Disney Star Zendaya Shakes Up Opening Night of 'Dancing With the Stars' Season 16

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"Dancing with the Stars" Season 16 VAL CHMERKOVSKIY, ZENDAYA
Multi-talented actress and singer Zendaya partners with Val Chmerkovskiy on "Dancing With the Stars" Season 16, premiering March 18 on ABC. (Craig Sjodin/ABC)

Monday's season premiere of "Dancing With the Stars" had all the glitz, glam, and spray tanning of seasons past, but it also boasted three fresh-faced pro dancers and the youngest celebrity cast ever.

The highlight of the show? Hands down, Disney star Zendaya Coleman. The 16-year old "Shake It Up" star is the show's youngest contestant ever. And while her hip-hop dance background could have hurt her in the ballroom, she really shook up the dance floor with her barefoot contemporary performance, earning triple eights -- which is really good for premiere night! She also received uncommon opening night kudos from Len Goodman, who said it all when he simply said, "That was great." Bruno Tonioli called the teen star "sweet 16 and superb."

[Related: Check Out the Official Cast Photos of 'DWTS' Season 16]

Zendaya's pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, previously revealed on his blog for Today that he would "most definitely do things differently" this season with his young celeb partner, especially when it came to the contemporary dance. (In case you need a refresher, the Ukrainian pro dancer really steamed that dance up last season with soap star Kelly Monaco.)

"Last time I did contemporary half the nation got pregnant!" Val wrote. " So I'm probably going to tone it down with Zendaya and take a different route! Less about passion and more about inspiration!" Mission accomplished!

See Zendaya and Val's contemporary dance:

In addition to the show's youngest celeb contestant, Monday's premiere featured another first when reality star Lisa Vanderpump was escorted on to the dance floor by a really cute partner. And no, we're not referring to hunky new pro dancer Gleb Savchenko. Instead, the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star brought her Pomeranian pooch, Giggy, out on the floor. And while the judges were a little hard on the "Housewives" head honcho following her foxtrot (Bruno accused her of "too much staggering about"), Lisa took her set of sixes in stride and declared, "Giggy deserves a 10!"

[Related: 'Dancing With the Stars': Celebs Who've Turned Down the Show]

Seriously, has "DWTS" gone to the dogs? We haven't seen a canine cameo like this since… never. (Unless you count Michael Bolton's infamous Season 11 "Hound Dog" jive, of course!)

Meanwhile, the low point of the night came from comedian D.L. Hughley. His clunky cha cha -- danced appropriately to FloRida's "Low" -- was slammed by the judges. Bruno told Hughley and his partner Cheryl Burke, "You have terminated the cha cha cha." Score: A lowly 12 points out of 30.

[Related: 'Dancing With the Stars' Performance Photos]

Here's the full list of scores from Monday's "Dancing With the Stars" premiere.

  • Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough -- Cha Cha, 21 out of 30 points

  • Victor Ortiz and Lindsay Arnold -- Foxtrot, 18 out of 30 points

  • Ingo Rademache and Kym Johnson -- Contemporary, 20 out of 30 points

  • Lisa Vanderpump and Gleb Savchenko -- Foxtrot, 18 out of 30 points

  • D.L. Hughley and Cheryl Burke -- Cha Cha, 12 out of 30 points

  • Zendaya Coleman and Val Chmerkovskiy -- Contemporary, 24 out of 30 points

  • Sean Lowe and Peta Murgatroyd -- Foxtrot, 19 out of 30 points

  • Aly Raisman and Mark Ballas -- Cha Cha, 21 out of 30 points

  • Dorothy Hamill and Tristan MacManus -- Contemporary, 21 out of 30 points

  • Wynonna Judd and Tony Dovolani -- Cha Cha, 18 out of 30 points

  • Andy Dick and Sharna Burgess -- Foxtrot, 17 out of 30 points

  • Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff -- Cha Cha, 20 out of 30 points

The 16th season of "Dancing With the Stars" airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 PM on ABC.