DWTS New Season Celebrities

Image via Wikipedia

A boxing great, a model who survived an Indian Ocean tsunami and a grown-up "Karate Kid" will be hoofing it on the 12th season of "Dancing With the Stars."  "Dancing" hosts Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke announced next season's line-up on ABC's "The Bachelor".


Former welterweight champ Sugar Ray Leonard, model Petra Nemcova and Ralph Macchio of the hit 1984 karate movie will be among 11 celebrity contestants.  Also hitting the dance floor will be Kirstie Alley; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward; professional wrestler Chris Jericho; "Loveline" radio show co-host 'Psycho' Mike Catherwood; one-time rap prodigy Romeo (former Lil' Romeo); Chelsea Kane of Disney Channel's "Jonas"; talk show host Wendy Williams and reality star Kendra Wilkinson.

The DWTS show returns March 21 on ABC.


Related articles

• Sugar Ray Leonard to Hoof It on 'Dancing' Series (abcnews.go.com)
• Four sports stars to be on new DWTS (msn.foxsports.com)
• It's Sugar Ray Leonard vs. 'Karate Kid' and others on 'Dancing With the Stars' (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Meghan McCain Blasts Bristol Palin

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

"Dancing with the Stars" contestant Bristol Palin reportedly was so busy rehearsing that she didn't vote in the recent election. The daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin was apologetic to her mom, though.


The 20-year-old daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin, who is in L.A. competing on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, told Inside Edition she forgot to send in her "absentee ballot in Alaska. I'm going to be in trouble. Sorry, Mom!"

Meghan McCain is slamming Bristol Palin for not voting in Tuesday's elections. Appearing on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, McCain, 26 said, "If you didn't vote in my family that was like bad news. I've been voting since I turned 18."

Ripping on Palin, she added, "I guess it's only important for Bristol Palin to vote for Dancing With the Stars. I think a lot of women worked really hard to give us the right to vote. Anyone that doesn't vote is just ridiculous."

Just because she didn't vote, Palin still has opinions on politics: She thinks her mom should run for president in 2012. "I know that she's great and she'd be great for our country," she said.

Related articles

• Meghan McCain Slams Bristol Palin for Not Voting (cbsnews.com)
• Bristol Palin Didn't Vote (huffingtonpost.com)
• Bristol Palin didn't turn in her absentee ballot (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Meghan McCain to Bristol Palin: You're Ridiculous! (thehollywoodgossip.com)

Amazing Star Salaries

Ophrah Winfrey, Charlie Sheen, Hugh Laurie

I set out to find out the salary of contestants on "Dancing With the Stars" trying to find out what attracted participants.  It was plain that nonentities like Bristol Palin were looking for a paycheck and possible linkage to a regular hook-up. Stars in the declining years of fame like Florence Henderson and David Hasselhoff probably were looking for an additional fifteen minutes of attention and maybe a renewed interest leading to regular employment.


Each DWTS contestant is paid $200,000 for the season regardless of how long they remain on the show.  First, second and third place winners are paid an additional bonus and the ultimate winner receives a bonus of $100,000 dollars. Not bad for limited talent, a little publicity, and another line on the resume.

As always when surfing the internet, one click leads to another, so let me share some of the interesting information I found.

• Oprah Winfrey gets paid $315 million-a-year for her talk show topping a list of the highest paid talk show hosts in the US, with her staggering wage more than the combined total of the next four top earners, Judge Judy Sheindlin and David Letterman, who earn $45 million and $28 million respectively, ‘Tonight Show’ star Jay Leno on $25 million and Conan O’Brien, who gets paid $10 million.
• Jennifer Lopez will rake in $12 millon per season while Ryan Seacrest paycheck will be $15 million annually, triple his salary from last season.
• Charlie Sheen of "Two and a Half Men"  is paid $1.8 million per episode while co-star Jon Cryer nets $550,000 per episode.
• Law and Order SUV stars Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay both earn $395,000 while David Caruso, CSI: Miami rakes in $375,000.
• Hugh Laurie, Dr. Gregory House earns $400,000 in season five of the award winning series.
•  Jersey Shores Snooki will earn $30,000 pr episode, up from $2,200 in season one.
• NCIS star Mark Harmon makes $325,000 while Michael Weatherly makes under $100,000.

For more detailed information, see the related articles below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 'Judge Judy' Topples 'Oprah' From Top Daytime Spot (abcnews.go.com)
• Oprah Winfrey Tops List of the Highest Paid Talk Show Hosts (inquisitr.com)
• TV's Highest Paid Performers - 2010 List (theoriginalwinger.com)
• Hugh Laurie highest paid actor in US TV drama (telegraph.co.uk)

Bristol's Dancing with the Stars

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas

Talk about fifteen minutes of fame, first Levi Johnston gets a reality show and now baby mama Bristol competes on the eleventh season of "Dancing With the Stars". Bristol will partner with two times champ Mark Ballas who is in his 7th season.


Bristol Palin, former first daughter of Alaska, is a "spokesperson" for the prevention of teen pregnancy and for other teen issues. As an advocate for the protection of life, Palin wanted to share her story with other teens who may one day face a similar situation. So, what's the best way to do that? Join a popular T. V. show, make money, and keep your face in the news.

Bristol has moved to Los Angeles, hired a nany for little Tripp, and is rehearsing for the show.  Levi is shocked by the revelation, but wishes Bristol well.

Another 15 minutes of fame "star",Gate crasher and D. C. Housewife Michaele Salahi — yes, the same one who yesterday revealed she’d be auctioning off her infamous red sari — is going to be posing naked for Playboy. How naked?

According to TMZ, the answer is: “full-frontal, birthday suit naked.”


Ain't America wonderful?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bristol Palin: 'I'm So Excited to Get Into Shape!' (justjared.buzznet.com)
• Bristol Palin: I'm Not a Diva on DWTS (omg.yahoo.com)
• Bristol Palin & Audrina Rehearse For 'Dancing With The Stars' (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)

TV's Biggest Money Makers

Ever wondered who's making the big bucks in TV land?  If you base the ranking on revenue per 30 minutes, take a look at the top ten money makers listed below:

1.  American Idol-$8.1 million

2. Two and a Half Men-$3.1 million
    The show is the most watched sitcom at 15 million viewers weekly.

3. 24-$3 million
    Kiefer Sutherland's high intensity drama generated $6 million in revenue for a single
    episode last year.
4. Grey's Anatomy-$2.8 million
     The soapy medical drama garners a viewership of 13.5 million viewers per week.
5.  V-$2.8 million
     The limited run science fiction series started with 14.3 million viewers weekly initially, then lost
     5 million viewers after the first four episodes and currently runs less than 5 million viewers.
6.  Desperate Housewives-$2.7 million
     Advertisers shell out $5 million  per episode for the saga of the ladies of Wisteria Lane.
7.  Dancing With the Stars-$2.56 million
     The dance competition nets 19.6 million viewers each week.
8.  Lost-$2.53 million
     Advertisers shell out $5 million per episode.  The show nets 12 million viewers in an average week.
9.  Survivor-$2.22 million
     The reality genre show cost $4.5 million per average hour.
10. C.S.I.-Crime Scene Investigation-$2.07 million
      The original CSI set in Las Vegas is the granddaddy of them all.  At a cost of $4 million per
       episode, the show  nets 15.8 million viewers weekly.

Lost of viewers, lots of cash.  Imagine, there are five of these ten shows that I've never watched.  Ever.


Source: Forbes