Tonight on Lifetime Abby Lee Miller’s Dance Moms continues with an all new Tuesday August 11 season 5 finale called, “Chaos at Nationals,” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, ALDC’s competition season comes to a close with Nationals and the girls feel the pressure to remain undefeated and prevail in LA over their rivals at Broadway Dance Academy.
On the last episode with only one week left until Nationals, the ALDC was facing the super talented MDP who were bringing their best routine yet. Abby gives Kalani and Nia head-to-head solos to determine who got the senior division solo next week. On top of prepping for this battle, Nia was really feeling the pressure as she was also shooting her second music video, hoping to cement her status as a pop star. Was she be able to balance both? Did you watch the episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the Lifetime synopsis, “ALDC’s competition season comes to a close with Nationals and the girls feel the pressure to remain undefeated and prevail in LA over their rivals at Broadway Dance Academy. But with Abby opening her new studio the day before competition, the girls are left with little time to prepare. The girls give their all to make their leader proud but the tension spirals out of control, leading to a chaotic ending unlike any Nationals before.”
Tonight’s episode is going to be another drama packed evening, which you won’t want to miss. So be sure to tune in for our live coverage of Lifetime’s Dance Mom’s Season 5 episode 26 – tonight at 9 PM EST! While you wait for our recap, hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about this new episode of Dance Moms tonight!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
#DanceMoms starts at ALDC LA and it’s nationals week. Abby says it’s the culmination of a year’s worth of work. It’s their fifth season at nationals and they’ve won every time they’ve gone. Abby says this year they won 15 out of 25 competitions and it’s 10 group losses so it’s not good odds. Jill says Abby has been erratic and missing practices and says they need Abby to focus and lead them to victory. Abby says Jeanette is performing with the Candy Apples and is still stalking them.
She says Jeanette is the last of her worries. Saturday is the grand opening of ALDC LA. She says it’s not finished and there is a lot to be done. Jess says the studio is nowhere near finished and they have three days til nationals. On pyramid, JoJo is at the bottom. Mackenzie is next then Kendall. She says Kendall was good but needs to strive for perfection. Next is Kalani for coming in 3rd. Then it’s Maddie for doing well in group. Nia is at the top for winning her solo.
Abby says Maddie gets a solo for nationals called Someone Special. She says she thought Kalani would get the second solo. Jill says Abby said that the winner would get the other solo and says Nia should get it. Holly says that’s what she said and Jess agrees too. Kira says she doesn’t agree and says that last competition was judged by kids so it wasn’t a fair battle. Holly and Kira start an argument and then tells Abby that Nia has never had a solo at nationals and is the only one who hasn’t. Nia gets it.
Abby says it’s called No Matter What. Holly says Abby was grudging in giving it to her. Abby says the group is in a hospital waiting room and says their group routines have always done well at nationals. Abby starts rehearsals. Over at the BDA rehearsal space, Jeanette says they are targeting beating ALDC at nationals. She says the group dance is about a moving target and says the girls have all been victimized by Abby. She says Ava will have the solo and the other moms do not clap. They are doing a little mermaid story for the solo.
Back at ALDC, they are working on the group number. Abby says imagine if your loved ones are brought in by ambulance from a car crash and you’re waiting on news. Abby says this is an emotional piece. Maddie is the lead and Abby says she’s the only choice and she hopes she can pull it off. Abby says their feet are sloppy and says she has to go pick up flooring. Jill criticizes her for leaving and Abby says she needs a lot of stuff done and none of them would be in LA if not for her.
Jill says nationals is once a year and she’s bailing on them and there’s no reason she has to do this during nationals rehearsals. Melissa says Abby has left the building. The ALDC people are back over at 3rd street to rehearse with Gianna. She says she’s starting with solos and says Abby is really busy today. Jill is annoyed and says it’s not fair to their kids for her not to be there and says BDA has great dancers and they can’t discount them.
Over at the BDA space, Jeanette is working Ava’s solo. Jeanette whines about Abby kicking Ava off the team and says this is revenge. She tells Ava she has to show Abby how much better she’s gotten. At lunch, the moms complain about Abby and Kira says Abby doesn’t think about how much they and the kids have given up. She says most teachers show up the day before nationals for practice. Kira says the soloists don’t have a fair shot. Holly says Nia is excited even if Abby isn’t around. She says Nia got first place and shot her second music video so it’s good but Abby isn’t there.
Gianna works with Nia and says it’s her first solo at nationals. Holly says the song is a beautiful song that represents her journey. Then Gianna works with Maddie and tells her how special she is and says she knows how to win at nationals. Melissa says Maddie was working with Sia last year and couldn’t compete at nationals. Melissa says Maddie is always focused even with Abby not there. Jeanette calls Holly and asks how they’re doing. She says they’re having a good day.
Jess asks who has the solo and she says Ava. Holly says they’ll see what happens at nationals. Jill says Jeanette is still trying to prove that Ava should be on the team and the other moms say Ava could beat Maddie but Melissa says she hasn’t beaten her this year. Kira says Gianna doesn’t have time to perfect two solos in one day. Melissa says Ava in no way compares to Maddie. Two days before the competition, the ladies are at lunch when Abby shows up to the rehearsal space.
