Dancing with the Stars Ilona Maher scored a big hit with her encanto performance, but I can't get over the unexpectedly horrific element

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Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Dancing with the stars Season 33 episode “Disney Night.” Stream the episode with a Disney+ subscription and read at your own risk!

All eyes were on him Ilona Maher the moment she announced on TikTok that she was dancing to one Encanto song and bring the character Luisa to bring it into the ballroom in the best possible way. Maher definitely looked like the strongest sister in the Madrigal family, and all that Dancing with the stars“In “Disney Night,” she proved she could do some smooth moves too. It was a big night for them and almost perfect if it hadn't been for one terrible element of the performance.

On an evening where I was expecting mild criticism of the selection of Disney Night songs, I was completely surprised by the professional dancer's choice of costume Alan Berstenand I enjoyed seeing similarly enthusiastic reactions from other fans. While the pro did his job as well as we're used to, I'll forgive anyone who forgot what show they were watching because of the demonic-looking donkey-humanoid hybrid on the dance floor.

Alan's donkey costume was legitimate nightmare fuel

I'm not kidding. When I first saw Alan on screen in the latest episode of dancing with the stars, It was a jump scare moment. The fear receptors in my brain responded and I assumed something had gone wrong, and indeed it would be a mistake Pinocchio dance. After that brief fear subsided, I was just more confused than anything DWTS The costume team made it their mission to give Alan the most realistic donkey face he could have. Although I'm not sure real donkeys would be that disruptive.

I also have to point out that the backup dancers who shared the stage with them wore much cuter donkey outfits. The entire time I was watching the performance I was wondering why he hadn't just chosen something similar to their costumes rather than the hideousness of a visual display he was subjecting the audience to. Julianne Hough I didn't take too much notice of it, perhaps afraid that he would appear right next to her if she said his name three times, but I won't deal with her post-dance questions again.

Check out some of the hilarious reactions from fans after watching:

It was so shocking that I think it might even surpass Anna Delvey's post-elimination interviews in that regard. I'm sure Delvey would love it if someone had a positive attitude towards her again, but I'm more interested in how Alan reacts after he goes online after her performance and sees all the reactions to his donkey costume.

Ilona's big night took her to the top of the leaderboard

Danny AmendolaIt's time at the top Dancing with the stars was short-lived, so my thoughts that he could be a top contender were perhaps premature. This week Ilona Maher was able to shine as her score of 52 points (individual score plus team competition score) secured her second place The Bachelor'S Joey Graziadei.

It was quite a jump in the standings for them after a disastrous performance just two weeks earlier. We hope she can capitalize on this momentum and stay at the top of the leaderboard.

Dancing with the stars Continues on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to cast your votes for your Season 33 contestant each week and see what else is on TV afterward by checking out our 2024 TV schedule.