'Dancing with the Stars' leaderboard topped by Zendaya Coleman and Val Chmerkovskiy in debut

Dancing with the Stars' sixteenth-season competition got off to a good start for Disney Channel star Zendaya Coleman and her professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy.


Coleman and Chmerkovskiy finished in first place on the judges' leaderboard during Dancing with the Stars' sixteenth-season Monday night premiere on ABC.

The couple topped the leaderboard after they received 24 out of 30 possible points for their contemporary routine from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

Actor and comedian D.L. Hughley and partner Cheryl Burke finished in twelfth -- and last -- place at the bottom of the leaderboard after they performed a cha cha routine which received only 12 points from the judges.

Second place on the judges' leaderboard was a three-way tie between 2012 Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Alexandra "Aly" Raisman, 1976 Olympic gold medal winning figure skater Dorothy Hamill and former American Idol finalist and country singer Kellie Pickler -- who all earned 21 points for their dances from the judges.


Raisman and partner Mark Ballas and Pickler and partner Derek Hough danced cha cha routines, while Hamill and partner Tristan MacManus performed a contemporary routine.

Fifth place also represented a tie between soap star Ingo Rademacher and partner Kym Johnson and NFL football player Jacoby Jones and partner Karina Smirnoff after both couples received 20 points from the judges. Rademacher and Johnson took the stage with a contemporary routine and Jones and Smirnoff danced the cha cha.

The Bachelor star Sean Lowe and partner Peta Murgatroyd finished in seventh on Monday night's leaderboard following their foxtrot performance that earned 19 points from the judges.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump, boxer Victor Ortiz and country singer Wynonna Judd all tied for eighth place on the judges' leaderboard with 18 points apiece.

Vanderpump and partner Gleb Savchenko -- the season's only first-time male professional partner-- and Ortiz and partner Lindsay Arnold -- who competed on So You Think You Can Dance last summer -- each performed a foxtrot routine. Judd and partner Tony Dovolani, last season's All-Stars champion, danced the cha cha.


Eleventh place went to actor and comedian Andy Dick and partner Sharna Burgess, who has been a member of Dancing with the Stars' dance troupe the last three seasons, after they performed a foxtrot routine that earned 17 points from the judges.

All 12 sixteenth-season Dancing with the Stars couples will return for another two-hour performance show on Monday, March 25, after which the judges' scoring and home viewer voting results from both shows will be combined and one couple will be eliminated on the season's first results show on Tuesday, March 26.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski