From ABC:

For everyone asking about twitter accounts, John and I have been updating the Twitter Page! From the “stuff I found funny/bizarre/interesting today category…

Okay, I can’t tell if this guy is going to go all the way, or if he’s going to so annoy the regular DWTS audience that he leaves early. From MSNBC:

LOS ANGELES – Outspoken Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco is the latest NFL star to join the “Dancing with the Stars” fray, but while the competition doesn’t start for two more weeks, he’s already got a message for the judges.

“From what I’ve learned in watching these shows, those judges can be a little harsh,” Ochocinco told Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson when she stopped by his rehearsal with professional partner Cheryl Burke on Tuesday in Los Angeles. “They have to remember, I am out of my element. Don’t judge me like I’m a professional.”

“Len Goodman, I’m gonna say this to you and I’m gonna say it to you early before the show even starts: ‘Please do not step on my toes, because I will fight back. Thank you,’ ” Ochocinco noted.

Ya know, Len may have blind spots from time to time and be overly critical (Mya, Lil’ Kim spring immediately to mind), but HE is the expert here and we ain’t playin’ football. Doofus. I give him props for not whining about the shoes like past male contestants. This is a pretty long article, of which I took only tiny bits.

He has the potential to be (as good as Smith), if he works hard,” Burke said. “It’s only the first week, but he’s made a lot of progress.”

Included is that progress is getting used to ballroom shoes.

“You know what? I love ‘em,” he told Robinson. “I had to get used to it because I’m a man. … When I got the shoes, it had the little heel on the bottom, but what I’ve been able to do is … to magnify my sway.”

Can you believe that people are doing whole articles on Kate Gosselin’s hair? Dear lord.

Hair’s News! Kate Gosselin is getting ready for her debut on Dancing With the Stars and RadarOnline.com has learned that her stylist Ted Gibson is giving her a slightly new look, starting with taking her extensions out on Wednesday. The $7,000 hair-do Kate has been sporting is coming out, kids.

Kate will be hitting up the Ted Gibson salon on Wednesday and she’ll be back to her famous short-do.

But not for long.

“She’ll have a new hairdo tomorrow because we’re taking them out and we’re not putting them back in until Thursday. So she’ll have short hair for a day,” Ted told RadarOnline.com exclusively.

And Kate will have multiple shades in her new hairdo. “We’re actually doing three different shades of blonde, a caramel, a beige blond and a little bit of a lighter blonde,” Ted exclusively revealed to RadarOnline.com

Nicey and Louis on The Insider!

Lots of the couples on Access Hollywood. Look on the righthand side for other videos.

Wanna make a bet? Of course there are odds on Season 10!! I’m finding that I don’t much care for frontrunner status. The fall is harder.

There are two favorites this season among the 11 contestants with very close betting odds. Newly minted Olympic gold medalist Evan Lycasek with 2 to 1 odds and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger with 3 to 1 odds . Several factors play into their choices. First, Gold medalist have a very strong track record of winning DWTS. Especially since Evan’s fame has skyrocketed since the Olympics recently aired. Nicole on the other hand, CAN DANCE! Bottom line, she’s a Pussycat Doll. With heavy touring and show stopping moves, Nicole is definitely one to watch.

Aiden Turner: 18/1
Buzz Aldrin: 50/1
Chad Ochocinco: 9/2
Erin Andrews: 7/2
Evan Lysacek: 2/1
Jake Pavelka: 16/1
Kate Gosselin: 16/1
Niecy Nash: 25/1
Nicole Scherzinger: 3/1
Pamela Anderson: 12/1
Shannen Doherty: 16/1

Inside Edition has Erin, Niecy and Pam!

Deena Katz on ET March 3rd – The Casting Process

ET on the New Cast!

One of the nicest things about the DWTS training center is that several celebs and their partners are training at the same time and I think it causes them to become friends faster – plus they tweet some interesting photos. I found the ABC “offical” rehearsal photos at Access Hollywood – some of the photos below were tweeted by the individual stars.

