Dwight Howard eliminated, semifinalists revealed in 500th episode

“Dancing with the stars‘ reached a new milestone on November 12, revealing who was heading to the semifinals of season 33. The 500th episode kicked off with pros – including returning favorite Sharna Burgess – for the opening number ‘Crazy in Love’, the same opening song. from the series premiere in 2005. Many past participants returned to the ballroom, including Adam Rippon, Ginger Zee, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Alyson Hannigan, AJ McLean and Simone Biles.

This week, each of the remaining six teams performed routines in honor of favorite past performances.

Last week ended with a tie on the leaderboards: Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson had 32 points, as did Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong.

Joey and Jenna performed a contemporary routine inspired by Riker Lynch and Allison Holker’s performance in Season 20. “I thought it lacked a little bit of rawness,” Carrie Ann Inaba said after the routine, while Derek Hough responded, “I’m disagree!” Derek, who gave the couple a 9 last week, gave them a 10.

Meanwhile, Chandler Kinney and pro Brandon Armstrong paid tribute to Derek and Kellie Pickler’s performance in Season 16 with an Argentine tango. Derek liked it so much that he ‘chose’ theirs over his – and the other judges agreed, with the pair earning the first perfect 30 of the season.

Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach, who honored James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess’ season 23 performance with an Argentine tango, did not impress Carrie Ann, who gave them an A and said she missed the Dwight from earlier in the season.

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten fell to the bottom of the leaderboard during Halloween week, but made quite a comeback with a Quickstep inspired by Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold’s performance in Season 25, earning a 10 from Carrie Ann.

After their solo dances, the couples were given the ultimate challenge: learning a dance style and song five minutes before performing live. Although all the couples impressed the judges, only Chandler and Brandon also achieved a perfect score of 30 for the challenge.

Ultimately, after the audience votes were added, Dwight and Daniella were eliminated.