Dancing with the Stars: Hot! William Levy Incites Near-Riot!

USMagazine, Monday, March 19, 2012, 7:42pm (PDT)

Lucky number 14!

Monday's season 14 premiere of Dancing with the Stars had the judges and the audience on their feet -- and in some cases, gasping for breath!

"This is the best first show of any season!" judge Bruno Tonioli yelped towards the end of the night. "Fabulous!"

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The biggest cheers -- and there were lots to go around -- of the night arguably belonged to William Levy. Dancing the cha-cha with Cheryl Burke, the uber-hunky model and telenovela actor, 31 (who also once smoldered in a Jennifer Lopez video), incited a standing ovation and hysterical screams among audience members long after the routine was done. "You're overdressed!" Tonioli joked. Said Levy of the chaos in the audience: "I appreciate the love." He nabbed the night's second-best score of 24 points out of a total 30.

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Sharing the premiere's top score of 26 were two celebs from totally opposite ends of the spectrum: Former child star and Family Matters actor Jaleel White (a.k.a. Urkel) and British opera singing sensation Katherine Jenkins.

"Wonderful musicality!" Len Goodman said of Jenkins' waltz with Mark Ballas. "That was exquisite!" Tonioli raved as Jenkins, 31, looked teary with gratitude. "You are setting the bar so high."

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Carrie Ann Inaba put it simply: "Best first dance on the first episode ever."

Equally elegant was White, 35, dancing with former champ Kym Johnson. "I thought I was watching the great Gregory Hines!" Goodman said. "You were the icing on the cake!" Inaba said.

Also getting strong responses from the crowd and the judges? Glady Knight, getting a standing ovation and a 23 for her cha cha with Tristan MacManus, a gleeful Sherri Shepherd, who nabbed a 23 and kissed her son after doing her own cha cha, and an amiable Jack Wagner, with 23 points for his fox trot.

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The night's lowest scores belonged to Gavin DeGraw, Melissa Gilbert and Martina Navratilova, who all grabbed just 20 points. (Still, past seasons have seen some celeb dancers walk away with total scores in the mid-to-low teens!)

Tell Us: Who was your favorite (and least favorite) of the night?

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