DWTS Season 11 – More Pre-Season Media
Wow. I like everyone they spoke to in this clip from the Insider – I particularly like Jennifer’s comments about Dirty Dancing. It seems she bears no ill will toward the movie, which was something I wondered about. This also shows Brandy and Bristol as likeable.
Some paparazzi video with quite a few different people – warning, it’s long. Hasselhoff = HAM.
Access Hollywood cracks me up, for obvious reasons. LOL
Wow, Maks wrote a very nice blog! I think maybe he learned a lesson last season too.
Brandy is quite a personality. She is hilarious! We get along really well and are having a lot of fun. She’s very free and very willing to experiment. She’s not afraid to experiment even though she appears to be a bit of scaredy-cat. She’s a perfectionist, but she’s a fun perfectionist. She’s not one who drills herself. She can laugh at herself and . definitely has natural potential and talent. I’ll be honest: When I found out I got Brandy, my immediate thought was, “Please let her have some dance experience!” Why? I felt like the off-season went by in a week! It’s crazy. I’ve just been flying around the whole summer with a lot of projects in the works — just super busy. For me, this summer, I spent it on a plane. I still feel the aches from last season. It’s crazy. To me, the show just finished. Now we’re back in it, so it’s kind of funny. It would help if Brandy if had been an amazing dancer. But she’s not — and obviously I don’t mean that in a bad way. Her strength, though, is definitely her personality. I think I just need to be able to package her and present her to the viewers and we’re going to be good. I’m still trying to get myself in the right mindset. Last season was very difficult because there were weeks where, toward the end, I did nothing but Dancing with the Stars. It was literally just rehearse, eat, sleep, eat, rehearse. It gets a little crazy after a while because you feel like you’re missing out on life. But then you realize this is what life is!
The cast this season is very eclectic. I think there a re a lot of people who have potential. I think Jennifer Grey is a dancer at heart. I haven’t seen anyone take a step, so I don’t know her level of experience, but I think she’s in great shape. I think Audrina is someone who can pull away. She has Tony, who’s very excited to work with her. I think there are a few from the men’s side who can be good. Kurt Warner and Rick Fox — they know what it’s like to do something over and over again being athletes. I think Michael Bolton will know how to put on a performance. Of course, I don’t know how limber he is. I think this cast is more even than in some seasons past.
One last thing I want to mention for the first and last time: romance rumors. There was a lot of stuff last season about Erin and me, and I already see stuff this season and the cast was just announced! I just want everyone to know that there’s absolutely no way that anybody will get me to talk about anything about my personal life. I think our fans are amazing. I’ve had incredible support in the tough times and I try to give back with what I do on the dance floor. I love our extended family, but there are certain things that one must keep to themselves. I put out a lot out there — I know that — but everyone has a right to a personal life. One thing I promise is that like last season, I’m very focused on dancing, getting Brandy into the final and getting the trophy. She’s very talented and very capable of winning. We’re going to give our best. I just want everyone to understand that they will never get an answer from me or her or anyone else now or even in the next three years, God-willing, if we’re still doing this. But I want you to know that I’m not blind and I do see the rumors, but I’m not going to address them. And I’m saying that with a smile on my face.
Thanks Vogue!
I’m not saying this to be argumentative or anything, but I think Maks made some digs and innuendos in his blog post. For example, he mentions that Brandy has no dance experience. Um, yes she does. She got paid for dancing and singing. She did ballroom dancing in Cinderella. She has danced for a living. I’m not saying that negates her, but Maks is acting like he’s got a novice. He’s always struck me as being very jealous of Derek and I think he’s planning to whine about Jennifer Grey’s “experience” should Jennifer and Derek do well. Will they do well? I don’t know, but Derek is one heckuva teacher. Maks – well, not so much.
I’m starting to feel a little compassion for Bristol. She seems vulnerable and really self-conscious. Jennifer seems to have a great personality and attitude.
Love the way you put this post together Heidi!
The Hoff is cracking me up. He loves all the attention from the paparrazi, doesnt he? He soaks it up like a sponge. I still remember his first role as Snapper from “The Young and the Restless”.
