Dancing With the Stars - New Cast Announcement

ABC must have thought the tricks they pulled out of their sleeve last fall with the oldest and youngest, and competing father and son really worked as this season we’ll have even more of that type of thing. While there’s been no announcement of who all the professional dancers will be, we have confirmation on a few of them, as well as the thirteen celebrities that will be dancing, thanks to the info my good friend, Doc, dug up.

Belinda Carlisle. She has to be able to dance, right? We all saw her in those spikey high heels back in the 80s dancing and singing as the lead signer of the Go-Gos, and besides she’s “got the beat.”

David Alan Grier. We know him from In Living Color and a handful of movies, and I’m hoping maybe the Fly Girls gave him some tips. Maybe the Men on Film will come along to give him two snaps.

Jewel. She’s no stranger to music as a successful recording artist, and a one-time jude of Nashville Star. She’ll be competing against her husband, Ty Myrray.

Ty Murray. Jewel’s husband and an accomplished rodeo athlete, holding several champhionships and world titles. Just the sound of that has me yearning to see Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke’s Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy routine. Thnk Ty could do it better?

Shawn Johnson. She’s the youngest person ever to compete on Dancing With the Stars at 17 years old. She won several medals in last summer’s Olympics, including a silver in the floor exericse, which always looks more like dance than anything else. She ought to do wonderfully.

Lil’ Kim. She’s pretty accomplished as a Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum musician. She’s also been in several TV shows and movies, such as She’s All That, and she is.

Gilles Marini. This is one that I had no idea who he was until I read he was Dante, Samantha’s hot next door neighbor at the beach house in the Sex and City movie. Suddenly, I remembered. He’s acted in a handful of TV series as well, such as ugly Betty and Criminal Minds.

Steve-O. I’m not a fan, but my son definitely is, as that seems to be the level of humor he goes after with his show Jackass. Can the guy dance though? I want to see him put on some of those outfits and high heels the guys are forced to wear.

Nancy O’Dell. We all know her from Access Hollywood and the Golden Globe red carpet shows.. This time, instead of reporting on the stars from the red carpet, she’ll be competing against them.

Denise Richards. I can’t even keep up with who she’s currently sleeping with and/or married to. She’s Charle Sheen’s ex, and has been with John Stamos as well.

Lawrence Taylor. aka LT. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and has a couple of Super Bowl rings from his career with the New York Giants. Can he add the famous Disco Ball Trophy to his collection?

Chuck Wicks. This is the second person whose name I don’t immediately recognize. He’s a country singer who has opened for Brad Paisley, and had a top 5 hit with Stealing Cinderella.

Steve Wozniak. He helped design the first Apple products and is somewhat responsible for getting computers in schools early on. I’m guessing he won’t be too light on his feet.

Along with the obvious couple of Jewel and Ty Murray, we’ll also have two other couples on the floor, yet only one of all these three couples will dance together. Jewel and Ty will obviously have professional dance partners, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, having just recently gotten engaged, will be competing against each other as well. Chuck Wicks will be lucky enough to team with his girlfriend, two-time champion, Julianna Hough, who had a change of heart after originally deciding not to return to the show. Is this why she’s back?

Every year, Dancing With the Stars seems to up the ante in their cast a little. These are some exciting celebrities, but for my money, I don’t think anyone will ever top the fun of Cloris Leachman.

And a side note. Why is it this photographer can photograph men, but not women?

Photos courtesy of abc.com

For more information on Dancing With the Stars, see SirLinksalot: Dancing With the Stars.