Warning! The following contains spoilers for Night 2 of Dancing with the Stars’ Disney Week. Read at your own risk!
Dancing with the Stars really brought it with Disney Week, and by the end of Night 2, there was a performance for just about every contestant to be proud of. That said, Melora Hardin stole the show on Disney Villains Night with a Tangled performance that wasn’t just the top score of the evening, but the first 10 of Season 30.
Melora Hardin and her dance partner Artem Chigvintsev brought the heat, as Hardin took the stage as the underrated but effective villainess Mother Gothel from Tangled. Check out the performance below, in which Hardin knocked it out of the park in more ways than one. Take a look.
The judges were floored by the performance, especially after they learned Melora Hardin did the vocals for her performance. The revelation left Derek Hough gobsmacked, and he was joined by Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli in giving her nines. Len Goodman took things a step further and rewarded the wonderful all-around performance with Dancing with the Stars' first 10 of Season 30.
It’s hard to dispute that Melora Hardin earned that score because the former star of The Office left it all out on the dance floor. I definitely think the fact that she sang “Mother Knows Best” helped her capture the emotion of the dance in her expression, which is something the judges have been asking contestants for all season. Contestants like other frontrunners Olivia Jade and JoJo Siwa can deliver great technically proficient performances, but the emotion hasn’t been there.
Dancing with the Stars’ Season 30 contestants are all reaching a point of progression that extra effort matters and could be the difference between continuing on and being sent home. Actor Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess found that out the hard way, as their real-life romance just wasn’t enough to get them the votes for yet another week with America. The Bachelor's Matt James and Lindsay Arnold were also eliminated in a tie-breaker decision in which Len Goodman saved Kenya Moore and Brandon Armstrong instead.
There may be some debate on the tie-breaker rules in the coming days, though I doubt there will be any arguing against Melora Hardin's successful Disney Week. She solidified herself as a top performer in Season 30 with her Tangled performance. It’s going to be a struggle for any Dancing with the Stars celebrities to topple Jojo Siwa and Jenna Johnson consistently week to week, but Hardin confirmed it could be done. We’ll see if she can bring that same energy next week and maybe give the other top competition of the season a reason to sweat for once.
Dancing with the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Keep with CinemaBlend all season long for more on the competitors and Tyra Banks’ opinion of them.
