Two dances and two eliminations! The four couples heading to the finale were revealed at the end of the Monday, November 16, episode of Dancing With the Stars. First, each had to perform two numbers — a redemption dance and a brand new style.
Justina Machado and Sasha Farber absolutely brought the heat with their redemption number, dancing the tango to “El Tango de Roxanne.” Judge Derek Hough was so impressed he awarded them with their first 10 of the season!
That was just the start of the 10s. Nev Schulman and Jenna Johnson received a perfect score after their classy foxtrot to “Sign of the Times.” Then, Kaitlyn Bristowe and Artem Chigvintsev followed up with a paso doble to “Hanuman” — and also earned a perfect 30.
Carrie Ann Inaba was the mentor for the former Bachelorette, 38, and her ex and reminded the duo to never take her criticisms personally, no matter how tough she is. However, it’s clear that her constructive comments helped them along the way.
Round Two …
During the second round, the emotions were running high — and so were the scores. Justina and Sasha dedicated their contemporary routine to each other. Following the dance, Justina told audiences, “I’m a 48-year-old proud Latina woman, and I have been killing it on this dance floor, so no matter what happens, anything is possible!” The number earned them a perfect 30.
Skai Jackson and Alan Bersten performed an incredible Viennese waltz for their second routine and wowed the judges, who gave them a perfect 30. Later in the night, Derek and Bruno Tonioli were nearly speechless by Jenna and Nev’s contemporary to “If the World Was Ending.” The judges also commended Jenna for challenging Nev to such a difficult routine, in which he flawlessly performed. He received a second 30.
Ahead of Nelly‘s last dance of the night, a jive with partner Daniella Karagach, their intro package showed him struggling — and the pro revealing she’s pushing him harder than ever before the finale. However, the pushing clearly worked! The judges were in awe of how much dancing he actually did during the routine — and he received a perfect 30.
The last pair to perform was Kaitlyn and Artem, who took on a contemporary dance to “Cowboy Take Me Away.” Kaitlyn shared that her best friend, who died at 18, once said she wanted that song to play at her funeral — and it did. Kaitlyn avoided listening to the song for years, so the dance was extremely emotional.
“This is the dance that I knew you would be incredible at,” Carrie Ann said after the routine. “You guys have come together as a really beautiful team and it’s lovely to see.” They again received a perfect 30.
Despite the night’s high scores, two teams still had to go. The couple at the very bottom was Johnny and Britt, who were immediately eliminated. The judges then had to save one couple — Skai and Alan or Justina and Sasha. Ultimately, Justin was saved and Skai was sent home.
Scroll down to see the scoring breakdown.