Many thanks to Butterflywhirl for pointing out the video was embedded in Louis’ blog. In all fairness…I swear it wasn’t there when I did the post on Louis. 
Nice discussion on the show last night:
I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)
Bear with me – Vogue is the one who can get creative with both the titles and the text, not me, and she’s busy this morning. Louis has a lot to say about the couples after seeing them dance – pretty much the same as what we’ve been saying: Kellie and Zendaya = Awesome and DL = in trouble. First, from GMA, a couple excerpts – click the link to read his whole blog:
Wynonna Judd and Tony Dovolani’s Quickstep: Looking at their package, it looks like Wynona is going to have a great journey on ‘DWTS’ this season. Her honesty and sincerity is going to help her grow. I so appreciate the effort Wynonna puts into her dancing, but I would like to see her show her joy more, like she said she had when doing her Cha Cha. I also would have liked to see a dress like a police costume rather than pants and sneaker-like shoes. The dancing was good and proper when in hold. Don’t play it safe, though. You have nothing to lose, only to gain an amazing experience. I hope Wynonna stays around for a long time because she’s so inspirational to many. Tony, I actually like that moustache on you. There was nice feedback from the judges. I totally agree with every word from Carrie Ann and agree just slightly with Len about the close hold being far apart at times. Scores are okay.
Zendaya and Valentin Chmerkovskiy’s Jive: She’s so cute but she can’t stand on high heels? This is going to be interesting having the fastest Latin dance. OK, high heels a problem? Not at all. Fantastic jive, great content, awesomely (yes, I made up a new word) entertaining. Even though Zendaya’s limbs are so long and sometimes a little sloppy, she is so fast and high energy. I’d also put her and Val into the top three! Good for you girl. Age is just a number, if you’re younger or older. Amazing and well-deserved scores! High scores don’t save, so VOTE VOTE VOTE.
D.L. Hughley and Cheryl Burke’s Quickstep: “DWTS” is “Hunger Games” in tights? Brilliant! Stop complaining D.L. You’re losing time to rehearse and don’t forget that 50 percent of the score is public vote! I hope his dance is going to knock the roof of the place. That was actually not a bad quickstep at all and an OK hold. He remembered his steps. D.L.’s bottom was back the whole time, but it kind of looked cute. What’s with Carrie Ann tonight? I love her with all her comments. You can be honest and say if something isn’t good, but still be nice. D.L.’s comments with Brooke put him back on the map. Hopefully, D.L.’s video package won’t hurt them too much. Scores are OK, maybe all sixes.
Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough’s Jazz: How gorgeous is Kellie Pickler? They’re a hot couple. I had no idea Kellie could dance like that. Look at her feet again when she does her leg extension! Wow. She was fantastic, amazing and awesome. What else can I say? She’s the one to beat by miles. Knowing Kellie as a singer, what would her concert look like if Derek would choreograph a full-on production number for her? Wow! She’d give Lady Gaga and Madonna a run for their money! Her scores are low. At least three nines, if not a 10. I know it’s only week two, but this was the best performance.
At Hollywood.com, Louis gives his opinion on the best and worst of DWTS Week 1 (again, click the link to read the whole thing):
This season, DWTS has introduced two new styles of dance to the competition: jazz and contemporary. Because contemporary dance, performed barefoot, is typically more emotional than technical , its inclusion is causing some controversy in the competition. “The new style, contemporary, is definitely causing tension, and I think that’s the exact reason for the producers to do it,” van Amstel tells Hollywood.com. “I do think from a pure dancing point of view, it is comparing apples to oranges between a ballroom and a latin dance, but at least they’re both within ballroom dancing. And now you’re adding contemporary.”
The dance van Amstel is referring to was 16-year-old Disney Channel star Zendaya Coleman and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy. “Because it was so hard to judge contemporary, I think that Val and his partner did great. But then again, it’s a young girl and it looks like she has dance experience,” van Amstel says. “But I think from what we’ve seen, Kellie Pickler [and partner Derek Hough] stole the night. I mean, the girl looked stunning. She literally could have walked out onto a competitive ballroom dance floor. She kicked ass.”
As for Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, van Amstel thinks she will only get better from here. “I really hope that she’s going to use this to add to her own training, to become more artistic and expressive within movement rather than just execution of tricks,” van Amstel says. “I think her journey is going to be very interesting to see the progress that she’s going to make. Apparently she was really nervous, but I would definitely not count her out. That girl just needs to get over her nerves.”
I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)
…thankfully, we have someone to tell us! Kristina (our reader who was able to confirm there was a 12th couple – thanks again!) was fortunate enough to nab tickets to the announcement, and was gracious enough to share her experience with us. Here’s some tidbits she gave us about what’s it’s really like to be there live…
Courtney: First off, you have to get up REALLY early, don’t you?
Kristina: There was a 2:30 AM call time for the studio audience, and I got there at 2. It was held at a nice ABC studio, and they fed us breakfast.
C: And here I was bitching about getting up at 7 AM EST to live blog the announcement! 
What can you tell us about the crowd, Kristina?
K: The audience was pretty small, and about half of it was press people. There were no phones allowed, because they didn’t want anyone taking pictures. Everyone seemed kind of quiet, and it wasn’t really the same party atmosphere that the show has. (Kristina has actually attended quite a few DWTS tapings in the past!)
C: Can’t say I blame everyone for being a bit quiet – I would be too if I had to get up that early! What were Tom & Brooke like?
K: Tom was quick-witted as always and we got the chance to chat with him briefly. Also managed to exchange a quick “Hello, how are you?” with Brooke. Tom’s coattails were all crumpled in the back – some sort of wardrobe malfunction. He actually did a funny walk to make fun of it once he noticed!
C: Ok, now I’m jealous that you got to interact with the Berge 
Did you interact at all with Sam & Lara?
K: Gal sitting next to me was a huge GMA fan, and she got to chat with Sam a bit. Sam kept getting caught in between Sasha & Emma as they were dancing! I was also surprised to see the anchors whipping out their own makeup to touch-up in between takes – while Brooke had her makeup girl come out to reapply her lipstick and Tom was hollering for powder for someone else, Lara was touching her own makeup up. Poor Lara actually had to have her dress fixed right before the live broadcast, because they found out during the pre-broadcast screen test that the bottom of it was see-through.
C: Nice to know that anchors, like us, are human too Anything else funny happen before the announcement?
K: One of the chairs they had on stage for the celebs kept coming unlatched, and we audience members were yelling tips to the people on-stage to try and help them to fix it. Sasha & Emma kept having to start their dance over, because the music was coming on at random times. It would be like “1, 2, 3, GO!” and there would be no music…and then it would start a few seconds later.
C: So tell us about the celebs.
K: Jacoby was hilarious! Gave us quite a nice little preview of what to expect this season. LOTS of cheering for Wynnona from quite a few fans in the audience. Andy was funny too, and tried to get everyone to start cheering “DICK! DICK!” in response to Wynonna’s fans cheering “Wy! Wy!” Audience seemed to be pleasantly surprised when Dorothy’s name was announced, too. I actually brought my Kellie Pickler CD along with me in hopes that I could get her to sign it when I read about Kellie being rumored for this season at Pure We got to watch as they took their group photo – it was funny, they wanted the DWTS logo in the background, but the projector guy had already left for the day! They managed to get it back, though, and it was cool to see the whole cast standing together for the first time.
C: Really??? We love hearing that So in your opinion, who are the big contenders this season?
K: Dorothy for sure! Probably Jacoby too – he showed us some nice moves. And probably Kellie too, since she has Derek. I actually shouted out “We love you Derek Hough!” at my daughter’s request before we left the show…not sure people appreciated it, hehe.
C: I bet Heidi would have appreciated it
Thanks once again to Kristina for giving us a peek behind the scenes of the annoucement, and being patient with me as I got bogged down with my 9-5 this week and didn’t get this posted immediately after the announcement Kristina has actually been fortunate enough to attend quite a few tapings of the show itself (one of the advantages of living in CA), and in the future, we may get more behind-the-scenes POV’s from her on tapings she attends. In the meantime, you can follow her on Twitter @KrismissHampton and chat about all things DWTS – she’s good people 
Kristina at the annoucement…she’s the lovely lady in red
Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!
Who will be on the sidelines cheering for the new cast of Dancing With The Stars Season 16? ABC has a cool write-up about it which is a fun read today. Below is a take on Wynonna and her husband and family. Did you know that her husband had a motorcycle accident in South Dakota last year and had to have his leg amputated?
Most of the real-life partners this season aren’t nearly as famous as their star spouses, though Wynona Judd’s husband Cactus Moser made headlines last year when his left leg was amputated above the knee following a motorcycle accident in South Dakota.
Moser’s leg was severed at the scene and doctors in Rapid City performed the surgery. He also underwent surgery to his hand.
The accident came just a couple months after Judd married her drummer husband in a sunset wedding on June 10, 2012, at her farm in Leiper’s Fork, Tenn. According to Us Weekly, Judd wore a Houri Barahimi dress and no shoes for the ceremony.
“I felt a joy that hasn’t been there before,” Judd said of her third marriage.
Now Judd is finally ready to take the plunge on the dance floor, after being asked for six years. “This is something I said I would never do,” she told ABC, adding “It’s the year of doing things that you’re scared of.”
No doubt she’ll have the support of Moser and her two children, Grace and Elijah, from her marriage to businessman Arch Kelley III.
More on most of the other celebs and their families at ABC.
Speaking of the new cast and on another topic, Annie Barrett of Entertainment Weekly makes her predictions on the cast. Don’t take what she says to heart though as she is there to entertain and be snarky. What’s fun though is seeing the pictures they have featured. Go HERE if you’d like to see and read more.
I'm a fashion and music nut....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. Derek Hough (one of my favorite dancers) said at a recent Get Healthy event that ‘dancing’ is an outward expression of what is going on inside you. He says that in some ways, everyone dances and it's so true. To TPTB, how about Sam Palladio's "Fade Into You" (this version sung by WilUnleashed) for a V. Waltz?
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.
I'm a fashion and music nut....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. Derek Hough (one of my favorite dancers) said at a recent Get Healthy event that ‘dancing’ is an outward expression of what is going on inside you. He says that in some ways, everyone dances and it's so true. To TPTB, how about Sam Palladio's "Fade Into You" (this version sung by WilUnleashed) for a V. Waltz?
Not sure how many of you are interested in Wendy William’s thoughts on the new cast of Dancing With The Stars Season 16, but, here you go. I just have to say….I can’t wait for some of the couples to prove her wrong on some of the things she says.
More fun things coming up. Stay tuned!
I'm a fashion and music nut....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. Derek Hough (one of my favorite dancers) said at a recent Get Healthy event that ‘dancing’ is an outward expression of what is going on inside you. He says that in some ways, everyone dances and it's so true. To TPTB, how about Sam Palladio's "Fade Into You" (this version sung by WilUnleashed) for a V. Waltz?
You guys were probably just as shocked as I was to hear this morning that we were only going to have 11 couples on this season…after hearing 12 couples for quite awhile. Also shocking to not hear Sean Lowe’s name called as one of the celebs, as he was a name we were hearing quite a bit, and shocking to not hear Peta’s name as a pro, considering that she had been confirmed by @DWTSGossip as being part of this season…and DWTSGossip seemed just as shocked as we were.
So what happened? We’re not sure – some are guessing that the deal fell through at the last minute, others are surmising that Sean IS part of the cast, but they are going to wait to reveal him until after The Bachelor finale. In the absence of anything official, we can only speculate. Reality Steve, who has a pretty damn good track record of predicting Bachelor-related stuff, assures us that Sean IS part of the cast:
ETA1: Reality Steve goes into more detail in his most recent Bachelor blog – and I daresay, someone with a spoiler history as credible as his would not just be making claims like this willy-nilly. I’m starting to believe that we may get a “surprise” 12th couple sometime in the next few weeks…
ETA2: In her OTRC interview, Lisa comments on how it’s “an honor to be one of the 12 chosen” to be on the show. There were only 11 celebs announced this morning Thanks to Grant for the heads-up on this one!
ETA3: Peta tweets that she has a “big day today!” and that it’s “time to play” – which makes me wonder if she’s either a) meeting Sean for the first time, or b) starting to rehearse with Sean. And OMG! Insider (totally dumb name for a show, BTW) jumps on the “mystery 12th contestant” bandwagon in a video that Vogue just posted. Now I’m really starting to believe that Sean’s the 12th contestant, and that ABC maybe just can’t mention it outright for contractual reasons…but they are hinting at it in a not-so-subtle way.
