dancing with the stars (398 posts)

ABC/ADAM LARKEY

From Argentine tango to Viennese waltz, the final round of Dancing With the Stars had a little bit of everything.

Finalists Mya, Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond danced three times apiece on night one of the ABC hit's two-part finale, which will culminate tomorrow with one of these endearing celebs being crowned queen or king of the ballroom.

Though neither Donny nor Mya has ever been in the bottom two (or three) and Kelly and her can-do attitude have obviously developed quite the following, voters' loyalties may well have shifted during the course of the evening thanks to the hit-and-miss nature of the routines.

We always expect the anything-goes freestyles to be especially exciting...so perhaps that's why we're even more let down when they fail.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First came a Latin round. Then they did a group Mega-Mix, in which all three couples performed the same Viennese waltz, samba and jive choreography simultaneously.

We broke it all down for you:

Keep Reading

ABC/KELSEY McNEAL

They've jived and jitterbugged, waltzed and rumba'd—all with an eye on lifting the disco-ball trophy on next week's season finale of Dancing With the Stars.

Mya and her "tutti-frutti booty" distanced herself from the pack Monday, scorewise, while Donny Osmond suffered an early stumble that left him playing catch-up all night. Making up the middle of the pack were Joanna Krupa, who's handled Derek Hough's standout choreography like a champ, and Kelly Osbourne, whose biggest competitive hurdle all season has been her own nerves.

Though it's hard to believe any of them had time to rehearse, what with all the sound bites they're expected to provide and David Bowie impressions they must do.

But tonight, after a dance sequence from Nine and performances by Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys and the Bee Gees, the competition was eventually whittled down to three finalists.

By the will of the people, who obviously love an underdog...

Keep Reading

ABC/Adam Larkey

First Hélio Castroneves, now Aaron Carter. Dancing With the Stars has a curse, all right, but it has nothing to do with injuries.

Unless you count the damage done to one's bank account. And permanent record.

Just a week getting booted from the reality-competition, Carter is on the receiving end of considerably worse bad news, this time courtesy of the IRS. Turns out, Nick's little bro owes Uncle Sam more than $1 million in back taxes.

Just think of all the Kleenex that could buy.

As it is, according to court documents filed last week, Carter's tax delinquency dates back to 2003, a clearly banner time for the cry baby pop star, as he's indebted to the federal government a whopping $965,284.97 from that year alone.

An additional $45,350.11 is also owed from income earned in 2006, making his debt grand total a hefty $1,010,635.08.

We don't care who you are, that figure's gonna bring on the waterworks.

________

Aaron's out of Dancing With the Stars, but these four are still in...at least for the next few hours.

ABC/ADAM LARKEY

Serious stuff, these semifinals.

Donny Osmond, Joanna Krupa, Kelly Osbourne and Mya marched into the ballroom tonight knowing they had three dances ahead of them and little room for error if they wanted to be center stage on next week's finale.

First, each did a ballroom number, then a Latin dance containing a 15-second solo and then, the dance that each couple had to prepare a few weeks ago in case they were forced into a results show dance-off.

So that's why Donny needed a sparkly green jacket!

Overall, we saw many impressive moves, some sharp hip action and a lot of energy, and any three of the four deserve a spot in the final (based on talent and/or personality). 

Then again, you be the judge...

Keep Reading

Denise Truscello/Getty Images

Since we've already learned that hand-holding equals a hot and heavy relationship, we'll have to apply that new rule to people who aren't in vampire movies as well.

Despite reports that 21-year-old Dancing With the Stars hottie Julianne Hough and her 30-year-old country boy Chuck Wicks had called it quits, the handsome pair may still be together.

And how do we know?

Because they were totally holding hands at the CMA Awards last night!

Hough skipped the red carpet—presumably to avoid questions about the breakup—while Wicks was working it for Entertainment Tonight. Later, both were seen standing together chatting with a small group of people backstage during the show. E! News' eyewitness claims they appeared playful, swinging their interlaced hands back and forth as they talked.

E! News was told they had been fighting over who would take possession of the house they own together, but we can assume they were discussing something a bit more upbeat as they watched Taylor Swift walk away with four statuettes.

________

See what else went down last night in our 2009 CMA Awards gallery!

ABC/ADAM LARKEY

Perfection paid off for Mya.

As expected, the R&B songstress was voted into next week's semifinals on Dancing With the Stars.

But which three of her fellow celebs were given passage to join her?

As musical guest Susan Boyle knows, being the favorite doesn't necessarily mean you're going to go all the way.

For instance, the fans have been loving Donny Osmond all season, but their last glimpse of him had him looking like a Rocky Horror Picture Show reject.

Aaron Carter has steadily improved technically, but having failed to connect with viewers is only still in it thanks to the judges' good graces. Kelly Osbourne has regained her confidence, but do voters still have faith in her dancing?

And Joanna Krupa galloped through her quickstep, but Derek Hough's impressive choreography made their futuristic paso doble encore-worthy in the judges' eyes.

But was it semifinal material?

Keep Reading

ABC/ADAM LARKEY

The ninth season of Dancing With the Stars is almost over, and there had been no perfect 30s heading into tonight's show, with likely candidate Mya running week after week into Len Goodman's puritanical naysaying.

With a spot in next week's semifinals on the line, the remaining five contestants were tasked with two complete solo routines apiece—one ballroom number and one decade-specific(?) Latin dance. 

And though they know full well that a top-notch critique from the judges doesn't necessarily equal clout with the voters at home, each still came in hoping to knock Bruno Tonioli's silk socks off.

Mya kicked off the ballroom round...

Keep Reading