No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded: Inside DWTS’s Most Magical Night With Director Jon M. Chu
The ballroom transformed into a glittering tribute to the Emerald City this Tuesday evening, as Dancing With the Stars delivered its most enchanting spectacle yet: Wicked Night. What unfolded was nothing short of choreographic alchemy—a celebration of Jon M. Chu’s forthcoming cinematic masterpiece, Wicked: For Good, that left us spellbound in our velvet-cushioned seats.
The evening’s bittersweet denouement saw Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying and the luminous Rylee Arnold take their final bow. Their departure, following a week where no eliminations darkened the stage, served as a poignant reminder that in this competition, as in life, gravity eventually wins. The duo’s exit leaves ten glittering stars still vying for the mirrorball trophy—a constellation that includes reality television’s reigning queens, Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck from Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, alongside Olympic powerhouse Jordan Chiles and social media phenomenon Alix Earle.
But darling, let’s discuss what truly mattered: the performances that had us clutching our pearls. Director Jon M. Chu himself graced the judges’ panel, joining the inimitable Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli. His presence added an ineffable gravitas to an evening already dripping with theatrical grandeur. The contestants didn’t merely dance—they defied gravity with every arabesque and chassé.
Whitney Leavitt emerged as the evening’s sorceress supreme, conjuring the season’s first 10s with her quickstep to “Popular.” Three perfect scores placed her tantalizingly close to a flawless 40/40, a feat that would have been nothing short of legendary. She shared the summit with Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, who matched her 39/40, proving that champions recognize no boundaries between athletic disciplines.
The previous week’s victor, Dylan Efron—yes, that Efron brother—had briefly tasted glory at the leaderboard’s apex after channeling sibling Zac’s “Rewrite the Stars” into a performance that earned four nines, a season 34 first. But in this competition, crowns are as fleeting as fashion trends.
The evening’s dark horses delivered unexpectedly brilliant performances: Robert Irwin, carrying his father Steve’s legacy with unexpected grace; Elaine Hendrix and Danielle Fishel, proving actresses possess rhythm beyond their craft; all three earned respectable 36/40 scores with unanimous nines from the judging quartet.
As we approach the competition’s midpoint with merely five weeks until the grand finale, the stakes have never been more deliciously high. The elimination formula remains ruthlessly democratic—judges’ scores marry viewer votes in a union that determines fate. This week’s particularly brutal twist? Dedication Night’s scores carried forward, creating a cumulative reckoning that ultimately spelled doom for Hoying.
See the full list of scores for week six of DWTS season 34 (aka Wicked Night) below.
Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold: 28/40 (ELIMINATED)
Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy: 35/40
Robert Irwin and Witney Carson: 36/40
Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas: 39/40
Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach: 32/40
Andy Richter and Emma Slater: 27/40
Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten: 36/40
Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik: 32/40
Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov: 36/40
Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa: 39/40
The ballroom has spoken, darlings. And like Dorothy clicking her ruby slippers, there’s no place like home—unless, of course, that home is atop the Dancing With the Stars leaderboard.