ETA4: @KrissmissHampton was in the live audience at the announcement yesterday and was kind enough to tweet me and tell me that, after the cameras stopped rolling, they were told that “a 12th couple would be announced at a later date”. Thanks Kristina! I’m wondering if they were initially going to announce it on the air, but ran out of time…things seemed to get a little rushed at the end. Heidi also dug up some more evidence confirming the “12th couple” theory, courtesy of US Magazine. So there is, indeed, a 12th couple – but is it safe to assume that it’s Sean & Peta?
I’m inclined to believe Reality Steve, but at the same time, if ABC had a 12th couple up their sleeve, I would think they would at least tease it during the announcement this morning: “Stay tuned in the coming days, because there is still a surprise 12th couple, yet to be revealed!” Peta has not said a word on Twitter this morning, nor has Sean (although I doubt he would), and neither one is following each other – could be a precaution so as not to reveal anything, could be that they really aren’t on the show. What do you guys think?
In the meantime, we will keep our eyes peeled and update this post with anything official we hear. Random…anyone else think Sean kinda looks like Macklemore?
I’m gonna pop some tags…
Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!
Woohoooooo! After weeks of few casting rumors and a hectic week of pro watching, the big day is finally here: today we find out who’s going to be dancing on season 16, and who they’ll be dancing with (I presume). I’m assuming this cast announcement is going to pretty closely mirror the season 14 cast announcement, which was also on GMA: they kill time and tantalize us with periodic clues and whatnot for the first hour or so, then they announce all of the celebs, take a commercial break, announce which pro each celeb is paired with, take another commercial break, have a brief Q&A session with the couples, and then they’re done. A lot less painless than sitting through the fauxmance and schlock of The Bachelor, if you ask moi
First, a few ground rules: please, please, PLEASE do NOT keep hitting refresh repeatedly on this page! We keep upgrading our server, but during high-traffic times (such as the cast announcement), things tend to get a bit…wonky. If you keep hitting refresh, I cannot get in the dash to update the page, and thus nobody gets any updates. Try to keep the refreshing limited to every 15 minutes, k? You can also feel free to follow @puredwts on Twitter – Heidi will be tweeting the names as they’re announced as well. Also, if you’re watching the announcement yourself (or are carefully monitoring Twitter/the interwebs) and hear the names, PLEASE – do not post them in the comments if you don’t see them posted in the body of the post (looking at YOU, Grant). Not only does this also clog up the server and prevent me from updating the post, it also irritates the hell out of me, as I am not a) Amish, b) broke, or c) living in a van down by the river, and I, like you, have television, internet, and Twitter. If you don’t see it posted, it’s because I’m still trying to get into the dash – not because I don’t see it.
UPDATE: Moving the list of couples up to the top of the page for those who don’t want to hear all my play-by-plays I went ahead and put Sean & Peta on the list, but they are by no means a sure thing…
ETA2: We’ve confirmed there is, indeed, a 12th couple…but no official source stating that it’s Sean & Peta. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t them, though.
| Celebrity | Height | Pro Height | Pro |
| Wynonna Judd | 5’5″ | 6’1″ | Tony |
| D.L. Hughley | 5’7″ | 5’4″ | Cheryl |
| Jacoby Jones | 6’2″ | 5’5″ | Karina |
| Lisa Vanderpump | 5’6″ | 6’1″(?) | Gleb |
| Andy Dick | 5’10″ | 5’5″ | Sharna |
| Victor Ortiz | 5’9″ | Lindsay | |
| Zendaya | 5’10″ | 5’11″ | Val |
| Aly Raisman | 5’2″ | 5’8″ | Mark |
| Ingo Rademacher | 6’2″ | 5’7″ | Kym |
| Kellie Pickler | 5’1″ | 5’10″ | Derek |
| Dorothy Hamill | 5’3″ | 5’11″ | Tristan |
| Sean Lowe (?) | 6’2″ | 5’7″ | Peta (?) |
Ok, now that that’s settled, on with the show!!! Read more..
Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!
It is 7:20 in the east and, as you might have guessed, nary a mention of DWTS. You might have guessed this because of the interesting confluence of the Republican National Convention and Hurricane Issac. Of course, GMA will beat the crap out of both topics, but right now the emphasis is on Issac what with the 7th anniversary of Katrina coming up on Thursday…and Issac is heading for New Orleans.
