‘Dancing With the Stars’ Marks 500 Episodes With Elimination, Reveals Final Five Couples

After Dancing With the Stars was off last week for the presidential election, the series finally came back for its 500^th episode. While it may have been filled with a lot of celebration, one couple did not celebrate at the end of the night. With only six couples left, the stakes were higher than ever, and they had two chances to impress the judges and viewers. The first round saw them reimagining an iconic dance done on the show in previous seasons by putting their own twist and flair to it, while the second round was the Instant Dance Challenge. They didn’t know what song or dance style they were doing until minutes before going live. Both rounds weren’t enough for NBA star Dwight Howard and pro Daniella Karagach.

As previously mentioned, the 500^th episode celebration saw the couples reimagining a previous dance from one of the other 32 seasons. Dwight and Daniella did James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess’ Argentine Tango to “Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)” by Gotan Project from Season 23. Even though they received a lot of praise from the judges, they received a 26/30. Then came time for the Instant Dance Challenge during the second hour of the episode, they learned they were doing a Paso Doble to Panic! at the Disco’s “Victorious” just five minutes before doing it live. Despite their passion, as Carrie Ann Inaba pointed out, they did have some timing issues, and they came out with just 22/30 for a total score of 48/60, landing them at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Despite saying goodbye to Dwight and Daniella, there are still five couples left vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Still in for the semi-finals next week are Super Bowl champion Danny Amendola (Witney Carson), The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei (Jenna Johnson), Zombies and Pretty Little Liars star Chandler Kinney (Brandon Armstrong), Olympian rugby player Ilona Maher (Alan Bersten), and Olympian gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik (Rylee Arnold).

The semi-finals are up next, and it’s hard to believe that it’s already that time. Couples to look out for are Chandler and Brandon as well as Joey and Jenna. They were at once neck and neck with scores and are still staying pretty close together on the leaderboard. That being said, Chandler and Brandon got the first perfect score of the season tonight and during both rounds, giving them a perfect 60. Whatever happens, though, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to the remaining couples as more are etched out after the semis and in the finals. It’s still anyone’s game, however, and fans will want to tune in to the semi-finals, which will include a round of ballroom dancing and a round of Latin dancing, on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.