‘Dancing with the Stars’ Recap: Suni Lee Proves to be a Top Contender Going into Semifinals
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The Dancing with the Stars quarterfinals are here already! The final eight pairs danced it out to the music of Janet Jackson and the ballroom was full of high intensity, glitter, and fast moves. Before the night was over, the stars faced a double elimination and a fan favorite was sent home.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said it best, this is the “most intense competition we have ever seen on Dancing with the Stars.” This season has been non-stop with frontrunners falling to the bottom of the pack, and dark horses emerging. Tonight before the side by side dance off, three different couples earned perfect scores including Melora Hardin who earned a perfect score plus bonus points and still landed in the bottom two.
While the competition has grown incredibly fierce, it was country music star Jimmie Allen and social media personality Olivia Jade who were sent home at the end of the night. Jimmie earned the lowest scores of the evening from the judges who thought his dance was “nice,” but not enough to get him into the semifinals.
Meanwhile Olivia and Val earned solid 9s from each of the judges, but failed to pick up any extra points in the dance offs, and they too were sent home.
The Top 8 Couples Get Expressive, Show Energy on Janet Jackson Night
For Janet Jackson Night, the pop princess herself joined the night via video call from London to talk about how much she loves dance and the ability to “express yourself” through dance.
Season 30 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe also popped by the ballroom to join the pros in a dance and announce that she will be joining the group on the road for their winter tour.
Tonight was the highest scoring night of the season with three different couples earning perfect scores during their first dances. Suni and Sasha, Melora and Artem, and Amanda and Alan all tied for first place with perfect scores.
“I see you for the first time in HD,” judge Bruno Tonioli told Suni, who proved to be the star of the night. “You had pros around you and you could be one of them…100% authentic samba.”
Melora’s paso doble to “If” earned her yet another perfect score and then Amanda and Alan’s jazz to “Miss You Much” finally earned them their first perfect score of the season.
In the first side by side dance offs of the season, Suni and Sasha, Melora and Artem, and Amanda and Alan all earned bonus points. Considering these three groups also received perfect scores for their first dance, they remained perfect with a three-way tie and overall scores of 42/42.
In the fourth dance off, judged by Carrie Ann, JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson battled and beat Jenna’s real-life husband Val Chmerkovskiy and Olivia Jade. This was the first time each couple had danced a rumba and the first ever all-woman team pulled ahead with their chemistry and impressive skills.
“That is the dance off of dance offs,” said Carrie Ann.
The two extra points brought JoJo and Jenna up to 41 points total for the night and likely knocked Olivia Jade right out of the competition.
Despite having an absolutely perfect night, Melora landed in the bottom three alongside Olivia and Jimmie. She was unanimously saved by the judges due to her high scores throughout the season and will head to the semifinals next week.Next week, Dancing with the Stars returns. As always, if you want your favorite star to make it to the next round, be sure to vote online or via text before the final commercial break of the night.
