Mariah Carey Night delivered one of the strongest scoreboards of Dancing With the Stars Season 35 so far — but another surprising elimination proved that strong judges’ scores still don’t guarantee safety.
The October 6 episode saw the remaining 12 couples perform routines set entirely to Mariah Carey songs, with several celebrities delivering personal bests and major breakthroughs.
The biggest moment of the night belonged to Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas.
The pair performed a Waltz to “If It’s Over,” and the routine immediately stood out for its control, emotion and traditional ballroom content.
Carrie Ann Inaba was especially impressed and awarded Maura a 9 — her first 9 of the entire season.
Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli each followed with an 8, giving Maura and Mark 25 out of 30, the highest score of Mariah Carey Night.
The result marked a major step forward for Maura after she previously admitted that criticism during the competition had been difficult for her to handle.
This time, however, she found herself sitting at the very top of the leaderboard.
Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson, and Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach followed closely behind, each receiving 24 out of 30.
But at the opposite end of the leaderboard, Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson once again faced a much different reaction from the judges.
Their Samba to “Obsessed” earned 4s from Carrie Ann and Derek and a 5 from Bruno, resulting in just 13 out of 30 — the lowest score of the entire night.
Guillermo has repeatedly found himself near the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard during Season 35, yet his popularity with viewers has continued to keep him in the competition.
That pattern continued on Mariah Carey Night.
Despite the 13-point score, Guillermo and Witney survived another elimination.
Instead, Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong were sent home.
Ciara had opened the show with a Jazz routine to “Emotions” and earned three 7s for a respectable 21 out of 30.
Carrie Ann even described it as Ciara’s best dance of the competition so far.
But when the final results were announced, Ciara and Brandon were eliminated while several couples with lower judges’ scores remained.
Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold scored 19, Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik earned 20, and Guillermo and Witney finished with just 13 — yet all three couples advanced.
The result once again demonstrated how unpredictable Dancing With the Stars can become once viewer voting is combined with the judges’ scores.
A strong position on the leaderboard can help, but it doesn’t guarantee that a couple has enough audience support to survive.
For Ciara and Brandon, that reality became especially painful because their elimination came immediately after what judges considered their strongest performance.
Meanwhile, Guillermo continues to prove that judges’ scores tell only part of the story.
And at the top, Maura Higgins appears to be moving in the opposite direction — turning earlier criticism into her best score yet and finally receiving that coveted first 9.
Mariah Carey Night may have been built around huge songs and glamorous performances, but by the end of the episode, it was the enormous gap between the judges’ leaderboard and the elimination result that had viewers talking most.
