Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke on DWTS

Copyright 2009 Craig Sjodin / ABC

Copyright 2009 Craig Sjodin / ABC


Gilles Marini is paired with Cheryl Burke on the 8th season of Dancing with the Stars. Giles is an interesting choice of star. Off the top of my head I can’t really think of another star that’s been on the show that’s of a similar stardom. This makes it hard for me to know how well he’ll do on the show. Certainly Sex and the City was HUGE, but I’m not sure if Gilles Marini was really that huge. Probably a few devoted female fans, but nothing like some of the other stars.

I’ll also knock Gilles down a little bit because he’s French. I don’t have anything personally against the French, but ever since we started naming French Fries Freedom Fries I knew the French would never be the same in the US.

Cheryl Burke has quite a few fans of her own. However, she won seasons 2 and 3 of DWTS before fans really knew much about the professional dancers on the show. I’m not sure exactly why Cheryl isn’t the incredible star that she could have been. A part of it could be some bad partners (she just looked awkward next to Maurice Green). Either way, she’ll bring more votes than say Jonathan Roberts, but is getting blown out by the Houghs, Karina and Edyta.

Cheryl’s choreography is still really nice and enjoyable to watch. However, I just don’t see Gilles doing anything that really makes anyone remember him the next day. This couple doesn’t have the water cooler quality to vault them to the top. I’m predicting middle of the pack at best. He’ll be out even earlier if Gilles turns out to dance like Jerry Springer.