"DWTS" Week 1: And So It Begins

Weeeeee’re baaaaaaack!

Season 20 of “Dancing with the Stars” kicked off last night with much fanfare, including a schmancy new opening credit sequence and the introduction of a special gold Mirror Ball Trophy (ooo). Not to be outshone by all that, the pros immediately treated us to an equally sparkly, pyrotechnical (no, literally—there were gold fireworks involved) routine choreographed by Mandy Moore. And we were off and running—or, rather, off and cha-cha-ing, foxtrot-ing and jive-ing.

This being “DWTS” week one, there were a few less-than-stellar performances from jittery celebs (Charlotte McKinney, you are soooo pretty, but yikes), as well as a few pleasant surprises (Michael Sam, what a delight!). But let’s zero in on the frontrunners, shall we?

Those would be Rumer Willis, Riker Lynch and Nastia Liukin. It was especially validating to see Liukin and Derek Hough sail through their vintage-glamor-with-a-modern-twist fox trot, because we called this one: Liukin has been our pick to win it all since the Season 20 lineup was first announced. And that costume! Sequins and feathers and white gloves, oh my!

I’ll admit to not being all that familiar with Riker Lynch. (He’s a member of the band R5, for reference. Also, Google tells me he did a few seasons on “Glee”?) But the boy can move, and he has truly amazing hair, and his jive with Allison Holker inspired Bruno to do a Cruise-esque jump onto the judges’ table, so…yeah, I’m on board!

Willis was last night’s biggest and bestest surprise. The daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (who were both in the audience—sitting in different rows, yeesh), she has definitely inherited some of her parents’ serious starpower. Her intense, and intensely musical, fox trot with Val Chmerkovskiy to Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” was fantastic.

What did you guys think? How badly do you want to be best friends with Patti LaBelle? Is Chris Soules actually a human person or just an awkward man-robot? Let us know in the comments—and see you back here next week for the recap of “DWTS” round two!