Dancing With the Stars season 33 premiere recap: See which celeb already 'set the standard'

Tonight, our spirits took flight!

Dancing With the Stars is back for season 33 and there was a palpable sense of "hell yeah, these celebs can actually dance" in the ballroom! The pro dancers began the night with a glitzy and glamorous opening group routine to "I'm Alive" by Celine Dion.

The judges panel of Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli, as well as the hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, found their stride last season and are now back for more. The judges, especially Carrie Ann, were feeling extra generous in their scoring tonight and delved out a hefty amount of high scores. Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher even said herself that the judges were "being a little too nice” to her. Hey, let's hope it stays this way!

Although there was no elimination tonight, the stars left it all on the dance floor, dancing to songs that were their self proclaimed personal anthems. Starting off with a cha-cha worthy of (a dozen) roses was The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei. His country-inspired routine, pearly whites, and a run and jump over partner Jenna Johnson earned him a 21 out of 30.

Ouch my eyes, they're too hot! Supermodel Brooks Nader and her partner Gleb Savchenko took to the floor with a spicy tango but Family Matters actor Reginald VelJohnson made the judges ponder his stagnant salsa as Bruno said, “Moving forward, a few more steps please.”

Now for some rapid fire awards. The award for the least amount of time to train goes to The Bachelorette star Jenn Tran, who hopped on a plane to do Good Morning America mere hours after her heart was broken on national television. The tallest competitor award in DWTS history goes to NBA champion Dwight Howard, self-proclaimed huge fan of the show award goes to actor Eric Roberts, and having the most fun award was a tie between Beverly Hills, 90210 star Tori Spelling, who danced a sparkling foxtrot that earned her a 17 from the judges, and Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, who did a jive that had a truly unfathomable level of energy.

But it was Pretty Little Liars and Zombies star Chandler Kinney who brought the house down with her head-turning tango to Chappell Roan's "Hot to Go!", which earned her two 8s from the judges, a rare occurrence on premiere night. Carrie Ann proclaimed that Kinney's phenomenal first dance has “set the standard for season 33.”

And with that, a promising set of stars began their journey toward winning the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. They'll all be spared to chassé another day (well week, but that doesn't rhyme.) But next Tuesday, brace yourself, for the first elimination of the season will be a double with two couples heading home.

DWTS season 33 episode 1 scores

Here's where each couple landed on the leaderboard:

Chandler & Brandon - Tango, 23 out of 30
Dwight & Daniella - Salsa, 22 out of 30
Joey & Jenna - Cha-cha, 21 out of 30
Stephen & Rylee - Jive, 21 out of 30
Danny & Witney - Tango, 20 out of 30
Jenn & Sasha - Cha-cha, 19 out of 30
Phaedra & Val - Cha-cha, 19 out of 30
Brooks & Gleb - Tango, 18 out of 30
Ilona & Alan - Cha-cha, 18 out of 30
Anna & Ezra - Cha-cha, 18 out of 30
Tori & Pasha - Foxtrot, 17 out of 30
Reginald & Emma - Salsa, 16 out of 30
Eric & Britt - Cha-cha, 15 out of 30

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Next week, DWTS is celebrating the silver screen with music from your favorite movies for Oscars night!

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.