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Dancing With the Stars Recap: Three Couples Earn Perfect Scores, One Dances With a Live Snake

Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough nailed Dirty Dancing's iconic lift.

There were no beauty school dropouts here! Olivia Newton-John was on hand to guest judge Dancing With the Stars‘ Famous Dances Night on Monday, Oct. 19, which had the nine remaining couples performing iconic routines from films, musicals, and even MTV’s Video Music Awards.

Reunited with their original partners after last week’s switch-up, some celebrities soared (there were a whopping three perfect scores!), while others fell flat. The competition is definitely starting to heat up — and if some stars can’t take it, they better get out of the kitchen… err, the ballroom.

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Andy Grammer continued his hot streak with a flawless Singing in the Rain-themed jazz routine with partner Allison Holker, and the judges went gaga for it. “For many people this is considered to be the best musical of all time. It takes balls to take that on. You succeeded,” Judge Bruno Tonioli declared. “Every single week you are getting better and better and better,” Julianne Hough said. Olivia said she’d be happy to dance with Andy anytime, prompting him to plant a kiss on her cheek. Right after that, he got his first perfect 40.

But Andy was in good company because Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough absolutely slayed their “Dirty Dancing”-themed rumba, which also earned them a perfect score. “Your legs were on fire. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous,” Julianne noted. “You touched my heart,” Olivia mused of the routine. No one seemed more touched, however, than Bindi, who was near tears (of joy) from the rave reviews.

Rounding out the trio of 40s for the night were Tamar Braxton and Val Chmerkovskiy. Despite Tamar being sick for much of the week, they pulled off an impeccable jazz routine to “Rhythm Nation” that wowed the judges all around.

Both Nick Carter and Hayes Grier tried their hands (and feet) at playing famous John Travolta roles, with varying success. Nick and Sharna Burgess‘ “Saturday Night Fever” number had the crowd on its feet, but missed a perfect score by one small point, while Hayes and Emma Slater‘s “Grease” routine left the panel underwhelmed.

Emma Slater and Alek Skarlatos
Emma Slater and Alek Skarlatos

But the judges had their share of straight-up disappointments too. Back together with Mark Ballas to recreate Britney Spears‘ steamy “I’m a Slave 4 U” VMA performance, Alexa PenaVega struggled to capture the magic that earned her a perfect score last week — and her scores showed it. Overall, the judges agreed that the Spy Kids star did a solid job with the dance moves (some of which she did with a live snake draped across her arms!), but thought she fell short in sex appeal. (Her husband, Carlos PenaVega, did a better job bringing out his sexy side with a “Magic Mike”-themed rumba.)

Alek Skarlatos and Lindsay Arnold also struggled with their “Jailhouse Rock” jive. Though the judges noted that the international hero had improved his facial expressions, they concurred that there was still something lacking. Also, there was no word on whether Alek and Emma Slater had gone on that date yet.

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Not even Madonna could get Paula Deen and Louis van Amstel to rise from the bottom of the leaderboard. The pair performed a jazz routine inspired by the Material Girl’s 1990 VMA performance of “Vogue.” Bruno said it was more like The National Enquirer than Vogue (yikes), and Carrie Ann Inaba thought the elaborate costume overwhelmed the celebrity chef.

Paula Deen
Paula Deen

In the end, host Tom Bergeron revealed that the two couples in jeopardy were Paula and Louis, along with Alexa and Mark. An emotional Alexa was already crying when Tom announced it was Paula who would be going home. For her part, the 68-year-old cooking star took her exit in stride.

“I’m so excited! I get to go see my grandbabies!” she declared, adding that this was “a wonderful journey.”

Here are the complete rankings from Famous Dances Week:

Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough, rumba: 40 out of 40

Andy Grammer and Allison Holker, jazz: 40 out of 40

Tamar Braxton and Val Chmerkovskiy, jazz: 40 out of 40 

Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess, samba: 39 out of 40

Carlos PenaVega and Witney Carson, rumba: 38 out of 40

Hayes Grier and Emma Slater, jazz: 32 out of 40

Alexa PenaVega and Mark Ballas, cha-cha: 30 out of 40

Alek Skarlatos and Lindsay Arnold, jive: 30 out of 40

Paula Deen and Louis van Amstel, jazz: 24 out of 40

Tell Us: Did all three couples deserve perfect scores?

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