Posted: 7:15 PM PDT, October 10, 2023
*Caution: spoilers ahead
Dancing with the stars Celebrating Motown Night on Tuesday for the third week of competition, the 12 stars still standing – along with their professional partners – brought their best to the ballroom for a night of great performances and unexpected results.
Tuesday’s new episode also featured special guest judge, Michael Strahan, who joined loyal judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli.
After two hours of emotional and dramatically improved choreography, it was up to America to vote on who deserved to perform again next week, and whose time was already up.
Ultimately – through a combination of judges’ scores and audience votes – two couples were determined to be in jeopardy: Tyson Beckford and Jenna Johnson, as well as Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber.
This time, Pickford’s placement at the bottom of the leaderboard with a sadly low score — 20 out of 40 for his foxtrot with Johnson, set to Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster (Jammin’) — was an accurate prediction of the score.” A couple gets the ax this week.
After the elimination, Pickford said of his time on the show: “It was good, I learned a lot of things that I can take into the real world, so I had a good time.”
One of the first standout performances of the night came from singer Jason Mraz and his pro partner Daniela Karajac, who performed a danceable medley of The Contours’ “Do You Love Me” that sent Inaba over the edge in total love and got the pair in the… First 9 of the season. The pair walked away with a combined score of 34 – including two 9s from Inaba and Strahan and 8s from Hough and Tonioli.
Meanwhile, Ariana Madix and her partner Pasha Pashkov also wowed the judges with their skillful samba dancing, set to the tune of “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes. The number was an impressive display of talent and skillful movement, even earning Maddix a hug from Inaba during the judges’ comments.
The duo ended up tied with Mraz and Karajac at the top of the leaderboard – likewise taking two 9’s from Inaba and Strahan and two 8’s from Hough and Tonioli.
As for the rest of the professional couples, here’s what the leaderboard looked like after Tuesday’s premiere:
Jason Mraz and Daniela Karajac: 34 (9,8,9,8 – Inaba, Hogg, Strahan, Tonioli)
Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov: 34 (9,8,9,8)
Lawson Charitable Foundation and Artem Chigvintsev: 32 (8,8,8,8)
Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy: 24 (8,8,8,8)
Lily Pons and Brandon Armstrong: 27 (7,6,7,7)
Mira Sorvino and Gleb Savchenko: 26 (6,6,7,7)
Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd: 25 (6,6,7,6)
Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber: 24 (6,6,6,6)
Harry Jowsey and Riley Arnold: 15 (6,5,7,6)
Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater: 23 (7,5,6,5)
Adrian Peterson and Brett Stewart: 22 (5,5,6,6)
Tyson Beckford and Jenna Johnson: 20 (5,5,5,5)
Dancing with the stars It airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.
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