All I had to do to find out who was actually cast (and not rumored to be) on Dancing With The Stars, was wait until the garbage (aka Bachelor Pad) had been taken out. Bless you Google.
So the one rumor everyone was sure about, although it didn't leak until it was almost time for the announcement, was David Arquette. Excellent choice in my book. Why? Because, for the most part, he is free. The only thing I believe he's guarded about is his daughter, otherwise he doesn't seem to care what people think and I believe, if he maintains that attitude, he will be wildly successful.
At first, while we were waiting for the match announcements, I was kind of hoping he would land Lacey Schwimmer as a partner, but now that I think about it, they may be a little too alike. Kym Johnson, the dancer he's actually paired with, gets a bit giggly at time, but has a firm hand as well.
Schwimmer has actually been partnered with Chaz Bono. There's been a lot of negative talk about this, most of it focused on the fact at birth and for a large chunk of his life, this person lived as a female. He's living his truth now, and good for him. That's not the problem he's going to face and Lacey has already mentioned what their real challenge is. Like Kirstie Alley before him, Chaz is not as his fighting weight and that's going to play havoc with his ability to make it through a whole dance.
But Lacey is, among other things, a champion cheerleader for her partners, and now that Chaz's mother knows what he's doing, he'll have at least two strong women on his side.
One of my other choices for front runner is Carson Kressley, for much the same reason I like Arquette's chances. Carson is fabulous and anyone who thinks he isn't is probably delusional. As for the sniping about why he, as a gay man, is performing with Anna Trebunskaya, is suspect it is because he has nothing to prove, he's lived in the public eye as an openly gay man since 2003.
Next in line, for me, is Ricki Lake. The naysayers might be after her because she's danced before, but that was once. For one project in 1988. I'm sure she's probably boogied down since, but with a public weight loss and her documentary The Business of Being Born, I think it demonstrates she's comfortable with herself, willing to put herself out there. Plus she's been matched with a confident exhibitionist himself, Derek Hough.
The ballroom is still one Hough short in my opinion, but this season there will be TWO Chmerkovskiys on the floor. Veteran Maksim will be paired with athlete Hope Solo. I had not heard of her before the announcement and found out she was a soccer player, which would explains things as I got quite enough exposure to soccer in six years in Latin America. But she's an athlete, used to a strict training regime and that has paid off in the past.
Maksim's younger brother Val, after a number of exhibition performances, will take the floor with Elisabetta Canalis. Everyone wants to call her George Clooney's ex (which she is), but after having poured through every single episode of Leverage (four seasons people!), I call her The Italian. Her accent was VERY thick then, but perhaps European and East European will be a good blend.
The other athlete in this season's cast is Ron Artest. I know, mostly from gossip, he's a basketball player and that his partner is a newly crowned pro. I hope she is tall, because I thought, as hard as he tried, Rick Fox's height worked against him when he competed.
Chynna Phillips, on the other hand, I do know. She's been paired with Tony Dovolani. In her public life, Chynna has always seemed very serious and proper. I remember, in early Wilson Phillips interviews, thinking she was embarrassed by Carnie Wilson's comfortable baudiness. I would love to see her prove me wrong, but I think she may have a Kathy Ireland type season - beautiful, princess-like interpretations of classic ballroom dances, but some trouble with the Latin, uptempo dances.
Almost done. Reality stars next. I have never watched anything having to do with any Kardashian EVER, and I saw a TINY clip of The Hills because a young band I liked had one of their songs put on the soundtrack. But both Rob Kardashian and Kristin Cavallari have been given good partners - Cheryl Burke and Mark Ballas, so their chances are not nil. I would give the edge to him over her as she's supposedly coming off a very public breakup and, according to interviews, all he needs to do is dance better than his sister.
J.R. Martinez of All My Children fills ABC's soap slot. I didn't know a lot about him and read his very encouraging story. Paired with Karina Smirnoff, relatively fresh from her success last year with Ralph Macchio, he can probably achieve something pretty special.
Which leaves Nancy Grace. I don't know what to say. Watching even parts of her show trouble me. It's a lot of shouting. She's got a newbie pro, too. Maybe there's a fan base who will help her make it past the first week.
