“Dancing With the Stars” Season 33 Reaches Milestone with Semifinals
” Dancing With the Stars” celebrated its 500th episode on Nov. 12, marking a special milestone for the long-running dance competition show. The episode kicked off with a dazzling opening number, “Crazy in Love,” featuring beloved professional dancers like Sharna Burgess. This opening number was a throwback to the series premiere back in 2005. The ballroom was also graced by the presence of past competitors, including Adam Rippon, Ginger Zee, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Alyson Hannigan, AJ McLean, and Simone Biles.
In this week’s episode, the remaining six teams took the stage to perform routines inspired by fan-favorite performances from the show’s history.
Last week, the leaderboard saw a tie between Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, and Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong, both earning 32 points.
Joey and Jenna presented a contemporary routine inspired by Riker Lynch and Allison Holker’s Season 20 performance. The judges had mixed reactions, with Carrie Ann Inaba critiquing the lack of rawness, while Derek Hough praised the performance and awarded them a perfect score of 10.
Chandler and Brandon paid homage to Derek and Kellie Pickler’s Season 16 Argentine Tango, impressing the judges and earning the first perfect score of the season with a 30.
Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach honored James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess’ Season 23 performance with their Argentine Tango, but failed to win over Carrie Ann, who expressed disappointment in Dwight’s performance compared to earlier in the season.
Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten, who had a rough week during Halloween, bounced back with a Quickstep inspired by Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold’s Season 25 routine, earning high praise from Carrie Ann and a perfect score.
For the ultimate challenge, the couples had to learn a dance style and song just five minutes before performing live. While all pairs impressed the judges, Chandler and Brandon stood out with another perfect score of 30 for the challenge.
After combining audience votes with judges’ scores, Dwight and Daniella were unfortunately eliminated from the competition.
