This article contains spoilers for the September 24 episode of “Dancing With the Stars.”
Week 2 of Dancing With the Stars was Oscar night, where couples danced to songs from films such as Barbie, A Star is Born, La La Land and Superman, while Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher and professional Alan Bersten lifted each other up in a salsa set to “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” from Dirty Dancing.
We also saw not one but two stars go home, including much-protested con artist Anna Delvey – whose casting was even criticized by fellow ABC show The View – and Beverly Hills, 90210 star Tori Spelling. The double elimination was announced during last week’s premiere, which saw no cuts. Scores from last week carried over into Tuesday night’s show.
Delvey, whose criminal exploits inspired the Netflix series “The Dropout,” and her partner Ezra Sosa danced a quickstep to KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” from “The Devil Wears Prada.” Derek Hough thought it showed “Anna the person, not the persona,” but wished for more energy. She earned 17 points, for a two-week total score of 35.
Meanwhile, Spelling and professional Pasha Pashkov performed a “heartfelt” rumba to “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman. The dance earned 19 points out of a total of 36. Spelling was “really thrilled” to score her first 7 points of the competition – which ended up being her last.
Although “Runaway Train” star Eric Roberts finished in the bottom two spots in terms of scores, the audience saved him. The actor danced to “The Godfather Waltz” by Nino Rota and Carlo Savina. He and his partner Britt Stewart earned a score of 15, the same low score as last week, for a total of 30.
“The Bachelorette” Jenn Tran and pro Sasha Farber sang a tango to “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” by Fergie, Q-Tip and GoonRock from “The Great Gatsby.” They earned a score of 19. Farber praised Tran’s ability to keep in time with the music, even though they couldn’t hear it on the dance floor.
Football star Danny Amendola and partner Witney Carson sang a “Top Gun”-style jive to Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone.” Bruno Tonioli proclaimed that Amendola “took off like a jet fighter…this is high-altitude flying fun,” while Carrie Ann Inaba asked for a repeat. They scored three “7”s, totaling 41 points for both weeks.
The audience also saved “Family Matters” actor Reginald VelJohnson, whose “Die Hard” performance of “Paso Doble” – performed in a police uniform in front of a patrol car – also received low marks from the jury: He finished the evening with a total of 31 points.
“Pretty Little Liars” star Chandler Kinney, who topped the leaderboard last week with her tango to Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go,” sang a rumba to Billie Eilish’s song “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie.” Hough told her she was “made to dance” and joked that he had more tips for her partner Brandon Armstrong. Inaba predicted Kinney would do “pretty well” this season, but offered a few corrective tips. They received 24 points and totaled 47 in two weeks.
“The Bachelor” star Joey Graziadei and pro Jenna Johnson danced a rumba to “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. The reality star admitted that Val Chmerkovskiy helped him with the “sensuality” of the dance. He was rewarded with a score of 22, for a total score of 43 for two nights.
“Real Housewives” star Phaedra Parks and her professional partner Chmerkovskiy danced a foxtrot to “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” by Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning song from “Dreamgirls.” She received 21 points out of a total of 40.
NBA star Dwight Howard and pro Daniella Karagach danced a foxtrot to “City of Stars” from “La La Land.” Their height difference was not an issue during the final dance side by side, but holding the “posture” in ballroom dancing proved more difficult. Inaba called the performance “stunning”; his two-night total was 44.
Model Brooks Nader and pro Gleb Savchenko performed a quickstep to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” Tonioli chastised her for “messing around” at the beginning of the dance, while Hough told her she had “all the ingredients” but shouted out the tango move mid-dance.
Gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik and professional Rylee Arnold performed a paso doble to the theme of “Superman.” He began the dance solo as the bespectacled Clark Kent before throwing away his glasses – just like in the Olympics – to become a superhero. He was able to incorporate some of his pommel horse moves into the routine, which wowed the audience but which he asked the judges to “finess.” They agreed, however, that his “likeability” was outstanding. He received a 22 for Tuesday night, bringing his total score so far to 43.
Next week, DWTS will be on hiatus for the vice presidential debate. To make up for the missed episode, there will be two episodes the following week – one on Monday, October 7th, and the other on Tuesday, October 8th.
