(This story contains spoilers from episode five of Dancing with the stars season 34.)
It was a moving evening in Dancing with the stars ballroom for Dedication Night, and to make the evening even sweeter, no one was eliminated from the competition at the end of the episode.
Each celebrity performed a special tribute dance in honor of someone in their life, delivering 10 emotional routines in honor of the cast’s parents, siblings, former co-stars, romantic partners and children. (Find out who professional dancers would dedicate their own number to here.)
Former professional dancer Kym Herjavec also returned to the ballroom, including serving as the season’s first official guest judge.
At the end of the fifth week of season 34, the cast shrinks significantly. Hilaria Baldwin was eliminated at the end of last week’s Disney Night, making her the fourth contestant to leave the competition. No one was eliminated at the end of Dedication Night, meaning the remaining cast of 10 couples moved on to the sixth week of competition.
Remaining celebrities include The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt, Olympian Jordan Chiles, social media star Alix Earle, The traitors third-season winner (and Zac Efron’s brother) Dylan Efron, actresses Danielle Fishel and Elaine Hendrix, Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying, environmentalist (and Steve Irwin’s son) Robert Irwin, and comedian-actor Andy Richter.
Richter started the evening with a lovely salsa performance alongside her daughter. One of the most anticipated numbers on Dedication Night was Irwin’s contemporary of Phil Collins’ “You’ll Be In My Heart,” which he dedicated to his mother, Terri Irwin. And it proved to be memorable, as he rolled his first three nines of the season, finishing with a total score of 35/40 (after bringing the entire ballroom to tears).
Fishel dedicated his jive set to A boy meets the world theme song by his former co-star, William Daniels, also known as Mr. Feeny on the series. This performance earned the actress her top eight in the competition.
Leavitt became an early favorite during the first half of the competition, ranking as the highest-rated couple for four consecutive episodes. Disney Night was the first time she and Mark Ballas became the only couple to top the leaderboard, and they notably won the season’s top nine.
However, Efron ended his high-scoring streak on Dedication Night, becoming the first celebrity to win four nines from each of the judges. The traitors The winner performed his dance in honor of his little sister to the tune of his older brother, Zac, and Zendaya’s song “Rewrite the Stars.” Behind Efron were Irwin and Earle, who both scored 35/40 points respectively.
At the end of (most) nights of the competition, the couple with the lowest combined total of judges’ scores and viewer votes is eliminated. Live voting takes place during each show’s East Coast broadcast and ends shortly after the final dance.
Check out the full list of scores from week five of DWTS season 34 (aka Dedication Night) below.
Andy Richter and Emma Slater: 24/40
Robert Irwin and Witney Carson: 35/40
Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten: 30/40
Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas: 33/40
Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik: 29/40
Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach: 36/40
Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa: 32/40
Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold: 30/40
Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov: 29/40
Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy: 35/40
Season 34 of DWTS premieres and simulcasts on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesdays, with new episodes available to stream Wednesdays on Hulu.
