An all-new cast of celebrities hits the dance floor on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” with the two-hour season premiere Monday, March 9, 2009 (8:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on ABC.
Season Eight introduces us to 13 new stars including Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak! All dancing will be the youngest competitor to date, an NFL legend, a computer icon, a female rapper, three music artists, and a “Wildboy.” Additionally, “love is a battlefield,” when for the first time three real life couples take the ballroom floor. Husband and wife, Ty Murray and Jewel, compete for bragging rights while newly engaged professional dancers, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, go head-to-head. To top it off, country crooner, Chuck Wicks teams with girlfriend and two-time “Dancing with the Stars” champ, Julianne Hough.
Following is the schedule for season eight (dates and times subject to change):
• “Dancing with the Stars,” two-hour performance show, MONDAYS beginning, MARCH 9 (8:00-10:02 p.m., ET) through MARCH 30
• “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show,” one-hour, TUESDAYS beginning, MARCH 17 (9:00 – 10:02 p.m., ET) through MAY 12
• “Dancing with the Stars,” ninety-minute performance show, MONDAYS, beginning APRIL 6, (8:00-9:32 p.m., ET) through MAY 11
• “Dancing with the Stars,” one-hour performance show, MONDAY, MAY 18 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET)
• Season Finale, TUESDAY, MAY19 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET)
“Dancing with the Stars” returns with new surprises and all the elements viewers have come to know and love including the Kids Ballroom competition. “Macy’s Stars of Dance,” which features some of the most renowned dancers and choreographers of our time will also be back on “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show” along with its hugely popular “Design a Dance” competition. “Design a Dance” is sponsored by Macy’s and made its debut last season. In addition, couples will once again take part in a team dance, group dance and face off as well as perform the Argentine Tango and East Coast Swing; a first in the series. And in an exciting new twist, the bottom two couples facing elimination will “Dance Off” to determine who is dismissed in the first weeks of competition.
As announced this evening on ABC’s “All Night Name Drop,” in alphabetical order, the 13 stars making their ballroom dancing debut are:
Belinda Carlisle
David Alan Grier
Jewel
Shawn Johnson
Lil’ Kim
Gilles Marini
Ty Murray
Steve-O
Nancy O’Dell
Denise Richards
Lawrence Taylor
Chuck Wicks
Steve Wozniak
Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the “Dancing with the Stars” performance shows. AT&T subscribers may also text message their votes by texting the word “VOTE” and entering the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (standard text message rates apply). Viewers may also vote online at http://www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.
Hosted by Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”) and Samantha Harris (“E! Entertainment”), the celebrities will perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by renowned Ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.
“Dancing with the Stars” is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, “Strictly Come Dancing.” This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Americas. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade and Matilda Zoltowski are co-executive producers. Alex Rudzinski directs. “Dancing with the Stars” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound and Spanish audio via SAP.
Source: ABC
MacDailyNews Take: Is Segway dancing allowed?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mr. Reeee” for the heads up.]
