Last night’s episode of Dancing With The Stars, titled “Dedication Night,” was an emotional rollercoaster for everyone involved — the dancers, the judges, and even the audience! This week’s performances were specially prepared to pay tribute to the most important person in each of the celebrity contestants’ lives. For instance, the night begun with the playful dance of comedian Andy Richter and his partner Emma Slater, which was dedicated to Andy’s daughter, and the audience found that to be very endearing. Another performance that left the entire ballroom in tears was of Australian star Robert Irwin, beautifully choreographed by his partner Witney Carson, as a tribute to his mother. On an emotional night like this, it’s really a shame that anyone had to go home … but the show must go on! Or does it?!?
Before we get to that, though, let’s focus on the couple that got the most votes of the episode. The performance that made it to the top spot of the leaderboard this week was the one of content creator Dylan Efron and his partner Daniella Karagach, which was a tribute to Dylan’s younger sister, Olivia, who is only five years old! The judges gave this performance a wonderful score of 36/40. You can check out their contemporary performance below:
As great as that was, the most impactful performance of the night was Robert Irwin’s, dedicated to his mother. Judge Carrie Ann-Inaba stated, “You’re always connecting with the audience…It was really beautiful.” To wrap up this emotional moment, Robert asked something of the audience: “This is for all the moms that don’t get what they deserve,” Irwin said. “Go call your mom and tell her you love her.” Consequently, that speech sent the audience into tears again! The couple got a score of 35/40 from the judges, which secured them the second place on the leaderboard.
As we said, with all of the tears and emotion flowing through the ballroom it was a shame to even think that a couple was going to be sent home. Things were looking extremely dire for the duo of Andy Richter and Emma Slater, who had found themselves in the bottom three a few times before, after only awarded score of 24/40 for their salsa-style rendition of Harry Belafonte’s “Jump In The Line.” Things were looking bleak for Andy and Emma, as the duo were staring down the barrel of elimination.
Here’s a look at the complete leaderboard:
Before they announced the first couple that was safe from elimination, co-host Alfonso Ribeiro announced the big news that last week’s episode broke another voting record of 50 million votes from the audience at home. Then, it was finally time, as the audience waited with trepidation to know which couple was safe first. But then, in a shocking moment, co-host Alfonso Ribeiro revealed, “All of you! No one is going home tonight!” The audience and judges were initially in shock, but then quickly began cheering for joy, as each couple hugged each other.
Well, we are truly excited to see what other surprises await us on next week’s DWTS episode, “Wicked Night”, which will be released on Tuesday, October 21, at 8 PM EST live on Disney+ and ABC.