DWTS 16 Interview Roundup After The Cast Announcement, Some Of First Dances Revealed
George Pennacchio of On The Red Carpet was at the Dancing With The Stars Cast Announcement to interview all the couples today. It’s so great to see him as always and he dives right into it all asking the couples on their strengths and weaknesses. We also find out what dance some of the couples have? Are you ready? Let’s do it…
First up, Dorothy and Tristan! Dorothy Hamill is so excited to dance with her new teacher. Tristan is also excited to have an athlete and to see how Dorothy can move. He’s looking forward to teaching her. They both think her competitiveness, experience, and confidence on the ice rink in the past will be her strengths. Isn’t it great to see her again Ice Skating fans? Wow!
Jacoby and Karina!! George thinks Jacoby is going to be one of the most “playful” contestants this season. He’s goofy too, but, Karina says he’s already a task master just like with his football ability. The Cha Cha is their first dance and Jacoby says he hopes to bring a “big personality” to the dance floor.
Ingo and Kym! George first brings up about how Ingo is an athlete and a “Stand Up Paddler”. Ingo is scared though and jokes about a nightmare he had with a horrible costume design. His one word to describe Dancing With The Stars right now is “panic”, but, Kym is confident in him. They have a contemporary dance as their first dance and he is doing good in practice so far.
Mark says Aly is sassy, bright, and bubbly and is ready to go. He couldn’t have asked for a better partner. They talk of Aly’s personality, showmanship, discipline, and grace for a couple of her characteristics she will bring to the show. They are anxious to get started.
George starts out telling Andy how fearless he is. Sharna says they’ve already been working hard and that they’ve already built trust and a foundation. She thinks Andy is going to surprise America. They will bring comic relief, but, Andy is hoping to show people he can dance too. He’s competitive and doesn’t want to be voted off. They have the Fox Trot as their first dance. Sharna says Andy is already connecting to the character.
Zendaya wants Val to be tough and serious with her and yet, she wants to have fun too. Val says Zendaya is his first priority now and he’s excited for their story to happen. She’s looking forward to learn more other kinds of dancing versus rap for what she’s use to. She wants to do her very very best. Great attitude.
Here is the interview for Victor and Lindsay, but, for some reason I can’t get it to play. Hopefully, the issue is resolved soon….
Lisa and Gleb! Lisa is not sure she can dance, but, part of doing something new is the ‘charm’ of it all. She wants to have a lot of fun. Gleb agrees and jokes how they plan to have Vodka before and after practice. On the serious side, Gleb says he is looking forward to concentrating on Lisa’s strengths, beauty, and good qualities.
DL tells George that Cheryl is already tough and demanding and what it will take to win. He may be a funny guy, but, he is a “warrior” and plans to work hard, listen, and do his best. Cheryl talks of how important their packages and personality are on Dancing With The Stars. DL says Cheryl is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Lastly, Tony tells George that Wynonna is witty, funny, and gets his jokes. Wynonna comes back and says she’s already putting up with him A LOT! Wynonna plans to put Tony in chaps (only) to feed her 50 animals on her farm. She goes to Target and plans to take Tony with her there too, but, Wynonna plans to get serious too and do the work it takes. She hopes to show women that they can do anything they want and that you can enjoy yourself along the way. She’s done her homework on Tony too. Be sure to watch the end to see what I mean….
Access Hollywood also interviewed all of the couples, be sure to see them here.
Derek and Kellie made their press rounds as well today. Heidi will be gathering everythng up and you can take in their interviews and more at Pure Derek Hough.
Contemporary? Noooooooooo. :/
Jacoby only thinks he’s ready for what’s coming. So naive! 😉 lol
Who in the right mind would make one of the couples do a contemporary dance in week 1 of a BALLROOM competition? It just…makes zero sense. Kinda puts them at a disadvantage sadly. I really hope this doesn’t mean that the producers are trying to “branch out” and whatnot again. What’s wrong with the standard cha cha, mambo/salsa, samba, rumba, jive, waltz, V. waltz, quickstep, foxtrot, Argentine tango, and tango?? I think that’s a nicely sized list already. Why add more? Especially when they aren’t even in the ballroom spectrum?
