PureDWTS Season 29 First Impression Polls: Who Are You Rooting For? Who Will Win? And More
Alright guys – it’s that time again! First impressions polls 🙂 Who are you rooting for? Who do you think will win? Who do you think will make the finals? Who will be the first out? And who do you think is going to surprise us…either positively or negatively? Go vote, then tell us how you voted in the comments. My thoughts are after the polls 😉
Who is Court rooting for? Perhaps odd, but the name that actually jumped out at me at the announcement was Justina’s. I LOVED her role on Six Feet Under (a superb show you should totally watch, if you’re hitting a wall in quarantine like me – it also features a pre-American Horror Story Frances Conroy, a pre-Dexter Michael C. Hall, and a pre-911 Peter Krause). I haven’t gotten around to watching it myself, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about One Day at a Time, too – so I’m rooting for Justina; also interested to see Vernon Davis, who is the older brother of Vontae Davis (who used to play for the Colts) and Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die is a cinematic masterpiece, don’t @ me – not that you can, ’cause I’m not on Twitter anymore 😉 )
Who does Court think will win? I do not feel very confident in my predictions these days, as the dwindling viewership has led to some very unexpected outcomes in recent years (Bones winning, Lindsay’s partner from last season long outstaying his welcome – nope, still not saying his name). That being said – I think there’s a possibility that Skai, AJ, Kaitlyn, or Johnny will win. I think it’s going to greatly depend on who they get as their respective pros, and what kind of voter fatigue we see; I feel like the knee-jerk reaction for a lot of people is “Oh, well Johnny’s totally going to win!”, but I’m wondering if Adam has already fulfilled the “flamboyant figure skater” quota and Johnny will lose a bit of novelty by comparison. On the other side of the coin, I think Johnny is someone who has been on a lot of viewers’ wish lists for a long time, thus inflating expectations for his performance on the show – I think if he falls even a tiny bit short of the inflated expectations fans have for him, it could hinder his chances of winning. Kaitlyn has dance experience and the Bachelor Nation on her side, but it’s been 5 years since her season and we just had another Bachelorette win last season; AJ will likely come with the same sort of lofty expectations we had for Nick Carter in season 21 – and it’s possible he could fall woefully short of them, just like Nick. Skai’s the Disney kid and likely be a good dancer, but she is a Disney kid – and despite the network’s best efforts, sometimes there just is no propping them up all the way to the win. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out…
Who will make the finals? I’d put money on Johnny, Kaitlyn, Skai, and AJ…with an outside chance of Jesse and/or Vernon sneaking in there and displacing someone as well.
Who will be the first out? Considering this is the largest season we’ve had since season 9 (the “kitchen sink” season), I think anyone from a very niche fanbase is likely going to struggle, votes-wise – Nev could possibly get lost in the shuffle if he doesn’t make a splash from the beginning. And in the grand tradition of basketball players not doing particularly well on this show (and the only two pros with any level of success at partnering with big height differences benched due to pregnancy), I think Charles could also be an early out. Carole will likely last a week or two on infamy alone, but I don’t see her either thriving on the dance floor or charming a good chunk of viewers, so she’ll likely be an early out (but not the first). I see Anne as an early out as well – at one time, she was A-list, but anymore, I think she’s just remembered as that kinda flaky actress that dated Ellen at one point. Nelly and Monica are big question marks for me: the former has had some legal troubles in recent years, and may be trying to do a bit of reputation repair; the latter might actually be a bit of a ringer (due to her cheerleading background), but she seems to be the very reserved, tough-love type – not necessarily a personality that sparkles on camera.
Who will surprise us? I think expectations for Kaitlyn and Johnny in particular are high – and I’m not sure that they’re going to live up to them. The one I could see being a dark horse is Jesse – the jury’s out on whether he’ll be more of a Juan Pablo or more of an Antonio Sabato (zzzz), but for some reason I think he may actually end up being good. No logical reason there…just a gut feeling. 😉
How did YOU vote?
Assuming there isn’t some surprise 16th couple-I think AJ or Johnny will win, outside chance Kaitlyn, Skai, or Jesse. It’s not only dwindling viewership that’s made the show unpredictable, but now we have the judges save (I’m still not over James getting booted over repeat bottom 2 dweller Ally), and the show just seems more manufactured and manipulative in wanting a certain outcome or narrative. So who knows.
I feel like Nelly could go either way-surprise early boot or makes it to the finals. I’m hoping Carole is an early boot, but I feel like she could end up out staying her welcome. I think Anne and Charles will be early boots, and I’m up in the air with Nev, Justin’s, and Chrishell (considering who her partner is rumored to be I don’t have a lot of faith). I think Jeannie, Monica, and Vernon will go out somewhere in the middle. I’m more curious about the ladies this season than the men.