Prince Harry on Lockdown?? Come on, GMA, really??
ETA 1: Okay, so 6:30 and they just teased it and the winner and partner are both in the studio. They showed them in silouette. Hmmmm….number 13 and partner. Looks like Sabrina. But that hair could also be Lacey, although Louis is the one in NYC right now.
ETA 2 Vogue here: Please LEAVE PRINCE HARRY ALONE! I love him! 
ETA 3: They show all three contestants and they dance teasing us some more. Wow Lara, step up revolution.
ETA 4: Heidi’s back!! I love Prince Harry too – let a young guy have some fun. Of course, I think he had more fun in Vegas than even Derek typically does, but geez!!
ETA 5: Geez, GMA pimping Dance with Me once again. Poor Maks, he has it so rough. :::rolls eyes:::
ETA 6: I would like to thank GMA for their bit on Ryan Gosling…holy hot 6 pack!!! Is it hot in here??
ETA 7: Okay, the announcement is coming up next at 8:15! Stay tuned!
And the Winner is…..SABRINA BRYAN!! To the surprise of absolutely no one, and after more pimping about this than the All Star cast as a whole.
And Louis is her partner just as we said he would be. Louis disses all his previous partners, claiming that he can go all out with the choreo now. And they are saying it’s exciting because she was chosen by the public. Er…yeaah. Let’s see what happens when she’s up against the power houses of All Stars.
A couple screen caps…
And here is where I make a crack about how I was right…and Marky caught his plane finally.
Vogue here with some video coverage:
ETA 8: The first of the Pepsi-sponsored “After Party” segments is set to start at 9 AM EST. Not really sure how this works, but here’s the link, if you want to check it out…I’ll be keeping an eye out to see what it’s all about. Hopefully -Court-
ETA 9: Looks like both Vogue and I are having problems accessing the After Party – I only caught about 20 seconds of video before my computer started buffering endlessly. The basic gist I got is that it’s just a recap of old Sabrina footage from season 5, and Sabrina answering questions submitted by viewers on Twitter. Maybe Vogue will be able to find and post video of it later -Court-
ETA 10: This is Vogue again and here is some coverage of the After Party today. I loved the part with Tony! He talked of how he choreographs, what Melissa is like now versus when he danced with her the first time, and how stiff the competition is going to be this season. More below (let’s hope this works. Be patient. It stops and goes a lot)…
I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)
So we’re less than 24 hours away from finding out who is and isn’t part of this season’s cast. Who’s pumped??? I know I am…but we’ve still got a few hours left to speculate, so let’s see what other cast types we’ve to fill this season, shall we? For those of you that may have missed it, check out part I as well.
The Teen Idol
Previous examples: Joey McIntyre, Aaron Carter, Donny Osmond, Lance Bass, Mel B., Joey Fatone, Drew Lachey, Joey Lawrence, Ian Ziering, Cody Linley, Sabrina Bryan, Mario Lopez, Kyle Massey, Chelsea Kane, Romeo
Advantages: If sales of Tiger Beat are any indicator, the teenyboppers will come out in full force to support their favorite heartthrobs/idols. Being young & good-lookin’ sure doesn’t hurt! Many also have the added advantage of having a decent dance background, especially if they were part of a musical act.
Disadvantages: Youth can also have its disadvantages – as in immaturity. What some might call “youthful exuberance”, others might call “immaturity” or “attention deficit disorder” – poor Cody Linley had a hard time sitting still! Emotional immaturity (a la Aaron Carter’s post-rumba meltdown in the confessional) can be especially off-putting. They’ve also got to contend with the large middle-aged female contingent of viewers/voters – they far outnumber the young viewers likely to vote for them.
Possible candidates this season: There’s that random Nicole Anderson chick that’s a friend of Chelsea Kane’s, and Heidi found some compelling evidence that rapper Darnell Robinson may be participating this season.
The Host
Previous examples: Jerry Springer, Brooke Burke, Leeza Gibbons, Mario Lopez, Kenny Mayne, Lisa Rinna, Tucker Carlson, Mark Dacascos, Rocco DiSpirito, Erin Andrews, Wendy Williams, Mike Catherwood, Carson Kressley, Nancy Grace, Ricki Lake
Advantages: Being that they’ve been at the helm of their own shows, these guys usually have the media savvy & charisma to appeal to the masses, as well as the previous exposure & recognizability. Most (not all!) are also decently attractive, which never seems to hurt (unless, of course, you’re a model – see previous post for explanation).
