Dancing With The Stars Cast 2012

Online, March 11, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Celebrities chosen for abc TV 'Dancing With The Stars' Cast 2012, DWTS Season 14, were announced recently, as contestants. This was done on the US TV show 'Good Morning America' and at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. They will vie for the title of ballroom dance champions. The winners get the coveted prize, the Mirror Ball Trophy, last won by JR Martinez & Karina Smirnoff in Season 13. DWTS is one of the biggest, and definitely one of the most popular reality TV shows in the USA.

Millions of avid ballroom dance fans tune in every season to abc TV 'Dancing With The Stars', looking forward to the usual exciting fare of great ballroom dance performances on DWTS. They thrive on the controversial, and on seeing real celebrities struggle to develop new skills in a new arena for them, ballroom dancing. Fans wonder aloud: who are the celebrities on dancing with the stars 2012? Is there a wow factor in the partner match ups with the professional ballroom dancers & choreographers on DWTS this year?

The oldest celebrity, and icon, is Soul Singer and eight (8) time Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight. Gladys is also an inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. She is sixty-seven (67) years of age, and still performs with her back up band, 'The Pips'. Her band never let her dance. Since perhaps she sings so perfectly, there was no need for her to dance as well. However, Gladys Knight loves to dance socially, and was in fact encouraged by her band to take up the challenge of dancing with the stars. Tristan Mc Manus found out just minutes before the presentation of celebrities, that he was chosen to be the professional partner for Gladys Knight.

2nd celebrity up is actor Jaleel White of TV show 'Family Members' fame. He is fondly remembered as the character Steve Urkel. Jaleel White's appearance on 'Dancing With The Stars' was strongly motivated by his mom, who is a huge fan of DWTS. Jaleel definitely aims to perform and entertain. His professional ballroom dance partner is Kym Johnson, a former winner of the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy. Kym Johnson & Hines Ward were the abc Dancing With The Stars winners in Season 12, so Jaleel White's dancing lessons will be in good hands.

3rd celebrity contesting on abc dancing with the stars is Sheri Sheppard, the only one who has a TV show presently: 'The View'. She was happy to get as pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy,whom she regards as "one of the best frickin dancers on abc dancing with the stars. He's hot".
4th celebrity was Extra Presenter Maria Menounos, partnered with pro Derek Hough. Derek is a champion ballroom dancer, 3-time winner of the Mirror ball Trophy on abc Dancing With The Stars. Maria Menounos's ballroom dancing lessons is certainly in excellent hands, as Derek Hough is widely regarded as a genius in dance training and choreography. Even DWTS judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioni & Carrie Ann Inaba seem to agree.

5th celebrity on abc dancing with the stars is an athlete, former tennis star and cultural icon Martina Navratilova, who achieved an unrivaled 359 victories in women tennis history. This includes 59 Grand Slam victories. Martina thinks her dancing is an embarassment, but feels since she is excellent in one sport, she can easily pick up the necessary movements in another. Good luck to her in overcoming her phobia of dancing. She might do well to leave things in the hands of her new trainer & pro ballroom dance partner Tony Dovolani.

Another athlete on DWTS is 6th celebrity Donald Driver, American football star. Donald plays with the Green Bay Packers. His pro ballroom dance partner is Peta Murgatroyd. 7th celebrity is former Melrose Place Actor, turned Singer, Jack Warner. Celebrity gossip has it that he is the former fiance of Heather Locklear. Their engagement was called off last year. He got Anna Trebunskaya as pro ballroom dance partner. Celebrity number 8 is Cuban Actor Will Levy, to be trained by pro ballroom dance choreographer Cheryl Burke. Cheryl is a 2-time abc Dancing With The Stars winner of the Mirror Ball Trophy, so Will Levy's ballroom dancing lessons will be in excellent hands.

Celebrity Singers Gavin De Graw (Country) and Katherine Jenkins (Welsh Opera) bring up numbers 9 & 10. Gavin is inspired to dancing with the stars by his great grandfather, who was a dance instructor. His professional dance instructor & ballroom dancing lessons partner will be Karina Smirnoff, while that for Katherine Jenkins will be Mark Ballas. Mark Ballas is a former abc Dancing With The Stars winner. Karina Smirnoff & JR Martinez are last season's abc Dancing With The Stars winners, so Karina is defending Champion of the Mirror Ball Trophy. Her ballroom dance has always been hot. So too, the ballroom dancing of Mark Ballas, so Gavin De Graw's & Katherine Jenkins's dancing, are in great hands.

11th Celebrity is Roshon Fegan from Disney Channel & 12th celebrity is former child star Melissa Gilbert, from 'Lil House On The Prairie'. Roshon's professional ballroom dance instructor is Chelsie Hightower, while Melissa's will be the mercurial ballroom dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy.