It is a very unusual cast for season 11 of Dancing With the Stars and I am very anxious to see how everyone starts out. Who has potential and who has two left feet? It is usually obvious who the ringer is of the season, but this fall season it’s not so obvious. Let’s just get started shall we?

I’m going to continue with my “DWTS First Night Awards” that I started last season, because I love first impressions.

Biggest Surprise: Kyle Massey. Whoa, this kid put it ALL out on the dance floor. Rhythm, musicality, personality, technique, speed, smoothness. And he’s a big guy, so doing the Cha Cha Cha super fast ain’t easy, folks! He let his enthusiasm take over and I just love that.

Biggest Potential: Again, Kyle Massey. Just wait until this kid loses 25 lbs, see how he flies across the dance floor (and it WILL happen, you know!) Hope he has staying power.

Best Tom Burgeron Moment: “It took you 8 seconds to overshare” (to Judge Len Goodman talking about his clenched buttocks)

Weirdest Bruno Tonioli Moment: “I love the taste of Brandy in the evening.” Hmmm. Kinda creepy. But I guess that’s just Bruno!

Toughest First Critique: Len Goodman’s critique of Kurt Warner’s waltz with Anna Trebunskaya. He’d already been nice to Audrina Patridge, so he missed his chance and Tony shouldn’t hold his breath for next week. Ouch!

Best Choreography: Lacey Schwimmers’ cheeky Cha Cha Cha to “My First Kiss”. Yummy!

Biggest Disappointment: As sad as I am to say this, I thought Florence Henderson was going to just wipe the dance floor up with Corky Ballas (and what an amazing dancer Corky is). But it just didn’t happen, she seemed stiff and hesitant. Granted, she’s the oldest person in the cast, but she’s no Cloris Leachman!

I-Don’t-Get-It-Outfit: Once again to Cheryl Burke for her odd-colored orange/tan/flesh-colored spandex and white feather dress for her Waltz with Rick Fox (ooooh, Rick Fox). Looked like she should be on the cast of Jersey Shore.

Best Outfit: Brandy’s pretty champagne/sunset satin gown for her Waltz with Mr. Maks. Whenever you saw the peek of that sunset orange underneath. Classy. Brooke Burke’s dress on the other hand…not so much. Say what you will about Samantha Harris, she always looked completely classy.

Biggest Train Wreck: Bristol Palin. Honey, get over the embarrassment and just dance. I know you can.

Favorite Couple: Amazingly enough, Karina and The Situation. I’m just talking the two people together, not ability or anything. I’ve never seen Jersey Shore, or just enough to be turned off by it. He seems cute and funny and genuinely interested in doing the work, even if he’s a little full of himself. He did only get 5 days where everyone else got three weeks. Maybe he’ll improve enough to stay a few weeks!

Best Dancer of the Night: Baby is back, and Jennifer Grey was smashing in her Viennese Waltz with Derek Hough. Excellent work!

Interestingly enough, I don’t believe there is a ringer this year. Yes, Jennifer seemed to be slightly ahead of the pack, but it is just week one, and they all had three weeks to practice (except for Mike). Now they all have the regular 5 days in between shows to put together their dances.

I’m excited, let’s get down to it–get to work stars, I wanna see some DANCIN’!!

ABC announced today the pairings for season 11′s new star cast. Here they are:

1. Anna Trebunskaya with retired NFL pro Kurt Warner (hmmm…could be good)
2. Chelsie Hightower with singer Michael Bolton (so interesting since she usually gets the young stars)
3. Cheryl Burke with actor/retired NBA player Rick Fox (she always gets the hotties)
4. Corky Ballas with “Mom Brady” Florence Henderson (they always trot out the master Corky for the mature women)
5. Derek Hough with actress Jennifer Grey (yea! she got the best male dancer on the show, should be cool)
6. Karina Smirnoff with reality person “The Situation” (do you think she’ll call him that in rehearsals?_
7. Kym Johnson with actor/singer David Hasselhoff (yea Kym’s back!)
8. Lacey Schwimmer with actor/rapper Kyle Massey (Lacey is the other person who gets the young ones and she got him)
9. Louis Van Amstel with comedienne Margaret Cho (he always seems to get the funny girls)
10. Maksim Chmerkovskiy with singer/actress Brandy (if she’s good it could be his year for the trophy)
11. Mark Ballas with Bristol Palin (I have no descriptor for her, she’s just on the show)
12. Tony Dovolani with reality star Audrina Patridge (I can’t see her having talent, but if she does this could also be Tony’s year–he would deserve it after the Kate disaster)

Season starts September 20th, a whole 19 days away!!! As rumors and rehearsal pictures begin to surface, I’ll get you all the news. Let the new season begin!

