Gavin DeGraw made his ‘Dancing With the Stars’ debut last night. As a musician, you’d assume he already has some rhythm — and he does! But he lacks the confidence in his moves that would earn him rave reviews from the judges.

“I’ve been wanting to get out from behind my piano at my concerts,” DeGraw admitted. “When I move that out of the way, I’m more vulnerable, and I want to get confident.” Good thing he was partnered up with reigning champ Karina Smirnoff!

“People think that because I’m a musician that I’d have some level of dancing ability,” DeGraw said. “And I’m here to prove them wrong.” The camera then shoots over to DeGraw practicing with Smirnoff and telling her, “When you do that, it looks like dancing. When I do it, it looks like an injury.” We hope he sticks around on the show just for the sake of comic relief!

Smirnoff recognizes the root of DeGraw’s humor: “Gavin is very funny and he makes a lot of jokes,” she said, “because he’s nervous about performing.” One thing he’s not nervous about? Checking out her behind!

When the pair took the stage to foxtrot to Lady Antebellum’s ‘I Run to You,’ DeGraw looked like Fred Astaire, but more so in wardrobe than footwork. Donning a suit, his trademark hat and shiny shoes, DeGraw could barely keep a straight face as he danced with Smirnoff. His actual dancing wasn’t bad at all — but he was visibly stiff, likely due to nerves. He and his partner looked thrilled, though — perhaps more so when it was over — but they clearly have a warm rapport.

“The foxtrot is a very fluid, romantic sort of dance, and you’re a little bit stiff in your arms and your legs. It lacked musicality in your upper body,” [said]. However, the judge did add that next week’s jive will likely be easier for DeGraw since it’s a sharper, stiffer set of movements.

“You have a great charm and a very gentle quality to your dance,” [said]. “I thought you interpreted very very well.” However, Tunioli told DeGraw that he sometimes “stiffens up in the wrong places.” DeGraw replied that he sometimes stiffens up at the wrong times as well. Zing!

Carrie Ann Inaba tried wiping the dirty images from her mind before judging. “You have great musical interpretation, and I like the way you brought the whole story to live,” she told DeGraw. “There’s a tenderness to your dancing that is actually very easy to watch. I think the flow between movements is actually very nice.” While Inaba disagreed with the rest of the panel on her last point, she does admit that DeGraw “hyperextends” his arms at times, making it look more like karate than ballroom dancing.

DeGraw left the stage with a score of 20 — not bad, but not stellar. Here’s hoping he sticks around to jive next week!

Watch Gavin DeGraw Do the Foxtrot on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

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