For their first-round dances, celebrities will repeat a dance style they had problems with the first time around, but performed to a new song as their redemption dance. The judges will mentor each of the couples. Len Goodman will mentor Amanda Kloots, JoJo Siwa and Melora Hardin; Carrie Ann Inaba will mentor Suni Lee; Bruno Tonioli will mentor Cody Rigsby; and Derek Hough will mentor Iman Shumpert. Then, for their second dance, it will be business as usual with each couple performing something new. This has been a particularly difficult season for Cody Rigsby and pro partner Cheryl Burke, when both of them came down with COVID. To keep them in the game, the first week, DWTS ran their rehearsal dance, and the second week, they danced individually from their respective homes. Now Cody is in the semifinals, and he couldn’t be more excited. “I think the journey of this show is transformative for anybody, and we definitely had a very bumpy, very rocky start to this,” he told reporters after last week’s Janet Jackson night. “I remember talking to my boss or a friend of mine and I was like, ‘Should I just quit? Should I just not do it? I have COVID, it’s going to be so crazy.’ She was like, ‘No, do this. It will feel like a memory in two weeks, and you’ll get through.’ Honestly, I’m so glad that I stuck to it and had Cheryl by my side to get to where we are.” For JoJo Siwa, making the semifinals is special, but she’s also looking forward to, hopefully, making it into the finale and a chance to win the Mirror Ball Trophy. “This has been so much for me,” she said. “This experience has shifted the way that I look at the world and myself and I’m so grateful and thankful for that. But also, I think that us being two girls partnered together, me coming out this year, I think that it’s changed the way that a lot of people look at a lot of things and I’m really appreciative of that and I’m happy that two girls dancing together is celebrated, not looked at as weird, but it’s accepted. To win a Mirror Ball would not just be like the cherry on top, not even the sprinkles on the cake, but like the box that the cake comes in, just like that extra little.”
Semi-Finals Night on Dancing with the Stars dance styles and songs
Redemption Dance
JoJo Siwa and pro Jenna Johnson will perform a redemption Argentine Tango to “Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)” by Gotan Project. Iman Shumpert and pro Daniella Karagach will perform a redemption Tango to “Telephone” by Martynas. Suni Lee and pro Sasha Farber will perform a redemption Foxtrot to “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Bublé. Melora Hardin and pro Artem Chigvintsev will perform a redemption Rumba to “I Don’t Want To Wait” by Paula Cole. Amanda Klootsand pro Alan Bersten will perform a redemption Tango to “Titanium” by David Guetta featuring Sia. Cody Rigsby and pro Cheryl Burke will perform a redemption Salsa to “Danza Kuduro” by Don Omar and Lucenzo.
New Dance
JoJo Siwa and pro Jenna Johnson will perform a Contemporary to “Before You Go (Piano Version)” by Lewis Capaldi. Iman Shumpert and pro Daniella Karagach will perform a Jazz to “Dark Fantasy” by Kanye West. Suni Lee and pro Sasha Farber will perform a Contemporary to “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles. Melora Hardin and pro Artem Chigvintsev will perform a Contemporary to “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons. Amanda Kloots and pro Alan Bersten will perform a Contemporary to “Live Your Life – Nick Cordero” by Lenii. Cody Rigsby and pro Cheryl Burke will perform an Argentine Tango to “La Cumparsita” by Forever Tango. Dancing with the Stars airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, A Janet Jackson Dance-Off! Who Went Home on Dancing With the Stars in Week 8?
