Dancing With The Stars

I can admit it. I'm a Dancing With The Stars addict. What can I say? When my husband was in the hospital a couple of years ago I was trapped in the hospital room with him. Patient controls the remote. That's the unwritten rule of the hospital. So I watched every show my husband wanted to watch. And yes, Dancing With The Stars was one of them. This year it's especially fun to watch because one of my best girlfriends is competing on the show.

As many of you know, Marie and I are dear friends. I was so excited when she told me she would be competing in this year's DWTS's. Then I found out she was paired with Jonathan and I thought to myself, "Could it be any more perfect." Jonathan is the master at making his partner look good.

So it was with baited breath that I watched her dancing debut tonight. She looked beautiful and Jonathan choreographed a marvelous routine that played to her strengths, as is usual with him.

For those of you who don't know how the show works, here's a basic rundown.

Professional ballroom dancers (top of their field) are paired with unlikely stars. With six weeks before the first night of competition, they learn the rudiments of ballroom, hone their skills and attempt to master in a short time what their partners have taken a lifetime to do. Then each week they have seven days to learn a new dance. Then, if they make it to this point, they have to start learning two dances in seven days. Challenging? Yes. Daunting? Yes? Possible? For some.

So on the roster this year are: Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), Sabrina Bryan (Cheetah Girl (don't ask me, I don't know)), Helio Castroneves (NASCAR racer), Mark Cuban (self-made billionaire/owner of the Houston Mavericks), Jennie Garth (90210 actress), Josie Maran (model/actress), Cameron Mathison (soap actor), Floyd Mayweather (boxer), Wayne Newton (entertainer), Marie Osmond (need I say more?), Albert Reed (model) and Jane Seymour (again, need I say more?) Quite an eclectic group, which is what the producers strive for.

Marie has been performing since she was three-years-old, but as she said to me and to the world, "I can't dance." Well Jonathan managed to prove her wrong. I think she'll only improve with every week. She has an incredible competitive streak!

I could not be prouder of my friend. She's a good woman with a good heart. And now she's participating in my favorite show. How fun is that?

So please watch the show and if you like her dancing, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! It's a relatively painless process. You're allowed to vote six times from each phone number and email address. Yes, I voted six times from cellphone, from my home phone and from the internet. Hey, they let me do it!

So this is my shout out to Marie. Go girl! I'll be cheering you on.