I first saw them at Access Hollywood and I find some of them quite surprising!! For anyone who hasn’t already seen them, I’ve posted a few below. Visit the site to see the rest. I found Pam Anderson to NOT look like a drag queen which she had been recently. And I love the Evan included his medal.

I think Conrad makes a lot of good points on EW.com. Visit the site to read all of his comment – I’ve excerpted bits and pieces, below.

On Aiden Turner:

”A lot of people at the title shoot we just had were saying, ‘Oh, I thought Gilles [Marini] was the hottest star we’ve ever had until I saw Aiden.’ I’m British, and he’s British, so we’re less able to judge these things, but the reaction of a lot of the girls in the studio was promising.

Really??? He doesn’t do much for me at all. And Gilles sure did!!

On Chad Ochocinco:

”He’s the most flamboyant footballer out there at the moment — the one putting on a sombrero and bringing out a cell phone after scoring a touchdown and ringing his agent. So on our show, he can expand on some of those things and not get fined by the NFL for doing it!

Oh, Chad – this will be a fine line to walk with the audience of this show. Careful, dude.

On Erin Andrews:

”She did a bit of dancing when she was a kid, so she’s comfortable moving. She’s got an incredible figure, and she’s with Maks, so they’ll be a super-hot pair. We’ve been quite firm with him that he’s not to bully her.

She *danced* as a kid!!!??!! Ringer! Ringer! <----sarcasm. Seriously, though, I think Erin has a lot of potential and, according to HER, she's been dancing her whole life. We'll see. VERY interesting comment about Maks. I think Erin will be fine - he barks at people but they all seem to love him after it's over.

On Evan Lysecek:

”We met Evan, and we just really liked his personality. We thought he’d be someone the audience would really warm to, and that was before he won gold. We were watching the Olympics, thinking, ‘God, God, please, God!’ We’re hoping it all portends a really good season.”

Ahhhhh….they cast him BEFORE the Olympics. Well, that’s very interesting indeed. If true.

On Kate Gosselin:

I remember before Jerry Springer came on the show, a lot of people said, ‘I can’t stand Jerry Springer.’ And now he’s a very beloved figure. Kate’s a really nice woman. I think a lot of people are really gonna warm to her on the show. It’s a nice chance for the audience to come to a much closer understanding of these people.”

No comment.

On Nicole Scherzinger:

”For the Pussycat Dolls, she was primarily booked as a vocalist, not a dancer. I don’t think she’s got any more dance background than Mel B. had, or Joey Fatone, or Drew Lachey. We’ve had a number of people like that — Mya, last season — but only one of those people have won. I think the audience does compensate, you know? I think if they see someone come from nowhere and do well, they tend to appreciate that more. So she’s got to overcome that. It’ll be more pressure for Derek, too.”

Yep, I would agree. Although I don’t know if Derek gets pressured to win as much as he gets pressured to live up to his own rep as a stellar choreographer.

I’ll be brief – for now. These are from GMA’s Website:

Maks – Erin
Tony – Kate
Edyta – Aiden
Derek – Nicole
Mark – Shannen
Damian – Pam
Ashley Costa – Buzz
Anna T – Evan
Louis – Niecy
Cheryl – Chad
Chelsie – Jake

Dang, I called a couple of those right for a change!!!

Just looked at the the male pros/female celebs and if you match them strictly by height, it goes something like this:

Derek 5′10″ Kate 5′7″
Maks 6′ Pam 5′7″
Mark 5′8″ Shannen5′3″
Tony 6′ Erin 5′10″
Damian 5′7″ Nicole 5′5″
Louis 5′7″ Nicey 5′4″

Of course, as you can see, they didn’t go strictly by height with a pairing that was confirmed – Mark and Shannen. So, I guess we’ll see. And I have to say, even if Derek gets a crappy partner, Heidi has LOTS of eye candy. Evan and Aiden?? Yowza!! Okay, the rest of the celebrities…

Jake Pavelka

Wiki
ABC Bio
Age: 32
Height: 5′8″
Profession: claims to be a pilot, but is on his third reality show
Professional Partner Guess: Chelsie

Aiden Turner

Official Site
Twitter Unverified
MySpace
Age: 26
Height: 6′
Profession: Actor (and eye candy)
Professional Partner Guess: Anna Trebunskaya

Buzz Aldren

Wiki
Official Site??
Age: 80
Height: 5′10″
Profession: Former Astronaut
Professional Partner Guess: No clue….hey, how about Shirley Ballas??

