Dancing With The Stars: Juniors premiered on Sunday and things are already getting tense in the ballroom.
The premiere of the junior edition saw 12 child stars and their pint-sized partners take the dance floor with some help from the DWTS pros. After a night of dancing, flips, and tricks – two couples left the ballroom.
Before we get to the results, we have to talk about the performance from 13-year-old Mandla Morris, the son of music icon Stevie Wonder. He was partnered with Brightyn Brems and the pair are mentored by Cheryl Burke. They danced a Jive to “Land of 1000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett.
He is one to watch, folks.
“Obviously, that superstar status is in your blood,” judge Val Chmerkovskiy said. “You killed it, it was awesome.”
Val and fellow judge Adam Rippon both called it the performance of the night.
They took the top spot with 24 out of 30.
Meanwhile, the dark horse in the competition might just be Ariana Greenblatt. She and her partner Artyon Celestine are mentored by Brandon Armstrong, who took a liking to the pairing instantly and they do seem to be crushing on each other. The pair danced to “Cut to the Feeling” by Carly Rae Jepsen.
The judges gave them a score of 24 out of 30.
We can’t finish this recap and not talk about Honey Boo Boo. Yes, that’s right! The child star of the hit TLC show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo made her ballroom debut on Sunday night and…she’s just not good.
While the judge’s scores may not have reflected that, she was poor, in my opinion. She and her partner Tristan Ianiero performed to “Conga” by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine. But compared to the other child stars, she was slow and awkward in her dance. She missed some steps and it basically looked like Tristan was doing most of the work while she made small steps. Not good enough and I feel she’ll be out sooner rather than later.
Judge’s score: 19 out of 30.
After the final dance, the audience in the ballroom had the chance to vote for who they wanted to keep. Now, remember this show is pre-taped and not live. That’s why the studio audience votes instead of the live audience at home.
After the vote closed, hosts Jordan Fisher and Frankie Muniz came back with the results. It was then revealed that Tripp Palin Johnston and partner Hailey Bills and Addison Osta Smith along with partner Lev Khmelev were eliminated from the competition.
Palin Johnston was mentored by Jenna Johnson and Smith’s mentor was Keo Motsepe.
What was your favorite dance of the night? Who do you pick as the top contenders? Share your picks in the comments below!
Dancing With The Stars: Juniors airs Sunday’s at 8/7c on ABC.