Two of the professional dancers from Dancing With the Stars, Derek Hough & Mark Ballas have their own band. It’s called the Ballas Hough Band and they have a CD out called BHB.

This is their first single called Do It For You and it’s performed by the band, including a few shots of a shirtless Derek Hough. (Girls, get ready to swoon…)

I can’t help myself. The most hilarious and fun part of every season of Dancing With the Stars for me is the occasional Dance Center segment. The first person to be voted off of the second season of Dancing With the Stars, Kenny Mayne who is an ESPN sports anchorman in real life, anchors the fake commentary about the season’s competition.

He is so funny. He always wears an amazing amount of very feminine makeup and acts so serious about the whole thing. But almost everything he says comes out sounding clueless. And to make it even funnier, his sidekicks include judge Len Goodman, whom he cuts off in the middle of is sentences nearly every time he tries to talk. And the other sidekick is season 2 great dancer Jerry Rice, wearing crazy makeup and outfit too. The three of them act so seriously when they give their silly, fun commentary, I love it. This week we saw two segments of Dance Center. The first segment is about 3 minutes into this clip.

And the second segment is about a minute into this clip:

[Photos: newscom.com]

After we found out the horrible news that Lil Kim & Derek Hough were eliminated from the Dancing With the Stars Competition, they stopped to talk to TV Guide about the results show. They were so gracious and nice in the interview. I loved it that Derek pointed out how popular Lil Kim is with all the show’s fans…but I still don’t know why more of them didn’t call in to vote for her!

She just seems so sweet in this clip. I’m sorry to see her go:

I just want to start by saying that the Hough siblings are two of the most talented people on earth! Both Derek & Julianne are amazing dancers, and now they both have launched their musical careers too. And don’t let me forget their fellow dance friend, Mark Ballas who is also a part of the Ballas Hough Band. These three are incredibly talented!

Here’s an interview Derek Hough did for Reality Chat recently where he talks about the fact that he and Mark Ballas grew up together in London. (Who knew?) Then he tells of the fact that the band goes across the street after the live results show of Dancing With the Stars and performs live at The Grove in Los Angeles. What I wouldn’t give to be at one of those performances!

[Photos: newscom.com]

[Photo: newscom.com]

The number of dancers with injuries this season on Dancing With the Stars is at an all-time high. And Steve-O, in spite of his previous career being filled with him trying to injure himself in strange and exotic ways, has been no exception. He hurt his back and was unable to even perform live one week. Yet his many fans kept him in the competition in spite of it all.

But, we all knew it was time for his run on the show to come to an end. It just had to happen.

I am personally very happy to see that he made it through rehab and has managed to stay sober for months now. I hope he continues to stay sober and to take care of himself. He’s spent many self-destructive years so far and it was time to grow up. Good for him!

I do have to admit that I have been completely surprised by how well he actually did do on the show. When he was announced as one of the dancers, I was expecting him to maybe last a week. He evidently has a very large fan base and he really did put his heart into his dance performances, even if they didn’t make it to professional level.

I wish him well in his future and can say that I’m glad that he was on this season of the show. Even though he’s no dancer, he does seem to be getting his life on the right track and that deserves our respect.

So long, Steve-O. It was great having you on this season of DWTS.

So who do you think will be the next to go home? Who do you think is going to win this season? Let us know!

[Photos: newscom.com]

Tonight marked the halfway point in this season of Dancing With the Stars. It’s becoming very clear who will probably make it to the final three and who will not. After tonight’s performances, I think it’s a slam dunk that Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke, as well as Lil Kim & Derek Hough will be in the final three. My big indecision is between Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani and Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas. Those two teams are both very close in their skills and it will be interesting to see who does better as the season progresses.

As for this week, sadly, I think the bottom two will follow the judges’ scores. It seems clear to me that the two who deserve this week’s dance-off are Steve-O & Lacey Schwimmer and Ty Murray & Chelsea Hightower. I just don’t think they will be here much longer. Overall, it’s a good season with lots of interesting dancers. Here are my comments on tonight’s performances:

Who did you like the best tonight? Who do you think will go home?

