# Dancing with the Stars -- DWTS -- Fall 2014 (Season 19) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414 "2014-08-13T04:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/1 "2014-08-13T04:20:43Z")
The _Dancing with the Stars_ Season Nineteen première will be Monday, September 15th, with results shows on Tuesdays restored for at least the first two weeks. ABC has scheduled the cast announcement for Thursday, September 4th. A fansite is reporting that the cast of pro dancers will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday, August 13th) on “Good Morning America”. Not too sure about that – usually, the pro cast isn’t settled until all the Stars have been signed. The show has a new producer, Rob Wade, a prodigal son of sorts who was with the show from Seasons One through Eleven, then detoured through “X Factor” and “America’s Got Talent”. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/2 "2014-08-13T19:59:00Z")
> [@FeAudrey](#): > > … Not too sure about that – usually, the pro cast isn’t settled until all the Stars have been signed … I was wrong; they did announce the pro cast: Cheryl Burke Karina Smirnoff Witney Carson Emma Slater Peta Murgatroyd Allison Holker Mark Ballas Val Chmerkovskiy Tony Dovolani Derek Hough Artem Chigvintsev Keoikantse Motsepe The new pros: Allison Holker is a frequent dance partner of Derek Hough’s. She is mostly known as a contemporary dancer, but has some ballroom training. Artem Chigvintsev is alighting from the mother ship, “Strictly Come Dancing”, where his record includes a win, a finals, and two mid-pack placements. And, yeah, ex-boyfriend of Carrie Ann Inaba. Keoikantse Motsepe dominated both Standard and Latin comps in South Africa for years; more recently, he’s been touring in _Burn the Floor_ (ballroom show). The producers have been hoping for buzz about him being their first black pro. A huge proportion of ballroom, latin, and swing dances have origins in the New World African diaspora, but that culture is mostly West African-based (some Central African). As a South African, Motsepe has about as much cultural connection there as Chigvintsev does. DWTS itself is of British origins, and I’m thinking that black people must all look alike to some of TPTB. The British influence in South Africa would be more of an asset to Motsepe in International comps (ruled by the ISTD) than his skin color. (Africa is a b-i-i-i-g continent – the distance from the Bight of Benin to the southern tip of Africa is about the same as to the western shores of the Black Sea.) Most fans posting so far seem fairly happy with this list. A major exception is Sharna Burgess’s boyfriend, Paul Kirkland, who has been majorly hot (via Twitter) on her behalf at the show’s rather shabbily having not told her in advance of the broadcast that she hadn’t made the cut. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/3 "2014-08-13T20:09:36Z")
Apparently Anna Trebunskaya is too busy with her new baby. Her baby girl was born Jan 18. Anna is dancing again with Gleb. She posted twitter photos last week. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/4 "2014-08-30T22:54:48Z")
The official cast announcement isn’t until Thursday, September 4th, but a full set of leaks and rumors has been curated by fansites: Betsey Johnson & Tony Dovolani LoLo Jones & Keoikantse Motsepe Bethany Mota & Derek Hough Janel Parrish & Val Chmerkovskiy Sadie Robertson & Mark Ballas Lea Thompson & Artem Chigvintsev Jonathan Bennett & Allison Holker Tommy Chong & Peta Murgatroyd Randy Couture & Karina Smirnoff Alfonso Ribeiro & Witney Carson Antonio Sabato Jr. & Cheryl Burke Michael Waltrip & Emma Slater “a major Hollywood star” & Sharna Burgess (Sharna was added after the original pro cast announcement) Other notes: hosts, regular judges, and orchestra are unchanged from last season. Julianne Hough has been added as a fourth judge; the troupe dancers will be Lindsey Arnold, Henry Byalikov, Sasha Farber, and Jenna Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/5 "2014-08-30T23:37:08Z")
I’ll go ahead and predict Lea Thompson & Artem Chigvintsev for the win. Artem won Strictly Come Dancing a couple years ago. I’ve always hoped Lea would be on dwts. But thought her background disqualified her. from Lea’s wiki. She certainly has a strong childhood dance background. I don’t know if she’s continued as an adult. She may be a shocker elimination if she’s too good. Voters sometimes turn on dwts ringers. > [@](#): > > She was dancing professionally by the age of 14.[2] She won scholarships to several ballet schools, including the American Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet, and the Pennsylvania Ballet. Thompson danced in more than 45 ballets with the American Ballet Theatre. She also danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Minnesota Dance Theatre and the Ballet Repertory. Her brother Andrew also took ballet classes and went on to become a professional. > > Thompson was told by ballet legend and then ABT artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov that she was “a beautiful dancer, but too stocky.” Due to this (as well as some small nagging past injuries), she decided to give up dancing in favor of an acting career. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/6 "2014-08-30T23:42:48Z")
I’ve heard of Lea Thompson, Alfonso Ribeiro (who I believe has a pretty strong dance background), and I suppose Michael Waltrip is a car racer. I’ve heard of Darryl Waltrip. StG ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/7 "2014-08-31T07:37:44Z")
I’ve heard of Betsey Johnson and Lolo Jones. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/8 "2014-09-04T13:54:57Z")
> **['Dancing With the Stars' reveals Season 19 cast](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/09/04/dancing-with-the-stars-season-19-cast-unveiled/15026173/)** > > Here they are ... Here’s the list: • Randy Couture, MMA pro, 51 / Karina Smirnoff • Michael Waltrip, NASCAR driver, 51 / Emma Slater • Janel Parrish, actress, 25 / Val Chmerkovskiy • Sadie Robertson, model/reality star, 17 / Mark Ballas • Antonio Sabato Jr., model/actor, 42 / Cheryl Burke • Alfonso Ribeiro, actor, 42 / Witney Carson • Tommy Chong, comedian/musician, 76 / Peta Murgatroyd • Jonathan Bennett, actor, 33 / Allison Holker • Lea Thompson, actress, 53 / Artem Chigvintsev • Tavis Smiley, political commentator, 49 / Sharna Burgess • Lolo Jones, Olympic track star, 32 / Keo Motsepe • Bethany Mota, YouTube star, 18 / Derek Hough • Betsey Johnson, fashion designer, 73 / Tony Dovolani No Maks this time. They’re adding Julianne Hough as a fourth judge. I’m not sure I’ll watch this year. Feeling sort of meh about this group. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/9 "2014-09-04T14:05:22Z")
I know who _three_ of these people are. And a couple of other names are familiar. It amuses me that whenever I try to bring Alfonso Ribeiro to mind, he is always dancing to Tom Jones. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/10 "2014-09-04T14:45:56Z")
Well, I love Tom Jones so I’d be ok with that, but an audience of duck dynasty family would be difficult for me. I’m usually eating while I watch. Plus no cute irish guy pro. I can never remember his name. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/11 "2014-09-04T15:01:04Z")
Holy crap, Tommy Chong is in his late 70s? I’ll check in for Lea Thompson. And Michael Waltrip; he may be the funniest guy ever associated with NASCAR. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/12 "2014-09-04T15:16:43Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Plus no cute irish guy pro. I can never remember his name. Tristan. **swoon** ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/13 "2014-09-04T15:40:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Tristan. **swoon** Tristan [will be on Strictly Come Dancing](http://www.examiner.com/article/tristan-macmanus-says-uk-s-dwts-rightly-focuses-on-celebs-rather-than-pros) this season in Britain. Funny how it worked out. We got a former Strictly pro winner (Artem) and they got Tristan. I think people will be quite surprised at Artem’s choreography. He’s really good. He’ll give Val and Derek something to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/14 "2014-09-04T15:48:06Z")
I still wish they’d do a seniors season. Sixty and up. Schedule it every other week to give them longer breaks. There’s some older celebrities that got a lot of dance training in theater classes. We could have a very competitive and enjoyable season. The older celebs get too beat up and injured trying to compete against the younger ones. That’s my biggest concern with Lea Thompson. She has a very strong ballet background. But she’s 53 and I don’t know what the weekly grind will do to her. She should be a strong finalist if her body holds up. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/15 "2014-09-04T16:29:26Z")
I want Alfonso to do “the Carlton”. BTW, I could identify 8 of the “stars”. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/16 "2014-09-04T16:54:34Z")
I’m friends with Janel Parrish’s sister (we were in the Army together). So that’s definitely who I’m rooting for. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/17 "2014-09-04T18:14:42Z")
One of them is a “youtube sensation”, have they run out of “reality” show famewhores now? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/18 "2014-09-04T18:47:25Z")
The thing with ‘YouTube sensation’ is that they are as much a star as any other media star in today’s world. To us old farts (and I’m not old…mid 30s, but compared to the target demo, I’m old), YouTube is a place where we go occasionally to find specific videos or types of videos, or to watch things that friends link to from time to time. To a lot of younger people, though, they practically live on YouTube…it probably gets more interaction for a lot of teenagers and early 20somethings than TV or movies. So the ‘stars’ of YouTube, while home grown and not pinging the radar most over 30, are still genuine stars for a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/19 "2014-09-04T19:15:47Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > The thing with ‘YouTube sensation’ is that they are as much a star as any other media star in today’s world. To us old farts (and I’m not old…mid 30s, but compared to the target demo, I’m old), YouTube is a place where we go occasionally to find specific videos or types of videos, or to watch things that friends link to from time to time. > > To a lot of younger people, though, they practically live on YouTube…it probably gets more interaction for a lot of teenagers and early 20somethings than TV or movies. So the ‘stars’ of YouTube, while home grown and not pinging the radar most over 30, are still genuine stars for a lot of people. Well, I am an old fart and I really hate how they define “stars”. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414/20 "2014-09-04T20:00:38Z")
Well, in this case, it’s a pretty apt title. A quick look at her YouTube channel shows she’s garnering between 2 and 4 million views on each one of her videos, with some of them approaching 9 million views. That’s frankly as much viewership as a lot of primetime television, and it’s not like there’s a full cast…it’s pretty much just her. Business Insider estimates that she’s probably pulling in half a million bucks a year from YouTube, plus whatever the other endorsements, TV show appearances, etc. She has her own line at Aeropostale. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars-dwts-fall-2014-season-19/695414.md?page=2)