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.

Take this for what it’s worth – it’s E! and like anyone they are not always 100% accurate. But because of all the dissing of the male pros for a variety of reasons (ego, being one), I found this very interesting:

We interrupt the countdown to tonight’s Dancing With the Stars unveiling to bring you this: Kym Johnson, who won last year’s contest with Donny Osmond, will not be returning to the show for season 10, E! News has exclusively learned.

“She and her agent went after more money in her contract,” says a source close to the show. Producers were “not happy they played the money game, so they left her off and didn’t renew her contract.”

Personally, I think they all deserve more money and certainly don’t think any less of Kym for asking for it, if this article is true.

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.

ETA8: Anna Trebunskya confirms that she’s IN.

ETA7: AND sorry Dmitry fans – he’s out for the season.

ETA6: Sorry to anyone who is following this blog – I’m having a hard time keeping up. Having a real job with real responsibilities sucks sometimes. Anyway, I believe Karina has said she’s out for the season.  Dmitry still doesn’t know. And Louis just did his seasonal HUGEMONGEOUS  hint that they meet their partners on Friday.  :::sigh:::  Tired.  Really tired of hearing about Cheryl Cole.

Now, if you consider what Chelsie said about only four female pros back this season and consider that they AREN’T adding a new pro, then here is the possibility. I think.

Women Professionals
-Cheryl
-Chelsie
-Edyta
-Anna T.

Lacey, Karina are out for sure, Kym and Anna D have been silent. If Chelsie is right, then Dmitry still has hope. But Kym and Anna don’t.

Male Professionals
Derek
Damian
Tony
Maks (still not sure if he REALLY confirmed)
Mark
Louis

If Chelsie’s wrong and they have 5 women – not good for Dmitry. If Chelsie’s right – Dmitry should have a spot. I can’t see Alec getting it over him. Shame they haven’t told him yet. Sucks.

ETA5: And now Derek and Cheryl are pimping the Bachelor Finale. Suddenly, everything looks more like a coordinated effort.  Sorry to Melissa fans, but Brooke is still on for her screen test today. Me thinks Katrina was right and her announcing with Tom is more of a Bachelor connection.

ETA4: Edyta says she’s in. Maks takes a page from Derek’s book and plays coy.  See below.

ETA3: Of course right when I leave, Mark Ballas announces he will be on “the next” season of DWTS. I’m assuming he means this coming one. And he tweets while ice skating with his mom and Derek? Oookay. Boys.  It’s looking sketchy for Maks  - could go either way. We have five confirmed men and either the men or women are only going to have five spots.

ETA2: As of 11 minutes ago Louis is in and very, very excited about it. I’m very happy for him too.  No word from anyone else, but interestingly enough, Access Hollywood has also become interesting in the on-going professional dancer saga.

ETA: Well, it’s six hours after I orignally wrote this and only Karina has popped up to say she doesn’t know. Sheesh. So much for the live blogging idea. Well, it was good practice for next monday when we’ll live blog the celebrity announcement. No need for everyone to suffer through The Bachelor.

Well, the powers that be have been extremely good in keeping the celebrities on the down low. I would say that this makes us focus more on the pros than normal, but I don’t think that’s the case. I have a pretty extensive tweet deck setup and the amount of nagging, badgering and begging of the pro dancers for information has really been illuminating. It’s leading to Derek playing games, Mark losing his mind and finally breaking with a “I don’t know!!! (that’s how it sounded to me )” Tony just sends people smilies and phrase which could mean anything. Chelsie is deleting tweets…and some are wisely just staying far away from Twitter altogether. I’m finding it all extremely humorous. On with the show.

Here’s how it stacks up so far:

The Potential Men:
Damian – In
Derek – In
Dmitry – doesn’t know
Mark- In
Maks – hasn’t said a word
Tony – Sort of confirmed
Jonathan – definitely out
Alec – hasn’t said a word
Louis – In

As of 9:30 am Central Time…well, if they are only having six male pros, that kinda puts Alec and Maks (and Dmitry) on the hot seat, because the other men have either confirmed their participation, their non-participation or they “don’t know”. I’m taking Louis’s word that “don’t know” means they’re waiting for contracts to be signed. I’ve put Maks and Alec on the bubble due to a complete LACK of any comment whatsoever. Since I really like Maks a lot, I hope I’m wrong. (Feb 23, 2010 – One spot left and three possible men??)

The Potential Women:
Lacey – definitely out
Cheryl – definitely in
Chelsie – said she was in but deleted the tweets
Edyta – In
Anna T. – said she wants to wait until it’s set in stone
Anna D. – silence (afaik)
Karina – Out
Kym – silence
Unknown new female ?

I see no reason to assume they aren’t adding a new female in addition to the new male professional – but that’s a GUESS, not anything I actually know. Again, as of right now, I’m guessing five female pros which means three spots taken (Cheryl, Chelsie and new girl Edyta). Lacey is already out. Since Anna T and Karina have both played either the “don’t know” game or have made comments that imply a good possiblity, then I’m calling Kym and Anna D and Edtya as on the bubble. If there is no new female pro, then I think Kym is safe. Again, just guessing. Sure is looking like the lineup is: Cheryl, Chelsie, Edyta, Karina and Anna T (Heidi – 2-23-10)

Check back – I will be updating!

I’ve seen a number of different possible scenarios for Paula on Season 10, in addition to the possibility of her competing. The way that TMZ worded their article, I assumed they wanted her as a contestant. However, I’ve seen some assume she would be on as a Judge. I’ve also, since Sam quit, seen quite a few people state that it seems obvious that Paula would take Sam’s place – including Annie Barrett from Entertainment Weekly (via Twitter).

What is the likelihood of either scenario?? Well, considering that Paula was supposedly offered 1 million dollars, I have to believe that it’s either for competing or judging and that if it’s judging it’s one season only. Paula made many times that on American Idol, so she doesn’t need the work, plus that number seems too low!! Additionally, I have to think that hosting with Tom Bergeron would be a step down, in her mind, from judging on American Idol (and possibly, now, X-Factor). Also, since one million dollars is far above what I’ve heard the most popular celebs have made on that show, I’m starting to lean towards her being the fourth judge. Since the British version of DWTS has four judges on a regular basis, this isn’t out of the question. She would definitely add a different judging element to the show and, frankly, she’s every bit as qualified as Carrie Ann and Bruno, maybe more so. That’s why I’m so opposed to her being a contestant. I think I actually wouldn’t mind seeing her on as a fourth judge. AND, a fourth judge would mean less filler on a two hour performance show when only 12 couples are dancing.

So…contestant, judge or host? Your vote? Mine is for judge, definitely not for either contestant or host. Tom is awesome enough – add in Drew or maybe Brooke Burke. Heck, even Melissa Rycroft!

Just when I was complaining that there were no good rumors out there, TMZ provides Paula. It’s like they were waiting for me to complain. Anyway, TMZ claims that Paula was offered a 1 million dollar development deal with ABC provided that she does season 10 of DWTS. Not sure how I feel about bribery. In any case, rumors about Paula have been around for a while now so this feels more credible than many of the rumors I come across. Plus, it’s TMZ – they get it right often. Not always, but often.

According to the proposed deal, ABC would allow Paula to do “The X Factor” with Simon Cowell. We’re told Simon and Paula met a week ago to discuss the show, and it looks like it will happen.

Paula has to make a quick decision — we’re told the ABC offer is contingent on Paula doing “DWTS” this season, which starts in March

She’s tiny and she’s a ringer. Which means, she’ll dance with Mark Ballas. Because he always gets the tiny ringers. And, after the Idol brouhaha, her ringer status is probably MASSIVE. I can see it now, Derek with LaToya (who everyone will say no one will vote for) and Mark with Paula – who EVERYONE will vote for. The producers have been saying they want to mix it up because the pro pairings are too predictable (wonder where they got that idea ) – they would see this as unpredictable because both women are so much older than the two youngest male pros. But they would be WRONG. You heard it here first. That’s MY prediction. The only wrinkle is Dmitry – he gets ringers too, but he may be too tall.

Just now on Twitter someone asked Ross if he would want to compete on DWTS and he said he would LOVE to be on the show. One of the reasons I’m reporting this is because there has been a dearth of actual rumors for the cast so far! What the heck?? Anyone got a good rumor that you can prove is an actual rumor? By that I mean – you got links? Ya gotta prove it. Like this:

Ross may look very familiar to you if you are a late night television person. He used to be known as “Ross the Intern” on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (in it’s original incarnation). Just the other day he was working the red carpet for E! at the SAG awards. Nowadays, Ross has lots and lots of stuff going on – Ross Mathews Wiki.

Frankly, I think he would be a BLAST on DWTS.  Bring him on.

What a week!

THE GOOD
The thing with all Mya is that she is always good just never outstanding. She stays in the safe zone and that’s why I never get the ‘WOW’ factor from her like I do with Derek and Joanna! However, Dmitry and his mustache were amazing

THE BAD
Don’t get me wrong…I really enjoy watching Kelly and Louis but I think this storyline was just to much! The doll carried on for way to long and her dancing was very small in comparison to all the other celebs dances. I don’t think the dance was terrible but it had no ‘WOW’ factor

THE INCREDIBLY HOT
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!  These two do it again…Derek’s choerography was BRILLIANT!  By far my favorite dance of the season!

THE INCREDIBLY HOT TAKE 2!
I LOVED seeing Sabrina and Mark together again…this routine was fantastic and so hot!

THE INCREDIBLY HOT TAKE 3!
Amazing lifts…amazing chemistry…amazing dance!

Cute video from The Insider with nearly the whole cast saying goodbye to Kathy Ireland – Hate this site because they don’t have embed codes, only links. Pooh.
Video: Dancers Say Goodbye to Kathy Ireland at The Insider

Derek and Cheryl went to the Skybar last night for an event called Fresh Faces of Fashion (after Derek and Cheryl were at Coco de Ville with Maks, Mya, and Dmitry) – ET interviewed both:

ET with a large percentage of the cast:

Backstage with Sabrina Bryan:

Kathy couldn’t dance well, but she’s a classy lady: