'Dancing With the Stars' recap: 'Bachelorette' star tops the leaderboard, while Spicer struggles again
The 28th season of "Dancing With the Stars" turned up the heat for its second show of the season as a new competitor eclipsed James Van Der Beek as the star to watch.
The best dance of the night came from "Bachelorette" star Hannah Brown as she dazzled on the dance floor during her romantic Viennese Waltz with partner Alan Bersten -- dancing to Taylor Swift's "Lover," no less. Brown not only collected the highest score of the night -- 24/30 -- it was enough to nudge her ahead of the former first place competitor, Van Der Beek.
She shouldn't get too comfortable, as Kate Flannery and partner Pasha Pashkov wowed the judges and audience with their spunky foxtrot, earning them the second highest score of the night, 21/30.
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer again had the strangest dance of the night. Still, he knew how to generate buzz well before his performance by taking to the streets and begging passersby via a megaphone to vote for him. Although his tango was stiff and, as judge Bruno Tonioli described, "militaristic," he finished with the fourth-lowest score of the night. However, he did flash the birthday card, which could have influenced his score.
The worst dance of the night came from NBA star Lamar Odom and dancing partner Peta Murgatroyd. Odom seemingly struggled with the complicated choreography, but the judges praised the athlete for his improvement and gave his salsa a score of 12/30.
The night concluded with the first elimination of the season. Points earned during the "DWTS" two-hour season premiere carried over into Monday night's show and, along with viewer votes, determined the bottom two.
All three judges strongly disagreed with the couples who eventually stood before them in hopes of being saved.
The audience sent NFL star Ray Lewis and founding member of the Supremes, Mary Wilson, before the judges, who struggled to decide on who to save.
Goodman had the final say and acted as the tiebreaker over who was eventually sent home because Carrie Ann Inaba and Tonioli couldn't come to a mutual decision. Goodman said he had to vote with his brain and not his heart, and chose to spare Lewis.
"Dancing With the Stars" returns next Monday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Here are the current standings:
- Hannah Brown with Alan Bersten -- 24/30 (combined score: 44)
- James Van Der Beek with Emma Slater -- 20/30 (combined score: 41)
- Lauren Alaina with Gleb Savchenko -- 19/30 (combined score: 38)
- Kate Flannery with Pasha Pashkov -- 21/30 (combined score: 36)
- Ally Brooke with Sasha Farber -- 20/30 (combined score: 36)
- Kel Mitchell with Whitney Carson -- 20/30 (combined score:36)
- Karamo with Jenna Johnson -- 19/30 (combined score:36)
- Sailor Brinkley-Cook with Val Chmerkovskiy -- 18/30 (combined score: 36)
- Ray Lewis with Cheryl Burke -- 15/30 (combined score: 30)
- Sean Spicer with Lindsay Arnold -- 16/30 (combined score: 28)
- Lamar Odom with Peta Murgatroyd -- 12/20 (combined score: 23)
