Dancing With the Stars Recap: Music Video Night Brings a Perfect Score and a Surprising Elimination

Long after we’d gone to the polls for Election Day, Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro gave us plenty of reminders to keep voting — this time for our favorite Dancing With the Stars couples.

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Now that we’re more than halfway through Season 32, viewers’ votes are particularly crucial, but the eight remaining pairs also got a few helpful boosts from the judges during Tuesday’s episode, which paid homage to iconic music videos.

For one, Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov earned the highest score of the night during regulation time (37 out of 40 for their Britney Spears-themed cha-cha), which allows them to sit out next week’s dance-off and will add a few bonus points to their individual dance during next week’s Whitney Houston-centric outing.

Also, we were treated to this season’s team dances during Tuesday’s episode, which also had a positive impact on everyone’s scores. Team 4 Everybody — comprised of Alyson, Jason, Ariana and Barry, dancing to the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” — gave an admirable effort and earned a 37 out of 40. But in the evening’s most delightful twist, Team Young’n Style — made up of Harry, Lele, Xochitl and Charity, dancing to PSY’s “Gangnam Style” — notched the first perfect 40 of the season, including a lovely breakout moment for the ever-struggling Harry.

It was a sincere bummer, then, that such an exhilarating night ended with the season’s first truly shocking elimination. Scroll down to see who was booted, then drop a comment with your reactions!

SAFE: Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov

DANCE STYLE: Cha-Cha (to “I’m a Slave 4 U” by Britney Spears)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 37 out of 40 (but, c’mon… shoulda been a 40 out of 40)

SAFE: Harry Jowsey and Rylee Arnold

DANCE STYLE: Jazz (to “It’s Gonna Be Me” by *NSYNC)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 24 out of 40

SAFE: Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach

DANCE STYLE: Jazz (to “Take On Me” by a-ha)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 35 out of 40

SAFE: Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber

DANCE STYLE: Quickstep (to “Candyman” by Christina Aguilera)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 33 out of 40

SAFE: Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy

DANCE STYLE: Jazz (to “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 34 out of 40

SAFE: Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev

DANCE STYLE: Jazz (to “All for You” by Janet Jackson)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 32 out of 40

SAFE: Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd

DANCE STYLE: Quickstep (to “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 28 out of 40

ELIMINATED: Lele Pons and Brandon Armstrong

DANCE STYLE: Salsa (to “Whenever, Wherever” by Shakira)

JUDGES’ SCORE: 33 out of 40

This one’s an honest shocker. Though Lele and Brandon struggled to emerge from the middle of the leaderboard each week, Lele was showing marked improvement in her attack and technique, and she brought a fire and personality to her performances that several of the bigger frontrunners have lacked. She deserved at least another week or two, and Derek Hough’s dropped jaw seemed to agree.

Were you surprised by Lele and Brandon’s elimination? Tell us below.

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