Chuck Wicks

Chuck Wicks and girlfriend Julianne Hough, along with Jewel and husband (and rodeo champ) Ty Murray, are headed to the new season of Dancing With the Stars. And those crafty folks at ABC decided to announce the new contestants little by little throughout their Sunday night (Feb. 8) programming in an effort to steal a bit of the thunder CBS was enjoying with its telecast of the Grammy Awards.

Chuck’s dance partner in the competition will be his girlfriend and fellow country artist Julianne Hough, a two-time Dancing With the Stars champion. Country will also be represented by singer/songwriter Jewel and her husband, rodeo star Ty Murray. Rounding out this season’s celebrity contestants are rapper Lil’ Kim; Jackass star Steve-O; Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell; actor Gilles Marini; actress Denise Richards; Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; pop singer Belinda Carlisle; actor/comedian David Alan Grier; NFL football great Lawrence Taylor and Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson.

Country singer Chuck Wicks should have a major advantage in the new season of "Dancing With the Stars." He will be paired with two-time champ Julianne Hough, who is also his girlfriend. They should be able to work in a lot of extra practice time. The new season of ABC's most-popular series begins March 9. "Dancing" is also one of Central Florida's favorite shows. Announcement of other dance pairings will be made Thursday, ABC said, because not all the celebrities will meet their professional partners before then.

Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Carlisle to join Dancing With The Stars within the General Entertainment forums, part of the Non-Music Discussions category; Belinda Carlisle lead singer of the Go-Go's will be joining DWTS this season. Other notable celebrities include Jewel. Ballroomful of surreal ... Lil' Kim and Belinda Carlisle are set to appear on Dancing with the Stars.

Most importantly, Belinda Carlisle will be competing against Lil' Kim. Belinda Carlisle. And Lil' Kim. We can only hope that both will last long enough in the competition to get to dance to one of their own songs in the freestyle round. Chances are high that excitable judge Bruno Tonioli will squeal with delight at both of them.

Apart from that, we have Denise Richards, famous these days mostly for her bitter divorce from Charlie Sheen and her random E! reality show – oh, and denying that she was going to be on Dancing with the Stars. Singer-songwriter Jewel's in there too, along with her husband, "rodeo athlete" Ty Murray; clearly they noted the brilliant success the BBC had with Gabby and Kenny Logan in 2007 and thought they'd piggyback on it.