Dancing With The Stars 10 Pairings

Will continue with the W&C tradition of sharing the couples for the new season of Dancing With The Stars.  Have to say, I am not too excited about this line-up.  I am not sure if these reality shows are starting to run their course with me as I am feeling similar indifference to latest edition of The Amazing Race and have thus far been unimpressed with this year's American Idol crew.

Here they are with the "star" first followed by their professional partner:

Buzz Aldrin and Ashly Costa (formerly DelGrosso)

- 80 year old, former astronaut. Ashley's last DWTS appearance was Season 3

Pamela Anderson and Damian Whitewood

- Big bosom'd 'Baywatch' actress. Whitewood is making his DWTS debut.

Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy

- ESPN personality, but more famous for being filmed by a Peeping Tom thru a hotel peephole and uploaded to the Internet.

Shannen Doherty and Mark Ballas

- 3rd 90210 alum to appear on DWTS after Ian Ziering and Jennie Garth, who also danced with Mark.

Kate Gosselin and Tony Dovolani

- Mom/Reality whore.

Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya

- Fresh off winning gold at Vancouver in men's figure skating.

Niecy Nash and Louis Van Amstel

- Comedienne, 'Reno 911'.

Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke

- NFL/Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, apparently more famous for changing his last name to his jersey number...in Spanish.

Jake Pavelka and Chelsie Hightower

- Latest ABC "Bachelor".

Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough

- Pussycat Dolls lead singer.

Aiden Turner and Edyta Sliwinska

- 'All My Children' hunk, but no coast-to-coast commuting as AMC recently moved production to LA. Edyta keeps her streak alive as the only pro to compete in all 10 seasons

I have a complicated love/hate relationship with reality television, but what I particularly don't like about this season of DWTS is that it includes two "stars" of the reality genre that I have done my best to avoid however impossible that is... Kate (of course!) and Jake, the Bachelor. 

I think one wise move was cutting down on the number of couples. The last time the show had only 11 couples was Season 4, though I am sure this doesn't mean less 2 hour episodes or even less weeks in total (maybe some non-elimination weeks?).  However, the smaller cast means a lot of pros out of work.  Most sad to see that Kym Johnson is not back (c'mon, she's the defending champ!) and hottie Dmitry Chaplin... also missing are regulars like Karina, Jonathan, Alec, and Lacey

Without seeing a dance, I would guess that Evan and Nicole have the most natural ability and one can never count out the football player, though I have to admit I am pretty unfamiliar with Chad.

Comments

[Jeff]

I'm not a fan of "reality" cross-overs, especially in a prize show like Jeff and Jordan on "The Amazing Race." At least with "regular" unknown people, you're under the pretense that this is their unique chance at fortune and fame, that they "need" it more. The only reason for including celebrities on a show with otherwise unknowns is ratings. (LOL, sorry that was a rant more about "TAR"!)