Despite losing his glasses in the middle of his tango with professional dance partner Rylee Arnold in Tuesday’s “Dancing with the Stars” semifinals, 2024 Olympic double bronze medalist Stephen Nedoroscik kept his performance in focus and ultimately advanced to the season finale.
“These few months have been nothing short of amazing,” Nedoroscik said. “I’ve put my mind and body through it, trying to make sure I get these dances perfect. And I’m not stopping. I won an Olympic medal and now I’m coming for that mirror ball (trophy).”
Dancing to “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap in their second of two performances in the episode, Nedoroscik and Arnold earned 28 points from judges Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba and Derek Hough.
“Mission to tango accomplished,” Tonioli told Nedoroscik. “You were so on it. You were really concentrating and trying to get the timing right. Even during the crescendo section, your face was like, ‘I want to do this.’ You did it.”
Inaba commended Nedoroscik for staying in step as his glasses went crooked and eventually fell off during his tango with Arnold.
“You did something not many people could do,” Inaba said. “You led her through that dance like a pro.”
Hough referred to the performance as a “triumphant moment” that was superior to the pair’s cha-cha earlier in the episode.
“It was a hard week, but I’m an Olympian and I’m going to bounce back for the second dance,” said Nedoroscik after his and Arnold’s cha-cha to “Bailar” by Deorro featuring Elvis Crespo.
All three judges offered commendations and critiques of the pair’s cha-cha, which they awarded 25 out of 30 points.
“It’s hard not to root for everything you do,” said Hough to Nedoroscik. “However, I feel like this dance got a little of the better of you. Some bent legs, the heel leads everywhere, turned-in feet. But you had some strong moments as well.”
Tonioli likened Nedoroscik’s performance to “watching a kind in a candy store,” also noting some technical inaccuracies.
“Not quite Ricky Martin yet, but you captured the feel of the dance,” Tonioli told Nedoroscik. “You worked very, very hard. You have to work a bit harder in the foot placement and the hip action.”
Inaba noted some mistakes in Nedoroscik’s performance but encouraged him ahead of his second dance of the episode.
“I feel like we went backwards a step with the musicality,” Inaba said. “Especially in this dance, we wanted to see the musicality flowing through your body. There were a lot of moments where you were kind of still, and a little few missteps. I know you’re great under pressure. We’ve seen it before. So come back on the next one and do your thing.”
Although Nedoroscik and Arnold’s two-dance total score of 53 points was the lowest among the five pairs, no pair was eliminated in the semifinals. All five pairs have advanced to next Tuesday’s finale.
Nedoroscik, a Worcester, Massachusetts, native who turned 26 on October 28, won the 2021 world title and four consecutive U.S. national titles on pommel horse from 2021-24. In 2020 he earned a degree electrical engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, where he won the NCAA pommel horse title in 2017 and 2018. He claimed bronze medals on pommel horse and in the team final at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
