Courtesy of Stephen Mease
Welcome back to the Pop Culture Column! This week’s topics include: week three of Dancing with the Stars, Taylor Swift’s new album, the beginning of one music star’s marriage, and the end of another’s.
After the double elimination of two pairs of dancers in week two of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), Tuesday, September 30th’s episode was filled with drama, samba, and guest appearances. It’s clear the stars are gaining confidence and dancing skills with the increasing time spent with their professional partners. As usual, Robert Irwin delivered a sharp and impressive performance with his partner, Witney Carson, and sent a certain fanbase of his into shock with the intentional ripping off of his shirt mid-way through their dance. In my opinion, Whitney Leavitt and Jordan Chiles were the stars of the show. Their separate dances with their respective partners were fast-paced and impossible to look away from, paired with popular upbeat soundtracks (the theme of this week’s performance was “TikTok Night”).
Spoiler incoming: former Fifth Harmony member Lauren Jauregi was the victim of last week’s elimination. This shocked both fans and the cast of DWTS, made clear from the jaw-dropped expressions shown on the live show (and the gasps of my roommates and I). Lauren herself was surprised by her elimination, responding to one of the DWTS hosts that she was “pissed” when asked how she was feeling in that moment (rightfully so, IMO).
The theme of this week’s episode (aired on Tuesday, October 7th) was Disney (as clearly advertised in the episode in which all dancers took a trip to Disneyland with their respective partners). We saw dances to songs from movies like Cars, Ratatouille, High School Musical, and Maleficent. The stars of the stars for me this week were Jen Affleck (partnered with Jan Ravnik, dancing to a song from Aladdin), and Alix Earle (dancing with Val Chmerkovskiy to a song from Maleficent). Both women did a spectacular job dancing and getting into their characters for the dances. However, the judges’ scores for these two dances were not as high as some viewers expected.
Shockingly, Hilaria Baldwin (former ballroom dancer) and her partner, Gleb Savchenko, were eliminated from the competition this week. Baldwin’s dancing skills were up to par with the other contestants, suggesting the voting aspect of the show came into play for this elimination. I personally expected Andy Richter and his dance partner Emma Slater to be eliminated this week, because of Andy’s lack of experience in dance and older age (compared to other contestants like 21 year old Robert Irwin and 24 year old Alix Earle). We’ll find out who makes it to week seven in next week’s episode!
Taylor Swift’s long-anticipated album release, The Life of a Showgirl, has gained the expected responses from the usual suspects — certain people were quick to hate and disapprove of her new music, while the Swifties were quick to defend the album. The lyrics of “Eldest Daughter” in particular have been found to be “cringe,” making the song a quick skip for some. Many listeners cited these lyrics to back up their claims, “So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire, But I’m not a bad b*tch, and this isn’t savage.” While some listeners could applaud the sentiment of the song, they couldn’t get past the “millenial-coded” lyrics. For others, though (mostly eldest daughters turned Swifties), this song in particular became one of their favorite tracks, the lyrics making them feel seen and happy for their perspectives to finally be shared on such a large platform.
Track 7, “Actually Romantic,” is making fans speculate on whether or not Swift is referring to another pop star, Charlie Aitchison a.k.a. Charli XCX. The first lines of Swift’s new song include, “High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me.” Because Aitchison’s husband, George Daniel is a member of the 1975 band, some listeners are interpreting this line as a reference to Swift’s ex-boyfriend Matty Healy, another member of the band (whom Aitchison is seemingly close friends with). Aitchison actually introduced Heely to his now-girlfriend, Gabbriette Bechtel, one of her close friends. The TikTok investigators have done a deep dive into their history, but none of the information has been confirmed as factual. Personally, I see this alleged feud as yet another online discourse pitting female artists against each other. Speculated dialogue like this also causes polarization between fan bases, making listeners feel the need to pick sides between the two artists – quickly. This “feud” (mostly between fans, not the actual artists) has given rise to uncalled-for hate against each singer (personally and professionally), any excuse for a superfan to defend their preferred party.
Another childhood superstar for us 2000s babies made headlines this week as well. Selena Gomez, Disney Channel legend and owner/creator of the cosmetics company Rare Beauty, married music producer Benny Blanco on September 27th. From colleagues to friends to lovers (in 2023), Gomez announced the couple’s officiality in 2023, and then their engagement in December of 2024. I guess when you know you know!
The wedding took place at a beautiful venue in Santa Barbara, California, filled with the couple’s family and friends (including well-known guests Taylor Swift and Steve Martin, and some of the cast of Wizards of Waverly Place). Both Blanco and Gomez wore Ralph Lauren for their wedding-day attire, Blanco in a black suit and Gomez in a custom halter-neck satin white gown.
Gomez looked stunning in her wedding dress, and of course, makeup by Rare Beauty.
On the topic of marriage, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban sadly ended theirs after 19 years together. Consumers of course speculate on the reason for the split, but nothing scandalous has come of note as of yet. However, we know the split was probably more amicable than Kidman’s previous divorce from Tom Cruise, from the lack of her celebrating and dancing in the street following the split becoming official. Even though a picture like that, decades later, would quickly become a well-known image, hopefully Kidman is doing okay after the divorce.
