Dancing with the Stars Season 9 Premiere - Night 1

Dancing with the Stars with a fan base of millions, returned to television sets tonight with an entire new cast of stars, a couple of new professional dancers, returning judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli and the much-loved hosting team of Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris.

Before the show even began there were injury reports. Tom DeLay incurred a pre-stress fracture in his foot requiring 20 minutes of icing for every hour of rehearsal. I'll bet that slowed things down a bit. Kathy Ireland received a non-dancing injury while surfing. She suffered a gash that required stitches at the hands of her doctor-husband. And there was the heart problem. No, no one suffered an attack but one of the pairs of professional partners is no more. Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff ended their engagement without revealing any details. Undoubtedly their professionalism will carry them through this trying time.

New This Season

New this season is the largest cast ever with 16 stars competing for the trophy. In order to give all the competitors a chance to show what they can do, the dance competition has been split by the sexes. The men danced Monday night and the women will compete Tuesday night. Wednesday will bring the Broadway cast of The Lion King to the dance floor, a tribute to actor-dancer Patrick Swayze and a dual elimination: one male, one female.

Also new this season was the requirement for contestants to perform two routines in the first week. The dancers were split between the Cha Cha Cha and the Foxtrot for their first number. The second number was a side-by-side comparison in a dance relay. Those who danced the Foxtrot competed against each other in a Salsa. Those who danced the Cha Cha Cha competed against each other in the Viennese Waltz. The groups were ranked from lowest to highest and awarded points according to their placement.

Recap of Tonight's Performances

Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff dancing the Cha Cha Cha,performed first. Aaron came out confident and maybe a tad too zealous. He has good arm extension but was a bit wild and overly exaggerated at times. He was quick and his movements sharp, definitely showing a lot of potential. The judges agreed calling the performance, sharp, edgy and from Carrie Ann "excellent." Aaron seized the Viennese Waltz relay portion of the night with great rotation and form.

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya gave a rough Viennese Waltz that displayed poor footwork, a lack of timing and terrible lines. Chuck wore an intense, pained expression through most of the dance that clearly showed how uncomfortable and out-of-his-element he felt. The pair's Salsa fared slightly better putting them in third place for the relay portion of the evening.

Mark Dacascos and Lacey Schwimmer were the third couple to dance for the evening. Mark's martial arts background was exploited for a Cha Cha Cha performed to the song Ku Fu Fighting. While his footwork was dodgy in Len's opinion, the overall performance showed potential, good hip movement and a sense of rhythm. Mark's Viennese Waltz showed a solid attempt to fulfill the technical requirements of the dance earning him a second place in that portion of the competition.

Ashley Hamilton and Edyta Sliwinska, the fourth pair of the evening attempted a Foxtrot Bruno called dead. Ashley lacked fluidity and danced with slumped shoulders. Though his basic footwork was correct, the overall performance was somewhat rough. The couple's performance in the Salsa relay did not improve their standing as they came in last.

Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson, the evening's crowd- favorite and fifth couple to dance showed they deserved the applause for more than just sentimental reasons with a solid Foxtrot. Though Len found it too theatrical for his tastes, the audience went absolutely insane. To prove they mean business, the pair also won the Salsa relay portion of the evening with smokin' performance.

Louie Vito andChelsie Hightower had a hard act to follow as the sixth pair to dance for the evening. Louie's footwork in the Foxtrot was good as were his hold, posture and technique. Len seemed more bothered by his shaggy, longish hair than by anything he did on the dance floor. The team did well in the Salsa relay with a routine that included some flips and tricks landing them in the second place slot for the relay.

Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova have a lot to prove. She is the rookie on Dancing with the Stars and he feels lost on the dance floor. Their Cha Cha Cha lacked much content and what was there was disappointing. Their Viennese Waltz showed improvement and won them the third place position for the relay.

Tom "The Hammer" DeLay and Cheryl Burke finished up the evening with their version of the Cha Cha Cha. "Surreal" was the word Carrie Ann chose to describe the experience. It wasn't exactly painful to watch, but it wasn't a pleasure either. The Viennese Waltz did not help as the pair found themselves in last place for the relay.

The ladies take the floor tomorrow night and the men can relax for the evening knowing they have already faced the judges. Will the girls learn something from watching the men take the first steps on the dance floor? I'll be watching Tuesday night and will definitely let you know how they did.