Tag: dancing with the stars

After last week’s rather awkward tribute to TikTok, Dancing with the Stars returned to familiar ground Tuesday with its popular Disney Night. After a Mandy Moore-choreographed opener to “Be My Guest,” the duos opened their rehearsal packages with corny stand-ups from Disneyland to help celebrate the park’s 70th year in Anaheim.

But if you really want to talk about the Happiest Place on Earth right now, it’s gotta be the DWTS ballroom. The ABC show once again shattered voting records last week, much to the despair of poor Lauren Jauregui who unexpectedly got the boot. Most viewers thought it was Andy Richter’s time to go, but the Fifth Harmony crooner went home, instead.

Is it Richter’s turn tonight?

Comedian Andy Richter with partner Emma Slater. Richter was the cook to Slater’s rat for their unremarkable Viennese waltz to a tune from Ratatouille. It was far from a chef’s kiss but Richter is downright adorable when owning his mediocrity. “Andy, you produce such memorable moments,” said Carrie Ann Inaba. “We are, though, at week 4 … we’re gonna be looking for more content. I want you to challenge yourself more.” SCORE: 18 out of 30

Danielle Fishel (Boy Meets World) with Pasha Pashkov. Fishel vowed to go all out this week with her Jungle Book themed-quickstep to “I Wanna Be Like You,” but she still got dinged by Bruno Tonioli for failing to keep the beat. “Once you went into the quickstep was very very good but you were off timing, my darling,” he said. SCORE: 21 out of 30

Pentatonix singer Scott Hoying with Rylee Arnold. Hoying feels like he has finally “broken out of his shell” but his slightly-better-than-average salsa didn’t quite have the same wow factor as last week’s jazz performance. Making matters worse, he had to do it to “Bop to the Top” from High School Musical, which is about as Cuban as the white-bread characters who performed it in the 2006 TV movie. The judges cut him a break, though. “That’s what happens with the confidence kicks in,” said Inaba. “You razzle-dazzled with that salsa.” SCORE: 21 out of 30

Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin with Witney Carson. Irwin has a funny habit of either mouthing words or chewing on air when dancing, but that’s small note for his otherwise splendid cha cha to the way-too-slow “Try Everything” from Zootopia. “You just have that Irwin aura,” said Derek Hough. “You can’t help but smile when watching you perform. Your upper half is so strong.” SCORE: 22 out of 30

Author and influencer Hilaria Baldwin and Gleb Savchenko. Baldwin’s quickstep to the cantina song from Star Wars was out of this world! Hough argued that her “quickstep” needed more quickstep but his fellow judges disagreed. So did I. “Princess Leia, the force is still with you,” said Tonioli, in reference to her Carrie Fisher-inspired costume. “Whatever you did, worked. I actually watched very, very closely what you did tonight, really analyzing. I was looking for something wrong. I didn’t see it.” SCORE: 23 out of 30

Jen Affleck (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) with Jan Ravnik. The Mormon mama closed the show with an acrobat-filled jazz routine to a song from Aladdin that truly embodied the Disney theme. And Ravnik makes a terrific genie! Oddly, Inaba wasn’t blown away. “You are living the Disney dream right now. Great performance,” she said. “But something about it didn’t set me over the top. Boo me! I think you need to make it a little more challenging as we move forward.” SCORE: 23 out 30

Reality TV star Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach. Efron’s perky quickstep to the Cars song “Life is a Highway” kept him in the judges’ good graces, who clearly appreciate his good looks and week-to-week growth. “Dylan McQueen, the quickstep king!” said Hough. “So impressed with that left arm, you were keeping that strong all the way through.” SCORE: 23 out of 30

Social media personality Alix Earle with Val Chmerkovskiy. Bravo to Chmerkovskiy, who offered a fresh take on the Cinderella classic “One Upon a Dream” by having Earle dress as Maleficent for their dark and evocative Viennese waltz. “Alix, that was mesmerizing,” said Hough. “It was magical, it was spellbinding … I disagree with Carrie Ann last week. This was your best dance.” SCORE: 24 out of 30

Actor Elaine Hendrix with Alan Bersten. Poor Bersten had his work cut out for him this week, having to choreograph a killer quickstep to the theme song from …. Space Mountain?! But Bersten and the stage managers (who trotted out some bitchen lasers) gave Hendrix the ride of her life. “That was a complicated routine,” said Hough. “You didn’t miss a beat.” SCORE: 24 out of 30

Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles with Ezra Sosa. The gymnast’s quickstep to a spirited tune from The Princess and the Frog had the judges raving about her natural ballroom ability. “This kind of dance is why people love Disney night. You brought it to life. When you dance it’s fun, it’s animated but it’s also authentic.” SCORE: 24 out of 30

Whitney Leavitt (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) with Mark Ballas. Look who just became the frontrunner! The duo’s foxtrot to “Room Where it Happens” From Hamilton was an absolute stunner and deserved to close the show (sorry, Affleck). “There is traditional foxtrot and then there is Mark’s foxtrot,” said Inaba. “While I was watching, my lip was quivering. It was so good. The precision, the technicality, the painting of that picture was incredible. Insane.” SCORE: 25 out of 30

Host Alfonso Ribeiro began the eliminations by announcing how the show just exceeded 40 million votes. Yowza!

Bottom three were Richter, Baldwin and Fishel. In another shocker elimination, Baldwin was sent home. The influencer was gracious about her departure, though. No words about feeling pissed from this one!

“This has been an incredible experience,” she said. “I’m so grateful to all of you. And I’m grateful to my children and my family! Thank you guys for this. I’m cheering on everybody in the cast because this has been an amazing time.”