‘Dancing With the Stars’ Episode 9: Ally Brooke Earns Two Perfect Scores (RECAP)

Ally Brooke Dancing With the Stars
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On Episode 9 of Dancing With the Stars, the six remaining couples channeled their inner popstars and performed dances to memorable hits from girl and boy groups including The Supremes, Backstreet Boys, and New Kids on the Block. *NSYNC boybander Joey Fatone offered his expert opinion alongside the judges tonight, so read on to find out top scores, judges’ comments, and who was eliminated.

James Van Der Beek’s first dance

The Dawson’s Creek star kicked off the night by dancing the Jive to The Pointer Sisters “I’m So Excited” along with his pro partner Emma Slater. Needless to say, he didn’t disappoint.

“The kicks and flicks were sharp and aggressive. You were good,” judge Len Goodman said. Joey agreed, telling the actor he makes the complicated dance look easy. “Everything you do is completely consistent. Really, really great job man, I’m proud of you for doing this,” he said.

Bruno Tonioli weighed in, calling the performance “brilliant,” while Carrie Ann Inaba said it was “effortless.”

The Varsity Blues actor earned 9s across the board, totaling 36 out of 40.

Sean Spicer’s first dance

The former White House Press Secretary took the stage dancing the Argentine Tango to “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child. Though he did so without his pro partner Lindsay Arnold, as we learned last week she was taking time off due to a death in the family. Once again, Jenna Johnson filled in to dance with Sean.

Like most of Sean’s dances, it was lacking technical skill but the judges can appreciate the effort. Len said the “best thing” about the performance was that it “wasn’t very long.” Yikes.

Joey added that the performance lacked fluidity, and while he thought he did a good job overall, there’s no more room for error.

Carrie Ann chimed in with some advice. “I know you want to prove to everybody that you deserve to be here, but if you want to improve the dance, what’s missing is the artistry. There’s details and there’s nuances and there’s storytelling that’s lacking, so if you work on that, we will be happy to have you,” she said.

Overall, he earned 26 out of 40.

Hannah Brown’s first dance

After delivering the comeback performance of the season, Hannah was prepared to give it her all tonight. Dancing the Salsa to “No Scrubs” by TLC, complete with a series of difficult lifts, the reality star didn’t exactly live up to her jaw-dropping performance from the week prior.

“You shine brighter with every number,” Bruno told, her but called her out for messing up some of the timing within the dance. “A couple of times you just lost it. But don’t feel discouraged because it doesn’t matter, because you are now a star attraction.”

Carrie Ann added that the lifts were “out of sorts” and needed some work. She wasn’t as blown away with this performance, but she’s confident that Hannah will continue to put in the hard work for future dances.

The reality star brought in 8s across the board, totaling 32 out of 40.

Ally Brooke’s first dance

Ally might’ve had a bit of a leg up tonight, given that she was in a girl group, Fifth Harmony, so she clearly knows what she’s doing. After being saved from the bottom two last week, Ally brought her A-game with her Samba to “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls.

“Being in a girl group paid off because that was amazing,” Carrie Ann said. Len was equally impressed, saying she had great technique.

“From one boybander to another girlbander, that was an amazing job,” Joey said.

Not surprising, the singer earned 10s across the board, totaling 40 out of 40.

Lauren Alaina’s first dance

The country singer danced the Quickstep to “Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes. Though Len called out a few moments that weren’t quite on point, he was overly fairly pleased with the performance.

Joey agreed with the missteps, but added that the energy was great.

Carrie, on the other hand, had no clue what the other judges were talking about. “You give it your all every single time,” she said. “I loved it.”

She pulled in a 34 out of 40 for her first dance.

Kel Mitchell’s first dance

The All That star danced the Paso Doble to “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue and certainly impressed Bruno, who said he was “overwhelmed” by the powerful performance. Len wasn’t as impressed with the dance, saying it had “too many gimmicks and not enough Paso Doble.”

But despite the mixed reviews, overall, he earned 34 out of 40.

James Van Der Beek’s second dance

Kicking off the second round — aka the boy band round — James danced a Jazz performance to “Bye, Bye, Bye” by *NSYNC.

Joey was extremely honored that James performed to his hit song from his boy band days. “If I could give 100 I would. For what you did out there, being I’m biased, hands down it was awesome,” he said.

Though the performance was impressive overall, Len and Bruno called him out for not dancing enough with his partner.

This Jazz dance earned 36 out of 40 (complete with a perfect score from Joey!) bringing their two-dance total to 72 out of 80.

Hannah Brown’s second dance

The reality star let the stress get to her during rehearsals for the second dance, which was a Tango to “Oh My My My” by BTS. But the blood, sweat, and tears paid off for the judges.

Joey called it the “best dance of the night” adding that, “I was watching the feet, watching everything, it was awesome.”

“You brought a lot of passion but at the same time it was elegant,” Bruno said. Carrie Ann agreed, and thanked her for bringing her A-game, but added she needs to bring her A-game for each and every performance in order to win.

Hannah earned 39 out of 40 for her final performance, bringing her two-dance total to 71 out of 80.

Sean Spicer’s second dance

Next up was Sean, dancing the Foxtrot to One Direction’s “Story of My Life.”

Bruno took a jab with his critique, saying that Sean’s technicality always goes in one direction… reverse. Ouch.

“It flowed, then it splattered, then there was a couple of drips, and then it flowed again,” Len added.

While Sean appeared to be emotional by the negativity, he tried his best to keep a smile on his face.

Joey, in an attempt to lighten the mood, threw some positive feedback his way. “You are taking a beating sometimes and you keep going,” Joey said. “Your journey is amazing to me.”

Sean earned 6s across the board, bringing his final total to 60 out of 80.

Lauren Alaina’s second dance

For her second performance of the the night, the singer danced the Rumba to “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys and even got some pointers from boybander A.J McLean during rehearsals. Overall, the judges were pleased with the routine.

“I can’t believe how far you’ve grown. I can’t believe this is you. The growth is phenomenal,” Carrie Ann said.

“I liked it very much. Lovely fluid movement. Well done,” Len added.

She earned 34 out of 40, bringing her final total to 74 out of 80.

Kel Mitchell’s second dance

With dance number two, Kel performed a beautiful Viennese waltz with pro partner Witney Carson to “I’ll Make Love To You” by Boyz II Men.

Len called it a “really polished performance” while Joey called it “amazing” and Carrie Ann said it was “beautiful.”

“Kel, you dance like a perfect gentlemen,” Bruno added. “You two were sensational.”

The flawless number earned him a perfect score, bringing his two-dance total to 74 out of 80.

Ally Brooke’s second dance

For the final performance of the night, Ally danced a Jazz routine to “Step By Step” by New Kids of the Block. Bruno was so impressed with the dance, he actually compared the popstar to the iconic performer, Paula Abdul. Carrie Ann agreed, calling the performance “flawless.”

“Absolutely amazing, what a great way to end the show,” Joey said.

“It was so much fun. It was the whole package, well done,” Len concluded.

Once again, she earned a perfect score, bringing her two-dance total to 80 out of 80.

Who went home on Dancing With the Stars?

Next week kicks off the semi-finals, so this elimination was the most significant one so far this season. Sean and Jenna and Lauren and Gleb found themselves in the bottom two tonight.

“For me, there is one couple that stands out,” Carrie Ann said, voting for Lauren and Gleb to stay. Bruno agreed, voting for Lauren and Gleb to continue in the competition.

And tonight, we said goodbye to Sean and Jenna.

“I’ve loved being on this show, thank you for letting me be a part of it,” Sean said as he walked off stage.

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