Welcome back to another week of Dancing With the Stars! This episode was Dedication Night, where celebrities danced for and with a special someone (or someplace). The ballroom was filled with tears, raw emotion, and some high scores from the judges. Kym Johnson, a previous pro and two-time winner of DWTS, was a guest judge and is always a joy to have back in the ballroom. History was made this Dedication Night, so here are my thoughts on this week’s episode:Â
Maura Higgins’ Paso Doble to “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys was one of the highlights of this episode. Her energy was through the roof, and having a professional Irish dancer named Lucky be part of the performance was immaculate. While most people were dressed in muted and darker tones, her dress was bright green with an Irish flag cape attached. Mark Ballas (her partner) even went full Irish for this dance by painting the flag on his back. Someone always has to do an upbeat dance every Dedication Night, and sometimes they can feel a little out of place, but this one was a hit and very memorable. I don’t believe anyone has dedicated a dance to a country before, so she definitely made history there! Not only that, but her dancing was great as always, and it was nice to see her perform a dance that wasn’t in frame the entire time.Â
Another couple that made history last week was Tyler Cameron and his partner Sharna Burgess. They danced a contemporary to “Supermarket Flowers” by ED Sheeran and included his fiancĂ©e, Tate Madden. I just have to note how ecstatic I am that Sharna came back on the show because she is one of the best storytellers Dancing With the Stars has ever seen. The dance was dedicated to his late mother, who passed away in 2020. To honor her, they included a voiceover of what Tyler would say to his mom about his fiancĂ©e. Even though the dance was not necessarily dedicated to her, Tate was a wonderful dancer; there is no way she does not have a little bit of experience. The dance was beautiful, but to make it even more special, the couple hard-launched their pregnancy and had a surprise gender reveal. Pink confetti exploded from the ceiling to announce that they’re having a girl! Dancing With the Stars has had a proposal and one or two pregnancy announcements, but never a gender reveal until now (what’s next, a wedding?).Â
Every couple has a spectacular night, and I would write about them all, but we would be here for a while. With that being said, I did want to mention the elephant in the room during the episode. Val Chmerkovskiy was absent from the ballroom last week due to comments he made towards Carrie Ann Inaba’s criticism of his wife, Jenna Johnson, during Super Bowl Night (if you don’t know what I’m referring to, you can read my previous article to learn more). After Super Bowl night, Val posted on his story, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” referencing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscar Awards. He also commented on a post saying she was “trippin talking to Jenna like that.” DWTS addressed it and suspended Val for one week, with Alan Bersten stepping in to dance with Jenna Dewan. This call has people in an uproar online, sharing their thoughts about whether it was the right move for the show. Personally, I think it was a better look for DWTS to suspend him because it shows that they care about their employees, even if it is live television. I know it was a joke, and I do agree that Carrie Ann Inaba’s comment was not given in a kind manner, but it does not call for public and online hate from the professionals who work alongside her: Val’s suspension was probably a wake-up call for him. All in all, Jenna danced a Viennese Waltz to “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers dedicated to her mother. Her dance was elegant and stunning – I thought Carrie Ann Inaba giving them a ten was a little funny – I’m glad this sudden switch-up did not break her momentum.Â
Luckily, none of the couples were sent home, but that means there will be a double elimination for Halloween Night. Come back next week to see how the dancers perform to scary movie scores and with another guest judge!     Â