Unexpected Exit: Bat Chen Sabag and Idan Atias Are the First Couple Eliminated From “Dancing with the Stars”

Bat Chen Sabag and Idan Atias took the judges’ criticism from their first dance straight into the rehearsal room, but it was apparently not enough. After the tense elimination round, the panel decided to keep Daniel Greenberg and dancer Alon Davidovsky, and say goodbye to the respected television creator.

After all the couples in the first group had performed their first two numbers on the “Dancing with the Stars” floor, it was time for the competition’s first elimination. After the judges’ scores and the audience vote were tallied, the first couple to leave the show was television creator Bat Chen Sabag, known for “Im Tmutemet,” and dancer Idan Atias. The two were eliminated after performing a waltz to “Lilot VeKalot” by Omer Adam, and reached the deciding round against Daniel Greenberg and dancer Alon Davidovsky.

After Sabag’s Latin debut dance, the judges offered constructive criticism. “There wasn’t much grace in it,” judge David Dvir told her, and Anna Aronov added, “This floor likes feet a little less.” The pair took the feedback to the rehearsal rooms to work on a calmer and more successful dance. “I think that in the characters I wrote for myself, I’m hard-core, they’re extreme characters. In life I’m not like that. I came to give myself over and do the best I can, bring myself and reach the judges.”

Unfortunately for the two, the performance did not soar and received only 22 points. Sabag summed up the experience emotionally: “I enjoyed it very much, I had a lot of fun. I was proud of myself. I thought that in the first dance the judges saw fire, and then there was anger and frustration from the gap between the performance and the criticism.”

The judges also gave mixed feedback. “This is a better dance than the previous one, you’re a good student, but I feel you’re not connected to your body,” Dvir said. “Your upper body is rigid, you have to loosen it up, otherwise it can’t work.” Aronov joined him: “We didn’t expect it to suit you, but it does. You stood like a dancer. You’re a good student, and there was movement here. The competition here is tough.”