February 16, 2006

Pop Culture: Party with the dancing Stars
Take two nights of TV, add friends and booze
By Robert Greene rgreene@hippopress.com 

I freely admit that I, along with 14 million other red-blooded Americans, am addicted to Dancing with the Stars (8 p.m. Thursday and Friday nights on ABC).

I was addicted to it when it was run as a what-the-hell summer offering, and twice as addicted when it came back this winter. The format is simple: take a bunch of B-list celebrities and pair them with professional ballroom dancers. The celebs learn a dance from their partners and trot them out for live TV Thursday night. Professional ballroom dance judges offer their evaluations and scores and then the whimsy of the viewing public makes it official via Web votes and calls to the voter hotlines. On Friday night, among much hype and hoopla, the tally is revealed and a celebrity is sent home.

The semifinals are set for this Thursday, Feb. 16, at 8. Who will win? The football legend? The leggy wrestler? The soap star? The former boy-band cutie? Who knows?

Either way, it’s a good excuse for a party, either this week or during the finals next week. You have two options, Thursday or Friday. My advice is to have the party Thursday, if only because it’s a 90-minute show as opposed to the 60-minute results show on Friday. Or, heck, do it both nights.

I’ve included a list of dance-themed cocktails for you to make. Depending on who you invite, be creative with your dress code. Food offerings should depend on who you are rooting for. Jerry Rice fans should serve nachos and wings. Stacy Keibler followers should prepare long, elegant foods, like asparagus and angel-hair pasta. Fans of Drew Lachey should think short and spicy: jalepeño poppers, possibly.

Also, go to learntodance.com to take a free online dance lesson that you can share with your guests. After a drink or two, you will all think you are stars.

Comments? Thoughts? Discuss this article and more at hippoflea.com

The Players
Drew Lachey
Partnered with: Cheryl Burke
Drew Lachey sang (along with his brother, Nick, of Jessica Simpson fame) in the B-level boy band 98 Degrees. 98 Degrees formed in 1995 and, after four albums, quit. Since then, Lachey has appeared on several TV shows including: As The World Turns, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and most recently, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. He also played in Rent on Broadway.
Lachey is married to his high school sweetheart, Lea Dellecave, whom he’s known since fifth grade. Dellecave is a choreographer for and dances with 98 Degrees. Dellecave is very pregnant and can often be viewed in the DWTS audience with her brother-in-law Nick.
Pros/cons: Lachey is one of the two “ringers” on the show, having had some dance experience in the past. His paso doble (a dance inspired by buillfighting) to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” remains one of the high points of the series. However, he is short, not a leggy blond and not at all “foxy.”
Chance of winning: 35 percent

Lisa Rinna
Partnered with: Louis van Amstel
Rinna is best known as “Billie Reed,” a character she played on NBC’s Days of Our Lives. She also played the evil “Taylor McBride” on Fox’s Melrose Place and Lynn Echolls on Veronica Mars. In May 2003, she opened her own women’s clothing boutique, Belle Gray. She is also the host of SoapTalk on SoapNet. She is married to actor Harry Hamlin (LA Law) and they have two daughters, Delilah and Amelia.
Pros/cons: Rinna is probably the third-best celebrity dancer remaining on the show and, at 42, she’s the oldest celeb likely to make the cut.
Chance of winning: 15 percent

Jerry Rice
Partnered with: Anna Trebunskaya
Rice played 16 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, running up the field for Joe Montana’s passes. His off-season workout was considered one of the hardest in pro sports and it produced a player who is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver in the NFL. Rice was selected to 12 Pro Bowls, made a Super Bowl appearance and was twice named Player of the Year.
Rice now plays with the Oakland Raiders.
In September 1987, Jerry married his college sweetheart, Jackie, and together they have three children.
Pros/cons: Rice is used to hard work but has no background as a dancer. The fact that he’s made it so far is a testament to his focus. Plus, he’s shown that even a he-man can get into dancing.
Chance of winning: 5 percent

Stacy Keibler
Partnered with: Tony Dovolani
From the time she was 3, Keibler was studying ballet, jazz and tap. She worked as a model and actress, as well as a Baltimore Ravens cheerleader. She later became a prowrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment after winning the Nitro Girl Search in late 1999. She often can be seen battling it out with the other “Divas” of the WWE.
Pros/cons: Most fans loved her, but a growing element is showing concern that she is a “ringer,” having danced for many years before becoming a wrestler. Tall, long-limbed and graceful, Keibler is a favorite of the professional judges, having performed two perfect-scored dances to Lachey’s one.
Chance of winning: 45 percent.

Dance Inspired Drinks
The Tango Cocktail
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1 oz Gin
1/2 tsp Triple sec
1 tbsp orange juice
Mixing instructions: Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

The Fox Trot
1 1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz lemon juice
2-3 dashes Curacao
Mixing instructions: Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
For a Blue Fox Trot, use Blue Curacao.

The Jitterbug
2 jiggers Gin
1 jigger Vodka
3 dashes Grenadine
1 shot lime juice
Around rim put 1 pinch sugar
3 dashes sugar syrup
Fill to top with soda water (seltzer)
Mixing instructions: Wet glass, dip rim in sugar. Then add ice. Then add everything else.

The Rumba
1 oz Vodka
1 oz spiced rum
Mix it half and half and serve chilled.