The 19th edition of “Dancing with the Stars” announced its roster this morning and never has there been such a lackluster group. There are usually a few names people don’t recognize when they unveil the new dancing “stars.” But this year obscure names dominated the list.
And the names that do ring a dim bell — Tommy Chong minus Cheech, fashion designer Betsey Johnson — are likely to be among the first to go, if only due to their ages — 76 and 72 respectively.
There are a couple of comedy co-stars — Alfonso Riberio, Carlton Banks on “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”; Lea Thompson from the “Back to the Future” franchise — and a talk show host, Tavis Smiley; as well as a soap star – Antonio Sabato Jr., who started his career as an underwear model 25 years ago. Also, a minor character from a fading reality show: Sadie Robertson, the teenage daughter of Willie Robertson on “Duck Dynasty.”
Once more there is an Olympian — track star Lolo Jones — and a race car driver, Michael Waltrip — and some Ultimate Fighting dude, Randy Couture.
But the rest are just a mystery: actor Jonathan Bennett (whose biggest credit given is from “Mean Girls”), Janel Parris from “Pretty Little Liars,” and somebody from YouTube, Bethany Mota — people who are considerably less famous than the show’s returning pro dancers including Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, Mark balls and Karina Smirnoff.
Indeed, another of the show’s famous pro dancers, Julianne Hough, pictured above, has been promoted to fourth judge for season 19, to sit alongside the returning Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba (and presumably stretch the judging segments by 25 percent). Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews return as hosts when the show returns Sept. 15 on ABC.