Dancing with the Stars
News (Page 10)

Season eight of Dancing with the Stars premieres on Monday.

But will Jewel be a part of it?

The singer has been diagnosed with tendinitis in her knee, though she blogged this week: "Don't count me out, as I am in this for the long run."

If Jewel can't make it, Us Weekly reports that a replacement has been found: Holly Madison!

We might have to wait until Monday to find out just who is paired with newcomer Dmitry Chaplin, but if Madison joins the show, she'd be following in the naked footsteps of other Dancing with the Stars celebs that have posed for Playboy.

They include: Kim Kardashian, Lisa Rinna, Brooke Burke, Denise Richards and Belinda Carlisle. That's a lot!

Young fans of Dancing with the Stars may not be familiar with Belinda Carlisle... but they soon will be!

The former lead singer of The Go-Gos is paired with Jonathon Roberts on the new season. She recently spoke to TV Guide about the show:

How are rehearsals going?
Belinda Carlisle: They're going really, really good. It's very exciting and it's quite the experience. I feel really good. My first dance is the waltz.

How hard was it learning choreography at first?
Carlisle: I think the hardest part was the mental aspect of it — concentrating too hard and burning myself out physically with that. Now I've kind of found a balance and try to let it go after rehearsals. I was bringing it back to my hotel room, waking up in the middle of the night and doing rehearsals in my head. It just got to be way too much.

You've performed in front of millions of people before. Does that help ease the nerves?
Carlisle: I'm musical and I've done 30 years of live performance, but choreography is a totally different thing, so we shall see.

The Bachelor bids farewell to fans this week... WITH THE MOST DRAMATIC AFTER-THE-ROSE CEREMONY IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIATION!!!.

But reality TV fans will barely have time to dry their tears when ABC kicks off the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars in its timeslot next week.

In the weeks leading up to this premiere, couples have been spending hours per day rehearsing their Sambas, Fox Trots and many other maneuvers.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes shots of four of this season's tandems:

From top left, clockwise: Lil Kim and Derek Hough hope to get a leg up on the competition; Kym Johnson has her hands full with David Alan Grier; Jewel is battling an injury alonside Dmitry Chaplin; and Karina Smirnoff will need help with Steve Wozniak as a partner.

Just over a week away from the March 9 premiere of Dancing with the Stars, Derek Hough has a message:

Look out for Lil Kim!

In a recent blog entry, Hough, who earned last season’s mirror-ball trophy with partner Brooke Burke, showered his latest teammate with praise.

I’m in New York City at the moment, training up my new partner for this season of DWTS, none other than the wonderful Lil Kim. I’m happy to say that she has surpassed my expectations so far and I think she will surprise a lot of people... She is so unbelievably nice and intuitive. She has been a great student.

How far do you think Lil Kim and Derek Hough will advance on Dancing with the Stars?

Thank you, Chuck Wicks!

While we still hate you for dating Julianne Hough, at least your presence on season eight of Dancing with the Stars has brought this beauty back to our living room.

Hough initially said she would sit out a season of the show, but she has updated her MySpace celebrity blog to explain why she has come back.

“It was a last minute deal. I was set on taking this season off and then last minute the show asked me to do it because they had asked Chuck to do it and they thought it would be cool if we danced together," the gorgeous professional wrote.

“At first I still said no because I wanted to focus on my music,” she added, “BUT then I thought about it for a day and figured this out. I can still write, go on tour and work on Julianne Hough the country singer because Chuck will be my partner and that will be a huge luxury.”

We don't envy Lacey Schwimmer.

The Dancing with the Stars professional is teamed with former Jackass creator Steve-O on season eight of the ABC reality competition.

She recently spoke to People Magazine about this unusual, often-bare chested partner.

His is Steve-O?
Steve-O is a workhorse. He is here everyday, five hours. He says, “Is five hours enough, Lacey? Do you think I need more than that?” So he’s just such a hard worker and we’re in very intense rehearsals everyday.

What do you think are your chances?
I think he’s this little dark horse of the competition. People don’t really know what to expect from him … I keep getting these messages on Myspace or on Facebook and they’re like, ‘Oh, man, you and Steve-O. I’m so sorry.’ I look at them and think they have no idea about this guy.

Denise Richards is one of our least favorite celebrities on the planet.

Still, we're forced to profile her because Dancing with the Stars has chosen this exploitive mother for its eighth season of competition.

With that in mind, here are a few Richards-related facts:

• She's teaming with Maksim Chmerkovskiy on the show;
• The movies she is best known for include: Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough;
• Her reality show, Denise Richards: It's Complicated, airs on E!;
• She has posed more than once in Playboy.

Nary an ass has been shaken on season eight of Dancing with the Stars, but host Samantha Harris has her eye on the early favorite.

Look for Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shawn Johnson to emerge as an early contender when the new season premieres on March 9, Harris says.

After all, just look at the track records of past Olympians on the show, as figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno each were crowned champion.

"As we saw with Kristi, that Olympian mentality translates very well to the competitive sport of ballroom dance.... I'm sure Shawn will be a front-runner, but I'm sure the judges will also be very hard on her right out of the gate," Harris said Friday during New York Fashion Week.

Chucks Wicks, prepare for a butt kicking!

So warns the country singer's real-life girlfriend, as he's paired with Julianne Hough on the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

The gorgeous professional told People Magazine this week that she won't take it easy on her loved one.

“I might kick him in the butt a little harder than with my other partners," she said, adding that Wicks is actually a decent dancer. "To be honest, he’s actually really good. He’s never really danced before – well, he told me he does a mean electric slide, but I never saw it!"

Julianne Hough and Chuck Wicks are going from the bedroom to the dance floor.

We've already introduced the celebrities taking to the floor on season eight of Dancing With the Stars.

Now, it's time to meet their professional partners!

Two new dancers will join the cast this season, both of whom were finalists on seasons of So You Think You Can Dance, Dmitry Chaplin and Chelsie Hightower. Who are they paired with? Let's find out!

• Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska
• Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke
• Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough
• Jewel and Dmitry Chaplin (pictured)
  
• Denise Richards and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Belinda Carlisle and Jonathan Roberts
• Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas
• Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer
• Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower (pictured)
• Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff
• Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough
• Nancy O’Dell and Tony Dovolani
• David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson