Dancing With The Stars Season 34: My Initial Thoughts

We are so back, baby! The best time of the year has arrived, it is finally Dancing With The Stars season once again! As someone who gets extremely invested in this show every year, I can’t even contain my excitement for the 20th anniversary. I do have to say, while I am excited for this season, a few casting announcements were very interesting and surprising. 

With the season premiering on September 16th, it made history as the biggest premiere in 5 years! Because this was the very first episode of the season, none of the couples were eliminated, making the 2nd week a double elimination. All three judges returned this season, but Carrie Ann Inaba did not make her season debut, as she was sick. I am relatively surprised by this, because there was a lot of backlash the entirety of last season with the scores and comments Inaba made to certain performers. 

As the episode began, viewers saw an iconic opening number that included the pro dancers, as well as the new troupe that joined the show for its 34th season. We saw a huge change in the troupe casting, as last season was made up of these 4 members: Marcquet Hill, Kailyn Rogers, Stephani Sosa, and Roman Nevinchanyi. As the troupe for season 34 was announced, realization struck that it consists of 4 entirely different dancers: Hailey Bills, Onye Stevenson, Carter Williams, and Jaxon Willard. I am not going to lie, I think it was really crappy to not bring back Stephani Sosa, I adored her!!

One addition to the show that I absolutely cannot get over is the fact that they have the one and only Jan Ravnik, who is known for being one of Taylor Swift’s amazing backup dancers on The Eras Tour! I love the fact that he joined the show as a pro, I am so excited to watch him dance this season, and I love how he is paired with the Mormon Wives icon Jen Affleck. 

While there are always couples that I grow to like as the show goes on, I can confidently say that I am so excited to watch all of these stars grow both personally and on the dance floor. The partnerships become even better as the show goes on, and that is one of my favorite parts. I also love all of the social media attention this show gets, especially on Instagram and TikTok. I love when the stars and pros post silly behind-the-scenes videos to show just how fun the environment of Dancing With The Stars actually is!

Season 34 Pairings: 

1. Jordan Chiles (Olympic gold medalist) & Ezra Sosa (pro)
2. Dylan Efron (Social media and reality TV star) & Daniella Karagach (pro)
3. Elaine Hendrix (Film and TV actress) & Alan Bersten (pro)
4. Whitney Leavitt (“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star) & Mark Ballas (pro)
5. Baron Davis (NBA All-Star) & Britt Stewart (pro)
6. Alix Earle (Social Media Influencer) & Val Chmerkovskiy (pro)
7. Scott Hoying (Pentatonix member) & Rylee Arnold (pro)
8. Danielle Fishel (“Boy Meets World” star) & Pasha Pashkov (pro)
9. Jen Affleck (“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star) & Jan Ravnik (pro, previous dancer on The Eras Tour)
10. Corey Feldman (Actor and Musician) & Jenna Johnson (pro)
11. Lauren Jauregui (“Fifth Harmony” singer) & Brandon Armstrong (pro)
12. Andy Richter (Comedian) & Emma Slater (pro)
13. Hilaria Baldwin (Author and wellness influencer) & Gleb Savchenko (pro)
14. Robert Irwin (Wildlife conservationist) & Witney Carson (pro)

As the show ended, we saw a high score of 15/20 points that tied 2 couples for the top score: Robert Irwin & Witney Carson, and Whitney Leavitt & Mark Ballas. During the performances, I was surprised at how low Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli were scoring the couples, but then I realized that they are trying to set everyone up for the best success and improvement right from the start. The comments and scoring were honest, and both judges did a great job telling the couples what they did well and what needs to be improved, all while keeping a positive environment for the first week of dances!

Because this show just started, there isn’t much to talk about just yet. However, last season’s winner, Joey Grazidei, has started an official Dancing With The Stars podcast, and they announced the weekly themes for the entire season. Let me just say, no one will be able to talk to me on October 21st from 8-10 pm, as it is “Wicked Night” and I will never shut up about it.

Weekly Themes:

1. Season Premiere (9/16)
2. One Hit Wonder Night (9/23)
3. TikTok Night (9/30)
4. Disney Night (10/7)
5. Dedication Night (10/14)
6. Wicked Night (10/21)
7. Halloween Night (10/28)
8. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Night (11/4)
9. DWTS Birthday Party (11/11)
10. Prince Night: Semi-Finale (11/18)
11. 3 Hour Season Finale (11/25)

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