Dancing With the Stars is back for a new season with 14 contestants competing in the 34th Season. The season kicked off with a two-hour debut on Tuesday where everyone competed, and no one was eliminated. The first elimination will come Tuesday, with scores combined from both weeks.
Additionally, long-time judge Carrie-Ann Inaba was out due to illness, leaving just Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli to judge Week 1. That resulted in some lower than usual scores. Despite that, two stars leapt to the front with a high school of 15-out-of-20.
The first was Whitney Leavitt, best known for her starring role on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, who stunned with partner Mark Ballas. They performed a tango to the song “Golden” from the hit Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters.
The other 15 came in the final dance of the night, as Robert Irwin and Witney Carson stunned in a jive to the song “Born to Be Wild.” It was a great cap to a wild opening night.
Hot on their heels is Hilaria Baldwin, who scored a 14 for her Cha-Cha with partner Gleb Savchenko. Two other couples finished with a 13. Social Media personality Alix Earle scored 13 for her Cha-Cha with Val Chmerkovsky, while Fifth Harmony singer Lauren Jauregui and partner Brandon Armstrong scored a 13 for their tango to Ariana Grande.
On the flip side, a pair of teams are tied at the bottom with an overall score of nine. The first was actor Corey Feldman whose tango with defending champion Jenna Johnson failed to garner a good score. The other couple tied with nine are Andy Richter and partner Emma Slater who did an opening night Cha-Cha.
A recurring theme in Week 1 was dissatisfaction with the scores, which came through frequently from audience reaction. It was enough to draw comments from both Bruno and host Alfonso Ribero at certain points.
Among the other competitors, actress Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov, actress Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten, and fellow Mormon Housewife Jen Affleck and partner Jan Ravnik all scored a 12 out of 20.
In addition, a group of competitors scored a 10. Among those couples at 10 included Olympian Jordan Chiles and partner Ezra Sosa, who kicked off the premier, NBA star Baron Davis and partner Britt Stewart, reality star Dylan Efron and partner Daniella Karagach, and Pentatonix singer Scott Hoying and partner Rylee Arnold.
Dancing With the Stars airs at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays on ABC. Week two is One-Hit Wonder night in the ballroom.
Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.
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