ABC
There was an 800-pound gorilla in the “Dancing With the Stars” ballroom on Tuesday night, and the show opted to ignore it entirely.
Just a few days ago, pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy was given a one-week suspension from Season 35 after a social media post — in which he took issue with judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s critique of his wife Jenna Johnson’s Week 5 routine — was deemed “inappropriate” by those who run the show. But if you knew nothing about the controversy surrounding Val, Jenna, and Carrie Ann, then you were likely pretty darn confused during Tuesday’s episode, which offered viewers absolutely no context for what had gone down behind the scenes. Alan Bersten, who was already eliminated from this season, stepped in as Val’s replacement for Week 6, and co-host Alfonso Ribeiro only offered that “Val is not with us this week.” (Alan and Jenna Dewan’s performance similarly came and went without any explanation about Val’s whereabouts.)
We can’t say we’re totally surprised that the ABC competition series chose to dance around Season 35’s most notable controversy thus far. Tuesday’s episode was, after all, Dedication Night — a typically emotional broadcast in which celebrities dedicate their dances to important figures in their lives. Why bring the vibe down with talk of uncalled-for workplace behavior? Nah. Instead, “Dancing” packed Dedication Night with some of the show’s most tearjerking moments ever (including a pregnancy announcement and gender reveal), then revealed to the 10 remaining pairs that none of them would be going home this week. Pay no attention to the conspicuous absence of a frontrunner pro, please! Everything is fine!
Keep scrolling for our full take on Tuesday’s episode, then hit the comments with your own thoughts on Dedication Night’s best and worst dances.
Ezra Frech and pro Daniella Karagach
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Contemporary (to “Bloodline” by Mon Rovîa)
DEDICATED TO: Ezra’s mom, Bahar, who joined him for the dance
It’s hard to believe that, back in Week 1, we were worried about Ezra’s running blade potentially buckling and falling off mid-dance, when Daniella was now standing on part of the blade for one of this contemporary’s lifts. How far they’ve come! Kudos to Daniella for not relegating Ezra to the role of sturdy base for her many pretty tricks; she let him do quite a lot of the choreography on his own, including some solo leaps that were really gorgeous. And that’s to say nothing of the emotion coursing through this routine, which beautifully encapsulated Bahar’s lifelong support of her son and his lifelong gratitude for her.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 37 out of 40 (including a 10 from guest judge Kym Johnson — the first 10 of the season!)
Tatyana Ali and pro Jan Ravnik
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Viennese waltz (to “(You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am” by Nancy Wilson)
DEDICATED TO: James Avery, Tatyana’s late “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star
Aw, this was really lovely. Not only was it fun to have Alfonso back on the dance floor in a competitive-ish capacity, but it speaks to Tatyana’s season-long improvement that she was able to separate from her pro partner for quite a bit of this dance and look totally comfortable doing so. She looked more confident out there than she ever has; how great of Jan, too, to trust her with so much choreography that didn’t involve him.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 32 out of 40
Maura Higgins and pro Mark Ballas
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Paso doble (to “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys)
DEDICATED TO: Ireland
Just when the emotion of Dedication Night was threatening to swallow us all up, here came Maura and Mark with a fun, galvanizing, totally electric paso doble that honored her home country of Ireland at every turn. (We were even treated to some authentic Irish dancing from a champion performer named Lucky; his section was probably a hair too long, but hey, it was still a blast.) Maura brought such confidence and fire to this dance that you’d never know she was practically dry-heaving with nerves just a few short weeks ago.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 35 out of 40
Jackson Olson and pro Emma Slater
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Quickstep (to “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole)
DEDICATED TO: Jackson’s mom, Laura, who joined him for the dance
Even with some imperfections in his frame, this was easily Jackson’s best and most enjoyable performance, which can’t always be said about a routine in this style. We’ve seen many a quickstep where the celebrity’s energy starts to flag toward the end, but it was the opposite for Jackson; maybe it was the upbeat soundtrack, or the on-site support from his mama, but Jackson’s movements only gained momentum as the performance went on, culminating in a lively and entertaining finish.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 32 out of 40
Amber Glenn and pro Pasha Pashkov
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Contemporary (to “Breathe Me” by Sia)
DEDICATED TO: Amber’s sister, Brooke, who joined her for the dance
If you’re a longtime viewer of “Dancing With the Stars” and/or “So You Think You Can Dance,” then you’ve seen your fair share of contemporary dances where the woman plays herself, and the man — dressed in black, don’t forget! — plays a manifestation of her mental health struggles or grief or addiction or what have you. (Mark Ballas and Charli D’Amelio just did it a few seasons ago, with Mark playing his partner’s anxiety.) It’s especially commendable, then, that Amber and Pasha’s contemporary was able to stand out in a sea of Very Important Routines over the years, even though it hit many of the same storytelling beats. Pasha’s interactions with Amber at the start of the number were appropriately aggressive, and when Amber’s sister, Brooke, joined the performance to help Amber defeat her demons, their combined power was really quite moving.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 38 out of 40
Jenna Dewan and pro Alan Bersten
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Viennese waltz (to “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers)
DEDICATED TO: Jenna’s mom, Nancy, who joined her for the dance
I don’t want Jenna’s performance to get lost here, because it was really remarkable and stunningly graceful. I also understand that the creatives behind “Dancing With the Stars” — a famously feel-good show, especially in more recent years — probably had little interest in killing the momentum of the season’s most emotional episode and/or overshadowing Jenna’s sweet routine dedicated to her mom. But to not even mention what happened with Val these past few days? To not utter the word “suspension” at all, or give Carrie Ann an opportunity to address her feelings on the matter?
