I love how everything you can imagine now has odds given to it, including Dancing with the Stars. On online betting site just posted the early odds for Dancing with the Stars season 10. Yes, this is really early since we still don’t know who the professionals will be for Dancing with the Stars season 10. So, the odds are all based around the professionals that could be on DWTS 10. Check them out:
Derek Hough +600
Mark Ballas +700
Julianne Hough +750
Cheryl Burke +800
Maksim Chmerkovskiy +800
Lacey Schwimmer +800
Chelsea Hightower +1000
Dmitry Chaplin +1200
Karina Smirnoff +1400
Kym Johnson +1400
Alec Mazo +1600
Louis van Amstel +1800
Edyta Sliwinska +1800
Anna Demidova +2000
Tony Dovolani +2500
Anna Trebunskaya +2800
Jonathan Roberts +3000
Ashly DelGrosso +3300
Elena Grinenko +4500
Inna Brayer +4500
Corky Ballas +6600

Looks like Heidi’s not the only one that likes Derek Hough. This is a pretty interesting list since it basically compares the “star quality” of the pros I think. Nice to see that it corresponds really well with our list of Top Female DWTS Pros and Top Male DWTS Pros quite well.

I’m sitting here waitig for the tires to be done on my car. New Years Eve football is on in the background and I decided it would be fun to write up a list of my favorite DWTS pros. I’ll just do the female pros and leave the male pros up to one of the other Pure DWTS female bloggers. I’m also not going to list all of the pros since I don’t have a list in front of me.

So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorite female DWTS pros:
1. Julianne Hough – Julianne is one of the major reasons that I started to love DWTS. Julianne and Apolo were fantastic together. I also loved how Julianne wasn’t afraid to make comments back to the judges. Not hateful or disrespectful, just disagreeing and playful. I loved it and missed it this last season.
2. Edyta Śliwińska – I just adore Edyta’s dancing. She’s not the best teacher and not the best choreographer, but if I think back on my favorite moments on DWTS Edyta has a number of them. Her long legs don’t hurt either. I really hope she can win a mirror ball trophy.
3. Kym Johnson – Donny was definitely a ringer, but Kym had been given such crap partners before that I didn’t mind too much. Plus, she was so fantastic with less than perfect dancers like Jerry Springer that I was so glad she could finally win. I could be wrong, but I bet she’s just as nice in person as she is on TV. The accent is nice as well.
4. Chelsie Hightower – I have a feeling that Chelsie is going to move up this list over time. I can’t get some of her ‘boy’ moments (like burping) out of my head, but I still love watching her dance. She brings the most out of her partners and I think truly loves dancing.
5. Karina Smirnoff – Karina is such an amazing dancer. Some of her back bends are unbelievable. I prefer to watch her in the pro dances, but she is stunning to watch dance.
6. Lacey Schwimmer – She’s a bit of a jerk at times, but as far as dancing she is very creative. However, I’d love to see her choreograph on SYTYCD where there aren’t rules.
7. Cheryl Burke – She is likely the best choreographer on this list so I couldn’t leave her off. However, her dancing doesn’t do much for me. I’m not sure why. I’m sure she’s technically great, but just isn’t as nice to watch as the others to me.

Ok, that’s the list off the top of my head of top female DWTS pros. Is there someone I’ve left off? How would you rank them?

My oh my – we are barely done with Season 9 and the Season 10 speculation starts to crank up.

First up – Jermain Dupre is telling people he would be interested in doing Dancing with the Stars. I’ve seen this one for a couple days now and took it as just talk. I still think it’s “just talk”, but I figured I would post it in the “you just never know” category. From Access Hollywood via some site called DimeWars:

Any Amazing Race fans out there besides me and John? Well, one of the Globetrotters who just got eliminated from the race is saying HE wants to do DWTS – his nickname is Flight Time. Keep in mind that both Flight Time and Jermaine are likely just making it known they would do it if they were to be asked and I think we’re WAY too far out at this point to say this is anything more than wishful thinking on their parts. From the LA Times:

He may not have won the $1 million, but could “Amazing Race” also-ran Herbert “Flight Time” Lang be redirecting his competitive sights to a shiny Mirrorball trophy instead?

The just-eliminated Flight Time (pictured, left), of the “Race’s” popular Harlem Globetrotters team of Flight Time and Big Easy, cracked open the possibility of outfitting himself in glittery face decals and sequins when asked by EW.com if there was a chance that he could show up on another reality show. “I feel like I can do anything now,” he responded. “I enjoy watching ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and I think I’m a pretty good dancer.”

I would love it – these guys were the best sports, played a great game and they never got upset, or fought. They were very entertaining. I say yes.

Now, addressing the rumor that either Maks or Karina could be sitting in the audience next season, Maks, Karina and ABC all say it’s not true. According to Entertainment Weekly:

According to a source at ABC, “The casting of professionals is determined by the casting of the celebrities, which is still in progress.” Chmerkovskiy’s rep corroborated: “Maks has a contract that goes beyond season 10. As to if he’s coming back or not for next season, that always depends on casting.” Smirnoff’s rep called the one-or-the-other rumor “malicious,” and added, “Karina loves being on Dancing With the Stars and has a professional working relationship with Maksim. I can assure you that she has every intention of returning in the spring.”

Yeah, neither dancer is going anywhere. With each passing season, the pros are bigger stars (and bigger initial draws) than most of the celebrities. ABC will do anything to hold on to the top tier pros AND if they fight it just means better ratings and more attention. Controversy is cash. Derek is fond of saying “Well, if they cast all 6 foot tall women, then Mark and I are out.” While not necessarily true, it’s reasonably accurate – that said, I got 100 buck they make sure they have a couple shorter women in there. Although…Derek didn’t give that stock answer the most recent time he was asked….hmmmm….hold me, I’m getting scared.

Speaking of Derek – I just found out one of the things he’s doing in the off season. A pretty high profile choreography gig! He’s choreographing Cheryl Cole’s next single off her hit album in London. Cheryl Cole is a judge of the British show The X-Factor (created and also judged by Simon Cowell). She is also huge in England (and Europe?) as a recording artist and got started in a group called Girls Aloud on Pop Stars (English version of American Idol). Derek talks about his gig in this video I posted on PureDerekHough - he’s at the 10 minute mark.

Finally, I don’t know that I mentioned this before, but congratulations to Kym Johnson for her Broadway Debut in Burn the Floor!! Couldn’t have happened to a nicer girl! She’s dancing with Maks who returns to the show after a successful run in the late summer. From Theater Mania:

Kym Johnson isn’t exaggerating when she says the last week of November was “the craziest week of my life.” On Tuesday, November 24, she and her celebrity partner, Donny Osmond, were crowned champions of the ninth season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and on Friday, November 27, she made her Broadway debut in the dance extravaganza Burn the Floor. TheaterMania recently spoke with Johnson about these significant events and her plans for the future.

TM: Is this your first time doing Burn the Floor?
KJ: I was in the original workshop in 1998, and then I toured with it for six years — we even did Radio City Music Hall. But it’s definitely changed a lot; it was more of an arena-style show in the past. Now, it’s much more intimate. I also had to learn all new choreography; but since I am really familiar with Jason Gilikson’s style, it wasn’t so hard.

TM: You’re appearing in the show with your Dancing with the Stars co-star Maksim Chmerkovskiy. What is that like?
KJ: We’re good friends, so it’s nice to be dancing with him every night. And no offense, but on Dancing, you don’t dance fully with another professional, so I am really enjoying this. Plus, on the show, I had to choreograph all the numbers and come up with songs, costumes, and all that. It’s nice that I don’t have to keep thinking every minute and I can just dance.

TM: What was your reaction when you found out your partner was going to be Donny Osmond?
KJ: The dancers are always playing guessing games before they tell us who our partners are, and I think everyone was jealous. I had a good feeling from the beginning; I knew he was dedicated and would give everything. His work ethic is so professional.

TM: What was your off-stage relationship like?
KJ: Donny is the nicest man; he had a smile on his face every day. He used to give me singing lessons on our lunch break, which was a real role reversal. He would bully me into singing, and I’d bully him into dancing. He thinks I have a good voice. He tells me I should do it professionally. We’ll see.

Maksim or Karina? ‘DWTS’ Is Deciding

It looks like all the personal drama between Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff — who broke off the engagement in September — has finally cha-cha-cha’d it’s way on to the dance floor, potentially forcing ‘Dancing With The Stars’ to decide which one of their loose-legged dancers they want most. “It’s really gotten ugly between the two of them since the spit,” a friend of the chest-waxing dancer (you guess which one) told me. Maks himself admitted to PopEater that he doesn’t talk to Karina at all anymore, saying “I’ve got to thank her for being a great instructor in the lesson of what not to look for in a woman.” Zing! We’ll give that insult a 9 for technical difficulty.

Adding to the ‘pick him or her’ rumors is Karina’s noticeable absence from the Broadway show ‘Burn The Floor,’ which once starred the two of them busting out some very sexy moves. “Maksim wouldn’t have returned to the show if the producers had insisted on him dancing with Karina,” said a theatre insider, adding that “the same will be true for the new season of ‘DWTS.’ All the feathers and sequins in the world wouldn’t be able to cover the bad feeling between those two.”

Lets hope Maksim and Karina master the peace dance before ABC is forced to play pick the hottie. And remember everyone, work romances always end in tears — so sorry, PopEater colleagues, I’m just not interested!

While waiting on the breakfast to be ready (Champagne Brunch – Yay!!), I took a stroll around twitter and found the celebs and pros have been tweeting fools. Enjoying their time off. I won’t post all their tweets, but some of them and their twit pics were fun. If you want to follow them and see what they have to say, you can find all their twitter accounts on a previous post!

Aww, Tony, so sweet. And the Ballas men – strange. Lacey and Lance at the Dizzy Feet Gala!! And Natalie Jinxes herself.

Mark has a hot cousin, ya’ll.

Joanna is talking about her new Peta Ad campaign. Jonathan cracks me up, as does Louie Vito.

Natalie – word to the wise, never talk about how good traffic is, because then it WON’T be. Derek being a good uncle, taking the kids to Miley Cyrus with Julianne and his sisters. They apparently hit a local honky tonk after – I assume someone took the children home.

For those who didn’t know, Carrieann had some sort of surgery yesterday – it appears she pulled through nicely. Apparently it was minor and related to her neck/back. I could look it up, but dudes it’s Thanksgiving and I’m stuffing myself.

Natalie tweeted two of her favorite pictures from Finale night:

Kym J. finally gets some sleep.

Access Hollywood with Kelly and her parents, and Derek and Joanna:

Derek and Joanna on The View:

Entertainment Tonight continues it’s love affair with Donny Osmond:

Extra from Tuesday, November 17 – Julianne at the Twilight premiere (she’s a HUGE fan according to Derek and she did tweet a picture of her with Rob Pattinson the other night – I officially hate her. ), plus Donny and Kym on their wardrobe malfunction tango. They show a bit of Mario Lopez dancing with Karina.

Derek and Joanna on Kimmel – pretty darn funny.

This should be the last of it for Week 8. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems we aren’t getting as much media coverage this season as we have in seasons past. What we do get is overwhelmingly slanted towards Donny Osmond (although I imagine it evens out if you don’t count Entertainment Tonight).

Reality Chat!! I want Joanna’s outfit too. A little bit of “damning with faint praise” of Mya, if tone is anything to go by.

Aaron and Karina on The View. Aaron, there’s no crying in Ballroom!!

