Shawn Johnson is paired with Mark Ballas on the next season of Dancing with the Stars. Shawn Johnson is the youngest and by far the smallest person to have ever competed on Dancing with the Stars. Good thing Mark Ballas isn’t that big either.

There’s really no doubt that Shawn Johnson is a huge star. The Olympics aren’t that far out of our memory and Shawn Johnson’s nearly heroic gold medal despite getting worked by Nastia Liukin for the rest of the Olympics is still one of my favorite memories from this past Olympics. I was so glad for the US’s little Golden girl to actually get the Gold.

I don’t think that Shawn Johnson will be the most entertaining on the show since she’s kind of a quiet little girl. I also think she’s going to look a little bit awkward on the dance floor. However, I really hope that Mark has her bust out some tumbling pass at the beginning of every dance. Possibly a back flip into his arms or something. Whatever it is, Mark better use those skills in some unique way.

Mark Ballas has been becoming more and more famous in his own right. His participation (and really leadership in many ways) of the Ballas Hough Band will really help him get a lot more votes than other professional dancers might get.

I think that Shawn and Mark will make it close to the end of the show, but I don’t believe that Mark will take another Gold Medal winner to the top of Dancing with the Stars. Shawn’s awkwardness on the dance floor will catch up with her near the end and she’ll be sent home.

Tags: Dancing with the Stars 2009 • Dancing with the Stars 8 • DWTS 2009 • DWTS 8 • Mark Ballas • Shawn Johnson

UPDATE: Jewel won’t be competing on DWTS due to injury. Read more details about Jewel’s injury.

Jewel is paired with Dmitry Chaplin on Dancing with the Stars 2009. Jewel is such an interesting character. I’m not exactly sure how many fans she has since she made the switch to country (kind of). I’m not sure if that ticked off her old fans or if they didn’t care and still love Jewel. I personally don’t really like to hear her talk, but she does have a number of hits that I really love.

 

Jewel has really made a resurgence lately in the country music and so I think she has a rather vibrant fan base that will vote for her. She has beautiful long legs and should look great on the dance floor and get good scores with the judges. I see her dancing skills landing somewhere between Brooke Burke’s amazing lines and dance ability and Jane Seymour’s nice lines and grace on the dance floor.

Dmitry Chaplin is going to be a fan (at least girls) favorite. Being his first season on Dancing with the Stars will be quite the challenge for him to learn how to do all the dances and how to choreograph for a star who is not a dancer. The ladies loved him on So You Think You Can Dance and they’re going to love him on Dancing with the Stars.

Dmitry has also been on So You Think You Can Dance a number of times as a choreographer and so choreographing the routine won’t be new for him. Jewel and Dmitry will really be one of the most stunning looking couples that Dancing with the Stars has had on the show. Right up there with Derek and Brooke from last season or even Derek and Shannon Elizabeth who looked great together.

I’m interested to see how much dance skill Jewel has on the dance floor. So, I reserve the right to change my mind after seeing Jewel do her thing on the premiere. However, assuming she can move her hips, Dmitry and Jewel will be a really powerful couple.

Tags: Dancing with the Stars 2009 • Dancing with the Stars 8 • Dmitry Chaplin • DWTS 2009 • DWTS 8 • Jewel