Dancing with the Stars
News (Page 34)

Well, John Ratzenberger won't with Dancing with the Stars after being voted out last night.

And, sure, Joey Fatone and Ian Ziering may have stolen our hearts back in the day, but now it's all about Apolo. Here are the top five reasons why Us Magazine knows he'll win:

5. Serious Stamina â€" As a multi-talented athlete, Apolo first won our hearts as he lapped around the U.S. Olympic speed skating track to take home numerous medals of honor. Lacing up his dancing shoes certainly isn't a problem now and as for that good ol' quickstep? Apolo's always has a need for speed!

4. Apple Pie Appealâ€" Joey Fatone and Ian Ziering may have a built in fan-base of teenyboppers from their early '90s heydays, but Apolo's fancy footwork and will to win endeared him to audiences from his very first Cha-Cha.

3. Hey, Apolo, You're So Fine! â€" In recognition of his style savvy, Us named Apolo and his DWTS dudes to our "7 in ‘07" list at our recent Hot Hollywood Style 2007 party. With a manly bandana keeping the sweat off his brow, Apolo's signature style often features funky colors and flashy, form-fitting duds. He definitely gets a "10" from Us for style!

2. His Pampered Dogs â€" At the end of a grueling practice session, Apolo is one of the first to put his feet up and relax. "My feet hurt the worst," he tells Us, "I just have to put them up!" Good to know he can indulge once in a while!

1. Celebs Love Apolo! â€" He and partner Julianne Hough were favored by the judges early on as having "the most potential," and, now that America has seen his skills, support has come from far and wide. " Apolo and Julanne are the ones to beat," season 3 dancer Lisa Rinna said.

As a judge on Dancing with the Stars, Carrie Ann Inaba takes copious notes during performances.

Following a show during which both Laila Ali and Joey Fatone racked up perfect 30s, here's a look at what Carrie Ann jotted down as they danced:

Laila Ali: "I‘m so happy that Laila showed us the beef!" says Inaba. "She finally let loose. I knew she had it in her. And it wasn't in the way I thought she would do it. I thought it would be this very powerful and dramatic thing. But it was very light and elegant and graceful."

Apolo Anton Ohno: "Apolo had a rough night tonight," says Inaba. "I think Len was a little hard on him for the first round [the fox trot]. But Len is the ballroom expert, so maybe he saw things that Bruno and I didn't. But I think that critique rattled Apolo a little bit. Tonight, he had a bit of the Ian syndrome, in that he was in his head. And then he was off rhythm, he was dancing ahead of the beat, and he and Julianne weren't connecting. They were out of sorts with each other."

Joey Fatone: "Joey decided he was going to leave Apolo and Laila in the dust. He finally realized we're getting close to the end and now he's giving 100 percent. It's amazing he's done so well up until now. I feel like he's only been giving 85 percent."

Ian Ziering: "Ian finally came out of his shell," says Inaba. "Authenticity reads so well on this show. When Ian's not comfortable, it shows. Tonight he decided, ‘You know what? I have nothing to lose.' He had a few missteps. But we're going to see a lot of growth in him. And he saw how the people reacted so I think it's going to be a little addictive for him."

Billy Ray Cyrus: "I love him for trying and for his courage and his passion," says Inaba. "He really is trying to get an ‘8.' And you know what? If he sticks around, if he just gives us a little more content, he could get it. Because he really does have something magical about him."

John Ratzenberger: "I thought he did really, really well," says Inaba. "Ballroom dancing is for all ages and of all the older gentlemen we've had on this show, he's really the best one. George Hamilton and Jerry Springer wowed us with their charisma and theatrics, but John has actually got the frame and is doing it properly. In a real ballroom dance competition, he would do quite well."

It was an evening of TWO dances last night. Ballroom and Latin were on the agenda for our Dancing with the Stars contestants.

Were there any perfect scores? Are Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough still the favorites? Or did a shirtless Maksim Chmerkovskiy steal their shoe-tapping thunder?

There's only one way to find out: Read through our Episode Guide right now.

On April 13, many in the Dancing with the Stars cast attended the 14th Annual Race to Erase MS.