Ok, we have our official cast list for Season 11 2010 Dancing With the Stars! (Drum roll please.)

Brandy–R&B singer, actress and reality star
Jennifer Grey–actress and star of Dirty Dancing with the much missed Patrick Swayzee
Margaret Cho–fantastically funny comedienne
Audrina Patridge–reality star of The Hills, a show I can not stand (have you ever tried to watch that?)

Florence Henderson–really lovely actress and Mrs. Brady from kitchy The Brady Bunch tv show
Bristol Palin–(ugh) Sarah Palin’s daughter
Michael Bolton–ultra smooth crooner and former sporter of the worst mullet in history (but great voice all the same)
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino–(ugh) reality show person from Jersey Shore
David Hasselhoff–ever-enduring actor and singer
Kurt Warner–Ex-Pro NFL quarterback
Kyle Massey–young actor and rapper, most famous for doing the Disney show That’s So Raven
Rick Fox–Ex-Pro NBA player, and also recently really good looking actor

Not a bad list at all! Even though I’m not so excited about Bristol, Audrina and The Situation (oh, even the name rubs me the wrong way)

We will find out who they are paired with tomorrow on Good Morning America. Until then, mull the cast over and let me know what you think!

Ok, things are getting juicy folks! And I’m here to serve it all up to ya.

First things first, as far as the Pros go, Lacey Schwimmer Tweeted (@LaceySchwimmer) yesterday that “I’ve got great news ya’ll!! I am ON this season of DWTS after all!! Get ready for a fantastic season! Halla!!!” Woo Hoo ya’ll! I really missed her last season.

As of Aug. 23, Louis Van Amstel still didn’t know whether he was going to be on this season. Kym Johnson hasn’t tweeted about being on the show either, the same with Anna Trebunskaya and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Wow, looks like Lacey is an early one to know! As we get updates on the Pros I’ll let you know.

Now on to cast rumors:

The first seems to be no rumor and this does NOT make me happy at ALL. According to E! Online (and I think we’ll agree they’re a pretty reputable source) reported that Bristol Palin (daughter of politician Sarah Palin) is set as a cast member for season 11. I have to say (even though she did a short stint on an ABC Family show) that she’s even LESS of a star than Kate Gosselin.

Let’s visit this word “star”.
Star: [stahr] noun, adjective, verb, starred, star·ring.
1. any of the heavenly bodies, except the moon, appearing as fixed luminous points in the sky at night.
2. a person’s destiny, fortune, temperament, etc., regarded as influenced and determined by the stars.
3. a person who is celebrated or distinguished in some art, profession, or other field.
4. a prominent actor, singer, or the like, esp. one who plays the leading role in a performance.

Ok, so focus on those last two definitions. Words like “celebrated or distinguished” in the first and “prominent…leading role” stand out to me. Is Kate Gosselin in that category? Is Bristol Palin? This is rhetorical, people, but the answer is NO. En-Oh.

And I realize there have been some supposed “D-listers” on the show (Steve O, as enjoyable as he was, Mark Dacascos, is only the Chairman on Iron Chef but who cares I love him, Tom Delay, politician, and Ashley Hamilton, ugh) everyone has been pretty notable, even if they were “past their time” as far as huge fame was concerned.

I think the producers over at ABC need to get their heads on straight and get with the program. The name of the show is Dancing With the STARS. Not “Dancing With the 15 seconds of fame person who is lame anyways”. Got It, Execs!!!!???

Ok, on with the list of those other awesome people rumored to be joining the cast of Season 11:
Margaret Cho (adore her, very funny)
Jennifer Grey (NOBODY puts Baby in the corner! This is too good to be true!)
Rick Fox (Retired NBA player)
David Hasselhoff (even though he’s had his troubles, this guy has longevity and a great voice)
Kirstie Alley (pretty please, I heart Kirstie)
Audrina Patridge (skating the line there, but ok)
Brandy (great, I wouldn’t object)
Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady!!!)
Michael Bolton (the smooth crooner of the bad hair set)

This is a GREAT list I think and if we can keep the “rabble” to a minimum it is shaping up to be a great season for the Fall edition of Dancing With the Stars!

What does everyone think of the list? Let me know! Heard rumors of your own? Leave a comment!

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Ok, the rumors are starting to fly for season 11 of Dancing With the Stars. The full cast will be revealed in under two weeks, Monday August 30th on ABC. Here’s a few of the rumors that I found on the “intranets” over the past couple of days:

1. Newly engaged Bachelorette stars Ali and Roberto: They deny it and I certainly hope so. I don’t watch the Bachelorette and I’m not interested in them.

2. Jersey Shore’s The Situation: Um…who? The only one I know is Snookie, and I can’t stand her. Although he would fill the “funny/oddball/comedian” slot.

3. Former NFL Quarterback Kurt Warner: This could most likely be a joke like the one Troy Aikman made up about himself and told TMZ a couple of weeks ago. But you usually need an NFL player on each season, so who knows?

4. Real Housewife Teresa Giudice: Teresa Tweeted that she is “thinking” about being on the show. Well, thinking and being asked by ABC are two different things, Teresa.

5. Deadliest Catch’s Sig Hansen: Again, not familiar with him, but anyone who does that death-defying job is ok in my book. Can he dance at all?

6. Mel Gibson Ex Oksana Grigorieva: Not sure how I feel about this. She would certainly get the exposure her music career needs, now that it no longer has Mel’s money.

7.Super Babe Betty White: I picked her for my dream cast list, too, so I don’t blame ABC at ALL.

I read a great article on Entertainment Weekly.com where writer Annie Barrett came up with her own dream team like I did a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVED her picks of Elizabeth Berkley and Leonard Nimoy. Great picks, Annie!

OK–what woman, due to be married to the love of their life or not, wouldn’t want private dance lessons with Maksim Chmerkovskiy???? I’m there, ya’ll. I didn’t dance at my wedding, but I got to sing, and it was one of the greatest moments in my life (unfortunately I surprised my guests so much with my performance that there is NO video record of this anywhere). My brother and his wife danced, and I will never for get that!

Lucky Chelsea and her then fiancée Marc Mezvinsky took lessons from Dancing With the Stars’ bad boy Maks to do a very sexy dance to Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good”. They didn’t tell anyone about the first dance (my brother and his wife kept it a secret, too). Needless to say, there were reportedly raised eyebrows at the dance, but a great surprise and enjoyment for the guests as well.

Anybody see a video floating around? Let me know!

There are already rumors flying around about the cast of season 11 of Dancing With the Stars (Lindsay Lohan,  Troy Aikman, NJ Housewives, to name a few, and I will be reporting on those when I see new ones), but I sat down and thought for a while. Who would I like to see grace the ballroom floor on season 11?  There are some usual categories of stars that they put on the show, so I tried to stay within those parameters.

The Gorgeous Male star: James Franco (hey, he did General Hospital, why not DWTS?)

Check out this post on Johnny to see what I mean.

My Never-In-A-Million-Years Picks: John Travolta, Ewan McGregor (John just because it would be amazing to see him dance every week and Ewan because he surprised me so much in Moulin Rouge with his singing I would love to see him dance)

What’d ya think? You like or hate? Got any to add? Let me know!!

Oh YES! It is time once again for the fall season of Dancing With the Stars, and watching the great journeys of some who don’t know how to put one foot in front of the other, and some that do.

Looks like ABC will again be using cross promotion for the announcements in order to get the most coverage, and announcing on the season finale of The Bachelorette (ugh. Sorry Bachelor/ette fans). That means I actually have to watch it. OR–just check in with my east-coast gals on ravelry.com (the lovely ladies on the Dancing With the Stars Group) to get the scoop three hours earlier. I think I’ll opt for the latter.

Watch The Bachelorette season finale on August 30th for the announcements! Partners should be announced on Good Morning America the next day as last season. Then DWTS season 11 premier starts September 20th!!

CORRECTION: I was not accurate about the show the cast will be announced on. It is not The Bachelorette, it’s The Bachelor Pad. Sorry about that!

Finals night came in the blink of an eye on Dancing With the Stars last night. In fact, I was in the middle of a rousing rendition of “Ring My Bell” from the Wii game Just Dance with my family (we’re at a reunion) when I panicked and realized I was missing the show (DVR, I love you).

For the finals this year the stars need to perform an unprecedented FOUR dances (two on Monday, two on Tuesday). Tonight they must do a Redemption Dance, where they will attempt to redeem themselves for a dance the judges say they should have done better on, and the infamous Freestyle, who everyone says locks in the trophy.

SO! Were they redeemed or not? Let’s see…

First is Erin and Maks, and they must attempt to redeem themselves on the Samba. Ooh, tough one for the judges to pick for them. Bruno stops in to help her with her hip action, which (along with your arm work) is really the most important thing in the Samba (oh, along with the Par-Tay!). Bruno likes what he begins to see: “Look at the ass! So much better!”

