Dancing with the Stars

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Given the popularity of reality shows within the past few years, it is easy for one to blend into the next and become relatively indistinguishable, but one series in particular has continuously set itself apart from the rest. The ABC series, Dancing with the Stars, based on the BBC television series, Strictly Come Dancing, pairs one celebrity with a professional dancer and together they go through a nine week competition, each week learning new dances. Dances include the Foxtrot, Quickstep, Jive, Cha-cha, Tango, Paso Doble, Viennese Waltz, Mambo, Rumba and the always popular Freestyle dance, where partners are allowed to do whatever dance they want and add a little something extra to it. Each week one couple with the lowest score is eliminated based on a combination of the scores received from the ballroom judges and viewer votes that have been received via phone, text message or online. For the past five seasons that Dancing with the Stars has been on the air, the ballroom judges have been Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli. Len is the head judge on both this series and UK's Strictly Come Dancing. He has a vast knowledge of ballroom dancing thanks to years and years of competing, judging and teaching all over the world. Carrie is a former professional dancer who has become a choreographer and director in the entertainment industry. Past events she has choreographed include American Idol Christmas 2003 and several Miss America pageants. She also danced in the popular television series, In Living Color and toured with Madonna and Ricky Martin. Like Len, Bruno also judges for this series and the UK equivalent as well as the Australian version. He is a former dancer who has choreographed for some of the top talent in the music business, including Elton John, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney. Perhaps one of the biggest draws of the show is seeing some of today's top celebrities in music, film, television and sports learn how to dance formally. Every week, prior to showing the dance between celebrity and partner, the series shows each celebrity learning the steps and experiencing the joys and the frustrations of competing. Past winners have been General Hospital's Kelly Monaco, Former boy bander Drew Lachey, Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith and Olympic speedskater Apollo Anton Ohno. Past favorites of the show have also included actors such as Mario Lopez, Ian Ziering and Joey Lawrence as well as singer/actor/host Joey Fatone, former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre and boxer Laila Ali. The celebrity competition is just as fierce this season on Dancing with the Stars. Taking to the dance floor this season are the Spice Girls' Melanie Brown, Sabrina Bryan from Disney's The Cheetah Girls, race car driver Helio Castroneves, Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban, Jennie Garth from Beverly Hills 90210, model/actress Josie Maran, All My Children's Cameron Mathison, boxer Floyd Mayweather, the legendary Wayne Newton, Marie Osmond, model Albert Reed, and actress Jane Seymour. With the finale set to air in December, the dance floor is heating up. We here at Young Hollywood can't wait to see who wins! Due to the huge success of the show, in October, 2006 it was announced that there would be a Dancing with the Stars tour. The first leg of the tour began in December, 2006 and was extended into a second leg. The third tour is scheduled to take place in December, 2007 and will continue through February. Currently expected to appear are Sabrina Bryan, actress Monique Coleman, Joey Lawrence, Wayne Newton and Marie Osmond. In addition, three dancers from the show participated in a DVD entitled Dancing with the Stars: Cardio Dance, which was released in April, 2007 and contains cardio workouts adapted from the Cha-cha, Paso Doble, Samba and the Jive. With the ratings for the show increasing by the year, there is sure to be more tours and merchandise available to the demanding public. For more information about the dancers, celebrities, voting procedures and other goodies, check out the website at www.abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars.