Warning! The following contains spoilers for Dancing With The Stars' "Dedication Night." Stream the episode with a Disney+ subscription and read at your own risk!
Dancing With The Stars had its most emotional night of Season 33, and those feelings might have just shaken up the landscape of this competition's frontrunners. While it seemed like we had a clear picture of three couples who were primed to win the Mirrorball trophy, one middling couple just leapfrogged all of them atop the leaderboard and became my new favorite to win.
Danny Amendola and Witney Carson took a surprising jump to the top of the leaderboard in Week 4, after previous weeks saw them more in the middle of the pack. Now, the rest of the competition is on notice as the Super Bowl champion seeks out another accolade, and Carson could score her first trophy since winning with now-host Alfonso Ribeiro. I think they have what it takes, and tonight's performance is just one of the reasons why.
Danny Amendola's Massive Night Shows His Competitive Side Is Buying In
Professional athletes are, as one might expect, competitive. They want to win, but it's more than a matter of want with Dancing With The Stars. They have to buy in and step out of their comfort zone, and when they do that, amazing things can happen. Remember when NBA veteran Iman Shumpert and Daniella Karagach upset JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson, who were both professional dancers?
Danny Amendola's performance tonight tells me that he bought in, and if he's locked into learning his steps, the rest of the Dancing With The Stars cast is in trouble. They're up against a guy who was on the receiving team for the New England Patriots for two of the most memorable Super Bowl wins in their dynasty history. Let's not forget how monumental that comeback victory against the Falcons was and the type of grit any player has to have to persevere in something like that.
That type of grit was on display in the reality television world when Danny Amendola joined Special Forces: World's Toughest Test as a participant. The series is notoriously one of the most brutal shows someone can participate in on television, and Amendola was part of the cast right until the very end. He was forced to drop out due to a shoulder injury he sustained, but he still made it just as far as his DWTS co-star, Dwight Howard.
Was Danny And Witney's Big Week A Fluke, Or A Sign Of What's To Come?
Great performances are always worth something on Dancing With The Stars, but Danny Amendola and Witney Carson will need more than one phenomenal week to stay in the game. This competition is a popularity contest, and it's fair to say there are more than a few contestants who shine brighter to viewers than the former wide receiver. For example, I'm sure Stephen Nedoroscik got the loudest cheer of the night when he used a pommel horse, even though his score wasn't the best.
I also don't think I'm out of line in stating that competitors who have been on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette always seem to have a big home advantage on ABC. With all due respect to Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, I didn't think their dance performance was nearly as good as Danny Amendola and Witney Carson's, but the judges scored them high all the same. Of course, I'm not a dancing pro, so what do I know? I only know that I'm pulling for Amendola to win this thing, and after this week, I think he can pull it off.
Dancing With The Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Keep watching to see just how far the former NFL receiver goes, and be sure to check out what else is on the 2024 TV schedule for the rest of the year.
