The season premiere of “Dancing With the Stars” is a little under a month away, but already several days into their practice routines, the celebrities and their professional partners reveal what they have coming up for their first round of competition.
On Thursday, pro Lacey Schwimmer and Food Network host Mark Dacascos confirmed to Access Hollywood that their first dance will be the cha-cha, performed to “Kung Fu Fighting.” In addition to hosting “Iron Chef America” on Food Network, Dacascos is a champion martial artist.
Joining them in the cha-cha field will be the pair of professional Karina Smirnoff and singer Aaron Carter.
“Oh, I can hardly wait till the opening night! He’s doing so well. Our first dance is cha cha,” Smirnoff tweeted last week.
Melissa Joan Hart has begun learning the waltz and is also practicing the Latin number, but stopped short of confirming that the cha-cha will be her first number with Mark Ballas.
“Wow! The chacha will make your abs rockin!!! No more crunches, just need to chachacha!” the former “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” star tweeted.
But while their official first dance remains a mystery, Hart and Ballas are one of the many pairs that have decided on a team name: “Team Melarkey.”
Having a team name has become a trend this season on “Dancing” and Chelsie Hightower and her partner, professional snowboarder Louie Vito, have jumped on the bandwagon, branding themselves “Team Chouie.”
“Team Chouie” confirmed via Twitter they will foxtrot to No Doubt’s “It’s My Life” on the season premiere.
Derek Hough, who has been partnered with model Joanna Krupa this season, is calling his dance floor partnership “Team DJ.”
“Simple and cool,” he said about the name.
Kelly Osbourne and her partner, Louis van Amstel, have yet to reveal their team name, dance style or song, but they did open up about an injury Ozzy and Sharon’s middle child has caused her partner.
“Oh,yeah..i forgot to tell all of you @MissKellyO kicked me in the nuts yesterday.She decided to just pull up her other knee!!!Kinda hurt,” Van Amstel wrote on his Twitter page.
And it appears Van Amstel isn’t the only pro in pain. Hough is experiencing some physical troubles already.
“I always hurt my neck every season , I guess it’s better now then later … Frustrating pain,” he Tweeted yesterday.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who lost his partner two seasons ago due to injury (Misty May Treanor), seems to be doing alright this season with his new dance floor lady, actress Debi Mazar.
“I think I got one of the hardest working people as my partner,” Chmerkovskiy tweeted. “I’m really enjoying our rehearsals. I think Debi will do great!”
And as for politician Tom DeLay, who has been paired with Cheryl Burke, he’s excited about how things are going.
“After two dance sessions I can tell you Cheryl Burke is the most patient person I have ever met,” he wrote on his Twitter page last week.