Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Dancing With The Stars' 500th episode. Stream it with a Disney+ subscription and read at your own risk!
Dancing With The Stars' 500th episode had many great moments, and unfortunately, one element I could've done without. I noted before the big night that I was stressed to see the planned Instant Dance Challenge, and even other contestants like Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong agreed there were a lot of unknowns going in. I hoped for the best and that it would be entertaining enough to become a staple in the series, and I'm disappointed to say I was let down.
I can applaud Dancing With The Stars for taking a bold step and trying something different to commemorate its long run, and I can see why producers thought a live challenge would add a thrill to the night. However, I think it fell flat for a couple of reasons and shouldn't be part of the competition going forward.
What Was The Instant Dance Challenge?
First things first! For those who need a refresher, the Instant Dance Challenge was a segment on Dancing With The Stars in which contestants learned which dance they were performing and the song they'd be dancing to minutes before taking the stage to perform live. Once the song was revealed, contestants rushed to the dressing room to change costumes. They then could use the commercial break and preview package before the dance to polish up their moves and make any last-minute adjustments before the challenge officially began.
The Dancing Was Incredibly Sloppy
I feared the quality of dancing would be an issue, and as predicted, many of the moves we saw during this challenge were sloppy. It's to be expected, considering even the frontrunners of DWTS Season 33 are still only about two months into their ballroom dancing careers, so I don't fault them for that.
None of these contestants just automatically knew the moves to these iconic dances, so they had to learn the bare minimum of each that they might have to do while practicing the previous week. This meant each dance was very basic at best or resorted to stunts. At least Stephen Nedoroscik didn't bust out his pommel horse again, so I should be grateful for that.
I watch Dancing With The Stars to see quality dancing, especially at the season's latter stages. Whatever thrill there was in keeping contestants on their toes was erased for me by watching people like Ilona Maher, who crushed it weeks prior, flounder and commit big blunders on her impromptu dance. That's not fun for me. I want to see all of these amateur dancers competing at their best with ample preparation.
The Judges Seemed Apprehensive To Give Low Scores
Not only was the dancing sloppy, but it seemed like Dancing With The Stars' judges felt they couldn't give a low score to anyone even after witnessing clear mistakes or missteps. Perhaps the most damning part of the night was Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong netting a perfect score for their performance, which they admittedly said afterward they did not script enough choreography for. How does an unfinished dance net a perfect score? The lowest score awarded for this round was 22 out of 30, and I don't think I'm being dramatic in saying many of these dances should've scored much lower than that.
The most positive takeaway I can give is that the night still ended how many Dancing With The Stars viewers expected it to. After several viewers thought they should've left during the Halloween episode, Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach's luck ran out on the 500th episode. Had it been anyone else, I would've had more of a bone to pick with this challenge, but I think I can leave it stating that this was a reasonable attempt to try something new. Still, I'd be happy if it's never attempted again.
Dancing With The Stars continues on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for more on Season 33, and check out what Brandon Armstrong had to tell us about competing on the show and how he views each season.