Contemporary???? and for Ingo and Kym too!
Whyyyyyy
I thought it was universally agreed that those non-ballroom numbers were disasters
Even if some contestants did ok, please stick to ballroom!
🙁
Thank you Vogue- so fun to have these. Yeah, contemporary 1st week is crazy (not even sure pros know how to teach it) but I’m in my mellow, early days stage where I’m more open to all the new personalities and partnerships, not letting anyone bug me a lot yet, just enjoying the process of discovery. A lot to take it, it’s fun.
LOL at contemporary for week 1…these poor poor stars. Im already calling zendaya ‘randomly’ getting hip hop 1 week, if she lasts
I think it’s possible that Kym used the term “contemporary” to mean that their dance was going to have a more “modern” feel and may not be referring to actual contemporary dance (ala So You Think You Can Dance).
I sincerely hope “contemporary” is just a description and not a dance type, because I like the standard cha-cha as a week one dance.
Love me some Wynonna! I can’t wait until they go to her house in Tennessee like she said and can’t wait to see her and Pickler’s packages.
I hope Zendaya is sweet and doesn’t exhibit any young star attitude (Roshon) when their packages begin. Kind of bummed that she is way too tall for Valentin. I feel like it emasculates him a bit and he’s hot for me so that’s hard to do. But I think he’ll be just fine.
Love Dorothy and Tristan, both sweet and humble.
I hope Aly comes alive more once she gets started. Even though Shawn could be quiet and shy at times, she exuded a bubbly brightness about her.
I’m just happy to have my country ladies on.
Cali, I hope you’re right that “contemporary” was only a descriptive word. How would it possibly be fair for some to get cha-cha or foxtrot, and others get true contemporary in Week 1? That would be mind-boggling…well, it would boggle my mind at least.
Thanks for the OTRC roundup Vogue. You’re going to be a busy, busy lady from here on out. Can’t wait to see all the goodies you find for your insatiable “kids” 😛
Love these early “right after the wedding” 😉 interviews. Everyone is fresh and full of hope and enthusiasm. Always the happiest part of the season for me.
Kym saying “contemporary” was a bit of a downer, and I fear she means “contemporary”. She followed it up with saying she had Ingo “rolling around on the ground.” But I’m going to stay Zen and just say “it is what it is.”
I’m not sure if it’s better if it’s true contemporary (seriously, a terrible first dance IMO) or a cha-cha/foxtrot with a contemporary feel (which will result in Len’s head exploding).
Oh my gosh. Jacoby and Karina’s chemistry already is so amazing. I think these two are definitely ones to look out for. I might just be saying that because I freaking love Karina, but oh well. 😉
As for those that have said they think Zendaya is “cocky”, I would say they need to watch her video. She seems incredibly sweet and very grounded. She said that she just wants to do her best, and that’s really all she and Val want. Val’s making it about her, not him, and I think it’s fantastic.
mmc, I agree “contemporary” any way you spin it is a lousy Week 1 dance. However, it might be a blessing in disguise. They have more time to rehearse it and they get it out of the way right off the bat. He’s a popular soap star (right?); she’s a popular pro; they look good together. So even if this isn’t a great dance for them, it’s more likely that there will be celebs who are less popular and/or worse dancers that can get thrown under the bus for the 1st elimination. I could be dead wrong, but that’s how I’d approach it if I got stuck with it.
Agree on all points with Cidra’s silver lining take #14 on Kym & Ingo.
OT, of all the pros Tristan impressed me the most with his thoughtful, sensitive answers, his entire demeanor and attitude toward teaching and to Dorothy. And love his hair 🙂
Silver linings are good. 🙂 And since he’s an actor, he’ll be able to emote a lot I suppose.