As they begin the dance, Erin and Maks button UP Maks’ shirt. Very cute. Erin’s dress is fabulous, love the red flutters and her necklace. They did very well, but I feel this was not as earth-shaking as it needed to be. Improvement, yes, fantastic, no. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-9 (which will turn out for me to be the most surprising score of the night).

Evan and Anna is next. They get help from the Great Len Goodman for their Viennese Waltz, which they did all the way back in week one. Chemistry is what is needed here for the two of them here. Evan needs to put more focus and love on Anna, rather than thinking and going to the next move (yeah, Olympian).

Anna choreographed a really, really lovely intro for this Viennese Waltz (her dress is fab), and they kept the connection the entire time when not in hold. Truly lovely. Probably the best Viennese Waltz I’ve ever seen on DWTS. Great work and absolute redemption. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-9

Nicole and Derek have Carrie Ann come in and help out with their Rumba. When they did it the first time, Nicole’s nerves got the bes of her and it was probably her worst meltdown (among quite a few). Carrie Ann really pushes her to take the meltdown and convert it into vulnerability (so use it before rather than after). Really let go and show she’s more than a pretty face and a dancing machine.

Their Rumba is sensitive and beautiful. Nicole is vulnerable and connected to Derek, and Derek himself is more connected to any partner than I’ve ever seen. The choreography is solid and that hold at the end is new and very interesting (she wraps her leg around him and holds herself up, whew). They are completely redeemed here. Carrie Ann’s lift police rant is absolutely necessary here, and I wish she would have just shut up. Judges’ Score: 9-9-10

Freestyle: POP! or fizzzle…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is the most highly anticipated dance of the entire season, and somehow it is always a disappointment. Either the couples go crazy and do stuff that is just “not them”, or they play it safe and do stuff that they would normally do (like a pop star does hip-hop). What will happen for season 10?

For the first time ever, there is a Contemporary/Lyrical freestyle on DWTS. WHAT?? Erin has decided to do something different, and more of what she would do (she had years of ballet and jazz). They even call the lovely Ms. Mandy Moore (woo hoo) in to help out with the choreography. This is unprecedented (there’s that word again, she keeps on using it), and I am anticipating the performance highly.

I expected to love it, but I just…didn’t. And I’m really sorry I didn’t. Erin took a real risk with this and really showed what she wanted to do. I suppose it just looked too odd to me on the ballroom floor, and I felt that contemporary should just stay over on the Fox So You Think You Can Dance set. Plus, there was a bed AND a sofa. Too much, even for a contemporary piece. Off the mark for me personally. However, this dance gave us the best Tom Bergeron moment of the entire season: “In ten seasons, ‘It’s not the bed I rehearsed on’ is the my favorite excuse ever!” Judges’ Scores: 9-8-9

We see Evan and Anna butt heads for the first time this seaon, over the steps for their freestyle. Evan wants to take more chances, and Anna wants to stick to what they do best. They both really want to win, you can tell. Things smooth out when they bring in a choreographer in to help out and be the go-between.

Their freestyle is a prom theme from “Footloose” (this made me think what a great freestyle the prom scene from “Grease” would make). Lots of fun and a huge crowd please. They looked like they had a great time. Technically speaking (except for the impossible lift at the end) that the choreography was a little light, but still super fun. The judges, however, were uniformly disappointed. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8 Boo.

What, oh what will Nicole bring? Her Pussycat Doll card or something new? I adore their sparkle-y tux outfits with the chartreuse shoes and ties. Really popped. They chose “Little Less Conversation” by Elvis (love it) for their song and they just brought it ALL. This was super-fantastic and absolutely perfect (with a slight hesitation on the lift at the end). Clearly the Winner of the Freestyle Round, and Len hit it right on the nose: He saw all different styles of ballroom dance used together in a new and inventive way. Now THAT’S a freestyle! Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

So in a surprise on the leaderboard, Erin and Nicole are tied for first with 55 out of 60 points. Evan is second with 52 out of 60 points. The stars and their partners will do their third and fourth dances on the Results show. What will they do? My money is on one dance will be the stars pick and the other will be the judges’ pick. We’ll see. It’s shaping up to be an exciting and very interesting show Tuesday night. My early pick for the winner? Nicole Scherzinger. And she would deserve it. Tune in tonight!