[Photos: newscom.com]

What a night of performances this was! Tonight’s Dancing With the Stars gave us three couples tied for first place and perhaps a new lowest score ever…I’m not sure about that, but it’s got to be close. The injuries are continuing to haunt the Steves. Steve-O not only had a tough time with a painful back, but he also twisted his ankle at the end of the routine. Steve Wozniak still has the fractured foot, but now also has a pulled groin muscle to go with it.

There were also a couple of fantastic quotes this week too. Len told Lil Kim that she has a “Bionic Booty” and Steve Woznick did what was referred to as a “Demented Worm”.

There were some really high higs and some very low lows in the performances. Each week, it’s becoming more apparent who is going to make it to the end this season. Unless something horrible and unforeseen happens, it’s going to be one heck of a season toward the end…

Here are my reviews of the dance performances this week:

[Photos: newscom.com]

Tonight on Dancing With the Stars, we found out that yet another one of the celebs has injured himself. Steve-O had to go to the hospital, so poor Lacey Schwimmer had to walk down the big stairs alone. That means five injuries so far this season and this was only the second episode! We found out over the weekend that Steve Wozniak injured his foot, and Gille Marini dislocated his shoulder. I’ll write a bit about injuries and difficulty in ballroom dancing later this week, but right now I just want to emphasize how dancing is much more dangerous and difficult than it looks.

Here is my review of the dances on tonight’s show:

They saved the best three dances for last and the way it looks right now, they are the three that we may see go all the way. The others had better step it up. And tomorrow night on the elimination show, we’ll get to see the bottom two pairs do a dance-off. It’s a brand-new feature this season and it should be interesting to see how it affects the results.

[Photos: newscom.com]

Tonight’s season premiere of Dancing With the Stars was full of surprises. For example, a couple of people were better than I imagined them to be and a couple of them were worse. Sadly, Jewel & Nancy O’Dell were officially out of the season due to their injuries. But we were introduced to two last-minute replacements.

The first replacement dancer was Holly Madison. I guess she has a lot more time on her hands now that she and Criss Angel have broken up. But if she doesn’t improve her dancing pretty quick, she may be free to do whatever she wants again soon.

The other surprise replacement was the jilted Bachelor’s choice, Melissa Rycroft. She took the dance floor and showed that in only two days she is a better ballroom dancer than several of the others. I think she may be around for a while. She’s a very pleasant surpise!

As for all of tonight’s dances, here’s my review and the judges’ scores:

		Judges’ Scores
Style	Review	Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Cha-Cha	Lil Kim & Derek Hough - It was a fair performance, but it’s a very different thin g to do hip-hop and ballroom, but I think Lil Kim has potential to improve. She’s got the basics. And it’ll be fun to see her progress.	7	7	7	21
Waltz	Belinda Carlisle & Jonathan Roberts - A good first dance, but she’s still a little stiff and flat on her feet. She did show that she has potential to be much better and it will be fin to watch her improve each week.	6	6	5	17
Cha-Cha	Lawrence Taylor & Edyta Slawinska - For a first time dancer, Lawrence is pretty good, but lacks confidence. He’s a man that can already move his hips and he has a couple of moves, he just needs to get more confident with the dance steps. I think he’s going to get much better as he goes along.	6	5	5	16
Waltz	Steve-O & Lacey Schwimmer - He was actually much better than I had expected. He was serious about the dance and not horsing around. I had expected him to be absolutely horrible, but he was not so much. I think he may actually get better!	6	5	6	17
Cha-Cha	Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke - All I can say is that I loved watching him…and he wasn’t bad at the dancing either. He performed the best male dance so far by a long shot!!! I think he may go very far this season!	8	8	8	24
Waltz	Chuck Wicks & Julianne Hough - He’s pretty good too! I think Julianne has a way with teaching him to dance. I think he’s got real potential and will definitely get better.	6	7	7	20
Cha-Cha	Holly Madison & Dmitri Chaplain - It was clear that she only had a week to practice. Dmitri did his best, but she really needs a lot more work. She was very stiff and hesitant. It will be interesting to see how she improves.	6	6	6	18
Cha-Cha	Ty Murray & Chelsea Hightower - He seemed like a fish out of water and very uncomfortable. But I have to give him props for effort. I like him and hope he stays around to get better. And Chelsea was terrific!	5	4	5	14
Waltz	Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas - Oh, my goodness! We have a contender! She was graceful and her movements were perfect, even though she is such a beginner. She looks like she’s been at it a while. I think she’ll be around for a while this season.	8	8	7	23
Cha-Cha	Steve Wozniak & Karina Smirnoff - He was much better than I expected. I think he’s a bit stiff and needs some polish. It’ll be interesting to see him next week to see if he improves. He’s a courageous man and surely enjoys dancing. I just wish I could hear what his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Griffin has to say about his dance. He may be our first to go.	5	4	4	13
Waltz	David Alan Grier & Kym Johnson - I see some potential in him. He has some grace and just needs more practice to get the steps. I don’t think he’ll be first to leave, for sure.	6	7	6	19
Cha-Cha	Denise Richards & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - She is a fair dancer and will probably not go home in the first couple of weeks, but needs to improve her skills. She’s a bit stiff and timid in her movements.	6	6	6	18
Waltz	Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani - I have to say that she’s not half bad, and she only had two days to learn the dance. I’m impressed. She definitely will improve. She’s very graceful and has wonderful potential!	8	7	8	23

Next Monday will be the second performance by each dance team. And then the first pair will be eliminated. I expect Steve Wozniak or Steve-O to be first. Who do you think will go home first?

[Photo: newscom.com]

The lovely Lil Kim, whose birth name is Kimberly Denise Jones, will be pairing up with Dancing With the Stars champion Derek Hough. He and his partner Brooke Burke won last season’s mirror ball trophy he and Lil Kim plan to make it his second in a row.

Lil Kim got her start in music as part of the rap group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. created and promoted by Notorious B.I.G. with whom she was in a secret romantic relationship as well. The group’s only album Conspiracy contained several rap chart topping singles. After a year with the group, she released her own solo album, Hard Core in 1996. Her first solo offering reached Double Platinum. In March 1997, her mentor and secret lover Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in Los Angeles. The death took a toll on Kim and she took a brief break from her career.

Soon she added modeling to her resume when she became spokeswoman for such labels as Candies, Versace, Iceberg, and Baby Phat. In 2000, Kim released her second album The Notorious K.I.M.

In 2001, Lil’ Kim teamed up with Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Mýa to remake Lady Marmalade. It was another milestone in her career.

But after more music success, Kim was found guilty of conspiracy and perjury for lying to a grand jury about her friends’ involvement in a 2001 shooting outside the Hot 97 studios in Manhattan. She claimed not to have known who was at the scene, despite video footage showing all parties exiting the building. She was sentenced to a one-year-and-a-day in the Philadelphia Detention Center. She wrote over 200 songs while in prison.

Despite her conviction, Kim released a fourth album, The Naked Truth, during her sentence in 2005. In May 2006, Debbie Harry released a Lil’ Kim tribute song called Dirty and Deep in protest of her conviction. The song is available free from the Deborah Harry web site.

She is currently planning to create her own autobiographical film has just released her 5th studio album, Vintage. Lil Kim is an amazingly accomplished recording artist. Here are her awards and credits:

Discography

Studio Recordings

• 1996 - Hard Core: First studio album
• 2000 - The Notorious K.I.M.: Second studio album
• 2003 - La Bella Mafia: Third studio album
• 2005 - The Naked Truth: Fourth studio album
• 2006 - The Dance Remixes: First remix album
• 2007 - Ms. G.O.A.T.: First Mixtape
• 2009 - Vintage: Second Mixtape

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