By: Mackenzie Byerlee
Features Editor
“Dancing with the Stars” brought us back into the ballroom with a cast that is already raising my expectations for season 35.
The two episode season premiere was a brand new addition that spiced up the competition from the jump.
Typically, the first elimination does not occur until week two. But, this year they had two eliminations in the first week.
They approached this by having all of the male celebrities compete on night one and all of the female celebrities on night two.
Night one started off strong with performances that highlighted the stars’ various abilities.
Comedian Guillermo Rodriguez and his partner Witney Carson gave a very entertaining performance despite it not being the best when it came to technique.
My personal favorites of night one were social media star Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold and actor Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson.
Wood and Arnold’s cha-cha was a great first dance. I was not expecting Wood to be this good so early on, but his country inspired dance showed how much he has already learned from Arnold.
Shum Jr., who is known for his roles on Glee and Grey’s Anatomy, gave a showstopping performance. Now, it does make sense given the fact that he was a professional dancer, but he is not trained in ballroom so his skills on week one were impressive.
As for who was eliminated night one, I was not surprised.
Reality star Conner Leavitt and his partner Adele Zaikman were all over the place. It was bad technique wise and honestly hard to watch in every regard.
I was much more excited for night two because I knew more of the women than I did the men.
While “Summer House” star Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong’s dance was not the best, I will always be rooting for them. I also think that her main issues were her lack of facial expressions and not following through with her arm movements, both of which are easy fixes.
Actress Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa performed a high energy quickstep to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” The dance was an entertaining tribute to Parton and showcased the skills that we have not seen from Stiles since her film “Save the Last Dance.”
My absolute favorite of the night was reality star Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas’ foxtrot. The pair previously worked together in season 4 of “The Traitors” which inspired their routine and made their chemistry even better in the ballroom.
Night two eliminated reality star Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills. I was not very surprised by this either, as their performance was my least favorite of the night.
What was interesting about both of this week’s eliminations, was the fact that it got rid of both of the new pros. Zaikman recently won the first season of “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro,” which gave her the opportunity to become a pro on this season.
I do feel bad that she put in all of that work to only get to compete one week. All of the eliminated pros do still get to dance every week, so at least she has something to do. Hopefully, she will return next season but I have no idea what their plans are for that.
I am very excited for what season 35 has in store and cannot wait to text 21523 every Tuesday night again.
