Dancing with the Stars Week 1: Who Was the Biggest Premiere Surprise (Other Than the Hecklers)?

A racecar driver just shocked us all with his fancy footwork

By Lauren Piester Sep 13, 2016 2:35 AMTags

After what feels like a lifetime away, Dancing with the Stars is back and everything feels right again. 

The return of Derek Hough, Maks Chmerkovskiy, and Julianne Hough as a judge made tonight inherently great, but it was actually the contestants who just looked like they were having the best time. 

There were a few surprises—hello James Hinchcliffe!—and a few teams that seemed like they were absolutely made for each other (Jana and Gleb, sitting in a tree?), but mostly it was just a dance floor full of people who were really excited to be there. 

Aside from one terrifying incident involving anti-Ryan Lochte protesters, it was all in all a pretty great first night of the season. 

Now let's see how everybody did!

photos
Every Season of Dancing with the Stars Ranked from Worst to Best
ABC

James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess: 31/40 

The racecar driver can dance! Not only does he look damn good in a teal suit, but Hinchcliffe Len wasn't expecting it, and neither were we, but we should know after all this time that we can't count anybody out.

Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy: 31/40

We expected her to do well, and she did incredibly well. If she doesn't at least make it to the top three, we'll be shocked for sure.

Marilu Henner and Derek Hough: 27/40 

Not too shabby, Marilu! She reacted to Derek just as we would probably react if Derek were our DWTS partner, and then she killed it as much as she could for the first dance. This is absolutely a pair to watch. 

Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko: 27/40 

Was that a Viennese Waltz or our sexy dream that was just broadcast live to the entire country? These two have chemistry oozing from their ears and their dancing's not bad either.

photos
Meet Dancing With the Stars' Season 23 Cast
ABC

Calvin Johnson Jr. and Lindsay Arnold: 26/40 

Megatron's got the moves, despite what his sister says. He's got some big feet to learn to deal with, but he could definitely be a serious competitor this season.

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Allison Holker: 26/40 

Smooth AF, as if we were expecting anything else from Babyface. It's also good to have Allison back!

Terra Jole and Sasha Farber: 26/40

From the dancing to the red dress to the fact that she gave birth six weeks ago, everything about this proved Terra could really go far this season.

ABC

Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson: 25/40 

OK, there was little to no cha cha in that routine, but there's no way you can say it wasn't a delight to watch Vanilla Ice dance to Ice Ice Baby. We just kinda wish he had waited at least another week to break that out…

Amber Rose and Maks Chmerkosvkiy: 24/40 

If she gains some confidence, Amber could go far. She's definitely capable of dancing and is about as likable as can be. Plus, she's partnered with Maks, which would be an automatic plus even if we didn't like her!  

Ryan Lochte and Cheryl Burke: 24/40

Hecklers aside, Ryan did better than we thought he might. Maybe he'll get the chance to improve a bit?

read
The Brady Bunch's Florence Henderson Surprises TV Daughter Maureen McCormick During Dancing With the Stars Premiere

Maureen McCormick and Artem Chigvintsev: 22/40 

It seemed like poor Marcia was just a little too excited to focus, but we have high hopes for her!

Jake T. Austin and Jenna Johnson: 22/40

Jake needs to chill in every sense of the word, because he can clearly dance at least a little, but he got lost in there somewhere.

Rick Perry and Emma Slater: 20/40

Well that was just about what we expected.

What did you guys think? Sound off in the comments!

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. (starting next week) on ABC.