DWTS: Season 6 Begins

Did I not tell you? I did, I did, I did. Setting up the two back-to-back champions against each other. (Cheryl Burke was the champion for Seasons 2 & 3 and Julianne Hough won seasons 4 & 5) Gah! So annoying that DANCING can't be the most important part of Dancing With The Stars. Why is that? And don't give me all of that business about how their real personalities come out in this demanding regimen and the challenge is to go over and beyond themselves. Blah. I would not be surprised to find out it was set up from the beginning. Really. I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me. Am I cynical? Yeah, a little. Mel and Max were clearly the better dancers. Clearly. But they did not win. That should tell you something about the American public.
A big bummer is that Maxim Chmerkovskiy is not dancing this season. Poo. He's the funniest of all the professional dancers. But he probably wants to get back to real competitions. Is it just me or does it seems like the celebrities that are being chosen are ones who's career need a boost or a second wind? Really? Okay, just me then.
So, with some trepidation and not some little annoyance I present the celebrities and their professional dance partners and my own two cents.

• Adam Corolla is supposed to be a funny guy but from his bios and credits it seems to be the type of humor I do not find funny. To top it off he is dancing with Julianne Hough who we all KNOW my opinion on. I am going to predict zero votes from this residence for that team. Unless he's REALLY good.
• Cristián de la Fuente is sadly going to be in the middle of this silly contrived rivalry. I hope the boy is a good dancer and has a huge fan base. He is an actor though which is a good start. He has Cheryl Burke to partner him and she is the best teacher we have seen yet. Their odds are good to stay in it.
• Shannon Elizabeth - I feel like I should know her, and yet I don't think I've seen anything she was in. She's dancing with Derek Hough, Julianne's much-more-personable brother.
• I hope Steve Guttenberg will be spry enough to stay in the competition for a while. He doesn't look too decrepit and Anna Trebunskaya deserves to have a partner with some fans. It was a total rip for her and that model to be voted off SECOND last season. Seriously. Plus she and Jonathan are so cute.
• Does Kym Johnson have 'kick me, I'm Australian' on her back or something? I mean, really? She's so sweet and so fun and she keeps getting handed old, bears of guys as partners? Penn Jillette is a great magician and a funny guy, but a dancer? Don't know about that one.
• Mario and Karina Smirnoff on the other hand should be interesting. She has an attitude that keeps people (okay, me and my sister) from liking her completely so we don't mind of she gets paired with a guy who also has an attitude. Witness last season. This guy may be able to dance though - which would be good.
• Marlee Matlin I have not heard of - though I think I remember her face from The West Wing - and her partner, Fabian Sanchez, is new to the show. It could be good or it could all go horribly, horribly wrong. I suspect that's why we watch.
• I am really excited about Priscilla Presely and Louis van Amstel if only because the "rubber" man is back for the first time in three seasons!! Love the Louis! The man looks like he has no bones in his legs. It's awesome. And all we really know of Priscilla is who her father is/was. **Editor's Note: Yes, Rocketgirl, thou art correct, she's Elvis's wife, not daughter. Which explains why she looks so old...**
• Sadly, we have learned that celebrities with small fan bases do not do well, even if they can dance really well. (Right Albert? Golly that man was good looking.) So I do not hold out much hope that the tennis fans will come to network TV just to vote for Monica Seles even though she is dancing with Jonathan Roberts, the smoothest man on the floor.
• Edyta Slwinska is a trooper. She has been in every season, she still dances professionally and she makes commercials. She's awesome. Though she could wear better costumes - I'm just saying. This Jason Taylor dude better be good. A Jerry Rice or Emmitt Smith kind of good.
• Marissa Jaret Winokur is not a name I know but she looks fun. Can I say that? It does not hurt that she is partnered with Tony Dovolani who has been dancing for five of the six seasons, has never won and yet is funny, and cute and really a good teacher.
• Kristi Yamaguchi is really the only one in the celebrity list who I can say I 'know' what she does. Let us hope that she has a large enough fan base, who watch TV, and that she can dance, that they will go far. Mark Ballas is lesser known to me, but he seemed a nice enough guy last season.

It will be the same judges, so we will have to endure the Bruno-isms and Carrie-Ann drooling over the men, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. I am glad that contestants will dance twice before anyone is eliminated. It worked well in Season 4 I found, giving a more accurate idea of how talented the celebrity really was in dancing. First night jitters and all that.

This is me, hoping it's more "real" this time?