The Season 21 premiere of Dancing With the Stars kicked off with host Tom Bergeron explaining that he was wearing a pocket square to honor Len Goodman, the recently departed judge who apparently loved Tom's pocket squares.
Goodman will be missed.
Victor Espinoza and Karina Smirnoff
Dance: Salsa
Smirnoff has her work cut out for her. They face two major challenges: First, Karina is considerably taller than Victor - I mean, he IS a jockey. Second, due to repeated concussions, Victor has virtually no short-term memory, which makes learning dance moves difficult.
Score: 15 out of 30
Tamar Braxton and Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Quickstep
Grammy-nominated singer (I'm just as surprised as you!) Tamar and her pro, Val, gave it all they had. Bruno called the performance "high-octane" and praised the "incredible amount of content" they worked in, while Carrie Ann simply said, "You blew me away."
Score: 23 out of 30
Chaka Khan and Keo Motsepe
Dance: Cha-cha
Chaka Khan made an entrance fit for a queen as she came down from the ceiling on a platform. Unfortunately, her entrance may have been the best part.
Score: 13 out of 30
Hayes Grier and Emma Slater
Dance: Cha-cha
15-year-old Vine star Hayes is the youngest competitor this season and has over 3.5 million followers on the site, which will give him the proverbial leg up on the competition whether he can dance or not. In the beginning anyway. But what he lacks in age, he made up for in a certain joie de vivre that the judges absolutely loved.
Score: 21 out of 30
Andy Grammer and Allison Holker
Dance: Foxtrot
The pop star is curiously out of place here, even in the pre-taped introduction videos.
Score: 21 out of 30
Paula Deen and Louis van Amstel
Dance: Quickstep
At 68, Deen is the oldest competitor this season. Still, she hit the dance floor with pro Louis armed with a ton of personality. But nerves got the best of her — and she knew it. "I was scared. I had white underwear when I started, but it probably ain't white no more!" Paula joked to the judges. Wish I were kidiing.
Score: 15 out of 30
Carlos PenaVega and Whitney Carson
Dance: Jive
Carlos shot to fame on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush. Paired up with Whitney, he looked perfectly at home in the ballroom. The only catch? He's not only competing against a bunch of other stars, he's competing against his wife. It appeared Carlos isn’t going to make things easy for his better half, though, as he and Whitney gave one of the strongest performances of the night.
Julianne called him a "natural performer."
Score: 23 out of 30
Alexa PenaVega and Mark Ballas
Dance: Jive
"Carlos and I really wanted to do the show together because we really want to work together," the Spy Kids star explained before killing it on the dance floor.
She fell two points short of her husband when all was said and done.
Score: 22 out of 30
Kim Zolciak Biermann and Tony Dovolani
Dance: Salsa
The larger-than-life reality TV star let nerves get the best of her as she performed with her partner, Tony, for the first time. Kim cited the awkwardness of getting that close to a man who was not her husband as part of the reason for her poor performance. Sure. That's it.
Score: 12 out of 30 (lowest of the night)
Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough
Dance: Jive
The 17 year-old Australian "Crocodile Hunter" daughter is just as energetic and contagious as her late dad, and that came across as she hit the floor with Derek.
Score: 24 out of 30 (tied for first)
Gary Busey and Anna Trebunskaya
Dance: Cha-cha
Busey rose to fame when he became an Academy Award nominee for his performance in the titular role in The Buddy Holly Story. More recently, however, he appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. Though his dancing left much to be desired, Gary and pro partner Anna still made an impression, mostly due to Gary's signature nonsensical commentary. "When I'm talking to you, your left eye is spinning," he told Tom during their post-dance interview. This is going to be fun.
Score: 15 out of 30
lek Skarlatos and Lindsay Arnold
Dance: Foxtrot
The Army National Guard Specialist became a worldwide hero in August when he helped avert a massacre aboard a Belgian train, but he was a hero again tonight for a great first dance with partner Lindsay Arnold.
Carrie Annhad this to say: "You just came out and showed us one of the best dances of the night."
Score: 22 out of 30
Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess
Dance: Cha-cha
The Backstreet Boy knows a thing or two about performing. And don't forget, another boy band star nabbed the trophy early on in the series run (Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees). Carter worked hard all week and it showed on the floor
Score: 24 out of 30 (Tied for 1st with Bindi Irwin)
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