With visitor performances by Tony-winning vocalists and a gap quantity spotlighting The Lion King, Magnificence and the Beast, Newsies, and The Biggest Showman, final night time’s episode actually ought to have been referred to as “Disney on Broadway Evening.” And was it ever a deal with! This season’s opponents delivered on each magic and showmanship, performing for a really particular visitor decide: Grammy and Tony Award–profitable actress and singer Cynthia Erivo.
“Dancing with the Stars” has loved a protracted historical past with Disney, which has owned the present’s unique community, ABC, because the mid-Nineteen Nineties. In April of 2022, the Mouse introduced that “DWTS” can be transferring to Disney+ as the primary dwell collection to stream on the platform. Disney has additionally had a longtime relationship with Broadway, and so has “DWTS,” with a lot of its celebrities and professional dancers becoming a member of reveals like Chicago, & Juliet, and—as Julianne Hough introduced earlier this season—Rattling Yankees. The “DWTS”-to-Roxie-Hart pipeline has grown to specific fame, with final 12 months’s sixth-place contestant Whitney Leavitt as its most up-to-date inductee.
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Pasha Pashkov and main girl Amber Glenn. Photograph by Christopher Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
From left: Heather Headley, Tatyana Ali, and Jan Ravnik. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
Jenna Johnson and Harry Shum Jr. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC.
There’s loads of expertise among the many Season 35 cohort, so will the pattern proceed? We’ll simply need to see. Within the meantime, listed here are a number of the most magical moments from final night time’s Disney-themed episode:
- Our personal private Hercules, Amber Glenn, making historical past as the primary girl to steer her professional companion on “DWTS” (quickstep with professional Pasha Paskov to “A Star Is Born,” from Hercules)
- Maura Higgins, queen of “tink,” dressed as Tinker Bell in her jive with professional Mark Ballas to Peter Pan’s “You Can Fly!”
- Tatyana Ali’s performing grasp class in her emotional up to date quantity to Broadway’s Aida’s “Simple as Life” with professional Jan Ravnik, which earned them their highest rating to date
- Harry Shum Jr. and professional Jenna Johnson incomes their second consecutive excellent rating with a Broadway-ready jazz dance to Mary Poppins’ “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
- Ezra Frech and professional Daniella Karagach’s “high-risk, high-reward” samba, as Frech described it, that showcased his bounce and hip mobility even with the problem of his prosthesis’ incapacity to hinge (“Beneath the Sea,” from The Little Mermaid)
- Julia Stiles overcoming rib ache to make a “comeback,” as decide Derek Hough put it, in her paso doble with professional Ezra Sosa (“Happy,” from Hamilton)
- Jenna Dewan and professional Val Chmerkovskiy’s picture-perfect, no-crumbs quickstep to “Be Our Visitor,” from Magnificence and the Beast
- Connor Wooden and professional Rylee Arnold’s “sincere” connection, in decide Bruno Tonioli’s phrases, of their gradual waltz to Tangled’s “I See the Mild”
- The return of crew dances led by hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, with Crew Wildcat clinching the win (“We’re All in This Collectively,” from Excessive College Musical)
Final night time additionally introduced some enjoyable surprises, together with ballet influencer Luna Montana’s look within the viewers and our new favourite bestie couple, Erivo and Tonioli. (We’re holding house for this one.) And since there was a tie on the high of the leaderboard—Shum Jr. and Johnson, and Dewan and Chmerkovskiy, who every had 40—the prize of immunity from subsequent week’s dance-off went to the couple with the very best cumulative rating from the season so far. Forward by a single level, Shum Jr. and Johnson took the win.
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Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
Ezra Sosa and Julia Stiles (heart) with troupe dancers. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
From left: Connor Wooden, Rylee Arnold, and Heather Headley. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC.
Sadly, our beloved Save the Final Dance and 10 Issues I Hate About You star gave her final dance as a competitor after fulfilling a longtime dream of being on the present. Hats off, Julia. Juilliard skilled you effectively. 😉
With Erivo on the judges’ desk and the addition of crew dances, the very best doable rating remained at 80. Listed here are the official standings from Episode 9, together with some quotes of the week:
- Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson: 80/80
- Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy: 80/80
- Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach: 77/80
- Connor Wooden and Rylee Arnold: 72/80
- Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov: 70/80
- Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa: 69/80 (ELIMINATED)
- Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik: 69/80
- Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas: 68/80
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Crew Wildcat, led by Connor Wooden (far proper). Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
Crew Slaytopia, led by Tatyana Ali (far left). Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC. -
Hello, Luna! From left: Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Luna Montana (in again, with arrow), Cynthia Erivo, and Bruno Tonioli. Photograph by Willard, courtesy Disney/ABC.
“DWTS” Quotes of the Week
“I like every thing about this present—aside from the jive…I used to be in Tinker Hell this week.” —TV character Maura Higgins on grappling with the stamina-intensive jive
“My ft are more durable than I assumed they had been.” —Actress Tatyana Ali on dancing barefoot
“I believe there’s some magnificence in making an attempt the unimaginable.” —Monitor and discipline Paralympian Ezra Frech on studying to samba along with his hinge-averse prosthesis
“A setback is only a setup for a comeback.” —Choose Derek Hough, to actress Julia Stiles, after she nailed her paso doble with professional Ezra Sosa following final week’s dip in scores
“To not appear like what you’re going by means of is an actual energy.” —Visitor decide Cynthia Erivo to Stiles, praising her capability to bounce again from a troublesome week with out displaying it
Honorable point out: The best way professional Jan Ravnik pronounced “leopards.” (Lee-oh-pards)
See you all for subsequent week’s episode! (The present will likely be again to its common Tuesday night time schedule.)