Okay, now that I’ve laid it all out, I’ve revised my male celeb/female pro line up:

Chelsie/Jake
Cheryl/Aiden
Edyta /Evan
Anna T./Chad
????/Buzz

I tried to go a little against type with Anna and Edyta – we’ll see.

Thought I’d switch it up and do the men today – pardon the expression. We’ll come back to the rest of the women later. Thanks again to the fans that helped me out with finding the information! If I leave anything significant out, let me know and I’ll update.

First up?
Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Status: Confirmed for Season 10 – not in so many words.

Thanks to Diana for all the Maks info. You can visit Maks’ Forum and Diana’s YouTube for more information on Maks. If anyone has any video or pics to add to this, let me know.

From the end of November to January, Maks did Burn the Floor on Broadway with Kym Johnson. Once he left BTF, he went to Vegas and did some choreography work for Le Reve at the Wynn. According to Dianna he went to Buenos Aires to learn the Argentine Tango. He had fun too, going to see Louis Vito qualify for the Olympics in Colorado and then back to NYC to celebrate his mom’s birthday. I saw him tweeting about shopping with his mom and it was quite cute. Yes, I know none of that qualifies as work, but it sounds like fun. Somewhere in all that he went to the Viennese Opera Ball in NYC. Very dashing!

Maks’ 3rd Studio “Dance With Me Soho” just opened in NYC – he was tweeting quite a bit about that and it sounds like he put a lot of work into it. He apparently gives lessons at his studios when not on DWTS.

Maks also works in association with DanceTeamUSA, Ballroom Dance Channel and Grand Dancesport.

Derek Hough

Status: Confirmed for Season 10 – in a manner of speaking.

Derek was a world traveler between the end of last season and now and was pretty tight lipped about it all. Since, as everyone here probably knows, I run PureDerekHough, I find this trait of being quiet highly annoying. In the extreme. Anyway…

Derek started his time off by dancing with Cheryl Burke in the Dizzy Feet Foundation benefit and also performing their new single “Move” with Mark Ballas. I was also surprised, when I went back and looked at my site, by how many magazines he got called out in: People’s 16 Sexy Chests, TV Guide’s Hottest Costumes on DWTS, and in Sexiest DWTS Couples by Comcast. There were a few others, but I’m lazy and he didn’t have to do anything to get those – except maybe finally get a publicist.

Derek then jetted off to London under a cloud of mystery. It turns out that he had a high profile choreography gig with Cheryl Cole (pop star, X-Factor judge) for her television show. He choreographed and danced with her for her new single Parachute.

Derek then went back to LA (mystery), then on to NYC for Christmas with Shannon – thought it was vacation only at the time, but it turns out that he did take Maks’ place in Burn the Floor for the last few days of the run after New Years, so there was probably a business reason there too. Somewhere in there he was in Utah for a week. After BTF it was back to LA and then on to London again, this time to choreograph and star in the music video for Cheryl Cole’s Parachute which premiered on MTV UK in February. After they shot the video, Derek and Cheryl flew to Munich, Germany to perform at a tech conference which apparently featured Lady GaGa last year.

In late January, Derek went to Provo, Utah to perform in “Move” with Mark Ballas and Chelsie Hightower. While there, he directed a music video for Mark’s solo project. Since then, he’s been hanging out with Julianne (on the set of Burlesque) and Mark, going to a movie premiere and getting his face splashed all over UK tabloids. He also promoted his friends’ band, DeVIence and, when interviewed at a premiere, said that he has “new adventures” coming up this year. Highly annoying that I don’t know what he’s talking about, but it sounds like there is stuff going on behind the scenes. Also in the video where he said this, he sure made it sound like Julianne would be back on DWTS eventually – which is why I included the link. Watch it and judge for yourself what he says. Sounds to me like she’s still under contract. Hmmmm…..

