Dancing with the Stars
News (Page 3)

The new season of Dancing with the Stars kicks off on September 21.

To the delight of female viewers, Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be featured on it. The handsome professional is teamed with actress Debi Mazar and, as he told TV Guide, Maksim is very happy about that.

Here are excerpts from his interview with the magazine:

On Mazar: She's doing great. We're having fun. Well, we're having a lot of fun. She's really funny. She talks a lot. The energy's great. I think 50 percent of the accomplishment is how you can get along because it's a really long season and you want to spend it with somebody you're cool with. From the past seasons, we know the audience also likes the banter, the personalities who get along and show fun and excitement.

On possible dark horses: Donny Osmond — he has a fanbase that's so massive that he doesn't even need to dance, period. I think he'll do great. He's a great entertainer. Also, people like him bring popularity to the show and we all have a job! [Laughs] Kym [Johnson, Osmond's partner] and the types of dances she does, it will be fun watching him do them.

Mya — Dmitry [Chaplin, Mya's partner] will hopefully be able to pull it out of her. I think Mark Dacascos, on paper, is great. I remember watching him doing his thing with Jet Li. He could be one of the dark horses people don't think about. I think Debi will be great. [She could be] a dark horse too.

Derek Hough has two points to make about a pair of Dancing with the Stars contestants, each of which may surprise viewers:

1. Tom DeLay is a fun dude;
2. Joanna Krupa is not a bitch.

Speaking to E! News, the handsome hoofer said:

"Some people who you think are going to do great, you see them and you think, 'Wow, they're not as good as I thought.' Or some people like Tom DeLay, might come out here and rock everyone's world.

"I met [DeLay] the other day and he has so much charisma. He's just this lively guy. Sometimes that alone can do wonders for you."

As for Krupa, Hough's model of a partner, he wants her to relax.

"She's all worried that people are going to think she's a big bitch," Hough said. "But for me, she's not at all. She's very very sweet... The models always kind of have that stiff thing going on and not being able to loosen up. But she's working it out and doing good."

Dancing with the Stars premieres on ABC on September 21.

It's easily the most random Dancing with the Stars cast in history.

Ashley Hamilton? Louie Vito? Their partners are more famous than these Z-listers are.

This should at least lead to a wide open field this season, as new episodes of the ABC competition kick off on September 21. We'll certainly be tuning in.

The 16 contestants posed with their partners for the first official Dancing with the Stars promo pics this week. Click on each image below to get a larger view of each couple...

Ultimate Fighting Champion veteran Chuck Liddell is a contestant on season nine of Dancing With the Stars.

Does anyone have a problem with that?!?

Actually, some people do, as many of Liddell's in-ring competitors have busted his chops for appearing on the show. In an interview with TV Guide, the tough guy responds to such talk...

On criticism: I don't care. They bust my chops for everything! All my friends think it's funny. But they better freakin' watch! [The show pursued me] in the past, but I would've had to take time off from fighting and I didn't want to do that. Now I'm still debating whether to retire or not and I'm taking time off, so I have time to do it before I start training for a fight again.

On fighting footwork translating to dance floor: If I can get my feet to do what they want them to do, then yeah! I have quick feet, but it's just about doing everything at the right time. That's the hard thing for me — to do everything at the right time and at the same time. I have to get my feet going and I'm bending my shoulders, bending my elbow, have my head up. It's all the little things. It's harder than it looks.

Anna [Trebunskaya, Liddell's partner] is great. It's tough. It's all different to me. With each day, it seems like I'm getting better, so we're just slowly working toward getting better.

Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas are ready to dance!

The season nine tandem will be paired together on Dancing with the Stars. Earlier today, the first shot of them in costume appeared on Twitter:

Mark Dacascos is not the best known celebrity on season nine of Dancing with the Stars.

But that isn't stopping partner Lacey Schwimmer from hyping up her man, as ABC counts down to the season premiere on September 21.

"I think that he's going to be the dark horse of the season," she told Us Weekly. "It's too soon to say, but I'd obviously hope we can make it all the way through. It's a little scary -- there's a bunch of double eliminations this time, so we're going to save it and hope we don't go home soon. I think he's going to be great."

Aside from Lacey and Mark, the official pairings for season nine have been revealed. They are:

• Mya and Dmitri Chaplin
• Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas
• Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova
• Ashley Hamilton and Edyta Sliwinska
• Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff
• Kathy Ireland and Tony Dovolani
• Debbie Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Natalie Coughlin and Alec Mazo
• Louie Vito and Chesie Hightower
• Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya
• Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson
• Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke
• Macy Gray Jonathan Roberts
• Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough
• Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel

As we inch closer to season nine of Dancing with the Stars, almost off of the celebrity/professional pairings have been announced.

One of them, Ashley Hamilton and Edyta Sliwinska, have given fans a glimpse of their early training routine.

Considering how random of a star Hamilton must be considered - he's pretty much only known for having been married to Shannen Doherty - these two better impress on the dance floor...

The following pairs have also been confirmed so far:

• Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke
• Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson
• Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff
• Mya and Dmitry Chaplin
• Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya
• Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas

On Monday, we learned the identities of all 16 contestants on this season of Dancing with the Stars.

Today, a few of the celebrity/professional pairings have been leaked online.

While the complete list of partners will be announced on Monday, we can already announce that the following duos will compete for this year's crystal ball trophy:

• Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson
• Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke
• Ashley Hamilton and Edyta Sliwinska
• Natalie Coughlin and Alec Mazo
• Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff

According to most gambling websites, Carter is the early season nine favorite, while disgraced Congressman Tom DeLay is quite the underdog.

These four professionals are already matched up with a star. Only 10 more pairings to go!

One is a former supermodel that turned millions of men on to the concept of true beauty in the early 90s.

The other is a disgraced politician that was forced out of Congress due to criminal charges of money laundering.

But both Kathy Ireland and Tom DeLay (pictured below) are contestants on the latest season of Dancing with the Stars! Here's a look at the complete cast:

• Ireland
• DeLay
• Macy Gray (Grammy Award nominee, winner)
• Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
• Maya (singer)
• Ashley Hamilton (ex-husband of Shannen Doherty)
• Michael Irvin (retired NFL star)
• Mark Dacascos (hosts Iron Chef America)
• Donny Osmond (singer, entertainment news anchor)
• Kelly Osbourne (reality star, child of of Ozzy Osbourne)
• Debi Mazar (actress)
• Chuck Liddell (former UFC champion)
• Natalie Coughlin (Gold Medalist, swimmer)
• Joanna Krupa (swimsuit, Playboy model)
• Louis Vito (snowboarder)
• Aaron Carter (boy bander)

Fortunately, those La Toya Jackson rumors will not become a reality.

While Michael's sister admits she was asked to appear on season nine of Dancing with the Stars, she told Access Hollywood this week that it didn't feel like a proper thing to do.

“I’ve been approached to do Dancing With the Stars,” Jackson said. “The fact of the matter is, I won’t be doing it, simply because of the circumstances that (are) going on at the moment.”

There are no circumstances surrounding Beth Ostrosky, however.

On his radio program this morning, Howard Stern said his wife was heading to Los Angeles to participate in a reality show. That's the only hint he'd provide.

All speculation will end this Monday, of course. That's when the full cast will be announced on Good Morning America.