When the “Dancing with the Stars” judges scrape for kind words as hard as they were for Joe Amabile during the season 27 premiere, you know it’s been a rough night. He got the nickname “Grocery Store Joe” on “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise” this year, but he wanted to change that to “Dancing Joe.” If the judges are any indication, though, he might not want to quit his day job. Despite his chaotic quickstep, they wanted to make him feel better by pointing out his charm and his good looks, but that almost made it worse, as if to say to him, “Thank goodness you’re pretty.”
Was it really as bad as all that? Watch his performance above, and read the judges’ critiques below.
Carrie Ann Inaba: “Well, the good news is you have a big fan section right here. And now on to the dancing. Um, not quite a dancer yet, but we’re still at the beginning, we’re at week one. I see you have charm, and you can push a shopping cart really well.”
Len Goodman: “Oh Joe, I really like you. I’ve never met you, but I like you. I like your personality. I’m not so sure about the baseball cap, but I like you. You’ve got a nice personality. And I was really rooting for you. The trouble is, going wrong is a bit like getting a pimple: you try and cover it up, but people always see it, and unfortunately … I didn’t want you to go wrong, Joe. Let’s move on to Bruno.”
Bruno Tonioli: “Well, I’m quite relieved actually because, come on, you can’t have everything. Incredible looks — look at him — and charm. If you could dance as well it would be terribly unfair.”
Amabile scored 5s from Inaba and Tonioli and a 4 from Goodman, giving him a total score of 14 for the night. It almost goes without saying that that was the lowest judges’ score of the evening, but that might not be such bad news for him. Fans often rally around low-scoring contestants to rescue them from the chopping block, and his fans undoubtedly know that he’s going to need their help. Do you think the judges got it right, and do you think he’ll survive elimination on Tuesday night?
