JoJo Siwa And Her “Dancing With The Stars” Partner Made History As The Show’s First Same-Sex Couple
The 30th season of Dancing With The Stars started last night, a fact that made me wonder just how many stars we as a society have allowed ABC to burn through (that would be 364 stars). Previous to today, and amongst all those stars, there has never once been a same-sex dance team. But as promised, last night’s 30th season premiere featured contestant JoJo Siwa dancing with her partner, Jenna Johnson.
JoJo is currently in a fight with her main brand handlers, Nickelodeon, so I was hoping JoJo would bring some premium drama to the dance floor and bust out a tango to Kelis’ “Caught Out There” with some extra-zesty toe-kicks delivered at the “I hate you so much” part. JoJo decided to go more on-brand with it, and in this case, it was a quickstep to Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” featuring JoJo and Jenna looking like two dancers from the 3pm Mardi Gras parade through Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. And I don’t know for sure what is going on with that set design behind them, but it looks like LMFAO got work as production designers.
JoJo, who came out as gay back in February and comes from the world of semi-professional dance, was very excited to be partnered with a girl. And really, it doesn’t make that much of a difference, right? I’m sure some people watching at home fell out of their recliners and stammered, “W-w-w-which one is the man?!?!” when JoJo and Jenna trotted around the stage. But anyone who has ever been to a dance competition before knows that there are plenty of dance duets featuring two girls. It’s the same reason why I wasn’t worried about JoJo’s head being weighed down by the 40 lbs. of glitter on her scalp. That’s practically standard in the professional dance world!
Also making a groundbreaking DWTS debut last night was Olivia Jade Giannulli. She has the unique distinction of being the very first Dancing With The Stars contestant whose mother and father got arrested for faking her way into college on some bogus rowing credentials! An aspiration for little fake rowers everywhere. Olivia Jade is not technically in the entertainment business – she posts videos of herself talking on YouTube – so dancing isn’t going to come as easy to her as it does to JoJo. But Olivia Jade didn’t totally eat shit, like some of the other “A Celebrity For What Reason Exactly?” stars that came before her. No, there was no awkward Kim Kardashian-style floor cruising for Olivia.
According to UsWeekly, she was cheered on by her sister, Isabella Rose Giannulli. Her parents were not there, but I’m sure they’ll be there to support Olivia Jade, should she make it past Week 1. And we all know they’d be more than willing to help her out in any way they can, in the event she wants to make it all the way to the finale. Make a few calls, write a few checks, corner DWTS host Tyra Banks in the parking lot and suggest she cooperate and do it with a smize on her face.
JoJo got the night’s highest score with 29 out of 40. Olivia got 25 out of 40. Martin Kove from The Karate Kid got the lowest with 13 out of 40.
Here are the rest of last night’s performances:
Pic: YouTube