Natalie Coughlin rocks the Rumba

Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin keeps on rolling at Dancing with the Stars. This week, she and partner Alec put together a steamy Rumba en route to a total score of 26. In addition to being a fan favorite, she’s become one of Carrie Ann Inaba’s picks as well.

Here’s Natalie’s segment from this week’s show for those who missed it:

Throughout the season, Natalie will be sharing her DWTS experience through her Twitter (@nataliecoughlin) and Facebook pages so be sure to follow along and VOTE for Natalie all season long.

Natalie and Alec’s official voting number is 1-800-VOTE4-13 or 1-800-868-3413. You may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.

Swimmer Natalie Coughlin among new “Dancing with the Stars” cast

Natalie Coughlin can do the backstroke and the breastroke in world record time, but can she do the paso doble or tango?

Coughlin, who has made a big splash in the Olympics, will attempt to excel in the ballroom during the upcoming season of ABC’s “DWTS.” She was among the 16 celebrities named to the “Dancing with the Stars” cast, as announced Monday morning. She’ll compete against former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay, pop singer Donny Osmond, and former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin.

Other hopefuls include singers Mya, Macy Gray and Aaron Carter; actors Melissa Joan Hart, Debi Mazar and Ashley Hamilton (son of George); models Joanna Krupa and Kathy Ireland; reality stars Kelly Osbourne and Mark Dacascos (”the Chairman” on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America”); mixed martial artist Chuck Liddell; and professional snowboarder Louie Vito.

The contestants were announced on Monday’s “Good Morning America” by “Dancing” host Tom Bergeron, who also unveiled a new competitive twist.

“In the middle of our season, over three weeks, we’re going to have double eliminations,” said Bergeron. “We’ll lose about half of our cast within that period. It will be a ballroom bloodbath.”

Coughlin  represented the United States at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2008, she became the first American female athlete to win six medals in one Olympics.

After taking a break from swimming competition after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Coughlin will be extending that break with time logged on the dance floor. She appears to be in good company on “Dancing” as three Olympians have won the reality show’s coveted title. Speed-skater Apolo Anton Ohno captured the prize in Season 4, while figure skate Kristi Yamaguchi prevailed in Season 6 and gymnast Shawn Johnson won the disco-ball trophy in Season 8.

The ninth season of the hit ABC show premieres Sept. 21 with a three night event.

Update: Natalie will be paired with Alec Mazo on this season of DWTS.

Sabrina Bryan wants your workout video!

Think you’ve got the latest and greatest moves to get fit? Show them off in a new contest to promote physical activity!

Sabrina Bryan, of the Cheetah Girls and Dancing with the Stars ” has teamed up with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation to launch empowerME, a campaign challenging kids to make their own workout videos.

How to enter:

Record an original 3-5 minute workout or dance video starring you*

Include at least two of Sabrina’s top tips (found on the EmpowerME site)

Submit your video

For more information on The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the empowerME campaign and Sabrina Bryan’s video contest please visit www.empowerME2B.org.

So get up, grab a camera and get moving!

The top five finalists will receive autographed copies of Sabrina’s newest “Byou” DVD — and the winner will also receive a personalized video message from Sabrina!

All Girl Beat Freaks: America’s Best Dance Crew?

If you’ve been obsessed with MTV’s reality dance-competition show “America’s Best Dance Crew“ then you know that one of the top two crews this season was the all-female Beat Freaks. The LA ladies came hard with a badass B-girl style and wowed ABDC judges Lil’ Mama, Shane Sparks and JC Chasez with their athleticism and creative choreography.

The female tag became a big thing and there was a lot of hype around the Beat Freaks but there was still the little matter of dancing it out against the other finalist, Quest Crew,  in the live March 5th finale.

A hip-hop dance dream team, the Beat Freaks have won loads of awards and have been featured on numerous television shows, as well as in music videos and tours with such talent as Pink, Avril Lavigne, Miley Cyrus and Madonna, as well as in movies like You Got Served and Step Up 2.

From the MTV site: ”

We are an all styles crew, so we teach each other” says Out There. Adds Lockn’Key, “This is a well-rounded group of women. We have B- girling, freestyle, hip-hop, popping, locking, house salsa, jazz, ballet, you name it.” Plus, says Rino, “We love to laugh and to have fun.”

With such wide ranging credits and styles, it’s not surprising to see a range of music fueling the crew. The girls go for everything from Hot Chip, M.I.A., Santogold and CSS to OutKast, T.I., Aaliyah and Missy Elliottt to Prince, Zapp and James Brown.

So which crew was voted “America’s Best”? A battle as old as time played out last week as the “guys vs. girls” challenge was enacted.  Guys have won the first two seasons, with women getting as far as second and third in mixed crews (So Real Cru, Kaba Modern, Fanny Pak), and all-girl crews not even close to the top three.

When it came time for the moment of truth, host Mario Lopez milked it for as much drama  as he could.  The all-girl-finalists, who had never even been in the bottom two, faced a crew that was facing elimination only a week before.  

In the end only one group could win, and show producer Randy Jackson awarded the Quest Crew the grand prize of $100,000. A lot of us were  surprised (and a little angry), but anyone who watched the show knew that it would be a tight race. 

What do you think? Did the best crew win?

Misty May-Treanor trades beach for ballroom

September 24, 2008 – We all know two time Olympic gold medalist Misty May Treanor is tough on the beach volleyball court. But can she be graceful and feminine too? Watch her performance on this week’s Dancing with the Stars and see….

The comedian Jeffrey Ross along with his professional partner, Edyta Sliwinska,  was the first star eliminated from the seventh season of ABC’s dancing competition.

DWTS: Season 7 welcomes Misty May Treanor

August 25, 2008 – Now that the Olympics are over, let’s get back to REAL life. 

DWTS’ seventh season airs on Sept. 22 and what’s on everyones mind is:  Who will shake a leg on the award-winning reality show in hopes of winning the coveted mirror ball trophy?

Announced today, here’s a rundown of the Dancing with the Stars contestants and their professional dance partners:

• Singer Toni Braxton, 40, and Alec Mazo
• Singer Lance Bass, 29, and Lacey Schwimmer
• Actor Ted McGinley, 50, and Inna Brayer
• Actress Cloris Leachman,82, and Corky Ballas
• Warren Sapp, 35, and Kym Johnson
• Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, 31, and Karina Smirnoff
• TV personality Kim Kardashian, 27, and Mark Ballas
• Track star Maurice Green, 34, and Cheryl Burke
• Beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor, 31, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Soap star Susan Lucci,61, and Tony Dovolani
• Comedian Jeffrey Ross, 42, and Edyta Sliwinska
• Actor Cody Linley, 18, and two-time DWTS champ Julianne Hough
• TV personality Brooke Burke, 36, and Derek Hough

Our fave? Beach volleyball player and recent Olympic gold medal winner Misty May-Treanor!  She’ll go straight from Beijing where she and Kerri Walsh won their second gold medal in beach volleyball to the DWTS comp where we hope she’ll follow in the footsteps of another Olympian – last year’s winner Kristi Yamaguchi.

M&M Cru vs ACDC: the Dance Battle continues

June 12, 2008 – In case you haven’t been paying attention, Miley Cyrus has been participating in a number of YouTube videos showcasing “Dance Battles,” between her group of dancers (the “M&M Cru“) and a “rival dance crew,” known as “ACDC.“ 

If you’ve got ten minutes to spare, check out Miley and BFF Mandy Jirouex’s latest installment in the “biggest online dance battle in history”.

Miley, Mandy and the M&M Cru enlist the help of plenty of great B-girls and boys along with such diverse talent as Chris Kattan, Carson Daly, Ryan Seacrest, Napoleon Dynamite’s Petro, former N’Sync member Joey Fatone,  and magic man David Blaine (he makes Miley’s head do a 360).

The video ends with Step Up 2 director Jon Chu and star Adam Sevani (they lead the ACDC group) saying, “There’s only one way to settle this. In person!” Seems like the next video may feature both the M&M Cru and ACDC Crew facing off!! Can’t wait.

Ladies Night at DWTS

May 21, 2008 – After four consecutive male winners on “Dancing With the Stars,” it was finally ladies’ night.

Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi was named the new “Dancing” champ on the show’s season finale, becoming the first woman to win the ABC dance-off since its inaugural season. The Olympic gold medalist came into the final contest Tuesday with a perfect score and bested Jason Taylor and Cristian de la Fuente to claim the championship.

“This is definitely for all those women out there to continue to be strong,” she said after the show, hoisting the prize above her head.

The Olympic gold medalist was clearly the most talented dancer on this season’s competition, regularly landing atop the judges’ scoreboard.

Yamaguchi’s athletic background helped make her a winner, said judge Carrie Ann Inaba, because athletes know how to channel criticism into competition.

Pretty? Definitely! Tough? You bet! Yamaguchi’s got it all – including the mirrorball trophy.

You go, girl!

Perfect 10: Kristi Yamaguchi rocks the finale

Will we finally see a woman win DWTS? Kristi really rocks her freestyle routine. Check it out:

Dance, Dance with Kristi Yamaguchi

Have a bit of fun with our pick to win this cycle of “Dancing with the Stars” – figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi!

 

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