On Tuesday, September 17th, “Dancing with the Stars” held their anticipated premiere of season 33. For 33 seasons, 13 stars have paired up with 13 pros to compete for the “Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.”
Each week, a star is given a type of ballroom or Latin dance and has one week to perfect it before performing in front of the judge’s panel, which is composed of Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough. Each pair hopes to score a perfect 30 out of 30; however, it takes a couple of weeks for the stars to get whipped into ballroom shape.
Dancing with the Stars has attracted various stars this year, including athletes, models, reality TV show stars, and actors. In this episode, each star was able to choose a song that they viewed as their anthem.
The night started with former “Bachelor” Joey Graziadei dancing the cha-cha with his partner Jenna Johnson. Graziadei chose “Dancing in the Country” by Tyler Hubbard as his anthem and scored 21 out of 30, setting the standards high for the season. Quickly following was model Brooks Nader dancing the tango with her partner Gleb Savchenko. Nader chose “Peace of Me” by Britney Spears, scoring 18 out of 30.
Next, was Olympic Rugby Bronze-Medalist Ilona Maher dancing the cha-cha with her partner Alan Bersten. Maher chose “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” by Shania Twain, scoring an 18 out of 30. Maher hopes to spread body positivity through this competition and showcase her feminine side. Following Maher was actor Reginald Velijohnson dancing the salsa to the song “Boys to Men” with his partner Emma Slater. Regionals scored 16 out of 30, yet he had a huge smile, expressing his gratitude for being on the show and having the audience love him.
Following was two-time Superbowl Champion Danny Amendola dancing the tango to “A Bar Song” with his partner Witney Carson. Witney revealed that two former Dancing with the Stars champions were wide receivers, and Amendola may live up to the standard with his first score of 20 out of 30. Next was TV icon Tori Spelling dancing the foxtrot to “Trustfall” with her partner Pasha Pashkov. Tori expressed that she hopes to find herself on the show and scored a 17 out of 30.
After Spelling, was Bacherlotte star, Jenn Tran who is partnered with Sasha Farbe. Trann danced a cha-cha to “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus scoring a 19 out of 30. TV-star Chadler Kinney followed, dancing an impressive tango with her partner Brandon Armstrong to “Hot to Go” by Chappell Roan. Kinney scored the highest score of the night receiving a 23 out of 30, showing she will be a tough competitor throughout this competition.
Next, NBA-star Dwight Howard danced a salsa with his partner Daniella Karagach to “This Is How We Do It” scoring an impressive 22 out of 23. However, Howard and Karagach have an obstacle to overcome, which is their height difference of over a foot and a half. This did not stop the pair from performing well, and they will have to work around the diffuculity. Eric Roberts followed, dancing a salsa to “Rock and Roll” with his partner, Britt Stewart. Roberts scored a 15 out of 30.
Reality TV star Phaedra Parks succeeded Roberts, dancing a cha-cha with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy to “I’m Every Woman” by Whitney Houston. Parks scored 19 out of 30. Following Parks was Olympic bronze medalist Stephen Neodorisk. Over the summer, Olypmics Neodorisk became well-known, and it showed, as he was definitely social media and the crowd’s favorite. Neodorisk danced a jive to “Having a Good Time” and scored a 21 out of 30.
Lastly, fashionista and criminal Anna Devley danced a cha cha with her partner Ezra Sosa to “Espresso”. Devley’s participation in the show has become controversial over the Dance with the Stars fandom. Carrie Ann, a judge, called out to the audience to tell viewers to give Anna a chance. Even though many people stated they do not want her as a star, she scored 18 out of 30 and said she wanted to re-invent herself on the show.
Since it was the premiere, no star was sent home and was able to prepare a dance for this week’s episode. However, two of the stars were eliminated Tuesday, the 24th, and sent home.