The celebrity contestants and their pro-dancer partners dance a style they have not performed before in the first-round dance, while the second round is the Dance-Off challenge.
- Nov 5, 2019
AceShowbiz - "Dancing with the Stars" season 28 returned with a new episode on Monday, November 4. The new episode was "Dance-Off Week" in which the seven remaining celebrity contestants and their pro-dancer partners danced a style they have not performed before in the first-round dance, while the second round was the Dance-Off challenge.
First hitting the ballroom were Sean Spicer and Jenna Johnson, who was filling in for Lindsay Arnold. The pair opted to dance a Jazz to Styx's "Come Sail Away". Judge Len Goodman commented on the perfomance, "I respect your effort, well done." Meanwhile, Bruno Tonioli said that Sean didn't have "many jazz bones" in his body, though he praised Sean for his "resilience." The judges gave him a 20 out of 30.
Next up were Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko, who performed a Jive to "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. "The King himself would have loved that performance. It had the authentic fifties feel, bright, optimistic," said Bruno. Carrie Ann Inaba added, "You started that routine amazing, you did forget something, but you found your place again. I love what you are doing." Lauren earned 24 points for the performance.
Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson, meanwhile, danced a Salsa to Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It". Carrie Ann extremely loved it, saying, "You took me way back. The way you moved Witney, you were leading, it was powerful." Bruno added, "You are the main attraction. You were leading the whole dance from the beginning to the end, the main attraction." The judges gave him 28 points.
Dancing Paso Doble to her own song "Higher" (feat. Matoma) was Ally Brooke. Through her performance alongside Sasha Farber, she received huge praises from the judges with Bruno dubbing it "the most amazing dance." Carrie Ann raved, "You are freakin' superstar, something has changed in you." Ally earned 30 points, marking the first perfect score in the season.
Following it up were Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten who hit the stage to dance a Quickstep to "American Girl". "The shock is getting better by the minute, that was a game-changer. You rocked it, you used the floor to give yourself a lift. Your foot action was beautiful, you were in orbit," Bruno said while Carrie Ann giving the pair a standing ovation and a hug. Len praised Hannah for her "really nice frame" and "a fabulous dance." The judges gave her 29 points.
Kate Flannery and Pasha Pashkov, meanwhile, offered a performance of a Jive to "Heatwave" by Linda Ronstadt. Len thought they were a "joy to watch," though he noted that "it's not your best, but it's certainly not your worst." As for Bruno, he felt it was "clever" and "tailor-made for your ability," but she "went out of sync a couple of times." She was given a 24.
James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater later amazed everyone with a performance of Contemporary to "Don't Stop Believein' ". Len raved by saying that it was "a good book" that "holds your interest from start to finish … and I think you're going to find it has a really happy ending." Bruno thought it was "totally compelling," calling the lifts "absolutely exquisite" with the "fluidity of water." Tying with Ally, James got a perfect score.
Now, it was the turn for Dance-Off round without James, who got the immunity from the dance-off and got 2 extra points added onto their score because they were at the top of the leaderboard last week. Kel went against Ally as they danced a Jive to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". After a magnificent battle, Kel was announced as the winner. He got two bonus points, which brought his score for the night to 30. Later, it was Sean going against Kate. They danced a Cha Cha to 'Gonna Make You Sweat" by C+C Music Factory. Kate was given a two-point boost to her score tonight after all judges chose her as the winner.
The next battle was between Lauren and Hannah as they danced a Salsa to "Rhythm is Gonna Get You" by Gloria Estefan. Hannah was named as the winner and got addition two points for her score which brought her up to 31.
Eventually, it was Kate who was eliminated that night.