Here are a few photos from the charity event, starting with this year's current favorites, Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough:

Next, take a look at a happy, romantic couple. Yes, that really is Matthew Lawrence with his arm around Cheryl Burke:

Finally - look out! - a giant close up of Joey Fatone is coming your way. We doubt the ladies will mind, however:

Thank you to People magazine for this report on this week's Dancing with the Stars ...

Judging Ian: Before showtime on Wednesday, Ian Ziering and pro dancer Tony Dovolani (Leeza Gibbons's former partner) were already ready to entertain. The class clowns perched themselves in the judges' seats as audience members were encouraged to get up and show the room their dance moves. Ziering and Dovolani, who were upset that they did not have their own paddles, announced their scores for each audience pair by holding up their fingers instead.

Carrie Ann Exposed! Carrie Ann Inaba had her own embarrassing moment when a female audience member held up a recent issue of men's magazine Stuff to reveal a scantily clad photo spread of the judge. As the fan waved it around, Inaba tried to keep herself busy talking with Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. Then the fan flipped the page to unveil a sexy photo of Cheryl Burke. The two-time Dancing champ was less shy about her glamour shot being shown as she waved from the stage and smiled while fans made catcalls for both ladies.

Sweet 21? During a commercial break, the audience was informed there was a very special birthday boy in the house: judge Len Goodman, whose real birthday is on Wednesday. So, how old is he? The ballroom-dancing expert's story â€" and he's sticking to it â€" is he's 21. (Hint: Add on 42 years and you've got Len's real age.) The whole audience serenaded him with "Happy Birthday" as he waved his hands in appreciation.

Hot Mama: Sure, she's a mom-to-be, but that didn't stop pregnant host Samantha Harris from showing she still has all the right moves during a commercial break. The emcee busted out some of her own choreography on the dance floor, winning approval from all three judges and the audience.

Style Envy: "I almost wore that same dress," joked host Tom Bergeron as guest singer Joss Stone first appeared onstage to perform two of her hits, including "Super Duper Love." Ba-dum-dum. We're glad Bergeron stuck to his classic suit instead of the British soul sensation's metallic miniskirt, purple tank top and bare feet.

Some viewers may have been shocked that the pasa doble by Heather Mills landed her in the bottom two for the second week in a row - but her elimination on last night's Dancing with the Stars didn't surprise at least one person.

Mills herself.

After it was announced that Sir Paul's ex was going home, she pulled out a piece of paper she'd tucked in her top and began rattling off names of people she wanted to thank, prompting host Tom Bergeron to ask her why she came so prepared.

"We knew we were going home this week," she said. "I knew from the scores last night. I knew there was no way we could get out of this unless the judges gave us nines last night, and they didn't give us nines."

Heather is at least going home with the knowledge that she and her one real leg gave it all they had.
"Jonathan Roberts told me this week that I did really good, and that made me feel so proud," she said. "We did a great paso doble. I am really going to miss working with him."

"She is wonderful â€" she was doing so great," said fellow contestant Joey Fatone, who was surprised by her elimination. "I give her a lot of credit for getting up there every week and doing it."

"What she has done is amazing," added judge Bruno Tonioli. "She has been able to take on something that was never thought possible. She was so wonderful that you almost forgot that she had an artificial limb. She had to work harder than anybody else. I think she deserved to stay on."

The ABC dance-off continues on Monday with its remaining six celebrity hoofers: Billy Ray Cyrus, Ian Ziering, Fatone, Laila Ali, John Ratzenberger and Apolo Anton Ohno.

With Clyde Drexler out of the picture, who was in danger of dancing themselves out of Dancing with the Stars this week?

We've got the latest on Heather Mills and her attempt to avoid the bottom two again; as well as the follow-up performance by Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough to their perfect score from last week. That one may be tough to top.

Check out our Week Six Episode Guide now.

The following is a blog that Ian Ziering writes for TV Guide, discussing his experience this year on Dancing with the Stars ...

Before I write this week's Dancing with the Stars blog, I wish to extend my most sincere and heartfelt wishes to the entire Virginia Tech family. Words simply cannot convey my overwhelming sense of sorrow. My prayers and thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy, now and forever.

