Ally Brooke had a lot riding on the “Dancing with the Stars” Semi-Finals. She had been in the bottom two twice before, so she thought this might be it for her. But instead of playing it safe, she and her pro partner Sasha Farber went for broke, and it paid off. Watch their daredevil Charleston above, and scroll down to check out their redemption waltz from earlier in the evening.
High scores are what have kept Brooke in the competition this long because the last two times she was in jeopardy — with Sailor Brinkley-Cook in week six, then with Kate Flannery in week eight — the judges kept her on the show because they considered her the superior dancer. So her Charleston was a big risk since it was a full-blown production number and had quite possibly the most jam-packed choreography of the night. You certainly couldn’t fault her and Farber for a lack of ambition — as they say, go big or go home.
I can’t say for sure that Brooke’s every footstep was flawless — it was hard for the eyes to keep up with so much dancing — but the judges sure thought so. She got a perfect score for the routine, and combined from her Viennese waltz during the first round of the competition, which was very nearly perfect, she ended the night with the highest score on the leaderboard.
Sounds like it should have been a perfectly happy ending for Brooke. But unfortunately, she did land in the bottom two yet again, and surprisingly, she landed there with James Van Der Beek, who had an off night after a week when his wife tragically miscarried. The fact that Brooke scored higher than Van Der Beek overall this season — especially in recent weeks — prompted the judges to save Brooke for the third time. But it seemed no one was more surprised than Brooke, who was so heartbroken for Van Der Beek that she tried to give him her spot before the credits even rolled.
So it looks like everyone is going to the finale with bittersweet feelings: Brooke, Lauren Alaina, Hannah Brown and Kel Mitchell are still battling for the Mirror Ball Trophy, and they’re all worthy of the title, but it might not be the same without the former front-runner.
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