On Sept. 30, Dancing with the Stars returned with the third episode of the season, bringing the celebrities and pros back to the ballroom with a TikTok themed night. Jam-packed with choreography homages and a shocking elimination, last week’s episode of DWTS was nothing short of entertaining.
Opinions and Thoughts
Now, I’ve been dancing for over half of my life, but I have absolutely no ballroom experience. So as opinionated as I am, I know in my heart that I would struggle to learn how to tango or foxtrot just as much as the celebrities are, save for Hilaria Baldwin, one of the celebrities on the show who has extensive competitive ballroom dance experience. Baldwin is paired with pro Gleb Savchenko. The point of the show is to see which celebrity improves the most from having no experience to knowing it all—so why is a woman who competed for New York University’s ballroom team allowed to hit the floor? While Hilaria is a great technical dancer, parts of her routine—namely the sections where she was actually paying homage to the original TikTok choreography—were incredibly stiff and awkward. Carrie Ann Inaba, one of the judges, even said that Baldwin was off the music and, therefore, off-time.
Other routines, such as influencer Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy’s quickstep, wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin and Witney Carson’s salsa, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas’ samba, Leavitt’s Secret Lives co-star Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik’s cha cha, and Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa’s tango were all fun and great to watch. Earle, Irwin, Leavitt, and Affleck are all incredible performers with lots of potential. Leavitt and Earle do have previous dance experience, but not in the ballroom genres, so I believe them being on the show is still valid. Irwin, who is my personal favorite celebrity on this season, is not the first of his family to take to the ballroom. His older sister, Bindi Irwin, competed and won with pro-turned-judge Derek Hough on season 21. Therefore, there were a fair amount of expectations for Robert Irwin to be just as good. Luckily, he has been; Irwin has unmatched charisma, stage presence, and the biggest smile every time he steps onto the floor. Leavitt and Affleck are both also impressing audiences, with competitive spirit and hard work that never falters. Affleck gave birth only a few months ago and is consistently dancing like it didn’t even affect her.
Actor Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach’s foxtrot, comedian Andy Richter and Emma Slater’s foxtrot, actress Elaine Hendrix and Alan Berstern’s tango, singer Lauren Jauregui and Brandon Armstrong’s cha cha, actress Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov’s foxtrot, and singer Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold’s jazz were routines that I enjoyed watching, but quickly forgot about. In my opinion, for Week 3, Hoying has improved the most so far. Jazz is definitely his style, and he captured the audience with sass, confidence, and energy throughout the whole routine. Hendrix, who also has professional dance experience (but not in ballroom), has been doing really well every week and is latching onto ballroom choreography seamlessly. Efron, who I thought was hopeless in Week 1, has also surprised me with his dedication and grasp on ballroom technique with his partner. I believe that Richter is being kept in the show solely because of fan votes, but I really can’t blame anyone, because he just looks so happy every time he gets to dance with Slater that I can’t imagine him getting voted off. Fishel has also been doing well, and while she isn’t a breakout star in my opinion, she has an elegant gracefulness to her that makes her routines mesmerizing to watch.
Shocking Results
Jauregui and Armstrong, unfortunately, were eliminated at the end of last week’s episode. While their routine was far from perfect, it’s only Week 3, and even the best dancer in the world makes mistakes when performing every now and then. I believe they were wronged by being eliminated this early, and Jauregui even said she was “pissed” at the result of the elimination. It should have been Hilaria and Gleb who went home—not because she’s the worst dancer, because she’s far from it. She needs to be eliminated because she is straight up controversial and also experienced in ballroom, which isn’t the point of DWTS. In 2020, Baldwin was caught up in quite the scandal over her heritage, with inconsistent accents, references to Spain as her culture despite being born and mainly raised in Boston, and overall, just lied about being Spanish for the better part of a decade. Why someone would feel the need to do that, I’m not sure, but I certainly don’t care to watch her dance anymore.
This Week
This week’s episode of DWTS was Disney Night, and every couple performed a dance inspired by a Disney ride or movie. Once again, the star routine was Earle and Chmerkovskiy’s Maleficent-themed Vienesse waltz. The judges gave them 8’s across the board—personally, it deserved more in my eyes.
Luckily, to the relief and joy of pretty much every watcher, Hilaria Baldwin was eliminated after a Star Wars themed routine with Savchenko. A great dancer who is disliked by the masses, she’s gone a few weeks too late, and I’m happy to see her out of the ballroom. Next week’s theme is Dedication Night, which is sure to bring tears, sentiment, and grace to the DWTS floor as always.
Dancing with the Stars airs every Tuesday at 8:00pm PT/ET, and 7:00pm MT. Tune in and cast your votes!
Check out Emma’s article about Autumnal Reads!
