‘Dancing With the Stars’ Recap: Who Was Eliminated on Disney Night?
What To Know
- The November 2 episode of Dancing With the Stars was Disney-themed.
- The remaining eight couples danced to songs from Disney on Broadway and grouped together for two team dances.
- At the end of the night, the couple with the lowest combined judges’ scores and viewer votes was eliminated.
November 2 marked Disney Night on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars. This year, the remaining eight couples danced to songs from the Disney on Broadway playbook, and also hit the floor for two group freestyle dances.
Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli were joined by special guest Cynthia Erivo to offer critiques, feedback, and, most importantly, hand out scores. Throughout the night, viewers voted for their favorite stars, and the couple with the lowest combined scores and votes was eliminated at the end of the live show.
Scroll down for a recap of the performances and to find out who went home at the end of the night.
Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov — 34/40
First to hit the dance floor was Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov. They performed a quickstep to “A Star Is Born” from Hercules. Erivo weighed in first, telling the pair, “I just thought that was the most joyful thing ever to start this with.”
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Tonioli pointed out one “little misstep” in the dance, but said it was “great” otherwise. Inaba praised Glenn for leading in the dance at one point, although she did also notice the misstep. “But otherwise I thought it was clean, crisp, and smooth!” she confirmed.
Hough called Glenn’s dancing “beautiful” and confirmed that a star was definitely born. With 8s from Inaba and Erivo and 9s from Hough and Tonioli, the dance scored a total of 34/40.
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas — 32/40
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas danced a jive to Peter Pan’s “You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!” Tonioli praised Higgins for the way she interpreted and sold the dance. “The jive wasn’t bad at all, you just need to have a little elasticity through the legs because at times it looked flat-footed,” he added.
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Inaba admitted that Higgins “energy” seemed low at some points, while Hough agreed, adding, “This is a hard dance to do in Week 8. Could’ve used a little more snap, crackle, pop, in the legs and the flicks, but overall, you’re a cinema to watch.” Erivo pointed out that she could see the worry on Higgins’ face at parts of the dance, too.
The dance earned four 8s for a total of 32/40 for Higgins and Ballas.
Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik — 33/40
For Disney Night, Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik were tasked with doing a contemporary to “Easy as Life” from Aida. The performance gave Inaba chills. “You danced with depth, true emotion,” she said. “I love the way you started sort of tepid and the passion grew and grew as the song went on. I thought that was a brilliant contemporary dance.”
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Hough said he felt “connected” to Ali while she was dancing. “One note, though,” he added. “When you stretch, when you’re elongating your arms, moving forward, is hit the full extension, but reach further, and that’s where it should finish. It just feels a little under finished, if that makes sense. But I love watching you.”
Erivo also loved the emotion but gave some notes to Ali about “extending” in the future. Tonioli agreed and said, “Everything has to go through your body to infinity.” With a 9 from Inaba and 8s from the other judges, the total score for Ali was 33/40, her highest of the season so far.
Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson — 40/40
After earning the first perfect score of the season last week, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson returned with a jazz to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins.
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Hough said Shum should be on Broadway. “You are such a fantastic performer, amazing dancer,” he gushed. “The choreography, the intricacy, you were perfectly in sync.” Inaba said “all the nuances were fantastic” and raved over how “precisely clean” everything about the performance was.
For the second week in a row, Shum earned a perfect score with a 40/40.
Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach — 37/40
Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach danced a samba to “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid.
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Erivo called the performance “magic,” while Tonioli said, “You look like a prince and dance like a devil! Where are those hips coming from?” Inaba applauded Frech for taking the judges’ notes from last week, and Hough pointed out the specific moments of hip action that Frech succeeded at. “It had all the content in the world and for me, executed to perfection!” he gushed.
Hough gave the dance a 10, while the other three judges scored it with 9s, for a total of 37/40.
Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa — 33/40
Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa danced their paso doble to “Satisfied” from Hamilton. They dealt with tough times during rehearsals as Stiles’ past rib injury flared up.
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“That is how you tell a story!” Tonioli said. “I could see every nuance of that person, down to the end where she has to make that decision that changes everything for her. And it was a proper paso doble.”
Inaba praised Stiles for “digging deep” and turning her “raw emotion into beautiful dancing,” although she pointed out a “little stumble” at one point. Hough added, “Last week was a bit of a setback, but a setback is just a setup for a comeback and tonight you delivered that.”
Their score for the week was 33/40, with a 9 from Tonioli and 8s from the other judges.
Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy — 40/40
For their quickstep, Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy danced to “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. Inaba called Dewan the “perfect princess,” adding, “You were quick and light and so absolutely in sync with each other.”
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Hough said, “That’s what I love to see in a quickstep! Using the entire ballroom, doing laps around there. The footwork … you guys had it all in there. It was so beautiful. You kept the top line still. Magnificent, elegant, glorious.”
Tonioli agreed that Dewan “delivered” and said the dance was “Dancing With the Stars at its best.” The score earned a perfect score of 40/40.
Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold — 32/40
Closing out the first round was Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold with a waltz to “I See the Light” from Tangled. Hough said he “commends” Wood for how he controlled his lower half. “The frame, we’re still getting there,” he added. “It’s getting there, it’s getting better. But at moments, it kind of collapses a little bit.”
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Erivo praised Wood’s storytelling and Toniolo gushed over the “honest” partnership between Arnold and Wood. But he urged Wood to work on his “frame and a little more sweep in the floor work.” Inaba agreed that “there’s still a little more work to do,” including “work[ing] on being the lead” in the future.
The duo scored a 32/40, with four 8s from the judges.
Team Slaytopia — 36/40
The first team dance was Team Slaytopia, spearheaded by Alfonso Ribeiro. He was joined on the dance floor by Glenn/Pashkov, Stiles/Sosa, Higgins/Ballas, and Ali/Ravnik. They danced to “Zoo” from Zootopia 2.
“Well done. Loved the samba rolls. Really, really nice. Julia, you let your hair down beautifully. Good job,” Tonioli said. Inaba praised the way all four dancers merged their styles together and said it was “very clean,” while Hough added that he loved to see the camaraderie between the team members on the dance floor.
The team scored 36/40, which will be added to all of the members’ scores from the first round.
Team Wildcats — 40/40
Team Wildcats (Frech/Karagach, Dewan/Chmerkovskiy, Wood/Arnold, and Shum/Johnson) were joined by Julianne Hough for their freestyle to “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musicial.
“You graduated with honors. All of you, as a group, and individually, you brought in the A-game!” Tonioli gushed. Inaba called it a “fabulous way to end an amazing night,” while Hough raved, “I got, like, weirdly emotional watching that. It’s because there was so much joy in this room. It was so much freedom and just the team…”
The dance earned four 10s for a perfect score of 40/40.
Who was eliminated on Disney Night?
The couples announced safe, in no particular order, were: Harry Shum Jr./Jenna Johnson, Ezra Frech/Daniella Karagach, Jenna Dewan/Val Chmerkovskiy, Amber Glenn/Pasha Pashkov, Tatyana Ali/Jan Ranvik, and Connor Wood/Rylee Arnold.
The couple eliminated on Disney Night was … Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa, which means Higgins and Ballas are safe.
Dancing With the Stars, Season 35, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+
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