All we heard was Alan calling this week “a really unusual situation” when he stepped into rehearsals with Jenna, and Julianne Hough asked Jenna about the “emotional week” in her post-dance Q&A. Beyond that, nada, and the episode was worse off for it. I guess next week is a fine-enough time to address this issue, when Val returns to the show and faces Carrie Ann; surely it can’t be ignored then, right? Still, what a strange choice for “Dancing” to offer zero answers to the questions that many viewers surely had about Val’s absence, instead choosing to pretend as though he’d temporarily vanished into thin air.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 37 out of 40
Harry Shum Jr. and pro Jenna Johnson
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Foxtrot (to “Stop This Train” by John Mayer)
DEDICATED TO: Harry’s wife, Shelby, who joined him for the dance
The Jenna/Val/Carrie Ann kerfuffle also went mostly ignored after Jenna and Harry’s latest performance, with Derek Hough only giving us a roundabout comment that “Dancing With the Stars” is about “love, joy, sharing.” But Carrie Ann did give a shout-out to Jenna’s excellent choreography here, which not only resulted in Harry’s most elegant performance yet — no choppy arms, woohoo! — but worked in Harry’s wife, daughter, and parents with some really effective storytelling.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 36 out of 40
Connor Wood and pro Rylee Arnold
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Viennese waltz (to “Piano Man” by Billy Joel)
DEDICATED TO: Connor’s dad, Pete, who joined him for the dance
After struggling with last week’s samba choreography, Connor bounced back well with this Viennese waltz, which had a nice lilt to it, as well as some surprisingly confident footwork from Connor. Unfortunately for him, there’s only a month and change left in Season 35, and I suspect his improvement — though terrific to see! — has just been too incremental for him to last much longer. But if his time on “Dancing With the Stars” is over soon, he should look back on this routine with a lot of pride.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 32 out of 40
Tyler Cameron and pro Sharna Burgess
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Contemporary (to “Supermarket Flowers” by Ed Sheeran)
DEDICATED TO: Mothers everywhere
Holy moly, this was some kind of emotional overload. Sharna’s playing the role of Tyler’s late mom! And here’s his fiancée joining the dance! And Tyler’s announcing, mid-dance, that his fiancée is pregnant! And now they’re doing a gender reveal before the judges’ comments! And it’s a girl! My goodness. It was lovely and joyous, and it was also a lot for a five-minute window of time. Somewhere in there, Tyler danced, and he did pretty well.
JUDGES’ SCORES: 32 out of 40
Julia Stiles and pro Ezra Sosa
ABC
DANCE STYLE: Contemporary (to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli)
DEDICATED TO: Heath Ledger, Julia’s late “10 Things I Hate About You” co-star (sob!)
If we’re looking at this routine with a critical eye, I think it was actually a small step backwards for Julia, who fell out of sync with Ezra during the number’s more fast-paced side-by-side section. But we are, of course, not looking at Dedication Night performances with very critical eyes — especially not a dance dedicated to Heath Ledger, which featured an audio clip of Julia’s most memorable dialogue from “10 Things I Hate About You,” as well as a surprise reunion of the movie’s cast. Pass the Kleenex, please!
JUDGES’ SCORES: 36 out of 40
ABC
With that, I hand it over to you. No one went home on Dedication Night, but if you had the power to eliminate a couple based off Tuesday’s performances, who would you choose? Cast your vote in our poll below, then drop a comment with your full thoughts on the episode!