TVSquad

Dancing With the Stars is a show that makes no sense to me. I understand the appeal of it; I'm usually very interested in any program that involves celebrities doing ridiculous things on national television and I know that people love bright shiny costumes, but it still somehow manages to hold no interest for me whatsoever.

With that said, I know that the announcement of each season's DWTS cast is heavily anticipated and rumored for months before the actual announcement. We heard that Dan Marino may be a contestant; a claim that was soon denied. 82-year-old Cloris Leachman was another name floated, as was Magnum, P.I. himself, Tom Selleck. Kim Kardashian and Kathy Griffin were also said to have been approached.

As with most rumors, some of these turned out to be false, but others had some truth to them. Follow me after the jump for the official (and completely insane) cast of Dancing With the Stars' seventh season, along with some twists the producers have cooked up for this go-around.

The pressure was turned up a notch this week as each of the couples had to do two complete numbers for the first time. The results of all their hard work left the judges scores landing all over the map, from 21 to 29. Jonathan is back this week with his take on all of the performances, and some thoughts on those confusing scores.

We also got to a number of reader questions. So, read on past the jump to find out which celebrity is on Jonathan's partner wish list, how he got involved with the show, what some of his favorite musical numbers were, just what makes the foxtrot so hard, and what Jonathan thinks of the possibility that Paula Abdul would be on the show. Oh, and there is also a bit of a teaser about what the future might hold for our favorite pro.

Dating rumors are a major part of the hype surrounding Dancing With The Stars. Every season, a different pair is suspected of being a couple behind-the-scenes as well. Some of the rumors turn out to be true, and some do not. Partners Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff started dating after they were paired up on the show.

This season, fans have been speculating about the chemistry between Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough. Rumors have been circulating all week after People caught them kissing on the beach. Hough and Elizabeth even poked fun at the rumors after this week's romantic rumba. Is their relationship the real deal, or is it all for the fans' benefit?

With only a few days until the premiere of Dancing With The Stars, it's time to start picking favorites. Brett already gave you his analysis of the ladies, and now it's the men's turn to be evaluated. This season we have an athlete, a comedian, a recording artist, a magician, a Latin heartthrob, and an 80's film star--a little something for everybody. So, who's a front runner and who has an uphill climb ahead of them? Read on to find out!

(S04E15) I thought that Mandee made a great comment on the post for last week's results show. She said, "You know, the Results show has been morphing into a terrific '60s style variety show, with comedy segments, guest musical performers, and, of course, lots of dancing. A slice of retro-cool, for the whole family, from grandma to pre-tweens." I completely agree with that.

The results show has always had to fight the problem that they only have about two minutes of actual results for their 60 minute show. Right now, it's as good as it has ever been. It's always going to be behind the performance show, because the star's performances are what it's all about, but the producers deserve credit for how much work is going into the results show. Enough about that though, we have results to get to.

(S04E14) Which one of these doesn't belong? As is par for the course on Dancing With The Stars, somebody always gets through on the power of the fan vote, surpassing contestants that are superior dancers. This year, that somebody is Billy Ray Cyrus. We could argue all day about whether or not Billy Ray should still be on the show, but one thing is for sure, while he is here, he makes things interesting. Read on to hear about the latest dustup.

(S04E06) Tom kicked off week four by proclaiming, "It's time to go big, or go home." I would disagree with that. We are still early enough in the competition that people can continue to skate by on popularity. When they get down to four couples, then it will be time to go big.

Len followed that up by going to the stats. According to his numbers, this group has been slacking on the practice. They have only been practicing 13 hours a week. The teams from the last season averaged 19 hours. He said that it shows in their performance, but I don't notice a stark difference between the two seasons. I think we have a similar division of couples again this year. He followed that up with a threat of lower scores for anyone he thinks isn't putting in the work. I wasn't buying that, but in retrospect, this was some of the tougher judging they have ever done. That said, on with the show.

(S04E03) I'm always amazed at just how much programming ABC is able to mine from Dancing With The Stars. The performance recap show that led up to the live results show was another good example. Not that there's anything wrong with it. I'm guessing that when the numbers come in that recap show will do two, if not three, times as many viewers as George Lopez and According To Jim would in the same slot.