Cue that theme music!

Posted: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 by Travis Cody in
13

It's live from Hollywood!



OK...so it's not really live from Hollywood. Not yet anyway. But it will be in just a little over a month!

So it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Season 9 celebrities. Here they are in no particular order, as Tom and Sam would say. I took the photos from the Good Morning America announcement.

Macy Gray - Grammy winning recording artist has sold more than 20m albums worldwide

Melissa Joan Hart - Actor since she was 4; most known for starring roles in Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Kathy Ireland - CEO of fashion company Kathy Ireland Worldwide and former super model, and philanthropist

Mya - Grammy winning recording artist and actor notable for her role in the film version of the musical Chicago, and advocate for young women through the Mya Arts & Tech Foundation

Mark Dacascos - "The Chairman" on Iron Chef America, mixed martial artist and actor

Ashley Hamilton - Actor, songwriter, and comedian with a Top 20 single of his own in 2003 as well as a co-writer of Robbie Williams' Top 10 single Come Undone; his dad is George Hamilton, who appeared on DWTS in season 2

Michael Irvin - NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys and has been a broadcaster on ESPN

Donny Osmond - All around entertainer including songwriter, Broadway and film actor, singer, talk show host, best selling author, and race car driver; booked at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas through 2012 with sister Marie

Tom DeLay - Former Republican house majority leader; has been a foster parent, and founded a community in the state of Texas for abused and neglected children

Natalie Coughlin - Olympic champion swimmer and most decorated female athlete of 2004 and 2008 Olympic games, has won 11 Olympic medals in all, one in every single event she entered; first American female athlete to win 6 medals in one Olympic games at Beijing 2008

Joanna Krupa - Actor and former super model; named one of the sexiest women in the world in 2009 and one of Maxim's Top 100 women in the world; featured in Six Days in Paradise due this fall

Debi Mazar - Actor made her feature film debut in Goodfellas; has worked with Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Woody Allen, Michael Mann, and Joel Schumacher; she can be seen on HBO's Entourage as publicist Shauna

Kelly Osbourne - Media personality, singer, and actor; Ozzy Osbourne's daughter; first single One Word hit #1 on all three Billboard dance charts; had a successful run in the UK in the musical Chicago in 2007

Aaron Carter - Triple platinum recording artist, songwriter, actor; younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter; youngest solo artist to have 4 top 40 singles; played JoJo the Who in Seussical the Musical in 2001 as his Broadway debut

Chuck Liddell - Ultimate Fighting champion and mixed martial artist; member of the UFC hall of fame; best selling autobiography is called Iceman: My Fighting Life

Louie Vito - Professional snowboarder likely to represent the US in the 2010 Winter Olympics; competes in halfpipe and slope; 2-time winner of USSA Grand Prix Halfpipe series

Yes indeed...you did count 16. There will be several scheduled double eliminations this season. Oooooo skeery!

The pro partners will be announced on 24 August. Of course I'll post about it.

I can report that Pam squeeeeed in my ear when Donny Osmond was confirmed as a participant. She said that I got Marie and now she gets Donny. Figure the Osmond juggernaut to bring the fans big time. And Pam says you can blame her all you want, but if Donny can dance she's voting Purple!

At first glance, I'd say it's a wide open field. It's just impossible to know how well anyone is going to adapt to the dancing. We can suppose that athletes understand how to train and that entertainers know how to perform. But even the most seasoned get nervous once the lights go up and they sashay out onto the ballroom for that first dance. The early eliminations almost always come down to fanbase, but even then you can really never guess how the viewers are going to vote.

Sometimes the ones you think should be able to really dance, can't really.

Of the eight champions so far, five have been professional athletes. The other three have been two actors and a singer/entertainer. And in each season, a case could be made that any of the top four might have been the better dancer. And in some seasons, a case could be made that the fans voted through a "lesser" dancer based more on personality than ability. And in a couple of cases, a "better" dancer went out seemingly way too early.

If you've never watched the show, be prepared for it and vote for your favorite. And if you have watched, you know what can happen so vote for your favorite! And if you get easily annoyed when the voters "get it wrong", don't watch!

Here are the past celebrity participants with their partners, in the order they finished.

Season 1 - Champion Kelly Monaco with Alec Mazo; John O'Hurley with Charlotte Jorgensen; Joey McIntyre with Ashly DelGrosso; Rachel Hunter with Jonathan Roberts; Evander Holyfield with Edyta Sliwinska; Trista Rehn Sutter with Louis van Amstel

Season 2 - Champion Drew Lachey with Cheryl Burke; Jerry Rice with Anna Trebunskaya; Stacy Kiebler with Tony Dovolani; Lisa Rinna with Louis van Amstel; George Hamilton with Edyta Sliwinska; Tia Carrere with Maks Chmerkovskiy; Master P with Ashly DelGrosso; Giselle Fernandez with Jonathan Roberts; Tatum O'Neal with Nick Kosovich; Kenny Mayne with Andrea Hale

Season 3 - Champion Emmitt Smith with Cheryl Burke; Mario Lopez with Karina Smirnoff; Joey Lawrence with Edyta Sliwinska; place Monique Coleman with Louis van Amstel; Jerry Sprinter with Kym Johnson; Sara Evans with Tony Dovolani; Willa Ford with Maks Chmerkobskiy; Vivica Fox with Nick Kosovich; Harry Hamlin with Ashly DelGrosso; Shanna Moakler with Jesse DeSoto; Tucker Carlson with Elena Grinenko

Season 4 - Champion Apolo Anton Ohno with Julianne Hough; Joey Fatone with Kym Johnson; Laila Ali with Maks Chmerkovskiy; Ian Ziering with Cheryl Burke; Billy Ray Cyrus with Karina Smirnoff; John Ratzenberger with Edyta Sliwinska; Heather Mills with Jonathan Roberts; Clyde Drexler with Elena Grinenko; Leeza Gibbons with Tony Dovolani; Shandi Finnessey with Brian Fortuna; Paulina Porizkova with Alec Mazo

Season 5 - Champion Helio Castroneves with Julianne Hough; Mel B with Maks Chmerkovskiy; Marie Osmond with Jonathan Roberts; Jennie Garth with Derek Hough; Cameron Mathison with Edyta Sliwinska; Jane Seymour with Tony Dovolani; Sabrina Bryan with Mark Ballas; Mark Cuban with Kym Johnson; Floyd Mayweather Jr with Karina Smirnoff; Wayne Newton with Cheryl Burke; Albert Reed with Anna Trebunskaya; Josie Maran with Alec Mazo

Season 6 - Champion Kristi Yamaguchi with Mark Ballas; Jason Taylor with Edyta Sliwinska; Chrstian de la Fuente with Cheryl Burke; Marissa Jaret Winokur with Tony Dovolani; Mario with Karina Smirnoff; Shannon Elizabeth with Derek Hough; Marlee Matlin with Fabian Sanchez; Priscilla Presley with Louis van Amstel; Adam Carolla with Julianne Hough; Steve Guttenberg with Anna Trebusnkaya; Monica Seles with Jonathan Roberts and Penn Jillette with Kym Johnson

Season 7 - Champion Brooke Burke with Derek Hough; Warren Sapp with Kym Johnson; Lance Bass with Lacey Schwimmer; Cody Linley with Julianne Hough; Maurice Greene with Cheryl Burke; Susan Lucci with Tony Dovolani; Cloris Leachman with Corky Ballas; Toni Braxton with Alec Mazo; Rocco DiSpirito with Karina Smirnoff; Misty May-Treanor with Maks Chmerkovskiy; Kim Kardashian with Mark Ballas; Ted McGinley with Inna Brayer; Jeffrey Ross with Edyta Sliwinska

