Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars is in full swing as we enter the seventh week of competition. This week is Halloween Night and all of the dancers will perform a dance dedicated to a Halloween-themed nightmare.
Dancing with the Stars is a competition show where 13 celebrities are paired with pro dancers in a battle to win the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Each week, the couples perform dances choreographed by the pro. This season’s judges are: Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli; with an occasional special guest judge. They score the dances on a scale from one to ten, and teams are then placed on a leaderboard. Viewers are also able to vote for their favorite couple to stay on the show. Judges scores and viewer votes are combined to decide which teams are eliminated each week.
This season’s cast includes:
- Danny Amendola paired with pro Witney Carson
- Anna Delvey paired with pro Ezra Sosa
- Joey Graziadei paired with pro Jenna Johnson
- Dwight Howard paired with pro Daniella Karagach
- Chandler Kinney paired with pro Brandon Armstrong
- Ilona Maher paired with pro Alan Bersten
- Brooks Nader paired with pro Gleb Savchenko
- Stephen Nedoroscik paired with pro Rylee Arnold
- Phaedra Parks paired with pro Val Chmerkovskiy
- Eric Roberts paired with pro Britt Stewart
- Tori Spelling with pro Pasha Pashkov
- Jenn Tran with pro Sasha Farber
- Reginald VelJohnson paired with pro Emma Slater
These contestants have participated in several dances each week with seven out of thirteen of them already eliminated. So far those who have been eliminated are: Anna Delvey, Brooks Nader, Phaedra Parks, Eric Roberts, Tori Spelling, Reginald VelJohnson, and most recently, Jenn Tran.
Each week has a specific theme for the dances that the contestants will perform. The themes so far have been: Oscars Night, Soul Train Night, Hair Metal Night, Dedication Night, Disney Night, and Halloween Night (this week).
There are some very strong competitors this season. Actress Chandler Kinney and her partner Brandon Armstrong dominated the leaderboard for the first several weeks. Now, The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson, as well as football star Danny Amendola and his partner Witney Carson have been climbing their way up the leaderboard each week with exciting and impressive dances.
Halloween Night was filled with many astonishing performances dedicated to each celebrity’s worst nightmare. This was also the night where a dance received a ten from one of the judges (the first ten given out all season). The person to receive this ten was none other that Dwight Howard. His impressive performance this week boosted him up the leaderboard that he was once stuck at the bottom of.
Olympic gymnast, Stephen Nedoroscik, also had a breakthrough performance this week, receiving his first ten of the season, with second year pro, Rylee Arnold. This partnership has faced a lot of critiques from the judges and the couple used that as fuel for their Halloween dance. They received a 28/30 for their personal dance which tied them with many other competitors this week. Despite that, they have improved from their previous scores and seem to have their sights set on making it to the finale.
Almost everyone received at least one ten on Halloween Night, however, Olympic Rugby player, Ilona Maher, received all eights in her first dance, putting her at the bottom of the judge’s leaderboard. Despite having the lowest score, Ilona was safe from the elimination this week. Instead, The Bachelorette star, Jenn Tran, was eliminated after performing her Halloween nightmare.
After Jenn Tran’s elimination this week, the six couples left are: Joey and Jenna, Danny and Witney, Chandler and Brandon, Ilona and Alan, Stephen and Rylee, and Dwight and Daniella. It is uncertain how many couples will progress to the finale, as last season, instead of eliminating a couple in the semifinals, all five couples advanced to the season finale. Whether or not that happens this season is still undecided, but either way it is likely that one couple will go home in two weeks when Dancing with the Stars returns.
With that being said, no one is safe from weekly eliminations, so the finalists from this season are still very much up in the air. There are new challenges and surprises each week on Dancing with the Stars to ensure that no one gets too comfortable. There is much excitement as the season comes to a close to see who will take home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy and be named champion of season 33.
