DWTS 5th Judge: Did Eric Roberts, Reginald VelJohnson Survive Double Elimination as New Frontrunner Rises?

Consistently at the bottom of the leaderboard, but still on Dancing with the Stars after four weeks, did Eric Roberts and Reginald VelJohnson survive their second double-elimination in a row -- and did they actually improve enough to deserve it?

"Have you ever listened to '80s pop rock and thought, 'This would be great to ballroom dance to!' ... ?" Probably not, but at least Dancing with the Stars acknowledged the silliness of this "Hair Metal Night" premise right at the top, even bringing out Kiss icon Gene Simmons as a guest judge and Whitesnake's Joel Hoekstra as a special guest guitarist.

Gene was as unhinged and out of control as you'd expect a rock-and-roll legend to be, leading to some wild and crazy moments. He was also digging all the beautiful women (and men) of the cast this season, while clearly not quite knowing who they all were (especially Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik, who confused him with some pommel horse moves).

The combination of scores from the last two nights of televised competition left us with a new top of the leaderboard after one stellar performance. But the big story of the week was if Reginald VelJohnson and Eric Roberts could stumble into next week's show by surviving yet again.

Both men have been consistently at the bottom of the leaderboard, and yet they both survived the double elimination two weeks ago. Could they actually do it again? Could they actually improve in the fourth week of the competition? There's only one way to find out!

Fair warning, since I'm safe at home, I'm probably going to be a little harsher than my colleagues Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Gene Simmons, and Bruno Tonioli. But I might be nicer, too. Maybe.

HAIR METAL NIGHT

Danny Amendola & Witney Carson

(Paso doble - "Livin' on a Prayer," Bon Jovi) Even before the jacket mishap -- which he played off and recovered from very well -- Danny was struggling a bit with keeping track of the early choreography. Overall, though, he did a nice job of capturing the tone of this piece and keeping up with Witney's demanding expectations. If you're gonna get scores like the big boys, you've gotta be able to step it up. His anxious performance kept him staccato-rushing through those moves to try and be where he needed to be when he needed to be there.

Judges Scores: 7, 7, 9, 7

My Score: 7

Reginald VelJohnson & Emma Slater

(Cha-cha-cha - "I Wanna Rock," Twisted Sister) Battling through a recent knee replacement explains some of Reginald's stiffness, but certainly not all of it. He continues to do minimal movement throughout these routines. If he's supposed to step forward, he tepidly steps forward about three inches. Mostly, he just stands there and awkwardly flails his arms about. This was about as nothing of a performance as the first three. Basically, Emma works her butt off dancing around Reginald, who just stands there. If possible, this was actually a step backward.

Judges Scores: 6, 5, 5, 5

My Score: 1

Chandler Kinney & Brandon Armstrong

(Jive - "We're Not Gonna Take It," Twisted Sister) The connection we were missing last week showed up in spades this week as Chandler tried to find her bad girl self to channel for this jive. We loved the pep in her step as she proved more than capable of keeping up with the hectic temp and demands of the style. She did start to peter out toward the end, but Brandon had her working hard out there! She continues to find ways to grow and improve, even from the frontrunner position. Is she peaking too early? We'll have to wait and see, but she ain't going nowhere yet!

Judges Scores: 8, 8, 9, 8

My Score: 8

Brooks Nader & Gleb Savchenko

(Cha-cha-cha - "Nothin' But a Good Time," Poison) Being friends with Bret Michaels' daughter Raine, Brooks got some motivation from the Poison frontman during rehearsal after their rumba left the judges feeling me, and Gleb declaring their scoring "f--king bulls--t!" He needs to be careful his feelings for Brooks don't get in the way of him doing his job. He might have a skewed perception of her based on personal feelings, but the judges don't.

Did they lick each other's tongues halfway through this piece? Again, we kind of felt he didn't quite do as much cha-cha content as he could have in the time allotted. There was a lot of "mucking about" (as Len Goodman would have said). At the same time, she's proven she can move, so the cha-cha we did get had great energy, placement, consistency, attack … all the things. She's got it, so let her flaunt that.

Judges Scores: 8, 8, 9, 8 [Gene showed a 10]

My Score: 7

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Stephen Nedoroscik & Rylee Arnold

(Foxtrot - "Here I Go Again," Whitesnake) A little stiff in his movements, but we have to applaud Stephen for fully reining in that frantic energy that's taken over each of his previous performances. This was the most restrained we've seen him, and while it revealed some hesitation, it also showcased the beginnings of the tools he needs -- now he needs to work on the finesse and artistry. We saw those heel leads, the footwork, the effort. He was in this piece from start to finish, though we also felt a little less confident -- or maybe it's just that it was a little less than when it was too much.

