The race for the Dancing With the Stars Season 35 Mirrorball Trophy tightened on Tuesday night as actor Jenna Dewan and professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy became the latest couple eliminated during the quarterfinals. The Grammy Night-themed episode featured two rounds of competition, celebrity music performances and dance-offs that narrowed the field to five semifinalists.
The quarterfinal episode featured seven celebrity contestants competing in both individual dances and dance-offs inspired by Grammy-winning artists. Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson finished the night atop the leaderboard. Paralympian Ezra Frech, Olympian Amber Glenn, reality television star Maura Higgins, comedian Connor Wood and actor Tatyana Ali also advanced to next week’s semifinals.
Dewan’s elimination came despite another impressive outing after earning a perfect score the previous week. She performed a jazz routine to Janet Jackson’s All for You before winning her head-to-head dance-off. It was a full-circle moment for Dewan, who was a backup dancer in two of Jackson’s music videos and on the singer’s All For You Tour in the early years. “Honestly, all love. The Glee actor performed an emotional salsa to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ Die With A Smile. Her Argentine tango to Sisqó’s Thong Song impressed the judges, with Carrie Ann Inaba calling it “a work of art. Higgins later defeated Connor Wood in their dance-off to secure two bonus points.
The routine earned 29 out of 30, the highest individual score of the evening. Reality television personality Maura Higgins also collected 27 points even after performing with a painful rib injury.
“Dancing again, getting to share my joy with my family, who’s over here, every single night … I had a great time and I loved getting to share that with the world,” Dewan said moments after she was eliminated.
