After three weeks of “Dancing with the Stars” season 29, teenage Disney Channel star Skai Jackson has had a topsy-turvy run with the judges, topping the leaderboard in the season premiere, getting the lowest score in week two, and then receiving one of the lower scores on “Disney Night” as well. But if her road has been a little rocky on the dance floor thus far, you wouldn’t know it from her popularity online. She has generated by far the most YouTube views of any dancer in the competition. Scroll down to see how the celebs’ video totals stack up as of this writing (the numbers go up by the minute).
Out of the 13 remaining contestants, Jackson’s dances have been viewed more than three million times, more than double the next most viewed contestant (Nelly with 1.4 million). In fact, Jackson’s very first dance, her high-scoring tango, has been viewed more times (1.7 million) than anyone else’s three dances combined.
But does that mean anything for the competition? It might. After all, the judges’ scores only account for half of the results on “DWTS.” The rest is determined by viewer votes, so if you’re popular enough you can survive some tough weeks on the strength of your fan base. That doesn’t necessarily mean that one’s YouTube views translate directly to viewers voting during the show, but it does suggest that there are lots of people online eager to watch her dance. Indeed, Jackson has been safe from elimination each week so far after scores and votes were added together.
Three weeks in, the two dancers with the highest judges’ scores so far are Kaitlyn Bristowe and Nev Schulman. They’ve racked up more than a million total views apiece, placing them fourth and fifth, respectively. All the way at the bottom of the list are actress Anne Heche (who was in the bottom two on “Disney Night,” but was saved by the judges) and football star Vernon Davis. Does that mean they’ll have the most to worry about if they can’t get their scores up in week four? We’ll find out in a few days.
1. Skai Jackson: Tango (1.7M views), Samba (893K views), Jive (515K views) = 3.108M total views
2. Nelly: Salsa (763K views), Cha Cha (455K views), Foxtrot (183K views) = 1.401M total views
3. Jeannie Mai: Salsa (716K views), Cha Cha (295K views), Viennese Waltz (289K views) = 1.3M total views
4. Kaitlyn Bristowe: Cha Cha (552K views), Foxtrot (282K), Rumba (249K views) = 1.083M total views
5. Nev Schulman: Foxtrot (370K views), Cha Cha (365K views), Argentine Tango (275K views) = 1.01M total views
6. Chrishell Stause: Tango (525K views), Rumba (200K views), Waltz (193K views) = 918K total views
7. AJ McLean: Jive (496K views), Foxtrot (144K views), Quickstep (215K views) = 855K total views
8. Johnny Weir: Cha Cha (419K views), Tango (185K views), Rumba (138K views) = 742K total views
9. Justina Machado: Cha Cha (379K views), Foxtrot (143K views), Charleston (171K views) = 693K total views
10. Jesse Metcalfe: Quickstep (310K views), Foxtrot (124K views), Jive (140K views) = 574K total views
11. Monica Aldama: Foxtrot (233K views), Jive (154K views), Viennese Waltz (174K views) = 561K total views
12. Anne Heche: Cha Cha (207K views), Foxtrot (91K views), Quickstep (127K views) = 425K total views
13. Vernon Davis: Foxtrot (177K views), Paso Doble (77K views), Quickstep (103K views) = 357K total views
Be sure to make your predictions so that the contestants can see how they’re faring in our racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs every Monday on ABC. You’ll compete to win a spot on our leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
