Dancing with the Stars is headed into its 17th Season, and with it comes a new crop of celebrities hoping to show off their dancing abilities. The celebrities and their partners have been announced today. Among the stars to make the roster for Season 17 are Saved By the Bell's Elizabeth Berkley -- who did a bit of dancing in Showgirls, if you recall -- High School Musical's talented and charismatic Corbin Bleu, Jersey Shore's Snooki and Bill Nye (the Science Guy!).
Who's partnered up with last season's winner, Derek Hough? That would be Glee's Amber Riley. Meanwhile, it's Leah Remini who will be dancing with Season 15 winner Tony Dovolani. Remini has her own Saved by the Bell connections, but the King of Queens star has recently made headlines for speaking out against Scientology. Also making headlines is Valerie Harper, who has fortunately had some success battling brain cancer, and appears to be well enough to take to the floor with Tristan MacManus, who partnered with Dorothy Hamill last season. MacManus has no wins under his belt just yet, but he only joined the show in Season 13.
Also on the list: actor Brant Daugherty (Pretty Little Liars), comedian Bill Engvall, NFL champion Keyshawn Johnson, The Voice's Christina Milian and reality TV star Jack Osbourne. Here's the full list of contestants and who they're dancing with.
Elizabeth Berkley Lauren (Valentin Chmerkovskiy)
Corbin Bleu (Karina Smirnoff)
Brant Daugherty (Peta Murgatroyd)
Bill Engvall (Emma Slater)
Valerie Harper (Tristan MacManus)
Keyshawn Johnson (Sharna Burgess)
Christina Milian (Mark Ballas)
Bill Nye (Tyne Stecklein)
Jack Osbourne (Cheryl Burke)
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi (Sasha Farber)
Leah Remini (Tony Dovolani)
Amber Riley (Derek Hough)
This actually seems like one of the more recognizable casts in recent history. Meaning, I've actually heard of all of these people and know what they're famous for. I couldn't have said the same for at least half of the people in last Spring's line-up.
Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday nights during and up to 60 minutes after the end of the “Dancing with the Stars” broadcast in each time zone. Online voting at www.ABC.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dancingwiththestars is open for 24 hours, beginning from the start of each episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT and closing at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT on Tuesday evenings. For the final week, on Monday, November 25, online voting will open for 15 hours, beginning from the start of the episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT and closing at 11:00 a.m., ET/8:00 a.m., PT the next day. A custom Facebook app lets fans vote, share whom they voted for and say why, as well as see whom friends voted for.
Dancing With the Stars returns Monday, September 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
