Well, Julianne is a busy little bee.   This past week, she tested for a lead role in the remake of Footloose, also staring Chace Crawford (but which should be staring DEREK HOUGH – sorry John).  According to Entertainment Weekly’s Hollywood Insider (and a billion other outlets):

Crawford may soon have his onscreen dance partner. A Paramount spokesperson confirmed to EW that Dancing With the Stars’ Julianne Hough will screen-test this week. Hough’s recent success as a country music star could give her an advantage. Says Meron, “It’s a much more singing-intensive movie for the female lead.”

Throughout the summer, Julianne will be on tour opening for George Strait and Blake Shelton – there are 42 cities listed on her official web site so odds are good that she’s going to be at a town near you.

In the recent past, Julianne has raked in a number of honors, not the least of which was the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Artist award.  She was also named to Maxim’s Hot 100 list (see what brother Derek has to say about her number 25 rank) and People’s Most Beautiful list. 

Next up, besides the tour?  The CMT Awards on June 16 in Nashville. Julianne is up for USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year for That Song in My Head.

Julianne Links:
Official Site
Fan Site
CMT Artist Page

More rumors and gossip from wrestlingedge.com:

- Jeremy Borash has posted a new message on his Twitter page stating that TNA superstar Kurt Angle has been contacted about appear on the next season of the hit ABC Network show, Dancing with the Stars.

Maksim, also known as Maks to long time DWTS fans, is currently in Paris, France!!  I assume on vacation. If a Maks fan out there knows different, let me know!

Recently, Maks filmed a reality TV show in the Bahamas. According to OMG.com:

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A host of stars are lining up to match their physical prowess with some super athletes in a new reality show for ABC.

David Charvet, Maksim Chmerkovskiy , Dan Cortese, Paige Hemmis, Julio Iglesias, Jr., Joanna Krupa, Ali Landry and Estella Warren are the stars who will pair up with an athlete to battle it out in teams on new show, “The Superstars,” beginning June 23 on ABC.

Among the athletes competing on the show are Jennifer Capriati, Brandi Chastain, Robert Horry, Jeff Kent, Kristi Leskinen, Lisa Leslie, Bode Miller and Terrell Owens , Access Hollywood can reveal.

The show, which is based on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” will pair up one star and one athlete. As a team they will compete in various sporting events such as swimming, biking, running and kayaking. There will also be some head-to-head athletic challenges, the network confirmed.

According to Access Hollywood, Maks guest stars on All My Children.

“Dancing with the Stars” leading man Maksim Chmerkovskiy put his skills to the test on “All My Children.” Maskim helps the women of the cosmetics company “Fusion” learn poll/strip dancing so they can take a break from their long days developing a new fragrance. Airs: 02/26/08 on ABC.

I forgot Maks Links!!

http://www.maksimchmerkovskiy.com/

http://www.myspace.com/maksimc

http://www.myspace.com/maksfanpage

Mario covers the Indy 500, in particular Helio Castroneves, Gilles Marini, Derek Hough and Mark Ballas. All the guys look like they’re having a great time!

In the interest of keeping up with ALL of the professional dancers from DWTS, I have started a new series.  A couple times a week I will post an update of what a given dancer is up to.  I’m starting with the easiest pro for me to keep up with – Derek Hough. 

Derek is a piece of cake – he’s in the south pacific with his gorgeous girlfriend, Shannon Elizabeth, for a much deserved vacation. To be specific – Bora Bora.  Lucky dog.   We’ll catch up with Derek again later, once he’s back in the states.

This past weekend, Derek was at the Indy 500 with his band, the Ballas Hough Band.  Between the Snakepit Ball, the parade, and the Playboy Party (see picture below), Derek had a full weekend even before he took to the stage with BHB for a post-race concert.

Derek has said that he will be back for Season 9 “as long as they don’t cast all 7′ women”.

Derek Links:

http://www.purederekhough.com/

http://twitter.com/OfficialDHough

http://www.myspace.com/ballashoughband

http://www.myspace.com/30371912

According to Buddy TV, there are a few things that Shawn Johnson and Gilles Marini won’t do next.

