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Here is your live recap of “Dancing With the Stars” season 31 week eight, which has a ’90s Night theme and features guest performances by En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa, Kid ‘n Play and Vanilla Ice, who is a “Dancing With the Stars” alum. The dance styles and songs are listed below and follow along as we recap the judges’ comments and scores, but be warned of spoilers. Also, this week is a double elimination, so two couples are headed home.
The Elimination
After one solo dance and one head-to-head relay dance, the bottom three couples based on the leaderboard were Vinny Guadagnino and Koko Iwasaki, Heidi D’Amelio and Artem Chigvintsev, and then a tie between Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart, and Trevor Donovan and Emma Slater.
The bottom three based on votes came down to Vinny and Koko, Heidi and Artem, and Trevor and Emma, and the bottom couple that was sent home automatically (no judges’ save) was Heidi and Artem. Then the judges’ votes were unanimous to save Trevor and Emma, so Vinny and Koko was the second pair eliminated.
The original recap continues below.
Trevor Donovan & Emma Slater, Salsa
Trevor and Emma looked absolutely incredible dressed as Barbie and Ken as they danced to “Barbie Girl” by Aqua. That aside, their salsa was pretty solid. Trevor may be in a little trouble, though, because he’s just not in the top half of the group that is left. “A few awkward moments there, but I can see your confidence and that’s what I love seeing,” said judge Derek Hough. They earned 8s from Carrie Ann Inaba and Derek and 9s from Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli for a 34 out of 40.
Shangela & Gleb Savchenko, Samba
Shangela and Gleb danced a samba to “Spice Up Your Life” by the Spice Girls. Shangela was dressed as Scary Spice and four other female pros are the other Spice Girls, it was amazing. The dance was also great, Shangela really kept up with Gleb and the samba is so hard, a very quick Latin dance. “Listen, Scary Spice, there was nothing scary about that performance, well done!” said Derek. They earned 9s from the male judges and a 10 from Carrie Ann for a 37 out of 40.
Wayne Brady & Witney Carson, Salsa
Wayne and Witney danced a salsa to “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men, which is such a great song and Wayne’s outfit was on point. The dance was also really good, so full of salsa content and difficult choreography. “When you get into the groove, you are unstoppable,” said Bruno. Derek also confirmed that it was a very difficult dance. They earned four 10s for a 40 out of 40.
Daniel Durant & Britt Stewart, Jazz
Daniel and Britt danced a beautiful jazz dance to “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode. They cut out the music about halfway through to give the audience an idea of what it’s like to dance if you are deaf. It was very effective and cool. “You never fail to amaze me. You dance with so much confidence. It had power and it had polish,” said Len. They earned three 10s and a nine from Len for a 39 out of 40.
Heidi D’Amelio & Artem Chigvintsev, Contemporary
Heidi and Artem danced a contemporary routine to “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette. It was a cool dance choreography-wise, but something about Heidi just doesn’t connect with me. “Heidi, for me – listen, some dances suit you very much and some don’t, and for me, that’s the type of dance that really doesn’t suit your personality,” said Len, articulating my feelings very well. They earned three 9s and an 8 from Len for a 35 out of 40.
Gabby Windey & Val Chmerkovskiy, Samba
Gabby and Val danced a very hard samba to a very fast song, “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin. Gabby did an incredible job with that, it was a super hard dance. “That was the best samba ever, it was so good,” said Derek, and Bruno said that dance had a “competition standard” level of content in it. They earned a 40 out of 40.
Vinny Guadagnino & Koko Iwasaki, Tango
Vinny and Koko danced a tango to “What Is Love” by Haddaway. It was not his best dance, there were a couple of missteps. But you could see how hard he is trying and that’s great, plus it was a really fun routine choreography-wise. “You try to do everything absolutely right,” said Bruno, and Len added, “You did a nice amount in hold, I thought that was terrific … you really came out and performed.” They earned three 7s and an 8 from Carrie Ann for a 29 out of 40.
Charli D’Amelio & Mark Ballas, Tango
Charli and Mark danced a tango to “Song 2” by Blur. As per usual, Charli did very, very well. It will honestly be a huge shock if she doesn’t win the entire thing. She is practically as good as the female pros, and they ended on a very cool move. “It was sharp, it was clean, it was crisp, lovely changes of speed,” said Len. They earned a 40 out of 40.
Relay Dance No. 1, Shangela vs. Daniel
The first relay dance was Shangela and Gleb vs. Daniel and Britt dancing a cha cha to Vanilla Ice performing “Ice Ice Baby” live. They both did a nice job, but Shangela was a little stronger, for me. This was a really tough one, though. Their judge was Len and he gave the five bonus points to Shangela and Gleb.
Relay Dance No. 2, Vinny vs. Trevor
The second relay was Vinny and Koko vs. Trevor and Emma on the samba to “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” performed live by En Vogue. Vinny really made up for his rough tango performance by doing very well here, but Trevor and Emma were just a bit stronger. Their judge was Carrie Ann and she awarded the five bonus points to Trevor and Emma.
Relay Dance No. 3, Heidi vs. Wayne
The third relay dance was Heidi and Artem vs. Wayne and Witney dancing a samba to “Shoop” performed live by Salt-N-Pepa. Heidi was very blah compared to Wayne, he and Witney killed their half. This was the only match-up that felt like a mismatch, honestly. Their judge was Bruno and yes, he awarded five points to Wayne and Witney.
Relay Dance No. 4, Charli vs. Gabby
The fourth relay was a clash of the titans as Charli and Mark took on Gabby and Val in a dance they haven’t done yet this season, the salsa. They danced to “Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody” performed live by Kid ‘N Play and it was predictably very, very good. Derek had his work cut out for him choosing between them, though we think Charli and Mark were just a bit stronger. Then yes, their judge Derek Hough awarded the five points to Charli and Mark.
The Dance Styles & Songs
The couples and their dance styles plus the songs they are performing to are:
- Actor and singer Wayne Brady and pro Witney Carson will perform a salsa to “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men
- TikTok star Charli D’Amelio and pro Mark Ballas will perform a tango to “Song 2” by Blur
- Heidi D’Amelio (“The D’Amelio Show”) and pro Artem Chigvintsev will perform a contemporary to “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette
- TV star Trevor Donovan and pro Emma Slater will perform a salsa to “Barbie Girl” by Aqua
- Actor Daniel Durant (Oscar®-winning “CODA”) and pro Britt Stewart will perform a jazz to “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode
- Vinny Guadagnino (“Jersey Shore”) and pro Koko Iwasaki will perform a Tango to “What Is Love” by Haddaway
- Drag queen superstar Shangela and pro Gleb Savchenko will perform a samba to “Spice Up Your Life” by Spice Girls
- Gabby Windey (“The Bachelorette”) and pro Val Chmerkovskiy will perform a samba to “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin
The relay dances are as follows:
- Shangela & Gleb vs. Daniel & Britt
cha cha to “Ice Ice Baby” performed live by Vanilla Ice - Vinny & Koko vs. Trevor & Emma
samba to “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” performed live by En Vogue - Heidi & Artem vs. Wayne & Witney
samba to “Shoop” performed live by Salt-N-Pepa - Charli & Mark vs. Gabby & Val
salsa to “Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody” performed live by Kid ‘N Play
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific time on Disney Plus.