Will New Stars Dance to the Top on ABC?

In Dancing With the Stars, the surprise reality hit from ABC, professional dancers are paired with professional celebrities to perform in front of three judges, a live studio audience, and anyone who might turns their TV to the right channel. A panel of three judges and high votes determine the numbers that decide who stays and who goes. It's the call-in viewers who make the decision, a voting procedure that brings other, bigger, reality hits to mind...

It's imperative to remember that there is no singing in Dancing With the Stars. That's right - it's mostly just dancing. Hosts Tom Bergeron (who has been part of the ABC family before) and Samantha Harris will take American through voting and watching procedures as usual, offering their interesting views to the dance.

This year's Dancing With the Stars will kick off in a two-hour premiere on March 19, 2007 at 8 pm. From this premiere, Dancing will air every Monday and Tuesday evening (and don't worry, it comes on Tuesdays after American Idol on FOX). Now that the show has gained popularity, surely ABC can find bigger, better, more recognizable celebs...right?

Previous seasons of Dancing have included quasi-reality TV stars that most people didn't know, and others that had long since faded into obscurity. This year's cast includes such highly popular personas as Laila Ali (Muhammad's daughter, a professional boxer in her own right), Billy Ray Cryus (yes - "Achy Breaky Heart" guy), Clyde Drexler (basketball high-flyer), Joey Fatone (from N'Sync), Shandi Finnessey (late-night TV personality on Game Show Network), Leeza Gibbons (of talk show fame), Heather Mills (ex-wife to Paul McCartney who is now parlaying that status into stardom), Olympic speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, Vincent Pastore (from The Sopranos), former supermodel Paulina Porizkova, and Ian Ziering (that's right - "Steve" from Beverly Hills, 90210).

None of them are known for their dancing - but they're all ready to show audiences exactly what they've got when Dancing With the Stars begins. If their names and faces aren't too memorable now, they will be by the time this season of Dancing is over. People are still talking about Jerry Springer's dancing on the show - something that's just soo last season. If quasi-celebs don't interest you, maybe quasi-celebs attempting to ballroom dance will. ABC wasn't afraid to grant the reality series a fourth season...surely they've got good reason.