DWTS on E! with Special Correspondent Mark “cheesey” Ballas.

E! News – the final four, and more crying in the Ballroom.

Entertainment Tonight continues the relentless pimping of Donny Osmond. I like Donny WAY better than I like his sister, and she keeps reminding me how much I disliked her when she was on the show. At least on this particular episode they give Kelly a tiny moment of screen time.

ET again – how much stock do YOU think the Osmonds own?? I’m thinking a lot. They again give Kelly a bit of screen time.

I was slightly disappointed that Aaron was sent home last night.  I think out of all the contestants he had the most up and down experience going from amazing in the first 2 weeks and then getting overly cocky and hard to watch and then back to brilliant and passionate dancing.  I had a feeling Aaron was going to be sent home over Kelly but let’s take a look at his best dances and hottest outfits

BEST DANCES
Week 1: Cha-Cha
Little Aaron Carter can dance! This was an amazing premier dance for Aaron and Karina! I loved that you could tell he was working so hard to be a good dancer but also an amazing partner for Karina. Every time he touched her I could tell he was into it!

Week 2: Viennese Waltz
I loved the Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy story line here!

Week 5: Argentine Tango
He feel of the wagon during weeks 3 and 4 but came back with his Robert Patterson vibe in the Argentine Tango! This dance was so sexy and confident on his end and he had amazing partnering for Karina!

Week 6: Waltz
This was Aaron’s most mature dance of the season! Absolutely loved it

Week 7: Jive
BEST DANCE!!!! This dance was so him…fast, energetic, and so much fun! His foot work was off the charts phenomenal!

HOTTEST COSTUMES

I loved his Argentine Tango costume…Very Patterson inspired and he looked like man

I thought his Kermit the Frog outfit was adorable!  He really doesn’t have a color that doesn’t look amazing on him!  But that could be the spray tan!

Normally I would not like an outfit like this one but something about it is very suiting for him.  And how could you not love Karina in this dress

Not the picture I was looking for…but who doesn’t love a guy in all white

Wow. I can’t believe we’re down to the final five. That’s amazing. Good luck to everyone – at this point it’s anyone’s game and anyone could go home. Frankly, at this point, if you go home you can go with your head held high. Fifth place out of 16 is nothing to sneeze at, fer sure. Anyway, getting on with it…remember if you’re a Derek/Joanna fan, I post their media at PureDerekHough.

People OnLine – Monday’s Dancing: What You Didn’t See Excerpts:

Dream Come True: As Britain’s Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle, whose first CD will be released Nov. 23, slowly made her entrance onto the Dancing with the Stars stage late Monday afternoon to pre-tape a performance, which will air on Tuesday’s results show, the crowd burst into applause. Boyle looked elegant in a black sequined gown, her hair coiffed to perfection. Despite battling a case of pre-show nerves, Boyle was completely in her element once the orchestra began playing the opening notes of her signature song, “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical Les Miserables. Dancers Tony Dovolani and Chelsie Hightower performed an elegant routine to Boyle’s spot-on vocals. But because of a wardrobe malfunction — Dovolani’s bowtie came unfastened from his tuxedo shirt — they had to do a second take. Unbelievably, it was even better than the first.

Derek Hough and Joanna Krupa had by far the most inventive costumes, with battery-fueled LED lights accenting their silver futuristic attire. “When we heard future I was like, ‘LED lights in the costume. I don’t care how you guys do it and how you guys have to make it happen. It has to be good,’ and they did it,” he explained. After the show, Hough played with the switch on his jacket and joked, “You turn me on.” A new pickup line? “I don’t think so,” Krupa said with laugh.

George’s full segment on KABC in LA

You can find George’s exclusive interviews at KABC – I’ve posted Mya’s below.

