Dancing with the stars season 34 premiere ends with tie after scoring mishap

Dancing With the Stars launched its 34th season on Tuesday night, marking the show’s 20th anniversary. The premiere was hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, with judges Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough on the panel. Carrie Ann Inaba was absent due to illness.

The night began with a group routine set to Whitney Myer’s “Kill the Lights,” choreographed by Ray Leeper, followed by a troupe performance to Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching.” The new troupe lineup included Carter Williams, Onye Stevenson, Jaxon Willard, and Hailey Bills.

Audience participation was strong from the outset, with Ribeiro announcing that the episode had already surpassed the voter turnout of last season’s premiere. By the end of the show, he confirmed that votes had doubled compared to the Season 33 opener.

Robert Irwin, partnered with Witney Carson, closed out the night with a jive to Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” which Derek Hough praised as the strongest week-one performance he had ever seen. Irwin ended tied at the top of the leaderboard with Whitney Leavitt, who danced a tango with Mark Ballas. Initially, it appeared Leavitt had scored 14 after Hough and Tonioli displayed 7s, but it was later clarified that Tonioli’s official score was an 8, giving the pair a 15 and creating the tie.

Other notable performances included Hilaria Baldwin and Gleb Savchenko with a cha cha to Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud,” earning 14, and Lauren Jauregui’s tango to Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” scoring 13. Several contestants, including Corey Feldman and Andy Richter, landed near the bottom with scores of 9.

No eliminations took place during the premiere. Instead, the votes and scores from the first two weeks will be combined, with the next episode featuring a double elimination.