Dancing with the Stars Season 33 has officially kicked off! Jenn Tran is one of two Bachelor Nation stars competing this season, along with Joey Graziadei. The competition couldn’t come at a better time for Jenn, as viewers recently witnessed the heartbreaking ending to her season of The Bachelorette. Jenn got engaged to Devin Strader, who later broke off the relationship after filming ended. Despite being infatuated with Jenn all season, Devin later claimed he wasn’t in love with her.
Many Bachelor Nation fans were infuriated with production following the finale of Jenn’s season. Viewers felt that producers should’ve done a better background check on Devin, who previously had a restraining order filed against him. Others were upset that Jenn had to sit next to Devin to watch the proposal after everything that went down. Unfortunately, Jenn’s bad luck isn’t over quite yet. Jenn and her partner Sasha Farber received some slightly unfair treatment during their first two Dancing with the Stars performances. Here’s why they deserved better.
Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber’s Cha Cha seemed slightly underscored
On night one, Jenn and Sasha performed a Cha Cha to Flowers by Miley Cyrus. The song was a perfect fit for Jenn, considering everything that she’s recently gone through. Jenn and Sasha have great chemistry as dancing partners and put on a great performance. From the moment she stepped onstage, Jenn was glowing and confident. Sasha also did a great job with choreography and Jenn did well with a series of complicated steps.
When it came time for scoring, however, the duo only received a 19. This isn’t bad for a week one dance by any means but it just felt like Jenn deserved a little higher. Jenn had never danced before and her routine wasn’t exactly simple. For instance, Jenn seamlessly pulled off a part of the routine where she glided on the floor as well as some fast footwork. At the end of the dance, Jenn did an incredible dip that took her all the way down to the floor. While these moves may look effortless, they certainly aren’t!
Jenn ended up tying with fellow competitor Phaedra Parks, who also did the Cha Cha. This made the scoring seem even more unjust, as Phaedra’s choreography was nowhere near as complicated as Jenn’s. A 19 seemed fitting for Phaedra, whose performance was also great for night one. For Jenn, however, her dance should’ve earned her somewhere in the low 20s.
Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber’s tango was definitely underscored
If Jenn’s first dance was slightly underscored, then her second dance was majorly underscored. The theme of night two was Oscars night and Jenn and Sasha danced a tango to A Little Party Never Killed Nobody from The Great Gatsby. The pair truly did a spectacular job but once again received a score of 19.
This score seemed unfair and many fans online agreed. Once again, Sasha put together some amazing choreography for Jenn which she excelled at. At one point in the routine, Jenn even perfectly executed a one-handed cartwheel. That’s the type of thing we typically only see the pros do! Apart from that, Jenn danced a beautiful tango and was on point with all of her movements.
The part about the score that bothered me the most was that there wasn’t even a one-point increase from the previous week. If you watch both of Jenn’s dances side by side, it’s evident the second one deserved a higher score. Jenn was more confident during week two and took control of the stage. Every aspect of her performance was an improvement, from her footwork to her facial expressions. Jenn’s Cha Cha arguably deserved higher than a 19 but there’s no question that her tango did.
The judges gave grace to other contestants but not to Jenn Tran
Another frustrating factor of Jenn’s second score is that she didn’t receive any grace for a technical mishap at the beginning of her dance. At the start of the routine, a tech error led to Jenn and Sasha not being able to hear the track. Nonetheless, Jenn didn’t let that hold her back and still executed the beginning steps very well. During critiques, Derek Hough pointed this out which led Jenn and Sasha to explain what had happened.
Jenn wasn’t given a break for something she couldn’t control but other contestants were. The two lowest-scoring contestants of the night were Eric Roberts and Reginald VelJohnson. Both men received a 15, although they both got a 6 from Carrie Ann Inaba which is also what she gave Jenn. Despite limited choreography and not moving much during their routines, Carrie Ann emphasized to both men that she was scoring by taking their older age into account. By the same token, Carrie Ann should’ve given the same grace to Jenn for her music starting late.
Mishaps aside, the fact that Carrie Ann gave Jenn the same score as Eric and Reginald is somewhat crazy. Jenn performed a beautiful routine, while Eric and Reginald danced maybe 1/3 of what she did. It’s almost offensive to Jenn, who should’ve at least received sevens across the board. Hopefully in the weeks to come, Jenn will continue to improve and see increased scores!
