J.R. Martinez a Sleeper Pick on Dancing With the Stars

Season 13 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars will kickoff on Monday night and the usual collection of actors, athletes, reality show stars and relatives of famous people will try and win the coveted mirror ball trophy.

One contestant the public as a whole may not be all that familair with is actor J.R. Martinez.  Word is his dancing skills are pretty good and he's a likeable guy, so he's a darkhorse pick for sure.

J.R. Martinez told People Magazine: “I’ve learned so much, Karina (Smirnoff) is an amazing talent. She has shown me that it’s all posture, and framing and being elegant. It’s all about fingers and toes. Being a guy, I tend to move all over the place.”  Karina says Martinez is a hard worker on the dance floor.

Other info about Martinez... he's 28, an Iraq war vet who sustained burns to more than 40% of his body, including his face, after hitting a land mine while deployed with the Army in Iraq in 2003. He has undergone 33 cosmetic and skin graft surgeries.

He know appears regularly on ABC's All My Children.

Ron Artest's Name Change Approved

Before the show has even started, there is a new contestant on Dancing With the Stars.  At least in name.

The most ballyhooed name change of the year became official Friday morning when a Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner approved the former Ron Artest's request.

World Peace was expected to attend the hearing, but about an hour after the court doors opened, his attorney, Nahla Rajan, announced that the Lakers forward was not coming. A few minutes later, Commissioner Matthew C. St. George approved the name change in a hearing that lasted about 30 seconds.

St. George: "Mr. Artest has requested a name change to Metta World Peace?"

Rajan: "Yes, your honor."

St. George: "And it's for personal reasons, he said?"

Rajan: "Yes, your honor."

St. George: "OK. All right. He'll now be known as Metta World Peace. Thank you."

We'll see how he's introduced on Dancing come Monday night and how much flack he catches.

Charlie Weis on 'Dancing With the Stars'; No, It's Chaz

Football fans, be on alert.

That is not football coach Charlie Weis on Dancing With the Stars this season.

It's the one and only Chaz Bono, formerly Chastity Bono.  Chaz apparently will be doing the samba, paso doble, and waltz with Lacey Schwimmer this season event though many fans of the show want nothing to do with him.

I don't expect Chaz to last long.  I don't think he even be as good as Kate Gosselin, and i don't expect Chaz to be a fan favorite in voting.

One thing for sure, if you ever wondered what Charlie Weis would look like dancing, just watch Chaz.

Dancing With the Stars Season 13 Cast Revealed and Odds to Win

Each season, the folks over at Dancing With the Stars reinvent the show a little. It's just about showtime when a new cast is revealed and that is exactly what happened tonight.

The problem was we will have to watch that train wreck of a show Bachelor Pad to learn who will be doing the waltz, samba and other dance disciplines this fall. Wait, you don't have to watch Bachelor Pad, here they are:

A new stage set up and a new set awaits the pros and stars when the season kicks off in September.

Here are your contestants and my early odds of winning the mirror ball trophy:

Nancy Grace - This HLN talker has apparently recovered from the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial and will put her dancing shoes on. Early indications are she will be stiff and dull while dancing, but she is popular with certain segments of the DWTS voting population. Odd are 10-1

Kristin Cavalleri - She's made her living in television reality shows and in bad movies. She's coming off a broken engagement to football star Jay Cutler and she's back trying to make a name for herself. Not sure if she can dance. Odds are 9-1

David Arquette - This actor is currently separated from Courtney Cox, but can be charming when he wants to be. I bet he tries hard and lasts a while. 8-1 odds

Riki Lake - I'm sure she's a fan of the show and will work hard. She'll have big fan support. 5-1 odds

Chynna Phillips - The singer from Wilson Phillips and daughter of John and Michelle Phillips might be ok. She'll look good on the dance floor. 4-1 odds.

Rob Kardashian - What a shock, there is a Karkashian on the show again. Sooner or later every Kardashian will be on DWTS, but the only one we all want to see is Bruce Jenner. he might be good at 5-1.

Chaz Bono - I don't know what to say about this selection other than it will be awful. A longshot at 20-1.

Hope Solo - Hands down, Solo should be the favorite for the title. She's athletic, she's popular, and she looks good. I think she can dance and dance well. 3-1 odds.

Carson Kressley - Television host from Queer Eye.  I don't know what to expect from this guy, but you can bet he'll be dancing to "It's Raining Men." 12-1 odds.

J.R Martinez - An actor who had over 40% of his body burned while serving in Iraq. He also is a motivational speaker and is an actor on "All My Children." Odds to win 9-1

Elizabetta Canalis - She's Italian, she's an actress and television host, and the former girlfriend of George Clooney. Not much else is known about her dancing ability. Will the American public take to her? 7-1 odds

Elizabetta Canalis

Ron Artest - This bad boy basketball player should be interesting to watch. If he can follow directions and learn his routines, I bet he does pretty well. 8-1 odds

Dancing With the Stars: Hines Ward is MVP!

Last night was a night of impressive dances, but it's only fitting as one of these couples will win this season of Dancing With the Stars and the coveted Mirrorball Trophy.

We have three different dancers with three completely different styles.  It's hard for me to predict because we don't know how the fan voting is going.  Kirstie is trailing a little after the performance, but she racks in the votes.  Hines was so good las night and football players have fared well on the show in past seasons.  

The finalists will actually have one more round of dancing before the results will be read.

Some big musical acts tonight, and leading off is the Black Eyed Peas and one of their new songs.  Next was a feature on the judges and their opinions on the three finalists.

The next segment highlighted some of the contestants that were eliminated earlier in the season.  From Mike Catherwood dancing with the troupe to Sugar Ray Leonard and Kendra, they were all back tonight.

Petra reprised her waltz from week 3, and it was sung by Josh Grobin.  Kendra and Louis hit the floor next dancing to a Ricky Martin song.  She ended her routine by dancing on the judge's table before almost falling off it. 

Sugar Ray Leonard was one of my favorite contestants this season.  He was introduced tonight by ring announcer Michael Buffer.  Chris Jericho also was brought out on to the dance floor.  Both took the show very seriously and if not for one bad dance they might've advanced further than they did.

Next was Wendy Williams.  They did a skit where she interviewed herself.  That skit was about as good as her dancing.  

The next musical guest is the Go-Go's.  Haven't seen them in a while.  They sang 'We've Got the Beat' and Chelsie Hightower, Cheryl and Lacey were joined for this routine with Maks in a policeman uniform. 

Romeo and Chelsie Hightower did their final dance.  They try to find an angle for each dancer as the season progresses, and Romeo's angle was doing it for the kids.  They had a kid's chorus singing while they danced.

Ralph Macchio will be the final dancer brought back for one final dance.  He was classy and popular with the fans as he reached the semi-finals. 

Finally, the three finalists will dance their final dances.  

First up is Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas.  They will redo their Viennese Waltz.  They showed clips from their last rehearsal last night and how emotional it was for them.  To me, it looked about the same as they last time they did it.  No surprise, the judges all liked it and complemented them.  They get a 30 for their final dance.

Kirstie and Maks are next.  No dancer has made more strides than Kirstie Alley.  They dance a cha cha cha.  A lot of improvement for Kirstie and Maks deserves a lot of credit.  Kirstie gets a 30 out of 30. 

The honor of the final dance of season 12 belongs to Hines Ward and Kym Johnson.  They are looking to do a perfect Samba.  Another good dance.  No surprise here, they also get a 30.

Sara Evans sang a final song while highlights ofthe season played in the background.

One couple is about to be eliminated.  The third place contestant is Chelsea Kane.

The lights are dimmed and a champion is about to be named.

The winner is... Hines Ward and Kym Johnson!