So if you have listened to the past several episodes of Guardians of the Geekery, you may know that I have a love of dance. I used to dance as a little geeker and although I’m not as light on my feet as I would like, I can still watch dancing shows and dream. So it’s no surprise that I love Dancing with the Stars. And season twenty one debuts on September 14th with a few changes and announcements.
For starters, the full cast will be revealed on Good Morning America on September 2nd. I’ll be headed to DragonCon that day, so I most likely will not be posting about it until later. But they did confirm their first dancer, Bindi Irwin. You may remember her father Steve Irwin, who was known for his Australian accent, and his love of crocodiles before his tragic death.
Some other changes this year include the departure of Len Goodman as the head judge. We kind of knew that was coming – he hosts several shows and the transcontinental flying back and forth was starting to take a toll. So Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Julianne Hough will be the regulars and then there will be guest judges, with Len surely being among them. Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews are back. Although Erin got some flack for comments last season, she has a personality which is more than I can say for some of the previous co-hosts. So glad to see them both back as well!
Derek Hough will be returning – which reminds me of the Godfather III line, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” Personally, his antics were starting to wear thin on me last season when he got injured and still managed to insert himself in to every dance rather than backing off and letting other dancers step up. But he does some amazing choreography, so I guess we can give him a pass. Other returning professionals include Derek’s best friend Mark Ballas, Karina Smirnoff, Witney Carson, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Allison Holker, Artem Chigvintsev, Peta Murgatroyd and Sharna Burgess.
I love Dancing with the Stars and especially enjoyed getting to see Rumer Willis win last season. I admit, I wasn’t sure about her when I first heard it announced – but she was amazing. I hope to be amazed again this season.
Joey’s Thoughts: Can’t wait until the Sep 2 for the full announcement!