PureDWTS Season 15 Week 1: Blogs Before Show Time

Maks Chmerkovskiy has written his first new blog for Dancing With The Stars Season 15 at TV Guide. He says ‘tonight’s the big night’and it’s ‘going to be a big one’ as he explains how he’s dancing with Kirstie Alley again and how it’s like “building a sandcastle” with her (love that part!). Note too how he writes that his contract with Dancing With The Stars doesn’t end until 2015.

Kirstie deserves to be an All-Star. She’s fantastic in so many ways. I know she’s been saying she’s been dancing since Season 12, but she hasn’t! I’ve been calling her out on it. She definitely took to this whole dancing thing a lot more than probably most of the other celebrities have on the show. But after the show, she realized really quickly that without the element of time, this is a whole new ballgame. It’s not the same. It’s like building a sandcastle. You can have fun at your leisure. But imagine building a sandcastle with someone watching over you telling you have a minute left. It’s her and me building the sandcastle together while the show dictates the rules. It’s funny because in rehearsals, she’s been saying, “What the hell was I thinking?” And I say, “After all the pain and bruises went away and you were no longer exhausted every day, you were left with a very positive experience from the show. After that, if anyone asks you how the show was, you say, ‘It was amazing!’ So when they come to you for All-Stars, you say, ‘Of course!'” Maybe that’s why we don’t have any celebrities from the last two seasons — they haven’t gotten enough distance from the show yet. It’s still too fresh.

We’re having fun. Kirstie’s having fun, and that’s all that matters to me. How ready are we? We are as ready as we’ll be the day of the show. There’s nothing more we can do. This season is the best of the best. Last season was arguably the best level we ever had. This is going to top that. We have so many former winners, so many finalists who probably should have won. There are people who won personality and some who won on skill. I told Kirstie, “You just gotta dance.” The fact is, she can’t compete with a 20-year-old. That’s the truth. She’s 61 years old. She just has to go out there and do her thing. What makes her happy is what she will show on the dance floor. We left off on a very positive note on how far she came last time, so now how much father can she go? Right now, she’s at Week 7 or 8 from last season. I just want us to have fun and dance.

Also, Kym Johnson has a new blog up at People.com where she talks of doing tougher routines wtih Joey Fatone. She also talks of who she’s heard is good this season…

But when it comes to dancing, I know Joey can handle tougher routines, so that’s how I am going to make them. When we danced together before, it was a long time ago, so the standard of Dancing with the Stars is better anyway. But for all-stars, I’m going to have to really increase the choreography a lot. But Joey and I are known as a fun couple, so we’re definitely going to keep that going. We want to come out and do entertaining routines, but please the judges at the same time.

Our first routine is a cha cha. It’s going to be really fun and exciting. I can’t wait for it. The competition is going to be really tough. I think everyone’s a little bit anxious now. Everyone wants the first show to be done. Everyone’s been a little more secretive. We used to do show-and-tell. We used to do our routine for everyone. But that’s not happening this season. Everyone’s keeping pretty quiet.

I’ve heard Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel are really good, which I imagine, because she is great! And Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough – I know they’re going to be great. The rumor is they’re going to be flipping all over the place. Apolo Anton Ohno’s going to be great. And Emmitt Smith, he’s just so charming. I love him. Everybody loves him. He’s going to be amazing. Everyone’s so different and so great in their own way. But we’ll find out tonight, I guess!

Bristol Palin writes of partnered with Mark Ballas and tonight’s dance at Access Hollywood. She’s hoping she won’t be the first to go tonight and she’ll get a chance to dance the more serious dances which she prefers.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been in Arizona, which is so much hotter than Wasilla. After getting used to the weather, I had to get used to being in the rehearsal studio. And Mark has not let me off easy. For the past week, we’ve been rehearsing in Los Angeles, where we’ve been able to see the rest of the cast. Everyone seems so nice, and I look forward to getting to know them. Being in Los Angeles, however, is really amazing – and sobering. That’s when it got real. Memories of the last time I competed on the show came flooding back! I remember being horrified to walk out on stage, I remember bracing myself for the judges’ critiques, and – mostly — I remember the amazing fun I had.

Our first dance of the “DWTS: All-Stars” season will be the cha cha. I would rather start out with a more serious dance – I like the stern vibe of the Paso Doble and the Tango. Their beat seems like the songs are saying, “Get to the point!” Hopefully, if I survive the cha cha, I’ll get a chance to do those.

People sometimes ask me what my goals are. Well, to be perfectly honest, my goal is modest: I don’t want to get voted off the first week.

Be sure to read more at the links, Everyone. How long until showtime now? I need to go get my walk in! 😯