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Dancing With The Stars Season 8
marigold:
An interesting article:
The secret of Tom's angry past
He seems to never lose his cool, but Tom Bergeron, of Dancing with the Stars and America's Funniest Home Videos, was once famous for his temper tantrums. “I had a pretty hot temper,” Tom tells In Touch. “But it wasn’t directed at other people, it was always at myself, and apartment walls!” Eventually, Tom discovered meditation, which he says helped him calm the beast within. "I am not that kind of man anymore, and haven’t been for years,” he says today. Tom hoping to teach others how to find their own inner peace with his new book, I’m Hosting as Fast as I Can!: Zen and the Art of Staying Sane in Hollywood.
The star is also happy with the 8th season of Dancing with the Stars. “This season there are a couple of front-runners, but those who are not the strongest dancers have the power of personality," Tom says. "All of that creates a much more fascinating season than we have had in a while!”
http://www.intouchweekly.com/2009/04/the_secret_of_toms_angry_past.php
marigold:
Ty Murray Blogs:
‘Hopefully this is going to be a good one for us’
We put in about six hours of practice on Wednesday and Chelsie got the whole routine choreographed so we started working on quite a few of the steps already.
Chelsie and I both really like the song. It's a lot easier to hear the music and feel the beat of the song than it was for us last week with the Paso Doble. "Barracuda" was a tough song--actually it was a tough dance to a really tough piece of music.
Unlike last week, Chelsie wanted the song we're using and it didn't get picked for us.
The Jive is a really athletic dance and it's really fast-paced--sort of like the Lindy Hop was, but it's really different. However, it is along those same lines a little bit.
As always, we're putting in the work.
We feel like we took a little step backward last week and that we got knocked down a little bit, but if there's one thing that bull riding teaches you is that you get right back up and you keep trying and no matter what you bear-down. That's something I know how to do and it's what I'm going to do.
Hopefully this is going to be a good one for us.
The way the music is and the way the choreography goes along with that music it seems like it's going to be a lot easier to just get into it and roll with it.
Chelsie and I will keep working hard and it's time for all of us to cowboy up.
http://www.pbrnow.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/9/Hopefully-this-is-going-to-be-a-good-one-for-us
marigold:
David Alan Grier Blogs:
DWTS: Thanks for the support!
Well,
I have been voted off of the island. This morning I threw my dance
shoes in the dumpster, and it's back to the salt mine for me. I would
like to thank all of the people that voted for us and supported Kym and
I on the show. That being said, I wish all of the remaining
competitors luck. It was great to meet them and get to know them, and I
will see them all at the finale...if the producers and ABC actually let
me back into the building.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=38074175&blogId=482158767
RealityFreakWill:
Celebs rehab R-rated reputations on ‘Dancing’
Lil' Kim just the latest star to seek Total Image Overhaul on family show
Not so long ago, rapper Lil' Kim perpetuated an X-rated public image that could make even the baddest girls blush.
Her raunchy roster of songs include the hit "Magic Stick" and lyrics much too graphic to repeat and she has jail creds, serving 10 months in prison for lying to a federal grand jury about a 2001 gun battle outside a New York radio station.
But now — nearly two years out of jail — Kim haunts the PG-rated pastures of "Dancing With the Stars." Watching her twirl like a princess in floaty chiffon and weep with joy after her successful Argentine tango, it's easy to forget the wild woman who wore a purple pasty on an exposed breast on national TV.
Viewers are rooting for Kim, along with more wholesome contestants like Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson. After her well reviewed performance Monday, the rapper said the ABC dance competition was "bringing out the sensitive side of Little Kim."
Which begs the question: Is "Dancing With the Stars" the new rehab? With each season, celebrity dancers of varying degrees of infamy seek redemption on the family show through a Total Image Overhaul. But witnessing, say, a formerly jailed rapper shake her bon-bon (and ex-con status) might be part of the cheeky fun.
"The strange thing is a lot of people have been on the show who do come from a more slightly edgy background or who have got a reputation possibly for being more edgy — when they get on the show, tend to be very likable," says executive producer Conrad Green.
"There's something about the rosy glow of ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ It's kind of hard (to resist) even if you're ... a bad boy, you start wearing sequins and playing the game."
The eighth season of the top-rated series recruited some other bawdy contestants: "Jackass" daredevil Steve-O, who recently completed rehab after battling drug addiction; Denise Richards, whose messy divorce from Charlie Sheen branded her a tabloid target; and possibly Holly Madison, former Playboy playmate and girlfriend of Hugh Hefner.
The show, which debuted in 2005, has a history of extending the spotlight and second chances to Hollywood oddballs, outcasts and others with sordid backstories. Some examples: actress Tatum O'Neal, who recounted her drug addiction recovery in a memoir; Heather Mills, who went through a nasty divorce from Paul McCartney; E! reality star Kim Kardashian, who rose to fame because of a sex tape featuring her and reality star Ray J; and Jerry Springer, the impresario of trash TV.
Green says the show had a "breakthrough" in the third season by casting Springer, an unexpected fan favorite, loving father and good sport.
"Everyone expected ‘Jerry Springer: King of Schlock' and all that kind of stuff for the show," says Green. "He showed a completely different side of himself, and he's a very likable, charming guy. And a really good story. And he really got into the spirit of the show. I think it's completely rejuvenated the public perception of him — and I think it was really nice for him and it was really nice for a lot of our other celebrities to say, `You know what? You can see me much more as I am.'"
That certainly strikes a nerve with Kardashian.
The curvy beauty, who co-stars with her family on the E! reality hit "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," was eliminated early on last season but appreciated the chance to reveal her true self on "Dancing."
"Lil' Kim and I were talking about that: We were saying that we felt like there was this different identity out there of us ... but the show was a great opportunity to show who we really are," she says.
Kardashian, who was approached by producers to do the show, says millions of viewers "were able to see that I'm a lot more shy and reserved than people would probably assume. ... I'm not a performer. I'm so used to hiding behind my sisters."
Producers seek out celebs with interesting stories and build the rest of the cast around them, Green says. The challenge is to pick a variety of likable contestants who "you want to spend some time" with over the course of each season, he says. The bigger the fan base, the higher the ratings.
Green had considered Steve-O (real name: Stephen Glover) since the beginning but didn't approach him until "he entered rehab and sorted his life out." The "Jackass" star, who received decent marks this week from the judges for his Viennese waltz, recently joked on the show that he's not used to coping with high-pressure situations "without the help of drugs and alcohol."
Green says it might have been "too dangerous on a family show (casting) Steve-O like he was before. ... Perhaps I'm being unfair there but I'm rather risk averse, given the size of our audience and how easy it would be to offend them. But then when we met with Steve-O, he's a really lovely bloke."
Truth be told, fans of the kitschy ballroom dance show are probably not judging the contestants' moral character as much as how well they move on the floor. Sex appeal can lead to success on the show. Season-eight stud Gilles Marini exudes it. So does Lil' Kim. See also: the crackling combination of past partners Mario Lopez and professional dancer Karina Smirnoff.
Who'd complete Green's dream cast? Former President Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson, who have both weathered sex scandals far more humiliating than Lil' Kim's prison stint.
"Karina and Bill Clinton, now that would be dynamite," Green says, considering possible pairings. "I actually think he'd be quite a good mover."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30135121/
marigold:
An interesting article: Nice
Gilles aids Haitian youth
Gilles Marini is more than just a handsome face — he also has a big heart! The dashing Dancing With the Stars contestant will be in New York on April 11 to support the Setanta Cup, an all-day soccer festival benefiting nonprofit organizations Hollywood Unites for Haiti and the Chelsea Piers Scholarship Fund. “It’s for an amazing cause. Proceeds will help underprivileged youth in Haiti. You have to help,” Gilles tells In Touch. The Sex and the City star, alongside fellow hunks Marc Consuelos and Brandon Routh, will start the event with a match with the Hollywood United Football Club. And Gilles admits fans might see some skin. “I have to change at halftime,” he admits with a laugh. “And I will be in my shorts, too!”
For more information about the Setanta Cup, visit http://www.hollywoodutd.com/news/35
http://www.intouchweekly.com/2009/04/gille_aids_haitian_youth.php
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