One of the most watched reality shows this fall has been Dancing With the Stars, pulling in over 6 million viewers every week. Each Tuesday at 8 p.m., celebrities and their professional dance partners hit the ballroom floor to perform themed routines in front of ballroom judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli.
The judges score each dance out of 10 based on technique, performance, and execution of choreography. Viewers at home then cast up to 10 votes/couples and the combined total determines who advances to the next week and who is eliminated.
This week’s episode marked the long-awaited semi-finals, with only 6 couples left from the original 14. Each pair had to learn two new dances choreographed by the Pro partner in just one week. To make things even more exciting, the theme of the night was Prince, meaning every routine was performed to one of his iconic songs.
The couples competing were:
- Australian Conservationist Robert Irwin and Pro Witney Carson
- Social Media Influencer Alix Earle and Pro Val Chmerkovisky
- Actress Elaine Hendrix and Pro Alan Bersten
- Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and Pro Mark Ballas
- Olympic Gymnast Jordan Chiles and Pro Ezra Sosa
- TV Personality Dylan Efron and Pro Daniella Karagach
Several couples delivered their best performances of the season, earning perfect scores from all the judges- Robert and Witney, Alix and Val, Elaine and Alan, and Jordan and Ezra. Freshman weekly watcher Maddie Dziminski noted how much improvement she’s seen from Elaine and Alan.
“Since she’s one of the older contestants and she was severely injured earlier in the season, it is amazing to watch how she comes back better each week,” Dziminski said.
The semi-finals also made history with an incredible 50 million viewer votes, the most the show has ever received. But despite the strong performances, someone had to go home. This week’s elimination shocked many fans. Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas were sent home, even though they consistently earned some of the highest scores. Many viewers felt disappointed, believing the results showed how the competition can become more about popularity than pure dancing ability.
“Even though I don’t personally like Whitney and Mark, I feel like she got robbed because she was definitely one of the best dancers on the show,” Dziminski said. “I feel like Dylan hasn’t improved from the start and he had the lowest score last night so he should’ve been eliminated.”
Now, only 5 couples remain, and they’ll return next week for the 3 hour season finale, where one pair will take home the Mirrorball Trophy. With fan-favorites, perfect scores, and record-breaking votes, this season is shaping up to be one of the most memorable yet.
