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Season 34 of Dancing With the Stars has begun in full force, and I have a feeling this is going to be a special season. It marks the show’s 20th anniversary on air, and my 10th anniversary of being a fan! It feels so fitting that the first winner I watched was Bindi Irwin, and her brother, Robert Irwin, is on the show this season. Besides Robert, there are 13 other celebrities competing this season. This cast is electric, and I like everyone this season.
I wanted to begin my recap with my favorite dance of the night, which belongs to Robert and his partner, my favorite pro for the last ten years! – Witney Carson. There’s nothing more special than seeing your favorite celebrity succeed. Witney hasn’t won a mirrorball trophy in 11 years. Robert is such a contender, and for never dancing before, he has a lot of skills already! Their jive earned them a 15/20 on premiere night…which was SO well deserved. They tied at the top of the leaderboard with Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas, who danced a tango.
Other high scoring couples included Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy’s cha-cha with a 13/20, Lauren Jauregui and Brandon Armstrong’s tango with a 13/20, Hilaria Baldwin and Gleb Savchenko’s cha-cha with a 14/20, Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov’s tango with a 12/20, Jen Affleck and new pro Jan Ravnik’s salsa with a 12/20, and Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten’s cha-cha with a 12/20. Elaine was the surprise of the night for me! She’s 54 years old and has impressive dance skills.
Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa’s salsa, Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach’s cha-cha, Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold’s tango, and Baron Davis and Britt Stewart’s cha-cha all ended up with 10/20 scores. I have a lot of hope for all four couples to improve throughout the season, so don’t count them out!
Finally, Corey Feldman and Jenna Johnson’s tango and Andy Richter and Emma Slater’s cha-cha both earned 9/20 scores. If I were to guess who would be affected by the double elimination this week, I’d guess these two couples. However, it’s sad no matter the outcome because I love all the couples this season. I hope that whoever goes home ends their season on a high note and is proud of themselves for giving this show a try, because it’s a lot of hard work and dedication!
This week is One Hit Wonders night, and I’m excited to see who stands out! I’m hoping everyone improves from their premiere night routines and has a lot of fun. It’s also going to be exciting to have judge Carrie Ann Inaba back from not feeling well last week, and see how the scores translate out of 30 instead of 20.