‘Dancing With the Stars’ Episode 2: Hannah Brown Wows With ‘Best Dance of the Night’ (RECAP)

DANCING WITH THE STARS
Spoiler Alert
ABC/Eric McCandless

The competition heats up during Week 2 of Dancing With the Stars as the 12 couples return to the stage tonight to perform their second dance of the season. Tonight, we’re introduced to the live voting option, where audience members can text and place votes at ABC.com for their favorite couple — and yes, we’ll also endure the first elimination of the season.

Read on for all of the highlights from Episode 2 — including who goes home, top scores, and judges’ reactions!

James Van Der Beek’s dance

James and pro partner Emma Slater danced the Cha Cha — complete with a toe touch — to Lionel Richie’s “Dancing On the Ceiling” and once again wowed the judges.

“Another solid performance. Nice crisp footwork,” Len Goodman said. Bruno Tonioli referred to the performance as “showy” before calling out the actor for missing a step in the beginning of the performance.

“I noticed that, too,” Carrie Ann Inaba added, explaining that he appeared to be “out of sync” earlier on in the dance. However, after that one mishap, he picked back up. “Besides that, you were on fire, so clean, so precise.”

James earned two 7s and a 6 from the judges, totaling 20. He received a total of 21 from last week, bringing his Week 2 total to 41.

Sailor Brinkley-Cook’s dance

After being thrown into the competition last week due to her mother’s injury, Sailor finally had a full week of practicing before taking the stage. Tonight, the model danced the Rumba with pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy to “Señorita”.

Bruno told Sailor that she was “made for this dance” but wanted to see more intention from her. “Dancing is like acting, you have to play the part,” he said.


“I think you’re still making your mom [Christie Brinkley] very, very proud out here,” Carrie Ann said with a smile before adding that she’s lacking consistency throughout her dance. “You need to find the middle ground and smooth it out.”

Len weighed in, saying it was a “nice” performance, but because it was so slow, every dance step is magnified, leaving her open for more potential criticism.

Overall, the teen earned 6s across the board, totaling 18. Added to last week’s score, that brings Sailor to a 36.

Ray Lewis’ dance

Ray and his pro partner Cheryl Burke took on the Foxtrot this week, which they performed to “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire. But although the judges loved his fun-loving stage presence, they weren’t too happy with the actual performance.

Carrie Ann told him the performance was riddled with “tons of mistakes” while Len weighed in and said he “went wrong numerous times.”

“It’s only your personality that’s giving you the mark you got,” Len added, before it was revealed he received 5s across the board, which is the same score he received from Week 1.

Ally Brooke’s dance

In Ally’s preview segment, the star revealed that she used to be bullied during her time in Fifth Harmony for her dancing skills and has since struggled with her confidence. But when the singer took the stage to dance an emotional Viennese Waltz with her partner Sasha Farber to an acoustic version of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, she didn’t disappoint.

Bruno called it a “very compelling, heartfelt performance” while Carrie Ann said walked over to the popstar to give her a hug for her performance. “You are a dancer,” she said.

Len revealed that it was “pretty” and “lovely” but picked apart her footwork.

Ally earned two 7s and a 6, totaling 36 when combined with last week’s scores.

Mary Wilson’s dance

The Supremes singer dazzled in a white fringed costume while dancing the Cha Cha to Aretha Franklin’s “Think” with her pro partner Brandon Armstrong — and the judges still seem to be in awe of her!

“You know how to work the room and own the room,” Carrie Ann told her. She added that the singer made “lots of little mistakes” but her stage presence is so mesmerizing, she covered them up. “That’s the sign of a true pro.”

“Mary, it’s a joy to see you out there,” Len added.

The judges gave the singer 5s across the board, bring her overall score combined with Week 1 to 32.

Lauren Alaina’s dance

The country singer danced to Demi Lovato’s “Confident” with pro partner Gleb Savchenko, ending with a powerful split.

Carrie Ann enjoyed seeing the wholesome singer come out of her shell, while Bruno added it was “a very, very strong and focused performance.”

“She’s gone nasty and I liked it. I loved it my darling,” he said.

The singer earned two 6s and a 7, bringing her total for both weeks to 38.

Sean Spicer’s dance

The former White House Press Secretary danced the Tango to “Shut Up and Dance With Me” with his pro partner Lindsay Arnold.. on his birthday!

The judges seemed to be in agreement that Sean’s dance was an improvement from last week, which is a good thing considering he had one of the lowest performance dances from Week 1.

Sean himself admitted the performance “felt a lot better.”

This week’s scores were slightly better —  two 5s and a 6, bringing his overall total to 28.

Birthday luck?

Karamo’s dance

After a rocky first week, the Queer Eye star took the stage and danced the Quickstep with a plan to change the judges’ minds about his dancing ability — and he certainly did just that.

Bruno called it a “really, really, really good performance” while Carrie Inn said the TV star was “electrifying.”


Len, on the other hand, wasn’t a huge fan of the performance, calling it, “hectic.”

Karamo earned two 7s and a 5 (ugh, thanks a lot Len), bringing his two-week total to 36.

Kate Flannery’s dance

The actress danced the Foxtrot to “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra with new pro dancer Pasha Paskov and the judges were blown away.

Carrie Ann said she was “noticeably different” from last week with her technique while Len called the performance “refreshing.”

The Office star earned 7s across the board for her performance, bringing her overall total to 36.

Kel Mitchell’s dance

The All That actor danced the Samba with pro partner Witney Carson, but it was a difficult week for the star, whose father underwent brain surgery. “Seeing him this way, that was hard,” he said through tears during his rehearsal.

But the actor channeled his emotions into his dance, which he performed to “Every Little Step” by Bobby Brown.

“Overall, I thought it was a very good job,” Len said, while Bruno complimented the star for how easily he moved on the dance floor.

“You are so smooth,” Carrie Ann added.

Kel earned two 7s and a 6, bringing his overall total combined with Week 1 to 36.

Lamar Odom’s dance

After earning the lowest score from Week 1, the athlete was determined to improve with his Week 2 performance.

Bruno said the dance was a “small step in the right direction” while Carrie Ann pointed out several mistakes.

“It’s difficult for you, you’re a very tall guy,” Len said, saying he has a long road ahead of him in the competition.

The NBA star was visibly distraught by the judges remarks, and earned once again one of the lowest scores of the night — 4s across the board, bringing his two-week total to 23.

Hannah Brown’s dance

The former Bachelorette took the stage to perform the Viennese Waltz to Taylor Swift’s “Lover” with partner Alan Bersten and to say the judges were blown away would be an understatement. Even Chris Harrison, who was watching from the audience, gave the 24-year-old a standing ovation.

Carrie Ann was in awe of the reality star’s dance, calling it “pretty amazing.” Len was also a fan of the performance, calling it the best dance of the night.

And the “best dance of the night” deservedly brought in the highest scores of the night — 8s across the board, bringing Hannah’s overall total to 44.

Who went home on Dancing With the Stars Week 2?

Based on live votes combined with the scores from Week 1 and 2, the bottom two couples were Ray/Cheryl and Mary/Brandon. As a surprising twist this season, the judges get the opportunity to choose which couple they want to save.

While Carrie voted for Mary and Brandon to stick around, Bruno admitted he’d save Ray and Cheryl. So Len, being the deciding vote, saved Ray and Cheryl, meaning we say goodbye to Mary and Brandon this week.

Dancing With the Stars, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC