Okay, really more like wishful thinking on Leslie’s part. I didn’t recognize the name, but I definitely recognize the face – he’s that cute little commedian with the southern accent. See?

Anyway, according to the Nashville Examiner the guy who played Beverly Leslie on Will And Grace wants to do DWTS.

Is Leslie Jordan heading to ABC’s Dancing With the Stars? If the popular actor-comic-Southern gent has anything to say about it, the answer is: “Yes. Yes. Yes!”

Anybody that has watched Jordan on stage, screen or television, already knows that the man is a bundle of Southern fun. So, it makes sense that the unabashed performer would do more than just one show at the Rrazz Room in the uninhibited mecca that is San Francisco, still basking in its post-Gay Pride glow.

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Jordan muses with a charmed Southern drawl. “I’m on the list, but it’s a very long list. My problem, career-wise, is that I have been around so long—people know me—but I am almost like a soap opera star. I am known within the gay community but I have never achieved, you know, whatever it is that is …w here you are known in middle America. I just need to kick my career up to that next level.”

“And I have the funniest story to tell if and when I get on,” he adds. “I was awful in P.E. Oh … how I was hit with that Dodge Ball! I was so helpless in sports. And then one semester, out of the blue, we did ballroom dancing. Everybody hated it—but me. I didn’t even know who Martha Graham was. I had this little, fat partner … I had her in a vice grip and swirling her all around. Then the teacher tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Mr. Jordan, you must remember that the young lady is the picture and you are but the frame.’ I looked at her and thought—I want to be the picture.”

Okay, I want this guy on the show!! He’s crackin’ me up!

Yes, I know. Lou Ferrigno. This is kind of a strange story and you may have heard it already. Lou Ferrigno said, on Anderson Cooper, that Michael Jackson was going to help him if he did DWTS Season 9. According to the LA Times,  Lou was apparently training Michael for his tour that was upcoming before his untimely death. Lou repeats his DWTS comment for them.

Ferrigno was shocked by his longtime friend’s sudden death. “I was devastated. I mean I was shocked. I still think of it as like a joke or like a dream,” he admits.

After all, they’d made plans to collaborate if Lou made it on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“He heard I was in the running to do “Dancing With the Stars,” so he said that he would teach me the moonwalk if I did the show,” Ferrigno says. “We had a lot of fun.” 

We sure hope Lou makes it on the show. This we will watch! How about you?

This has no basis in reality. I just found it and thought it was hilarious.

The latest? Debi Mazar, according to “Debi Mazar” on Twitter. Assuming of course that this is the real Debi Mazar, she says the following:

Currently, Debi Mazar has a small role in the HBO Series Entourage (LOVE that show). Previously, she starred in the movie Empire Records, among other things. Her website, per twitter is UndertheTuscanSun.com.

She’s apparently 45 and married with 2 children. Which means she’ll get Derek as a partner. Just kidding. Forty-Five is stretching Derek’s married mommies type.  A type that was broken with Lil’ Kim.  Maks? Tony? How tall is this woman??

Anyway – it’s currently rumor even though this is apparently from the horse’s mouth. Now that she tweeted she may have blown her shot.  She has quite the biography – more than I remember.

Debi Mazar Wikipedia

Debi Mazar on IMDB

According to the Mail Online (which I think is London’s Daily Mail), our favorite cranky judge Len has had surgery for prostate cancer, which was in it’s early stages:

Strictly  Come Dancing judge Len Goodman has undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his prostate gland, he has revealed.

He had the operation three weeks ago – without telling any of his BBC colleagues – and now says he feels ‘right as rain’. 

The 65-year-old told The Mail on Sunday he will be back on the show in the autumn, and credited his swift recovery to doctors spotting the disease early at his annual check-up.

The news of Len’s cancer scare will come as a shock to colleagues on the hit BBC show, hosted by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly, because the ballroom dancing teacher has told only his closest friends and family.
‘No one at the BBC knows,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to tell everyone – it’s not necessary to blabber it out to everyone.

Best Wishes, Len and I hope you are all well soon – if this article is any indication, it sounds like you are!

These two pro dancers are getting it done!! Definitely planning for the future – ya can’t dance forever, after all. First, an interview with Maks. Maks is gonna do some judging in…St. Petersburg:

Contestants at this week’s Millennium Dancesport Championships in St. Petersburg will face his bruising truth, as Chmerkovskiy pops into town today, Friday and Saturday to serve as a judge, bringing along fiancée and fellow Dancing pro Karina Smirnoff.

Fitting the appearance into a schedule that includes the upcoming ABC unscripted competition The Superstars and running dance studios of his own in New York and New Jersey, Chmerkovskiy offered a few comments on his frank style.

Here’s another interview with Maks that is slightly longer. Some of the answers are the same, some are expanded.

In a sea of lithe, sleek guys, he’s the stubble-faced, macho Ukrainian often showing off his chest. On a show manipulated to the nth degree by producers, he’s the dancer straining to say what’s on his mind, no matter what.

“I’m unable to bend the truth,” he said, speaking by cellphone from New York last week, moments before he would accept an award from Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his contributions to Russian culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “It’s more important to stay true to myself. It’s a little difficult – If I may say something about somebody not doing such a good job and that person happens to be popular celebrity, that gets their fans hating me. So how do you deal with that?”

Maks is on the new, unscripted, reality show, Superstars and he’s doing really well! The first episode aired last night, although it was shot a while ago in the Bahamas.

The show features teams made up of eight professional athletes and eight celebrities who are paired together to compete for the title of The Superstars Champion. The team pairings are Terrell Owens & Joanna Krupa; Jeff Kent & Ali Landry; Robert Horry & Estella Warren; Bode Miller & Paige Hemmis; Kristi Leskinen & Maksim Chmerkovskiy; Lisa Leslie & Dan Cortese; Jennifer Capriati & David Charvet; and Brandi Chastain & Julio Iglesias, Jr.

The new challenges include a lagoon swim, with teams lining up on the beach and one team member swimming across the lagoon. Once the finish line is crossed, the second team member will follow. The next challenge will feature a basketball game, with each team given 60 seconds to shoot and score as many points as they can with baskets that have assigned points of 5, 4, 3, 2, and1.

Maks and Karina were honored by Mayor Michael Bloomberg for their contributions to Russian Culture. And they looked great.

Finally, Maks and Karina get a reality show. I don’t know how true this one is – it seemingly contradicts what Maks said in preceeding articles. Who knows? I guess we’ll find out.

Karina Smirnoff Ice and fiancee Maksim Chmerkovskiy say “so long” to partnering with Dancing With The Stars. Now, they’ve landed themselves a solo gig – their own reality TV show. Though not set in stone, the engaged dancing duo are looking forward to possibly having a fall premiere of their show, which would follow their bi-coastal, dancing fever and wedding-planning lives!

I promise I will try to do more “Where in the world..” posts and find other news on other pros. It just so happens that Mak, Karina and Derek have the most stuff going on (that I can easily find) right now. There are blogs about Derek talking about his band and Shannon talking about their (hers and Derek’s) vacation, in addition to Derek’s appearance in Kate Voegele’s new video on Pure Derek Hough.  Additionally, Julianne is in the studio – and Lexi will be on the next record.

Sweet Interview with Gilles in Celebrity Baby Blog. Here’s an excerpt:

Gilles Marini started off season eight of Dancing With the Stars known only as the naked neighbor from the Sex and the City movie, but he quickly danced his way into America’s heart — and second place in the reality competition.

His success with a more intimate audience, though, is what really makes him smile. With Father’s Day approaching, the 33-year-old former firefighter and model opened up to Life & Style about life with his wife, Carole, and kids Georges, 10, and Juliana, 2 ½. “Being a parent is simple,” he says. “Be with them, love them, and everything should be perfect.”

Chuck Wicks on How to Rope a Country Hunk.  Chuck, Chuck, Chuck…I just don’t know.

Animal instinct.

Girls with dogs are the way to go. If they can love a dog, they can baby something, and that’s what guys want. They want to be taken care of and babied all the time.

According to Buddy TV, Gilles Marini heads to Nip/Tuck.

“You don’t see me in the shower. You see me in a towel and you realize that I’ve just had sex and I’m coming out of the shower because I needed to be clean,” Marini described his sort of naked scene on Nip/Tuck.

The former Dancing with the Stars contestant will be playing the new husband (a much younger bad boy) of Vanessa Redgrave’s Erica—which means that Julia’s evil mama is definitely back! Obviously, these two didn’t marry for love.

“He’s involved in trying to scheme Sean away from his kids so we can have the control of them. They realize I’m not the guy she should have married because I’ve done bad things, and then there’s a big payback from Julia,” Marini revealed.

Karina Smirnoff wants the Fairy Tale

“I definitely want that fairy tale, big skirt ball gown,” she told Usmagazine.com at Wednesday’s Russian Heritage Festival in NYC. “When else can you wear that?”

Karina and Maksim in US Magazine (much longer article):

“We had our first meeting with the wedding planner, and we’re really excited,” she told Us. “He is amazing, and we’re finalizing all the details.”

Smirnoff said the nuptials — likely to take place next summer — will be in New York.

“He wants it in New York, and if that makes him happy, I’m sure I’m going to earn brownie points,” she tells Us.

Chmerkovskiy added: “And that will make 90 percent of our friends happy!”

Chuck, Julianne and a Big Diamond Ring

Secondly, it appears that Julianne has gotten the lead female role in Footloose. Not exactly surprising news since the buzz has been that she was a shoe-in for the role and the director kept gushing about her, but it’s nice to have a definite yes.

Lastly but certainly not (?) leastly, Chuck and Julianne were spotted last week and Ms. Hough was sporting a sparkler on her all-important finger. The pair were spotted eating at Logan’s Road House in Nashville and Julianne was wearing a big-diamond on her ring finger.

The second rumor about Julianne has been debunked in several articles and entertainment shows. The first rumor, regarding Footloose, appears to be true.

First Marc Malkin said Julianne got the role in Footloose…

Sources tell me that Dancing With the Stars hoofer and rising country music singer Julianne Hough is finally in negotiations to star opposite People magazine’s Hottest Bachelor in the upcoming remake of Footloose…

He updated yesterday with this:

Update: Have Julianne Hough supporters been a little too enthusiastic in claiming she’s the Footloose top choice? I’m now being told that while the filmmakers certainly consider her among their favorites, they’re hoping she’ll be able to improve on her acting skills before the cameras start rolling.

This is being reported in numerous places, but I’m quoting BuddyTV.com:

Vera Wang has acknowledged rumors that she has been invited to join the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars. If Wang decides to join the show, this won’t be her first attempt on TV. She has appeared on Project Runway as a guest judge in 2006, has appeared as herself in an episode of Ugly Betty in 2007, as well as graced the competitive reality series, The Apprentice last year.

However, the 59-year-old fashion designer hasn’t signed a contract with the show just yet, citing her busy schedule producing a pair of fashion shows set for September and October as reasons she may not want to dance.

According to Theater Mania, Maksim Cherkovskiy and Karina Schmirnoff are going to be part of the cast of Burn the Floor:

Dancing With the Stars’ Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff will guest star during the first three weeks of the run of Burn the Floor, which will play a limited 12-week engagement at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre, beginning July 25, with an opening set for August 2.

Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko from DWTS were the headliners at a benefit called “Dancing with Desire 2009″ this past Saturday night.  NWF Daily News describes the cause and who benefits (excerpt below).

Desire Street Ministries was founded in 1990 when Mo and Ellen Leverett moved into the neighborhood surrounding the Desire Housing Project in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. This area has often rated one of the worst in the nation for crime, drugs and poverty.

In 2002, the ministry opened Desire Street Academy for African-American junior and senior high males, in a new multi-purpose ministry, school and recreation facility built on the same property.

Topping the bill were Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko from the TV show “Dancing With the Stars.” Top-notch local talent was provided by U.S. ballroom champs Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian, as well as medal winners Jesse Benedetti and Kimalee Piedad. Kelly Madison from Chapel of the Cross contributed several powerful and moving vocals.

“Dancing already involves a lot of emotions,” Dovolani said at practice, “but when you know you’re doing it for a great cause, every movement, every count, every look matters, because you’re helping to change someone’s life.”

Tony and Elena also taught a group class (apparently). Lots and lots of pictures here for the Tony and Elena Fans.

I hope to have more on the charity-driven endeavors of several of our pros this past weekend.