‘Dancing With the Stars’: The Most Shocking Elimination of the Season (RECAP)

Week 10 kicked off the semi-finals of Dancing With the Stars with five remaining couples left in the competition.

Tonight, the stars and their pro partners performed two dances each — including a “redemption dance,” where they got a second shot at their lowest scoring dance style from the season — to a variety of hit songs including Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” and Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”.

Read on for all the highlights from Episode 10 including who went home in the most shocking elimination of the entire season.

Lauren Alaina’s first dance

Despite getting her highest scores of the season last week, she still landed in the bottom two. So tonight, she and pro partner Gleb Savchenko were ready to perform their redemption dance. Dancing the Paso Doble to Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger,” she showed major improvement compared to her first Paso, which took place during Week 2.

Len called it a “terrific routine” and “so much improved” from the first time around. Bruno agreed, saying it was “so much stronger, more centered. I’m telling you, great, great job.”

The country singer earned 9s across the board, totaling 27 out of 30 for her first performance.

Kel Mitchell’s first dance

The All That star danced the Tango to “Get Ready” by The Temptations as his redemption performance along with pro partner Witney Carson. He previously performed the Tango as his very first dance of the season, which Bruno said was a bit too “jumpy.” But his latest version of the dance style seemed to be a lot more in line with expectations.

Bruno was especially pleased, calling it a “pure, real, proper Tango.” Carrie Ann Inaba agreed, saying he has come the furthest of all the final contestants. “I thought it was fantastic,” she said.

The actor earned 9s across the board, totaling 27 out of 30 for his first performance.

Ally Brooke’s first dance

The popstar and her pro partner Sasha Farber received two perfect scores last week, but not all of her performances were as perfect. For her redemption dance, she performed the Viennese Waltz, which she originally performed in Week 2. Len told her that she needed to work on her framework and footwork in order to master the difficult dance style—and he was very pleased with the results.

“I thought it was a lovely dance. Much more rotation than we saw the first time around. The technique was far better,” he said, adding that she’s gone from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Bruno called the performance a “joy” to watch while Carrie Ann added that Ally is a “magical performer” because she dances with such strong emotion.

The singer earned two 10s and a 9, totaling 29 out of 30 for her first number.

Hannah Brown’s first dance

The reality star grinned when she found out she was performing the Rumba as her redemption dance which she originally performed in Week 3. In the original performance, Carrie Ann said the dance looked less like a Rumba and more like a “cheerleading dance,” so Hannah clearly had her work cut out for her. During rehearsals, the former Bachelorette broke down in tears as Carrie Ann tried to give her critiques on how to improve. Hannah ended up explaining to Carrie Ann that she felt attacked by her critiques, saying that they feel very “personal.”

Hannah’s emotions ended up making Carrie Ann choke up, “That makes me sad. I’m sorry. Because that’s not what we’re here for. My job is to help you,” she said. “That’s why I chose the Rumba as your redemption dance. I really want you to have this feeling of redemption and winning.”

After the performance, which she performed to “Dancing With a Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani, Hannah apologized to Carrie Ann for getting emotional during rehearsals. She didn’t want her emotions to come across as “dismissive” of Carrie Ann’s critiques, as she understood she was just trying to help her be a better dancer.

And she did become a better dancer, which was proven with the latest critiques. “You improved a heck of a lot. I’m really proud of you, Hannah. Well done,” Carrie Ann said. “You definitely got those hips and body working to your advantage,” Bruno added.

Overall, she earned a 27 out of 30 for her first performance.

James Van Der Beek’s first dance

The Dawson’s Creek star danced the Cha Cha as his redemption dance to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai. While the technique was strong, Len wasn’t too pleased with the amount of “gimmicks” in the dance.

“There was too much messing about throughout the dance. I don’t want to be the nasty guy,” Len said as the crowd booed.

Bruno also called out a few critiques, saying that the timing was off several times throughout the dance, while Carrie Ann said the performance was “entertaining” but his posture needed work.

The actor pulled in a much lower score than he’s used to — 24 out of 30.

Lauren Alaina’s second dance

The country star danced the Viennese Waltz as her final performance of the night to “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw and pleased the judges with the dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfrr3hni14w

“So sophisticated, so classic,” Bruno said of the performance, before calling out the chemistry between Lauren and Gleb.

