No eliminations the first week.

In the season premiere there were no eliminations. Usually one contestant gets eliminated every week, including the premiere, so now viewers do not get a vote for the first week. Only the judges scores will matter this week and those will be combined with next week's judges scores and viewer voting.

New scoring system.

This season will also have a new live voting system. Voting is now limited to to live votes cast during the East Coast broadcast time frame. Meaning fans on the West Coast have to vote between 5 and 7 p.m., and they will actually be voting on the previous week's dances since they will not have seen the dances the East Coast viewers will be voting on.

New set.

This season also features a brand new stage set which wasn't revealed to the judges, pros, and celebrities until Monday night's show. The judges donned a brand new panel with white and gold accents as well as new panel score numbers. The stage also has a lot more gold decor as well.

Technicality Score

The judges this season are really docking off points for technicalities, shown on Monday night's premiere. It seems that this year there are specific requirements the pro dancers have to put in their choreography. Each dance has to have at least an 8 count of true, original moves for whichever dance style they are performing that week. Judge Len Goodman has always been a stickler for tradition over originality, but this year all three judges have to deduct points if there isn't enough traditional choreography in the dances.

Celebrities & Pairings

One complaint of Bobby Bones' win was that the show was becoming a popularity contest instead of a dancing competition. According to womensday.com, ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke said this season has some of the biggest celebrity names to date. "I think it's going to be a big season," she said. The celebrity and pro partners also were not revealed until the show premiered, while in the past the duos were revealed prior to the season premiere.

The cast includes:

• Karamo Brown, Queer Eye star
• Kate Flannery, The Office star
• Hannah Brown, The Bachelorette
• Lauren Alaina, Country singer
• James Van Der Beek, Actor and '90s heartthrob
• Ray Lewis, Former NFL linebacker
• Ally Brooke, Former member of Fifth Harmony
• Lamar Odom, Former NBA player
• Kel Mitchell, Actor and comedian
• Sean Spicer, Former White House press secretary
• Christie Brinkley, Supermodel
• Mary Wilson, Member of the Supremes