Judges Scores: 8, 8, 8, 8

My Score: 6

Dwight Howard & Daniella Karagach

(Paso doble - "Walk This Way," Aerosmith) A vast improvement over last week's disastrous performance, Dwight definitely had the attitude of the style. He needs to work on a little more of the proper character in his hands (which were splayed and stiff). There's a difference between hitting sharp and hard for the paso and moving like Frankenstein's monster. He split the difference of the two, and with his gargantuan size, it did stand out. That said, he was doing the positioning he needed to do, so we're talking detail work now.

Judges Scores: 8, 7, 7, 7

My Score: 7

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Eric Roberts & Britt Stewart

(Paso doble - "Cherry Pie," Warrant) Britt was literally pulling Eric to where he needed to be. He was basically very cautiously walking around the dance floor with very tiny kicks and no musicality or artistry to his movements at all. This was a step backwards from last week as there was no sense of feeling behind it. We're four weeks into this competition and you're proving that you can almost walk around almost doing the steps while Britt dances her heart out all around you. This was disappointing and definitely not strong enough by any measure.

Judges Scores: 6, 5, 6, 5

My Score: 2

Ilona Maher & Alan Bersten

(Jive - "Cum on Feel the Noize," Quiet Riot) Ilona may have been more in her element with this high-energy piece, but very little of this performance was totally successful. The lift move toward the end faltered the landing, the jump was a little too heavy, her musicality was all over the place (as if she wasn't even able to hear a beat to follow), it seemed she lost her spot over and over. It was flat-footed in heels and a pretty big misfire for someone who's been a pretty consistent performer. She looked more uncomfortable in this dance than we've seen in weeks from her.

Judges Scores: 7, 6, 7, 6

My Score: 5

Jenn Tran & Sasha Farber

(Paso doble - "The Final Countdown," Europe) Sasha gave Jenn some lead moments in a powerful piece that she really attacked head-on. There were some great moments from the Bachelorette, including strong moments in frame, a lot of physical attack in the footwork and nice shaping. We could have used an even harder hit with the arms and slamming into those pose moments, but she continues to show she can get there with these diffferent styles.

Judges Scores: 8, 8, 7, 8

My Score: 8

Phaedra Parks & Val Chmerkovskiy

(Paso doble - "You Give Love a Bad Name," Bon Jovi) The attitude was definitely on point with this one, but a lot of the steps weren't as strong. She was moved into place early on, lost her footing more than once, forgot to maintain proper movement in her arms between poses, and even seemed to lose her place in her head when it came to the choreography. When she was on, though, we did see moments of good paso poses, stomps. The shaping could definitely use a polish and shine here and there, but it was definitely a passable paso.

Judges Scores: 7, 7, 5, 7

My Score: 6

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Joey Graziadei & Jenna Johnson

(Tango - "Rock You Like a Hurricane," Scorpions) Right away, Alfonso Ribeiro came out to explain that this song was chosen weeks ago and that all the show's love and support went to the victims of Hurricane Helen and those now in the path of Hurricane Milton. He encouraged everyone to support the Red Cross, and ABC even opted not to have this dance on their official YouTube page.

As for the dance itself, we can see why it was saved for last because Joey came out all attack. From the drums to the dancefloor, he was in the zone and fully committed to the piece. The frame was nice and consistent, he was hitting hard, nailing those fast-moving turns, and really stepping up as a present partner for Jenna. This didn't look like a pro dancing around an amateur, but rather two going at it with equal conviction. That cemented his frontrunner status as the strongest dance of the night.

Judges Scores: 9, 9, 9, 9

My Score: 9

DOUBLE ELIMINATION

Once again, it should be obvious which couples go home as both Reginald VelJohnson and Eric Roberts actually got worse than the previous week, and are firmly at the bottom of the pack in combined scores. But this is Dancing with the Stars, and that rarely seems to matter.

Instead, it's so much about that fan support, which could be bad news for those just above the duo, which means Dwight Howard, Ilona Maher, Phaedra Parks, and even Danny Amendola and Brooks Nader. Never underestimate the power of a fanbase.

Based on fanbase, we really started to worry about Ilona, because she had a very tough night -- and people have short memories -- and her Olympic fanbase probably isn't as big as an NBA legend or Real Housewives royalty. Danny was a solid enough performer, we suspect he'll be safe.

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So our prediction heading into these results was that Ilona might fall, but we would also at least lose one of the two struggling at the bottom of the leaderboard. Of the two, though, we just had a feeling that it would be Eric, as Reginald has this adorably huge fanbase backing his unlikely journey.

The first stars sent to safety were Joey Graziadei, Brooks Nader, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Chandler Kinney. They were followed by Jenn Tran, Phaedra Parks, Danny Amendola, and Dwight Howard. That literally left Ilona Maher alone with both Eric Roberts and Reginald VelJohnson, almost surely sealing her doom.

In the final moments, it was good news for Ilona as America finally got it right after four long weeks, sending both Reginald and Eric home. Both of them had enjoyable journeys, but it was time for them both to go home. Now, Ilona will surely work harder than ever to ensure she's not here again any time soon!

Dancing with the Stars is back Tuesday night for "Dedication Night" with guest judge Mark Ballas at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.