Dancing With The Stars is a reality TV competition series in which celebrities learn to dance with professionally trained dancers and are judged on who can do it the best. While the show has been around since 2005, its recent rise in popularity is no doubt thanks to 24-year old influencer, Alix Earle. Whether you are a die-hard fan of the show, or only tune in to watch Alix Earle dance with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy, you have probably noticed the TikToks, posts, and online attention on Alix and her performances. Ten weeks of the show has featured more than ten different dances from Alix and Val, starting on September 16 as the 34th season of the show began. If you have not caught up with the show, or if it is not flooding your TikTok “For You” page, here is the rundown of how Alix and Val are doing.
Week 1
In week one of DWTS, Alix and Val executed the Cha-Cha to Britney Spears’ “Circus”, following the theme of “personal anthems.” Bringing the heat, literally and metaphorically, the duo’s performance earned 13 points out of 20, receiving a 7 from judge Derek Hough and 6 from Bruno Tonioli. Their 13/20 score brought them to 4th place going into week 2, tied with dancers Lauren Jauregui and Brandon Armstrong.
Week 2
Week two brought more confidence for Alix, as she performed the Jive with Val, to “Mambo No. 5” by Lou Bega for the theme of the week, “One-hit Wonders.” In DWTS, week 2 is when eliminations begin, but the 21/30 score from judges Bruno, Derek, and returning judge Carrie Ann bought Alix and Val another week. Week 2 brought lots of love from the media, as critics noted that Alix seemed much more relaxed and excited during her performance.
Week 3
“TikTok Night”, for week three’s theme, set the TikTok queen herself up for success. Val and Alix chose the song “Pop Muzik” by M & Robin Scott to perform a quickstep number to. In their all pink and sparkly outfits, Alix and Val “wowed” the judges, as they received a 23/30 score from the judges- their best so far. The dance started with Alix doing a “get ready with me,” to show how she got famous, quite fitting for the theme of the week.
Week 4
For week four, the duo danced the Viennese Waltz to “Once Upon a Dream” by Lana Del Rey. While the dance itself scored a 24/30, an 8 from each judge, the visuals of the dance are what sparked the attention from the fans. Alix, dressed as Disney’s Maleficent, in honor of the “Disney Night” theme, performed with incredible expression and her acting is what sold the judges, placing them well for week 5.
Week 5
The contemporary piece in week five brought emotion and elegance to the competition. Alix and Val dressed in all white and performed to Coldplay’s “Sparks.” The dance incorporated Alix’s 12 year old little sister Izabel whom the dance was dedicated to, for “Dedication Night.” The scoring, now being out of 40, was a 35, bringing Alix and Val up to second place, where they were tied on the leaderboard.
Week 6
Receiving a 35/40 on their week six performance, they were now 3rd on the leaderboard. Dancing a jazz style to “What is This Feeling”, by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, carrying out the night’s theme of “Wicked,” the duo was nearly flawless with the introduction of lip-syncing and lots of acrobatics.
Week 7
Week seven on October 28th was fittingly themed “Halloween Night”, and Alix and Val executed perfectly. The pair danced the Tango to Billie Elish’s “Bury a Friend.” They received 10s from all judges for their chilling routine, except guest judge Cheryl Burke. This brought lots of controversy from DWTS fans, who believed the duo should’ve received perfect marks. Despite the 9, Alix and Val still made it to the top of the leaderboard going into week 8.
Week 8
In week eight, the theme was rock and roll hall of fame theme and the couple danced a paso doble routine to Bon Jovi’s classic, “Livin’ On a Prayer.” For the second week in a row, the couple received all tens, and one nine from another guest judge, Flavor Flav. The overall 39/40 score put the couple on the top of the leaderboard.
Week 9
In their most recent dance performed on November 11th, Alix and Val finally received a perfect score, 40/40. This score came from their foxtrot number to the song “Singin’ in the Rain” by Matthew Morrison. The theme of the week was the 20th birthday party, in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary. Judges excitedly exclaimed how the dance was clean and classic, and their results set them up for success going into week 10.
Week 10
From week one to week nine, Alix showed improvement in style and technique with help from Val. The two have entered semifinals with lots of support from fans and Dancing With the Stars superfans all around the world. Under the theme “Prince Night” the couple danced a Viennese Waltz to his hit song “Purple Rain.” They also performed an Argentine Tango to “Little Red Corvette,” again by Prince. The first dance, scoring a 30/30 got them a perfect score, and their second dance received high remarks with a 28/30 score. These two performances kept the couple safe and will move them to finals for the week of Thanksgiving.
Finals- November 25th
It is safe to say Alix and Val have made it to finals with a great shot of winning. There is no overarching theme for finals, leaving the pair to decide on any dance style, song, and artistic representation they desire–so get excited! Between the two of them, great improvements have been made throughout the season and they have received tremendous support for how they have been performing, considering their chemistry and skill set on stage. Alix and Val will compete against four other celebrity/professional coupes in the finale on Tuesday, November 25th. Make sure to tune in to watch each duo perform; it really is a special episode. Finally, don’t forget to download the Dancing With the Stars app or text 21523 for your voice to be heard in the vote for the winner (vote Alix)!
