On season 33 episode seven of “Dancing with the Stars” (DWTS), 2024 bachelorette Jenn Tran performed her final dance alongside her partner, Sasha Farber. As Halloween Nightmares night aired October 29, Tran unknowingly executed her last dance which received notable adoration and brought awe to the audience before the revealing of her elimination. Tran’s goodbye to the show after multiple outstanding performances showcases the unbelievable decision judges formed for that night. Now, judges face criticism for her removal as Tran’s elimination appeared unfair, with audiences arguing for the National Basketball Association (NBA) star Dwight Howard to ultimately withdraw from the show.
“I was really disappointed when I saw she got eliminated. I think she was showing a lot of improvement so it wasn’t fair that she had to go home early. And I think her fans were really sad that they didn’t get to watch her for longer, I know I was. She and Sasha had some really fun dances so it’s disappointing they couldn’t continue,” magnet junior Avery Moore said.
Tran and Farber performed a contemporary dance to Olivia Rodrigo’s song “Vampire” with spooky, dark themes to fully capture the essence of Halloween night. Tran’s individual routine earned her highest personal scores of the season: receiving two nines and one 10 — her first 10 of the season given by judge Carrie Ann Inaba. Tran and Farber glided through the dance moves and hit all of their points perfectly, helping them receive higher scores and hopefully beating their neck-to-neck competitors, duo Howard and Daniela Karagach. The dancers received remarkable comments on their routine from the judging panel; Judge Derek Hough expressed his opinions on their dance as impressive as well as lovely with their partnership while Bruno Tonioli stated that Tran remained steadily in control the entire time. These reviews left fans sure of Tran and Farber’s position in the finale before the shocking elimination.
After all the duos performed their individual routines, the dance-off routines commenced. Tran and Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik performed their dance-off to “Jump in the Line” by Harry Belafonte from the movie “Beetlejuice” (1988), both dancing the salsa. While both dancers executed difficult routines, Tran and Farber took the win. This win helped showcase the need for them to remain in the competition. Tran received an additional three points to her overall score, leaving her at a total of 31 points for the night — bringing her up to third place on the leaderboard.
On the other hand, Tran’s challengers, Howard and Karagach stirred up the tough competition. Fans expressed immediate backlash from the decision to keep Howard on the show, kicking Tran out for the rest of the season. Since the start of the show, Howard had struggled to progress from the bottom of the leaderboard which led fans to believe he would remain on the show for a short time. However, Howard’s routine to “Ring Around the Rosie” by District 78 received nothing but positive feedback from the judges. As Howard twirled and lifted Karagach into the air, audiences fell astonished by the advanced skills they performed, ultimately adding exceptional visuals. These moves brought them higher viewer votes for the night, unexpectedly moving them up the scoreboard. Unfortunately, a striking number of fans failed to text Tran’s name to the DWTS hotline, a number which allows fans to vote for their favorite duos, leaving her with the lowest amount of viewer votes — ultimately allowing Howard an advantage against elimination.
Howard and Karagach received a tying score with Tran and Farber of 28 out of 30 after individual dances. Following dance-offs, similar to Tran, Howard received an extra three points to his overall score after securing the win against Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten — tying him against Tran once again.
“I’m very proud of myself. I didn’t think I could do all the things I did today — we won the dance-off, we salsa-ed, we moved our hips and we did a contemporary. We ended out on a bang, and I’m so proud of everything I’ve learned to do, conquering my fear of stage fright of moving my hips all at once,” Tran said.
While Howard and Tran both received their first 10 of the season alongside winning their dance-off routines, audiences seem to strongly care for Tran’s survival on DWTS in comparison to Howard. In addition to Tran’s harsh finale on “The Bachelorette,” her elimination shows unfairness among the DWTS community. The NBA star had received the lowest scores almost every week leading up to episode seven, which fuels the rage fans felt towards his advance. Tran’s first 10, the dance-off win and her topping in the leaderboard surprisingly brought her to elimination mid-season. As fans and DWTS pros grieve the absence of Tran for the remainder of the season, judges continue to face backlash as she leaves the stage.
