'Dancing With The Stars' Season 35 Premiere Recap: Who Went Home?
Deadline • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars premiered with a two-night format, featuring male celebrities performing on night one and female celebrities on night two.
- Technical issues disrupted online voting during the premiere, leading to the dismissal of ABC.com votes and reliance solely on text votes, complicated by two contestants sharing the same name requiring voters to specify which Connor they support.
- Highlights included Paralympian Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach delivering a fiery tango that impressed judges, and actor Harry Shum Jr. with Jenna Johnson closing the night with the highest score of 21 out of 30.
- Despite enthusiastic performances, Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman were eliminated after the first night but will return for a live afterparty alongside the next eliminated female contestant and Season 34 winner Robert Irwin.
- Judges emphasized tougher scoring standards this season, praising effort and personality while noting areas for technical improvement among contestants.
