'Dancing With the Stars': Doug Flutie Gets Eliminated, Wanya Morris Earns Nearly Perfect Score
— -- Football legend Doug Flutie got the boot tonight on “Dancing With the Stars” in an episode that had the stars recreate famous dance routines from popular movies, television and music videos.
Flutie, Von Miller and Paige VanZant were all in jeopardy of going home tonight, based on their judges’ scores combined with viewer votes from their past two performances. But Flutie ended up having the lowest overall total.
The crowd booed after his elimination was announced, and began chanting “Flutie” from their seats.
“[It’s been] just an amazing experience,” the former star quarterback said on the dance floor after receiving the news. “The whole group as a family, we’ve all been together. It’s been an unbelievable experience.”
His professional partner, Karina Smirnoff, said she was “so proud” of him for this “amazing season.”
“I had the opportunity to make a great friend,” she added. “Thank you so much.”
Before the eliminations were announced, the nine competitors performed popular dance routines from iconic pop culture moments. Highlights of the night included Paige VanZant’s groovy jazz dance to “Soul Bossa Nova” from "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” and Antonio Brown’s precise jive to “Footloose” from "Footloose."
Tonight’s top scorer and standout moment: Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris absolutely brought down the house with his energetic jazz rendition of “Bye Bye Bye” from 'NSYNC’s Video Music Awards performance. Morris is friends with 'NSYNC’s Joey Fatone in real life, so the pressure was on to nail the group’s original performance. Judge Bruno Tonlioni hailed Morris' dance moves as “tight and polished.” Tonioli added, “It was pop in its most pure and brilliant form.” Carrie Ann Inaba agreed, jumping up from her seat and pointing to him while saying, “This boy is on fire! You brought the stuff. You brought the dirty, sexy … damn that was good.” Len Goodman even congratulated him, saying, “You’ve just taken a great step forward towards the finals.” The excellent feedback from the judges excited Morris, who said he was “absolutely happy right now.” And as for Fatone who was backstage waiting on Morris? “It was like a dream come true, watching one of the guys from Boys II Men perform 'NSYNC," he proudly said of his buddy. "We looked up to you guys. It was amazing.”
Morris earned a whopping 29 points.
Judges’ Scores (out of a possible 30 points)
Kim Fields and Sasha Farber: 24
Von Miller and Witney Carson: 24
Jodie Sweetin and Keo Motsepe: 25
Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas: 28
Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd: 25
Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy: 24
Doug Flutie and Karina Smirnoff: 21
Wanya Morris and Lindsay Arnold: 29
Antonio Brown and Sharna Burgess: 27
