Paul Bentley here! The season 23 cast of Dancing With the Stars was definitely a memorable one, and it was also a season that made me change my mind quite a bit on some of the couples. So here are my thoughts on them.
Just as a reminder, these are just my thoughts on the couples. Use your own judgment to determine what you think about them. I am open to all thoughts about each celebrity and each pro.
13th Place- Jake T. Austin and Jenna Johnson (#TeamJSquared)
My Favorite Dance: Cha-Cha-Cha from TV Night
Just like with every other celebrity that is eliminated first, I feel like I hadn’t gotten to know Jake all that well. Personally, I didn’t really think much of him. I didn’t really think he was that great of a dancer, but I have a feeling that he would have been better doing ballroom dances. It seems like he just needed some more practice. Since Jenna was a new pro this season, I don’t she was as tough on Jake as she should have been to truly engrave the dance steps into his brain. I really wanted to see what else this couple had to offer, but I guess that the other couples had more to show in the early weeks than him.
12th Place- Rick Perry and Emma Slater (#TeamDanceForOurVets)
My Favorite Dance: Quickstep from TV Night
At first, I thought that Rick was kind of boring, but I ended up really liking his unique and humorous style, despite his lack of dance ability. So who better to have as your partner to make you shine than Emma Slater?! There were clearly better dancers on the show than him, but Rick brought individuality, which is something that I think made him last a week longer than Jake. I love the fact that he was on the show for the American veterans because I have seen a whole lot of disrespect lately, and Rick’s message needs to be spread. Emma did her best with Rick, and made their short time on the show one that was different and wild.
11th Place- Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Allison Holker (#TeamHolkerface)
My Favorite Dance: Argentine Tango from TV Night
Babyface and Allison were surprisingly a well-matched pair. Allison choreographed in a style that I had never seen from her, and it was refreshing to watch. Although sometimes it looked as though Kenny couldn’t keep up with Allison sometimes, he was able to be the perfect leading man other times, like in their Argentine Tango. This was an interesting partnership to watch because of how different Babyface and Allison are, and they brilliantly used that their advantage.
10th Place- Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson (#TeamICEandSPICE)
My Favorite Dance: Viennese Waltz from Cirque du Soleil Night
Seeing Vanilla Ice as a dancer was the quite the surprise this season! He was actually quite the performer, and was growing as each week went by. I wanted to see him last a few more weeks just to see what else he had in store and how else he could grow, so I feel as though he left a bit prematurely. Witney was an okay partner for him, despite their first dance without much content making me think otherwise, but she managed to give him a variety of different routines that highlighted Vanilla Ice in different interesting ways. Vanilla Ice showed me that the nineties is still, in fact, cool!
9th Place- Amber Rose and Maksim Chmerkovskiy (#TeamSpicySalsa)
My Favorite Dance: Samba from Most Memorable Year Night
I absolutely loved how real Amber was on the show. If she had a problem, she would talk about it, rather than hide it like it didn’t matter to her. She is her own person, and she does what she wants. She doesn’t care about what the cameras want her to do; instead, she is just herself, through thick and thin. I was also glad to see she and Julianne work things out after some misinterpretations of words. Amber might have only shown us one side to her on the dance floor, but she showed that side to the best of her abilities. I just wanted to see more from her in terms of variation of themes and style. I think she matched Maks really well, and their two strong personalities made for a fierce partnership in the spotlight.
8th Place- Maureen McCormick and Artem Chigvintsev (#TeamMaureen)
My Favorite Dance: Salsa from the Face-Off Challenge
I’ve never been much of a fan of Maureen, and even though DWTS made her seem a little more human than I saw her as, I still think she is very fake and inconsiderate. I saw right through the attitude that she wanted America to see her as, which made me lose respect for her. She is openly disrespectful towards people with differing opinions than her, and she never seemed to have respect for certain people around her. I thought that her partnership with Artem was a bit odd, considering I don’t think she was up for the challenge of Artem’s style, but Maureen managed to bring out a few elegant performances with him. I like the message that she sent out about getting up off of your feet after hitting rock bottom, but even that seemed a bit ingenuine.
7th Place- Ryan Lochte and Cheryl Burke (#TeamCherloch)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Viennese Waltz from Cirque du Soleil Night, 2- Foxtrot from the Premiere, 1- Salsa from Latin Night
Ryan was the biggest pleasant surprise of the season for me! He showed me a fun to him that managed to match well with Cheryl’s style of teaching. Although Ryan came out with some great technique, it seemed as though he lost some steam as the weeks went on. But, with Cheryl’s cool concepts for their dances, I was still entertained and found myself rooting for this couple, even though their elimination was inevitable. Dancing With the Stars is known to revive celebrities’ careers, and I think that happened with Ryan. I’ve actually seen some recent deals for Ryan lately, and I am so happy that he’s gotten them! His story was the perfect comeback!