This week, we saw Clyde Drexler get voted off. Clyde is the epitome of what it means to be a class act. All I can say is that if the DWTS producers put basketball hoops at both ends of the dance floor, every dance for Clyde would have been a slam-dunk.

You know the expression, "Every pot has a cover?" Well, I've discovered â€" the hard way â€" that every dance has a pain. The cha-cha wreaks havoc on the feet; the quickstep and jive do a number on your legs; the samba destroyed my lower back from all the hip action. I felt the judges scored last week's samba performance fairly, and with each future dance, I hope to continually improve for the sake of the judges, the fans and [Cheryl Burke]. (As my own harshest critic, unless the score is 10-10-10, I'm never satisfied.)

Speaking of Cheryl, our next dance is the paso doble. Of all the dances so far, I think the paso doble will really bring out the best in me. The paso doble, from the male dancer's perspective, is based on a matador's movements in a bullfight; the female dancer plays the role of a cape or the bull. The dance is all about "the chase": passion, drama and the matador's abundance of confidence and/or arrogance, depending on how you view his role. (Sounds like I'll have to mentally channel my old buddy Steve Sanders.)

Now, this is a dance I plan to take complete ownership of, and be the showman the judges and Cheryl want me to be. To paraphrase Dr. Evil in Austin Powers, "I didn't spend six weeks in Evil Dance School to be called, 'McStiffy,' thank you very much."

After spending a few months with me in L.A., my 86-year-old dad flew back to the East Coast to spend time with my two brothers and their families, and my Uncle Jerry who was just diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. It's always great to have my dad in L.A. with me, and he will fly back for certain if Cheryl and I dance in the finals. If you've been watching DWTS, you know that my dad sat in the front row of every show, proudly beaming. But you don't know the story behind his smile… until now.

For the last 10 years, my dad has had upper dentures, which had worn down from wear and tear. Over the years I fought him tooth (no pun intended) and nail to get a new upper plate. Well, I finally "won," and he did agree to get new teeth. Why am I writing about my dad's chompers? Because whenever I danced, I would see my dad with the biggest smile on his face, and it's the smile I used to see as a kid when I did a "first time" anything; it made me so happy to see his face light up.

Sure, I'll miss kissing my dad on the cheek after the show's first commercial break, so now I'll just have to call him after the first break instead, although we speak every day. In the meantime, I have the memory of my dad's smile with me â€" and his love and support, as always.

That's what's so great about DWTS, it's brought so many new dimensions into my life.

Here's an unexpected possibility on Dancing with the Stars:

According to E! Online, the folks behind the show are in talks to bring some of the stars of the upcoming movie musical Hairspray onto the reality show as guests.

Based on the Broadway smash that was inspired by John Waters' 1988 flick of the same name, Hairspray boasts quite a cast of cinematic hoofers, including John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever), Queen Latifah (Chicago) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Grease 2).

This isn't as shocking as Heather Mills somehow winning the competition, but we didn't exactly see such guest judges coming.

Shanna Moakler - the former Miss USA and Dancing with the Stars contestant - is penning a blog about this year's competition. Here's her latest entry ...

It's clear that everyone is really starting to rehearse and get into it. But this week I did know who was going home. Although Clyde seems like such a sweetheart, he just hasn't improved since week one. It was really hard for him, I'm sure, with Elena being half of his size. Every time he moved it seemed so awkward because he's so much bigger than her.

It stinks that they had to fly to China in the middle of rehearsals. I'm sure they didn't have much time to practice or sleep.

It was awesome to see Lisa Rinna come back and do her routine from Chicago. God, she looks better now than she was on the show. She must be rehearsing all day long! How cool for her that because of her DWTS experience she got a Broadway show.

This week was Apolo's week. His and [Julianne Hough's] dance was unbelievable and Julianne's outfit was awesome. They looked so good and clearly the 10s across the board proved that. My favorites are still killing it! It's nice, too, to see my dark horses, John and Edyta, doing well, too. Although I know John probably won't win, it's still nice to see that he's still in it.

Wait! I didn't notice until last night that there are only two female celebrities left in the competition. Are the men beating the woman again this year??? We're gonna have to wait and see.

Remember, get out there and vote! See you next week!