Contemporary doesn’t seem suitable for this show, if you ask me. It takes a different kind of training, depends so much on balletic flexibility and expression, leaps, catches, lots of lifts.
The vibe is so different – most untrained people look much sillier attempting it than they do traditional ballroom, imo, and even some of these pros are untrained in it! Can you see Winonna and Tony trying to do a contemporary number? Andy Dick and Sharna? Good grief. Hip hop’s not much better, for most of the couples.
Is ballet going to be the next category, and the female celebs will wear tutus and have to dance en pointe and the males wear tights?
And I like the serious way Tristan approaches things, too. Maybe that’s why he gets mature celebs – because he acts more mature than the other male pros? I do think there may be something to that – they trust him to handle delicate assignments, like national treasure Gladys, and maybe in this case, sweet, self-deprecating Dorothy, who has a history of depression, I believe.
I was really hoping Kym said contemporary as a joke but when I watched it she seemed serious. Have TPTB learned nothing from the All-star season? I think they can survive it week one, though. I hope, since this is one of my favorite pairings.
Jacoby seems like he’ll have a really fun personality. Curious to see if he’s still that confident after some punishing rehearsals with Karia! At least, as an athlete, he’ll be able to take a hard workout.
Love Tristan, as always. I think they may be pretty good despite her age.
I may be losing some of my DWTS zeal and I do get that those first interviews can be really awkward but I found some of them disconnected and a bit annoying. I couldn’t watch Victor’s interview but from the rest I feel like those who were connecting with both their partners and the questions asked were: Ingo, Dorothy, Kellie and Andy. The rest seemed to be imbalanced one way or the other.
I’m sure it will change once they get to know each other and feel more comfortable with what they’re doing but my first positive impressions go to the four mentioned (Victor is a question mark).
@sasa – I sensed some disconnect as well. Cheryl and DL felt awkward and strained. Cheryl seems distant and wooden toward her partner, I don’t see the Joy in what see does once again. It’s like Okay, here I am, Is it quitting time yet?
Wynonna and Tony won’t win, I am not so sure that she is ready for this type of regimen, but she will bring so much fun to the ballroom. It makes me wonder though, Did she ask for Maks? One would think so, Maybe Maks never was in the picture for this season? She obviously knew she was getting Tony.
Jacoby and Karina, fingerscrossed they can pull it off.
Kellie is just cute as button.
I hate to admit it, but Andy Dick might be a ray of sunshine…. Not for long though, but we may need a few weeks of comic relief to loosen things up.
Can Kym bring the “sexy” this season, I am superexcited to see these two on the dancefloor. They seem to have connected well, so, bring it on!
I have to be honest, a few couples at this point, don’t really stand out to me at all. But the real test is when they step out on that dancefloor on week 1.
Question for those who know Wynonna: Has she had neck problems? I ask because she didn’t seem to turn her head much left to right much, kind of turned with her body when she would look at Tony. Neck and spine issues are not a good mix with DWTS, and I’m worried for her health if that was the case.
NancyM, I agree. Jacoby doesn’t get how difficult learning to dance is. He’s in for a shock once he starts serious training. I’m waiting to see if he reacts positively or negatively.
Faby & Gail, I think you’re right about Tristan. His goals seems to lie more in teaching and making sure both he and his celeb have a positive, healthy experience on the show. Winning would be a nice bonus for him. So pairing him with the more mature ladies is probably not a bad choice. That said, I think he’d like to see better scores than he’s been getting. Hopefully, that will happen with Dorothy.
I agree about Cheryl. She used to be one of my favorites before she started “figuring out” the show and becoming disillusioned. Yet still she hangs around. I honestly find it shocking that TPTB wold want to keep a dancer that so casually says 80% of the success is in the packages. That right there says how (un)motivated she is to create some magic.