Radar Online – of course they don’t allow and embed so click this link —-> Radar Online

A different one from Radar Online —-> Radar Online – Peeves

ET Online – with the ever annoying Osmond, Marie. Gee, whenever random celebs show up in the audience of DWTS – especially those who could use some PR – I always take bets on if they will be appearing on the show. Tonights random celeb appearances include Taylor Dayne and Jodie Whatley.

A TV Guide Recap article about last night – an excerpt (It’s not just us, Courtney):

Two dances, people, two! And since this is the season of change, the Latin round dances will all be based on a decade: the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and the, uh, future. Thanks, guys. Before we get down to business in the ballroom round, we are treated to a package from the judges to kill time. Oh, and so they can objectively tell us what they’re looking for from each star. Did they read Maks’ complaints? Hmm. So what say them? Donny has too many sweeping movents, Joanna needs to find balance, Kelly needs to improve in ballroom, Mya does too many showy moves and Aaron can’t be overly exuberant in the foxtrot.

Ballroom Round
Mya and Dmitry Chaplin: Quickstep
Mya wants to prove herself, but she and Dmitry agree they shouldn’t change their strategy to please the judges. Uh, maybe you should so you don’t get another 5. So instead of strategizing, they go horseback-riding. As always, Mya’s steps are on point. She’s not very crisp, but the fast pace isn’t tripping her up at all. The routine is also infused with a lot more intricate choreography and there’s a nice easy flow to it. But yet there’s still no charisma or personality exuding from her. Len says he can’t find anything to criticize. Bruno calls it quality and vintage champagne — “After you taste it, nothing else will do.” No, thanks. Carrie Ann loves the gracefulness, but doesn’t feel like Mya is in it to win it.
Score: 29

Oy! Ok, for the first time since I started doing these rankings, I have very few notes written in my handy dandy notebook – because I was actually transfixed for most of tonight’s show! This may have been the most entertained I’ve been all season – tonight was delightfully wacky, yet also refined (anyone catch the Hooters reference? ) – I found myself enjoying both the ballroom & Latin rounds.  Although I must point out that there was some definite music ditto-ing tonight – “You Spin Me Right Round” & ”Valerie” have both definitely been used in past seasons for a paso & a quickstep, respectively.  Could the “fabulous” Harold Wheeler be running out of stuff to play? Hmmmm…

1.) Donny & Kym – I can’t believe I am about to say what I’m about to say: I actually enjoyed both of Donny’s routines tonight (though definitely not for the same reasons lol!).  I must have a soft spot for well-executed, sincere waltzes/Viennese waltzes – because just as Michael Irvin won me over with his charming waltz 2 weeks ago, Donny won me over with his this week.  Very understated, calm, clean, and pretty.  Actually quite lovely to watch, especially since Donny wasn’t trying to yuk it up like he has in the past – if the Donny skeptics are anything like me, they may warm up to him after that number.  His paso had me rolling – it was really a hot mess, with the ridiculous costuming (anyone else think Donny’s pants a little more Napoleon Dynamite than Adam Ant?) and the tacky smoke machine/wind machine/cape interlude in the middle…I LOVED EVERY GAUDY SECOND OF IT.  This will not be a routine that is easily forgotten (even if some might want to…), and Donny & Kym had the definite boon of performing in the Money Spot (TM).  Who cares if they are tied for the lowest score??? They’ve got the fanbase and shock factor working in their favor…

2.) Derek & Joanna – These two would have likely overtaken Donny & Kym for the top spot on my rankings this week, if it weren’t for that chaotic, messy quickstep in the ballroom round.  Ai ai ai…it actually pained me to watch it, because I know that they can (and have) done much better.  The two of them were bobbing around out of sync like a whack-a-mole game at Chuck E Cheese.  Anymore, the quickstep seems to be becoming the “kiss of death” on DWTS, just like it has on SYTYCD…very hard to really “nail”.  But man – Joanna & Derek more than made up for it with the artistry, creativity, and execution of their futuristic paso.  Honestly, I think any other couple that drew “futuristic” as their decade would have crashed & burned – Derek is honestly on the cutting edge with his choreography & I would not be surprised if this robot paso garnered him an Emmy nomination for best choreography next year.  And Joanna was flawless on this one (dunno why Carrie Ann was yammering on about a “misstep”) – I was surprised she was able to nail the robotic, emotionless feel of the dance after being so emotionally invested in previous weeks.  That paso (and Heidi & her posse & their tireless campaign for votes for team DJ!) probably saved them this week, although I think they’re really starting to show they’re contenders for the trophy this season…

