Chelsie Hightower | Pure Dancing with the Stars

Dancing With The Stars Pros To Dance In Ballroom With A Twist in Utah

If any of you are missing some of our pros of Dancing With The Stars and would like to do a little travelling after the holidays, this might be just the show to go to. Here is more from the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera….

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera today released the final roster of talent competition television stars scheduled to appear in the upcoming Utah Symphony performances of “Ballroom with a Twist,” choreographed by “Dancing with the Stars” Emmy-Nominated Louis Van Amstel.

The show, which opens in Abravanel Hall Friday and Saturday, February 1 and 2 at 8 p.m., will feature dancing and vocals by ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” pros Chelsie Hightower, Dmitry Chaplin and Tristan MacManus, FOX’s “American Idol” finalists Gina Glocksen, David Hernandez and Von Smith, and FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” finalists Randi Lynn Strong, Legacy Perez and Jonathan Platero.

Chelsea Hightower, a fan favorite who, like Dmitry Chaplin, appeared as a finalist on “So You Think You Can Dance“ before garnering a recurring ‘pro’ spot on “Dancing With The Stars,” also has Utah ties, along with Randi Lynn Strong. Both female dancers lived in Utah Valley prior to their reality television careers.

Many Utahns will also likely recognize vocalist David Hernandez, who competed against Utah-favorites David Archuleta and Brooke White in season 7 of “American Idol.”

More information about the Utah Symphony performances of “Ballroom with a Twist” will be announced after the holiday season. Press photos are available by contacting Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Public Relations Manager Hilarie Ashton (hashton@usuo.org, (801) 656-7385).

Cast Breakdown

“Dancing with the Stars” Pros
Dmitry Chaplin (Seasons 9, 12)
Chelsie Hightower (Seasons 8-12, 14-15)
Tristan MacManus (Seasons 12-15)

“American Idol” Finalists
Gina Glocksen (Season 6)
David Hernandez (Season 7)
Von Smith (Season 8)

“So You Think You Can Dance” Finalists
Legacy Perez (Season 6)
Jonathan Platero (Season 5)
Randi Lynn Strong (Season 5)
Dmitry Chaplin (Season 2)
Chelsie Hightower (Season 4)

DWTS Chelsie Hightower And Tony Dovolani Dance At Disney’s Fantasy Land Opening (Video)

As you might have read in a previous posting, Dancing With The Stars Chelsie Hightower And Tony Dovolani have been in Florida this past week to help premiere Disney’s “Fantasy Land”. Here they are below at the “Be Our Guest” Restaurant where they reenacted the waltz from “Beauty And The Beast”. Beautiful!

DWTS Chelsie Hightower Pictured In New Photo Shoot, Helped To Premiere Disney’s Fantasy Land

Chelsie Hightower is such a doll. In fact, she often reminds me of the Barbie doll “PJ”, remember her? Anyway, above is Chelsie pictured in a new photo shoot in Beverly Hills, California. You can see more photos of Chelsie in this shoot at Contact Music.

Also, Chelsie has been in Disneyland all this past week. She and Tony Dovolani helped with Disney’s Fantasy Land opening. Be sure to see some adorable photos of her at Chelsie Hightower facebook.

Photo above courtesy of FayesVision/WENN.com

Vote for Your Favorites in the PureDWTS All-Stars End-of-Season Awards!!!

It’s that time of the season again – time to wrap up the season by voting in our end-of-season awards

First, some guidelines: I picked what I thought to be the most likely nominees for each category, just based on the vibes I’ve been getting from your comments all season. I know some of you are going to disagree. For that reason, I have allowed write-in votes…probably against my better judgement. HOWEVER, I’m asking you guys to PLEASE USE THE WRITE-INS SPARINGLY. Make sure the nominee you’re writing in isn’t already listed as one of the options, make sure it’s spelled correctly, and fits the scheme of the other nominees (i.e. if the category is “best dance”, you would write in something like “Kelly & Val’s paso doble”, and not just “Kelly”). If I cannot understand what you’ve written in, your vote is getting thrown out. If your write-in doesn’t make sense given the context, your vote is getting thrown out. There was an absolutely ridiculous (and unneccessary) number of write-ins in last season’s awards, and I almost said “f*ck it” and threw them all out, because some of you guys clearly didn’t know how to follow directions. Don’t bring me to the point of “f*ck it” again this season.

I will give you guys a week or two to get your votes in, and then we will reveal the results category by category in a series of posts. I’ve included a brief explanation of each award above each poll, since there seemed to be some confusion in last season’s polls. Now vote away!!! Read more..

DWTS 15, Week 8 – Power Rankings

Not a whole lot to say about tonight, other than that everything felt incredibly frantic as they rush, rush, rushed to fit 14 routines into 2 hours (which was no bueno, considering the ballroom round was drastically cut short and the danced seemed to be over before they even started), and that the judges did their usual wacky scoring (which really means nothing, considering how close the margins are). Literally, guys, this is an even bigger battle of the fanbases this time, as there are even MORE points and even SMALLER margins than the week Sabrina got sent packing. So if somebody’s not getting the votes – methinks they’re pretty much doomed.

1.) Shawn & Derek – They’ve got the 2nd highest point total from the past two weeks, and in perhaps an even bigger advantage – a bunch of pissed off fans. Ok, so maybe there wasn’t a ton of samba in their trio – I still think there was enough there to warrant at least an 8, and it was still a wildly entertaining routine that actually evoked more of the excitment of a pro dance to me than just a regular dance with a celeb. The way Len was acting, it was as if Derek & Mark had walked center stage and defecated or something…while Shawn watched. And the whole “If you go home tomorrow night, don’t blame me, blame them!” comment? Was that REALLY necessary? Just felt like a low blow and not any sort of constructive criticism. I really think Derek probably knew they were taking a risk and choreographed more of a crowd/audience-pleasing routine than a judge-pleasing routine, intentionally – it was a calculated risk, maybe to jump-start the fans into voting. But I don’t think he was expecting Len to take it so personally. As for their Viennese waltz – despite it being awfully short, I thought it was quite pretty and very fluid, and Shawn had some butter-smooth turns and showed a lot of emotion. I think they’re probably the safest from the double elim tomorrow…seems like they’re getting a lot of votes and still pretty decent scores, in the great scheme of things.

2.) Emmitt & Cheryl – I find myself drawing a bit of a blank on his Viennese waltz, despite the fact that I have several notes written about it – “smooth & fluid, didn’t see the alleged mistake, not very high level of difficulty”. I daresay that it probably left me lukewarm: no big problems, and pleasant to watch, but nothing particularly impactful or impressive. Just as I said last week, I think the biggest problem I have with Emmitt at this point is just that he seems to have plateaued in terms of difficulty, and Cheryl really isn’t pushing him as hard as she should choreographically at this phase of the competition. Most of the other couples are pulling out all the stops – but Emmitt & Cheryl seem to be sticking primarily to the “Do easy choreo and just charm everyone’s pants off!” method. Their trio – ok, very cute, and I definitely enjoyed it more than I did Gilles’ trio….but 30? Really? I saw an awful lot of backleading & stationary ass-shaking going on…I think many other couples had much more difficult steps in their dances, and they did them with much more impressive execution. I guess the judges were maybe judging more on entertainment value than level of difficulty and content (unless your name is Shawn, in which case it’s ALL about content). I guess I’ve just kind of given up on trying to understand the judges’ motives at this point Regardless, I think he’s likely safe tomorrow, but things could get dicey next week… Read more..

DWTS Week 8 Gilles Marini Embracing His ‘Top Gun’ Character And More (Video, Blog)

Gilles Marini answers questions from the fans in this new video release by ABC. He talks of his two favorite dances. One fan asks how much sleep he’s been getting. With pulling double duty doing Dancing With The Stars and filming a new series, he’s only getting 4-5 hours of sleep…which most of them are spent counting steps. Another fans asks where Gilles gets his inspiration. He says he’s been doing the “storylines”, but, he give 80% props to Peta for coming up with the dance and routine. At the end Gilles tells us how much he’s enjoyed dancing on Dancing With The Stars. He thanks all of his fans!!

Also, Gilles partner, Peta Murgatroyd, has written a new blog for People.com. Below is a take on their two new dances. Be sure to read her blog in full because she also talks of the confidence she has in Gilles, how much she is inspired by him, and more.

This week we have the quickstep as our solo dance and we have a trio salsa with Chelsie Hightower. I’m so glad we chose Chelsie, because she’s just a little firecracker. She’s going to add so much dynamic to the show.

