'Dancing with the Stars' Disney Night April 17 recap: Normani leads the scoreboard, Erika goes home
A magical Disney Night was the theme of the latest episode of “Dancing With the Stars.” Ballroom dominated the performances in the April 17 episode. The contenders danced to themes from various Disney movies, like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Pinocchio,” and “Finding Dory.” By the end of this episode, Normani Kordei led the scoreboard, followed by Simon Biles and Nancy Kerrigen, respectively.
The evening kicked off with the stupendous performance of DWTS alum Alfonso Ribeiro, who danced and sang with children. The night also decided the fate of Normani, Erika Jayne and Nick Viall, who faced elimination. Jayne went home, while the other two contents stayed for future episodes.
Shortly after they discovered that they are safe, Fifth Harmony's Normani and partner Val Chmerkovskiy gave a powerful performance to the tune of Donny Osmond's song from “Mulan.” Their style of dancing was paso doble. The judges were amazed. All four of them rewarded Normani and her partner with three perfect 10s and a nine. They now lead the scoreboard with 39/40.
The second best performance of the evening belonged to Simone Biles, who danced to the theme from “Moana” with his partner Sasha Farber. Together, they both managed to get 38, just one point shy to Normani's 39.
Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater performed a foxtrot dance to the tune of “Evermore” by Josh Groban. The duo failed to significantly impress the judges with their “Beauty and the Beast” number. They got a score of 32. Contestant Nick Viall and partner Peta Murgatroyd did a better job and got 34 points. They performed a jazz dance to “I’ve Got No Strings” by Dickie Jones, from the movie “Pinocchio.”
Contestant Erika Jayne and partner Gleb Savchenko chose to perform on Sia's song “Unforgettable” from the movie “Finding Dory.” Their chosen dance style was Viennese waltz. The duo gave their best performance but managed to get only 32 points from the judges.
Next on the stage was Heather Morris and Alan Bersten, who did a jazz number to the tune of “For the First Time in Forever” by Kristen Bell, from the movie "Frozen." The judges shared mixed reviews after their performance. Carrie Ann and Len Goodman thought that the duo could have added more dancing to it. In contrast, Bruno Tonioli and Julianne Hough said they were smitten by the performance. The duo got 34 points.
Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess got only 30 points, but the duo did a good job with a “Wreck It Ralph” tango. The next lowest performance of the week went to David Ross and Lindsay Arnold, who got 29 points. The duo performed an “Enchanted” jazz dance.
“Dancing with the Stars” airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC. The judges have announced an interesting theme for next week: Boy Bands vs. Girl Groups. It will be a week of team dances.
