Dancing with the Stars Recap: Semi-Finals (Season 24 Episode 9)

On Dancing with the Stars Season 24 Episode 9, the Semi-Finals, the couples are pushed harder to perform their best two dances. One dance was picked by the judges to challenge the couples and the other had the contestant share their story.

We are only a week away from crowning the mirror ball champion, see how the semi-finals played out below!

Normani and Val: Len challenged Normani to give him a proper dance with 12 bars in hold, so she took on the Viennese waltz. They danced to Rihanna’s “Desperado” with special effects better than some of ABC’s dramas.

But for being challenged to be in hold for the dance, there wasn’t too much hold. The dance was good but Normani did stumble. The dance wasn’t as impressive or amazing as the front-runner’s dance should be.

Score: 36/40

David and Lindsay: Julianne challenged David to dance without sticking out his butt. She, hilariously brought lemons for him to hold with his butt to demonstrate the proper form. They attempted their challenge with a foxtrot to Michael Buble’s “You Make Me Feel So Young.”

The dance was fun and David did keep his butt from sticking out. Bruno summed it up David perfectly when he said he, “is a joy to watch but may not be the best dancer.” The fan-favorite was able to charm the judges and scored two 9’s.

Score: 34/40

Simone and Sasha: Simone was upset after the judges comments from “Quarterfinals” because she is trying her hardest and still struggling. Carrie Ann came in to help Simone connect and show emotion in her dances. The jive to “Faith” by Stevie wonder was filled with bright, flashing lights that made it nearly impossibly to see her footwork.

Simone was having fun, letting loose, and brought some attitude to the dance. It didn’t seem like the best style of dance to try to get her to show emotion but she was able to relax. The judges loved her ability to hit all the steps and the attitude! Her character of Zoey was able to earn Simone a perfect score!

Score: 40/40

Rashad and Emma: Bruno made a dramatic entrance to challenge Rashad to work on his arm movements. With the amount of comments he received last week about his footwork, I was shocked that footwork wasn’t his challenge.

Rashad did a beautiful rumba to “Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur that had distracting lights behind it. The judges praised the fluidity of his arms but still stressed he needed to work on his feet. Rashad said twice that he wears a size 14 shoe for some reason. Bruno thought that Rashad met the challenge and gave him a ten!

Score: 38/40

Normani and Val: Normani and her family shared the story of her life. She has been through so much from her mother’s breast cancer to Hurricane Katrina. Seeing Normani show her grandmother costumes when she is a huge fan of the show was adorable!

Her New Orleans inspired jazz routine to “What a Wonderful World” included a sweet hug and kiss from Val to her grandmother. It was a wonderful tribute to where she is from and an overall terrific dance! It was filled with lifts, it was fun, and Normani killed it. Len gave her a standing ovation before the judges gave her a perfect score. Her grandma joined them to get the scores and she was the best part of the night!

Score: 40/40

David and Lindsay: David, his family, and friends shared the highs and lows of his baseball career. David danced a tango to “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran. The dance was solid and David didn’t look like a weak dancer.

The judges praised his improvement and effort. Carrie Ann harped on a “lift” because Lindsay’s feet came off the floor which is so annoying. Julianne said he is not only the fan favorite but deserves to be there because he is a good dancer.

While David does continue to improve and is a great personality, it’s hard to say if his dancing earned him a spot over Heather Morris and Nancy Kerrigan. David got straight 9’s which still puts him on the bottom of the leaderboard.

Score: 36/40

Simone and Sasha: Simone showed us her journey and decision to become an Olympic gymnast. Simone danced an emotional rumba to Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper.” The judges praised the vulnerability she brought to her “Sophia.” The dance was very subtle and didn’t seem like too much dancing.

Simone shared that they had a balance beam in the background of the dance because the last time she showed emotion when performing it made her get a bronze instead of gold. This shed light on her gold medal comment from last week and her struggles to open up. She was rewarded with a perfect score.

Score: 40/40

Rashad and Emma: Rashad shared his academic struggles as a child and how becoming serious about football saved him. He did a jovial quickstep to Superhuman’s “Yes I Can.” Len said the dance was “good not great” and then almost had a heart attack when Julianne said he was light on his feet. The dance was fun to watch and the footwork looked great to me. The other judges agreed and gave 10’s except for Len.

Score: 39/40

Results: Normani and Val were announced as the first couple in the finals followed by Rashad and Emma. David and Lindsay and Simone and Sasha were in jeopardy.

Simone and Sasha were sent home.

I’m shocked! This season has had crazy eliminations. Sasha may have had a rough week last week, but she deserved to get to the final and had a chance at winning! I love David’s personality, but it’s hard when great dancers are sent home.

Who do you think will win? What did you think of this episode of Dancing with the Stars? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.

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