{"id":315671,"date":"2026-02-02T00:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/315671\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T00:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:19:10","slug":"you-might-have-been-locked-up-for-crimes-against-dance-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/315671\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You might have been locked up for crimes against dance\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a bank holiday blubfest on Dancing with the Stars<\/a> (RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm) as Dedication Night unleashes a torrent of tears \u2013 and that\u2019s just judge Brian Redmond when he sees Traitors <\/a>star Paudie Moloney<\/a> boogying in a shiny prison guard outfit.<\/p>\n

Moloney\u2019s routine is played largely for laughs, but elsewhere during an enjoyably earnest evening, the sincerity is non-stop. Heartstrings are yanked during a tribute to the late Julian Benson<\/a>, who twirled his way into the affections of DWTS viewers during his time as an adjudicator.<\/p>\n

The actual dances are full of feels too, with Jordan Dargan, dancing with Rebecca Scott, underscoring his status as a frontrunner when he racks up the first tens of the season and a February \u201cj\u2019adore!\u201d from Arthur Gourounlian.<\/p>\n

\"JordanJordan Dargan and Rebecca Scott. Photograph: Kyran O\u2019Brien \/kobpix <\/p>\n

Dedication Night is one of the things DWTS Ireland does particularly well. It\u2019s impossible not to experience goosebumps as Eric Roberts, dancing with Arianna Favarro, dedicates his tango to his nephew Ois\u00edn, who has cerebral palsy and autism.<\/p>\n

Or to feel tears as Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh, performing with Stephen Vincent, talks about her nephew Daniel, who died from brain cancer. Under the glitter and the applause, it\u2019s a reminder that the celebs are real people \u2013 and that everyone carries a little bit of tragedy in their hearts.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s missing is jeopardy. In recognition of all the emotion on display, eliminations have been pushed forward to next week \u2013 meaning there is absolutely no tension when the winner of the public vote is announced.<\/p>\n

It is Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins, who is safe from expulsion seven days hence. She is understandably relieved \u2013 but the removal of any sense of danger detracts from the excitement.<\/p>\n

\"KatelynKatelyn Cummins and Leonardo Lini. Photograph: Kyran O\u2019Brien\/kobpix <\/p>\n

Katelyn finished second on the night \u2013 a long way behind Dargan, now clearly a favourite for the Glitterball trophy. He\u2019s been an accomplished groover from the get-go, and his slow waltz to Christy Moore has the judges reaching for the superlatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a brave choice for a piece of music,\u201d gushes Brian Redmond.<\/p>\n

\"JudgeJudge Brian Redmond. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was soft, it was elegant,\u201d agrees head judge Oti Mabuse, one of three judges to give him a 10 (Redmond, ever the grinch, reaches for nine).<\/p>\n

At the opposite end of the leaderboard, Paudie Moloney is surely counting down the days until the voting public figuratively stabs him in the back \u2013 so inevitable is his ejection from the contest starting to loom. He and Laura Nolan gave it all jiving to Elvis \u2013 but, in terms of his prospects for the rest of the series, Paudie has surely already left the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you weren\u2019t playing the part of the prison guard, you might have been locked up for crimes against dance,\u201d says Brian Redmond. A score of 11 feels generous.<\/p>\n

\"JulianJulian Benson, a dancer and choreographer who became known as a judge on RT\u00c9\u2018s Dancing with the Stars, died aged 54 in 2025<\/p>\n

The undoubted centrepiece, however, is the routine dedicated to Julian Benson.<\/p>\n

The pro dancers perform a beautiful routine to Donna Summer\u2019s Last Dance, with some of Benson\u2019s signature OTT jackets as backdrop.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little bit of sentiment, a little bit of emotion,\u201d says Brian Redmond, before reaching for Benson\u2019s favourite catchphrase. \u201cCha-cha boom-a licious. Baby baby boom!\u201d<\/p>\n

Outrageous, bittersweet and full of verve, Benson would have loved it to bits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a bank holiday blubfest on Dancing with the Stars (RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm) as Dedication Night unleashes a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[123895,141300,141299,5071,18,117,19,17,133434,153459,61956,119233,49410,153460,153461],"class_list":["post-315671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-anne-cassin","tag-arthur-gourounlian","tag-brian-redmond","tag-dancing-with-the-stars","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jennifer-zamparelli","tag-karen-byrne","tag-laura-fox","tag-niamh-kavanagh","tag-oti-mabuse","tag-philip-doyle","tag-tolu-makay"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115998174261328660","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}