“DWTS” Season 35, Episode 5: Diva Energy for Mariah Carey Night

Is it okay if we’re a little diva-ish today? Mariah Carey Night brought all the vocals and glitter to last night’s episode of “Dancing with the Stars”—plus some drama around scoring.

The night began with a sweet fantasy of an opening number choreographed by Luam “LUAM” Keflezgy, in which all the pro men donned sparkly jeans that would have made Limited Too and dELiA’s jealous. Things stayed pretty tame, at least for the first half or so, with glowing commentary from the judges for the first six performances. But when Carrie Ann Inaba gave Maura Higgins a 9 out of 10 for her waltz to “If It’s Over” with pro Mark Ballas, the tone seemed to shift—at least among viewers, as online commentary showed. Higgins and Ballas followed some notably strong numbers by Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson, and Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy, which all scored 8s across the board. (Though Derek Hough clearly sounded tempted to score Dewan higher.) And while Higgins and Ballas’ waltz was lovely, Inaba’s score of 9—the first of the season—surprised us here at Dance Spirit, especially considering the caliber of the other performances. Later, her 7 for Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov’s outstanding rumba to “Hero” drove that home even further.

With its sensuality and slower paces overall, Carey’s music made space for lots of rumbas this week. We also saw the season’s first two jazz numbers, danced by Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong (“Emotions”) and Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik (“Fantasy”). Fans of Ravnik from Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour may have been happy to see his nod to the iconic ladder moment from “Lavender Haze.” But for both Ravnik and Shum Jr., who have each danced with Carey on tour and in a music video, respectively, this week’s theme also offered a fun full-circle moment.

Here are a few of our high notes (or should we say whistle notes?) from last night:

• Frech and Karagach’s rumba to “Anytime You Need a Friend,” in which Frech showed off his extensions—on both sides, including an incredible développé standing on his prosthesis—and upper-body articulation with excellent cucarachas
• Shum Jr. and Johnson’s high-speed tango to, interestingly, “It’s Like That,” which ended with some spicy floorwork (classic Jenna)
• Dewan and Chmerkovskiy’s rumba to “My All,” which allowed Dewan to show her softer side and lean into the “light and shade of artistry,” as judge Bruno Tonioli described
• Ali and Ravnik’s playful energy, which Ali backed up with undeniable rhythm, in their jazz piece to “Fantasy”
• Julia Stiles’ “breakthrough” moment, in Inaba’s words, with her clean and smooth Viennese waltz to “Vision of Love” with Ezra Sosa (no more “thinky face”!)
• And Glenn and Pashkov’s slinky rumba to “Hero,” which showed off Glenn’s purposeful gaze and included an insane partnered penché

We were also fans of the crafty desk-ography and huge smiles in Miller and Armstrong’s “Emotions” jazz number, so their elimination at the end of the night came as a surprise. But if we’ve learned anything from all these years of watching “DWTS,” it’s that you really can’t expect the outcome of any given episode.

With that, here is the official score sheet from Week 2, along with some quotes of the week:

• Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas: 25/30
• Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach: 24/30
• Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson: 24/30
• Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy: 24/30
• Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov: 23/30
• Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong: 21/30  (ELIMINATED)
• Jackson Olson and Emma Slater: 21/30
• Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa: 21/30
• Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess: 21/30
• Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik: 20/30
• Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold: 19/30
• Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson: 13/30

“DWTS” Quotes of the Week

“If you do it long enough, dreams do come true.” —Harry Shum Jr. on his full-circle moment of performing on “DWTS” to the same song from his 2005 “It’s Like That” music video appearance

“The best part of being a pro on this show is being of service to someone else.” —Val Chmerkovskiy on working with dancer and actress Jenna Dewan

“Being a diva is hard!” —Guillermo Perez on embodying fierceness in his samba to “Obsessed” with pro Witney Carson

“My body is learning, even if I feel like I’m gonna cry.” —Comedian Connor Wood, while getting used to the rumba with pro Rylee Arnold

“There’s no ‘can’t’ in ballroom.” —Actress Julia Stiles on pushing forward each week with pro Ezra Sosa

See you for next week’s episode!