The cast was announced today as well as who would be paired with the new cast of stars.
After the jump, see a rundown of the dancers and my thoughts...
 | Zendaya Coleman Known For: Disney show Shake it Up Age: 16 Professional Partner: Val Chmerkovskiy, highest placement--3rd |
 | Andy Dick Known For: Actor/Comedian Age: 47 Professional Partner: Sharna Burgess, newcomer from the DWTS Troupe |
 | Dorothy Hamill Known For: Olympic Figure Skater Age: 56 Professional Partner: Tristan MacManus, highest placement--5th |
 | D.L. Hughley Known For: Actor/Comedian Age: 49 Professional Partner: Cheryl Burke, 2-time DWTS winner |
 | Jacoby Jones Known For: NFL Player (Baltimore Ravens) Age: 28 Professional Partner: Karina Smirnoff, 1-time DWTS winner |
 | Wynonna Judd Known For: Country Singer Age: 48 Professional Partner: Tony Dovolani, 1-time DWTS winner |
 | Sean Lowe Known For: Current Bachelor Age: 29 Professional Partner: Peta Murgatroyd, 1-time DWTS winner |
 | Victor Ortiz Known For: Boxer Age: 26 Professional Partner: Lindsay Arnold (from So You Think You Can Dance, finished 8th) |
 | Kellie Pickler Known For: Country Singer, American Idol Alum Age: 26 Professional Partner: Derek Hough, 3-time DWTS winner |
 | Ingo Rademacher Known For: Actor, General Hospital Age: 41 Professional Partner: Kym Johnson, 2-time DWTS winner |
 | Aly Raisman Known For: Olympic Gymnast, member of the "Fab Five" from London Age: 18 Professional Partner: Mark Ballas, 2-time DWTS winner |
 | Lisa Vanderpump Known For: Reality TV Show: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Age: 41 Professional Partner: Gleb Savchenko, newcomer from the Australian version of DWTS |
The first thing to note is that Sean Lowe, aka The Bachelor, has NOT been confirmed by ABC as a cast member...he was not announced today along with all the rest. However, I trust RealitySteve and his spoilers, and he says that Sean is most definitely dancing this season. He believes he will be announced on the After The Final Rose live show in a couple weeks. His sources tell him that Peta will be his partner.
OK, so my first thoughts when I quickly scanned the list of "stars"--I was very underwhelmed to say the least. Of the 11 announced, there were 5 that I had never heard of or knew little to nothing about (Jacoby Jones, Lisa Vanderpump, Zendaya Coleman, Ingo Rademacher, Victor Ortiz). Most of the others, I am not a huge fan of, so the list seemed pretty blah to me (which, to be honest, usually happens every season). As I read a few articles and did some more research, I began to get kind of excited (for at least a few things):
1. Derek Hough is returning! He wasn't sure if he would be able to with some other projects he's working on.
2. Kellie Pickler is paired with Derek Hough! This is like a match made in heaven...couldn't be more awesome. She's so fun and absolutely hilarious, and we all know Derek likes to have fun, so I think they are going to be a very fun pair to watch. With her personality, a ton of loyal country fans and Derek being arguably the most popular pro, these 2 are guaranteed to be in it for the long haul.
3. Mark Ballas is paired with Aly Raisman! This is going to be another favorite pair for me. Mark gets his 2nd gymnast (the other being Shawn Johnson, whom he won with). They are going to be very competitive. Another bonus for Aly--she has experience on the DWTS dancefloor! She performed in Shawn Johnson's freestyle number in the finale, alongside her other Fab Five members.
4. Sean Lowe's abs! I've loved Sean ever since he appeared on The Bachelorette. I hope he has a few more moves than his Bachelor predecessor, Jake Pavelka. Jake wasn't horrible, but he was pretty stiff and he didn't last very long. I think Sean is more popular than Jake was, so I hope his fans will vote to keep those abs, and the rest of him around. I think Peta will be a perfect partner for him.
5. Andy Dick is funny and very unpredictable, so he could be very fun to watch live. He may not last long with an unknown partner, though.
6. Ingo Rademacher--as soon as I saw his picture, I realized I know exactly who he is. I had no idea that's what his name was, but I've most definitely seen him before, and I like him. He should be fun to watch, as he is paired with Aussie Kym Johnson....2 Aussies! Coincidence?
Those are the things I'm most excited about this season. Some other thoughts? Well...
1. Tristan gets paired with another old lady (sorry Dorothy). That poor guy! What does an up-and-coming fan-favorite got to do to get someone less than 40 with some talent? Geez! I love Tristan, and I think he's so talented. It would be nice if they would at least give him a chance to stick around past the half-way point. He's appeared on 3 seasons previously, and his partners were: Nancy Grace (53), Gladys Knight (68) and Pamela Anderson (45). Add Dorothy Hamill (56) to that list now :( There is one plus side, and that being that she's an athlete, and among athletes, figure skaters and Olympians have fared very, very well in the past. So, age aside, it looks like Dorothy might give him the best chance he's had so far.
2. Although Jacoby Jones joins a long list of football players to dance on this show, he's a relative nobody. So, unless he has a fun, unique personality that the viewers connect with right away, he might not last long. Chances are he probably has some talent (because just about every football player who's been on the show has), and he has Karina as a partner, so that doesn't hurt either.
.3 Zendaya Coleman is even less known than any of her other Disney Channel friends, and she's the youngest this season. She's got a big hill to climb. Likable Val as a partner will help her a little. But as we all know, fan votes on this show count for a lot. It doesn't matter how talented you are if no one votes for you.
4. Tony has the same constant unfortunate luck as Tristan. Tony rarely gets someone young and with talent. He lucked out with Melissa Rycroft (whom he just won the All-Star season, last season). Unfortunately, he gets stuck with Wynona this season. I see her being similar to a Kirstie Alley. In that case, she might surprise a lot of people, or she might just have no rhythm, flexibility or stamina.
5. Lisa Vanderpump...ugh...what can I say? I can't stand anyone from any of the Real Housewives series. Many people won't know her, she's older, AND she has a partner who's never been on the show before. My guess is she will be in the bottom and one of the first to go.
6. Victor Ortiz has the most untested partner in Lindsay Arnold. Critics are wondering how she managed to go straight to pro off her mediocre finish on So You Think You Can Dance. Most of the pros worked their way up to pro partner by being featured in the Troupe. Lindsay is fresh off SYTYCD last season. It will be interesting to see how she copes with creating weekly routines. We've seen other boxers on the show who are pretty light on their feet, so I expect him to be about the same.
7. Last but not least, D.L. Hughley. Of all the dancers this season, I don't really have any opinions about him. He might be good, or he might be stiff. I don't particularly find him all that funny, so we'll see if he can make a connection with the audience. Having a very popular, 2-time winner (Cheryl) as his partner should get him through the first few rounds, I would think.
Photos from: TVLine.com and RealitySteve.com
Information from: RealitySteve.com, RealityNation.com and TVGuide.com
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