Disadvantages: Many hosts are only used to hosting – as in just sitting down & talking (or dodging the occasional punch, if you’re Springer), so the lack of movement experience problem seems to come into play.
Possible candidates this season: This category seems to have EXPLODED with possibilities this season – the most solid of which being Sherri Shepherd, who was caught leaving the DWTS studio the other day. I’m still wondering if someone fr0m GMA is part of the cast this season, since they all seemed to act so coy when announcing they’d be revealing the cast. And then we have the Maria Menounos rumor as well.
The Actor
Previous examples: John O’Hurley, Melissa Joan Hart, Steve Guttenburg, John Ratzenberger, Debi Mazar, Denise Richards, Ted McGinley, Shannon Elizabeth, Jennie Garth, Vivica Fox, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Shannen Doherty, Jennifer Grey, David Hasselhoff, Ralph Macchio, Kirstie Alley, David Arquette
Advantages: Being that their bread & butter is acting, most can usually nail the emotions of the dances. Bonus points if they’ve done any Broadway (like Winokur) because they have likely had dance experience.
Disadvantages: For lack of a better term, many of them seem to be “has-beens” – actors that haven’t been particularly active in the mainstream in the past several years – or were never that big to begin with (can anyone else think of anything John O’Hurley has been in BESIDES Seinfeld?), making it harder for them to garner votes from a public who may not remember them.
Possible candidates this season: We’ve got Melissa Gilbert & Ryan O’Neal, of course, but nothing really beyond that.
The Reality Star
Previous examples: Kim Kardashian, Kelly Osbourne, Melissa Rycroft, Steve-O, Holly Madison, Trista Sutter, Shanna Moakler, Kate Gosselin, Jake Pavelka, Audrina Patridge, The Situation, Rob Kardashian, Kristin Cavallari
Advantages: Many have achieved pop culture icon status on their respective reality outlets, making them fairly recognizable.
Disadvantages: They may be memorable for the wrong reasons – people tended to remember things like Kim Kardashian’s sex tape more than her reality show when she was on DWTS, and people seemed more focused on Holly Madison’s split from Hef than her antics on The Girls Next Door. Many can also come across as attention-hungry & talentless(*cough*JakePavelka*cough*) – reality TV is often looked down upon as a way to get famous without having any talent whatsoever.
Possible candidates this season: Lots of talk about Ali Fedotowsky, who suspiciously moved to LA last week.
The Singer:
Previous examples: Mya, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mario, Belinda Carlisle, Master P, Chuck Wicks, Sara Evans, Willa Ford, Monique Coleman, Toni Braxton, Macy Gray, Nicole Scherzinger, Chynna Phillips
Advantages: As with the teen idols, many have had dance experience concurrent with their music careers.
Disadvantages: Most seem to be committed solely to one genre of music (often R&B or country), making it hard to appeal to a wide fanbase.
Possible candidates this season: Lots of loose lips at the Grammys about Gavin DeGraw, but it seems like less of a possibility now, considering that he is about to go on tour.
The Wild Card
Previous examples: Heather Mills, Tom DeLay, Mark Cuban, Steve Wozniak, Priscilla Presley, Buzz Aldrin, Bristol Palin, Chaz Bono
Advantages: The sheer novelty of having someone with such an off-the-beaten-path claim to fame (famous divorcee/widow, entrepreneur, disgraced politician, etc.) may be enough to have the public voting them – just to see what happens. Being the “underdog” is a powerful thing…as we saw with Bristol in season 11!
Disadvantages: Due to their often dubious fame, people just may not have any clue who they are – I personally had to Google Mark Cuban’s name. There’s also the risk of backlash from some viewers who don’t think they’re “stars” per se, and shouldn’t even be on the show in the first place.
Possible candidates this season: Surprisingly, not too many outlandish rumors…especially since Herman Cain & Michelle Bachman have denied they’re doing the show. Phew!
So we’re getting down to the wire, kids…any last-minute predictions before the big reveal?
Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!
