"Dancing with the Stars" Introducing The Season 7 Cast
by Megan Smith

Strap on your high heeled sneakers Ladies and Gentleman 'cause it's time for "Dancing with the Stars" to rumba it's way back into your living rooms. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will make first class fools of themselves all in the name of shameless entertainment? Well we found out who yesterday when the new cast of "Dancing with the Stars" was announced on "Good Morning America."   Unlike some of the questionable D-listers from previous seasons, this time many of the contestants really are stars.  Good times, they are a comin'.

The first name that jumped out at me was perennial daytime diva, Emmy Award winner, Susan Lucci. The original Erica Kane on ABC's "All My Children," Lucci has parlayed her success in daytime and primetime into a Lucci business empire that includes her lines of Home Shopping Network clothing, jewelry and hair care products.

If she brings to the dance floor half of Erica Kane's spark and spunk, rest assured that the petite powerhouse will stick around deep into the competition thanks to her legion of fans. Her partner will be Tony Dovolani.

If you're an athlete and you go on "DWTS," chances are, you can dance. And even if you can't dance, you can train. That's one reason athletes---Apolo Ono, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Emmitt Smith---tend to do well on this show

This season's additions to the athletic roster include a volleyball player, a sprinter and a former football player.

Misty May-Treanor, fresh from her beach volleyball Olympic gold medal in Beijing is on the list. Let's just hope she's more of a Kristi Yamaguchi and less of a Monica Seles, the exception to the "DWTS" athlete rule. Misty will partner with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Also in the Olympian category is gold medalist 100m sprinter Maurice Greene. He has the great good fortune of partnering with two time champion Cheryl Burke. I wonder, do the guys have to like fight it out to see who'll get Cheryl?

Then there's Warren Sapp. A former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle.  Though Sapp has a Superbowl ring, he wants to add the "DWTS" disco ball to his trophy case.  Kym Johnson will partner.

TV legend Cloris Leachman will become the oldest person to compete on the show. At 82 years old, the multi-Emmy Award and Oscar winning actress will try to show the kiddies how it's done. She should be good for some major laughs and who knows?  She might really be able to dance.  She'll partner with newcomer Corky Ballas.

The cute quotient is taken care of with actor Ted McGinley. A veteran of shows like "Married...with Children," "Hope & Faith," and "Happy Days," McGinley will give the baby boomer TV generation someone to root for.

The sexpot quotient is taken care of with reality TV personality and professional party girl Kim Kardashian.  As far as I can tell she's one of these "famous for being famous" young women a la Paris Hilton.  

From the world of music comes former boy band member Lance Bass.  A veteran of 'NSYNC, Bass is more well known these days for his memoir "Out Of Sync," and his revelations about his sexuality.  There were rumors that the openly gay Bass might be partnered with a guy, but we all knew that wasn't happening. As I said in a post a few weeks ago:

Just because he's gay doesn't mean he should get away with not having to lead. And if he were to dance the woman's role he should have to wear those foot busting heels and those ball busting costumes.

No problem though, his partner will be newcomer Lacey Schwimmer.

Others in the line up are multi-Grammy winner, Toni Braxton; Actress Brooke Burke; Chef Rocco DiSpirito, fresh from his appearance at BlogHer '08; "Hannah Montana" co-star Cody Linley; and Comedian Jeffrey Ross;

Ringers this season? Lance Bass and Toni Braxton come to mind, but Lance may not remember all those boy band moves and Toni may not be able to transfer her stage presence to the dance floor.

We'll all find out on September 22 when the show premieres on ABC.

Other Blogosphere Opinions About The New Cast:

Quilting Journey

Sharon Cobb

Right Celebrity

 

Megan Smith is a BlogHer Contributing Editor covering Television and YouTube and she still can't believe she likes "Dancing with the Stars."  Her other blogs are Megan's Minute: quirky commentary around the clock, and Video Runway.

Login or register to post comments