Jenna Dewan made her "Dancing With the Stars" debut count. Closing out the second night of the Season 35 two-night premiere on September 16, 2026, the "Rookie" star and her professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy performed a tango to Blondie's 1980 hit "Call Me" — earning 19 points out of a possible 30, the second-highest score of the night behind only Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas.
The premiere paired each of the show's female celebrities with a song that topped the charts the year they were born, a format that has become a signature of the season's opening week. For Dewan, that meant leaning into Blondie's new wave classic for a routine judge Derek Hough said had serious punch. "You put the go in tango," Hough told her, praising the power and energy of the performance while noting it occasionally tipped into "frantic" territory and that her shoulders crept up during the more intense sections. He encouraged her to sharpen the "fine strokes" in the weeks ahead, adding that as a trained dancer, she's held to a different standard than a true beginner.
jenna with one of the strongest premiere performances you'll ever see like anyone is shocked 😭#DWTS pic.twitter.com/nQvn2czx7i
— 𝐤𝐚𝐢 ෆ｡ (@bluecarthenist) September 17, 2026
