Dancing with the Stars is changing things up for Season 26.
Instead of having a bunch of celebrities who are no strangers to reality TV, all of the stars are athletes.
With that, we’re also getting a concentrated run of just four weeks. That’s six fewer than the last couple of seasons.
Monday night’s season premiere said goodbye to two athletes, but who topped the charts on the night?
Let’s break down all ten performances.
Chris Mazdzer and Witney Carson – Salsa
This was a solid if unspectacular performance. Chris has the moves, but there seemed to be a disconnect in the chemistry department between him and pro, Witney. That will need to be addressed if they have any hope of remaining in the competitive loop.
Judges’ Score: 21/30
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lindsay Arnold – Cha-Cha
Kareem is hands down one of Dancing with the Stars Season 26’s weakest contestants. He struggled in the rehearsals, and that’s because it’s so apparent that he’s out of his comfort zone.
There’s no getting away from it, but Kareem could stick around with the popular vote. He was a real hoot.
Judges’ Score: 17/30
Jennie Finch and Keo Motsepe – Foxtrot
There was no spark between these two and that resulted in a performance that felt more like something the duo had to do but didn’t really want to. They could be good together, but they need to work on their movements.
Judges’ Score: 21/30
Jamie Anderson and Artem Chigvintsev – Viennese Waltz
“I have no idea how to do anything I’m doing!” Jamie whined in the rehearsal, but she managed to turn in a better performance than we ever thought she would be able to. With some fine-tuning, she could emerge as a victor.
Judges’ Score: 19/30
Mirai Nagasu and Alan Bersten – Salsa
Mirai was a delight in both rehearsals and on the dance floor. She’s a likable competitor who knows how to dance and those are the ingredients for a successful tenure on this ABC hit.
Judges’ Score: 25/30
Arike Ogunbowale and Gleb Savchenko – Salsa
Arike is not up there with Mirai as one of the best, but she’s close. Her salsa was on point and had a lot of moments you would expect from someone much further into the competition.
Judges’ Score: 20/30
Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson – Cha-Cha
Did anyone really expect Adam to do anything other than succeed? He and Jenna wowed the crowd with chemistry, dancing, and most of all, synchronized movements. Oh yes, we may be looking at our winners already.
Judges’ Score: 24/30
Johnny Damon and Emma Slater – Foxtrot
Johnny is not great at performing. It was difficult to tell whether it was nerves or if it came down to his skill on the dancefloor. Either way, he will need to adapt quickly if he has any hope of making it through.
Judges’ Score: 18/30
Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber – Foxtrot
There was a myriad of debates online before the new season, and most of them involved Tonya being one of the first people to go. However, her performance was actually pretty decent, and she proved she deserved to stick around.
Judges’ Score: 23/30
Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess – Cha-Cha
Josh and Sharna may well be Adam and Jenna’s biggest competition. This performance was a real showstopper that felt like something you would see in a big budget spectacular. The set pieces were breathtaking.
Judges’ Score: 24/30
But which couples did not resonate with the audience?
Jamie and Artem, Johnny and Emma, and Tonya and Saha were the three in jeopardy.
Tonya and Sasha were swiftly sent to safety, meaning the other two were sent home.
Yes, two athletes bit the dust on night one.
Did the right people go home?
Dancing with the Stars continues Monday on ABC!
