Season 32 of Dancing with the Stars is two episodes in, which means that two celebrities’ dance journeys have already come to an end. Grammy-winner Jason Mraz certainly wasn’t one of those two, tying for second place in the judges’ points in the premiere and then tying for first in Latin Week. Not only is that impressive for a celebrity who was openly insecure about his dancing before taking the stage for the first time, but he revealed to CinemaBlend that he had “low expectations” for how long he would last.
Jason Mraz and partner Daniella Karagach scored an eight from each judge in Latin Night for a total of 24 points, tying them with Xochitl “The Little Marvelette” Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy for first place. It’s a worthy top two, as Gomez not only rocked a Gwen Stefani-inspired look for her salsa, but also faced a fear. I spoke with Mraz about Karagach getting tougher on him (and his extra vertebra) ahead of Latin Night, and he shared how he was feeling the very first time he was waiting to hear his DWTS scores:
Oh, you know what? I had low expectations. I wanted to do well for my partner. I want her to succeed and she was definitely telling me before we went out there. She’s like, ‘Let’s get a seven. Let’s go out there and get a seven,’ and we got three sevens and that was a thrill and I was totally shocked. But honestly I had such low expectations, I really didn’t feel the pressure to get points. I just felt the pressure of executing the dance well and giving it my best. That was it.
Well, having low expectations is one way to avoid feeling disappointed! According to Jason Mraz – who got to dance to his own song in the premiere – he was encouraged by Daniella Karagach to try for a seven in their first dance. Instead, they got three sevens for a total of 21, which raised the stakes for Week 2. I think it’s safe to say that he’s doing his partner proud, especially since judge Carrie Ann Inaba said following their rumba that she was giving the eight in spite of a small mistake! Would Mraz and Karagach have gotten a nine if not for that misstep?
We’ll likely never know, but Jason Mraz doubled down on his low expectations when I asked what it was like for him when he was standing on stage with all the other pairs at the end of the premiere, waiting to find out if he’d make it to Latin Night. He explained:
I think because I went into this with low expectations, I also went into this thinking I probably won’t be on the show very long. You know, I’ll join the team, I’ll join the cast. I’ll have a few dances and I’ll be eliminated. But after we did so well on Week 1, I thought, ‘Oh no, I might be here a while.’ It was actually a little disappointing. [laughs] ‘I’m gonna be here a while.’
How long he’ll last in Dancing with the Stars remains to be seen, but so far so good! He and Daniella Karagach are also the only pair so far to have danced a rumba in Season 32, which the judges noted was a hard dance. Or, as Bruno Tonioli put it, the celeb and pro dancer were “like two coral snakes writhing under the tropical moonlight,” and they nailed “Cuban motion,” which is “very rare” for Week 2. Take a look at the rumba that had Tonioli dropping the coral snake comparisons:
The 32nd season of Dancing with the Stars is already going strong in the 2023 TV schedule, and Week 3 is switching gears for Motown Night. Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach will be doing a jive to “Do You Love Me” by The Contours, and I’m already excited based on the song choice alone! Tune in to ABC on Tuesday, October 10 at 8 p.m. ET for the Motown-themed episode of DWTS, or watch the festivities streaming with a Disney+ subscription.