Several contestants get 5 and even 4 from judges for their first dances, while Jordan Fisher and Lindsey Stirling come out as early frontrunners.
- Sep 19, 2017
AceShowbiz - "Dancing with the Stars" season 25 has been officially kicked off. Thirteen pairs performed their first dances in front of judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli, who surprisingly didn't mind to give very low scores for some awkward dancers.
Terrell Owens, for example, got 15 points out of 30 for his Cha Cha with Cheryl Burke. The judges took issue with heel leads, which is a big no in Latin dances. "It was full of fun and full of energy but you got to watch your feet, they are a bit soft and a straightening of the legs," Len told the former NFL star.
Dancing a Foxtrot with Alan Bersten, Debbie Gibson was slightly better than Terrell. It's hard to judge how good she is though, since Alan did most of the work. Bruno loved their chemistry, but told her to watch her arms. Debbie earned 17 points.
Sasha Pieterse and Gleb Savchenko also danced a Cha Cha. Carrie Ann loved her fierceness, but noted that she got ahead of the music at the beginning. The judges gave the "Pretty Little Liars" star 18 points.
Drew Scott and Emma Slater danced a Foxtrot, but they were not better than Debbie and Alan. His dancing was fun but weird and silly. "You go to fix up your feet, work on getting a little bit more finesse," Len advised him. The "Property Brothers" star earned 16 points.
Barbara Corcoran was even worse. Dancing a Salsa with Keo Motsepe, she clearly can't dance as well as she makes money. "My darling, you have to make sure you maintain that bite, as it's not only in your face but in your feet and in your body so you really must push those hips and place those feet," Bruno commented. Len even gave her a 4, while Carrie Ann and Bruno gave the "Shark Tank" star 5 for a total of 14.
Jordan Fisher brought a beacon of hope to the ballroom as he showed "so much swagger" during his Tango with Lindsay Arnold. "This is week one and you shouldn't be dancing like that," Carrie Ann gushed about how good he was. The singer/actor earned 22 points.
Nick Lachey and Peta Murgatroyd danced a Cha Cha, with his brother Drew Lachey who won the competition in season 2 sitting in the audience. Nick has a lot of potential. Len liked the strong attack, but also pointed out a few issues. The singer earned 18 points.
Up next was Nick's wife Vanessa Lachey (formerly known as Vanessa Minnillo) who is partnered with Peta's husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy. They also danced a Cha Cha, but she was better than Nick. Bruno said it was a proper Cha Cha with a lot of solid technique. She earned 21 points.
Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson followed it up with their Foxtrot, which earned 19 points. Carrie Ann said it was "endearing," "honest and vulnerable," but couldn't help notice his stiff legs.
Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev danced a Tango. Len liked the body contact, but told her to stop looking down because "it looks like lack of confidence and uncomfortable." The WWE star earned 20 points.
Derek Fisher and Sharna Burgess danced a Salsa. He wanted to show that basketball players can be good at dancing too, but he clearly still has a lot to learn. "Salsa requires a much snaky hip, you were doing a forward and backward and lack the round side," Bruno said, but praised the way he was commanding the stage. Derek earned 18 points.
Victoria Arlen and Valentin Chmerkovskiy were another pair who danced a Cha Cha. Victoria was paralyzed for 10 years and she just started to walk again one year ago, so being in the ballroom was a very impressive thing for her. Carrie Ann loved her spirit, but knew that her "body is still catching up in ways." The former Paralympic athlete earned 19 points.
Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas wrapped up the night with another Cha Cha. It was a creative and fun choreography that showed her goofiness. "It was crisp and clean, nice leg action and that for me was the dance of the night," Len gushed. The violinist earned 22 points. She ties Jordan at the top of the leaderboard in the first week.
