Posted by Dustin on 03.17.2008 at 9:30 pm

So the new season of “Dancing With The Starts” started tonight. This post is mainly about my impressions of the new cast. I was under the impression all the stars were dancing tonight. Silly me! How many seasons have I been watching? Tonight was the men only. Tomorrow will be the women, whom I’m looking forward to a lot more simply because I know more of them. Anyway, on with my comments.

Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough – They danced the Foxtrot to “Mellow Yellow.” Adam was pretty stiff, but seemed good on his feet. The judges basically called him Will Ferrell with a bit of John Cleese thrown in. The judges said his footwork was good, but like I said, he was stiff. They got a 5, 5 and 5.

Christian De La Fuente and Cheryl Burke – They danced the Cha Cha Cha to a song I’m not familiar with at all, and there were almost no words to help me identify it. Christian was very good on his feet. Plus he and Cheryl danced really well together. The judges told him to watch the hunching of the sholders, that he looked like he was almost riding a bike. They got a 7, 7 and 7.

Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya -They danced the Foxtrot to yet another song I don’t know (“Lazy River?”). Steve was like the others stiff looking. He wasn’t terrible, but he was somewhat boring. I thought he had good footwork. The judges said he put his heart and soul into it, he looked like he was having fun, but compared him to Billy Ray! They got a 6, 6 and 6.

Mario and Karina Smirnoff – They danced the Cha Cha Cha to yet another song I don’t know (“Radio Man?”). Mario was good on his feet, great upper body moves and clicked well with Karina. By far the best male of the group. Again though, like Sabrina and Mel last season, he has the edge cause of his musical background I feel. The judges loved him and praised him pretty much all over, but told him to refine his footwork a bit. They got and 8, 8 and 8.

Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson – They danced the Cha Cha Cha to some song I’m unfamiliar with (“One More Time?”). It was exactly what one would expect from Penn, very comical. Unfortunately not very impressive with the dancing part. He was critiqued for not being very good on his feet and a little too much hip thrusting action. They got a 5, 6 and 5 for their scores.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinksa – They danced the Foxtrot to “Pride and Joy.” Footwork wise I thought Jason was good, his upper body not so much. He looked a bit stiff. The judges however really liked him, told him his posture was great and he was very graceful. It seemed they wanted a bit more emotion from him. They got a 7, 8 and 7 for their scores.

I hope the women are a little better than the men tomorrow night!