid off,” Inaba shouted. SCORE: 38 out of 40
Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin with Witney Carson. They got two 10s last week, so they’ll need to keep the momentum going with their paso doble to The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” tonight. Since Irwin is the lone male celebrity of the trio of top couples dancing a paso doble, he’s got some tough competition in Ballas and Chmerkovskiy, which certainly makes him a little nervous. Not that he had anything to worry about! “You didn’t just dominate, you owned this arena!” Derek Hough told him. SCORE: 38 out of 40
Now, it’s time for the team dance round. Leavitt and Ballas get immunity from next week’s dance challenge based on having the highest total judges’ points of the season, since they were tied this week at the top of the leaderboard with Earle and Chmerkovskiy.
For the team dance round, Julianne Hough joined Team Kool, dancing to “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang, while Ribeiro was on Team Chicago dancing to “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago — and both bands performed live on stage while the groups danced!
“Team Chicago is the bomb diggity, baby!” Flava Flav raved (which pretty much sums up all the judges’ comments about the Bond-inspired dance). They got a perfect 40 out of 40.
Team Kool had the judges on their feet as well, though Derek admitted that the other team was probably tighter technically. But, they had swagger. As Flava Flav said, “Team Kool was cooler than four blocks of ice cubes.” The rest of the judges concurred. 38 out of 40.
At this point in the competition, the eliminations are becoming pretty tough, but sadly someone’s gotta go. This week…who knows! The show was pre-empted briefly by ABC News, bringing viewers election coverage. But, fortunately, there was still time to get through the elimination.
And, it was a shocking one! Danielle and Pasha were sent home this week, which it doesn’t seem anyone expected.
Next week is Dancing with the Stars 20th anniversary celebration!
The post ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Week 8: Even The Fan-Favorite Team Competition Can’t Prevent A Shocking Elimination On Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Night appeared first on Deadline.
