Reality Rumors

“Dancing with the Stars” is back — and so are the low score paddles.

While model-actress Brooke Burke dominated the dancing competition with a score of 23 out of 30, several of the seventh season celebrity participants began at the bottom of the pack. Television legend Cloris Leachman received a lousy 16. “All My Children” matriarch Susan Lucci was given a measly 15. And celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito cooked up a lukewarm 14.

“I forgot we had a 4,” quipped host Tom Bergeron of the low score paddle flashed to DiSpirito.

However, the lowest number — a pathetic 12 — went to comedian Jeffrey Ross, who suffered a scratched cornea after his partner Edyta Sliwinska accidentally poked him during a rehearsal Monday. Ross wasn’t the only performer to dance despite suffering a previous injury. Professional dancer Karina Smirnoff, who’s partnered with DiSpirito, sprained her ankle.

Leachman brought the most drama to the ballroom. After dancing, the 82-year-old actress lifted her leg onto the judges’ table, fell to her knees in front of Len Goodman and then sat on Carrie Ann Inaba’s lap as the arbiters attempted to evaluate her routine. She wasn’t any more subdued backstage. Her reaction to her low score had to be censored.

“They can’t even add up the numbers, they’re so stupid here,” she said, grabbing an off-camera card with her score.

Celebrities who managed to score above 15 included singers Lance Bass and Toni Braxton; reality TV star Kim Kardashian; actors Cody Linley and Ted McGinley; NFL star Warren Sapp; and Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Maurice Greene. One dancing couple will be eliminated Tuesday. Following another routine, a second team will be sent home Wednesday.

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Source: AP News

Two couples are to be eliminated from the first week of competition on the upcoming seventh season of the U.S. series “Dancing with the Stars,” ABC said.

The latest edition of the show is to debut Sept. 22, the network said, adding that the Jonas Brothers and Jesse McCartney are scheduled to perform on the Sept. 24 episode.

“Season Seven marks the largest cast assembled to date, the oldest and youngest competitors ever, and includes two Olympic Gold medalists, a Grammy-winning singer, a television legend, an Oscar winner and a Super Bowl champion,” ABC said in a news release. “Additionally, all four professional dancers who’ve previously tasted the thrill of victory return to compete against one another for bragging rights. Can one of them reclaim the mirror ball trophy?”

For the first time, all 13 teams will be required to prepare two routines for the first week of competition, one of which they’ll perform that first Monday night.

Those competing are singer Lance Bass, singer Toni Braxton, actress Brooke Burke, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, Olympic runner Maurice Greene, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, soap star Susan Lucci and 82-year-old actress Cloris Leachman.

“Hannah Montana” co-star Cody Linley, 18, is the youngest contestant to appear on the show. Also slated to compete are volleyball champ Misty May-Treanor, actor Ted McGinley, comedian Jeffrey Ross and Superbowl hero Warren Sapp.

Lance Bass is reportedly ready to show-off some of his boy-band dance moves.

The former ‘N Sync member is “locked and loaded” to appear as a Dancing with the Stars seventh-season celebrity participant this fall, an insider told the New York Daily News in a Thursday report.

Bass first confirmed speculation that he was gay in July 2006 and at the same time disclosed that he was in a relationship with The Amazing Race fourth-season co-winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, as the two met when he served as Bass’ real estate agent.

Last year, he began developing a reality show that would form a new all-gay boy band for Logo, MTV Networks’ gay-focused cable network.

Bass would be the second former ‘N Sync member to participate in Dancing with the Stars, as Joey Fatone finished as the ABC reality series’ fourth-season runner-up with professional partner Kym Johnson.

Karina Smirnoff’s representative has confirmed the Ukrainian-born dancer has split up with her U.S. actor boyfriend Mario Lopez.

The couple began dating in 2006 when they were paired together on the dance competition TV show “Dancing with the Stars.”

“Karina has parted ways with her two-year relationship with Mario Lopez,” Smirnoff’s representative told People.com. “The relationship wasn’t heading in the right direction.”

“Karina and I have the utmost respect for each other. She is a phenomenal and talented woman. I support her always and feel blessed to have her in my life,” Lopez said in a separate statement issued to People.com by his representative.

Paula Abdul’s interest in participating in ABC’s Dancing with the Stars may have hit a snafu, as American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe apparently isn’t a fan of the idea.

“As far as I’m concerned, Paula is American Idol and our judge,” said Lythgoe in In Touch Weekly’s June 2 issue. “It’s like asking [fellow judge Simon Cowell] to sing. Why would I want that? It chips away at you.”

Word that Abdul was interested in going Dancing first surfaced when Dancing with the Stars professional Louis van Amstel said Abdul expressed interest in the ABC show in January. Dancing host Tom Bergeron later claimed Abdul told him she’d “love” to compete on the show.

Abdul subsequently confirmed her interest last month when she said she was “hypothetically thinking about it,” causing Dancing with the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli to gush about how much he’d want her on the show.

While Lythgoe may be against allowing Abdul compete on the ABC series, he admits that she’d probably do fairly well due to her various endeavors as a choreographer.

“She would be brilliant,” Lythgoe told In Touch. “But she was a dancer, so why would a dancer go on a dancing show? That doesn’t seem fair to me!”

