Dancing With the Stars 8: First Thoughts

Hey Y'all! It's that time again! Hard to believe that another season of Dancing With the Stars is getting ready to begin. And not only that, it seems that the injury bug that plagued last season has started early. We've not even begun and two dancers have bitten the dust (cue music).

Nancy O'Dell and Jewel have both suffered injuries forcing them to drop out of the competition. Jewel has suffered stress fractures in BOTH legs and Nancy has a torn meniscus. So will we start down two teams or will replacements be found? Well, over the weekend, replacements have been named.

I admit that when I first heard rumors that some playboy chick named Holly was bragging about going on the show I cringed and buried my head in the sand in denial. All I know about her is that she's a young pretty girl that shacked up with an old ugly rich guy on national tv. And she shared him. Ugh .... But alas, she was telling the truth and it seems as if she will be partnered with new pro Dmitry Chaplin. Now I remember Dmitry from So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD). He wasn't my favorite, in fact, I called him the poor man's (or woman's) Maks. So I laughed when I heard that he was going to be on this show WITH my Maks. Those dynamics should be interesting, I think.

What hasn't been confirmed by ABC, but is a widespread rumor, is the replacement for Nancy. I've seen everywhere that Melissa, the jilted ex from this past season of Bachelor, is stepping up to the plate. Melissa is a NFL dancer, so I know she has some moves. Will they translate to the ballroom floor? We'll see. She would also seem to be coming in with the pity vote. Lots of people feel sorry for the way she was treated by the new bad man of reality TV, Jason, and that may equal more votes. She will be partnered with Tony Dovolani and I think this will be a good team.

Shawn Johnson will also be one to watch. This tiny gymnastic champion also has dancing in her background and she'll be partnered with Mark Ballas. He's a wonderful partner who seems to do very well in choreographing to his celebs strengths.

Denise Richards, Lil Kim and Belinda Carlisle round out the women. I think that Denise Richards was cast as the woman everyone wants to hate this season, you know, the Heather McCarthy role. Her partner is Maks, so I can't root against her. Lil Kim does the hip hop thing, but she's kinda coarse and I'm leery of watching her do a ballroom dance. Her partner is Derek Hough, and I really don't know how that combo will play out. I look for these two to be out soon. The only thing I know about Belinda Carlisle is that she was in the Go-Go's, a group I loved back in the day. Now I have “We Got the Beat” stuck in my head. Her partner is Jonathan Roberts, who I'm glad to see back in the mix.

Then there are the guys. The football player role is being filled by Lawrence Taylor, the original LT, this season. I know that he used to be quick on his feet, and he was sexy as heck with a smile that wouldn't quit. Oh, sorry ... focus here. I don't know how kind the years have been to him since he retired from football or if he's kept himself up. He's being partnered by Edyta, lucky chick.

The resident geek is Steve Wozniak, The Woz, of Apple Computer fame. This has nothing to do with dancing, so I guess we'll see if this geek has rhythm. His partner is Karina Smirnoff, who I am only beginning to like. I used to totally despise her because of her attitude, but it seems like she's toned it down since she got involved with Maks. Wait a minute ... maybe I like her less now, I'll get back to you on that one.

I know who David Allen Grier is, but that's about it. That's more than I can say about the other guys. I don't have a clue who Steve-O, Gilles Marini, or Chuck Wicks are. The only reason I've heard of Ty Murray is that I saw him on some race car driving reality show at some point. Oh, and he's married to Jewel. Ty is partnered with another newbie, Chelsie Hightower, who I absolutely loved on SYTYCD. Kym Johnson is David Allen Grier's pro and Cheryl Burke is teamed up with Gilles Marini. Steve-O is partnered with Lacy, which I don't know about. Is she being punished? I see him in the not funny comedian who can't dance role. We'll see.

I read that Chuck Wicks is the sweetheart of Julianne Hough, who just happens to be his partner. Wonder if that was written into their contracts. She'd previously announced that she was taking this season off to concentrate on her music career and tour with none other than Chuck Wicks. I'm not sure how I feel about that favoritism shown to her partnering with her honey. They come into this with a big leg up on the rest of the cast seeing that they don't have to get familiar with the other or worry about chemistry.

My early picks for best dancing teams are the Shawn/Mark team and the Melissa/Tony team. Who'll be the first out? I would guess Steve-O or David Allen Grier. Dancing With the Stars premieres Monday, March 9th at 8/7 central with a two hour show. Don't miss it!