Beto
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Backstage at Dancing with the Stars' Opening Night
Karina Smirnoff and Mario by Kelsey McNeal/ABC
Opening nights are all about nerves — feeling them, hiding them, handling them. And it didn't seem to matter whether the stars were dancing (the men), or waiting one more night to dance (the women). Backstage at Monday night's Dancing with the Stars, you could practically hear the nerves jangling. "It's so different from tennis," says Monica Seles, who, off the tennis court, is shockingly tall (in heels, she's over six feet). "In tennis, you win, you lose, you shake hands at the net, and the umpire doesn't say anything."
"I know I'm going to be getting up tomorrow morning at five o'clock, completely wired," says Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, who thought R&B singer Mario "looked really good."
"I got to get my feet working," said Mario, a perfectionist who practiced on his own when his pro partner, Karina Smirnoff, was out for four days having surgery for a herniated disk in her neck. Smirnoff was clearly protecting her neck during the pros' dazzling opening number. "I have to be really careful and [Mario] has to be really gentle with me," she says.
"I don't want to freak myself out," said Priscilla Presley, who was grateful for the opportunity to see the men put through their paces before it's her turn to strut her stuff Tuesday night. "I put so much pressure on myself that everything has to be technically correct. But watching the men tonight, there were some mistakes. The footwork was off, and it was like it was nothing. That really helped, seeing that."
Football pro Jason Taylor was relieved that the opening-night jitters were behind him. "It felt great to get it over with," he says. "Before it started, I just told myself to stay calm because I was real nervous yesterday and today. But Edyta [Sliwinska, his pro partner] talked to me a lot and calmed me down. She kept telling me that I was ready."
Still, it's tough to prepare yourself for getting pummeled by the judges. "I thought they were really hard on him," said pro Kym Johnson, who was miffed when the judges said that her partner, Penn Jillette, needed to be lighter on his feet. "I thought he was really light on his feet — and he's broken both of them [in the past]."
"My feet hurt all the time," noted Jillette, who wears specially constructed dance boots to support his feet and ankles. "Essentially, I'm wearing casts on my feet. The amount of pain in my feet right now is breathtaking. But it was a little more fun than I expected. You don't want to have fun during a comedy show, that's a big mistake. Or during a magic show. Big mistake. You want to look back and say that you accomplished something. But here, in the moment, there was a little bit of fun and I've never experienced that before during a performance."
"I thought the judges were too harsh with us," says Julianne Hough, who champions the work ethic of her star, Adam Carolla. (Alas, the duo drew the lowest score of the night, 15 out of 30.) "I don't think he was the worst one out there, by far."
"The... what was the dance we just did?" asked Carolla. "The fox-trot," answers Hough. "Right. Not my dance," smiled Carolla. "Now, next week, the mambo, that's my dance. I've said it all through high school and adult life, the mambo is my dance. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."
It was a breath of fresh air to have two comedians in the house. Far superior in entertainment value to the usual sprinkling of models (who were always quickly booted out, anyway), the comics were willing to take on the judges, blame their partners, interrupt host Tom Bergeron, and generally puncture holes in the ballroom formalities. "Bergeron is a very attractive man," says Carolla, who claims to have only watched the host — never the dancers — in past seasons. "But he's got a restraining order out against me."
Many of the new stars got the inside scoop from former stars who had survived their tangos on the parquet. "Priscilla called me," shared Jane Seymour, who was in the audience with her husband, producer/director James Keach. "I told her, 'It's very strenuous and very hard work. But don't be afraid of the hard work, because the experience is wonderful.'"
Everywhere you looked, there were reminders of last season. There was Season 5 champ Helio Castroneves, feeling "really weird" as he watched his former partner, Julianne, dancing with Carolla, and then cracking up as he saw actor Cristián de la Fuente struggle to learn the moves from pro Cheryl Burke. De la Fuente was frustrated, he said, that he was from Chile, not Brazil, blaming his nationality for the fact that his hips weren't working.
There was Mel B., kissing and hugging everyone in sight. "I thought that Mario looked really good," she said, breaking down the men's chances. "But I think the women are going to come out strong."
"Last season, there was a lot of warmth and fun, and people were light about it," said cohost Samantha Harris. "And I think this cast will get there. But for our very first show, they definitely were really nervous. The only one who wasn't nervous was Steve Guttenberg. He's so excited to be here. He's the cheerleader of the group. Backstage, he's slapping and hooting for everyone. He gives off a very positive vibe."
But the nerves aren't just about the dancing. "Let's talk about the elephant in the room," says Harris. "Tuesday night, we're going up against American Idol. It's the first time in our six seasons that that's happened. And they're filming right across the hall. And a lot of people are nervous about that. But our producers and the network and I, personally, am very excited to take them on because I think this show has a different appeal. If any show can take on Idol, it's Dancing with the Stars." — Deborah Starr Seibel
Backstage at Dancing with the Stars' Opening Night
Karina Smirnoff and Mario by Kelsey McNeal/ABC
Opening nights are all about nerves — feeling them, hiding them, handling them. And it didn't seem to matter whether the stars were dancing (the men), or waiting one more night to dance (the women). Backstage at Monday night's Dancing with the Stars, you could practically hear the nerves jangling. "It's so different from tennis," says Monica Seles, who, off the tennis court, is shockingly tall (in heels, she's over six feet). "In tennis, you win, you lose, you shake hands at the net, and the umpire doesn't say anything."
"I know I'm going to be getting up tomorrow morning at five o'clock, completely wired," says Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, who thought R&B singer Mario "looked really good."
"I got to get my feet working," said Mario, a perfectionist who practiced on his own when his pro partner, Karina Smirnoff, was out for four days having surgery for a herniated disk in her neck. Smirnoff was clearly protecting her neck during the pros' dazzling opening number. "I have to be really careful and [Mario] has to be really gentle with me," she says.
"I don't want to freak myself out," said Priscilla Presley, who was grateful for the opportunity to see the men put through their paces before it's her turn to strut her stuff Tuesday night. "I put so much pressure on myself that everything has to be technically correct. But watching the men tonight, there were some mistakes. The footwork was off, and it was like it was nothing. That really helped, seeing that."
Football pro Jason Taylor was relieved that the opening-night jitters were behind him. "It felt great to get it over with," he says. "Before it started, I just told myself to stay calm because I was real nervous yesterday and today. But Edyta [Sliwinska, his pro partner] talked to me a lot and calmed me down. She kept telling me that I was ready."
Still, it's tough to prepare yourself for getting pummeled by the judges. "I thought they were really hard on him," said pro Kym Johnson, who was miffed when the judges said that her partner, Penn Jillette, needed to be lighter on his feet. "I thought he was really light on his feet — and he's broken both of them [in the past]."
"My feet hurt all the time," noted Jillette, who wears specially constructed dance boots to support his feet and ankles. "Essentially, I'm wearing casts on my feet. The amount of pain in my feet right now is breathtaking. But it was a little more fun than I expected. You don't want to have fun during a comedy show, that's a big mistake. Or during a magic show. Big mistake. You want to look back and say that you accomplished something. But here, in the moment, there was a little bit of fun and I've never experienced that before during a performance."
"I thought the judges were too harsh with us," says Julianne Hough, who champions the work ethic of her star, Adam Carolla. (Alas, the duo drew the lowest score of the night, 15 out of 30.) "I don't think he was the worst one out there, by far."
"The... what was the dance we just did?" asked Carolla. "The fox-trot," answers Hough. "Right. Not my dance," smiled Carolla. "Now, next week, the mambo, that's my dance. I've said it all through high school and adult life, the mambo is my dance. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."
It was a breath of fresh air to have two comedians in the house. Far superior in entertainment value to the usual sprinkling of models (who were always quickly booted out, anyway), the comics were willing to take on the judges, blame their partners, interrupt host Tom Bergeron, and generally puncture holes in the ballroom formalities. "Bergeron is a very attractive man," says Carolla, who claims to have only watched the host — never the dancers — in past seasons. "But he's got a restraining order out against me."
Many of the new stars got the inside scoop from former stars who had survived their tangos on the parquet. "Priscilla called me," shared Jane Seymour, who was in the audience with her husband, producer/director James Keach. "I told her, 'It's very strenuous and very hard work. But don't be afraid of the hard work, because the experience is wonderful.'"
Everywhere you looked, there were reminders of last season. There was Season 5 champ Helio Castroneves, feeling "really weird" as he watched his former partner, Julianne, dancing with Carolla, and then cracking up as he saw actor Cristián de la Fuente struggle to learn the moves from pro Cheryl Burke. De la Fuente was frustrated, he said, that he was from Chile, not Brazil, blaming his nationality for the fact that his hips weren't working.
There was Mel B., kissing and hugging everyone in sight. "I thought that Mario looked really good," she said, breaking down the men's chances. "But I think the women are going to come out strong."
"Last season, there was a lot of warmth and fun, and people were light about it," said cohost Samantha Harris. "And I think this cast will get there. But for our very first show, they definitely were really nervous. The only one who wasn't nervous was Steve Guttenberg. He's so excited to be here. He's the cheerleader of the group. Backstage, he's slapping and hooting for everyone. He gives off a very positive vibe."
But the nerves aren't just about the dancing. "Let's talk about the elephant in the room," says Harris. "Tuesday night, we're going up against American Idol. It's the first time in our six seasons that that's happened. And they're filming right across the hall. And a lot of people are nervous about that. But our producers and the network and I, personally, am very excited to take them on because I think this show has a different appeal. If any show can take on Idol, it's Dancing with the Stars." — Deborah Starr Seibel