Photo by ABC Entertainment/Paula Lobo
Dancing With the Stars just aired its first surprise elimination of its 34th season, and as a result, a competitor on the show is headed back to Miami.
Singer Lauren Jauregui, a former member of the best-selling girl group Fifth Harmony, was the third celebrity to be sent home this season after dancing the cha cha in a number the judges felt lacked spark. Her former bandmates, two of whom competed on the show in prior seasons — Normani Kordei and Ally Brooke — showed up for moral support but did not appear to help her case. Nor did the fact that she performed one of the group’s biggest hits, “Work from Home.”
“I want to see a lot more pop in your step…I want more dynamics,” critiqued judge Carrie Ann Inaba, eliciting boos from the studio audience. It was the first sign that Jauregui, one of two Miami contestants competing on the show this season, might be in trouble. Judge Derek Hough concurred, saying her performance needed “more attack”…” and “more oomph.” In an attempt to soften the criticism, he also made a prediction that aged like milk: “You’re going to be here for a long time.”
Jauregui’s cha cha failed to wow the judges.
Photo by Disney/Eric McCandless
That was not to be. Jauregui and her dance partner, Brandon Armstrong, scored an 18 from the judges and landed in the bottom alongside comedian Andy Richter and partner Emma Slater, and actress Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten. In the end, Jauregui and Armstrong were eliminated after accounting for the judges’ scores and the at-home audience’s votes. Her fellow contestants looked as surprised as she seemed to be. “You can hear [from] the audience that everybody is shocked,” said co-host Julian Hough.
Adding to the surprise element, Jauregui was one of the last celebrities to join the cast, making her participation feel all the more abridged. When asked how she felt about her elimination, she let out her inner Miami girl, answering curtly: “Pissed.”
Jauregui’s elimination leaves one Miami girl standing. Alix Earle‘s dance chops have been praised by the judges so far, and her quickstep to M’s “Pop Muzik” with partner Val Chmerkovskiy kept her in the running for another week.
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