(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Monday’s “Dancing With the Stars”)
And then there were five …
Season 24 of “Dancing With the Stars” was down to the final handful of contestants on Monday night as they tackled a trio of dances.
The first round featured the reality contestant’s pro partners revealing what they’ve learned most about their celebrity sidekicks by picking a song that best represents them.
After a brush with death falling from a bull last year, it was Bonner Bolton who was bucked off the show and narrowly missed moving on to the semi-finals.
“I was very surprised I went so far,” he said when he was delivered the bad news.
As for the performances earlier in the show, first up for the “Pro Pick Night” was NFL player Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater, who chose “Shake Your Tail Feather” by Ray Charles to reflect his fun-loving personality and kick off Week 8 with a bang.
“Full of fun, full of energy, full of giant content,” Len Goodman said after the sprightly Jive, adding that the running back needs to work on his feet.
Fittingly, frontrunner Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy danced to “Freedom” (by Anthony Hamilton Feat. Elayna), as she reflected on the racist bullying she endured on social media after an interview was taken out of context.
Julianne Hough was choked up with emotion following the performance, telling the Fifth Harmony singer: “You are doing more than just dance — you are creating art and you’re creating history … you have a command, you have a presence. You are just gorgeous.”
Former bull rider Bolton got a bit lost last week, so Sharna Burgess chose the Imagine Dragons song “Believer” to get him back on track.
After a slight tantrum during rehearsals for the Argentine Tango, the PBR champion was told that while they could see how hard he was trying, “it lacked connection,” Carrie Anne Inaba said. Instead of being fluid and oily,”this was too stiff and stuck,” Goodman said. Sadly, we all now know how that turned out.
Olympian Simone Biles was informed by Inaba that while “her skills are unquestionable,” her performance lacked authenticity and that neither the viewers nor the judges know her yet. “It was just sort of safe,” Hough said.
Former Chicago Cubs player David Ross danced to Tim McGraw to reflect his Southern values, and although it was a little shaky at times “you attempted to get the correct footwall … and it was your best dance,” Goodman told Ross, who is the first contestant from the MLB.
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.