…Brooke Burke.  Keeping in mind that I can’t see the announcement on GMA for another hour or so – but Twitter is lighting up in congratulatory messages.  So…CONGRATULATIONS BROOKE!!!

Ever since Samantha Harris got kicked off left Dancing with the Stars there has been a lot of speculation about who will replace as Samantha as the co-host of Dancing with the Stars. I think the speculation is finally over, but here’s a review of the various possibilities in case you missed it.

We first talked about Melissa Rycroft hosting Dancing with the Stars at the beginning of this month. There were also rumors of Ashlan Gorse and Nancy O’Dell hosting Dancing with the Stars and Lynn Hoffman co-hosting DWTS alongside Tom Bergeron. There were also rumors about Brooke Burke, Marie Osmond (thank goodness this wasn’t true), and Paula Abdul. Luckily, last week E! News said there were only 3 serious contenders for the co-host position: Melissa Rycroft, Brooke Burke and Vanessa Minnillo.

Although, tonight during a commercial for the Bachelor finale, they talked about the announcement of the new Dancing with the Stars 2010 cast during the Bachelor finale. Heidi will be live blogging the announcement, but more on that soon.

What was most interesting about the commercial was that they said, “listen to Tom Bergeron and Melissa Rycroft as they announce the new couples on Dancing with the Stars.” Does this mean that Melissa Rycroft will be the host that’s replacing Samantha Harris on Dancing with the Stars? Seems like it to me. She’ll be a busy girl hosting Dancing with the Stars with Tom and as a special correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. Although, Samantha Harris did that for quite a while.

I think this will be a good thing for Dancing with the Stars. No doubt that Melissa Rycroft will be an upgrade at the host position.

Well, this is ALL I’ve seen on this one, but again, it’s from the horse’s mouth. I first saw this yesterday so I would have expected more media to jump on it like they did on Brooke Burke. Cindy Margolis’ Twitter:

Cindy apparently has her own reality TV show called Seducing Cindy. According to her she’s a model, actress and author, among other things. Here’s her web page – Cindy Margolis. I got nothing else to say.

In Professional Dancer news – they’re tweeting a tiny bit more, but the only comments on DWTS remain those of Derek and Dmitry. Derek hasn’t said anything since last time, but Dmitry has AGAIN said he’s not heard anything. I have no clue what this means. I think Derek has heard, simply because his sort of twitter silence was broken by his comment. But who knows? I believe both Derek and Dmitry, but I don’t know what that means. It’s fun to watch though.

…Maybe. Two interesting tweets tonight. First, from Derek Hough:

Relatively safe to assume he’s back?? I think so. Then, from Brooke Burke, confirmation of another rumor as reported last week:

It seems E! News has changed it’s tune (or DWTS did) on the remaining candidates for Sam Harris’ job:

E! News has learned that ABC has only three serious contenders to replace the departing Samantha Harris: Melissa Rycroft, Brooke Burke and Vanessa Minnillo.

“They’re only testing those three on camera for now,” a production insider tells E! News. “The testing will happen some time next week.”

If it’s down to those three, I would have to choose Brooke first, Vanessa second and Melissa third. I like all three women, but I think Brooke is likely the best. Vanessa does have a good bit of experience too though.  Still, do you believe this report or the report from Marc Malkin (E!) reported yesterday, that it was Nancy O’Dell and Ashlan Gorse in the running?  Perhaps all five ladies were in the running and this is the final three. Who knows?

Heidi’s been doing an amazing job as usual finding all the leaks as to who will be the cast on Dancing with the Stars 2010. I find the most recent rumor of Paula Abdul on Dancing with the Stars especially interesting.

While we wait to find out the official DWTS 2010 cast, I was thinking about what could make the show REALLY exciting. Plus, I think I was influenced by the Survivor 20: Heroes vs Villains where they’re brining back a bunch of old contestants. Similar to that, what if Dancing with the Stars did a special season called Dancing with the Stars All Stars?

Of course, the hard part of doing a Dancing with the Stars All Stars would be selecting the stars to return to the show. Here’s the list of celebrities I’d be interested in seeing back on the show (in no particular order):

Donny Osmond – Better bring the ringer back so that he can compete against all the other ringers. Then, it would be really interesting.

Mya – I’d like to see her dance with someone besides Dmitry. I might change my mind about her then.

Shawn Johnson – Maybe it would be even more fun with her if we gave her 10 years to actually grow up. However, seeing her fan base against a Donny Osmond fan base would be interesting.

Ty Murray – I know I should have Gilles here, but I’m not a huge fan. I’d rather see Ty dance again. He’s just so lovable.

Brooke Burke – Let’s partner her with someone other than Derek and see how she does. She had such a natural ability to dance. I’m pretty sure she’d look great regardless of partner.

Lance Bass – I really enjoyed the effect he had on Lacey. Lacey was more exciting with Lance as a partner. I think Lance would have a similar effect on some of our other favorite female DWTS pros.

Kristi Yamaguchi – I wonder if there are more ice skating fans or gymnastic fans. This would be interesting to find out. My bets on Kristi as cute as Shawn is.

Mel B – She was great on DWTS and I’d love to see her again. Her and Maks were great, but I think Mel B would be entertaining with almost any partner. Well, except maybe the stone faced Dmitry or Alec.

Sabrina Bryan – I’d like to see her get another shot. I bet her fans would go crazy voting for her if they had another chance.

Apolo Anton Ohno – It would be odd to see him dancing with anyone, but Julianne. In fact, a whole group of fans would likely revolt. However, Apolo would be fun to watch again on DWTS.

Emmitt Smith – Emmitt was just downright smooth. I’m not sure about how he did technically, but he definitely had a gift for making his movement look silky and smooth. It was amazing to watch.

Mario Lopez – Him and Karina were great together and it would be weird to see him with another pro. However, imagine Mario dancing with Ashly DelGrosso (who they’d have to bring back as well). That would be nice to watch.

Joey Lawrence – I loved all of the top 3 from this season. Edyta definitely made Joey look good. I think a part of me sees Joey as a skinny nerdy kid dancing with someone as beautiful as Edyta and that makes me happy.

Drew Lachey – I don’t remember many standouts from season 3, but I did see Drew on tour and he was a good dancer.

Kelly Monaco – The first season barely even counts, but Kelly was the first to win and deserves to be on a DWTS with some actual competition.

Can you imagine a season of Dancing with the Stars with even half of these dancers? You’d barely have any idea each week who was going home. Plus, the dancing would be to such an amazing level. Every dance would be a pleasure to watch. I’m sure the judges would get a little crabby and anal about little things, but we could deal with that for the chance to see these people again.

Ok, so it probably won’t happen, but it’s fun to think about a Dancing with the Stars All Stars, no? Who would you include in your All Star cast and why?

Today’s edition is dedicated to the Viennese Waltz and the Foxtrot. I am not a ballroom girl, I much prefer the Latin dances; however, these are week one dances and I want everyone to be prepared to know what to look for

THE GOOD
Season 4: Laila Ali; Viennese Waltz
Laila was never my favorite dancer but she was a joy to watch because she always wanted to do her best! Maks really pushed her and that’s how she got to level that she got to Laila has beautiful lines in this elegant dance and amazing foot work throughout! This is one of Mak’s best choreo pieces!

 

Season 7: Brooke Burke; Viennese Waltz
I can’t say enough good things about Brooke!  She was by far the most talented of the season 7 cast and Derek really took advantage of that with all of his choreo.  I loved that Derek showcased her beautiful lines as much as he could!  She really does look like a pro

Season 4: Joey Fatone; Foxtrot
Joey was a great surprise on the dance floor!  We know he has ‘boy-band’ dancing skills but never would I have imagined his ballroom/latin skills!  I was very impressed with his foot technique.  I find that the guys have more difficulty grasping the technique concepts but he always was light on his feet and very precise!  Kym gave him a great choreo piece here!

 

Season 7: Brooke Burke; Foxtrot
Just like her Viennese Waltz, Brooke is beautiful in the Foxtrot!  You really can’t get better than Brooke’s technique with Derek’s Choreo!

 THE BAD
Season 5: Josie Maran; Viennese Waltz
The thing with Josie is that she was on her heels the whole time!  This makes a dancer look very, very heavy in their foot work!  Another think Josie did was stop her lines at her elbow which takes away from the elegance that the dance is suppose to give off!  She looked beautiful but she didn’t dance beautifully. 

Season 6: Adam Corolla; Foxtrot
I feel like Adam tried to do his best while on the show but I also feel like he thought it was a joke.  I felt like he was always more concerned with being funny than becoming a decent dancer!  His biggest down fall in this dance is walking the steps rather than dancing the steps. 

THE INCREDIBLY HOT
Season 4: Foxtrot
Not my favorite pro dance to watch because of the style but it’s still very nicely done.

Look for the Salsa Edition tomorrow!  What dances are you predicting I show

I have to admit that I’m getting impatient…I’m ready to see the first dances and I’m sure that you are all feeling the same way. So to have something to pass the time I’m going to do a different poll twice a week. If there’s something you want to vote on let me know. First up, I’m going to ask you to vote for your favorite past winner.

Hey Everyone! I’m a new blogger for DWTS so I thought I’d let you guys know what to expect from my blogs I will be blogging about the costumes featured on this season and the choreography/technique of the dances and how well (or not so well) each couple performed them! Now that we have that out of the way let me get started!

I absolutely love the costumes that the celebs and pros wear on DWTS and I first wondered how all the costumes got sewn and fitted in time! I googled Randall Christensen, the head wardrobe designer, and found that he only has 3 1/2 days to get costumes made! This has got to be a crazy time during the first weeks of competition since there are so many couples! I also found this AMAZING youtube video interviewing Mr. Christensen about the process:

To me, what makes are great costume is a combination of:

• Is the material used appropriate for the dance style?
• Is the costume suited for the celeb and pro as a couple?
• Does the style of the costume match the style of the dance?
• Are the sparkle and shine elements right on for the costume or not quite there?
• Are the accessories perfect for the costume or are they to much or to little?
• Overall, does the costume compliment the celebrity to showcase their dance strengths instead of their dance weaknesses.

With that said…here are my top 5 favorite costumes and my top 5 train wrecks!

TOP 5 FAVORITES (Season 4 – Present):

1. Chelsie Hightower and Ty Murray: Season 8
   
2. Cheryl Burke and Gilles Marini: Season 8



3. Julianne Hough and Apolo Anton Ohno: Season 4
   
4. Cheryl Burke and Christian de la Fuenta: Season 6
   
5. Brooke Burke and Derek Hough: Season 8
   

TOP 5 TRAIN WRECKS (Season 4 – Present):

1. Cheryl Burke and Wayne Newton: Season 5
   
2. Marie Osmand and Johnathan Roberts: Season 5
   
3. Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani: Season 7
   
4. Julianne Hough and Chuck Wicks: Season 8
   
5. Karina Smirnoff and Steve Wozniak: Season 8
   

Now it’s your turn! What costumes stand out the most as favorites or train wrecks!

InFANity is a show on the TV Guide channel that I’d never heard of before – but this week they delve into Dancing with the Stars. The video is in five parts, each part covering different aspects of the show. Every part has a lot of clips of dances and interviews, past and present. Stars from every season are interviewed, as are the judges and the hosts. The only people we see, but don’t hear a lot from, are my favorites – The Pros.

Part 1 – About the Show and the Judges

Part 2 – The Stars and The Winners