I loved Maks Blog. I agree how his romantic life is his business. He should not ever have to answer to anyone on that. I have to laugh at people who think he and Erin are on the outs. Sure, they might have had a fiery time as dance partners and maybe even as friends and still might. But, that doesnt mean they aren’t and can’t be close. Of course, I have not a clue. But, I don’t think he’s as bad a guy as some like to say or he wouldn’t have the best friends he does in Tony, etc etc.
And this is a true insight to who he is and why he’s gotten this far. So many people think he just has a big head when there is way more to the guy and how he takes on dancing and life in general.;
“We’re very grateful about the opportunities we get. If you give us a chance, the second we get the chance, we’ll do it. Our motto is: We never fail. It’s not an evil thing. We just don’t leave room for failure. We have to do it all the way and we have to be successful at it. That’s what’s we’re doing. We have our bar raised.”
Anyway, excellent first blog. I am more excited on this season than ever. Thanks to this site for that too. Love you guys!xxx
Those pappos who hang around outside the studio seem super annoying. Bleh.
LOL @ Kyle’s car and Cheryl’s XL and XXXL sized purses (okay so one is probably technically a tote but it was still a funny image)
Just in the few videos I’ve watched I already feel sorry for Bristol having to put up with a gazillion questions about her mom and Jennifer’s “Do you think your previous ‘dance experience’ gives you an unfair advantage” crap. I would’ve had to slap someone by now.
Carlie look at all of Brandy’s music videos, she doesn’t dance in them! She did that waltz in cinderella and that is it! She is not a Nicole or a Mya.
Carlie look at all of Brandy’s music videos, she doesn’t dance in them! She did that waltz in cinderella and that is it! She is not a Nicole or a Mya!
Regarding Brandy, I actually agree with both Carlie & Karla – Brandy isn’t completely without dance experience, but I daresay she’s not even close to being the next Mya or Nicole. I think I mentioned it in another post, but Brandy seems to just kinda “groove” while her backup dancers do the choreography. She has rhythm; I just don’t know that she necessarily has the chops. I’m interested to see what Maks can pull out of her!
On an unrelated note, I see that John pulled out some sweet graphics for the Cheesecake Awards and Who Wore it Better! Kudos to him
Hehe…and I just noted which picture he opted to use: the one of his beloved Edyta & Julianne in the itsy-bitsy pink Latin costume. Coincidence? I think not
I think the issue with both Brandy and Jennifer getting so much flack for being “ringers” this season is due to the fact that there aren’t ANY ringers this season. Jennifer gets a bunch of attention because she happened to be in a movie with the word Dance/Dancing in the title (nevermind that it was 20+ years ago…) and Brandy is being pegged as a Mya/Nicole due to the fact that she’s relatively young and in the same business. As it’s been mentioned above, she’s not known for her super fly dance skills onstage or in videos.
We’re coming off of last season where there were 3 “ringers” (Nicole, Erin, and Evan – with varying degrees of prior experience). So I think NOT having any ringers this season is making people want to try to pinpoint one and already pit celebs against each other for the finale.
Not sure if that makes any sense in text but it kinda does in my head. lol
I think that’s what kinda makes this season exciting. You don’t really know what to expect.
@ck410 – I think that’s a very good assessment of what’s going on right now: no outright ringers, so people are really reaching to point fingers just to make what’s proving to be an unpredictable season, predictable. I believe in classical psych they call it the “uncertainty aversion” – people don’t always like what they can’t predict, so they strive to find ways to make things more clear.
This season really is kind of a big question mark – will it come down to fanbase? Skill? What pro you’re paired with? Who knows…which is why I’m having such a hard time doing my pre-season power rankings. I’ve vacillated back and forth with the top 3 especially – I have a decent idea of who probably won’t make it anywhere near the finale, but there are several stars I could see making it all the way. And who knows – one of this season’s stars could be a Gilles: a guy (or girl!) that has the odds makers betting against him/her and they surprise the hell out of everyone by being awesome.
Yep, agreed. In fact, I think it would be interesting if you guys made a poll now (before a lot of videos from rehearsals are released) and let people predict who they think will win. It might be kind of funny if someone such as Margaret doesn’t get a lot of votes but ends up winning the whole thing or at least makes it to the finals. Or if Brandy gets a lot of votes but ends up being a dud.
