Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) is back and better than ever with their 33rd season of pairing celebrities with dancing professionals in a televised ballroom dance competition. Every week, millions of viewers nationwide, myself included, tune in to watch 13 pairs compete for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. These pairs include con artist turned socialite Anna Delvey and newcomer Ezra Sosa, the most recent Bachelor contestant, Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten, actor Reginald VelJohnson and Emma Slater, the latest Bachelorette contestant Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber, Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold, reality tv star Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy, and more. As someone who danced competitively for 13 years and is a long-time watcher of the show, I feel qualified enough to share my opinions on this season’s premiere, along with some predictions on what’s to come.
The night started out with a bang: an all-pros opening number choreographed by Jamal Sims. Some of my favorite moments on this show are when they let the pros dance without their partners, which I understand can be controversial because the entire premise is dancing with the stars, but I really enjoy getting to see them dance at their fullest potential and in a group of people with similar abilities. I would much rather watch that than see a celebrity stand close to stationary for the entirety of their dance.
My favorite routine of the night was Nedoroscik and Arnold’s jive to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. This electrically fun and upbeat routine was so much fun to watch. I think the giant Rubik’s Cube hanging from the ceiling was overkill on the theme, but amusing nonetheless. I am really rooting for this duo this season, although I may be a bit biased. The bronze medalist “Pommel Horse Guy” and I share the same hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, and despite it only being her second season on the show, Arnold is my favorite pro. Both Arnold and I have a passion for dance and type 1 diabetes in common, so it’s going to be hard for another pair to win my vote this season.
Although team “Arnold Pommel” has my guess for who’s taking home the trophy, team “Chan And Bran” came in a very close second place. Nedoroscik and Arnold may have been my favorite, but Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong’s tango to Chappell Roan’s hit song “HOT TO GO!” had to be the best dance of the night. With the audience on their feet, the duo was the highest-scoring dance of the night, with a score of 23 out of 30! With a score that high in the first week, I can’t wait to see what’s coming up for them on the dance floor. When the season finale rolls around, I wouldn’t be shocked to see both of these teams in the top two.
Very rarely do we see scores as high as they were during week one, especially for the level of talent, or lack thereof, from some of the stars. Something I would like to see change in the show’s structure is the judging. I enjoy listening to Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and especially Derek Hough, but I would love to see them get a bit more critical. DWTS is a dance competition show. I know they have to keep things upbeat and cheery, but there’s no harm in helping a star improve on a more technical level. In my opinion, the majority of the scores were way too high. While watching, I genuinely thought, are they trying not to hurt anyone’s feelings? Even some of the pros were visibly shocked with their week one scores. I did not find all of the couples who received sevens to be deserving of their scores.
After all 13 couples hit the stage on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for week two, there will be a double elimination. As much as I want Delvey to go home, I know that fans will keep her around for a bit. I think VelJohnson and Eric Roberts will be eliminated. As the two lowest scorers from the first week, it’s going to be very difficult for them to keep up, especially when many of the other stars have strong fan bases that want to see their favorite star move through to the next week. Week two’s theme is “Oscars Night,” featuring songs from movies. I am thrilled to see which songs the pairs will dance to, and I hope one of them picks a song from my favorite movie, La La Land. I look forward to seeing what this season of DWTS has in store!