Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro returned on Monday night for the second week of the competition, as DWTS pro Brandon Armstrong appeared as a guest mentor and judge. This week’s focus was on storytelling, with the contestants pairing up to choreograph their dances.
Brandon Armstrong Judges on DWTS: The Next Pro
For this week’s The Next Pro challenge, the remaining 10 contestants were paired up to choreograph a dance together inspired by a story from one of their lives. Brandon Armstrong was there to offer the dancers his advice on effective storytelling, and later to guest judge alongside Shirley and Mark Ballas.
The standout performance this week came from Allen and Adele, who told the story of Allen losing his mom, whose dream it was for him to appear on DWTS. They danced a rumba to “See You Again” by Charlie Puth, bringing judge Shirley Ballas to tears. She called it “one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed.”
The Next Pro judges were also impressed by Natalie and Erik’s Viennese waltz to “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga, inspired by Natalie’s story of gaining confidence through dance after moving to the United States from Hong Kong. Shirley Ballas praised Natalie for taking her advice from last week and showing improvement.
Tristen and Stephani’s rumba to “Dreaming of You” by Selena, inspired by Stephani’s experience growing up as a minority, also earned kudos from the judges. Shirley Ballas liked Tristen’s attention to detail, while Armstrong praised him as a partner to Stephani.
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Which Dancer Was Sent Home?
In this week’s episode of The Next Pro, two pairs received criticism from the panel. That included AJ & Selena, who danced a jive to “Runaway Baby” by Bruno Mars inspired by AJ winning the British Open dance championship. Shirley Ballas criticized his choice to dance jive two weeks in a row. However, she praised Selena’s talent, saying she “ate him for lunch.”
The weakest performance of the week came from Benji and Nina, whose rumba to “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles was inspired by Nina’s perseverance as she lost her father and stepped away from dance for several years. The pair struggled with communication during rehearsal, and it showed in the dance.
Ultimately, Nina and Benji were in danger of elimination at the end of the night, and the judges chose to send Benji home. Nina will be back for next week’s show, which will feature DWTS pro Britt Stewart as a guest mentor and judge as the contestants work on a group dance.
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Do you agree with the panel’s choice of elimination this week? Let us know in the comments below.