This performance earned 27 out of 30, bringing her overall total to 54 out of 60.

Kel Mitchell’s second dance

The actor danced a Contemporary performance to “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston for his second dance of the night. The song holds a near and dear place in his heart, as he opened up about losing a friend to gun violence.

Bruno praised the star for his fluidity, ease of movement, and sincerity in the performance. “Whatever happens, you’re a winner in my eye,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpld9Ov-MCQ

Carrie Ann was fighting back tears over the performance, saying that it’s a dance that stands out among all 28 seasons of the show. “You tell a story and express your feelings. You share your truth. It was riveting, it was pure and I am so grateful,” she said.

Len didn’t have to use his words to express himself, he simply stood up from his chair to give Kel and Witney a standing ovation, before the couple earned a perfect score.

Ally Brooke’s second dance

The singer danced the Charleston to “Sing Sing Sing” by Benny Goodman — and she really felt the pressure going into the performance. But it turns out, she had no reason to stress, as she totally nailed the high energy dance.

“If your goal was to set out to prove that you should be in the finals, consider it DONE,” Carrie Ann said. “That was a really hard, athletic routine.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m1lT09EBmg

“It was fast, it was fun, it was fabulous,” Len added.

The energetic performance earned the singer a perfect score, bringing her total to 59 out of 60 for tonight.

James Van Der Beek’s second dance

It was Week 4 when James revealed that he and his wife Kimberly were expecting their sixth child, but tonight, we learned that they’ve sadly lost the baby. “The little soul we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond,” he said through tears. I really didn’t think I’d be dancing tonight, but Kimberly from her hospital bed said, ‘I’m not done watching you dance.'”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_w0T8Vr90

Dancing the Foxtrot to “Take Me to Church” by Hozier, which has taken on a whole new meaning for him this week. “When words fail, you sing. When they are no words, you dance,” he said, before dedicating the performance to his wife.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Wrecked. Devastated. In shock. That’s how we’re feeling right now after the soul we thought were going to welcome into our family in April… has taken a short cut to whatever lies beyond this life. We’ve been through this before, but never this late in the pregnancy, and never accompanied by such a scary, horrific threat to @vanderkimberly and her well-being. Grateful that she’s now recovering, but we’ve only just begun unpacking the layers of this one. Thank you to all of our friends and co-workers (and dance partners) who have shown up for us so beautifully during this time. As many of you have said, “There are no words…” and it’s true. Which is why in a time like this it’s enough to know that you’re there. Grieving AND counting our blessings today.

A post shared by James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) on Nov 18, 2019 at 6:46pm PST

“For you to come out and dance with so much feeling and emotion, I admire you so much. Well done,” Len said.

“You put so much heart into that dance, it was almost impossible to watch,” Bruno added. Carrie Ann, who critiqued James for his lack of posture in the previous performance, laughed as she said he improved in the latest dance.

While getting scores from the judges — which were 9s across the board, he carried his daughter, who sobbed on his shoulder.

Hannah Brown’s second dance

The reality star danced her final dance of the night, which was a Contemporary number, to “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez, which mirrored her previous relationship. During rehearsals, she opened up about her Bachelorette experience, which ended with losing fiancé Jed Wyatt after she found out he had lied about a secret relationship.

“I didn’t know what was next, really. Like, what just happened to my life?” she said through tears. “I never thought this would be where I was at. I truly did want to find somebody and I didn’t.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGoHo0rSS9U

Her pro partner, Alan Bersten, urged her to put that emotion into the dance — and she certainly did just that. “You move beautifully but what was most impressive was the trust. It paid off in this dance, well done,” Carrie Ann said.

The former pageant queen earned 9s across the board, bringing her final total to 54 out of 60.

Who went home tonight on Dancing With the Stars?

Somehow, James and Ally ended up in the bottom two tonight, despite being two of the strongest dancers throughout the entire competition.

“This is not easy. First of all this is not what I expected to see here. You both are amazing, both couples are fantastic,” Carrie Ann said, before voting for Ally and Sasha to stay. Bruno agreed with Carrie Ann’s chose, and voted for Ally and Sasha as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeURFutT6tE

It was clear Ally was shocked by this choice, who asked through tears, “Can I give it to James please?”

Sadly, it was James who went home tonight.

Dancing With the Stars, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC