This week’s Dancing with the Stars celebrated the show’s 20th anniversary with returning mirrorball champions entering the ballroom once again and honoring former host, Tom Bergeron by welcoming him back as a guest judge for this episode. 

Perfect Scores: 

This week, four out of seven dances were given perfect 40 out of 40 scores. Robert Irwin and Witney Carson performed a Foxtrot to “Footprints in the Sand” by Leona Lewis. This dance was a tribute to his dad, Steve Irwin, who passed away, featuring his sister and former pro Bindi Irwin at the end of the dance. This dance was very emotional while still highlighting his improvement throughout the season, scoring the first perfect score of the season. Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach danced an Argentine Tango to “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. This dance was complex and was truly Dylan’s best dance so far. The judges have made comments numerous times that Dylan is by far the most improved star, and this dance definitely showcases this. Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy also performed a Foxtrot to “Singin’ in the Rain” by Matthew Morrison. This dance was classy and elegant while displaying the complex elements of Foxtrot. 

Alix is by far the best star this season, every week she improves and takes into account the judges corrections. She finally got the score she deserved this week. Finally, Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas danced an Argentine Tango to “Cell Block Tango” from the musical Chicago. This dance was definitely good, but I wouldn’t say it necessarily deserves a 40 out of 40. I may be biased because Whitney is not my favorite, but I don’t think this dance was jaw-dropping. 

Relay Dances:

This week there was a second round to the competition, relay dances where the stars had to dance with former mirrorball champions instead of their partners. First up were Quicksteps from Jordan Chiles with former star Apolo Anton Ohno versus Elaine Hendrix with former star Rashad Jennings to “I Get a Kick Out of You” by Michael Bublé. Both dances were really good although Jordan Chiles and Apolo Anton Ohno won this round which was definitely deserved. Up next were Viennese Waltzes from Dylan Efron with former star Rumer Willis versus Andy Richter with former pro Kaitlyn Bristowe to “Earned It” by the Weeknd. Dylan’s dance was definitely the best by far and was an easy win against Andy, helping boost his scores even on top of his already perfect score. Finally, Robert Iwrin with former star Xochitl Gomez versus Alix Earle and Joey Graziadei performed a jive to “Dance with Me Tonight” by Olly Murs. This was the hardest relay to judge by far, they were both so good. Robert and Xochitl ended up winning and there are even rumors the two are interested in each other. I loved this edition of the show and it was cool to see the stars dance without their pros. 

Elimination: 

This week’s elimination has been coming for quite some time. Andy Richter was finally eliminated, which in my opinion should have been a lot earlier. He did represent what the show is all about, taking someone with no experience and learning how to be a dancer. He also has a huge fan base that definitely impacted his time on DWTS as he kept receiving the lowest scores every week. He just didn’t improve to the point where he deserved to stay on the show for this long. I think now that he is gone and we are getting to the finals, the show will definitely be a lot more competitive.