The season premiere of Dancing with the Stars ushered in an unprecedented level of queer appeal with trans man Chaz Bono wowing the crowds with his Cha-Cha, fabulously gay Queer Eye guy Carson Kressley making up for his lack of talent with charisma and humor, LGBT ally and advocate and the original Tracy Turnblad, Ricki Lake, exhibiting her grace and style and smoking soccer star -- who’s got plenty of lesbian fans -- Hope Solo showing up her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy in a battle of the sexes.
While DWTS typically gets bypassed on my DVR I sat through all two hours of Monday’s 13th season premiere to cheer for queers and for Hope, who may not be queer, but who’s definitely bringing a bit of feminism to the DWTS dance floor jibing at uber-masculine Maksim for his lack of athletic prowess on the soccer field.
Wilson Phillips chanteuse Chynna Phillips and actor and Iraq veteran J.R. Martinez earned the highest scores of the night, each exhibiting grace under fire with their Viennese waltzes.
Hope, while stunning, funny and a force to be reckoned with physically, looked a bit like a baby giraffe on the dance floor as she and Maksim tried to work out what to do with a woman with physical prowess like hers. Still, the judges said she has promise and rewarded her with strong scores.
Here's Hope sporting something distinctly un-goalie like:
The original Tracy Turnblad in John Waters’ Hairspray, Ricki’s definitely got some moves. Her waltz with partner Derek Hough was graceful with some complicated underarm passes, as the judges pointed out, and she scored well. Hopefully she’ll stick around for a few more weeks so she can resurrect her “Mashed Potato” from Hairspray.
Here's Ricki:
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fashion expert Carson lacked any real talent for his Cha-Cha but definitely made up for it in verve with a hilariously charming performance that earned him whoops and hollers from the audience.
Watch Carson's hilarity:
Finally, Chaz and his partner Lacey Schwimmer took the stage with their Cha-Cha, and Chaz proved his mettle as the child of entertainers. The self-confessed often “too serious” Chaz lit up with the music and demonstrated a flair for the dance, sending the audience to its feet with cheers. While the judges praised his abilities they rewarded him with scores that were just okay. But Chaz’s mom Cher took to Twitter to urge people to vote for him following the show, so here’s hoping he’ll stick around for a few more weeks.
Watch Chaz below:
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