It wouldn’t be a “Dancing with the Stars” “Disney Night” without the requisite promotion of an upcoming Disney film. In season 25 Nikki Bella‘s jazz routine previewed the eventual Oscar winner for Best Original Song, “Remember Me” from “Coco.” Then in season 27 Joe “Grocery Store Joe” Amabile‘s jive previewed “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” And in season 29 Nelly‘s foxtrot gave us a glimpse at the Oscar-winning “Soul” score.
This year’s “Disney Heroes Night” showcased gymnast Suni Lee dancing a salsa to Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s “Colombia, Mi Encanto” from the upcoming film “Encanto,” and for all we know we just hear the song that will complete Miranda’s EGOT. (He was Oscar-nominated for “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” which was also performed on Monday night, but he was bested by that pesky “City of Stars” from “La La Land.”) Watch Lee’s routine above, and see what the judges had to say about it below.
Derek Hough: “I love seeing you open up more and more each week. I had so much fun. Yo, when you do that stank face — you go girl. That was so great. So much fun. Again, well done.”
Bruno Tonioli: “It was a fiesta of a salsa. You’re getting freer and able to express more every week. Good to see. And the Mickey Mouse challenge, that added some extra flavor to a delicious salsa.”
Carrie Ann Inaba: “What I love is every single move you do, you could take a snapshot and it looks perfect. There’s something so perfect about the way you move. I still want just a little bit more of that, as he called it, stank face.”
Len Goodman: “That was the most expressive that I have seen you. You really came out of your shell. Well done.”
Though Lee follows a long line of successful gymnasts on “DWTS,” including Mirror Ball champions Shawn Johnson and Laurie Hernandez, she has had some trouble putting aside her Olympic perfectionism and expressing the joy and character of each dance, but this was a step in the right direction for the athlete, resulting in eights from Tonioli, Inaba, and Goodman, and a nine from Hough. Do you agree with the judges that she’s getting better at coming out of her shell. And do you want to see more stank face from her in the weeks to come?
