Hm, seems like I'm not a popular person around these parts. Dancing with the Stars fans have been calling for my head on a platter after I deigned to point out Ms. Smirnoff's propensity for rolling her eyes while on camera. (Although, according to a BuddyTV poll, 71 percent of readers agreed that she's a poor sport.)  Strangely, nobody has offered their two cents on the Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani pairing yet, even though I'm pretty sure that Lucci has tons of fans. Well, I suppose that even though her fans are legion, maybe they are not so internet savvy. Let's hope for her sake that they are comfortable with voting by touch-tone phones.

Anyway, as you can see, I am back today with my thoughts on ex-boy bander Lance Bass and So You Think You Can Dance alumna Lacey Schwimmer. Now this is an interesting pair, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do on the dance floor.

Lance Bass

Pros:
During his days in *NSYNC, Lance Bass has had to shimmy and shake for music videos and concert performances, so he is no stranger to choreography or to the stage. I'm pretty sure that he won't have too much trouble in picking up the moves. Judging from his rehearsal photos, he seems like he's doing a pretty good job with it.

Lance has the advantage of being a man in the competition. Ballroom dancing is all about showcasing the female, and when his female partner happens to be a world-class dancer already, his job is that much easier. Besides, former members of boy bands tend to do well in this competition. Just ask Joey Fatone, Drew Lachey and Joey McIntyre.

Cons:
I actually think that Lance is such a strong contender that I'm hard-pressed to come up with any cons about him. I suppose it's all a big crapshoot anyway because half of his fate will be determined by voters. If he doesn't appeal to the home audience in that special way, then people won't vote for him and he'll be out. But, if the competition were based strictly on talent, technique and entertainment value, then I think Lance will do just fine.


Lacey Schwimmer

I have to congratulate Lacey Schwimmer for parlaying a fourth place showing on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance into a gig as a professional on Dancing with the Stars. I was really impressed with her skills on So You Think You Can Dance, and I think she has a great personality. However, I get the feeling that some people don't think that she has enough experience to be a pro on Dancing with the Stars. It's true that she does specialize in West Coast swing, but she has also won a national title in Latin as well. I suppose that we'll just have to wait until the show premieres in a few weeks, but I'm cautiously optimistic about how she'll perform on the show.

Read more pre-season analyses:
Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke
Ted McGinley and Inna Brayer
Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas
Jeffrey Ross and Edyta Sliwinska
Cody Linley and Julianne Hough
Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson
Brooke Burke and Derek Hough
Toni Braxton and Alec Mazo
Cloris Leachman and Corky Ballas
Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff
Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani
Misty May-Treanor and Maksim Chmerkovskiy





-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Images courtesy of ABC)