On “Dancing With the Stars” this week, Xochitl Gomez, alongside Val Chmerkovskiy, brought the house down with a jazz routine to Gwen Stefani’s anthem, “Hollaback Girl”. Their performance was nothing short of a high-energy masterpiece, with a playful edge that captured the essence of the original music video.

The judges were captivated, with Paula Abdul calling their partnership one of the most “provocative and surprising” of the season. Bruno Tonioli praised Xochitl’s charisma, while Carrie Ann Inaba commended her for owning the performance despite the hat mishap. Derek Hough hailed the routine as “brilliant”, even as he noted “a little disconnect”.

Tallying up the night, the scores from the judges were impressive: Carrie Ann and Paula both scored it a 9, while Derek and Bruno gave 8s, culminating in a commendable 34 out of 40.