Dancing With the Stars: Lauren Alaina Shows Confidence With Paso Doble
Did Lauren make it past the first elimination?!
After an exciting kick-off to the 28th season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, the tension was building as the second night of competition also meant an elimination would take place at the end of the show.
But not before some incredible dancing from the 12 couples and critical analysis from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. However, as previously mentioned, the show threw in a big twist that gave the judges the responsibility of saving a couple who landed in the bottom.
This is how the night progressed:
James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater
Cha-cha-cha: “Dancing On the Ceiling” by Lionel Richie
LEN: “Another solid performance. Nice, crisp footwork…there were a few too many gimmicks going. I didn’t like the slide. And when you jumped off of there, I thought you were going to dance on the ceiling. Cut out the gimmicks. Just give me dancing.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 20
TOTAL (for both weeks): 41
Sailor Brinkley-Cook and Val Chmerkovskiy
Rumba: “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
BRUNO: “You are made for this dance, but your intention has to be much, much stronger. You did all the moves, but you have to link them and feel them and express. You can’t go through one move and then another move. It’s the in between that carries the meaning of the dance.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 18
TOTAL (for both weeks): 36
Ray Lewis and Cheryl Burke
Foxtrot: “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
CARRIE ANN: “You’re so enjoyable to watch. There’s a naturalness to you. You’re very comfortable in your own skin, which is half the battle out here because a lot of people are very uncomfortable. However, there were tons of mistakes. I think you just kind of lost yourself in the beginning in that first pass and it’s so hard because it’s so fast that it was hard to get back on.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 15
TOTAL (for both weeks): 30
Ally Brooke and Sasha Garber
Viennese waltz: “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls
LEN: “It was a very pretty looking dance. The key to Viennese waltz is to get rotation. The rotation kept stopping and starting. I would have liked to see a little bit more rotation in that. And your footwork. You didn’t know what to do with your feet in the reverse turns…it was a lovely dance, but technically it wasn’t so good.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 20
TOTAL (for both weeks): 36
Mary Wilson and Brandon Armstrong
Cha-cha-cha: “Think” by Aretha Franklin
BRUNO: “Simple, effective, nicely presented.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 15
TOTAL (for both weeks): 32
Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko
Paso doble: “Confident” by Demi Lovato
CARRIE ANN: “You’re extremely flexible. Your shoulders are a little high. You had one moment where he took off the cape and you were like, ‘This feels good,’ and I was loving you and then I think you lost your focus a little…we need that consistency. If you’re going to go there, stay there.”
JUDGE’S SCORE: 19
TOTAL (for both weeks): 38
Sean Spicer and Lindsay Arnold
Tango: “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon
LEN: “Better than last week.”
JUDGE’S SCORE: 16
TOTAL (for both weeks): 28
Karamo Brown and Jenna Johnson
Quickstep: “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince & The Revolution
BRUNO: “You have such panache, such flair. It was springy, it was pretty. Body contact — you lost it a little bit, but I have to say, that was really, really, really good quickstep.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 19
TOTAL (for both weeks): 36
Kate Flannery and Pasha Pashkov
Foxtrot: “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra
CARRIE ANN: “That was amazing. I am blown away by your technique…You remind me of a girl named Kelly Osborne who was on the show and did very, very well because you’re mastering the technique and I love it.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 21
TOTAL (for both weeks): 36
Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson
Samba: “Every Little Step” by Bobby Brown
LEN: “Plenty of rhythm in there, plenty of recognizable steps…you’ve got a nice, easy action about you, which I like and it suits this dance. Overall, I thought it was a very good job.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 20
TOTAL (for both weeks): 36
Lamar Odom and Peta Murgatroyd
Salsa: “Con Calma” by Daddy Yankee featuring Snow
BRUNO: “I thought you were more relaxed, you had a bit more freedom of movement, you seemed to enjoy yourself more. So, it’s a small progression. It’s a small step in the right direction.”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 12
TOTAL (for both weeks): 23
Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten
Viennese waltz: “Lover” by Taylor Swift
CARRIE ANN: “You whisked me away into another world only with the movement which is so amazing because that tells me that you are telling the story completely with your body. You finished every single move, your extension was ridiculously good. Were you holding out on us last week?”
JUDGE’s SCORE: 24
TOTAL (for both weeks): 44
Following the last performance of the night, the leader board looked like this:
Ally Brooke and Sasha
Hannah Brown and Alan
James Van Der Beek and Emma
Karamo and Jenna
Kate Flannery and Pasha
Kel Mitchell and Witney
Lamar Odom and Peta
Lauren Alaina and Gleb
Mary Wilson and Brandon
Ray Lewis and Cheryl
Sailor Brinkley-Cook and Val
Sean Spicer and Lindsay
After the studio and home audiences had voted, those numbers were combined with the judges to determine the dancers who were safe and those in the bottom.
The bottom two couples were:
Ray Lewis and Cheryl
Mary Wilson and Brandon
The judges were then tasked with choosing the couple who would be eliminated and, in the end, it was Mary and Brandon who were sent home.
Tune in next Monday for more Dancing With the Stars!
