‘Dancing with the Stars’: Laurie Hernandez ties for first, plus, a Vanilla Ice throwback
Laurie Hernandez, the human emoji, had all of the skill and confidence of crimson-clad dancer character on Monday night's premiere of Dancing with the Stars.
She and her fellow dancing contestants — there are 13 couples total — shook it and might've been shaken up during the incident following Ryan Lochte's foxtrot, but more on that later. Here are our picks for the top performances of the night:
1. Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy
No one is shocked that this 16-year-old Olympic gold medalist looked like a professional on night one, right? Judge Julianne Hough complimented Laurie's leg action during her cha-cha, and Bruno Tonioli said he was excited to see someone with her talent in the ballroom.
Total score: 31/40
2. James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess
This race car driver with a sense of humor nearly lapped the competition with his foxtrot. Judge Len Goodman called it a "knockout" performance and Bruno said it was "first class."
Total score: 31/40
3. Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko
If you thought Jana and Gleb were fated for the same happy ending as former DWTS partners, Robert Herjavec and Kym Johnson, we hate to be the ones to tell you Gleb is a married man. But that didn't stop the newly separated singer and her pro from dancing the "raunchiest, sexiest, hottest" Viennese waltz Bruno has ever seen. If there's no romantic future, at least this high score is a nice consolation.
Total score: 27/40
4. Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson
Ice is back with a brand new invention, y'all. Okay, maybe it's not so much an invention as an interpretation, and he has his partner Witney to thank for her choreography. We'd like to thank whoever is looking out for us at DWTS and decided Mr. Robert Van Winkle should dance a cha-cha to Ice Ice Baby. Get ready to forget what year it is.
Total score: 25/40
5. Calvin Johnson Jr. and Lindsay Arnold
Maybe you have two left feet, but Calvin is dancing while filling out size 15 shoes. His impressive cha-cha moves are just one of the things that we like about "Megatron." His infectious smile puts the former wide receiver on our lineup.
Total score: 26/40
Other things:
Amber Rose and Maksim Chmerkovskiy scored 24 points for their foxtrot. Though Amber seemed stiff, she had a grace that Bruno noticed. She also shone bright like a diamond since her costume was adorned with 20,000 rhinestones and maybe because Blac Chyna was there cheering her on in the audience.
Lochte and his partner Cheryl Burke racked up 24 points for their foxtrot routine. While Carrie Ann Inaba was critiquing their performance she was interrupted.
"Hey, back off," the DWTS judge could be heard yelling before security tended to the situation.
Co-host Tom Bergeron threw it to a commercial as Burke breathed heavily and Lochte wiped sweat from his forehead.
When the show returned from break, Bergeron explained production paused because of "a little incident."
"I would like to personally thank our security team for staying in shape," the co-host said before checking on how Lochte was doing.
"So many feelings are going through my head right now," the Olympic athlete said. "(I'm) a little hurt, but you know I came out here I wanted to do something that I'm completely not comfortable with, and I did. And I came out here with a big smile, and I had the best dance partner."
After the show, Inaba posted an Instagram thanking the show's security team for their quick action.
Dancing with the Stars airs twice next week, on Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.