Dancing with the Stars Semi-Finals Are Here! See Next Week's Judge Pairings and Music Choices
With the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars right around the corner, PEOPLE has exclusive details about the night’s performances to get you geared up for next week.
During Monday night’s show, the remaining contestants will perform in two rounds of competition — with higher stakes than ever
The first round will allow the celebrities to perform a “redemption dance,” meaning they can repeat a style of dance they struggled with earlier in the season, set to a new song. The judges will mentor the pairs, too.
Judge Len Goodman will pair up with country singer Lauren Alaina and her partner Gleb Savchenko as they master the paso doble to “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson.
Also mentored by Goodman will be Fifth Harmony alumna Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber dancing the Viennese waltz to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect,” and James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater as they re-learn the cha-cha to “Canned Heart” by Jamiroquai.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba will be working with Bachelorette Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten as they dance the rumba to “Dancing with a Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani.
Finally, judge Bruno Tonioli is set to mentor Kel Mitchell and pro partner Witney Carson in dancing the tango to The Temptation’s “Get Ready.”
During the second competition of the show, the dancers will perform a new style of dance.
Kicking things off will be Alaina and Savchenko dancing the Viennese waltz to “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw. Mitchell and Carson will perform a contemporary routine set to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” Brown and Bersten will perform a contemporary dance to Selena Gomez‘s newest single, “Lose You to Love Me.”
Brooke and Farber will perform the Charleston to “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Ray Chew Live, while Van Der Beek and Slater will dance the foxtrot to Hozier’s “Take Me To Church.”
The semi-final contestants’ chance to take the stage comes following Sean Spicer‘s elimination in last week’s episode. The former White House press secretary revealed that he had “mixed” emotions following the end of his DWTS run.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Spicer, 48, said he’s both “relieved in a way” and “somewhat disappointed” to be going home.
“The judges made the right decision on a night where you had two dances,” he said. “The scores were going to be very difficult to overcome.”
Spicer — who said he lost 20 lbs. during the competition — was in the bottom two on Monday’s DWTS, alongside Alaina.
During the judges’ verdict in the final moments of the live show, Inaba and Tonioli both agreed that Alaina should proceed in the competition, sending Spicer home.
And making things that much harder for the DWTS competitor, Spicer’s pro dancing partner, Lindsay Arnold, missed the past two weeks of competition due to the “unexpected” death of her mother-in-law. (He danced with already eliminated pro Jenna Johnson instead.)
“I’m glad that she’s at home with her family. That’s where she should be,” Spicer said. “Obviously there’s a bit of disappointment that I’m not here with her, but I know how much she loves Jenna. It’s definitely a mixed thing. I want to see her again in the finale. I know how proud she’s been that we’ve gotten as far as we have.”
Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
