It is officially one of my favorite times of the year: Dancing With The Stars season.
Typically, I am able to go into each season having a pretty good idea of who I will be rooting for to win the mirrorball. Last year, I was team Robert all the way. The year before that, team Chandler and team Xochitl.
This year, though, I find myself in kind of a pickle. I have absolutely no clue who exactly I want to win. The cast this year is stacked, and I’m split between my love for so many of the stars they have on the show this season and my love for specific pros I would love to see win.
Originally, when the cast of this season was announced, the gleek in me was thrilled to see my man Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) would be hitting the ballroom. He had been my celeb to win. Then they announced Julia Stiles.
10 Things I Hate About You is one of my all-time favorite movies, and she’s partnered with Ezra, who I would love to see win his first mirrorball. Yeah, I was stumped.
What I had settled on was that Harry and Julia would be my ideal top two finalists. I was happy with that decision and realized that I would be beyond thrilled if either of them won it all. Then I hit another roadblock after watching the season premiere this week.
I ended up falling in love with six additional couples.
All of a sudden, I genuinely had no idea who I wanted to win more. Eight different couples had caught my eye, which means eight possible opportunities of being severely disappointed if one of them was eliminated. I already got a taste of that disappointment Wednesday night when Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills were eliminated, since I was so excited to see Hailey’s journey as a first-year pro.
The remaining couples (besides Harry and Jenna and Julia and Ezra) that I am rooting for hard this season are Connor Wood and Riley, Taylor Hanson and Britt, Ezra Frech and Daniella, Jackson Olson and Emma, Ciara Miller and Brandon, and Amber Glenn and Pasha.
I was pleasantly surprised by each of these celebs and the potential they have. Even more so, it gave me so much hope for some of my favorite pros.
Riley, Brandon, and Pasha are so deserving of their first mirrorball, and I genuinely think that they have a very good shot at it this year. Jackson and Taylor seem to have lit a fire in both Emma and Britt, and I am beyond excited to see the two of them go all out in a way they haven’t really been given a chance to do the past few seasons. And then Ezra just seems like so much fun, and hey, Dani is the pro, and I am obsessed with her.
I am so excited for season thirty-five, and ready to see how far my top couples end up going. I think we should all be prepared and excited for a whirlwind of a season and for some absolutely phenomenal dances.Â
While I still don’t quite know what specific couple I want to see with the mirrorball in a few months, I’m excited to see what everyone will bring to the table and how far my current top seven will go, along with seeing how my opinions shift as time goes on.