BTW, Spoiler Alert for Season 11: Hugo “Hurley” Reyes wins!!! (thanks to Jimmy Kimmel’s Aloha to LOST show, which helped stop my tears over watching the final episode ;o)

There are only four couples left in season 10 of Dancing With the Stars: Erin and Maks, Cheryl and Chad, Evan and Anna and Nicole and Derek. I was very sad to see Niecy go, as she was definitely the highlight of this season and really fun to watch crack jokes. But onward!

Last night there were two rounds, the Ballroom Round and the Latin Round. In the Latin Round, each star will be doing their own solo! This is always fun to watch to see if they can really let go and get loose in the face of live TV and millions of viewers (I would certainly be hard-pressed to).

First up was Erin and Maks with their Viennese Waltz. Man, that girl can do amazing things with those legs, really pretty extension. And although I really didn’t care for her dress/pantsuit, it certainly made her legs look even longer. Unfortunately, I think she was super nervous (you see her say that at the end of the dance), she had a chronic issue with trembling ankles. Judges’ Scores 9-9-9 (well, if you don’t include Bruno Tonioli’s “premature” 10 paddle).

Next was Nicole and Derek’s Argentine Tango. Hot, sexy, sharp, passionate, amazing. Really fun to watch and well danced! And the walk down the stairs with her legs wrapped around his was really awesome. Oh yeah, and the move where he lifted her up on his FOOT. This was really a master-choreographed piece. I am going to call Derek out for using the same stag lift move that he used with Lil Kim, though. It’s the first time I have ever seen him re-use a really specific move. Good one, though! Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10

Chad and Cheryl were next with a rather nice and different Waltz. This guy has improved a LOT, and is now able to use that fantastic body of his to the fullest and lengthen and show off those lines. Plus he has an amazing smile and beautiful skin, oh, and that light pink color looks great against it. Ooh, I kinda just fell in love with him there! The did really nicely. Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

Evan and Anna are next with a Foxtrot. It’s time for Evan to open up a little bit and show some real personality and boy doe he come out of the gate with it with the beginning of this foxtrot. Lots of clicking the heels four feet off the floor! Their dance is peppy, cute and just fantastic and full of chemistry. It’s like this is a new version of Evan, very sparkly (which is a perfect description for a figure skater). Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

That’s it for the Ballroom round, next up is the Latin round with (dum dum dum) SOLOS. And along with these solos, the stars get to be even more vulnerable with a personal interview. Hmmmmm.

Erin and Maks are first. Erin talks about her childhood and being very tall and skinny, and her fast track onto national ESPN. Then she found out she had a stalker. I thought it was very interesting that she talked about this event (THE video), I actually thought it would have been better to not bring it up. But she was brave to talk about it, good for her.

Their latin dance is a creative Paso Doble. I liked her costume, how the skirt was wrapped up in a top at first and then revealed later on. Her solo was pretty good, she definitely committed to the movement. The Paso as a whole was really fresh, I thought, although non-traditional as Len pointed out. Who cares? Anything to inject new life into the Paso.
Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

Nicole and Derek are next. Nicole talks about her origins in Hawaii, and being one of 14 in a small house, then moving to Kentucky when her mom met her new husband. She of course didn’t look like anyone in the town, and threw herself into the performing arts to stand out even more!

They do a super cha cha cha to “Kiss” by Prince. She’s even dressed up like him with a purple jacket and “puffy shirt”. Very cheeky, very cute and very well done. Another great piece of choreography by Derek. Her solo was great, but that is her forte, so I felt like it was second nature for her. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

Chad and Cheryl are up next. Chad says his first words were “child, please.” His father was in prison and his mother raised him alone. He grew up in a very urban, dangerous community. Football was his outlet, and served him very well. His friends and family talk about how hard DWTS has been for him, and he was surprised at how hard.

Their dance is a Samba. Chad doesn’t let anything hold him back and really enjoys himself out there, especially during his solo. and he has amazing skin. He had the hardest Latin dance and he did well. Big charisma from this guy. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-9

Evan is last. He talks about his Grandmother buying him skates because she wanted to be in the Ice Capades. Once he discovered he could go fast he fell in love. He discovered the lure of competition early on and that he had to work harder to be better. And he’s shy (that we knew). And he’s a great learner (definitely).

Their dance is the Paso Doble to that great Evanescence song. With all the leaps and posing, it’s a cinch that this would be a great dance for Evan. He comes out the box kicking like a wild horse and we really see the skating training come out. But it doesn’t overshadow the dance. Great blend of the Paso and his native abilities. Dramatic kiss at the end! Very well done and big commitment from him. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10

The Results are TONIGHT!! Who will make it to the Finals? Tune in with me and find out. Try not to bite your nails too much..