An interesting article:
'Dancing With the Stars' goes for the 'unpredictable'Friends, family and felons are the dominant themes on the latest installment of ABC's hit Dancing With the Stars.
The celebrity ballroom hoofer contest opens its eighth season March 9 (8 ET/PT) with singer Jewel facing off against her husband, professional rodeo champ Ty Murray — the show's first celebrity couple competing in the same season. DWTS popular dance professional Julianne Hough will be paired with her boyfriend, country singer Chuck Wicks, and DWTS pros Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy just got engaged.
The show also will feature Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, at 17 the youngest competitor to date.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," she says.
Pro athletes have won four of the past five DWTS crowns; three others have been runners-up. Johnson says she hopes her athletic training offsets any dance angst. "It'll help, but this isn't in my comfort zone," she says.
Reality TV prankster Steve-O, former NFL star Lawrence Taylor and rapper/actress Lil' Kim also are scheduled to perform. Steve-O, 34, was placed on probation last year after admitting to possessing cocaine. Kim, 34, was jailed for 11 months on a 2005 federal perjury charge. In the 1990s, Taylor, 50, pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and was charged with possessing cocaine.
"We've gone for some unpredictable people," says executive producer Conrad Green. "Once you have someone with one leg (Heather Mills), a deaf person (Marlee Matlin) and an 82-year-old (Cloris Leachman), it's hard to push the boundaries. An air of wildness doesn't hurt."
"One thing nice about this show is you see people in a different light," Green says.
That doesn't mean TV's No. 2-ranked series isn't difficult to cast, says ABC senior talent producer Deena Katz. Scores of celebs want on, but mixing and matching them, achieving the right chemistry and a 15-week time commitment weed out prospects, Katz says.
"It's a jigsaw puzzle," she says. "You can't always go with a supermodel or someone from a boy band. There is something about football players, though."
Rounding out the celeb cast:
•Actor Gilles Marini, 33.
•Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, 58.
•Actress Denise Richards, 37.
•Comedian David Alan Grier, 53.
•Access Hollywood co-host Nancy O'Dell, 42.
•Singer Belinda Carlisle, 50.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-02-08-dancing-stars_N.htm?csp=34
