Dancing with the Stars

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Maxsim is gone for this round.

The "Stars" will be:
Shannon Elizabeth
Steve Guttenberg
Priscilla Presley
Adam Carolloa
Marlee Matlin
Monica Seles
Penn Jillette
R&B singer Mario
Miami Dolphins' Jason Taylor
Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray)
Kristi Yamaguchi
Cristian de la Fuente (CSI: Miami).

I will be rooting for Penn Jillette

[MarleysGh0st]

I will be rooting for Penn Jillette

Me, too!




Not that I'll watch.

[peacock2121]

This is the bestest line-up ever!!!!!

I am excited.

[tlynn78]

An excellent group, indeed! I'm betting Kristi Yamaguchi is marvy.

t.

[wbtravis007]

I saw Penn and Teller a couple of months ago, and Penn was pretty heavy. Looked like he was struggling a little when they briskly walked up the stairs leaving the theater.

Man, talk about big feet.

This ought to be fun.

I've always liked Marlee Matlin a lot. I'm curious about how severe her hearing loss is, and how that's going to come into play here, especially since the music is played live.

[gsabc]

I've always liked Marlee Matlin a lot. I'm curious about how severe her hearing loss is, and how that's going to come into play here, especially since the music is played live.

From what I understand, she has essentially no residual hearing. That's why her vocal announcement of the Best Actor Oscar (after she had won Best Actress the year before) was so surprising to everyone.

Deaf people work off the vibrations of the beat; I've seen a very good deaf dance troupe from Gallaudet. She will probably be significantly more dependent on the lead of her partner than many other participants.

Matlin is apparently this series's handicapped player. McCartney last time with an artificial leg, now Matlin without hearing. Not to be flippant about it, but are they trying to find a blind celebrity for the next go-round?

[wbtravis007]

An excellent group, indeed! I'm betting Kristi Yamaguchi is marvy.

t.

I agree.

Not long after she won the Olympics, I got to see her skate at the rink in the Galleria.

My daughter (who must have been seven or eight) and I stood there for about an hour waiting to see her. Actually, I should say that I stood there, while she sat on my shoulders. Everybody was packed in together, shoulder to shoulder and butt to front. No way that my daughter could comfortably stand next to me. Took her a lot longer to come out than we thought it would, and she skated for quite awhile. I didn't feel like it was a big deal at the time, but I really paid a price later.

Talk about sore. For quite awhile.

Oh well. It was worth it.

[wbtravis007]

I've always liked Marlee Matlin a lot. I'm curious about how severe her hearing loss is, and how that's going to come into play here, especially since the music is played live.

From what I understand, she has essentially no residual hearing. That's why her vocal announcement of the Best Actor Oscar (after she had won Best Actress the year before) was so surprising to everyone.

Deaf people work off the vibrations of the beat; I've seen a very good deaf dance troupe from Gallaudet. She will probably be significantly more dependent on the lead of her partner than many other participants.

Matlin is apparently this series's handicapped player. McCartney last time with an artificial leg, now Matlin without hearing. Not to be flippant about it, but are they trying to find a blind celebrity for the next go-round?

Maybe they'll hand out earplugs to everybody else in the building, and say to the TV viewers: "Okay. Y'all need to turn the volume way down for this, cuz we're gonna amplify the hell out of this band."

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I saw Penn and Teller a couple of months ago, and Penn was pretty heavy. Looked like he was struggling a little when they briskly walked up the stairs leaving the theater.

I figure that since he is an illusionist, he might be able to make people think that he is a fabulous dancer.

[Estonut]

I figure that since he is an illusionist, he might be able to make people think that he is a fabulous dancer.

Actually, Penn is more of a talker. And he can juggle. Teller is the illusionist.

[tanstaafl2]

Reported pairs are:

Adam Carolla & Julianne Hough
Cristián de la Fuente & Cheryl Burke
Shannon Elizabeth & Derek Hough
Steve Guttenberg & Anna Trebunskaya
Mario Dewar Barrett & Karina Smirnoff
Marlee Matlin & Fabian Sanchez
Penn Jillette & Kym Johnson
Priscilla Presley & Louis van Amstel
Monica Seles & Jonathan Roberts
Jason Taylor & Edyta Sliwinska
Marissa Jaret Winokur & Tony Dovolani
Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas

Looks like a threepeat for Julianne will be tough unless Carolla is a good deal more graceful than would seem likely...

But Cheryl might have a decent shot at a third win with her partner if he has any sense of rhythm at all.

I would think Winokur might be a surprise given she must have some dance experience from Broadway.

Kym Johnson gets the challenge of dancing with Jillette. That should be interesting to see.

Don't know Mario Barrett but he could be another possibility dancing with the rather fiery Smirnoff.

At 62 (good grief, is she really that old???) Presley has to be a real long shot just to make past the first couple of weeks! Nobody over 40 has won the US version and Marie Osmond may well be the oldest person and certainly oldest woman to make the finals. Of course that wasn't on her dancing skills alone. "Older" woman haven't typically faired very well.

No woman on this version is under 30 and the only female winner, Kelly Monaco was under 30 when she won. Will be interesting to see if women can go deep into the show this season like they did last season.

[fantine33]

Reported pairs are:

Mario Dewar Barrett & Karina Smirnoff

I don't watch this program (my mom is a fiend for it, though) but I'll put a sawbuck down on the Dewar/Smirnoff pairing, just because it's too good not to.

[tanstaafl2]

Reported pairs are:

Mario Dewar Barrett & Karina Smirnoff

I don't watch this program (my mom is a fiend for it, though) but I'll put a sawbuck down on the Dewar/Smirnoff pairing, just because it's too good not to.

I dunno. Scotch and Vodka? Sounds like a combustible pair to me. Either they burn up the dance floor or they burn up each other!

[Ritterskoop]

So there is no rule against previous professional dance experience? Didn't there used to be?

Granted, the sorts of dance Winokur did on stage will not help her in this competition, but it's still way more dance experience than some others.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

So there is no rule against previous professional dance experience? Didn't there used to be?

Granted, the sorts of dance Winokur did on stage will not help her in this competition, but it's still way more dance experience than some others.

She played Tracy Turnblatt, so she is probably overweight, which might impact her stamina.

[tanstaafl2]

So there is no rule against previous professional dance experience? Didn't there used to be?

Granted, the sorts of dance Winokur did on stage will not help her in this competition, but it's still way more dance experience than some others.

She played Tracy Turnblatt, so she is probably overweight, which might impact her stamina.

She is still a little on the plus side of the scale but if she is anywhere close to the shape she would need to be in to play the role on Broadway (or can get back to it) stamina should be the least of her problems.