Welcome back to my Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) recap column. I’ve got four articles to edit, one to write, homework to do, and a job to work, but here we are instead.
This week’s theme was “Viral Hits,” and I did know about half of the songs! The episode overall was super rushed—there were so many couples, the third judge was only allowed a one word comment on the routine, and it felt like the whole episode was trying to catch up to finish on time. However, the timing will obviously improve as more couples get eliminated. This week, most of the celebrities were also visibly nervous, more so than I’ve seen in previous seasons. I think there’s a lot of pressure right now, which led to some sloppy mistakes and mess-ups.
Starting this week, I’ll be assigning my personal ratings to every dance. I decided on most of these ratings before the judges gave their scores to remain fair, though the two dances I gave eights I changed after sleeping on things and realizing I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Instead of listing things in order of best to worst, from here on out I’ll list dances in chronological order. Anyway—let’s get into it!
Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Dewan | Jive to “Animal” by Katseye
Judges’ Scores: 7, 7, 7 | Sydney’s Score: 7
Voice Leisure icon Jacob Gardner (CAS ’29) wouldn’t let me write a piece that mentions Katseye without first acknowledging the obvious: free Manon! Val and Jenna’s dance was good, although the cheetah print costumes and the repeated animal-clawing made me slightly uncomfortable. I thought their partner work was really lovely and their side-by-sides were ridiculously in sync. The choreography and routine overall didn’t blow me away—I think I’m holding Jenna (and Harry Shum Jr.) to higher standards as professional dancers, and I wasn’t wowed in the way I think I should have been this week.
Brandon Armstrong and Ciara Miller | Tango to “No Broke Boys” by Disco Lines and Tinashe
Judges’ Scores: 6, 6, 6 | Sydney’s Score: 6
When reality TV star Ciara Miller, known for going on shows that stir up drama and have juicy confessionals, declared, “I’m not the type of girl that wants to talk publicly” in her rehearsal package, I’ve never felt more seen. I enjoyed this dance a lot—her facials were much less stiff than last week, and she seemed to enjoy this dance much more altogether. Brandon also had some really cool choreography moments, particularly in the side-by-sides. Ciara is still a little choppy when she dances, so I hope in coming weeks we’ll see a little more fluidity in her movements. On a superficial note, I loved Ciara’s hair for this number, but her weird cheer/tango/maxi dress was giving Spirit Halloween discount bin. Do that beautiful woman justice!
Sharna Burgess and Tyler Cameron | Salsa to “Girls” by The Kid Laroi
Judges’ Scores: 6, 5, 5 | Sydney’s Score: 5
When Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron took his shirt off while looking directly into camera, I have also never felt more seen, but in a deeply unsettling way. Tyler was fun in this dance but was very stiff and lacked the groove needed to fully settle into the salsa. During the dance I wrote down, “The lifts were a lot—I want more dancing!” and the judges largely agreed with me. Sharna was mostly either dancing around Tyler or being lifted eight feet into the air. The choreography was disappointing, which was surprising coming from Sharna, who tends to have a great technical understanding of what components a dance needs. Overall, I’ve seen better, but Tyler can dance—he just better hope he didn’t use his shirt-off card too early in the game.
Ezra Sosa and Julia Stiles | Tango to “The Door” by Teddy Swims
Judges’ Scores: 5, 6, 6 | Sydney’s Score: 6
After a beautiful quickstep last week, I think Ezra and actress Julia Stiles took a step backwards on this dance. Julia seemed really in her head and brought a level of intensity in her facials that was slightly jarring. The tango was a little slow for the music, and she was very stiff—tangos are meant to be linear and intense, but dancers also have to have a certain level of flow to their moves. The ending was really cool though, and I hope that getting some negative feedback will rip the bandaid off for Julia and allow her to dance a little more freely.
Emma Slater and Jackson Olson | Foxtrot to “That’s So True” by Gracie Abrams
Judges’ Scores: 6, 6, 6 | Sydney’s Score: 6
Some of my favorite dances on DWTS have been where the dance style and the song don’t match up whatsoever—see Jenna Johnson and Nev Schulmann’s jazz to “Good Vibrations.” This, however, may have been too much of a mismatch for me. “That’s So True,” while one of my favorite songs, is far too fast-paced for a foxtrot, severely constraining this dance. However, I thought this was still a lovely dance—Jackson’s lines (the shapes created by the extension of his body) are beautiful as well as his frame, and Emma’s costume was, too. I would also love to see some more variation in his facial expressions beyond his large, pasted-on smile.
Alan Bersten and Giada De Laurentiis | Salsa to “Bella Ciao” by Becky G
Judges’ Scores: 4, 4, 4 | Sydney’s Score: 5
I gave a tense warning last week, and clearly Alan and chef Giada didn’t read this column; I requested, in no uncertain terms, no more cooking references! Instead, we got several, including a whole dance section of chef’s kisses—and it somehow wasn’t the worst part of this dance. Giada started the dance mouthing the words, which is a personal pet peeve of mine, and there were several stumbles and sloppy footwork throughout, though I thought their partner work was good. I agreed with judge Bruno Toniolli that Giada was holding back, and that if she had fully settled into the dance, it may have felt less restrained. When the preview package revealed that Alan and Giada had been fighting throughout the week, it made a lot of sense—I did not get the vibe from this dance that the two like each other. I’m sad to see Giada go, but this one seemed inevitable. Ciao, Bella!
