'DWTS' Ep. 4 Recap: Heartfelt Performances As Nation Mourns
'DWTS' Ep. 4 Recap: Heartfelt Performances As Nation Mourns
On this week's "Dancing with the Stars," the show's remaining 11 couples competed for a nation in mourning.
On this week's "Dancing with the Stars," the show's remaining 11 couples competed for a nation in mourning. One day after the devastating attack in Las Vegas, in which a gunman killed 59 people and injured hundreds more, "DWTS" decided that “the show must go on.”
Host Tom Bergeron opened the evening with heartfelt comments for those in mourning and a hope that the proceeding show would bring a little bit of sunshine to an otherwise dark situation.
Monday night’s theme was “Guilty Pleasures” and to keep things on the bright side, the show decided that there would be no eliminations -- which was good news for Terrell Owens.
Contestants were only required to learn one dance for the evening instead of two like the week before. The lighter load could be the reason why Monday night's performances were significantly better than the weeks prior. Here’s the rundown of scores and highlights from Monday's top five performances.
Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas
27 out of 30
Jive, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!
Monday's nights top performers were by far Lindsey and Mark. Performing an upbeat jive inspired by Lindsey’s guilty pleasure of staying in pajamas all day took the audience and judges by a pleasant surprise. Mark’s choreography was near perfect, with heartfelt moments and overall incredibly entertaining. The judges commended Lindsey on her ability to keep up with Mark, and we were all impressed at how quickly and easily she seemed to be able to pick up an intricate and cardio-intensive dance.
Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold
25 out of 30
Charleston, “The Glory Days” by Michael Giacchino
This was arguably Jordan and Lindsay's best performance to date. The choreography was inspired by Jordan’s love of comic books. The routine was fun, engaging, and beyond creative, so kudos to Lindsay on her choreography. Judge Len Goodman, of course, had something negative to say, complaining about the lack of a Charleston in the duo's Charleston, but overall this routine was a win for Jordan and Lindsay. They remain at the top of the leaderboard for yet another week.
Vanessa Lachey and Alan Bersten
23 out of 30
Jazz, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
Vanessa’s usual partner Maks was out for a personal matter this week, so Alan Bersten, who was eliminated last week with Barbara Corcoran, stepped into his shoes. The couple paired rather well together on Monday night, performing a jazz routine inspired by Vanessa’s guilty pleasure of hanging out with her girlfriends (which I don’t think qualifies as a guilty pleasure, but their routine is fun regardless). Fun, flirty, and free, their routine did the trick and earned Vanessa and Alan the third-highest score of the night.
Drew Scott and Emma Slater
23 out of 30
Argentine Tango, “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Applause to Drew, who gets the award of most improved this week. He is apparently a huge fan of detective shows like "CSI," so this week's routine was all about mystery. While Drew dressed as a debonair detective, his better half Emma played the role of a spicy witness as they performed the Argentine tango. If this duo keeps improving at this rate, they may be around longer than we all expected.
Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy
22 out of 30
Quickstep, “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba
This was a difficult performance to score because you love it and hate it at the same time. Victoria’s story is nothing short of inspirational and incredibly heartwarming. Her dance was about overcoming bullying in high school, and it led Bergeron to deliver a poignant message about being kind to others and standing up for against bullies. However, it's the song choice that makes it nearly impossible to appreciate this routine. The pair danced an impressive quickstep that was technical and clean, and overall the judges approved. But, man, oh man, she could have chosen any other song, and it would have been significantly better.
The rest of the scores from Monday night's contestants are as follows.
Nikki & Artem – 21 out of 30
Derek & Sharna – 21 out of 30
Nick & Peta – 21 out of 30
Terrell & Cheryl – 21 out of 30
Sasha & Gleb – 19 out of 30
Like we said earlier, no one went home this week, and we all probably felt a little better for it. However, next week will bring a new episode and someone will for sure be sent packing. Check back next week for your full update on season 25 of "Dancing With The Stars."