Dancing with the Stars kicked off its milestone 25th season on Monday, September 18 with a whole pack of new hopefuls vying for the mirror ball trophy. Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli took to the judging table once again and were more ready than ever to see the potential for the new season!
One of the frontrunners of the night was Lindsay Arnold and Jordan Fisher who received the highest score of 22/30! Fisher used to perform live and is fresh off a stint in Hamilton, which meant that the duo’s tango blew the judges away! They definitely proved themselves to be one of the biggest threats this season.
Mark Ballas and Lindsey Stirling also received high praise by landing a 22/30 and in addition to her violinist skills, it seems that Stirling is quite the dancer as well! Len was blown away with her “crisp” and “clean” technique and declared the dance the best of the night!
Vanessa Lachey also claimed one of the top spots last night and landed herself a solid 21/30! The judges loved her cha cha with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Vanessa beat out her husband Nick who is also competing and landed an 18 for his cha cha with Peta Murgatroyd.
Property Brothers star Drew Scott and last year’s winner Emma Slater performed a foxtrot to “Our House” by Madness. Scott definitely had the enthusiasm for a winning performance, but lacked the technique. His hands and feet were clumsy and judge Len admitted the entire performance lacked finesse. He was scored 16/30 and landed himself closer to the bottom of the pack.
The lowest score, however, came from Barbara Corcoran who performed a salsa with Keo Motsepe. Barbara had a lot of fun with the routine, which involved money raining down on them as they danced to Ludaris, but the judges were not impressed and she scored a low of 14.
Pretty Little Liars star Sasha Peiterse and former LA Laker Derek Fisher landed themselves in the middle of the pack with scores of 18. They have potential but definitely need to work on their technique and confidence!
Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays on ABC.