Dancing With the Stars’ 25th season is in full swing on ABC, and there have already been some surprising results to show for it.
Would this week yield more of the same?
This week, the contestants only had to perform a single routine, as opposed to the two they had to learn and perfect a week ago.
The task? A previously unlearned dance to reflect their favorite guilty pleasure, in non-traditional styles like Charleston and jazz.
Let’s break down the performances and the scores.
Drew Scott and Emma Slater – Argentine Tango – “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Drew Scott has struggled throughout the first few weeks of Dancing with the Stars Season 25, and it was a pleasant surprise to watch the improvement during his performance with Emma this week.
Drew dressed as a sexy detective, while Emma went with the look of a witness. It worked, and the judges were glad there was a noticeable improvement with the duo.
Score: 23/30
Derek Fisher and Sharna Burgess – Cha-Cha – “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith
Like Drew, Derek has struggled to adapt to the routines, so he took extra care to get to grips with everything before the big performance. Being a fan of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, he found himself dancing along with Sharna to the main track from the iconic series.
He and Sharna dressed up in ’90s clothing and looked the part. The judges noted there was an improvement, but there was still a lot of room for some more.
Score: 21/30
Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy – Quickstep – “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba
Victoria and Val have been middle of the pack throughout the first few episodes, and this number did nothing to set them apart. There was meaning to the dance and the song choice.
It was about bullying in high school and how one person overcame it. There was nothing spectacular about the performance, but there was also nothing exactly horrible about it either.
Score: 22/30
Vanessa Lachey and Alan Bersten – Jazz – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
Unfortunately, Maks was out of the competition for the evening due to a personal matter, and it allowed Alan to step in for some dancing fun. The quality dips when there are changes to a strong duo.
Their routine was exciting and a welcome surprise considering the speedy switcheroo. Despite some middling feedback, it was still a successful performance.
Score 23/30
Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev – Viennese Waltz – “Love on the Brain” by Rihanna T
Nikki is a huge fan of romance novels, so we’re kind of surprised she’s a fan of 50 Shades of Grey because what’s romantic about the relationship between Anastasia and Christian?
They went with a risky performance that was not one we would normally expect from the show, but the judges are all for embracing change. That’s why Len has been giving out some positive feedback this season.
Score: 21/30
Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson – Samba – “It’s Gonna Be Me” by *NSYNC
Meh. That’s the best way to sum up this performance. Frankie has been a clear frontrunner since the beginning, but this performance seemed way too ambitious to keep it grounded.
His confidence seemed to take a hit throughout the routine, and that was not a good thing.
Score: 21/30
Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas – Jive – “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!
Okay, so this was the big shocker of the night. Dealing with a breakup is not fun, and Mark helped Lindsay through it with a wonderfully choreographed dance routine that got the judges talking for all the right reasons.
More like this one, you guys!
Score: 27/30
Sasha Pieterse and Gleb Savchenko – Jazz – “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by The Four Tops
It was one step forward and two steps back for this duo. They went for far too many props for the whole baking guilty pleasure angle, and it hindered their performance.
The judges took notice, and they raced back down the leaderboard. Sigh.
Score: 19/30
Nick Lachey and Peta Murgatroyd – Jazz – “Jump (For My Love)” by The Pointer Sisters
Being a fan of romantic comedies, this duo went for a surprisingly romantic performance, and they utilized their skills very well, but it was not enough to gain more traction in the scoring department.
Score: 21/30
Terrell Owens and Cheryl Burke – Salsa – “The Breaks” by Kurtis Blow
So, Terrell felt bad about liking breakdancing, so he decided to use it in his salsa with Cheryl, and it helped the duo garner their best results of the season. See! Changing things up works.
Score: 21/30
Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold – Charleston – “The Glory Days” by Michael Giacchino
This performance was colorful, and you can thank Jordan’s love of comic books for that one. It was great, and the sync was amazing. Jordan and Lindsay are so great together that if they don’t make it to the final, we will be very mad.
Score: 25/30
In a true stunner, there was no elimination, so everyone gets to dance another day!
What do you think of the scores?
Sound off below!
Dancing with the Stars continues next Monday on ABC!