Rooting for aj skai, nev, and Justina and would have voted for Vernon if 5 were an option. Who will win…..my gut says skai. Final four I think are aj skai Vernon and nev. voted off first I’m guessing Anne. Last one I went with Justina and nev (positive) and Carole (negative) and chose one at random
I accidentally voted for Vernon for the finals because I forgot about Jesse. I also said Skai, AJ, and Kaitlyn would be there, but weirdly I chose Chrishell for the win. My mind is off today I guess. Though there are lots of people I think have the potential to make it far. I immediately called Hannah as the winner when we saw the cast last season but this time I don’t feel strongly about who will take it. My favorite so far is Justina though, and I think she has potential to maybe make it over some others if she can win over some of the viewers who tune in without anyone in mind to vote for.
Nev is a dancer growing up. He is just as bit of a ringer as Johnny. Took ballroom & Latin dances as a kid and as a teen. Even competed as a pro in his teen.
This is all male finale! Aj, Johnny, & Nev. Kaitlyn or Skai for the 4th spot!
EDIT BY COURTNEY: Saifi, please don’t post links in the comments.
I am not sure on how many of her predictions come true but I do think they give us good insights. I could see some of these guys really surprise us, specially if they are giving Carole to Pasha and Johnny Weir to Britt (since Emma and Britt are the only remaining options to be assigned. Jesse being paired with Sharna can be a potentially solid comeback for Sharna too.
I am also looking forward to watching Jeanie and Brandon!
Anne, where are you seeing this??? All I’ve seen is that he studied dance for 5 years, and then was a dance photographer – definitely not the degree to which you are claiming.
And no, I don’t agree that he’s “just as bit of a ringer as Johnny” – Johnny’s an Olympian with a lot of mainstream familiarity; Nev may hav SOME dance experience, but he’s also a lot more of a niche celebrity who is going to have to make a splash to stand out in this cast. In a cast this big, you’ve gotta stand out from day 1.
Happy to see your thoughts Courtney!! I went looking for your twitter and was very confused lol but hope all is well.
Not ashamed to say I watched all the Netlfix shows during quarrentine. I agree with your stance on Monica, an amazing lady but not one that I think would be a ringer, she I think will struggle with the emotionalh performance part of the dance, and perhaps too sharp and harsh with her movements.
My dark horse pic is Jeannie Mai! She seems soo fun and I think it will depend on her pro but I am very excited.
It’s an interesting mix in this cast. Which is what I excepted in a covid world. It was hard to narrow down a top 4 i’m rooting for in such a big cast. There are several people I really Like in the Cast.
Kaitlyn glad to finally see her on she’s a fave bachelorette for me and I think she’ll work really hard and do well. I definitely see her as a Finale contender and I can only hope if she has Artem this could be his mirror ball season as he’s been shorted so often.
I’m for sure a Jesse fan and I agree with Courtney he has potential to be a dark horse. Like a James or Frankie I’m thinking. I also think Nev has that potential. I love Catfish and am excited to see him on but he is one of the less recognizable names and if rumors are true and he has Jenna I don’t know since she does have a tendency to outshine her partners. I’ll be interested to see how night one goes.
I love Skai. As a Disney channel fan I always route for the Disney starts and I think she’ll be fun. For sure a top contender for the final.
Johnny and Justina were pleasent surprises. I have always thought Johnny would be fun and I think normally I’d say 100% final but with such a large cast that could hurt him. Justina is not someone that ever crossed my mind for dwts but i’ve always enjoyed her work and I think she will have a lot of fun and will be the surprise of the season. Also she’s perfect for Sasha if partner rumors are true.
AJ is my last mention. No doubt he’s a contender end of story. I see him doing really well but I don’t know if he’ll win.
Everyone else is kinda whatever for me. I think any of them have the potential to surprise me but as of right now none of them stand out.
With the Tom firing I really didn’t want to watch but the cast is so good I can’t help it. I know Tyra’s going to make it all about me me me. The promos have already shown that but they did do a great job casting and they are brining Derek back. So this season gets a chance for me.
Skai is going to get 2nd or 1st. I didn’t know who she was from Disney so I looked at her social media. The way she markets herself is so chic, confident, and always relatable. If I was her age I’d want to be friends with her and share fancy seltzers and Doc Martens. Past contestants that were young Disney fam, like Jordan, got a lot of grief that they were missing that relatability. So if Skai dances OK and continues to succeed at not being a Disney robot, I think she can win this thing.
I think all my votes will go to Johnny. He’s a dream contestant of me, my mom and my grandma. Mom and Gma stopped watching DWTS 5+ years ago but Johnny is a strong pull back, I’d say even stronger of a pull than Derek.
I enjoy Nelly’s music but can’t say I’ve ever been surprised by anything he does. So if Nelly actually does anything surprising this season, I will be very surprised by that lol
That’s what they said about Zendaya and many others, Jenney. Fact is, you just never know.
Facepalming myself (This is Jenney, I was posting from a work computer where it logged me in w/ full name) When I posted previously, I had forgot that Jordan won his season! Maybe because I was nursing a concussion during his season, or because Frankie co-hosted the tour… Anyways you’re so right, Princess Heidi: that’s totally what they said about Zendaya and many others. And now she’s pretty much ruling the world!
If one thing would surprise me in this new “next level” season it would be if they played “WAP,” even the cleaned-up version of it. Have you guys seen Normani dancing in that video?