"Dancing with the Stars" Season 12 Kicks Off

The new season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” premiered last night (March 21st, 2011), and to the tune of more than 22 million viewers! The 12th run of the hit show has a new crop of celebrities that come from all areas of entertainment, including reality TV, wrestling, and professional sports. Host Tom Bergeron has called it “the widest ranging collection of stars we’ve ever assembled.” The pairings for this season are as follows: Talk show host Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani, WWE wrestler Chris Jericho & Cheryl  Burke, Actress Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Rapper Lil’ Romeo & Chelsea Hightower, NFL star Hines Ward & Kym Johnson, radio show host Mike Catherwood & Lacey Schwimmer, Former Karate Kid actor Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff, Disney star Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas, Model Petra Nemcova & Dmitry Chaplin, Former boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard & Anna Trebunskaya, and E! Reality star Kendra Wilkinson & Louis Van Amstel.

Next week’s dance competition will be followed by the first elimination round on Tuesday (March 29th).

First to take the floor this past Monday night was the duo of Wendy Williams and her partner Tony Dovolani. The larger-than-life talk show host had appeared nervous and emotional in rehearsal clips that ran prior to the performance. Though she appeared slow and extremely tense while doing the Cha Cha Cha, the judges were very encouraging in their evaluation of Williams. She and Dovolani received an alright score of 18.

Second up doing the fox trot was Mark Ballas and Chelsea Kane. The 22-year-old Disney star dazzled in a sparkly number reminiscent of Jennifer Grey’s waltzing attire from last season as she and Mark seemed to glide around the dance floor with ease.  No doubt Chelsea’s slim and limber physique will be an advantage to her during this competition. The duo’s performance looked great, especially considering it’s the first night. They were given a modest 21.

Next up was dancing pro Kym Johnson and her partner, Pittsburgh Steelers player Hines Ward. Like many other athletes who have appeared on the show, Ward’s experience allowed him to move easily across the floor while entertaining the audience. The judges were also impressed after he and Kym finished their Cha Cha Cha, as Carrie Ann Inaba proclaimed, “That was the sparkliest cha cha ever!” Len Goodman also chimed in: “It was clean, it was crisp, you were confident.” (L.A. Times) Given all the positive input they received from the judges, Kym and Hines also received a modest score of 21.

After his father set the record low for combined scores on Season 2 of “Dancing with the Stars”, Master P’s son Romeo is paired with Chelsea Hightower for the new competition. And despite his ability to sing and rap, the 21-year-old is admittedly reluctant to embrace a new style of dancing. Full of energy and sporting a skimpy frock, Hightower maintained the enthusiasm throughout her and Romeo’s number. She showed off some killer moves, but the hip hop star was ultimately called out on his hesitancy to commit to the dance. Len reminded him, “You can’t dance as you like it; there’s technique and rules that you have to obey.” The duo scored a 19.
As for the duo of WWE star Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke, they certainly aren’t lacking in energy this season. Following their gig on Monday night’s premiere, Carrie Ann remarked, “It’s like a Chippendales Cha Cha.”  The judge also told Jericho, “It was really, really good, but I think you need to put a little more content in your dances.” Bruno echoed this notion, calling the dance “at times messy, but always entertaining.” With a score of 19 Burke and Jericho appeared giddy and ready to take on the competition.

Representing the beautiful models of the world, Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin took to the stage to perform the fox trot. In a nice gesture, Petra dedicated her first routine to the people of Japan. The supermodel had appeared visibly distraught in rehearsals, as she lost her fiancé to the Thailand Tsunami in 2004 and was severely injured in the disaster. Still, the gorgeous Nemcova managed to look incredibly elegant as Dmitry whisked her around to the tune of Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why”. Afterwards, Bruno praised Petra, saying there were “some moments of extreme beauty.” He then reminded her that she needs to sustain her movements better. While their foxtrot was beautiful, it was obvious that Chaplin did much of the work. Understandably Petra was nervous and a little bit shaken by the events surrounding her at the time. As a result the model appeared a little less on point and more like she was following along without the same spirit of her partner. Each judge gave them a 6, their total score adding up to 18. 

The spunky Kendra Wilkinson is one of this season’s biggest attractions, as she’s a former Playboy bunny and star of E!’s “Girls Next Door”. Prior to getting married and having a baby, the 25-year-old spent much of her time traveling the world and hanging out at the Playboy mansion. During a rehearsal clip she assured partner Louis Van Amstel that she would bring the heat, and given her athletic background, it's likely Kendra will do just that.  She and Louis did the Cha Cha Cha to the tune of some difficult choreography. Afterward, Len Goodman told the E! star, “you held my interest from start to finish," though "not always for the right reasons.” Bruno echoed this notion, saying that he appreciated Kendra's “full-frontal attack” but asserted that the dance was “not clean.” Louis and Wilkinson got a trio of 6’s for their performance, which seemed a little low given the difficult choreography. The total for the night was 18.

Former boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard is paired with the beautiful Anna Trebunskaya this season, and the two started things off with the fox trot. Rehearsal clips showed Leonard being extremely hard on himself, to the point he looked like he might cry. Fortunately he didn’t appear so shaken up when he and Trebunskaya danced along to Huey Lewis and the News’ “The Power of Love”. Judge Len Goodman was pretty straightforward in response to the couple’s performance, stating that while “the fox trot is fine wine and caviar, this was beer and a pizza.” Goodman also asserted that the “energy level was high”, but “dancing level was low.” Despite some harsh critiques, Sugar Ray Leonard and his partner of Anna managed to get a 17.

The lowest number of the night went to "Psycho Mike" Catherwood and his partner Lacey Schwimmer, whose foxtrot earned them a measly 13. The disappointing score was more than likely a result of the radio show host's clumsy performance combined with the possibility that his personality overshadowed the more serious routine. Staying true to himself, Catherwood took the first night's low score in stride. During the actual dance he looked like he was having a blast, and rehearsal clips also showed the 32-year-old making fun of himself.

On the other hand, the highest score of Monday night went to the original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio and his partner Karina Smirnoff. At 49 the actor certainly isn't one of the young bucks, yet he commanded the floor when they took on the fox trot. In a performance that was technically sound, Macchio also danced with the grace and fluidity necessary to earn him and his partner the number one spot on the score board. The duo received a 24, with judge Carrie Ann Inaba calling Ralph "an amazing surprise".

The most anticipated performance of the night was of course saved for last. Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy took on the Cha Cha Cha, and the former “Fat Actress” star nailed it! Quick on her feet and completely immersed in the moment, Alley’s enthusiasm was contagious as the crowd went wild for her and her sexy partner. Following the upbeat number, Judge Bruno Tonioli told her, “Your foot placement was the best of the night.” Carrie Ann also chimed in, calling the performance “Unbelievable”. Kirstie and Maks received the second-highest score of the evening with a 23. She later tweeted, “I feel like Cinderella tonight”.