88 replies to this topic

[miliosr]

Here is the cast for the upcoming All-Stars season. (Numbers in parentheses reflect original season and finishing position):

Kirstie Alley (12, 2nd)
Pamela Anderson (10, 6th) (YEA)
Helio Castroneves (5, 1st) (BARF -- should be in jail)
Joey Fatone (4, 2nd)
Shawn Johnson (8, 1st)
Drew Lachey (2, 1st) (YEA)
Gilles Marini (8, 2nd) (YEA)
Kelly Monaco (1, 1st)
Apolo Anton Ohno (4, 1st)
Bristol Palin (11, 3rd) (BARF)
Melissa Rycroft (8, 3rd)
Emmitt Smith (3, 1st)

Breakout by season:

01 -- 1
02 -- 1
03 -- 1
04 -- 2
05 -- 1
08 -- 3
10 -- 1
11 -- 1
12 -- 1

There will also be a fan "vote-in" for one of the following:

Sabrina Bryant (5, 7th)
Carson Kressley (13, 8th)
Kyle Massey (11, 2nd)

Pairings:

Kirstie/Maks*
Pamela/Tristan (YEA)
Helio/Chelsie
Joey/Kym*
Shawn/Derek
Drew/Anna
Gilles/Peta
Kelly/Val
Apolo/Karina
Bristol/Mark*
Melissa/Tony*
Emmitt/Cheryl*

*Original partnership maintained for All-Stars

[cubanmiamiboy]

More weight loss for Alley...

[Helene]

Pretty brave: at least five former champions won't repeat.

They should forget about Carson Kressley as a competitor and hire him to replace Brooke Burke-Charvet.

[miliosr]

Pretty brave: at least five former champions won't repeat.

I'm wondering who will get partnered with Cheryl as three of her former partners (Drew, Emmitt and Gilles) are competing.

They should forget about Carson Kressley as a competitor and hire him to replace Brooke Burke-Charvet.

From your keyboard to God's inbox. I didn't think it was humanly possible for someone to be worse than Samantha Harris but Brooke has defied the odds and achieved the impossible.

[Jayne]

I'd vote in Sabrina, she has some talent. I wished for other competitors, but Shawn Johnson earned her win with a highly technical, inventive performance and I am pleased to cheer her on this fall.

[BocaBallerina]

I don't think that there is any fairness in having an "All-Star" season with 5 past champions! It should give those who did not win the first time around another chance to do so. There were so many incredible stars that did so well and didn't win simply because of popularity.

Don't think I will make time in my TV schedule to watch this.

[miliosr]

I've updated my original post to reflect the pairings announced today.

[sidwich]

Interesting pairings for this season. I'm not sure if this the best move for the show since so much of the throughlines are about people taking on new challenges, but the dancing should be interesting.

Even with the five past champions, though, my early money is on Gilles and Peta.

[sidwich]

With the addition of Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel, I'm going to put them down as my wild card. I don't think Sabrina has the fan base to take them all the way, but Louis has never had a strong dancer for a celeb partner on the show, so this should be mighty interesting. He's used to coaching competitors, and actually coached many of the pros on the show in their competitive days, so having a strong dancer in Sabrina could throw a curveball into the show.

[Helene]

Van Amstel has been my favorite pro ever since Nick Kosovich left the show in an early season. I hope he can stay in a long, long time with Sabrina Bryan.

[miliosr]

With the addition of Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel, I'm going to put them down as my wild card. I don't think Sabrina has the fan base to take them all the way, but Louis has never had a strong dancer for a celeb partner on the show, so this should be mighty interesting. He's used to coaching competitors, and actually coached many of the pros on the show in their competitive days, so having a strong dancer in Sabrina could throw a curveball into the show.

I agree that she doesn't have the fan base necessary to drive to the Final Four. However, as you rightly point out, Louis finally has a celebrity amateur at his disposal who can actually execute his ideas. In the past, the knock on Louis has been that he has overwhelmed his celebrity partners with too complicated routines which are completely beyond their skill sets.

[miliosr]

In advance of the season premiere on the 24th, I thought I would do a little analysis and handicapping of the men's and women's fields. Let's take the women's field first. On the whole, I find the general level of the female all-stars to be less than that of their male counterparts. Unfortunately for the competition, several strong competitors from seasons past cannot compete in All-Stars: Mel B. (2nd in Season 5) and Nicole Scherzinger (1st in Season 10) have other professional commitments, Brooke Burke (1st in Season 7) is hosting the show, and Stacy Keebler (3rd in Season 2) wanted to return for All-Stars but, according to the tabloids, her boyfriend George Clooney vetoed that idea. So, we are left with the following:

Kirstie/Maks: I am hard-pressed to see this pair making it to the halfway mark. Kirstie's issues with her weight were novel during her first season but I don't think that will work again for this season. (Has she kept the weight off?) Maks' popularity has taken various hits in the last few seasons, most recently due to the allegations Hope Solo has made about him in her trashy book. Truth be told, their best week together in their regular season was Week 1 and it was all stagnation after that. That is not going to cut it in a season as stacked with talent as this one.

Pamela/Tristan: I loved her during her regular season and thought she had ability. However, she was under the red lights of doom practically every week so I question how much more advanced her fan base has become since then. I don't see her making the halfway mark unless she and Tristan really come out on fire during Week 1. (Tristan's popularity may buy her some time.)

Sabrina/Louis: Sabrina got her wish -- she can try to avenge her "unjust" ouster during her regular season. The good news for her is that Louis will really be able to put his choreographic talents to work as she will be able to execute his more complicated ideas. The bad news for her is that I still don't know if she has a strong enough fan base to carry her to the Final Four. I can see her making it to the halfway point and then getting eliminated.

Shawn/Derek: I have to say that this pairing is the strongest of the female celebrity amateur/male professional pairings. Shawn is ridiculously fit, has a large and vocal fan base, and is paired with three-time winner Derek. They would really have to screw up not to make it to the Final Four.

Kelly/Val: I'm on the fence about this one. Kelly is a previous winner but she won in Season 1. Standards have risen considerably since then (to the point where it's almost a different show) and I don't know how Kelly will fare against much more serious competition. Complicating matters further is the fact that General Hospital is on the wane so I don't what kind of fan base she has these days. Finally, Val still labors in the shadow of his brother and has not established himself the way Tristan has. They will have to have crazy chemistry from the get-go or they will be an early boot.

Bristol/Mark: Her prior appearance on the show was more of a political statement than a dance statement. Due to all the controversy surrounding her (in)famous mother, her vote was more about the blue state-red state divide than it was about the quality of her dancing (which sucked.) Well, her mother isn't quite what she once was so I don't see the same kind of energy around Bristol this time. I suspect she will be gone by the halfway mark.

Melissa/Tony: She drew a lot of support during her regular season because of what happened on The Bachelor. Like Bristol, I question whether she still has that same headwind behind her. However, she is young(ish) and fit so she should be able to keep pace physically. The wild card here is Tony, who is not known as the most imaginative choreographer on the show. He will have to improve his offerings if he wants them to stick around for any significant amount of time.

So, to summarize, the only pairing I see as a lock for the Final Four is Shawn/Derek. I can also see Sabrina/Louis and Melissa/Tony making it past the halfway point but don't know how much further they can get past that.

Coming up: The men's field!

[Helene]

Brooke Burke (1st in Season 7) is hosting the show

This could have been the solution to getting her out of the host spot for good. Bummer.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Kirstie's issues with her weight were novel during her first season but I don't think that will work again for this season. (Has she kept the weight off?)

At the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Spring 2012.

[Helene]

Alley looks great!