“Dancing with the Stars” Season 34’s cast, in my opinion, is one of the most talented group of celebrities ever to be on the show. The Halloween special aired on Oct. 28, and there were some spooky surprises revealed in the episode: three teams scoring a 10, two trips to the hospital and one couple eliminated.
Some performances worth the hype are Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa, Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy, and Robert Irwin and Whitney Carson.
Chiles and Sosa had a contemporary dance to “Elastic Heart” by Sia. Chiles was attached to a harness, a difficult prop to use in dance. They poured so much emotion into her performance and by using her gymnastics skills, she wowed the audience and judges. She received a 34 as the judges didn’t like how many lifts there were, but I think it added more interest in the performance. If she has the talent, she should use it to her advantage. My favorite moment was how synchronized their firebirds were in the dance.
Earle and Chmerkovskiy, receiving an almost perfect score with a Tango to “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish, shook the audience with their thrilling performance. The only reason they didn’t earn a perfect score was because of the guest judge, Cheryl Burke, as she scored them a 9. Earle and Chmerkovskiy’s partnership has grown so much, especially through the challenges they faced during rehearsal, but it is also what has separated them from the competition.
Irwin and Carson had such a fun performance with an Argentine Tango to “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” by The Hampton String Quartet, and it was great to see Irwin level up. My favorite moment was seeing him fill in the leading role of the dance. He is always given hard choreography, and it is harder to perform that to perfection, rather than couples with easier choreography, which has lowered his scores, so I am glad the judges recognized him with higher scores.
The only teams to earn a 10 were Earle and Chmerkovskiy, Irwin and Carson, and Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas– none of which surprised me. Leavitt and Ballas danced a Jazz to “Brain Stew” by Green Day and have been seen with slight favoritism by the judges– they consistently are getting high scores even though they are not in sync, but when they are in sync, it is wonderfully executed.
We also learned about two teams who had to go to the hospital as a result of rehearsal injuries. Earlier Tuesday morning, Elaine Hendrix felt muscle pain under her ribs and was taken to the emergency room, leaving her partner Alan Bersten alone for the night. Hendrix’s doctor cleared her to continue on with the contest in the future, but for this week, people were still able to vote and the judges had to score their last recorded full run of an Argentine Tango to “Bad to the Bone” by 2Wei & Bri Bryant. Had she done it for the final performance, her score would have been higher. In other news, Dylan Efron broke his nose after Daniella Karagach accidentally elbowed him. His Vietnamese Waltz to “Can’t Help Falling in Love (DARK)” by Tommee Profitt & Brooke was great, but everybody knows that Karagach’s speciality is a Halloween Night dance, so it was a treat to see her choreography for another year.
In between competitive performances, troupe members Hailey Bills, Onye Stevenson, Jaxon Willard and Carter Williams and eliminated pros Jenna Johnson, Gleb Savchenko, Britt Stweart, Rylee Arnold and Brandon Armstrong danced wonderful performances, showcasing their talent. I’m glad we get to see a variety of performances, showcasing their individual skills.
Some performances not worth the hype are Andy Richter and Emma Slater’s Paso Doble to “Symphony No. 5 in 3 Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio” by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov’s Vietnamese Waltz to “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, and Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik’s Contemporary to “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift. Richter has improved since the beginning of the season, but still is falling behind other contestants. Fishel and Pashkov also are great performers, but there isn’t anything that separates them from the competition. While their performances are not standout, Richter and Fishel’s acting history helps their performances with their story telling, which plays a significant part of the viewer’s impact on the dance. Affleck and Ravnik are great dancers, but their chemistry while dancing is limited, which slows them down.
While there are some performances not worth the hype, the behind-the-scenes crew and musicians are underhyped. The crew gets things done so fast and efficiently, with setting the stage, taking on and off props and cleaning up confetti, and it is not recognized enough. Another underhyped group is the band. They have very little time to rehearse the songs with the cuts made by the pros and the singers are some of the most talented people ever. I wish we could see more behind the scenes from their perspective.
The costume and make up departments also deserve a lot of hype for this episode. The make up looks are so intricate and executed beautifully, I wish we got to see more behind the scenes of how they create the blood effects. The crazy eye makeup is what makes the costumes come to life. The costume designers post sketches of the outfits on Instagram weekly, so it was not surprising how wonderful they were. There should be episodes dedicated to how the show is put together and give more recognition to the people that help carry the show without being seen.
Throughout the competition, no matter how talented the performances are to the audience, the judges seem to disagree. Carrie Ann Inaba seems to rile people up the most, followed by Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli. Derek Hough and Tonioli are always worth the hype, while Inaba can be hit-or-miss.
In addition to the normal competition, couples competed in a Monster-thon, where couples don’t stop dancing until eliminated. The longer they were on the stage, the more points they got added to the performance. The last ones standing were Earle and Chmerkovskiy and Leavitt and Ballas, in which Leavitt and Ballas eventually won. The judges were divided in two, having a hard time crowning the victors, which left dancers performing for longer than expected.
Affleck and Ravnik were eliminated at the end of the night, which was not necessarily a surprise. I’m glad Richter has made it this far, but I think it’s time for him to go next week. He lacks in comparison as he is still stuck with easy choreography, rather than leveling up like everyone else.
The next episode is Tuesday, November 4 at 8:00 EST for Rock & Roll Night, commemorating celebrated artists and the Hall of Fame. Who will go home? Stay tuned to find out.