This season is so unpredictable. I hope we get a lot of surprises when it starts.
Good diea for a POLL!! I love that idea….and the “Power Rankings” too. I will be thinking on that.
And I have to agree with you all….this Season is one gigantic question mark.
ck410 – You worded it better than I could have. I don’t call Brandy a ringer – I agree with you that there are no ringers this season – but I also recall her saying she had ballroom dancing lessons for Cinderella. I don’t think it’s realistic to want all the “stars” to have no dancing lessons ever because most celebs have had some dancing experience in their lives, but it bugs me when a pro acts like their partner is a complete novice to the dancefloor when they’re not.I think this season is going to come down to choreography. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I remember someone (I think Jennifer) made a comment about Brandy’s ballroom experience with the Cinderella movie. I think it was in one of the videos from the press conference after the celebs were announced. Brandy referred to it as “faux dancing”.
I never saw the Cinderella movie she was in so I’m not sure how much dancing occurred in the movie, but was it just one scene? If so then considering that the movie came out in 1997 and assuming that Brandy hasn’t kept up with dance lessons since then, I don’t really think that it gives her a big advantage. For some reason I recall a past contestant who had to do a dance (tango?) for some movie they were in and people brought that up during their season but I can’t remember who it was or which season they were on. I’m thinking it was someone like Tia Carrere or Jane Seymour.
Anywho, I think Brandy will do well if she has a natural ability to move well but I don’t know if whatever dance experience she had from a movie 10+ years ago will help her much.
One thing I’ve noticed when reading random tweets with the #dwts tag is that a lot of people say they refuse to watch the show because, “there’s always someone on there who is basically a professional dancer and it’s an unfair competition”… and I’m wondering if since that’s not really the case this season, if more people will watch.
@ ck410- It was Tia Carrere. She did the tango with Arnold in True Lies. If I recall, I believe the music she had for the tango in Trues Lies what the same she had on DWTS.
Both Brandy and Jennifer were acting and learned to dance for a role. They were not dancers who were not acting. But Maks does seem to be down playing Brandy’s advantages. Brandy is not Mya, Nicole or even a Evan or Kristi but she has a leg up on the competition. I was on wikipedia to compare and Derek’s got an older partner than Maks has ever had. Derek and Maks have both had hot women that had small fan bases or hot women people did not like. Maks had two athletes to Derek’s none. It surprises me Maks does not get the same criticism that Derek has received. He was just in the fnals and got another celeb who can go to the finals. Then I see Chelsie with Michael Bolton and I see him leaving first. I feel the worst for her this season. I know some say Mark because he has Bristol but he is going to get tons of attention because of her. From how he is with the media, he likes that. I cannot feel bad for Mark because has had great partners, not just good (Kristi, Sabrina, Shawn). Chelsie is the one who seems to have gotten another so so draw.
ck410 – You are right. It does come down to natural ability no matter how many dance lessons one has had. Last year there was lots of whining about Nicole’s past dance experience, yet no one mentioned that Erin Andrews had had lessons and even worked as a professional dancer at one point in her career. That’s what made Mak’s whining last season seem so irritating to me.
And John, I agree with you about Chelsie getting duds for partners, yet she never complains. She’s a good choreographer. That dance move she did down the steps last season was amazing. It’s a shame she never gets partners who can showcase her talents for a change.
DWTS Season 11 Official Photos: http://www.buddytv.com/slideshows/dancing-with-the-stars/dwts-season-11-official-cast-and-couple-photos-73941.aspx
OMG, I am very excited about the official photos of the new season. I can hardly wait for those “who wore it better?” There are so many dittos costumes… I’ll try to help with the photos that I find.
On a side note: Congratulations to John who pulled out some graphics for the entire site, especially for the graphic for the “who wore it better?” This is amazing.
Is anyone else having a hard time getting the official cast photos to load? Either they haven’t released all of them yet, or I can only see Brandy, Michael, Florence, & Bristol. Rest assured we are already throwing together the Season 11 edition of Who Wore it Better
Just Jared has the links to the pictures too.
Where is Kym’s foot? Looks like they cut it off! Gee, I hope that’s all it is…
Wow! They all look fantastic. I am especially loving Anna and Bristol’s dresses. Chelsea too. Lacy…well….no comment.
