Katrina alerted me to this. Apparently, two Dancing With the Stars celebrity contestants have had to pull out of the show due to injury, and just the weekend before season eight is to premiere. It was first rumored that singer Jewel had to pull out due to tendinitis, but now, according to ABC’s press release, her injuries are much worse: fractured tibia in both legs. I know from covering the Sean Bell trial that fractured tibia are extremely serious. Two men who were in Sean Bell’s car during the shooting sustained fractured tibia from bullets and a doctor testified it would have been impossible for the one to walk or run on the injured leg and that he would be (and he most definitely was, judging by video footage) in howling pain. Both underwent surgery to have permanent metal rods implanted to hold the bones together. I guess the seriousness of a fractured tibia can vary — I mean obviously, but good lord, you’d think to sustain a fracture in each leg, she would have had to have fallen from an overhead lift or something. Anyway, no wonder she’s pulling out.
Holly Madison is scheduled to replace her, though I can’t imagine she’s going to do so hot with only a few days practice.
Also pulling out is Nancy O’Dell. O’Dell reportedly has a torn meniscus, an injury I’m quite familiar with, having suffered the same twice in my right knee (though I only required physical therapy, not surgery). It comes from forcing turnout from the knee when you can’t get proper turnout from the hip — at least for me that was the cause. Latin in general is very hard on the knees. You need some turnout — about 45 degrees — not as much as in ballet (180 degrees), but still, trying to attain that amount of turnout if your hips aren’t loose, combined with all the quick bending and straightening of the knees in rumba and cha cha, and the continuous bounce in samba, it’s a totally understandable injury. No word on who is to replace O’Dell.
O’Dell and Jewel were partnered with Tony Dovolani and Dmitry Chaplin respectively. They’ll be on the March 9th premiere to explain their injuries.
I think the celebs are pushing themselves too hard in too short a time. I read where Jewel was practicing 7 hours a day every day, that's insane for a complete beginner!
Perhaps they should cut back to only one season a year and expand the rehearsal time for the stars, although this is unlikely as DWTS is such a cash cow for ABC.
Yeah, that show is on a lot — several times per year. So You Think You Can Dance is only on once a year, and it's very popular. I guess Fox has American Idol the rest of the year though for their profit. I do worry that people will get sick of Dancing With the Stars because it is on so much. And seven hours a day is really throwing yourself into it — your body's not ready, especially when you're not a teenager.
Nancy injured her knee doing Salsa and then made it worse apparently doing waltz practice.
Susan, I think it has to do with the pressure that has come from them, and from more and more people winning. I think that ABC should limit practice time in the beginning because a lot of this show is also about growth in dance and getting perfect so fast is not good for the show.
I don't think she fell, I think they're stress fractures. Tibia stress fractures are common in high impact sports like gymnastics (extremely common in gymnastics).
I think the celebs are pushing themselves too hard in too short a time. I read where Jewel was practicing 7 hours a day every day, that's insane for a complete beginner!
Perhaps they should cut back to only one season a year and expand the rehearsal time for the stars, although this is unlikely as DWTS is such a cash cow for ABC.
Yeah, that show is on a lot — several times per year. So You Think You Can Dance is only on once a year, and it's very popular. I guess Fox has American Idol the rest of the year though for their profit. I do worry that people will get sick of Dancing With the Stars because it is on so much. And seven hours a day is really throwing yourself into it — your body's not ready, especially when you're not a teenager.
Nancy injured her knee doing Salsa and then made it worse apparently doing waltz practice.
Susan, I think it has to do with the pressure that has come from them, and from more and more people winning. I think that ABC should limit practice time in the beginning because a lot of this show is also about growth in dance and getting perfect so fast is not good for the show.
I don't think she fell, I think they're stress fractures. Tibia stress fractures are common in high impact sports like gymnastics (extremely common in gymnastics).