Season 8 - Champion Shawn Johnson with Mark Ballas; Gilles Marini with Cheryl Burke; Melissa Rycroft with Tony Dovolani; Ty Murray with Chelsie Hightower; Lil Kim with Derek hough; Chuck Wicks with Julianne Hough; Lawrence Taylor with Edyta Sliwinska; Steve-O with Lacey Schwimmer; David Alan Grier with Kym Johnson; Steve Wozniak with Karina Smirnoff and Holly Madison with Dmitry Chaplin; Denise Richards with Maks Chmerkovskiy; Belinda Carlisle with Jonathan Roberts

What? I could, so I did!

Look for the premier on 21 September!

13 comments:

  1. Wow! That's quite a list - very diverse. Personally, I hope Kelly O does well. Maybe I'll watch this season...
    ~~~Blessings~~~

  1. DrillerAA says:

    Sorry about scaring the cat!
    I would look of Donny to go deep in this competition. As I remember, many of the supermodels don't have the core muscle strength to do very well. Brooke Burke was the obvious exception.

  1. Jaye says:

    Hi Trav,

    thanks for letting me know about the pro's - think of me trawling through the UK telly listings trying to find coverage over here ;D

  1. Kathy Ireland AND Joanna Krupa? Oh my.

    Still not sure about Chuck Lidell ... or Kelly Osbourne (what's up with that hair?).

  1. Anonymous says:

    Loolike a fun cast.. I just love it that you get so excited about the dancing shows.

  1. Anonymous says:

    When I saw the list I thought...well who knows. You are so right about having to vote. Ya just never know. I will say that I'm not going to enjoy DWTS near as much as SYTYCD. It is such a far better show. I'm going to of course watch the show as I've haven't missed one yet. I just hope it is better than last season. Gilles got robbed LOL. But that's the voting system for ya.

  1. As we discussed yesterday, I just don't get the Tom DeLay choice AT ALL and I totally agree that this field seems wide open this season.

    The fan bases will be strong for many and there are those with history of choreography so they might have an edge (Mya/Kelly/Donny/Aaron)

    As you pointed out athletes seem to do very well based on their need for coordination in their respective sports.

    Glad they are waiting until I get back from Jamaica too!

  1. Akelamalu says:

    I only know Kelly Osborne and Donny Osmond and as I don't care much for Kelly I'll root for Donny! :)

  1. Dianne says:

    lovin' the cat :)
    I wonder why he's not taking part this season, everyone else is ;)

    I have no clear favorite although I do have a few I'll enjoy rooting against but I'll be all good and perky for now

    thank you so much for such a detailed post

    you should offer your services to DWTS - be their official blogger

  1. Gracie: It's gonna be fun!

    Driller: He deserves a good spook every once in awhile. I believe you are correct about the super models.

    Jaye: It's getting close!

    Southern: Eye candy...yum!

    Lois: Fun and frolics!

    Thom: I like both shows on their own merits, neither one more than the other.

    V: I'm just going to let the DeLay choice roll and see what happens. And aren't they considerate? LOL!

    Akelamalu: Pam will agree with you!

    Dianne: You check with Siren and I'll check with Mr Tucker...maybe there is a Dancing with the Cats show! As to the blogging, I don't write with enough snark to be eligible to write professional reviews. I like the show too much, unlike many of the pro reviewers. I quit reading them.

  1. TopChamp says:

    I know LOADS of these people - that will make your recap/reviews easier for me... usually it takes me a while to work out who is who.

    I love that you love the dancing.

  1. Marsha says:

    More dancers will mean they will need more pros.....cool.....wonder who they'll have?????

  1. Julie says:

    Hey sweetie....I'm forwarding your blog info to a DWTS friend! Maybe she'll bring her crew over! I love how you do this! Right from the introductions to the presentation of the mirror ball trophy (or whatever you call it) and of course all the Maks in between! Oh......am I drooling already?