It's Prom Night at Dancing with the Stars

This picture says it all:

Wynona Judd and Tony Dovolani. Courtesy of ABC.

Wow. There are some folks on this show (the one above thankfully we'll see no longer) who simply CANNOT dance. Like not even a little. And if I spoiled that result for you, sorry.

I'm still over here cheering. Man, I wanted her to go home so bad (her and DL Hughley both).

LOVE YOU, Cheryl, but seriously.... :-/

Wynona is just now on TV, talking about how she "faced her fears," and she's glad she did it. Here's the thing. I'm all about people facing their fears. That's a great thing. The other side of that, though, is that we have to watch it. If you KNOW you can't dance, why on EARTH would you get in front of millions of people trying to do so? That's not "facing your fears," that's just EGO. Get over it. Go take a dance class, quietly.

Why on EARTH would anyone want to make a laughing stock of themselves, under the guise of "facing their fears"? Nonsense. Cause you may feel "stronger," Wynona, but I sure lost a ton of respect for you for doing this.

Now you wanna see someone who's ACTUALLY facing their fears, look at Andy Dick on this show (or better yet, PLEASE vote for him).  He is scared shitless by doing this, but a part of him really needs to. So he's in the studio, hour after hour after hour, even though he knows/thinks he can't dance, but he's trying REALLY hard. Look at this.

Andy Dick and Sharna Burgess, working it. Yes, we think you both are sexy.

This is a man clearly out of his comfort zone, but really trying.

I sent tons of votes his way this week. I think he's awesome. I've only gained respect for him. I honestly think I move my body more walking to the kitchen to make a sandwich than Wynona did in any of her dances. Facing your fears? Shut up. I'm so glad she's gone.

But I'm getting ahead of the story. ABC's story is that this was, of course, Prom Night.

Parts of that were truly wonderful. Inspirational. Like this.

The inspirational Mark Ballas and Aly. 

And this:

Zendaya and Val, doing some stunning dancing.

Oh so beautiful.
Lots of waltzes (Viennese and otherwise) performed on this night, fitting, I suppose for Prom Night.

There were also a few examples of why "contemporary" might not be such a great idea to add. When done correctly (Val and Kelly; Val and Zendaya), it can be sublime and gut-wrenching. When done incorrectly (I'm looking at you, Victor and Lindsay), wow, it can be dreadful.

We also had a sexy dance where I swear I saw Jacoby grab Karina's boob. I have never, in any dance in any season, seen someone literally grab someone's boob like that. It was kinda bizarre (right at the beginning).

Speaking of bizarre, we also had this:

Peta Murgatroyd (whose excellent choreography made this dance fun) and Sean.

Cause, I guess, YMCA is performed at a lot of proms now?

Lastly, we had my favorite dance of the night. A stunning, fast and fun version of Footloose by Derek and Kellie, who continue to be my favorites overall.

Derek Hough and Kellie Pickler. Courtesy of ABC.

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New Dancing with the Stars Season 16 cast

Many don't care about who's on Dancing with the Stars... but for those of us who do... here is the big question about this new season:

WHERE'S MAKS?

Courtesy of Angela Weiss/Getty Images/ETOnline

It's truly hard to imagine a Dancing season without the stunningly handsome, dashing and oh so obnoxiously arrogant Maksim Chmerkovsky, but there it is. There is one Mr. C dancing this season, and his name is Val.

Maks' displeasure with Dancing has been noticably obvious ever since his "It's my show" gaffe. Pouty, walking through the paces, not participating—have all been hallmarks of his recent seasons since then. So, he's not going out with a bang, exactly, in fact, I'm not seeing any stories even mentioning his absence, but to me, it's a pretty big thing.

It may or may not have been "his show," but Maks' presence on the other dancers was certainly felt. He appeared to be a mentor to many, and a royal pain to many others.

I am kinda glad to see a season without him, but his loss will really be felt.

But let's get on to the others, shall we?

One of the saddest results of the "It's my show" debacle was that up until then, the pros who dance every season were getting as much notoriety as the amateur "star" dancers. That, now, is gone.

So the people I want to feature most here will have no pictures for the moment. :-(

JACOBY JONES AND KARINA SMIRNOFF

He's some kind of football player/sports guy. But he's paired with Karina, so he's one to watch.

D.L. HUGHLEY AND CHERYL BURKE

Like the actor, like Cheryl Burke. Should be interesting.

WYNONA JUDD AND TONY DOVOLANI

Reigning champ Dovolani has a country singer as his partner this season. Should be fun.

ZENDAYA COLEMAN AND 
VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKY

Disney stars usually cause me to yawn. But Val was so amazing last season, I'm looking forward to it. Plus, he's the only Chmerkovsky to watch. *sob*

INGO RADEMACHER AND KYM JOHNSON

Handsome dude from ABC daytime television, plus one of the sexiest and most fun dancers to watch. This will be an interesting pairing.

DOROTHY HAMILL AND TRISTAN MCMANUS

The sex-on-wheels team this season, though, is probably this one. (Oh, yes, Dorothy Hamill is still sexy!) And this pairing (she a former Olympian) could go longer in the season than any of his previous ones. Thank goodness for that. The fans are clamouring!

VICTOR ORTIZ AND LINDSAY ARNOLD

Normally, I wouldn't be including them, but she trained with Mark Ballas. One cannot discount that. Oh, and she also placed in the Top 10 of
"So You Think You Can Dance" last season.

KELLIE PICKLER AND DEREK HOUGH

I'm saving my favorite two teams for last. Don't know who she is, but she's paired with Derek.

ALY RAISMAN AND MARK BALLAS

Straight out of the gate, I always root for Mark Ballas first and loudest. I love to watch him dance. So from this moment, I'm Team Aly/Mark.




I'm leaving out the stunt casting and those I don't care about (Andy Dick, really?)... These are the ones who'll be finalists. But good luck to all. And we will miss you, Maks.

(And we also miss the also-missing Peta Murgatroyd and Anna Trebunskaya.)

Many thanks to ABC/Dancing with the Stars for the promotional photos.

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