Dancing with the Stars Season 33 Episode 8 Recap: 500th Episode

Dancing with the Stars celebrated an incredible milestone this week: its 500th episode!

On Dancing with the Stars Season 33 Episode 8, the remaining couples performed two different routines.

For the first round of the competition, the couples reimagined iconic dances from prior seasons. 

Then, in the second round, they had “instant dances,” meaning they chose a dance style and song at random and then had only a few minutes to prepare their performance. 

Some special guests also appeared throughout the episode, including Shawna Burgess and Mark Ballas.

Here are a few of the highlights from the competition this week:

Joey and Jenna kicked off the night with a contemporary routine that was inspired by Riker Lynch and Allison Holker’s performance in Season 20. The judges praised the routine and awarded a score of 28/30.

Danny and Witney performed a quickstep that, no pressure, was inspired by a Season 5 performance from Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough. They earned a score 27/30.

Dwight and Daniella continued to prove they can work around their drastic height difference in some creative ways with their Argentine Tango.

They made use of a platform for Daniella to allow for a more traditional hold, which, honestly, was impressive. Their routine wasn’t without its issues, though.

Carrie Ann, in particular, said she wished she could see more of Dwight really dancing like he did in the first two episodes. They earned a score of 26/30.

It was Stephen and Rylee who made everyone emotional in the first round, performing a Viennese Waltz inspired by Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas’ performance in Season 31. The judges praised Stephen’s progress and growth, and awarded a near-perfect score of 29/30 for the routine.

Chandler and Brandon followed and were probably given the dance with the most pressure, considering it was inspired by an Argentine Tango performed by Derek Hough and Kellie Pickler in Season 16. 

No one is surprised by now, though, to see Chandler absolutely kill a performance, and she did just that this time as well.

In fact, Derek even said he preferred Chandler and Brandon’s version of the routine to the one he choreographed and performed several years ago. And Carrie Ann called Chandler the most powerful female dancer on the show ever. They earned the first perfect score of the season for the routine.  

Ilona and Alan finished out the first round with a quickstep inspired by Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold’s performance in Season 25. It was a fun routine that the judges praised, with Carrie Ann barely able to speak over her excitement.

The second round was infinitely more difficult for all of the dancers, but some managed it better than others. Dwight and Daniella’s “instant” Paso Doble earned lower scores than they would have liked, while Chandler and Brandon’s Salsa earned them another perfect score.

They are currently the only pair to earn a perfect score this season, and they did it twice in a row! 

Of course, there was another elimination to contend with this week, and this week’s was disappointing, though not necessarily surprising.

The couple eliminated this week was Dwight and Daniella.

Here are this week’s scores, combined with both dances:

• Chandler Kinney and Brandon: 60
• Joey Graziadei and Jenna: 55
• Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee: 54
• Ilona Maher and Alan: 52
• Danny Amendola and Witney: 51
• Dwight Howard and Daniella: 48 — eliminated

What did you think of this episode of Dancing with the Stars? How did you feel about this week’s elimination? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+. Viewers can stream the series on Hulu the following day.

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