Dancing with the Stars Season 18 – PRO WATCH!!

It’s that time of year once again, boys and girls – time for Pro Watch. 🙂  It will be very interesting to see what happens this year, after they let go of the band. That was a huge cost savings to them. The question is: are they looking to save even more money (say goodbye to Derek and possibly Cheryl) or have they saved so much that they can afford the popular, long term pros that have kept people coming back to this show season after season? I personally think that they will do what they can to hold on to Derek – he’s an Emmy winner and that’s very helpful to the show’s cache. I think they will also do their best to hold on to Cheryl, Karina and Mark. I’m GUESSING that Val and Tristan are still locked into contracts that are beneficial to ABC so they aren’t in question as long as they find a partner for them.  As always, I could be wrong. 🙂 Read more..

Dancing with the Stars Season 17 – PRO WATCH!!

It’s that time of year once again, boys and girls – time for Pro Watch. 🙂 I’m starting it a bit earlier than normal because we’ve gotten confirmation about Derek and a maybe about Maks earlier than ever before, as I recall. While Derek often knows very early, he’s not usually big on sharing – that seems a bit different this year. He’s confirmed he’s back with both the LA Times and Access Hollywood when they asked him. Now, it’s possible that this could just mean he’s open to it, not that he has a partner, but I suspect if he wants to do it, he gets to do it.

Also, at the TCA Summer Tour, Paul Lee, the ABC President of Entertainment, was asked about Maks and he gave an answer that was interpreted by differently by different outlets. No shock there. Access Hollywood said he said Maks “may well be back” and TV Guide said he said “likely” be back – now, call me crazy, but those are actually different interpretations. So, I am going with “maybe likely” as a happy medium. Particularly after last season, when Maks himself was saying he was back and then he wasn’t. And sorry Maks fans – it’s not a sure thing because, contrary to your world view, the ratings didn’t actually go down because Maks wasn’t there – they have been on a constant downward trend for a few seasons now, including those when Maks was present. We’ve been writing about it for a few seasons now, including after All Stars which was down 20% from season 14 – Maks was on both seasons. Sixteen was lower again = downward TREND.

As for the rest?? Well, Lizzie was asking who we wanted Val to dance with this season, but that could well be a “if we talk like it’s true it will become true” PR style. I suspect he’ll be back though. I wouldn’t count on Gleb or Louis…and maybe not even Tony. I really think they need to give Henry a shot, and I expect that both Mark and Tristan will have spots. As for the ladies, I suspect that Cheryl and Karina, and possibly Sharna, are the only sure things. Everyone else seems like they could go either way.

The big question mark for me?? Will there be a troupe?? I suspect there will be, although we won’t see them nearly as much early in the season. Don’t worry, Troupe fans – if what Paul Lee says about a possible return to two shows a week in the spring is true, then all may not be lost.

ETA1 Vogue here with an UPDATE: According to Enstarz, Val Chmerkovskiy will be dancing in Dancing With The Stars Season 17. He not only told them he will be dancing, he also told them his dream partners as well as saying, “I just want a partner who is willing to work and has a strong work ethic” and “You can be a supermodel, an actress, an athlete… but to be a good partner, you have to be willing to put in the work.” Be sure to read the link for more!

ETA2: Chelsie could be “possibly in”. See this post for more details!!

ETA3 Vogue here again: Due to this tweet by Sharna, we suspect she might be “possibly in”.

ETA4 Vogue again: After discussing this with Court and the way she read Sharna’s tweet, we’ve decided together to take out “Possibly In” for Sharna. The pros may be posting optimistically looking forward to season 17 (or the craziness of it, etc), but, that doesn’t mean they are “in” or are “possibly in”.

ETA4: This is sad. I hate to even report this, but, according to US Weekly, Kym Johnson won’t be dancing this season. She tells the magazine, that she has an “amazing work opportunity back home in Australia.” More here. Thanks to Lori for the heads up. Also, Chelsie tweeted of receiving “good and bad news”. We have no idea what she’s referring to, but, we’re changing her status to “unknown”.

ETA5: Karina is IN per @DWTSGossip!

ETA6: @DWTSGossip is also reporting Peta, Cheryl, Tony, Val, and Mark “in” as well.

