Oh, what a long, strange trip it's been — 37 cities, 250 costumes and more than 200,000 rhinestones. But finally, Sunday at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, it was time for the Dancing with the Stars tour to come to an end. "It's bittersweet but I'm happy to go home," Cheryl Burke said after she joined the cast and a few crew members for their final pre-performance cheer. "I'm going to miss everyone," added Edyta Sliwinska. "I'm just really excited to sleep in my own bed."
But first there was a show to do. And what's a final show without a few surprises? The first non-scripted moment of the evening came when the entire crew joined the dancers on stage to dance the twist. Derek Hough was mid-move when he caught a glimpse of the crew, all dressed in black, doing the moves behind him and pointed out the impromptu dance party to his partner, who quickly burst into a smile. It was the first of
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This will be the third national tour for one of Dancing with the Stars' most popular pros, Cheryl Burke. Even before the fifth season ended at the end of November, the two-time champ started tour rehearsals and then packed up to hit the road again — without a single day off. There was just one fly in the ointment: A health scare the night before the tour's big opening night in Seattle on December 18th. After cramping on stage during final run-throughs, Burke was rushed to a Seattle emergency room and diagnosed with possible appendicitis. Thankfully, it wasn't. And after getting cleared by her family doctor, Burke is back on tour and in winning form.
To be accurate, maybe the tour should be called "SoftScrub Presents Dancing — and Singing — with the Stars." Because Las Vegas legend
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I don’t know about you, but I got my wish Tuesday night. Boiled down to three words: Anyone. But. Marie. Seriously folks, if Dancing with the Stars’ trophy had gone to Marie Osmond the underdog — or rather, underdoll, as I like to think of her after Monday’s bizarre freestyle nondance that would have been better suited for the Island of Misfit Toys — I might even have joined the legions of disgruntled fans who tend to declare "I’m never watching again" after each cycle when their favorite doesn’t win.And then, of course, they return the following season, because once hooked on this deliriously entertaining reality contest, few can resist the spectacle of watching B-list celebs put on their dancing shoes with varying degrees of nerve, style and success. New stars tend to emerge from this process, and few have blazed with such effortless charm than the eventual winner, Helio Castroneves, whom I’d bet very few outside of my Indy-500-obsessed fami...
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Although Wayne Newton's recurring heart infection recently acted up — forcing him to cancel a two-month gig at Harrah's Las Vegas — the legendary entertainer has been OK'd to tour with Dancing with the Stars. But listen, when the 38-city road trip begins on Dec. 18, cut the guy some slack if he refrains from lifting Joey Lawrence. — Ben Katner
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If you’re wondering what makes a legend, consider this: The morning after Wayne Newton was voted off Dancing with the Stars, "I was diagnosed with pneumonia," he says. "I spent about a week going through all kinds of physical tests with my personal doctor, [famed heart surgeon] Dr. Michael DeBaky — not for heart stuff, just breathing stuff. I've had asthma my whole life, but I hadn’t had an attack in maybe 20 years."Newton's close call spooked fellow contenders. After she collapsed on air — also from breathing problems — Marie Osmond says, "All I could think was, 'That could have been Wayne.' I was so worried about him."Newton, though, is made of tough entertainer stuff, and as such looks forward to not only returning for the DWTS finale, but also the national tour kicking off in mid-December. Toward that goal, this week he says he will seek "a clean bill of health from my doctors." — Reporting by Deborah Starr Seibel
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