Val also got on my last nerve in the interview but that may be my C dislike talking.
sasa, I agree completely. While, I applaud Cheryl for figuring out the show, I don’t like what she’s done with that knowledge. For her it’s all about “the win”. Her 80% comment explains so much about what we’ve been seeing from her on the dance floor, and it’s sad. Derek also figured out how the show works. However, he uses it in a positive way. He wisely tells his partners how important it is to behave well in rehearsals (“the camera’s on us now”) yet still works hard to find creative choreography to make his partners look like amazing dancers every week.
agree with everyone upstream – UGH Cheryl, you need a break in the worst way, take a season (or two) off! She’s not doing her partner any favors, either, so my heart goes out to D.L.
Yeah, she’s figured out the show alright, and is being very petulant about it. I get it now, with Cheryl’s choreo and general attitude of late – since the show is not about the dancing, why bother dancing at all; just show some flesh and count the votes. Yea right. Let’s hope D.L. can shine with personality and wit because he’s not going to learn to dance with Cheryl. Pisses me off …..punch the clock, collect the pay check, middle finger to all the rest. Like I said, I feel for D.L.
Hmm, just listened to Ingo’s interview. Can’t imagine him rolling around on the ground in a Cha Cha or Foxtrot really – uh-oh, will he actually have Contemporary? :/
Victor and Lindsay’s interview is working now – he seems like a nice guy who wants to really learn to dance.
As an overseas viewer – I can honestly say I don’t know who any of these people are (except vaguely Aly from the Olympics), but they seem like a nice bunch. Agree with comments above that there a few couples who don’t have that spark worked out yet. Derek always works well with his partners and they seem like a good match. In addition, I really liked Dorothy and Tristan and Kym and Ingo who seem warm and funny couples. Karina looks like the cat with the cream. Naively I really hope that a brilliant dancer wins – don’t really mind who if they win because they are good rather than because they are a football player or an Olympian.
Still from feeling not bothered about this season, am now quite excited – even the prospect of a week 1 contemporary routine hasn’t put me off!!
FINALLY THEY On the red caret FIXED IT! Lindsay and Victors interview is working! 🙂 #teamvictsay
But I also love:
Aly and Mark
Jacoby and Karina
Zendaya and Val
Andy and Sharna
Lisa and Gleb
Kellie and Derek
and
Dorothy and Tristan
Thanks,Anon – just checked out Victor and Lindsay, my first glimpse ever of both. Great chemistry already with coach-student roles worked out and enthusiastic work ethic going,too.
After reading about Victor’s sad and chaotic early years (yes, I did wiki Vic as well) I was pleasantly surprised by his level-hardheadedness, the way he carried himself and treated his partner. He seems to know something about overcoming adversity with grace. Great first impression; now let’s see how the dance.
LOL, Grant. Glad they got the video fixed. I knew you’d be clawing at the screen to see your girl. 😉 Both Lindsay and Victor are very charming. They seem like a good match for each other. I’m glad he’s got the right attitude and wants to work hard. I’m adding thenm to my list of couples to watch.
Lindsay and Victor both seem very focused and competitive. I just hope they don’t forget to have fun along the way.
Thanks Vogue..
Could Victor be this seasons hidden gem? Victor and Lindsay are perfect together, definitely ones to watch.
I see why the producers paired Lindsay and Vic together 🙂 both seem like hard workers and have great attitudes should be a fun pair indeed.
Jacoby and Karina seem okay. I’m kinda worried about this pair. Jacoby seem a bit aloof. Maybe because he’s an athlete.
Derek and Kellie are now added to my favs. I really like Kellie very sweet woman. Derek look like he got a crush already.
I think D.L. and Cheryl is going to be a funny pair.
Wynnona is hilarious.
Love Ingo And Kym. Hmm about the contemporary part. He’s got strength/athleticism and a great body (maybe a open shirt and or tank to win over new fans and Carrie Ann & Bruno), is good at the smoldering part, and a fab partner, plus more than a week to work on this dance, iso here’s hoping things work out.
