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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Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska by Kelsey McNeal/ABC
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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Cheryl Burke, Dancing with the Stars
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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Emmitt Smith, Dancing with the Stars
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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Even after being told he was voted out, Jerry Springer was still cracking jokes: “Thank you for having me. And thank you for letting me go home.” It’s that mixture of sincere humbleness and self-deprecating humor that I’m going to miss most about Jerry. I think Tom Bergeron said it best when he called Jerry “the heart and soul of this show.” This season would not have been the same without him. He gave the show a sweet paternal subplot, a little age variety and some wry commentary — much funnier commentary than Samantha Harris provides (could he possibly sub for her the remainder of the season? Just a suggestion). And in spite of his constant wisecracks, he didn’t treat this competition merely as a joke — he did try to learn the dances. While he sometimes fell short in terms of natural ability and technique, he did succeed in entertaining the crowd. Jerry, you will be missed.Speaking of people missed, MIA Season 1 professional champ Alec ...
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Monique Coleman has been all about girl power and “representing the women” these past two weeks, as she remains the last female star standing in this competition. Though she feels the female stars have been judged more harshly than the male stars this season, the more obvious double standard that the judges have been applying isn’t so much a male vs female thing as a Jerry vs non-Jerry thing. Their comments to Jerry Springer go something like this (and I’m paraphrasing): “Jerry, great job for just getting out there and trying. And bonus points for moving around a bit.” Their comments to everyone else: “Mario, good job and all, but be careful with the floppy arms.... Joey, well done, but watch the somewhat sloppy turns.” The judges admit that Jerry’s not doing the same level of dancing as the rest of the contestants, but then they go and give him all eights for his fox-trot, which he sort of walked through. Yes, Jerry is older than his com...
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Looks like we're in for another fun season of Dancing with the Stars, the kind of show that defines reality TV as a guilty pleasure. It's hard not to watch this gaudy bauble of harmless fluff without a goofy grin on your face, at times because of the train-wreck spectacle of the terminally rhythm-less (Tucker Carlson, who didn't even dance half of his dance, content to make faces and laugh it all off) and at times because of the sheer joy of performance, whether it's Emmitt Smith's crowd-pleasing playfulness, Mario Lopez's boyish exuberance or Willa Ford's unexpected elegance. (She could be this season's Stacy Keibler.)Handicapping these so-called stars is almost as silly a pastime as watching them, but really, who can resist asking questions like who is this season's Drew Lachey, Lopez or the startlingly buff Joey Lawrence, who looks like Mr. Clean on steroids. My money's on Lopez. Or as judge Bruno Tonioli might call him, the Energizer Bunny, as in: "Do you have extra batteries in...
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Loved the new bigger and better set. The chandeliers and balcony seats add a kind of theater glamour to the show. Tom Bergeron was back in top form with his snappy comments, proving he's one of the best reality-show hosts out there. And the judges were back to bickering amongst themselves in no time. As for the new crop of stars, some lived up to expected awkwardness, while some surprised.Let's start with the top of the pack: Mario Lopez. Sure, I expected A.C. Slater could dance well; after all, he had some pretty killer moves back at those Bayside High dances. But I never expected his dancing to be that good: those hips, those feet, those dimples. Did I mention his dancing was really good? He has the lean body of a dancer, and could almost pass for one of the professionals. And right on his heels in the competition was Emmitt Smith. After fellow football great Jerry Rice made it to runner-up in the competition last year, it should be no surprise that football players can dance. But...
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