Dancing with the Stars: Lauren Alaina Gets Coaching From AJ McLean Before Boy Band/Girl Group Night

Each of the competitors had to learn TWO dances!

Written by Tammy Ragusa
Dancing with the Stars: Lauren Alaina Gets Coaching From AJ McLean Before Boy Band/Girl Group Night
DANCING WITH THE STARS - "Boy Band & Girl Group Night" - Six celebrity and pro-dancer couples return to the ballroom to compete on the ninth week of the 2019 season of "Dancing with the Stars," live, MONDAY, NOV. 11 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. (ABC/Eric McCandless) GLEB SAVCHENKO, LAUREN ALAINA

It was a fun night of competition on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars as each couple performed twice — once to a song from a girl group and the second time to a song from a boy band. But it was also a stressful night for the celebrity dancers and their professional partners as the Top 6 couples would become the Top 5 by the end of the night.

The judge’s panel also welcomed a boy band favorite for the evening — guest judge, previous Dancing With the Stars competitor and NSYNC’s Joey Fatone. That also meant that the scores would be a total out of 40 instead of 30.

James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater

Round 1: Jive – “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters

Len Goodman: “The thing was, to learn two dances, it’s a tough, tough call. And to come out and dance a jive, which has got a lot of steps in it, is a really difficult job. I liked the speed on the underarm turns. It wasn’t all soft. The kicks and flicks were sharp and aggressive. You were good.”

SCORE: 36

Round 2: Jazz – “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC

Len: “I know it’s boy bands, but to me, that was too much of a boy band. I would have liked a little bit more of together dancing and the whole thing was a bit too aggressive. I would have liked a little bit more together dancing.”

SCORE: 36

Sean Spicer and Jenna Johnson (filling in for Lindsay Arnold)

Argentine tango – “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child

Joey Fatone: “I’ve watched you throughout this competition and you give it 110%. You really do. And watching you from the waist up, your frame is actually really good. The feet? Now, it’s a crucial time…it’s getting really, really tough. The fluidity of you is a little bit stompy, so you have to get that fluidity. If you honestly have that fluidity, you can go way farther than what anyone perceives you.”

SCORE: 26

Foxtrot – “Story of My Life” by One Direction

Bruno: “I have to say, no surprises there. You are definitely solid and consistent. And your technique always goes in one direction. Foxtrot is very, very hard and you actually presented it well. But it’s a fluid, effortless dance and I’m afraid it wasn’t very fluid. It was a bit clumpy. But good effort.

SCORE: 24

Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten

Salsa – “No Scrubs” by TLC

Bruno Tonioli: “It’s so good to see your confidence growing dance after dance. You shine brighter with every number, but what happened tonight is the timing went off. You lost a little bit of timing, so it kind of lost a bit of flow because some of the turns were so exact, so centered, so beautiful. Underarm, great. But a couple of times you just lost it, but don’t feel discouraged because it doesn’t matter. You are now a star attraction.”

SCORE: 32

Tango – “Boy with Luv” by BTS

Joey: “I have nothing to say wrong. Everything was great. I honestly thought it was fantastic. Honestly, so far for me, it was the best dance of the night.”

SCORE: 39

Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber

Samba – “Wannabe” by Spice Girls

Carrie Ann Inaba: “The way you dance together is incredible. You are so in sync, you dance so perfectly in sync, and you are so good in your technique, it was flawless.”

SCORE: 40

Jazz – “Step by Step” by New Kids on the Block

Joey: “Well, well done. The energy was absolutely amazing. You know what I love about stuff like this, when we performed as NSYNC and even when I did stuff with Dancing With the Stars, I love when there’s always a story telling, when there’s always something that tells a story and watching you guys do that, it was so much fun. A lot of jazz dancing in there. I never did jazz, I wish I did, during Dancing With the Stars, but we didn’t have that because it was season four and I’m old. But absolutely amazing and what a great way to end the show.”

SCORE: 40

Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko

Quickstep – “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes

Len Goodman: “I know there was one or two little moments during that that weren’t quite on point. I liked it.”

SCORE: 34

Rumba – “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys

Carrie Ann: “I can’t believe how far you’ve grown. Like, you’ve really come so far, I can’t believe this is you from week one. The growth is phenomenal. You’re so in tune with your body. There’s such a beautiful confidence and sensuality that is being exposed here. There’s also a vulnerability mixed with the power. It’s really an amazing artistic explosion of a lot of things. Be careful, sometimes you hold your breath when you hit a move because I know you’re squeezing and you don’t want to lose balance, but try to let it breathe so you don’t look so stiff.”

SCORE: 36

Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson

Paso doble – “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue

Joey Fatone: “Great job, amazing job. Just I think the knees could have come up a little bit dragging, but overall, great job.”

SCORE: 34

Viennese waltz – “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men

Len: “I thought it was terrific. Natural turns, reverse turns, you put in the famous fleckle. It was a really polished performance. Well done.”

SCORE: 40

After the judge’s scores were combined with the audience members, the bottom two couples were Sean Spicer and Jenna Johnson, and Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko. With judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli having the final decision, the couple they chose to save was Lauren and Gleb.

Next week starts the semi-final round and only two dances stand between the couples and the final round. Tune in and vote!