Fans, judges, pros and stars came together to celebrate 500 episodes of Dancing With the Stars. Pros from previous years even showed up to partake in the festivities and callbacks to iconic performances from over the years. 

In addition to teams performing regular dances, the judges added a little bit more to the competition. Each couple was given a style of dance, a song and five minutes to choreograph a dance. This proved difficult for some teams, but it was impressive to see the strategy used by each pro. One team came out with a perfect score, while some teams got scores similar to the early weeks of the season. 

Here’s your recap of each couple’s score, as well as the top costumes from the night.

Scores

Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong (TOTAL SCORE 60)

Finally our first perfect score – and double! Kinney finally broke through her very consistent dances into something with zero flaws and many emotions. Despite having conflicting views from the judges the past few weeks, Kinney was able to prove to them she is deserving of being here, and she is the top contender in the competition. 

Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson (TOTAL SCORE 55)

This contemporary was full of lifts and glides, which Graziadei seems to always favor. This couple is consistently in the top spots, which proves well for our bachelor in the future. But he will need to be bold and show all of his improvement if he wants to stay ahead. Johnson has a great balance of tricks and technical moves, and she needs to embrace this in Graziadei’s style even more, if possible. 

Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold (TOTAL SCORE 54) 

Nedoroscik really committed to the whole performance for this Viennese Waltz. As someone who fell in love with season 31 Mirrorball Champions Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas, I was nervous to see if this would live up to the same delicacy. It absolutely did. Both the smoothness and technicality of the moves showed Arnold’s attention to detail, but also to her partner.  

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten (TOTAL SCORE 52) 

It seems as though Maher also had a breakthrough this week. She has been showing her effort to keep up with the other couples, and this week she did. We have seen her grow immensely from the beginning of the season, both technically and confidently. Maher and Bersten’s excitement has been infectious this whole season, and I hope they get to continue to show up with it.

Danny Amendola and Witney Carson (TOTAL SCORE 51) 

Amendola seemed to really enjoy this week’s performance. This was a fun and energetic dance that gave this team a chance to be a little less serious. Carson has really gotten used to Amendola’s way of dance and what he’s comfortable with, but she is slowly adding more things besides flips and lifts for him to try and feel confident about. 

Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach (TOTAL SCORE 48)

This unfortunately was not Howard’s best dance of the season. I think the style of dance really suited this couple, and especially their height difference. This also was taken into account more visibly than other dances. Karagach performed on a small circular stage in the first half of this dance. It was a very inventive and unique way of conquering the size gap that only added to the dance in a really great way.

Top Costumes

Danny Amendola and Witney Carson

I absolutely loved this color scheme. I don’t know if the pink and green were nods to the new “Wicked” movie coming out very soon, but the colors did very well together. Being an actual nod to the original dance it’s recreating, the clothes were classic, and the colors were bold. This couple always goes all out with costume choices and makes their performances even more immersive and story-oriented. 

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten 

These two give off a very similar energy to the inspirations behind their dance, season 25 Mirrorball Champions Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold. Their monochromatic matching costumes were a dark and sparkly black, which was almost the opposite of the original dance, but I think because the floors were nice and bright colors, this complemented very well.

ELIMINATED: Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach 

Howard came out of the gate very strong in week one, and personally I don’t think he ever really moved past it. His skill fluctuated from week to week, including receiving a score of 10 in one of his dances, but there wasn’t much improvement. Credit must be given where it is due, however, to Karagach for proving that a talented pro can get the job done no matter the challenge. This also can be said for the star: if the effort is being put in, it will show.

Where to watch: Live on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 7 p.m. CT and next day on Hulu.