Ugh, I’m such an idiot. When they said they were going to announce the new “Dancing With the Stars” cast on “Dance War” tonight, I thought they meant they were announcing the real stars! They only announced the celebrities! I’ve heard through the grapevine — from Sharon 🙂 — that Louis Van Amstel is dancing again, which I’m thrilled about since I regard him as the greatest ballroom dancer in the world right now. I heard Julianne Hough is dancing again as well. And besides that don’t know… I guess the show regards them as less important than the contestants, sadly… I do love how the announcement was made though — LOVE that Dance Center / Sports Center comedy sketch thingy — Kenny Mayne’s sense of humor has stolen my heart… and he with Jerry Rice and Lisa Rinna were hilarious with their goofy back and forth jabs at each other.
So the celebrity contestants:
First announced is Marlee Matlin, the actress whom I loved in “Children of a Lesser God,” but haven’t seen her in much of what she’s been in lately — TV shows, right? Well, I’m excited about her. I guess she’ll kind of be the Heather Mills of this season if you want to see it that way. Not being able to hear the music will obviously be a handicap, but, equally obviously, she’s someone who doesn’t let her hearing hinder her.
Second woman is Priscilla Presley, actress probably best known as Elvis’s wife. At 62, she’ll perhaps be the “Jane Seymour” of this season.
Next is Shannon Elizabeth, an actress I’m not really familiar with but apparently was in “American Pie,” and “hot,” as Jerry continuously pronounced her.
Fourth is Monica Seles, the tennis player who always used to grunt loudly when swinging that racket. The three commentators had fun ribbing on what kinds of noises she might make and whether they’d sound better in Latin or Standard.
Fifth is Kristi Yamaguchi — yay!!! I loved watching her skate. I used to take figure skating lessons and she was my role model; I so wanted to be her. I can’t believe she’s 36! As a skater, obviously she’ll have a big advantage here, but you never know what that’s going to mean…
Final woman is Marissa Jaret Winokur, Broadway actress from “Hairspray,” which, embarrassingly, I never saw. Commentators had some fun joking that her hair might be a big problem, as she may trip over it or it may get all tangled up in her partner.
Men are:
NFL player Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins. At first I couldn’t figure out what was up with that beefcake photo they put up of him, with Lisa’s pointing out the various “highlights” in his physique. Then I realized the other two commentators were NFL players so she was joking that he was by far the best looking footballer the show had ever had.
Second is Christian de la Fuente, good-looking Latin telenovella star, whom I’m not familiar with.
Then there’s Mario, the R&B singer and hip hop dancer, who will have the obvious dance-experience advantage.
Next is Steve Guttenberg — yay!!! I remember him from oooh so many movies, not the least of which, honestly, I’m so embarrassed to admit but the Village People movie. I honestly saw it when I was really really young and I fell head over heels in love with his cutely endearing dorkiness. Of course he’s best known for his role in “Three Men and a Baby,” which, yeah, he was good in that too 🙂 He’s got a great personality and I know I’m gonna eat him right up!
Then there’s Penn Jillette, the magician with Penn and Taylor. The thing about this guy is that he’s enormous — he’s 6’6 tall and has a shoe size that’s off the charts. It’ll be interesting to see who he’s partnered with.
And last is Adam Carolla, a comedian whom I’ve never heard of with a syndicated radio show. Does anyone else know of him?
Hmmm. Overall I’m more excited about the women, since I’m familiar with many more of them. But I do so love Mr. Guttenberg…
Okay, it’s been a long day. (I actually just got home — it’s midnight — and sped through what I’d taped to see the DWTS announcement parts; I’ll have to watch the rest of the show tomorrow.) More later…
I’m excited about Kristi… Adam Carolla is a racist and chauvinistic person and I hate that he’s on the show… Here is my prediction of the pro’s (yes Louis is back, he announced on his blog):
Telenovela star Cristian de la Fuente – paird with Julianne
R&B singer Mario – Paired with Karina
Magician Penn Jillette – Paired with Cheryl Burke
Actor Steve Guttenberg – Paired with Kym
Olympic Gold Medal Figure Skater Kristi Yamaguchi – Paired with Derek
Former tennis pro Monica Seles -Paired with Alec
NFL Player Jason Taylor – Paired with Edyta
Actress Shannon Elizabeth – Paired with Tony
Radio/TV personality Adam Carolla – Paired with ?