3.) Mya & Dmitry – What does it say when a couple gets the first perfect score of the season and I still have a hard time seeing them win the whole competition? Accusations of Derek favoritism aside (ahem), I still am feeling very little connection between these two, although I still stand by my claim that it is more Dmitry’s fault than Mya’s.  Empirical evidence: those who DVRed tonight’s show, I challenge you to rewatch their quickstep & count how many times they make eye contact with one another, and for how long, and with how much intensity.  They barely looked at each other – each step, while flawlessly executed, was aimed at connecting with the audience rather than each other.  Ditto to their samba (which I actually really enjoyed!) – it was as if they could have danced the entire routine alone and we wouldn’t have noticed that they were missing a partner (although the samba rolls were pure butter to watch ) Add to that the trouble of performing in the Crap Spot (TM), and all I’m left really remembering well is that Dmitry kinda reminds me of Paul Rudd’s character in Anchorman with his ’70s ’stache.  The perfect score likely saved them from the danger zone, but I’m not sure they will be so lucky next week…

4.) Kelly & Louis – Kelly is the weakest dancer left in the competition, I will admit that – but she’s definitely improving, and she and Louis are still totally adorable.  Great to see sassy, confident Kelly in her foxtrot – she may not have had the greatest feet or arms or frame, but she was fun to watch and seemed to really nail the slinkiness of the foxtrot & looked fantastic doing it.  The jive was a little odd for me – loved seeing her in her element (the ’60s really seem to be her era), but the two of them seemed a bit more wrapped up in doing more ’60s moves than actual jive (and the jive they did was pretty mediocre), and they held onto the prop for a bit too long – and I HATE PROPS.  But oddly enough, they weren’t at the bottom of the scoreboard this week, and I cannot bring myself to hate them (just like I actually kinda missed walking Hallmark card Michael this week *sniff*).  They will likely be in the bottom 2, but I don’t see them getting sent home over Aaron…

5.) Aaron & Karina – Talk about TMI.  I didn’t really need to know that Aaron almost tossed his cookies on national television, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t mentioned it.  But honestly – that was probably just extra dirt on the coffin for Aaron.  These two have been skating on thin ice for weeks now, and I think they only slipped by last week based on Aaron’s jive prowess (if the knockout dance were a popularity contest, Mark would still be around instead of him).  His foxtrot felt a little too bouncy to me – as much as it pains me to say it, I agree with Carrie Ann that he does get a bit too “exuberant” and it throws off his technique.  Their samba was actually kinda cute (loved the song – I remember groovin’ to Spin Doctors in 4th grade!), but was a bit sloppy at times and isn’t nearly as memorable as any of the other Latin routines for me tonight.  They’re the only couple left that’s ever been in danger (and they’ve been in danger MULTIPLE times) and they’re also at the bottom of the scoreboard – oh, and if Twitter is any indicator, the only man in America that may be more hated than Aaron right now is Jon Gosselin.  If I were the gambling type, I’d put a decent bet down on Aaron going home tomorrow night, and then take my honey out to Outback with my winnings.

So this has probably been the easiest ranking I’ve done so far – probably because I’m darn near certain that Aaron’s number is up this week.  And if it isn’t – well, pigs must be flying on a snowy day in hell.  But feel free to argue with me…I will try and be more present in the comments section this week, since I have Wednesday off work.  Yay for floating holidays!!! Sound off, everyone…