Now that Dancing with the Stars has crowned a new queen and king, the question becomes: How do Kristi and Mark rank among previous winners? Does their landslide victory earn them greater regard, or does it speak to a lack of formidable competition?As a refresher, all those who have laid claim to the mirrored-ball trophy:Season 1: Kelly Monaco and Alec MazoSeason 2: Drew Lachey and Cheryl BurkeSeason 3: Emmitt Smith and Cheryl BurkeSeason 4: Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne HoughSeason 5: Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough Season 6: Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark BallasWho is your all-time favorite? Who truly showed growth and a never-tapped-into aptitude for ballroom dancing, then groomed it to flourish? Cast your vote here! And elaborate on your vote in comments.
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As if the Season 6 semi-finals weren't reason enough to be in a party mood, Season 3 champ Emmitt Smith entered the ballroom just before show time and did the funky chicken all the way across the floor to his ringside seat. "I'm not sure if he was here to support me or Cheryl [Burke, his pro partner]," joked Jason Taylor, who reached out to Smith before signing on to do Dancing with the Stars." "Emmitt gave me a lot of advice in the beginning and everything that he said came true," says Taylor. "He said, 'You're going to have fun with it. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of practice. It's a lot of media stuff. It's challenging, but you're going to be in great shape. And I think you're going to love it.'"Taylor says his body has changed as a result of his 8-hour-a-day dance training schedule. He's more sleek, more ripped, and hoping that the new muscles will help him get to those slippery quarterbacks a little faster. Says his pro partner, Edyta Sliwinska, "Jason told me tha...
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If anyone had told me a year ago today that I would be standing on Stage 46 at the CBS studios vying for my second championship on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, I would have asked them what on earth they'd been smoking!
You can't imagine how exciting and what a whirlwind these last few weeks have been. Emmitt Smith and I have traveled a long road to get here — most of it via airplane! We were the only team that traveled to and from Los Angeles each week, back and forth from Emmitt's hometown of Dallas. (Not sure if you're aware, but he's a bit of a hero there, what with his three Super Bowl championships for the Cowboys and all.) I got the chance to experience the graciousness of Dallas' citizens, and let me tell you, when that city supports you, they really support you! But we were also
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Never in my lifetime did I think I would be competing for a trophy in a ballroom-dancing competition. There are a lot of things I imagined myself doing after retiring from football, but I can safely say that this wasn't one of them.
I had been asked before to do the show, but the timing was never right. This season, Season 3, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and most importantly, my wife, Pat, gave me her blessing to take part. I'm not sure if everyone realizes this, but the time commitment to give this show your all is enormous. In fact, Cheryl Burke had to relocate from Los Angeles and train with me in Dallas for six weeks before the show ever even hit the air. It was our version of training camp, something I understand quite well.
I was a little worried that Pat wouldn't love the idea of me spending so much time away from the
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This show really knows how to take a theme and run with it.... And we’re talking marathon lengths. This Halloween checklist had it all: smoke on the floor, black lipstick, songs about witchcraft, and fangs. I thought for sure someone was going to dance to "The Monster Mash," but they proved me wrong. (However, they weren’t about having someone dance to Ghostbusters.) I guess you could say the show was a little excessive with its Halloween enthusiasm, sort of like a coworker who decorates his or her cubicle for every holiday imaginable... oh wait, I do that. OK, so I liked the Halloween cheesefest of an episode. It was different, and it made last night’s show stand out. And at this late stage in the season, when the shows can start blending together, that’s a good thing. One contestant who really got into the theme was Joey Lawrence. From his playful opening tango to The Addams Family theme song to his confident, heck-of-a-costume paso doble, Joey was on his game ...
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