In the sequined arena where effort meets judgment, week two of Dancing with the Stars reminded its fourteen remaining couples that artistry is measured not only by heart but by execution. Three performers — actress Jenna Dewan, Paralympian Ezra Frech, and Olympic skater Amber Glenn — rose to share the summit with equal scores, while celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis, despite her own earnest effort, found that trying one's best and achieving one's best are not always the same thing. Her graceful departure, and the thirteen who remain, speak to the quiet democracy of the ballroom: the floor doe
Three couples tie atop 'Dancing with the Stars' leaderboard as Giada De Laurentiis exits
I tried my best, and it wasn't 'best' enough
Mark
So three couples tied at the top with 21 points. That's a pretty tight race already, isn't it?
Mimi
It is. What's interesting is that the three leaders—Jenna Dewan, Ezra Frech, and Amber Glenn—they're all coming from different backgrounds. One's an actress, one's a Paralympian, one's an Olympic figure skater. The judges seem to be rewarding different things.
Luke
But we should note that 21 out of 30 is still a 70 percent. That's not a dominant score. The judges are being fairly conservative with their marks across the board.
Mark
And Giada De Laurentiis went home with 12 points. That's a significant drop from week one, right?
Mimi
Three points lower, yes. The judges felt she wasn't connecting with the salsa. One judge said it lacked spice, another said it was shaky. She acknowledged it herself—she said it was disappointing.
Luke
But here's the thing: Guillermo Rodriguez also scored 12 points. He got standing ovations from the audience. So the judges' scores and the audience response weren't aligned. We don't know exactly how the voting broke down between judges and viewers.
Mark
So it's possible Guillermo got more viewer votes?
Mimi
It's possible. The show doesn't release that breakdown. All we know is that De Laurentiis and her partner went home.
Luke
And there's still a 9-point gap between the leaders at 21 and Guillermo at 12. That's a big spread for week two. The competition could tighten up significantly.
Mark
What about the theme—viral hits? Did that help or hurt anyone in particular?
Mimi
It seemed to help the dancers who could bring personality and energy to the songs. The judges kept praising people for character and storytelling, not just technical execution.
Luke
Though we should be careful: we're reading the judges' comments, but we don't know how much weight the audience placed on those same qualities. The viral hits theme might have resonated differently with viewers at home.
The Pulse
- A viral hits theme raised the stakes in week two, with judges sharpening their standards and a one-word-per-judge rule adding theatrical pressure to every performance.
- Three couples — Jenna Dewan, Ezra Frech, and Amber Glenn — each scored 21 out of 30, creating a rare three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.
- At the other end, Giada De Laurentiis's salsa drew criticism for lacking energy and precision, dropping her three points from the previous week to a score of just 12.
- Despite a standing ovation from the audience, Guillermo Rodriguez also landed at 12 points, leaving him the most vulnerable competitor heading into week three.
- De Laurentiis was eliminated, offering a candid farewell that acknowledged the gap between effort and result — a distinction the ballroom enforces without sentiment.
- Thirteen couples now prepare for Yacht Rock Night, with the leaderboard tightening and the margin for error growing smaller with each passing week.
In the sequined arena where effort meets judgment, week two of Dancing with the Stars reminded its fourteen remaining couples that artistry is measured not only by heart but by execution. Three performers — actress Jenna Dewan, Paralympian Ezra Frech, and Olympic skater Amber Glenn — rose to share the summit with equal scores, while celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis, despite her own earnest effort, found that trying one's best and achieving one's best are not always the same thing. Her graceful departure, and the thirteen who remain, speak to the quiet democracy of the ballroom: the floor does not distinguish between fame and skill.
Week two of Dancing with the Stars brought fourteen couples back to the floor under a viral hits theme — songs born on TikTok and Instagram, performed to choreography that now had to hold up under closer scrutiny. To keep the evening moving, judges agreed to limit the third speaker after each dance to a single word, a constraint that mostly held.
Three couples shared the night's highest score of 21 out of 30. Jenna Dewan danced a jive with Val Chmerkovskiy that the judges praised for speed and improvement. Paralympian Ezra Frech and partner Daniella Karagach delivered a cha-cha to 'Low' that drew visible enthusiasm from the panel. Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn performed what one judge called the best tango of the evening, dancing with Pasha Pashkov to a song that had gone viral through film.
The middle of the pack offered its own moments — Tatyana Ali's emotionally resonant foxtrot, Harry Shum Jr.'s Viennese waltz marked by inconsistency, and Maura Higgins closing the night with a cha-cha that earned a 19. But it was the bottom of the leaderboard that carried the evening's real tension.
Both Guillermo Rodriguez and Giada De Laurentiis finished with 12 points. Rodriguez's paso doble earned a standing ovation from the audience yet failed to impress the judges. De Laurentiis's salsa to 'Bella Ciao' was called shaky and lacking in spice — a drop of three points from her week one score. When the results came in, it was De Laurentiis and partner Alan Bersten who were sent home. Her parting words were honest and unadorned: she had tried her best, and it hadn't been enough.
Thirteen couples now advance to week three and Yacht Rock Night, with the three co-leaders holding a slim one-point edge and the competition growing sharper by the week.
The ballroom at "Dancing with the Stars" had tightened considerably by week two. Fourteen couples returned to the floor after the first elimination, each one aware that the judges were watching more closely now, that the margin between staying and going had narrowed. The theme this week was viral hits—songs that had found their moment on TikTok and Instagram, performed by artists like Rihanna, Flo Rida, Billie Eilish, and Gracie Abrams. To move the show along, the judges had agreed to a constraint: the third judge to speak after each dance would sum up their thoughts in a single word. It was a gimmick that mostly held, though some judges bent the rule with creative interpretations.
Three couples emerged from the night tied at the top of the leaderboard, each with a score of 21 out of 30. Jenna Dewan, the actress and "Step Up" alumna, danced a jive with Val Chmerkovskiy to "Animal" by KATSEYE. The judges saw speed and control, improvement from the previous week. Ezra Frech, the Paralympian, and his partner Daniella Karagach performed a cha-cha to "Low" by Flo Rida that left the judges visibly impressed—one called it fabulous. And Amber Glenn, the Olympic figure skater, delivered what one judge called the best tango of the night, dancing with Pasha Pashkov to a song that had gone viral after appearing in the film "Heated Rivalry."
Below them, the middle of the pack held several couples who scored in the 15 to 19 range. Tatyana Ali, known from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," performed an emotional foxtrot with Jan Ravnik that drew praise for its storytelling. Harry Shum Jr. from "Grey's Anatomy" danced a Viennese waltz with Jenna Johnson, though the judges noted inconsistency in his performance. Maura Higgins, who had appeared on "Love Island" and "The Traitors," closed out the night with a cha-cha to "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire, earning a 19.
At the bottom sat two couples with 12 points each. Guillermo Rodriguez, the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" sidekick, performed a paso doble with Witney Carson that drew standing ovations from the audience but landed him at the lowest score of the night. And then there was Giada De Laurentiis, the celebrity chef, who danced a salsa with Alan Bersten to "Bella Ciao" by Becky G. The judges found the performance lacking. One said the salsa had no spice. Another called it shaky. De Laurentiis herself acknowledged the disappointment, noting that her score had dropped three points from the previous week.
When the votes were tallied and the results announced, it was De Laurentiis and Bersten who were sent home. Standing before the host, De Laurentiis offered a brief reflection: "I tried my best, and it wasn't 'best' enough, but I did try my best." It was a graceful exit, honest about the gap between effort and execution. With her departure, thirteen couples remained in the competition, all of them now aware that the judges' standards were rising and that a single weak performance could be the difference between advancing and going home.
Heading into week three, the three leaders—Dewan, Frech, and Glenn—held a one-point advantage over the next tier of competitors. The show had announced its theme for the following week: Yacht Rock Night. The remaining couples would have seven days to prepare, to study the smooth, polished sound of the 1970s and 80s, and to hope that their choreography and execution would keep them in the running for the mirrorball trophy.
Notable Quotes
I tried my best, and it wasn't 'best' enough, but I did try my best.— Giada De Laurentiis, after elimination
Want the full story?
Read the original at ABC7 Bay Area ↗
Media & Entertainment