Mark Ballas

Status: Confirmed for Season 10 and already rehearsing with his partner!

If I had volunteers to help me with Mark, I don’t remember them and can’t find any communication from them. So, I’m sure to have left stuff out.

Mark has, as far as I can tell, been working almost exclusively on his solo EP project that he just recently released. The EP contains 6 songs and appears to be self-produced – Waiting for Patience. He’s worked on a couple videos for these songs, one of which Derek directed. I don’t know where these videos will show up – possibly on his new MySpace page?

When not working on that, Mark danced at Dizzy Feet with Kristi Yamaguchi, then with Chelsie at “Move” in Provo, Utah. He and Derek also sang Move at Dizzy Feet. Mark also performed in Toronto with Chelsie and Dmitry. He’s been doing a few small club dates playing his own music – I believe mainly in LA. When in Utah, he also played on Good Morning Utah.

If their fans are reading this, I need help with Dmitry, Louis, Tony and I don’t have much on Jonathan. Email me at Heidi@purederekhough.com!

Why the odd title you ask? Well, I finished a big project at work today and I was scanning my usual places for info – and some of it is scary. A lot of it probably just unfounded rumor. And it all caused me to speculate. And I had to put a date on it because I post rumors all the time!

What is frightening me today is the sudden resurrgence of Kate Gosslin as a potential celebrity. I can handle Pam Anderson. But Kate? Please, no. Kate mentioned on Jay Leno quite a while ago that she would be interested and now that is popping back up from a different source - The NY Daily News.  I was really scared at first – until I read the article and realized they are just rehashing rumors/speculation/stars wishing that I wrote up a long, long time ago (in DWTS years).

In other news – Anna D. is out for this season, to no one’s surprise.  That puts the professional dancer roster at:

Cheryl
Chelsie
Anna T
Edyta
*Either Kym or a new female*

Derek
Damian
Mark
Maks*
Louis
Tony*
*not 100% as certain of these two that others are.

As I speculated in my previous post on the pros, I think there might be a new female pro to fill the fifth spot.  So lookie what I see when I study the old Tweetdeck??

Anyone have a scoop on Snow *other* than DWTS?? Fill me in. I also saw that Access Hollywood said that Kym was “most likely not” coming back for Season 10 – no clue on the veracity of that one.

Speaking of the pros (again) Derek, Cheryl and Louis are pimping the heck out of The Bachelor (well, it’s relative for Derek – he’s not much of a tweeter these days) to the point that I think they might be getting paid to tweet. Hey, it happens.

Yo, Lacey fans – I feel your pain, really I do, but spamming Twitter with requests that people sign a petition to keep Lacey on the show not only won’t work, but it’s highly annoying. She needs to have a PARTNER to be on the show and apparently they didn’t find her one. One won’t magically appear because of a petition. I’m sorry you don’t get to see your favorite – but it’s too late now to do anything about it! They know she’s popular – girlfriend was in Design a Dance season before last!

Guess who was on a plane to LA either last night or the night before (I lose track of time when on a big project)? Jason Chambers.  Please, god….

Then there’s Chad Ochocinco.  Did anyone watch The Daily 10 the other night? I didn’t, but there was a sudden buzz on Twitter of people asking Chad if he was going to be on DWTS “for real” – one lovely gentleman gave the explanation for the sudden buzz and mentioned that he “saw it on The Daily 10″.  Like Jason Chambers, I have not had time to do a little investigative work to see if that’s true.  Like I said – a lot of these entertainment shows just report the same rumors that I hear and until you really sit down and watch the show, or look up the article, you don’t know.  So….I don’t know.

Like I said – I haven’t had time to ferret out more info on any of this stuff. But I’m free tonight. And I’m not a big AI fan.