Rehearsals thus far are going great. We have finished up both dances now, but we are perfecting them so that Gilles doesn’t have any worries when he goes out on the floor. We are dancing to “Danger Zone” from Top Gun for our quickstep. It’s really fun. I think Gilles is really embracing the character of it. In the dance, we run around the whole floor and never stop at all.

I have no idea who is going to go home during double elimination this week, regardless of who has a good score or who doesn’t have a good score. It’s really hard to tell at this point in the competition because everyone is amazing.

Picture above from Gilles’ facebook is of Peta, Gilles, and Chelsie getting ready for their Trio dance yesterday before camera blocking.

Jason Mraz And Taylor Swift To Perform On Dancing With The Stars October 30th

As we reported to you last week, Jason Mraz is set to perform on Dancing With The Stars. @DancingABC at twitter also confirmed tonight that Taylor Swift as performing. Both artists will perform on Tuesday night’s Results show!!!

The amazing @TaylorSwift13 will be performing this Tuesday on Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars at 8|7c on ABC! Will you be watching? #DWTS

October 25, 2012 3:59 pm via TweetDeck ReplyRetweetFavorite

@DancingABC

Official DWTS

Below are some more details on the shows and entertainment for next week from ABC Medianet…

“Episode 1506 & 1506A” – Put on your cowboy wear… It’s Country night, on “Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars,” MONDAY, OCTOBER 29 (8:00-10:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. Each couple will be performing to a Country hit song where the celebrity will be required to perform a solo during his or her routine. Three-time CMA Award-nominated group Little Big Town will rock the stage, performing their smash hit, “Pontoon,” accompanied by The Troupe. The remaining eight couples will perform together in a Freestyle Group Dance. Accompanying the Group Dance, Country legends Big & Rich, along with Cowboy Troy, will perform a medley of “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” and “I Play Chicken with the Train,” two of the show’s most exciting freestyle songs from previous seasons. This is the first time the show’s Group Dance will be accompanied by musical guests.

The next night, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30 (8:00-9:01 p.m., ET), multi-platinum recording artist and six-time Grammy(r) winner Taylor Swift will perform her mega hit single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” from her new blockbuster album, “Red.” In addition Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jason Mraz will hit the stage to perform his chart topping hit single, “I Won’t Give Up,” from his latest album, “Love is a Four Letter Word.” Pro dancers Chelsie Hightower and Mark Ballas will dance during his live performance. And this week’s “Macy’s Stars of Dance” welcomes RJ Durell and Nick Florez, two of the hottest choreographers in the business, having worked with Katy Perry, Cher Lloyd and, most recently, Pink. Their dance will bring a modern day twist on Marie Antoinette, featuring incredible costumes, amazing hair and makeup, and 14 of some of the best dancers out there.

For the DWTS After party, be sure to tune in as Mark Ballas is set to perform according to his twitter. According to Grinya Talent, Iveta Lukosiute (@D8Iveta at twitter) and Tony Meredith (@ny212tony at twitter) will be guests to help critique the dances.

Singer Jason Mraz To Perform On Dancing With The Stars Results Show

According to Mark Ballas’ new blog in USA Today, he and Chelsie Hightower are currently rehearsing for a performance with singer Jason Mraz. Mark writes that he loves Jason’s music and he’s “really looking forward to it”.

I’m assuming this might be for the Results show next week? I’m also going out on limb and say the song they might be dancing to will be “Living in the Moment” off of Jason’s new album “Love is a Four Letter Word” .

You can preview Jason’s new video for “Living In The Moment” at PerezHilton.com.

DWTS Season 15 Las Vegas Odds Going Into Week 5: Agree or Disagree?

What an interesting shake up we’ve had in Las Vegas Odds from for Dancing With The Stars these last few weeks! According to Sports Bovada again, we have Shawn leading the odds with Apolo and Emmitt tied and not far behind which I agree with. In fact, I agree with all the placements the odds makers have wagered below except for Kirstie Alley who they keep wanting to give such low odds to. She’s danced fairly well these last few weeks and they shouldn’t be underestimating her and Maks’ fan base which I would think dominates Sabrina’s, Melissa’s, Gilles’, and Kelly’s fan bases? Also note how Kelly’s odds are stronger compared to the week before and she moved up a place higher than Gilles. Interesting and deserving in my opinion!!

