‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 21 Week 3: Show Pays Tribute To Television Icons, Sees First Withdrawal of the Season
The newest season of "Dancing with the Stars" is on full force and the show exhibits no signs of slowing down with the first non-dance-related elimination of the season going down last Monday, Sept. 28.
The Muppets team opened the show, charming the audience and the contestants completely. Alfonso Ribeiro returned on the show as a judge taking his place beside Julianne Hough, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.
While the television-themed DWTS episode was full of enthusiasm and celebration for beloved icons, no one could escape elimination time at the end.
As announced by host Tom Bergeron during the show, Zolciak-Biermann would not be competing in the season anymore, according to People. According to the rules, if a health issue is preventing a celebrity from competing, he or she is required to withdraw.
Although surprising, the decision to boot Kim Zolciak-Biermann off the show was not entirely without basis after she suffered a stroke last week on a plane from Los Angeles to Atlanta. A previous report from Latin Post revealed that the reality star originally hoped to come back, but the recent episode of "Dancing with the Stars" had her and pro partner Tony Dovolani eliminated instead.
The surprise elimination was a blessing in disguise to fellow competitors Andy Grammer and Paula Deen, who both found themselves in the bottom two with their respective pro partners Allison Holker and Louis Van Amstel. In an episode inspired by great television, neither pairs found their iconic silver screen moment.
Singer-songwriter Grammer found it difficult to set aside practice time with pro partner Holker, which might have left their quickstep lacking in polish. While their score was not a disappointment at 29 out of 40, his past mediocre dances contributed in his place at the bottom two.
Deen and Van Amstel put on a spirited performance of salsa inspired by "Gilligan's Island", but the enthusiasm could not make up for the lack of technique. The pair only raked in half of the points with 20 out of 40. Tonioli even commented, "The samba got stranded by the shipwreck."
Strong performers of the week included Tamar Braxton, who was a definite front-runner according to guest judge Ribeiro, Alek Skarlatos who was praised for the "best technique in this competition" by Hough.
Alexa PenaVega and pro partner Mark Ballas sent the judges raving after a jazz routine inspired by "Breaking Bad." The pair went all out with their hazmat costumes and it paid off with Inaba calling the performance "genius." The couple earned 36 points, the highest of the night.
Tying the fairer PenaVega at 36 points is Nick Carter, who stole the show with a Viennese waltz set to a "Downton Abbey" theme. Although the pop heartthrob was frustrated during rehearsals, he was the picture-perfect dancer on the floor with partner Sharna Burgess.
The next episode of "Dancing with the Stars" season 21 is on Oct. 5.
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