Laurie Hernandez is cute as a button on Dancing With The Stars, and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, definitely knows how to play up that side of her. For their freestyle dance, Val incorporated some playground elements to put together the sweetest, most joyful, and most youthful number for Laurie Hernandez on Dancing With The Stars .
Since the contestants are so close to the Mirrorball trophy, it’s time to go big — you’re not going to the finals if you don’t choreograph a major number for your freestyle. It’s kind of the Hail Mary pass of Dancing With The Stars dances. You hit it, or you don’t hit it, and you go home. Luckily, Val brought in leafy trees, a merry-go-round, and other playground accouterments to add to the story he was telling with Laurie. Laurie, of course, nailed her dance routine and sailed into the finals. I have to think that her adorable nature and likability obviously had something to do with it, but let’s give Val credit where credit is due for coming up with that number. The judges also loved it, giving Val and Laurie sky-high scores and sending them straight into the final night of Dancing With The Stars.
But can she win? I think Laurie has a really great chance of taking home that big, shiny disco ball — probably the best chance out of any of the remaining dancers. She’s not the best dancer, I don’t think, but she is the most public, the most adorable, and the most recognizable. That’s big in the Dancing With The Stars world! If Laurie dances her best in the finale, she could be standing alongside a trophy that’s as big as she is.
Images: Eric McCandless/ABC