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/09/03/dancing-with-the-stars-season-11-promos-first-look/
@Carlie – Oh I don’t think anyone forgot about Erin’s previous experience. They even showed old clips of her dancing/cheering at various parts in the season. I enjoyed watching Erin and Maks but honestly I expected her to do better than she did at some points, because of her prior experience. I think her nerves just got the best of her.
Well, you can be sure that if *Derek* had Brandy, she would be labeled a major ringer with experience shooting out her ass.
She has experience learning choreography, which is an advantage – so does Jennifer, but that was before Derek even knew how to walk. That’s what you call evening the odds or balancing the pros with the cons. Somebody on twitter told me that Audrina had ballet and tap experience when she was younger – my response is “ballet when you’re 11 to 13 hardly counts as experience”, but some of the idiots on the ABC message boards gave Joanna crap for ballet at 11. There’s no reasoning with stupidity, I guess.
Maks has not been hurting for partners, that’s for sure – neither has Derek, but he takes a lot more shit for it. The double standard is rather galling. I guess it’s a testament to Derek’s talent that he takes crap for partners who were, on paper (and in some cases reality), not any better than many of Maks’ partners.
I’m not really liking that all I see in the promo pics is a sea of red costumes, and some black. Wish they at least mixed up some of the costumes up and gave the overall cast more color.
Thanks Marcela for the photos.
I know Britol said she would be well covered but, I’m sorry Voguerista, this dress looks terrible on her, she looks 20 years older !
And I like Lacey’s outfit, such a pity she dyed her hair like that, she’s prettier as a brunette
Here’s some footage of Bristol on Jay Leno last night:
ck410 I agree with you. And remember Brandy did that waltz 13 years ago. If Jennifer is gonna get let off because it was so long ago Brandy should have the same privilege.
But Brandy is currently dancing too, Jennifer isn’t – not to mention that there’s a huge difference between 13 years and 23 years. Also not to mention that Brandy is 20 years younger than Jennifer. That anyone would even put them on equal footing is silly – but I guess flattering to 50 year olds. I’m not saying that either of them are ringers, I’m saying that if Derek had Brandy people would be screaming bloody murder and RINGER. Double standards for Derek and everyone else – and the pros are guilty as everyone else. I guess Derek’s just that good.
He’s got a 50 year old woman who recently had her spine fused and discovered she had cancer – and still people are threatened. It’s kinda funny, in a way. 
I imagine that when they go out in 5th place or so, people will be trying to claim he’s lost his touch.
Karla, you posted the same thing twice so I deleted one – you have to wait a bit for the comments to show up because the site is cached. And it’s been running a bit slow.
I just read about what kind of cancer Jennifer had. It was thyroid cancer. I have some family members who went through the same thing. She only had the surgery last Christmas Eve, so she’s probably still not adjusted to her medication (it can take up to a year to get the dosage right, plus to recover if she had to undergo radiation treatment, etc.). Sure hope she fares well. Roger Ebert had the same cancer Jennifer did, and he’s had tons of complications.
I figure Jennifer is still adjusting to the medication. Thankfully they removed the malignant tumor. It is scary to think she monitored it for four years, thinking it was benign. Then just having it removed by another surgeon led to that discovery. I am surprised though if that nodule was that big that her doctor’s did not test it before. Derek’s going to get blasted no matter what.
John – Thyroid cancer is tricky. It’s possible to have a benign reading or inconclusive if they don’t biopsy deep enough or in just the right spot. I am assuming her surgeon suggested she get half the thyroid out due to the nodule being on that side and being large enough to be manually manipulated. When that tested positive, they most likely had to reopen the incision and take the other half out just to be sure. I was excited to see her dance prior to this, but now I am in her corner all the way. She’s very brave to do this so soon after diagnosis and surgery.
That makes sense Carlie. It sounds frightening seeing that Jennifer and her physicians probably did everything correctly. I am guessing it must have been large enough to remove though so it was a large nodule. I know people have some small goiters but it is not large enough to necessitate surgery. I can see her thinking if it is benign, why do it. Hearing all this along with what you shared Charlie, I am more excited to she her dance and she is very brave.