The hit show Dancing with the Stars kicked off it’s 24th season on March 20 and new episodes air on ABC every Monday night at 8 p.m. Hungry eyes tune in every year to watch the competition and steamy dances performed by 12 couples featuring today’s celebrities, and as the season’s eighth episode premieres on May 8,  here’s a recap of the previous episode.  

In the latest episode, the seven remaining couples were presented with a new challenge as they danced to celebrate “A Night at the Movies.” One couple received immunity at the end of the night, meaning that the couple can’t be eliminated, and the remaining pairs had to compete in a dance-off where the winning couple got two points added to their score, making it a little harder for them to be kicked off the show. A double elimination took place at the end of the episode.

Nancy Kerrigan and Artem Chigvintsev

Kerrigan danced a graceful tango under the song of  “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison.  Kerrigan  finally looked relaxed, and it resulted in beautiful technique. Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on the show, said Kerrigan needs to watch her arms a little bit, but fellow judges Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman saw improvement in Kerrigan’s lines and were impressed by the amount of dance content.  

Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess

Bolton and Burgess danced the paso doble to the song “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes” by Aaron Copland. Although it was an interesting dance with a good story that focused on a western theme,  Burgess, one of the coaches, was the dancer that drew in all of our attention. Bonner was more like the faded backup, and more of our focus should have been on him. The judges agreed that Bonner got lost during the dance, and although he had simple choreography,  his dance was not as refined as it should have been. The judges were also upset that even though this was week seven of the competition, the dance didn’t have that much choreography and was weak in content.  

Simone Biles and Sasha Farber

Biles and Farber did a charleston to “Charleston” by Bob Wilson and the Varsity Rhythm boys, which had an excellent routine. The dance was goofy, full of energy and tricks, and overall, was the perfect dance for Biles and Farber. It’s no surprise that the judges loved the choreography and gave them a high score of 37 out of a possible 40. Unfortunately, they would still  have to compete in the dance-off because one couple earned a perfect score of 40.

Nick Viall and Peta Murgatroyd

Viall and Murgatroyd danced  an Argentine tango under “Dangerous” by David Guetta, and although Viall has improved tremendously since the first episode aired, in my eyes he still lacks a certain grace that the other couples have mastered. Murgatroyd put together a creative story behind the dance which made it so much more enjoyable to watch, and while the judges agreed that the dance was “hot” and had an interesting story behind it,  they expected  more from Viall.

Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater

Jennings and Slater danced a gorgeous paso doble to “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff.  The paso doble was a horror story based on a serial killer who murdered girls and then danced with their dead bodies. The couple executed the paso doble in an outstanding way by having a lot of dance content and still telling a frightening story throughout the dance. Goodman called the dance “epic” but Inaba commented on the need for Jennings to focus on his posture. I believe that if he continues to improve and bring these types of dances to the competition every week, Rashad can win.

David Ross and Lindsay Arnold

David was frustrated after his reviews and scores from last week, so the couple decided to  have fun and try their best for the remainder of their time on the show. They danced a silly sci-fi salsa called “Universal Mind Control,” by Pharrell Williams.  I  think that David is definitely one of the weaker dancers remaining, but he and Lindsay are still so enjoyable to watch!

Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy

Kordei and Chmerkovskiy danced an Argentine tango that had amazing technique, a beautiful routine that was gorgeously performed. They flew on the dance floor under the song, “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” by Jennifer Lopez, and achieved the perfect score of 40/40. Normani and Val are my favorite couple, and I think that they are strong enough to win the competition. They are also the twosome who got immunity for the night while the rest of the couples had to face off against one another in the dance-off.

The two couples that were eliminated at the end of the night were Viall and Murgatroyd and Kerrigan and Chigvintsev. Although I agree with the elimination of Viall, I think that Kerrigan was a stronger dancer and could have stayed on the show to prove herself to the judges as well as to the audience.

I think that we can expect so much more competition in the next episode, because of the fact that we’re approaching  week eight, and some of the best couples are left. I feel like the strongest couples on the show are Biles and Farber, Jennings and Slater as well as Kordei and Chmerkovskiy, and I can’t wait to see what they bring to the floor next week.