For Johnson, who’s been offered books and movie deals, she’s determined not to sing on American Idol.

“I met Randy Jackson, and he asked me to sing on American Idol,’” she told Us magazine. “I was like, ‘Um, I’ll stick to dancing.”

And Gilles?

“It would be such an honor to come back, but I know for a fact that I’m not going to be in the next Sex and the City — or there’s a 99 percent chance I’m not going to be part of it, I should say…I don’t know if I’d say yes or no, but there’s a big chance I’m not doing it,” Marini told TV Guide.

And why would he? Plot-wise, it just wouldn’t make sense for his sexy character to make a re-appearance.

UPDATE: Check out the latest Dancing with the Stars Season 9 cast rumors here.

UPDATE 2: It’s official, check out the cast of Dancing with the Stars Season 9. Nice to see lots of the cast were on our rumor list.

The first person begging to be on Dancing with the Stars for 2010 is a woman named…Erin Andrews.  Never heard of her, but apparently Tom Bergeron has. Here’s what SportingNews.com has to say about Erin.

As her fame has boomed, Erin Andrews has declined certain requests because they would detract from her standing as a working journalist. Dancing With the Stars, though, would not be one of those requests.

“I want to do it, because I think I’d be good at it,” Andrews said yesterday, over a lunch of a hamburger and chicken noodle soup in downtown D.C. (I had iced tea. Too many freebie cookies from the Scripps National Spelling Bee.)

“I want to do it very badly,” she continued. “That’s the big push.”

She’s said this to others in recent days, but she was really, 100 percent serious. So there, that’s out there. She couldn’t do the fall season, of course, due to her work responsibilities, but she could make her schedule fit with the spring season. I can’t imagine a scenario in which ABC and sports bloggers don’t all benefit from this, so make it happen, producer people.

“I would love it love it love it,” Andrews said. “I want to be like, ‘Who do I call?’ Let’s do this.”

The latest? Danny Gokey from American Idol. Here’s what Danny says according to the Insider online:

The 29-year-old says he’d be willing to try “Dancing with the Stars” especially after the “Idol” judges criticized his dance moves, the Associated Press says.

Gokey says that his first priorities are working on his album and raising money for his charity, Sophia’s Heart Foundation named after his late wife.

According to the AP the singer says he would consider doing the show if it would help to raise awareness about his foundation.

Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson went from winning “Dancing With The Stars” to “Dancing With The Cars” at the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600. After joining NASCAR® fan favorite Kyle Petty for a few heart-pounding 160 MPH laps in an actual race car, she stuck the landing on a celebratory back flip. Johnson has been named an Honorary Race Official for the 50th Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

I think it’s really cool that a 17 year old is able to do all of these cool things. Shawn Johnson must be having the time of her life. These are memories she’ll be talking about for the rest of her life.

Check out this gallery of pictures from the event (3 more to come soon):

UPDATE: Check out the latest Dancing with the Stars Season 9 cast rumors here.

Only a few days out from the finale of Season and, and the rumors and gossip begins to spread as to who will appear on Season 9.  I found two such rumors today!  One person I’ve never heard of, and one I’ve heard too much of.

First up – Bethenny Frankel, per thehollywoodgossip.com:

Do you wanna see her on Dancing on the Stars?

When asked if she’d be up for that competition, Frankel told E! News:

“It looks like a good challenge, so yes – yes, I would definitely do it.”

Sounds like E! asked her if she would do it – I have no idea if any producers have spoken to her. Here’s a pic for others who are as clueless as I am.

Then I found this little nugget – remember, this post has the word “gossip” in it for a reason.

Suge Knight On Dancing With The Stars Next Season?

So Suge Knight may be showing his dance steps next season of Dancing with the Stars ? That’s what is being reported on MediaTakeOut. The gossip site is reporting that the show’s producers are working to get the Death Row founder, somebody that once scared the hell out of the music industry, into a pair of dance shoes so he can cut the rug with some little white lady. Suge seems interested.