Actress Marissa Jaret Winokur- Paired with Mark Ballas (if he’s back in time with his arm)
Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin – Paired with Louis
Actress Priscilla Presley – Paired with Jonathan
and in other news: Feature a DOUBLE ELIMINATION
So, Adam Carolla used to host The Man Show, and Loveline on MTV with Dr Drew. Him being partnered with Julianne given her background could cause some fireworks. I have heard the above list, and I’ve also seen rumor that Louis was with Marlee. I also hear tell she was in one of his cardio classes out in LA recently. I hear that Kym is paired with Penn Jillette and she was spotted at his show in Vegas over the weekend.
Oh, and the pairs are announced on GMA in the morning, so I think its more they want to milk the cash cow than the pros are thought of as lesser. They know that many of these dancers are now stars in their own right. Look at how much press Maks has gotten from NOT doing this year!
E online seems to have gotten the info early and posted it thinking not many would see before GMA in the morning. Here’s the link…
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=2fd07976-3863-4db6-b6a3-58ec17e9b49b
If this is the real deal, then I’m happy for Edyta and worried about Louis. The viewing public doesn’t often take to the older contestants. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict Carolla out first….top 3 will be Edyta, Karina, and Ballas….
Adam is AMAZING. Funny, and I think he’s hot. If you’d like to listen to his syndicated morning radio show out of L.A. (he replaced Howard Stern here, mornings till 10 a.m. Pacific), go to
http://adam.freefm.com/
Wow, thanks for all this you guys! Report seem to be conflicted about who is dancing with whom… Katrina, did you hear that on the air or on the internet? I prefer your version to eonline’s!
Okay, I guess this is the final: http://seat42f.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1607&Itemid=99999999
Wow, the cast sounds great, I might actually watch it this season! 🙂 I’m most excited about Kristi Yamaguchi and Marissa Jaret Winkour.
Kristi and Mark should be great. Looks like Julianne was handicapped with Adam to prevent another win. And Cheryl has finally gotten off the old man beat with the telanovella guy.
Thanks for this heads-up…I put my own predictions/reactions on my website. Among other things, I think that Penn Jillette is going to amaze everyone with the grace of a veteran stage performer, and I don’t think that Marilee Matlin is going to have any trouble at all.
I despise Adam Corolla, because of the Man Show (which I think was the equivalent of having a show with all the performers in blackface) and hope that he lasts long enough to be terribly humiliated. then again, I can be vindictive like that…
My Huffington post is up!: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tonya-plank/through-matlins-presence_b_87375.html
I’m really excited about Marlee Matlin being on the show, and Kristi too! Haha, I’m apparently the only person who wasn’t familiar with Adam Carolla!
Read your piece at HuffPo, and it was another really good one. I think the only way we can shine light on the pros and give them some credit is to keep talking about them as much if not more than the celebs. All that being said, getting to see Louis on GMA this morning was AWESOME!!!!! I haven’t gone back and watched the rest to see if they even told the rest of the pairs or if it was just a rehash with the celebs again. Don’t forget about Oprah Thurs…I’m still ticked that they are pimping the show out like they are, but I’m driven by the need to find out more about Fabian Sanchez….lol!
I pissed that Adam is on there, he’s a racist and chauvinistic guy. Poor Jules.
LOL Tonya I like my predictions better too.
Not sure this has come up yet, but a bunch of ballroom pro’s from the DWTS tour will be dancing in two ballroom numbers at the Academy Awards on Sunday….
Michele do you happen to know who?
I am most excited by Penn Jillette and Kristy Yamaguchi.
But I have to say that the first thing that came to mind when they announced Penn was participating… was how funny would it be if they had gotten Teller instead? Tom Bergeron would have a field day.