Monday night saw the premier of another season of “Dancing with the Stars.” Yes, THAT show is still on the air. It also was the debut of Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver as a ballroom dancer.
DD and his uproariously hot Russian partner, Petra Murgatroyd, (trust me in that the pictures provided on this site did not do her justice), performed the cha cha for their first dance.
Attempting to put my fandom of DD aside, as someone who used to be a regular viewer of DWTS, I will say that DD’s performance was pretty spectacular for a first dance of the season. DD and his barely clad partner earned the first standing ovation of the season, and nearly every online source I’ve checked has DD among the top four favorites to go home with the crystal ball.
As he has with Packers fans through the years, DD won the crowd and judges over with his charisma and energy, leading ham-fest judge Bruno Tonioli to ironically call DD a “diamond in the rough.”
The judges did not grace DD with one of the higher scores of the night, only giving him a 21 (out of 30), which caused a cascade of boos from the audience. However, the judges are well aware of the contestants’ popularity going into the contest, and therefore, the judges might try to use their scores to level the playing field for the less popular contestants that they’d like to see stick around.
Here is the entertaining routine for your viewing pleasure.