Expect another packed night of dances from the celebrities redoubling their efforts to try and get into the finals of this season of Dancing With the Stars.
Where has the time gone? Apparently only five couples are left in this season of Dancing With the Stars. In fact, by the end of May, we’ll already know the winner of season 24, because ABC has set the finale date on Tuesday, May 23. (That practically guarantees a two-night finale, unless we miss our guess.)
But no couple gets a free pass directly to the finale. There’s no such thing as a first-round bye or automatic advancement in Dancing With the Stars. No, these celebrities have to work for it, and work for it they will tonight.
ABC’s press release details the two rounds, starting with a more standard dance:
"Simone Biles & Sasha Farber – FoxtrotBonner Bolton & Sharna Burgess – Argentine TangoRashad Jennings & Emma Slater – JiveNormani Kordei & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – ContemporaryDavid Ross & Lindsay Arnold – Waltz"
Per that same press release, each professional selected both the song and the dance format for their partners, and it looks like all of them have decided to play mostly to their individual celebrities’ strengths. The only strange choice might be Normani Kordei and contemporary, but those types of dances often do really well for their emotional content.
No one here has to share a dance style, so it’s all about scores here.
As for round two, again per the press release:
"Simone Biles & Sasha Farber & Brittany Cherry – Paso DobléBonner Bolton & Sharna Burgess & Britt Stewart – JazzRashad Jennings & Emma Slater & Witney Carson – Argentine TangoNormani Kordei & Valentin Chmerkovskiy & Alan Bersten – JiveDavid Ross & Lindsay Arnold & Hayley Erbert – Paso Doblé"
Notice something different? Yeah, it’s trio dance time again, but apparently, the judges selected the third dancer, again according to the press release. Alan Bersten and Witney Carson seem like obvious advantages because they’ve filled in or been pros on the show before, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee 10s for either David Ross or Rashad Jennings.
Keep an eye on Normani Kordei with jive and Bonner Bolton with jazz. Synchronization between the two of them and their pros will be a particular sticking point with the judges if years of Dancing With the Stars experience means anything, and it’ll be pretty obvious if either of them fall out of time. This isn’t to say that the other three groups won’t need to pay attention, but it may be tougher to spot. (Not that we expect any of the judges to miss it if it does happen.)
The obvious competition here is between Ross and Biles, because they have the same dance style, but their struggles may be different: Biles has recently had criticism about not emotionally connecting, but Ross has had some difficulties with precision and form.
Date: Monday, May 8
Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
Episode: “2408”
Channel: ABC
Live Stream: Stream 1 | Stream 2
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The push for the season 24 finals starts now on Dancing With the Stars.