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.

John challenged me to do this, despite my clear and obvious Hough bias. But it does say MY favorites, so these choices are all my own. As I said in response to comments on John’s post, being a great DWTS Pro is about more than just dance ability. I think several things are required: choreography skill, teaching ability and PERSONALITY (aka The “IT” Factor). And, of course, you have to be one hell of a dancer. I don’t dislike ANY of the pros, male or female, but I do have my clear favorites. You all can guess my Number one, right? Say it with me:

1. Derek, Derek, Derek – Derek is not only a great dancer and choreographer, but he’s one of the more charismatic people on TV right now.  When he’s on screen in a pro dance, I occasionally read about people who are not fans being annoyed because he’s “distracting” – I have to laugh, because that “distracting” behavior is called charisma and “IT”.  He draws the eye. As a fan of old movies (thanks, Grandma), he reminds me of Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. He has never finished lower than sixth and he was only as low as sixth once, with Shannon. He has a way of taking celebs with either baggage or no fanbase (or both) and turning them into respectable dancers – or at the very least, making them likable. His celebs are always labeled as “disliked or likely to be disliked” (Joanna, Lil’ Kim) or as likely to leave early (everyone else) – yet he never leaves early. As for his choreo – two words: Futuristic Paso Doble.  Wait…three words. (John’s Comment: See the rest of Heidi’s Derek bias on Pure Derek Hough)
2. Louis Van Amstel – yes, this shocks me too.  Louis was one of the faceless male pros who were there and gone most seasons.  But holy cow – his work with Kelly Osbourne, and their relationship, was just a joy to watch. Kelly would never be the best dancer – in fact, I would argue that she was no better than 6th or 7th place – but people LOVED her and I think a lot of that is attributable to Louis.  There is no question the man can dance, and he’s a very good choreographer (although I think my #3 did better on the tour), but I think it was only this season that his personality and teaching ability came to the forefront.  Lovely, lovely guy.
3. Maksim Chmerkovskiy – cranky as hell at times, the man also has IT.  He really won me over with his work on last years tour – brilliantly done.  He also manages to survive what I think is a crappy edit nearly every season – sure he’s blunt, but his partners seem to love him. And he writes a great blog, which I appreciate.  I also love how he treats Derek and Mark as slightly annoying little brothers – very sweet to watch on tour.  The feeling I get from Maks is that he’s all bark and no bite.
4. Mark Ballas – I was tempted to leave Mark off the list, although he’s always been one of my favorites.  Why? Well, maybe it’s just my perception, but I thought he acted badly when dancing with Melissa Joan Hart.  He seemed upset that they weren’t doing that well – whatever the reason for his behavior, it seemed TO ME to be poor sportsmanship.  He’s had two Olympians as partners – surely he can suck it up when dancing with someone who is trying hard, but isn’t an Olympian??  Anyway, despite that, Mark is a hell of a dancer and seems to be a good teacher.  He gets a lot of flack for out dancing his partners (usually in the Jive, which I don’t think he can help), and he occasionally picks hellish costumes with polka dots,  but he is a very talented guy.
5. Tony Dovolani – Tony doesn’t really impress me as a particularly great choreographer, but he’s a hell of a dancer and he’s very, VERY charming.  He’s just NICE.  I like him a lot.  He seems to work well with his partners, is a good teacher and is an all around good egg.

I think that only leaves Jonathan, Dmitry and Alec.  Dmitry and Alec suffer from an apparent lack of personality – notice I didn’t say that they don’t have a personality, just that it isn’t *apparent*. They are too quiet, and I don’t think either of them did a particularly good job in terms of choreography.  Doesn’t *everyone* know how Len feels about gimmicks, Dmitry??  As for Jonathan, he suffers as a result of drawing poor celebrities – how can I tell how good of a choreographer or teacher he is when he never stays on the show for long?  That said – he clearly has the patience of a saint.  And lord, when he’s dancing with his wife it’s a thing of beauty.

Okay, everyone, go ahead and tell me how wrong I am.  :-)  I can take it.

I’ve mentioned before that Maks and Kym were taking part in the Broadway show Burn the Floor and that Maks had gotten great reviews when paired with Karina this fall. Well, the New York Post has an interview with the two of them that I thought some readers might be interested in. Side note: Alec and Edyta were scheduled to take over for Maks and Kym in January, but I read that, likely due to low ticket sales, the show is closing on or about January 10th. I don’t think this says anything about Maks or Kym but more about the economy. Granted, this is Broadway’s big season, but the competition is fierce and I think the big name musicals and shows are going to win the season. Anyway, from the New York Post:

Kym Johnson — who helped usher Donny Osmond to the No. 1 spot — and Maksim Chmerkovskiy have partnered up and are hoofing it on Broadway, putting in eight performances a week in “Burn the Floor.”

“On ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ we do a minute-and-20 second routine with a celebrity, so you’re not reaching your fullest potential,” says Johnson, who toured with “Burn the Floor” for six years before joining “DWTS.”

“You have to hold things back a little bit sometimes, but dancing with Maks in a proper Broadway show . . . the limitations are not there, you can just go as crazy as you want.”

As far as Chmerkovskiy is concerned, “DWTS” is more of “a social experiment” than the serious ballroom dancing competitions that the pros are familiar with.

“Two people are put in a room together — one is a dance professional and the other has never done it before — with a camera and it becomes a kind of ‘Big Brother’ experience,” he says.
“Now, you’re not just their dance instructor, but, at times, their shoulder to cry on, their psychiatrist, their teacher, their mentor and vice versa.”

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.

Reality Chat with Sabrina Bryan.

Entertainment Tonight from Tuesday

This is actually from Week 6 – Louie and Melissa

Quite a few of our stars and pros dressed up for Halloween – I though I would share the pictures I saw. Kelly Osbourne gets my vote for most creative. Derek Hough for hottest pro. I could be biased. Heh. Let me know if I missed any!!

My favorite is first, then Derek with Shirley Ballas.

Mark Ballas

Maksim Chermikovskiy Does Vampire really well.

Julianne Hough, and her sister Marabeth from Thursday night.

Kelly Osbourne and her Fiance were “bacon and eggs” in case it isn’t obvious:

Jonathan Roberts and Anna Trebunskay as Donny and Marie Osmond – pretty convincing 70’s version for having been put together kinda quickly.

Chuck Liddell – LOL

Natalie Coughlin and hubby as Pam and Bill from True Blood:

ETA: Silly me – Maks was Henry the 8th, according to Freddy Kruger.

Alright, I’ve debated on whether or not to put my choices for next season out there since this season is still going on, but I’m just going to do it since I’ve been working on my pairing for quite sometime! Who knew it was going to be SO difficult to put a decent cast together to represent multiple cultures (i.e. athletes, singers, actors, etc.)

I read Heidi’s post on things she’s heard/seen around the internet and I would bet that someone from the Jackson family might be on, but I didn’t put them in my pairings because I don’t care to see them next season! So here is what I’d like to see go down

GIRLS:
Miley Cyrus (17, Pop Singer/Actress), she has been getting a lot of heat lately and I don’t think she deserves it! I think she is a genuine teen at heart who is trying to grow up and America won’t let her!

Partner: Mark Ballas…I think he’d have the patience with her and he’d be a great role model for her to have!  And he’s dating someone in her industry which would be a nice balance for her!

Mary-Kate Olsen (23, Actress), It is time for Mary-Kate to put those hideous outfits away and put on a sparkling ballroom gown

Partner: Benji Schwimmer…season 2 SYTYCD contestant and brother of Lacey…I think he’s just what MK needs, spunk!  AND I think it’s time we get some new pro dancers

Nicole Richie (28, Reality TV Star), she was the bad girl and notoriously funny girl from the ‘Simple Life’!  She’s now mellowed down and has two children with Joel Madden.

Partner: Derek Hough…I think these two would be hilarious together!  Both goofballs!

Malia Jones (33, Surfer), I don’t know much about her except that she is a kick ass surfer from Hawaii!

Partner Dmitry Chaplin:  This would be the hottest couple, hands down, on the girls end

Tyra Banks (36, Model/Talk Show Host), she’s done everything else so why not put her on DWTS   I think she’d take the experience to heart and find someway to put it on her show!

Partner: Maksim Chmerkovskiy…he needs someone to keep him in check and Tyra would do just that!

Nadia Comaneci (48, Olympic Gymnast) To have the first gymnast to ever recieve a perfect 10 on DWTS would be such an honor for ABC!   She’d be AMAZING to watch!

Partner: Louis Van Amstel…I think she’ll need someone to make her laugh and not get stressed over taking the competition to seriously and we’ve seen what he’s done with Kelly this season!

Ellen DeGeneres (52, Talk Show Host) We all know that Ellen loves to dance and she does not qualify for her favorite show So You Think You Can Dance, so why not give her a spot on an equally amazing dancing show   I think she’d be hilarious and jump right into the experience!

Partner: Tony Dovolani…I think these two have very similar personalities and Tony would be able to bring out Ellen’s passion for dance in brilliant choreography!

Anna Wintour (60, Vogue Editor-in-Chief), she is widely famous for being chic and always in style and I would love to get her out of her comfort zone and be equally chic in some ballroom gear

Partner: Jonathan Roberts….he always seems to bring out the best in his partners and I think he’d be the only person to keep up with her busy schedule!

Let me know your opinions and look for the male contenders next week

This isn’t directly related to Week 6 of DWTS, but certainly worth mentioning – Maks is going back to Broadway and he’s taking Kym Johnson with him!! Congratulations to both. Excerpts from the New York Post:

After “Dancing With the Stars” finishes its season next month, it looks like Maks and Kym are going to dance on Broadway.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Kym Johnson, two of the best-known professional dancers on “Dancing,” are joining the cast of the hit ballroom-dance show “Burn the Floor” starting right after Thanksgiving.

They’ll perform until mid-January, a rep for the show confirmed yesterday.

Both dancers are under contract to “Dancing” until the finale, set for Nov. 24. After that, they are set to fly to New York and start on Broadway three days later.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find these “Caught in the Act” mentions in People Magazine (Oct. 29) highly amusing. Derek and Maks, out on the town – what a vision.

Another night, another Dancing with the Stars get-together at Teddy’s inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel! Karina Smirnoff met up with a tall guy in the front and sat down at his table where the two held hands and then started making out after a few drinks. In the back of the lounge, her ex, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, hung out with Derek Hough and his sisterJulianne and avoided any encounter with Smirnoff, who seemed smitten with her new guy. Chmerkovskiy and Hough were acting like their usual playboy-selves, chatting up female clubgoers and dancing.

Joanna’s Playboy Magazine Cover is out and it looks AMAZING!! Gorgeous!!

Extra from Tuesday:

E! on Melissa/Mark and Louie/Chelsie Eliminations:

E! from Monday – Kelly’s Birthday Party, Julianne talks about Derek and dancing, Chuck Wicks…Then about the dancing with Kelly O, Mya/Dmitry, Aaron/Karina