Dancing With the Stars contestants paid homage to the late great Whitney Houston during the Tuesday, November 14, episode.
The night kicked off with guest judge Billy Porter performing Houston’s 1985 hit “How Will I Know” with DWTS pros dancing around him.
“In her time, Whitney established a new benchmark for superstardom and left a legacy of amazing music,” cohost Alfonso Ribeiro said of Houston after the performance.
Pat Houston, executor of Whitney’s estate as well as her sister-in-law and longtime manager, was in the audience. “[Whitney] would be elated that you’re honoring her tonight,” Pat told Ribeiro, 52, during the episode.
Alyson Hannigan had a particularly strong connection to the Whitney song she performed, “The Greatest Love of All.” During a confessional, Hannigan, 49, explained how the song helped her through her difficult childhood when she was “alone a lot.”
“It was the first song that introduced the idea of self-love and I needed it so bad when I was a kid,” she continued through tears. “This song got me through so much and I’m gonna thank the song with this dance.”
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was moved by Hannigan’s Contemporary routine with partner Sasha Farber.
“It’s been a long time since I actually cried up here,” Inaba, 55, said while wiping away tears. “That was storytelling and I just wanna thank you.”
While Hannigan reflected on her past, Harry Jowsey learned a new skill ahead of his performance on Tuesday. His partner, Rylee Arnold, brought him to a ballet class to prepare for their Viennese waltz.
“This class is completely out of my comfort zone but I wanna show the judges that I’m listening to their critiques and I wanna be a better dancer,” Jowsey, 26, told cameras. “This class is completely out of my comfort zone but I wanna show the judges that I’m listening to their critiques and I wanna be a better dancer.”
While Inaba told Jowsey she saw “true grace peeking out from the corners of every movement,” Bruno Tonioli still saw room for improvement. “Your bum stuck out a lot,” Tonioli, 67, said.
At the end of the evening, Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd and Jowsey and Arnold, 18, had the lowest scores of the evening. Williams, 69, and Murgatroyd, 37, were ultimately eliminated.
“This has been the most wonderful experience of my life. The support, the fans, family and everyone here has made this a complete delight from start to finish,” Williams said after the results were revealed.
In addition to the partnered dances, the contestants also participated in a series of dance-offs during the episode.
Hannigan and Farber, 39, beat out Jowsey and Arnold, Williams and Murgatroyd beat out Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach, while Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev emerged victorious from their dance battle aginst Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy. Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov were immune from the dance-off as the duo with the highest score last week.
Keep scrolling to see all the performers’ scores from Whitney Houston Night: