Dancing with the Stars Season 7: Who Are the 13 New Stars?

Early this morning, ABC's Dancing With the Stars announced its new lineup for next season. After hearing the list of the 13 stars who will be dancing this season, my mother proclaimed: "sounds just like the cast of The Love Boat!"

I had to agree with her. This list of performers makes Dancing With the Stars seem very much like a post millennium Love Boat. This old show from the eighties featured a rag tag group of what we could loosely term "stars" whose careers were in great need of resuscitation. The guest stars on The Love Boat were often what we would now call "D-List" stars who hoped to save their careers by appearing on the popular show.

The same could be said of Dancing With the Stars. Many celebs with declining popularity jockey for a spot on the hot show Dancing With the Stars in order to revive their flagging careers. This is why each list of "celebrities" appearing on Dancing With the Stars seems stranger than the last. Only a few of the chosen stars on this season's Dancing with the Stars seem interesting or appropriate choices for the cast.

Here's a look at the new crop of dancers for the next season of Dancing With the Stars.

Susan Lucci seems like an excellent choice for Dancing With the Stars. Not only is she a popular soap opera star, she is also an accomplished cabaret performer. She seems like a natural, and it will be interesting to see how she does on Dancing With the Stars.

Dancing With the Stars loves to feature athletes on the show. The Beijing Olympics was a ratings success, so it's no surprise that Dancing With the Stars would choose 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist Misty May-Treanor to be in the new cast. Maurice Greene, another gold medal winning athlete from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, will also be performing on Dancing With the Stars this season.

Singer Toni Braxton seems like another fine choice for Dancing With the Stars. Her musical background makes her a great choice for the cast. She's been out of the spotlight for a while, so it will be interesting to see her on Dancing With the Stars.

The rest of the new Dancing With the Stars cast has some unusual and predictable choices. It looks like Dancing With the Stars is becoming formulaic in its choice of performers. New cast member Lance Bass is another ex-boy band member like Dancing with the Stars performers Joey Fatone and Drew Lachey.

Dancing with the Stars new cast member Cody Linley of "Hannah Montana" fame is very similar to the choice of "Cheetah Girl" Sabrina Bryan on an earlier season of Dancing With the Stars.

The rest of the cast of the new Dancing With the Stars is downright bizarre. We'll see controversial chef Rocco DiSpirito, reality show princess Kim Kardashian, pin up model and TV host Brooke Burke, football champ Warren Sapp, comedian Jeffrey Ross, and actor Ted McGinley (who is as much in need of a career revival as former Dancing With the Stars performer Steve Guttenberg.)

The most surprising entry in the new Dancing With the Stars cast is respected actress Cloris Leachman. We've loved her acting and enjoyed her comedy, but never really thought of her as a dancer. This is an intriguing choice for Dancing With the Stars, and proves that dancing and performing is not just for the young.

In the spirit of former Dancing with The Stars performer John Ratzenberger, Cloris Leachman is sure to show some of that old razzle dazzle and display lots of finesse. It will be interesting to see how Ms. Leachman fares on this season of Dancing With the Stars.

Will this installment of Dancing With the Stars give the contestants their much needed 15 minutes of fame? Tune in and find out, when the new season of Dancing With the Stars premieres Sept 22, 2008 on ABC television.