New Las Vegas Odds going into Week 5:

Shawn Johnson 7/5
Apolo Anton Ono 4/1
Emmitt Smith 4/1
Kelly Monaco 5/1
Gilles Marini 6/1
Melissa Rycroft 25/1
Sabrina Bryan 50/1
Kirstie Alley 66/1

Last week’s odds going into week 4, to compare:

Shawn Johnson – 7/4
Apolo Anton Ohno – 9/4
Emmitt Smith – 7/2
Gilles Marini – 13/2
Kelly Monaco – 12/1
Melissa Rycroft – 15/1
Bristol Palin – 25/1
Sabrina Bryan – 33/1
Kirstie Alley – 50/1

Summing it up…again, I think the odds makers have pegged it, but, I think Sabrina should be at the bottom with Kirstie or Melissa second to last.

Let’s get my fellow Partners In Crimes thoughts on the matter and be sure to let us know what you think too in the comments section…..

Courtney: My only complaint here is that I still think Emmitt is too high – at this point I think Kelly or Gilles has a better chance of making it to the finale than he does. I like Emmitt as a person – he seems to be a nice guy and is having fun this season; but I don’t really see the hunger to win in him like I do in most of the others. But then again, he does seem to be getting some pretty cushy scores…but the judges do seem to be a lot less “enchanted” with him as the weeks wear on. Who knows what’s going on there. But I am quite glad to see Gilles getting edged out by Kelly Now if only Melissa makes some big moves this week and can overtake him as well! As for Kirstie – I do think after her bottom 2 appearance this week, they’ve got it about right. Skill-wise, she’s just not really a match for anyone else this season, and I think some of the votes she would have gotten on a regular season are now going to other contestants who might share her fanbase (possibly Kelly & Melissa, maybe Emmitt). I think it’s safe to say she isn’t going to win this season – but how much longer will she stick around?

Heidi: I think Kirstie is in the right spot as well. Sabrina has the potential to get great scores. Kirstie? Not so much, relative to other dancers. Since she was in the bottom two this past week, any bad score could do her in, whereas Sabrina could possibly be spared by a really great dance. The key will be that Sabrina do well on Monday and that her team does well in the team dance. I think Kirstie beats her in votes probably easily, but with a good margin Sabrina has shown she can hang on. I think the margin that Kirstie failed to beat was 17k. If that happens again, I think Kirstie goes…unless someone unexpected falls to the bottom. Like Melissa. I kinda think that Emmitt might not be as strong as anyone thinks either. Between Apolo, Shawn, Gilles and even Melissa/Sabrina, he seems kinda forgettable. He’s definitely too high in the rankings, IMO.

Time Entertainment Blogs DWTS All Stars, Week 4

Vogue’s back, hooooray!! But I saw this blog before I knew she was back and I’ve been trying to post it all day – cuz I thought it sounded like something I might write and it had funny parts. Here are a couple excerpts Time’s Entertainment Blog:

Last night was full of surprises on Dancing with the Stars: All Stars, at least according to co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet, who was dressed like a mermaid when she said it, so you know it is has to be true. Yet after every performance show, we have to watch someone we love (or barely tolerate — we’re looking at you, Drew Lachey) go home. Who was it last night? Before we get to the dramatic elimination, we get some thrilling behind-the-scenes footage of Bristol Palin cheering her own score (32!) and Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy making a make-up lady uncomfortable with their weird mooning over each other that would not be out of place in the back row of a high school viewing of Twilight. In short, let’s just get to the results already.

How did the pitter patter of little feet score? Let’s find out:

Least Surprising Save: Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough are safe after earning three 10s and a grouchy 9.5 for their mambo. Joining them in the Circle of Safety are fake vote-seeking lovebirds Val Chmerkovskiy and Kelly Monaco as well as Sabrina Bryan and Louis van Amstel and, presumably, the Cookie Monster if he survived eviscerating Sabrina last night.

Best Vote Stacking: Kirstie Alley and Maks Chmerkovskiy proudly crowed about finally getting a 30 from the judges. No need to mention that it took adding an extra judge’s score to get to 30. Kirstie and Maks are in jeopardy despite their “high” score.

Random Gripe: This show is wildly inconsistent with their flashback dances. Sometimes they pick a dance to be done over during the results show, and sometimes they don’t. I want to see Shawn and Derek’s mambo again and the judges should have let me.