‘Dancing With The Stars: Athletes’ Season Premiere Recap – Adam Rippon & Josh Norman Shine [VIDEO]

The premiere of Dancing With The Stars: Athletes aired on Monday nights and with a line-up full of MVP’s, this season is sure to be anything but ordinary.

This season of DWTS will be different to the first 25 seasons, as it will be condensed into a smaller seasons that will only last four weeks. With that being said, judges will have to send home two couples every week to find out who will make it out on the top.

While every couple brought out a high-intensity performance, there were two couples that made the best first impression on the judges.

READ: Oscars 2018 Best Dressed Slideshow

Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson had one of the two highest scoring performances. The duo performed the Cha-Cha to RuPaul’s “Sissy That Walk”. “I’m not a scientist, but we’ve got chemistry,” Rippon says when it comes to his and Johnson’s performance. He kept up with Johnson’s footwork and brought the perfect amount of attitude to the dance floor. The couple scored a 24/30 points, however as the season continues we can expect their scores to rise.

Another crowd favorite was NFL cornerback Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess’s Cha-cha to “Finesse” by Bruno Mars. Norman admits to having no dance experience prior to the show, however his confidence shined through as he already had his shirt ripped open before the song even started. The judges point out that Norman has the musicality and style that would help him rise to the top. The couple scored 24/30, making them tied for first with Rippon and Johnson.

At the end of the show the couples that were in the bottom were: Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber, who performed the Foxtrot to “When You Believe” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, Johnny Damon and Emma Slater, who did the Foxtrot to “Centerfield” by John Fogerty and Jamie Anderson and Artem Chigvintsev, who danced the Viennese Waltz to “Feeling Good” by Avicii. Ultimately, Anderson and Chigvintsev and Damon and Slater were sent home.

READ: Grammys 2018 Best Dressed Slideshow

The final eight couples will continue on to next week’s competition on Monday night on ABC.