I’m really excited about Zendaya. She makes me think personality wise someone loveable and funny along the lines of Kyle but with the dance skills of Mya and Nicole.
Cidra, I agree with your point that how Jacoby reacts when he realizes dancing is really hard work will be telling. And will play a big part in whether the audience likes him or not. Will he be a Donald Driver or an Ochocinco?
I also really agree with your point about the difference between Derek and Cheryl. They both have figured out the game, but have had very different reactions to that knowledge.
Lindsay and Victor look good together, the producers definitely made the right call on this one. Also Zendaya seems pretty mature for a 16 year old.
I’m not worried about the contemporary comment, a lot of times in the ballroom world contemporary is referenced as a more modernized styled routine and not actually contemporary like the freestyles we have seen.
After last season…why, WHY contemporary! I’m looking forward to Jacoby & Karina, Kellie & Derek, Dorothy & Tristan, and Ingo & Kym. Wasn’t feeling it with D.J. & Cheryl or Zendaya & Val. Still deciding on the others but excited for a new season!
I was hoping the show would be stopping all the crazy stuff and trying to return to basics….Naive, right? Anyway I think it is really unfair to ask non-pros to do contemporary, hip-hop or Bollywood. Learning standard ballroom is hard enough for a novice.
I think this cast is really good, overall (from what I’ve seen so far – of course, no one’s danced yet).
Several of the couples I’m looking forward to seeing more from and getting to know (and I hope they’re good dancers…) – Kellie & Derek, Dorothy & Tristan, Ingo & Kym, Victor & Lindsay, and Jacoby & Karina. A couple of the partnerships I’m curious about – Andy & Sharna and Lisa & Gleb – I think in part because they’re new pros, but also because there seemed to be some good chemistry and a sense of humor in those partnerships. The other couples – wasn’t really feeling it at all from DL & Cheryl or Zendaya & Val; I’m still a little sore about Tony & Melissa winning last season (despite really wanting them in the finals), so I’m not excited about him & Wynonna, and even though she seems fun, I think she’ll be more Wendy Williams vs Marissa in terms of dance ability; I’m not a fan of Mark’s, so though I liked Aly during the Olympics, I’m not sure if she’ll have the dance ability or personality for me to really root for them as a couple – and it will also depend on the other couples, and right now there are several I like more. And if Sean & Peta end up being the 12th couple, it will depend on both Sean, and who Peta shows up as – I liked her with Donald, but *really* didn’t like her with Gilles…so we’ll see.
Overall, really excited about the season (though *not* that they’re including contemporary – please, please, please, can’t we stick to ballroom and its family – A. tango, disco, swing, etc?) I like other dance styles like contemporary, jazz, Bollywood and hip hop – but that’s what I watch SYTYCD for. We don’t need them here!
I have a new found crush on Zendaya, which is ok because something alot of you may not know about me is that i’m only 16 too. 🙂 And I LIKE tall, dark skinned girls and something about Zendaya is just very likable. She isn’t in the least off putting like some former Disney people they’ve had.
I’m so glad the’ve put together such a good cast this season. Everyone really is a person that has a right to be there. I really can’t believe Cheryl said that. Poor DL, I hope she cares enough about her reputation to do right by him. Everyone else seemed so positive and happy to be there. Can’t wait to see everyone dance!!
Yes, praise the Lord that they fixed Victor’s video. I was waiting for it as well. I agree with everyone above when they say that the two work so wel together. I thnk he could really charm the audience into voting for him.
However, he only thing that worries me is that “Perfectionist” attitude. Don’t ge me wrong, it’s awesome he’s in it to win it, bt I just hope it doesn’t become too intense. There was someone a couple seasons ago that got too intense. Someone help me remember them. I think it was another male athlete?
Tony, are you refering to Gilles, the anal French man?