6th Place- Marilu Henner and Derek Hough (#TeamHennergy)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Paso Doble from Cirque du Soleil Night, 2- Viennese Waltz from Most Memorable Year Night, 1- Samba from Showstoppers Night
Marilu just seems like an all-around good person. She is always kind to people and always treating people like they are the most important people in the world. She had some performances that could have been better with a little more confidence, but she had quite a few dances that blew me away with her performance value as well as her technique, especially in the ballroom dances! She and Derek built off of each other for every routine that they performed, showing the audience what true teamwork is like. Even with her feet in pain, she kept pushing and made it seem like it was nothing. I was so happy to see a dedicated fan like Marilu on the show, because she treasured every moment and had a blast, even when she messed up or had a rough week.
5th Place- Terra Jolé and Sasha Farber (#TeamXL)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Trio Tango from the Semifinals, 2- Quickstep from TV Night, 1- Samba from Cirque du Soleil Night
I’ve always liked Terra, but I somehow ended up liking her even more from being on DWTS! She gave Sasha quite the challenge with her height, and Sasha made it work! These two were a dance pairing destined by the DWTS gods! Their friendship made them dance as unit, and made for some closely connected dancing. Sasha always creates his dances that are fit perfectly for his partners, and choreographing for Terra was no exception! He played around with some interesting ways to work around things, and it all came together greatly. Terra and Sasha play off of each other, and that is a wonderful thing to see!
4th Place- Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko (#TeamGlamer)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Foxtrot from Cirque du Soleil Night, 2- Contemporary from Most Memorable Year Night, 1- Argentine Tango from Latin Night
I don’t think there has ever been a hotter couple on Dancing With the Stars than Jana and Gleb! Jana and Gleb had much of the same energy, so every dance that they executed came together nicely. From romantic to emotional to sensual, their chemistry made for raw and authentic dances. At first, I wasn’t too sure about what I thought about this couple, but I eventually realized that they were competitors that were in the competition to win it! It was around week four where I finally saw Jana break out as a performer, seeing how they were able to transition between different types of dances. And this, overall, made for some showstopping routines!
3rd Place- Calvin Johnson, Jr. and Lindsay Arnold (#TeamLindsatron)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Quickstep from Halloween Night, 2- Charleston from Cirque du Soleil Night, 1- Trio Salsa from the Semifinals
There have been dancers on the show who have been able to work around being so tall on the dance floor, but I have never seen a couple use a tall height to their advantage like I’ve seen with Calvin and Lindsay before! Lindsay created routines that would allow Calvin to fill up the dance floor with energy, which matched with his unique stature. Their Charleston is the perfect example of this, which involved Calvin extending his legs all around the dance floor. And since Lindsay is a kinetic energy machine, she was able to dance up to that, making the difference in height appear seamless. I adore how playful these two were together, yet they still stuck to business when a dance required some intensity or sensuality.
2nd Place- James HInchcliffe and Sharna Burgess (#TeamStopAndGo)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Argentine Tango from the Semifinals, 2- Viennese Waltz from Halloween Night, 1- Quickstep from Cirque du Soleil Night
James is by far one of my favorite contestants to ever be on Dancing With the Stars! He is such a unique character, and he brought out his true self through the stories he told with Sharna on the dance floor. I can tell that James and Sharna have such a true and authentic, close bond that will last forever. These two made me want to smile and cheer with every dance. I wish I could see more dancing from them! I would have loved to have seen James and Sharna take home those Mirror Ball trophies, but I think they got something even stronger from their experiences on the show this season. They received unforgettable memories, a newfound friendship, and amazing scores for absolutely superb dance routines.
1st Place- Laurie Hernandez and Valentin Chmerkovskiy (#TeamValaur)
Top 3 Dances: 3- Cha-Cha-Cha from the Premiere, 2- Quickstep from Eras Night, 1- Argentine Tango from Showstoppers Night
I just want to say a huge congratulations to Laurie for having won a gold medal in the Olympics and winning the Mirror Ball Trophy all in the same year at the young age of 16! Good on her for that! It is dedication like that that can bring people to far places in life! She and Val stood out every week with their constant slayings of every dance style! Laurie’s athleticism really helped her out, because she looked like a pro with every motion she made. Val was there for her every step of the way, and made it so Laurie would shine in even the toughest of dances! Laurie always brought her A-game, and never failed to impress me!
So those are my thoughts on the season 23 cast! What are yours?!
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