Rylee Arnold and Connor Wood | Tango to “12 to 12” by sombr
Judges’ Scores: 5, 5, 5 | Sydney’s Score: 6
Connor had a few slip-ups in this dance, but I thought the judges were quite harsh toward what was otherwise a lovely routine. Rylee’s choreography really shined here, and it was such an enjoyable dance to watch. I thought Connor’s frame was good, even if it was a bit stiff, and I was also shocked by the level of heat and intensity present—especially at the end! Connor seemed to have a much better attitude than the other celebs about his mistakes, and I think he’ll be back fighting next week.
Daniella Karagach and Ezra Frech | Cha-Cha to “Low” by Flo Rida
Judges’ Scores: 7, 7, 7 | Sydney’s Score: 8
I’ll be honest: when Daniella said in their preview package that this cha-cha would be their “hardest dance on the show” because it requires so much flexing of the knee that Ezra obviously can’t replicate, I was scared. Dear reader, I was absolutely blown away when they actually performed it. I can’t say whether it was more of Daniella’s choreography or Ezra’s all-out effort, but this dance was incredible. The two of them were SO fluid and so in touch despite huge barriers to the traditional rhythm of a cha-cha, and then they both did the SPLITS! In particular, Ezra’s arms are really great—super crisp and always in time with Daniella’s movements. These two really proved that being on top of the leaderboard week one was not a fluke, and I’m beyond excited to see what they do next.
Jan Ravnik and Tatyana Ali | Foxtrot to “What Was I Made For?” By Billie Eilish
Judges’ Scores: 6, 6, 6 | Sydney’s Score: 6
After a rough start last week with several errors, Fresh Prince star Tatyana Ali had a really beautiful foxtrot! Her lines were very pretty, and she and Jan seemed more in tune with each other. I did agree with the judges that the fog prohibited the audience from seeing her footwork (but I also think that was intentional). She has such an expressive face when she acts (I just realized that she’s Ava’s soror, Crystal, on Abbott Elementary (2021-present), and I hope she’s able to bring more of that attitude in future dances. I thought the story behind this dance of self-love in the public eye was beautiful, and I loved the effect of the door prop turning into a mirror. Overall, a great comeback!
Pasha Pashkov and Amber Glenn | Tango to “All The Things She Said” by Harrison
Judges’ Scores: 7, 7, 7 | Sydney’s Score: 8
Amber Glenn doing a tortured-yuri tango to the Heated Rivalry (2025) remix of “All The Things She Said?” A shiver just ran down my spine. This tango was perfection. Amber had expressed worries about working with a partner as a solo skater, but I thought the partnership here was phenomenal. What was even better was the way she allowed Pasha to lead her, which, knowing her intense and driven skating style, is likely a massive adjustment. Her frame was incredible, her acting met the moment, and with her hair slicked back and my glasses off, she vaguely looked like Connor Storrie. Thank you Pasha Pashkov for this choreography—I never listened to those that doubted you.
Witney Carson and Guillermo Rodriguez | Paso Doble to “Where Have You Been” by Rihanna
Judges’ Scores: 4, 4, 4 | Sydney’s Score: 5
When the announcer said that Guillermo would be dancing paso doble, I audibly gasped. Paso is a difficult dance for those eight weeks into the competition, let alone…Guillermo, one week in. Nonetheless, I thought they killed it! The style requires so many technical elements not present in other dances, and Witney incorporated so very many of them. This included knee walks, during which Guillermo received assistance from Carter and Jaxon on troupe, which was charming. Guillermo clearly took this dance very seriously and showed such an improvement from last week—I was genuinely impressed!
Britt Stewart and Taylor Hanson | Cha-Cha to “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE
Judges’ Scores: 5, 5, 5 | Sydney’s Score: 6
I must admit that I’m putting a lot of pressure on this couple because I so badly want Britt to be successful. However, this dance was a little rough. Taylor is clearly trying very hard and has a level of musicality, but he overexaggerates his movements in a way that’s distracting. His arms are also way too straight and uncoordinated in the air. But, these are all things that can be improved, and overall I thought that this was a great dance despite their slip-ups.
Jenna Johnson and Harry Shum Jr. | Viennese Waltz to “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls
Judges’ Scores: 6, 6, 6 | Sydney’s Score: 6
This dance perplexed me. I think my notes sum it up best: “beautiful dance with clean lines but I’m bored.” Like I said before, I’m holding Harry and Jenna Dewan to a higher standard, and this dance was beautiful but lacked a real wow factore—the moment where the music dropped out was cool, though. I also didn’t fully understand the dance’s storyline of being about Harry’s childhood. It didn’t really seem to be incorporated until the moment where he screamed onstage during the dance, which felt a little out of place in a Viennese waltz. To quote Abby Lee Miller, “you were good, I’m waiting for you to be great.”
Mark Ballas and Maura Higgins | Cha-Cha to “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire
Judges’ Scores: 6, 6, 7 | Sydney’s Score: 6
After being at the top of the leaderboard last week, I thought The Traitors (2023-present) co-stars Mark and Maura did a lovely job here. The dance was a little slow for a cha-cha, and Maura was super sharp in a way that bordered on being stiff. But, it was clear that she was paying a lot of attention to her footwork and technique, and it showed. I wish I could’ve seen a little bit more personality in her facial expressions—cha-cha is meant to be fun—but I think once Maura is a little less nervous that will become easier. Mark Ballas, you may have turned a non-dancer into a finalist yet again.
