Dancing with the Stars Recap: Nicole Scherzinger and Erin Andrews Shine, Kate Gosselin Bombs

Dancing with the Stars kicked off its 10th iteration last night with its best cast in several seasons. The season premiere offered some standouts and some bombs.

Eliminations aren't until next week, which is fortunate for Aiden Turner, who would likely be sent home as Kate Gosselin and Buzz Aldrin will get sympathy votes.

As expected (by THG, anyway), Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough led the pack. She's kind of a dancer for a living, so this was not exactly a stunner.

Same goes for Evan Lysacek, who may not be a dancer, but makes a career out of being agile. Erin Andrews and Pam Anderson? Pleasant surprises!

Here's a tiered breakdown of last night's Dancing with the Stars scores ...

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The judges were kind to Nicole, Evan and Erin last night, and not so kind to Kate and Buzz. Who did you enjoy most on the Dancing with the Stars season premiere?

Early favorites

Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough - Viennese Waltz. Score: 25 (9,7,9).

Evan Lysacek & Anna Trebunskaya - Viennese Waltz. Score: 23 (8,7,8).

Erin Andrews & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - Cha Cha. Score: 21 (7,7,7).

Pamela Anderson & Damien Whitewood - Cha Cha. Score: 21 (7,6,8).

Showing potential

Jake Pavelka & Chelsie Hightower - Viennese Waltz. Score: 20 (7,6,7).

Chad Ochocinco & Cheryl Burke - Cha Cha. Score: 18 (6,6,6).

Shannen Doherty & Mark Ballas - Viennese Waltz. Score: 18 (6,6,6).

Niecy Nash & Louis Van Amstel - Cha Cha. Score: 18 (7,5,6).

Eh ...

Kate Gosselin & Tony Dovolani - Viennese Waltz. Score: 16 (6,5,5).

Aiden Turner & Edyta Sliwinska - Cha Cha. Score: 15 (5,5,5).

Buzz Aldrin & Ashly Costa - Cha Cha. Score: 14 (5,4,5).