Dancing With The Stars

I have been watching Dancing With The Stars for several years and the first shows are always the most difficult. It's the beginning elimination and, even if the celebrity can't dance, it's sad to see them leave. This year is no exception. There were more couples for the season than any previous season. One common thread is that they all seem to have a great time and build some wonderful friendships.

Do you watch Dancing With the Stars? I have been since the first season and it's always amazing how much they learn. The following is information about the people involved.

GET TO KNOW

Three opinionated judges. Sixteen professional dancers. Sixteen celebrities. Two hosts and lots of glitter and spray tans. That's the basic formula for Dancing with the Stars, but, really, there's nothing formulaic or predictable about the series because it's our show. We call the shots. We determine who stays and who goes each week.

No, we'll never be able to dance like Julianne Hough, Maksim Chmerkovskiy or Cheryl Burke, and that's exactly why we watch. We can totally relate to the stars competing on the show and it's pretty cool to know they're just like us. These actors, comedians, musicians, entrepreneurs, reality stars and where-are-they-now personalities start out as lumbering Frankensteins with two left feet, and they slowly transform (we hope) into graceful twinkle-toed Baryshnikovs. OK, our weekly phone and online votes aren't powerful enough to help them that much, but we do have the power to determine the show's outcome.

You'd think the stars were competing for more than just a mirrored disco ball, the way the celebs risk torn ligaments, poked eyes, fainting spells and wardrobe malfunctions to earn a perfect 30 from judges Carrie Anne Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. We'd never want to face their wrath, but it sure is fun to see them unleash it on the stars. That's probably the one time we wouldn't want to be in the stars' shoes, no matter how shiny and glittery they might be.

Meet this season's pairs who are eager to put on their shoes and begin learning the steps:

Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff eliminated 11/10/09

Natalie Coughlin and Alec Mazo eliminated 10/20/09

Mark Decascos and Lacey Schwimmer eliminated 11/03/09

Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke dropped out due to foot injuries on 10/06/09

Macy Gray and Jonathan Roberts eliminated 09/22/09

Ashley Hamilton and Edyta Sliwinska eliminated 09/22/09

Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas eliminated 10/27/09

Kathy Ireland and Tony Dovolani eliminated on 09/29/09

Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova eliminated on 11/03/09

Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough eliminated on 11/17/09

Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya eliminated on 10/13/09

Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy eliminated on 10/06/09

Mya and Dmitry Chaplin eliminated 11/24/09

Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel eliminated 11/24/09

Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson - The Winner

Louie Vito and Chelsie Hightower eliminated 10/27/09

I will be posting the results of the people who have been eliminated each week.