ETA7: The hits just keep on coming, as DWTSGossip tweets that Maks “will not be returning” for season 17. -Court-

ETA8: The day of the furious pro watch updates continues, as DWTSGossip reveals that Anna & Chelsie are out and that Lindsay & Emma are in…although the “I guess” at the beginning of her tweet seems to leave a bit of margin for error…-Court-

ETA9: And now we have a bit of news on Henry. We think he’s “Possibly in the Troupe” or been “Promoted” because of what was tweeted in this twitter exchange. As Court just wrote to me privately, the problem with the guys right now is that we don’t know if any of the male troupe members are getting promoted. So, Henry may be in the troupe or he may have gotten promoted based on the tweet. In conclusion, we’re going to side with caution and assume it’s the troupe. -Vogue and Court

ETA10 Vogue: DWTSGossip is reporting Sharna is also “in”! She’s also reporting via twitter that she knows for a fact Sasha is not a Pro “as of now”. @Dwtsgossip writes to us that Sasha may very well still be in the running. Also, Tristan and Gleb are not confirmed yet.

ETA11: Oksana is out via Val’s twitter. Though the tweet has now been deleted. So, we’re going to mark her as “possibly out”.

ETA12: Just a little update on Troupe member Julian Tocker. He has tweeted that he won’t be dancing full time because of the new format, but, we’ll still see him around. Sad as it makes you wonder if it will be the same for some or all of the troupe members? Also, and if there is a full time troupe, how many will there be in it?

ETA13: Some good news and some bad news today (depending how you look at it and who are your favorite pros). @DWTSGossip is reporting Tristan is “in”, but, Gleb” is “out” (sad, I was hoping to see him back). So, what does this mean for the 6th male spot left? Will it be filled by a returning Pro (Louis? or did they change their mind and decide to make Maks a pro?), a promotion for a troupe member (Sasha or Henry?), or will it be someone entirely new? Penny for your thoughts!

ETA14: Guess what Kids? @DWTSGossip says she got mixed up and Gleb is IN! YAY!

ETA15: I’m baaaaacccckkkk!! And here to report that @dwtsgossip just tweeted “Sasha dancing with Snookie?? Mark out??” Clearly, those are question marks, so don’t get too excited. 🙂 If true, good for Markie – time to go full bore on that music career, bud. -Heidi

ETA16: And Markie is in…and Sasha may not be. @dwtsgossip can’t confirm him, but he/she can confirm Mark. Again, certain sources out there have a piss poor track record – dwtsgossip is not one of those, and neither is TMZ. I’ll leave it at that. 🙂 But seriously people -always consider the source. And remember no one is infallible. Don’t get worked up until September 4th. 🙂 p.s. see mark’s tweet to dwtsgossip. 🙂

ETA17: Heidi here to tell you that a few spots in Pro Watch may just be WRONG. Dead wrong. Sorry, that’s all I can say right now. We’re in for one surprise tomorrow and a couple other mild surprises. 😉 Maybe – take it with a grain of salt as usual when mysterious sources appear. 

ETA18: Errr…well, the cat seems to be out of the bag on some other sites (and Heidi is already in bed), so here it goes: Lindsay has allegedly been downgraded to troupe along with Gleb, Sasha has allegedly been upgraded to pro from the troupe, and one of the “non-troupe lurkers” I mentioned almost a month ago, Tyne, has allegedly been fast-tracked straight to pro.  Witney & Henry remain in the troupe, which is now only 4 strong.  I’m not exactly happy with this new development (especially since Tyne, to my knowledge, is just a contemporary dancer), but I’m interested to see what you guys’ thoughts are…and keep in mind, this does seem to contradict some of what we’ve already heard from reputable sources, so take it with a grain of salt. -Court-

Male Pros

Derek – IN
Val – IN
Tony – IN
Mark – IN
Sasha – IN
Tristan – IN

Female Pros

Cheryl – IN
Tyne Stecklein – IN
Sharna – IN
Peta – IN
Karina – IN
Emma – IN

Out For the Season
Kym – judging position on DWTS Australia
Maks – OUT per DWTSGossip
Anna – OUT per DWTSGossip
Chelsie – OUT per DWTSGossip
Louis – OUT per Louis’ twitter
Lacey – Most Likely OUT

Super Troupers, Past and Present
Oksana Dmytrenko –  OUT of the Troupe
Sasha Farber – Promoted to Pro
Henry Byalikov – IN Troupe
Emma Slater – Promoted to Pro
Kiki Nyemchek – OUT
Nicole Volynets – OUT
Ted Volynets – OUT
Dasha Chesnokova – OUT
Witney Carson – IN Troupe
Julian Tocker – Not dancing full time in troupe this season, but we’ll still see him around.
Gleb Savchenko – downgraded from pro to troupe
Lindsay Arnold – downgraded from pro to troupe