Bob D'Amico/ABC (2)
Dancing with the Stars is back on its toes!A new season of ballroom competition began Monday night on ABC. Keep reading to find out who took an early lead, but beware: spoilers ahead.
The View co-host Sherri Shepherd made a very good first impression with her foxtrot with partner Val Chmerkovskiy.
"I loved watching you dance," judge Carrie Ann Inaba said about the performance. "You have so much joy." Fellow judge Bruno Tonioli agreed, saying, "You can move, very, very well. You're light on your feet and ... you light up the room." Shepherd earned 23 points.
Actor-turned-pop singer Jack Wagner also scored 23 points for his foxtrot, which Bruno called "springtime romance at its most uplifting." Judge Len Goodman was less impressed. "Your technique is poor," he told Wagner.
Also earning 23 points, Disney star Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower performed a hip-hop infused cha cha that Bruno called "unbelievable." Carrie Ann told him, "That is the coolest spin on the cha cha that I have seen in any season." But Len had issues with the routine: "Technically, the performance was very low," he said.
'Channel Sofia Vergara' Maria Menounos and three-time champ Derek Hough kicked off the season premiere with a vibrant cha cha that earned the pair 21 points. Len said it was a "great start to the show," but Bruno advised the TV host, whom he called "curvaceously delicious," to channel Sofia Vergara.After NFL star Donald Driver and partner Peta Murgatroyd performed a crowd-pleasing cha cha, the audience booed the judges' score of a meager 21 points. And Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy earned a relatively low 20 points for what Len called a "very ambitious" foxtrot. "I see great potential here," Carrie told him.
The crowd went absolutely wild for Cuban actor William Levy and his pro partner, Cheryl Burke. Bruno stood on his chair and declared the couple "the hottest package of the season." "You can dance," Carrie Ann said of their spirited cha cha. "I really like the way you move." Even Len was impressed, saying: "You performed it right on the edge, but you kept control which is a hard thing to do." They took the lead in the second hour of the show, earning 24 points.
More to come ...