Kristi Yamaguchi and her professional dance partner Mark Ballas were declared the winners of the U.S. dance competition “Dancing with the Stars” Tuesday night.

Yamaguchi and Ballas beat out their fellow finalists Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska for the honor in the show’s Season 6 finale.

Yamaguchi, an Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater, is the first female celebrity to win the coveted mirror ball since Kelly Monaco did so in Season 1.

“This is just the icing on the cake,” Yamaguchi said upon learning her fate. “I honestly from the bottom of my heart thank all of the fans out there and everyone involved with ‘Dancing with the Stars’ from the crew, hair and makeup. … Everyone who has made this a dream experience.”

Tonight will decide the winner of Dancing With the Stars’ sixth season. But it may also settle the debate that has raged among fans from the beginning. Is DWTS a dance competition or a popularity contest?

The best performer during Monday night’s two dances – a “cha-cha faceoff” and the final freestyle – was the celebrity who has been the best (by far) all season: Kristi Yamaguchi. Her cha-cha was wow-wow, and she and partner Mark Ballas whirred, kicked, hipped and hopped through a high-energy freestyle. Simply put, neither Jason Taylor nor Cristián de la Fuente could come even close to matching Kristi’s style or precision. Of course, that’s been the crux of another debate that’s been waged among viewers this season – does Kristi, the Olympic-champion ice skater, hold an unfair advantage over her competitors with their dance-free résumés?

After Monday night, it seems a moot point verging on sour grapes. Kristi was and is the best dancer, by far, and judging by the judges (who couldn’t wait to start waving perfect 10s at Kristi), she deserves to win and become the first woman to win since the debut season. But if the show is a popularity contest, then the winner is likely to be – who? Up until a couple of weeks ago, the easy answer was Jason Taylor, the football star who has turned out to be a natural on the dance floor. But then Cristián hurt his arm, and ever since he’s been wincing with pain and grabbing his injured arm while insisting that he doesn’t want any sympathy. He can’t dance, but if that mattered he wouldn’t be in the finals anyway.

Jason is the best symbol of this show’s professed premise – to challenge a bunch of amateurs to find and unleash their inner dancers. But Kristi Yamaguchi is the best dancer. So which will it be? My one-word prediction: Kristi.

By TOM MAURSTAD / The Dallas Morning News

ABC’s ‘Dancing’ fell from last week’s cycle high.

Down to its final three contestants, Fox’s “American Idol” climbed a notch from last week to rule Tuesday night.

“Idol” (24 million viewers, 8.6 preliminary adults 18 to 49 rating and a 2.4 share) came in first place for the night. Lead-out “Hell’s Kitchen” (12.4 million, 5.5/14) continued to show strength behind “Idol” and matched its series high.

Coming in second place, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” fell 9% from last week’s cycle high. The drop is likely due to a lower lead-in this round from “According to Jim” (4.4 million, 1.4/4). At 10 p.m., “Women’s Murder Club” (8.5 million, 2.1/6) tied CBS for second place in the hour.

CBS was close behind ABC in third place, with “NCIS” (14.7 million, 3.0/9), “Shark” (10.2 million, 2.1/5) and a repeat.

Fourth-ranked NBC won 10 p.m. with the season finale of “Law & Order: SVU” (11.3 million, 3.8/10) despite two hours of repeats for a lead-in.

The CW aired “Beauty and the Geek” (1.5 million, 0.7/2) and “Reaper” (2 million, 0.9/2), the latter slipping a notch from its recent average despite the news of its last-minute renewal.

By James Hibberd

Kristi Yamaguchi, Cristian de la Fuente and Jason Taylor Tuesday made it into the final round of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Broadway star Marissa Jaret Winokur was voted off the show with just one week to go in the season.

Winokur and partner Tony Dovolani danced a rumba and a tango on Monday’s live show. The show’s judges found the performance lacking.

“It’s been incredible. No one expected us to get us this far,” Winokur said.

“Through all the ups and downs of the competition, we were always a team,” said Dovolani, who described Winokur’s personality as “infectious.”

Yamaguchi, an Olympic gold medal skater paired with professional dancer Mark Ballas, has been a favorite since the beginning of the season.

Two weeks ago, de la Fuente, a Chilean actor paired with professional dancer Cheryl Burke, suffered a ruptured tendon in his left arm during a samba. He danced the samba again Monday, earning a near-perfect score.

Taylor, paired with Edyta Sliwinska, was this season’s NFL Man of the Year. He has played defensive end for the Miami Dolphins for more than a decade.

Next week the contestants will all dance to the same song and then dance a free-style routine.

Singer Mario became the latest contestant Tuesday tossed off ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Judges sharply criticized Mario’s technique in Monday’s round and scored him third among the five remaining contestants. However, he failed to gain sufficient votes among viewers to make it to the semi-finals next week. His professional partner was Karina Smirnoff.

Football star Jason Taylor, ice skating champ Kristi Yamaguchi, Broadway star Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Chilean movie and television star Cristian de la Fuente return next week.

Last week, de la Fuente suffered a ruptured tendon in his left arm during a samba and Monday used just his right arm to perform lifts in his dance routines with partner Cheryl Burke.