Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars(DWTS) aired their third episode on September 30th. The theme of this episode was TikTok Night, and like all episodes, this one was filmed at Television City Studios in Los Angeles, California. DWTS airs a new episode each week where people in the US can vote for their favorite pair to save them from elimination. A pair is eliminated each week until 3 pairs are left for the finale, and the winning pair receives Mirrorball Trophy. TikTok night has been one of the most anticipated episodes of the season because of well known TikTok celebrities, like Alix Earle and Whitney Leavitt.
There were many popular dances from this episode, but one of the favorites for Hidden Valley Senior Zoe Goodwin was the foxtrot. “Dani and Dylan Efron have strong chemistry with each other, and their routine involved very relevant TikTok songs and dance moves,” said Zoe Goodwin (12). She also explains that they have been one of her favorite pairs all season, and each episode they continue to perform very clean routines.
Dani and Dylan scored 23/30, with only Ezra & Jordan and Whitney & Mark scoring higher with a 24/30. Every pair of dancers, except three, were able to achieve a score greater than 20/30. The scores of 24/30 were the highest any pair had scored in any episode all season. Each pair performed their dance to popular TikTok songs, with some dances also involving bits and pieces of popular TikTok dance trends. This episode was different than others because the dancers had to incorporate outside moves into the flow of their performance.
This episode ended with a very controversial elimination, which left many of the contestants very upset and even at a loss for words. Lauren Jauregui and Brandon Armstrong were the eliminated pair, with a score of 18/30. Bea Barbour (12) said, “I don’t think it’s bad that they were eliminated, their dance wasn’t as strong as the others, and Lauren hasn’t shown as much improvement as the other celebrities.” Although, her opinion is one of a few because many other fans and celebrities have expressed their feelings of outrage across many social media platforms.
Dancing with the Stars is only in its third episode, so there is plenty of time for more drama and improvement. Almost every pair continues to improve their dances each episode, achieving scores that will only continue to increase as the season goes on. There are many more highly anticipated episodes like Disney Night, which premieres on October 7th, but the drama and highlights of this episode will be hard to beat.