She tells the moms it must be nice to sit on your ass all day like that. Holly says she’s just happy that Abby showed up. The girls do the group number for her and she says she needs to see more emotion from them. She says Gianni got a lot of work done but needs to see more emotion. Melissa tells Maddie to think about when the first person she knew died. Maddie goes to hug Abby because she thinks about Abby’s mom dying. Abby says actors go back to things in her life. Jill says they’ve been through so much this season.
Over at BDA, Jeanette talks about pulling it all together and tells the girls to imagine Abby’s face on the target. She says they are there to get revenge on Abby by winning nationals. She says she is tired of being Abby’s target and of Ava being Abby’s target. At the ALDC LA grand opening, everyone is there and Melissa says it looks amazing. Abby tells the girls to put on game faces. There is a line down the block and around the corner in LA and Abby says she never thought she would do this.
They open the door and says there’s no turning back now. Little girls by the hundreds flood in. Security is there trying to control the crowd. Abby says they are excited to see her and the girls and maybe even the moms. There are people there from Saudi Arabia, Scotland and all across the US. Singing group Wilson Philips shows up and the moms says Abby is a new person today. Abby is crying over her success but says she has to focus on nationals after the 1000+ peope showed up for the grand opening.
It’s nationals competition day and Abby’s screaming fans are out in force. Holly says there is underlying tension regarding Jeanette and says this is the least preparation they’ve ever had for nationals. Nia isn’t pleased with her costume but her mom says at least she gets to dance at nationals. She also says it’s intense going into the teen division. Maddie is in the junior division competing against Ava. Then Jeanette walks in the room an Abby says only an idiot would walk in like that.
Abby says they have to get moving. She says Ava wanted to say good luck. Melissa says Jeanette is a fool and is pathetic. She says Abby keeps beating her and she needs to accept it and move on. Abby tells Nia she has a music career and a video coming out and Maddie is the it girl. She says they have to get out there and show what they can do. She says they are at a certain level and need to stay there. Abby says she won’t make it in LA if the girls choke.
Nia does her solo first and one of Jeanette’s girls gives her a quick hug before she goes out. Her costume looks like a nightgown with a broach on it. Then her music skips and she keeps going. The crowd gives her a big cheer. JoJo asks what happened and Nia says it skipped to a whole different part. Holly says it cut out 30 seconds of her solo but Nia did amazingly no matter what. Ava is next and she says last nationals she was kicked off Abby’s team but says she’s going to show her what she’s missing.
Her costume is so skimpy that Ava looks near naked plus it shows off how cadaver-thin she is. What is Jeanette thinking. The kid is showing too much skin to be appropriate plus it draws attention to her overly thin frame. Abby says she thought it was awful. Jeanette thinks Abby is scared. Maddie solo is next and Abby says this is Maddie’s year and says she has to strike while the iron is hot and she expects her to put Ava in her place.
Maddie starts her solo with an offstage pose in front of the judges. The crowd goes wild when she’s done and Abby says she nailed it and was excellent. Holly told Nia she was awesome and then she tells Abby they skipped her music. Holly says Abby was MIA all week but it still went well. They get ready for the group number. Holly says Abby has so much going on and says Abby wants to be at the top of her game to attract people to her new studio.
Abby tells the girls it’s been a rocky year but maybe it makes them stronger for next time and says to go out there and win like always. Abby says losing to Jeanette is not an option and says her reputation is on the line. Jeanette’s group, BDA, is up first. The group is in age-inappropriate costumes that look like bustiers and bras. What is Jeanette thinking. The applause is okay. Holly says it was a powerful performance. ALDC is up next for their waiting room group number.
Abby says she expects them to be brilliant and says Jeanette’s group number was interesting. She wants to make the other groups sweat. The crowd goes wild at the end. Melissa says it was so moving and says there were people behind them in tears and says the girls did their job. It’s now awards time. First is teen solos. Holly says the odds were stacked against Nia with the music skipping. Nia takes 2nd at nationals and Holly is thrilled. She says that’s ahead of the game compared to last season.
Next is junior solos. Melissa says Ava was meh. Abby points out one kid danced in two different levels and then someone calls the girl back up and takes her trophy back because he made a mistake. Maddies takes 2nd place and Melissa says it’s crazy and asks who could have beaten her. 1st place goes to Ava and Abby is stunned. She goes off and says they screwed up the scores and had to take things back so she doesn’t think it’s right. Then they do group awards and ALDC takes 2nd.
Melissa says they need to walk out. Maddie says they can’t win all the time but she thought they did. 1st place goes to BDA. Abby tells the other teams around them that if they paid to come there, they should demand their money back since this is a shit show and it’s a joke. Abby calls her girls for a walk off the stage. Then the guy says they have one more award and says they can’t go. Holly thinks that Abby has lost her mind. Abby takes the girls out with Jill, Melissa and Kira.
Holly stayed behind with Jess and Jess says they all left their families and followed her everywhere and it ended like this. Jess says they need a leader. Abby cries and says the journey that they have been on has been overwhelming and she just opened a brand new studio and is scared about what’s going to happen.
THE END!
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