Spoilers ahead for Music Video Night of Dancing with the Stars Season 32.
After the Season 32 celebrities embraced their spooky sides for Dancing with the Stars' Monster Night in the 2023 TV schedule, they channeled their inner pop stars for Music Video Night. This meant individual performances that ranged from Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber paying homage to Christina Aguilera via a "Candyman"-themed dance to Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov's take on Britney Spears' "I'm A Slave 4 U" to Harry Howsey and Rylee Arnold taking a boy band turn with NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me." It was the two group dances that I can't get out of my head, however, and not in a good way after seeing Psy's "Gangnam Style" vs. Backstreet Boys' "Everybody."
The remaining eight celebs were split into two teams of four. Team Young'n Style was comprised of Harry Howsey with partner Rylee Arnhold, Lele Pons with Brandon Armstrong, Xochitl "Little Marvelette" Gomez with Val Chmerkovskiy, and Charity Lawson with Artem Chigvintsev for Psy's "Gangnam Style." Team 4 Everybody was made up of Alyson Hannigan with Sasha Farber, Jason Mraz with Daniella Karagach, Ariana Madix with Pasha Pashkov, and Barry Williams with Peta Murgatroyd for Backstreet Boys' "Everybody."
As a child of the '90s, I was rooting for Team 4 Everybody as soon as soon as DWTS made it clear that NSYNC wasn't the only boy bad getting a tribute in Music Video Night. As somebody who had a collection of Backstreet Boys CDs and VHS tapes in my day, there was no way I wasn't immediately rooting for the team that was getting "Everybody."
But as a person who was alive in 2012, I practically had "Gangnam Style" stuck in my head as soon as it was announced for Music Video Night. Still, I was fully prepared to be on board the BSB number to get top marks and the Psy number to score lower, especially since the show already did "Gangnam Style" prior to Season 32. And I did love the DWTS take on "Everybody," because how could I not?
But as painful as it is to admit, I didn't think that Team 4 Everybody's Backstreet Boys number was the better group dance of the night, and neither did the judges. Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli, and guest judge Paula Abdul gave them a total score of 37 our of 40. It practically hurts to even type that!
In all seriousness, I'm still far more likely to listen to "Everybody" on repeat than risk getting "Gangnam Style" stuck in my head by listening to it even once... but Team Young'n Style crushed their group dance, complete with Charity Lawson showing off her cheerleading background and everybody sporting matching costumes. I have to agree with the judges' results.
Honestly, kudos to them for winning me over, especially after DWTS alum A.J. McLean showed up to support Team 4 Everybody. "Gangnam Style" just had the energy to give them the edge and earn them a perfect score of 40 out of 40:
Team Young'n Style getting that perfect score and even winning me over against a Backstreet Boys number made it all the more surprising that one of the "Gangnam Style" celebrities was eliminated. Lele Pons, who started the night with a thrilling performance of Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever," was eliminated after the votes were tallied, to the surprise of her partner Brandon Armstrong. Her journey is now over on Dancing with the Stars.
There are still seven celebs in the running for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, through, and Alyson Hannigan is one week closer to achieving her dream of making it to Taylor Swift Night, which was confirmed shortly before Music Video Night. New episodes of Dancing with the Stars Season 32 will continue airing on ABC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, and streaming at the same time for viewers with Disney+ subscriptions.
