Reality Bytes- Part 7

Read pre-show introduction here
Dancing With the Stars kicked off season 8 tonight. The 2 hour premiere came and went without any new injuries. As mentioned in my previous post, Jewel and Nancy O’Dell were both hit with the DWTS curse before even making it on stage. Last minute replacements included Hugh Hefner’s former #1 girlfriend and reality star, Holly Madison and The Bachelor’s most recent castoff, Melissa Rycroft, (who by the way had her 1st practice only 2 days ago.)
The newest pros for this season are “So You Think You Can Dance” contestants Dmitry Chaplin, who shakes his groove thang with Holly and Chelsie Hightower, who boogies with Ty Murray. Other couples include; Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Denise Richards, Kym Johnson and David Alan Grier, Karina Smirnoff and Steve Wozniak, Mark Ballas and Shawn Johnson, Julianne Hough and Chuck Wicks, Cheryl Burke and Gilles Marini, Edyta Sliwinska and Lawrence Taylor, Jonathan Roberts and Belinda Carlisle, Derek Hough and Lil Kim, last but not least, Lacey Schwimmer and Steve-O.
I went into the season already knowing who I was going to root for, but I think they all did really good…exceeding my expectations. (Have I ever mentioned, in 5th grade I won a dance contest to The Osmond’s, Down By The Lazy River?) There are obviously the stronger contenders, but for the most part, they all held their own! I was especially happy to see Steve-O’s dedication and determination. Once a self-destructive, wild, attention whore, the former Jackass has now been sober since March 2008. The mama bear in me must have came out tonight as I suddenly felt a sense of pride watching him perform. I hope this experience is enough to prove to him he can succeed sober…(with clothes on, no staples or foreign objects!)
I haven’t been a faithful fan of this show, it usually just depends on the cast. Somehow, I get the feeling with this group, it could be the best season yet!