Dancers to Watch

Last night during the Bachelor finale (more on that later), the new Dancing with the Stars lineup was announced. Now, after this morning's announcement of the professional dancer pairings, I've already got my favourites picked out, as well as who I think will do really well.

First off, I'm loving the pairing of nice guy dancer Mark Ballas (my favourite pro) and infamous TV bitch Shannon Doherty (who I've always sort of loved)- that's who I'm rooting for out of the gate.

Next, there's So You Think You Can Dance spitfire pro Chelsie Hightower (one of the series' best teachers) paired with hardworking charmer Jake Pavelka from The Bachelor. Though he runs the risk of being too stiff, I'm hoping Jake has the learning curve to do really well under Chelsie's capable wing.

I'm also fully on board with Olympic skating cutie Evan Lysacek and Russian sweetheart pro dancer Anna Trebunskaya, whom I think will do very well.

Superb coach Cheryl Burke has been paired once again with the football star of the season, a pairing that has won the trophy in the past. This year it's Chad Ochocinco. Sportscaster Erin Andrews will probably do very well alongside professional bad boy Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Wet dream star Pamela Anderson and groundbreaking astronaut Buzz Aldrin will be interesting but probably eliminated in the first couple weeks.

Luckily for all involved, annoying 15 minute extender Kate Gosselin is paired with perhaps the weakest pro on the slate: Tony Dovolani, who's mediocre choreography cost the delightful Melissa Rycroft the crown 2 seasons ago.

The power pairing of superb pro dancer Derek Hough and Pussycatdoll Nicole Scherzinger is sure to do well in the judges rankings but lose sympathy with the audience. Though Derek is very popular, pop stars don't have a great track record with the audience (Mya anyone?), and the Pussycat dolls are not exactly a good match with DWTS' older demographic.

It's sure to be an interesting season.